Post Toy Run Blues

A whole week has gone by since I rode in the toy run and I haven't managed to get out on my bike since. With the season bearing down on us, a couple of pet projects and spending time with those people that matter, you realize that riding is like anything else in our modern lives. Its needs to be scheduled in. How sad.

Not quite as sad or frustrating for that matter as the news reports about the toy run. This is an event that had an estimated 30,000 people turn up for the ride itself and an additional 30,000 for the event afterwards raising about $550,000 for a local hsopital and tons of toys for needy children. How much post event press has been out there? None.

Very sad.

On the positive side, it was nice to read that the autographed Harley Davidson used to raise money for the southeast Asia tsunami victims back in february of this year was reauctioned. Waste Management who had the winning bid on eBay earlier this year auctioned it off for $1 million dollars to raise money for the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund for hurricane survivor relief. The highest bid was made by philanthropist John O'Quinn, who is also an attorney in Houston.

You can read the full story at Louisana's KATC's news site.


How low can you go?
BMW is finally getting with the program and listing the seat heights of their motorcycles with all the other relevant information about the various models on the website as well as the brochures where the specifications would normally appear.

BMW, welcome to the information age.

It's said this is being done to help those smaller riders who have concerns about being able to have their feet comfortably reach the ground by keeping them better informed with all the information about the different models offered.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but doesn't this feel like BMW wants a piece of the growing female rider market share? Nothing wrong with this at all, especially since everyone considers the redesigned Harley Davidson Sportster is aimed at this valued demographic.

Lets be honest, anything the motorcycle companies can do to get more women out on the roads with their own rides is a good thing!


Just in time for Christmas
The intriguing documentary 'Long Way Round' featuring the motorcycle trip taken around the world by Ewan McGregor and his acting pal Charley Boorman is being released this week.

If you saw this on TV theres not much more to see on the DVD with the only real extra being interviews with the two men and a photo gallery.

I missed it. Wonder if its too late to thrown on the christmas list?


Finally.....

Who would've thought it?
Not sure how often the phrase is used, but it better be said with a little more care from now on. The courts have ruled that a lesbian San Francisco motorcycle club offically owns the Dykes on Bikes trademark.

The US patent office has reversed position and approved a request to let a lesbian San Francisco motorcycle club trademark the name "Dykes on Bikes," the office confirmed on Friday.

"The original reaction of the examiner was to reject it because he considered the term (dykes) disparaging," Brigid Quinn of the US patent office told AFP. "The applicant got lots of evidence, from everyone from lawyers to academics, that the term wasn't considered disparaging in the lesbian community."

Before the trademark was approved, Tomas Lee, a spokesman for supervisor Tom Ammiano, said Dykes on Bikes has led gay pride parades in other major world cities, such as Paris, London, Tokyo and Sydney.

The lesbian bikers want to protect the Dykes on Bikes name from being used by impostors, according to Lee.

You can't make this stuff up. Read the full report on the Political Gateway news site.