Time to spruce up Grand Avenue and other roads in preparation for the motorcycles next month.

I decided to take the Gold Wing for a ride around where the motorcycle crowd will be cruising about come the big event next month. Waukesha, we have some work to do on Grand Avenue and other streets! Potholes are still horrible between Wisconsin and College Avenues. Some of the motorcycles that will be visiting have no spring suspension which means jarring impacts and even damage to some very expensive and often custom made machines.

Anyone who has cable TV and watches American Chopper knows that many motorcycles are hand made. This means if a part breaks, there isn't one waiting for them at the motorcycle shop.  Paul Teutul probably doesn't work cheaply either when a new custom part is required. No template so send the motorcycle back to New York and maybe a few thousand dollars and a year later your motorcycle will be ready to ride.

They aren't the only people making custom motorcycles. Even factory motorcycles can have fiberglass and plastic parts that can break from the jarring and be expensive to fix.

My Subaru still has the steering wheel cockeyed from an ocean sized pothole that was along side a manhole cover by the Citgo station near Frame Park.  Which brings up another hazard. These covers seem to have trouble staying flush with the road.

I bring this up not because of nothing better to write about. It is a serious issue for safety and for the city because it has been ruled that the city can be held liable for damage from road hazards that it has knowledge about. Many motorcyclists ride side by side leaving little room to swerve around potholes. This creates a collision potential. Harley riders also seldom wear helmets.

Lawsuits and subrogation anyone?

I hope that if you've read my previous blog, you noticed that I tagged it as satire. Just keep in mind that satire and stereotypes have roots in truth.

I am wondering one thing though. Many of the good citizens of Waukesha have complained about noisy motorcycles.  The police response is usually that they have to hear the offender in order to do anything with it. Just to let you know that I'm not Saint Steven, I used to make my share of noise around Cutler Park in the very early 1970's on my Triumph Bonneville with non-mufflers on it. I was eighteen then. I got a citation after a time and ended up buying mufflers for it. That was the end of my "to heck with other people" days. 

I don't exaggerate when I say that fully half of the attending motorcycles will probably have shed their adequate factory mufflers and put on something louder or often no mufflers at all.  The Americade rally that I've attended several times, specifically warns that loud motorcycles will be ticketed by Lake George New York police. I witnessed it being done almost constantly during the rally. 

I fully expect that the law here will be enforced just as vigorously as it is in Lake George. Stock up on ticket pads and pens. Otherwise I want my citation money back, with interest from 1970! 

A former editor of a local newspaper has told his readers that if they don't want to contend with the big Harley party this summer, leave town for a few days. How quaint!

As I am a motorcyclist for over forty years and have taken several camping excursions into the Appalacian Mountains and attended many motorcycle rallies, Harley Davidison specific included, I believe I have a more knowledgable opinion of this than those in the city that only see $$ dollars $$ and a little rumble in the air. 

Harley Davidson riders are divided into three groups. They are the hard core riders. They look like Paul Tuetul. Tatoos are cool. Out of my way type of people. Also known as the 1%ers. Then there are the Wannabes.  Like Clark Kent, they lead boring lives in their community and help old ladies across the street during the week.  On weekends they transform into the appearance of Sonny Barger, the most famous 1%er, but stop short of riding up and down the street whacking the citizens of Hollister with chains and being served food and beverage then leaving without paying for it. They have a Walter Mitty desire to be looked at by the cowering spectators as a 1%er.  They do some good deeds and raise some money for charity from time to time so they can have the police look the other way when they push the limits of law. The third type of Harley Rider can be confused with a Honda rider. They don't necessarily wear the uniform or have the attitude.  They just like the looks and sound of the machine and enjoy the ride.

Harley events also have double lives. There is the main event. Perhaps the most well know is Dayton Florida. I've never been there but I think it is about to be held as I write this blog. It is a rite of spring and the season kick-off. The hard core riders visit the main event but look for something a little more thrilling.  These side events are usually miles away from the main event or in a neighboring city. They are not sanctioned by the main event sponsor. Camera crews from "girls gone wild" frequently show up. The smell of burning hemp is in the air and the syringes littering the area are not from diabetics. Hospitals have to call in off-duty doctors and nurses. Beer trucks are hijacked.

Waukesha's event will fall someplace between Lake George New York (Americade) and Hollister California, and I don't mean geographically. I mean mild and wild.  This is why I've gone on record that is it best held at the County Expo grounds. 

The organizers say that they will have security covered by rent-a-cops and the police will not have to lift a finger. Perhaps, and I certainly hope so. However, I've seen what naive little towns get themselves into.  We'll need the sheriff deputies near by.  Lots of them. 

Whenever there is an event that closes the streets downtown, it seems that I need to get somewhere there, such as the bank or to drive though it to get somewhere else that I need to be. 

This proposed Harley Party has all the appearances of trying to highlight a certain business that got rammed down the taxpayer's throat and a whole bunch of people are resentful of. Putting that aside, I've got no argument against hosting a Harley Party, but downtown is not the place to do it. The County Expo grounds is the place to hold such a function.  That is why it is there.

I would like to have the businesses around downtown see some income from such an event though.  There is a fun way to do it.  It is called a "Poker Run". Motorcyclists love to eat and they can be directed to the downtown area eating establishments by having them as a stopping point to have their card stamped or to draw a card. Some of the riders and passengers would like to see some of the artistic side of downtown too.  Perhaps a special bus shuttle could be operated to relieve congestion and allow people to easily get from the expo grounds to downtown.

A fun and profitable time can be had by all. Just don't shut the streets down for the people that have paid to use them!