Cruisin' The Coast, 2020!

The 24th Anniversary 

2020 marks the 24th anniversary of the event dubbed "America's Largest Block Party." Cruisin' The Coast is a week-long event that draws thousands of antique and classic cars, motorcycles, rat rods, street rods and one-off customs from all over the country and abroad. Car enthusiasts come to the Mississippi Coast in droves, just to enjoy cruising their prized possessions along US Highway 90 from Ocean Springs to Bay St. Louis during the first week of October. Every city along the coastline has special events to host the cruisers, all starting with Gulfport's "View The Cruise" kickoff block party. The City of Gulfport blocks off the entire downtown central business district so that the cruisers can bring their cars in and show them off. The event is free to the public and it does not disappoint. This year, me and the missus rode the MotoWriter Road King Special down to the event, grabbed a cup of delicious coffee from Coast Roast Coffee & Tea and set out walking to check it out.

Fueled by Caffeine

Armed with my trusty GoPro Hero 6, inspired by the lovely Mrs. MotoWriter, and fueled by a deliciously caffeinated beverage from my favorite roaster, we took to the streets to check out this years' offerings- and we were not disappointed. I ended up getting some great video shots from the event and we even ran into several friends while we were out kicking the bricks. Check out my latest YouTube video for that footage.

Hurricanes Delta and Gamma

Apparently, while Gulfport was busy setting up for View The Cruise and the rest of the Coast cities were getting their venues ready, the Tropics were churning up a little lagniappe for 2020- two more hurricanes. We've had so many storms this year, that we've used up all the names and are now 7 deep into the Greek alphabet... 2020 has definitely given us plenty to talk about. Fortunately, Gamma ran its course and fizzled out down around the Yucatan Peninsula. Unfortunately, however, Delta strengthened and started heading toward us. By mid-week, we had a legitimate concern that we were going to take a direct hit, so a lot of the cruisers had packed up and headed out of town. We got lucky again, though, and the hurricane weakened a bit before making landfall to the West of us, in a small town West of New Orleans. As I mentioned in my last post, "Hurricanes", living on the Gulf Coast is awesome... with the exception of the occasional life-threatening, property-destroying, home-ravaging hurricanes. But, for the steadfast cruisers and spectators, their fortitude paid off and they were able to enjoy the entire week of Cruisin' The Coast events with nothing more than a brief and occasional rainshower.

Cruisin' and Riding

As for me and my missus, we were able to enjoy the City of Gulfport's event on the first Sunday, then after a week of grinding away at my regular job, I was able to get on the MotoWriter Street Bob and shoot some more video for y'all on the Saturday before it all wrapped up. All in all, it was a good week. Even with all the craziness of 2020, there were still over 6,700 cars registered for the event. 

Even though I no longer have my classic car, I still get giddy at the thought of Cruisin' The Coast. There's just something special about seeing your cities and towns over run by these beautiful old relics of the past, thundering down the highway in their former, and current, glories. The live music, the crowds of families and friends, and the smell of too-rich carburetors, burned rubber and bar-be-ques, wafting in the salty Southern air just takes me back to a better time in life. If you ever have the opportunity to do it, I highly recommend visiting South Mississippi for Cruisin' The Coast. In the meantime, check out the video I made, by clicking here. While you're there, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so that you don't miss out on any of your favorite MotoWriter content.

Hurricanes

Living on the Gulf Coast is awesome    

Along America's Southern Coastal border we have around 10 months of great riding weather complimented by coastal breezes, beautiful scenery, friendly people and some of the best food that will ever cross your taste buds. In one day, you can ride next to beautiful white sand beaches, cross over bays, bayous and marshes and, just a few minutes later, be cruising past cattle pastures, old homesteads and rolling hills. Want a piece of big city action? No problem- to the West we have New Orleans and to the East we have Mobile, Gulf Shores, Pensacola and Destin. The roads are pretty decent, there are plenty of gas stations and restaurants to stop at and there is no shortage of motorcycle shops to keep you rolling. But, as is the case with any area that has so many benefits, there is the occasional drawback that is there to keep you humble. In our case, it's the Tropics.

Tropical storms and hurricanes 

Every year, beginning around the month of June, Southerners start tuning in to weather channels, begin checking their generators and re-stocking their supplies of canned goods and bottled water. The reason? June marks the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season. While the tropics don't always deliver storms to our estuary coastline, we always keep a watchful eye on anything that spins too close to the Leeward Islands. For those that are unaware, a Tropical Storm gets it's name when it reaches a wind speed of 39 miles per hour. At 74 mph, it becomes a full-fledged, "category one" hurricane. While a cat-1 storm is more of an annoyance to most of us, a cat-5 storm, with sustained winds over 157 mph, is a bonafide killer. The most recent cat-5 to hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast was Hurricane Camille in 1969. In 2005, we got hit by Katrina, a very powerful, well defined storm that had grown in intensity to a category 5 storm, but according to the weather experts, had dropped to a strong category 3 by the time it made landfall over New Orleans, unleashing it's most powerful and most damaging winds across the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. If you were alive, or at least awake in history class, you will know that Hurricane Katrina was a killer on it's own merit- claiming over 1,800 souls and causing over $125 billion in property damage. That's a billion, with a "B." Our coastline was, quite literally, leveled. If Katrina was a Category 3 when it caused that kind of death and destruction, just try to imagine what a category 5 would do. 

Scary stuff, to be certain.

This year has been a busy one

2020 has maintained it's consistent level of overall SUCK and, only three months into this season, it has given us over 25 named storms. We still have three more months of "in-season" tropical storms to contend with. With that said, we've been pretty fortunate thus far, in that all we've really had to deal with so far has been a few rain-making tropical storms and an annoying category 1, Sally, that finally decided to make landfall to the east of us. We still have to make it until the end of November and, God willing, we will make it to December 1st unscathed.

I'll ride in the rain if I have to, but I don't ever want to

Riding in the rain sucks, that's all there is to it. But sometimes, you can't help it. On a road trip for example, you just can't avoid running in to an occasional rain shower. It's not ideal, but with proper gear, it's manageable. You'll rarely ever see me leave the house in the rain, unless there are some kind of extenuating circumstances. Some people may call me a "fair-weather rider" because I'd prefer to wait it out than assume the extra risks of riding in the rain, with limited visibility on slick roads, but those that know me, know that I've been soaked to the bone while riding through torrential downpours. I simply choose to ride smarter, whenever I can.

The problem with hurricane season 

The biggest problem with hurricane season is the seemingly constant deluge of rain. As I said, I don't exactly mind if I get caught in the rain while I'm out riding, but I definitely don't want to leave the house in a torrent and it seems like that's been every day lately. I said previously that in the South, we have around 10 months of good riding weather, and that is completely true... just not 10 consecutive months. 

Choose your poison, so to speak

We don't always get to pick where we grow up, but we get to pick where we live when we do. As a kid, my family moved to the Coast from the Midwest. When I was just an innocent little freckle faced ginger kid, I remember riding in the back seat of our mid '70's Chevrolet coupe and watching the landscape slowly changing the further we got away from the home I knew, to the home I would later come to know and love. I watched as the trees grew taller and lost their lower branches and saw their leaves turn into needles. The rolling landscape of dirt and rocks, slowly flattened out, the black dirt turning into orange clay and the rocks turning into sand. When we finally stopped, I stood on the edge of the continent as the waves splashed across my 8 year old feet and I smelled the hot salty air. I watched as shrimp boats slowly trawled along the horizon in front of me and seagulls squawked at the setting sun. In this new home, I would later meet the girl that would become my wife and a few years later, she would bless me with the gift of fatherhood. I rode my first motorcycle in this balmy, humid Southern air and I have survived more than 30 hurricane seasons. My wife and I tried to move away once, but we just couldn't resist the beckoning symphony of summertime cicadas buzzing in concert with crickets, tree frogs and owls, or the smell of the salty ocean breeze blowing in off the Gulf of Mexico under a spectacular sunset. 

We chose to make this place our home and even though the, seemingly constant, deluge of rain during hurricane season puts a damper on my motorcycle riding, the rain always breaks, the clouds always clear and the sun always comes back out.

Ride safe and make good choices, y'all.

-The MotoWriter

Can Indian Motorcycles really claim they've been around "Since 1901"?

We've all seen their ads... "Indian Motorcycles, America's First Motorcycle Company, Since 1901."

BUT... how true is that, really? I always say that an omission of the truth is still a lie and isn't that what Indian Motorcycles is doing here? Omitting key facts and details about their heritage? After all, they've only been resurrected this last time since 2014, thanks to Polaris Industries buying the rights to the name. For that matter, if we're being fair... can Harley-Davidson really claim that they've been around since 1903? Let's not forget that the American Machine and Foundry Company, aka AMF, bought out Harley-Davidson Motor Company in 1969. Well, the easy argument here is that Harley-Davidson has been in constant production since 1903, where Indian has not. 

So, let's take a closer look at the history of Indian Motorcycles and how they have evolved to their latest iteration. 

In 1897 George Hendee started a bicycle company, with one of the popular models being the "American Indian" or "Indian" for short. Now, this wasn't unique, after all, William Harley and the Davidson boys were building bicycles, too. They just had a much smaller operation. At some point, some ole boy decided to mount an engine on one of these bicycle frames and the motorcycle was born. Who did this first is up for debate... because it seems like everyone claims to be the first ones that did it. Either way, it was done and every bicycle manufacturer with any sense jumped on the idea and ran with it. Back then, there were a plethora of choices when it came to picking a motorcycle- Excelsior, Indian, Harley-Davidson, Pierce, Merkel, Marks, Thor, Norton, Triumph... the list goes on. 

Hendee established the Hendee Indian Motorcycle Company and they produced their first motorcycle in 1901, while Harley and the Davidson brothers built their first production bike two years later, in 1903. So that's a win for Indian... they can claim to be established in 1901.

Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let's talk about that little, unfortunate detail from the early 1950's first. Indian Motorcycle enthusiasts absolutely HATE it when Harley guys bring up 1953. You see, that's when the original Indian Motorcycle company went tits up for the very first time. So... if we were engraving the Indian Motorcycle headstone, it would say, "Indian Motorcycles, 1901-1953." Look, 52 years of building motorcycles isn't actually a bad run, especially when you consider that so many of those other American motorcycle companies had long since passed away by the 1950's. 

Indian's demise actually started in 1930, though. That's when the Hendee Manufacturing Company, sold the company to Paul DuPont (yep... the paint guy). In 1945, DuPont decided to sell the company to Ralph Rogers. Why,  you might ask, would George Hendee allow the board of directors to sell off his beloved motorcycle company in the first place? Well that's easy... he had no say in the matter. Hendee "retired" from his company years earlier, in 1916, after he had a disagreement with the board of directors about the direction of the company. George Hendee was raising cattle when all this was going on, unlike the founders of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company, who were still very much in control of their company.

In 1950, Rogers hired John Brockhouse, of Brockhouse Engineering Company out of jolly old England, to preside over the company. After several failed attempts to compete with the British companies and their lightweight bikes, Indian Motorcycle Company walked it's death march under Rogers' ownership, ceasing operations in 1953. When Rogers was liquidating the company, Brockhouse bought the rights to the Indian name and logos, recognizing their potential marketing value. He started selling small, lightweight, air-cooled Royal Enfield motorcycles rebadged with Indian logos, but the venture turned out to be, yet another, dismal failure and seven years later, in 1960, the Indian Motorcycle name died again.

For several decades, Indian Motorcycle Company was the biggest (American) threat to the Harley-Davidson Motor Company and as such, they always kept them on their toes. The spirit of competition is what drives companies to try to outdo each other and make better, more affordable products for their customers. When Indian shuttered it's doors in 1953, Harley-Davidson started getting lazy... so much so that in the next decade, their sales waned and they were being forced to meet the same fate. Had it not been for the American Machine and Foundry Company buying them in 1969, Harley-Davidson would be just another page in the history books, much like all the rest. But this isn't about Harley-Davidson... this is about Indian... so where were they during all this? 

Dead. Indian was dead. After Brockhouse's failure, he sold the rights to the Indian name and logos to Associated Motor Cycles of England, who held on to them from 1960-1963. Floyd Clymer (the service manual guy) bought the rights from them and held on to them from 1963 until he died in 1970. His widow sold them to Alan Newman who had them until his failed company went bankrupt in 1977. American Moped Associates bought the Indian name and head dress logo in 1977 and used them on their Derbi-Manco go-cart engines until 1984. From 1984-1994, there were several talks, and even a couple of attempts, at re-starting Indian as a motorcycle company, but none of them ever got off the ground, so it appeared as if Indian's story had finally reached the end.

Or so we thought. In 1998, a small group of investors was awarded the rights to the Indian motorcycle name and logos in a Colorado bankruptcy court and announced their intent to bring back the Indian Motorcycle Company, over 45 years after the last real Indian motorcycle rolled off the assembly line. The group was based out of Gilroy, California... across the continent from Indian's original birthplace of Springfield, Massachusetts. The investors called their company, the Indian Motorcycle Company of America, or IMCA for short. They built their first machine for the 1999 model year using an S&S clone of Harley-Davidson's Evolution Engine. They built the Spirit, the Scout and the Chief... right up until they went bankrupt 4 years later, in 2003. The Indian was dead again... more or less.

Five years later, in 2008, a company called Stellican Ltd (the owners of the Chris Craft Boat Company based in England), bought the rights to the Indian name from IMCA and they, once again, breathed life back into the company using a factory in the mountains of North Carolina. Stellican Indians were beautiful machines and, unlike their IMCA counterparts, had their own unique engine (not a Harley-Davidson clone). The problem? They were expensive. Really expensive. Stellican Ltd held on to Indian for a whopping three years before selling the whole shebang to Polaris Industries of Minnesota in 2011.

It took Polaris three years to develop and premiere their first production Indian Motorcycle, taking many features from their other brand, Victory, instead of using the Stellican platform. Polaris developed their Indian's power plant using the Victory engine as the platform, utilizing a one piece engine and transmission unit, instead of using individual components like it's predecessors (and Harley-Davidson). Polaris introduced their new Indian Motorcycle Company to the world with the Chief Vintage. It had long, sweeping lines, full skirted fenders and fringe and tassels reminiscent of the 1930's. The most important detail though, was the price tag. Unlike the previous iterations, the Polaris Indian was actually affordable on a working man's salary.

So, with all that said, let's ask the questions again and let's see if we can answer them without stirring the pot too much for my Indian riding friends (Lee, Mike and Brian, I'm looking at you guys). 

Can Indian Motorcycles really claim that they are America's FIRST motorcycle company? I don't think that there should be any question here- out of the current American motorcycle brand's that are in production at the time I'm writing this, the Indian name came first in the history books, so yeah, they can have that one.

Can Indian Motorcycles really claim "Since 1901"? I'm going to have to say that, while technically, the "since" could be loosely interpreted as the originating year (despite it's many failings that followed), it's a lie by omission. For Harley-Davidson, they have been in production since 1903. They were bought out for 12 years, but during that time frame, they were still developing and building new motorcycles under the Harley-Davidson name, unlike the original Indian Company that died off in 1953. There was a 45 year gap in time, from when the last, original company built, Indian Motorcycle rolled off the line in 1953 until the next Indian Motorcycle was built in 1998. For all intents and purposes, Indian Motorcycles was dead and buried in 1953. It may have been resurrected a few times after that, but, let's be honest with ourselves here- the only thing that is genuine "Indian, since 1901" about all of the new iterations of Indians (including the Polaris built bikes) is the name. To their credit, Polaris designed their own, original power plant, they designed and built their own frames and suspension and they are using their own bike designs. There isn't anything that was taken from the original 1901-1953 Indian Motorcycle Company except the name, though, so no... Indian's slogan of "Since 1901" is a lie, as there is no true heritage or design evolution in their bikes. Not like there is with Harley-Davidson motorcycles, anyway. With Harley-Davidson, you can see the evolution of the machine, year after year, decade after decade, for the past 117 years. 

A lot of people that read my blog and watch my videos might come to the conclusion that I'm a died in the wool Harley-Davidson guy. While I do have a few Harleys, I wouldn't classify myself as a Harley guy. Instead, I'm just a motorcycle guy. I happen to have Harleys because I've managed to score some really good deals on some broken down bikes and I have just enough knowledge to get them running again. I'm not opposed to owning an Indian (or any other make for that matter), but I just haven't come across the right deal on one. 

Look, the bottom line is this, Polaris is building some amazing bikes under the Indian moniker and I, absolutely, love it. Maybe, just maybe this latest revival will force Harley-Davidson to step up their game and start building a better product at a more affordable price. I'll be doing a long-term (three years!) review of my 2017 Harley-Davidson Road King Special on my vlog soon and, while I like the bike... I've got a few bones to pick with the MoCo about it. 

So, if I like the Polaris Indians so much, why didn't I buy an Indian Springfield Dark Horse instead of a Road King Special? Simple, I like the dealer network offered by Harley-Davidson better; I like the enormous aftermarket that is available for Harley-Davidson motorcycles better; I prefer going to exclusive dealerships for my bikes and parts, instead of having to walk past lines of jet skis, side-by-sides, ATVs and several other brands of street bikes, just to get to the section of the shop where I can find a specific part for my bike and; most of all, I simply like the Road King better. 

That's not to say it's a better bike, it's just the one that I like the best and ultimately, that's the only thing that really matters. 

Polaris Indian logo, "Since 1901"? I don't think so.

The last original Indian, the 1953.

IMCA Indian, a Harley dressed in Indian clothes?

The Stellican Indian, a beautiful original.

The Polaris Indian, possibly the best version yet?

Are you a REAL biker?

How do you know if you are a REAL biker?

I cringed as I typed that. Seriously, I can’t stand it when we label people. Labels are for underwear and beer bottles, not for people. We all do it; we label everyone. This person is my “best friend and ” that person is my “socafriend” (you’re welcome for that one, by the way); George is a “freak”; Candice is a “slut”; Fred is a “loser”; Tom is a “biker.” We just can’t help ourselves. 

So, how do know if you’re a REAL biker? Well, let’s take a look and see if we can figure out what a real biker actually is. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a biker as, “a person who rides a bicycle or motorcycle” while the Urban Dictionary defines a biker as “someone who not only owns a motorbike but rides it for pleasure as well as mere transport. They tend to be a friendly bunch but any who crosses them will be ‘persuaded’ not to do so again!” Ooohh… UD's definition seems pretty ominous, right? Of course, the Urban Dictionary is implying that a “biker” is someone that may, or may not, be associated with a certain group, or groups, of motorcycle enthusiasts that don’t necessarily consider themselves to be a part of the “99%” of law abiding motorcyclists out there. While not every entry into the Urban Dictionary may be on par with our trusty Merriam-Webster's, the UD certainly is reflective of our societal trends and common colloquialisms. Take the word “ratchet” for example, UD says that “ratchet” is “a ghetto-dialect mispronunciation of the English term "wretched." Meanwhile, we all know that a ratchet is a tool that we use when we are wrenching on our bikes. As it were, it seems that the only thing that these two, certainly reliable sources of literary information, have in common is that for there to be a biker, there must be a bike. 

If we can all agree that a biker has to have a motorcycle, we can move on to dissecting the “REAL” part of the term. We don’t need a dictionary to tell us what real is, we all know what’s real and what isn’t, so what makes a biker real or not? Is it his clothes- does he have to wear a leather vest with patches to be real? If so, what about all those motorcycle clubs that wear denim? Would you be so bold as to walk up to a group of them and inform them that their Levi Strauss denim vests do not meet the proper “leather vest” requirements, therefore they may not refer to themselves or their counterparts as “real bikers”? Perhaps the measure is their particular state of employment? Does a person have to be employed in some kind of labor trade to be a “real” biker, or can they be a doctor, an engineer or maybe even a cop? For that matter, can a woman be a real biker? What about a homosexual? 

Maybe we are just overthinking this whole damn thing… maybe it is as simple as their motorcycle? Perhaps, as the common perception goes, the only real bikers are Harley-Davidson owners. Unless, that is the particular biker in question does not have a Harley, but rather, he has a 1945 Indian… then maybe he can be a real biker. But, wait... what about the guy that rides the vintage Triumph chopper? You know, the guy that hand built his own hardtail frame then rebuilt a Triumph pre-unit that he found in a junkyard, bolted it in, then rode the ole beast across the country? Can he be a real biker, even though he’s kicking around on an old British powered machine? What about the guy in Japan that cut, chopped and built a badass custom bike out of a 1986 Honda Goldwing? And since we are talking about Goldwings, what about the Goldwing riders that have over 300,000 miles on their bikes and have ridden their machines in all four seasons in every state (and abroad) wearing their hi-viz jackets and mustard yellow safety helmets? Are they real bikers? What about Ted Simon, you know the guy that wrote the book, Jupiter's Travels (which, if you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend that you do)? Ted Simon wrote that book after he spent four years riding his 500cc 1973 Triumph T100 around the world through 45 countries. Is Ted Simon a real biker? You're damned right he is.

You see, I've known a lot of people that have Harley-Davidson motorcycles who say that people who ride bikes like Suzuki GSXRs, Kawasaki Ninjas, Yamaha Stratoliners or Honda Shadows can’t be real bikers, no matter how dedicated to riding they are, simply because they don't ride American bikes. These are the same guys, by the way, that have their $25,000 Harley-Davidsons parked in the garage 10 months out of the year. You know them, they are the guys that brag about all the rallies they go to, yet their bikes see more miles riding on the back of a trailer than they do rolling on their own rubber; they're the same guys that only ride to the local bike nights whenever the weather is "Goldilocks perfect." I’ve also heard that only men can be real bikers, but I've seen some ladies rippin' the curves in the mountains and they sure as hell looked like real bikers to me. I've known a few folks that live, as the polite folks would say- an alternative lifestyle, that ride motorcycles (some of whom ride Harley-Davidsons). I know cops that are in motorcycle clubs and I've seen more than a few nurses, doctors and several engineers that ride. 

Growing up as a ginger kid, I was given plenty of labels. It certainly didn't help that I wore those auburn locks in a fantastically awful, late '80's powered mullet and wore ripped up, stone-washed jeans. In my youth, I had a few second-hand dirt bikes and I took an old Suzuki GN400X that came to our house in boxes, fumbled my way through putting it back together not knowing what the hell I was doing, and got it running. I rode that thing until my folks got rid of it one day while I was at school. All their best efforts to protect their baby boy from the dangers of two wheels was all for naught, though. I started back on a Kawasaki EX500, then I moved on to cruisers. I've had a couple of Hondas, a Yamaha and... well... a few different Harley-Davidsons. It's bizarre to see it typed out, but I've ridden over 100,000 miles of paved roads on two wheels and countless miles of dirt trails. Does that make me a real biker? Honestly, I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. Neither should you. If you want to call yourself a biker, or even the highly coveted real biker, then go for it. It's just a silly label anyway.