During the making of Why They Ride, Casey's BMW R1100GS was the pack mule. It hauled all of the camera equipment and even became a platform for me to hang off and film from while Casey piloted it. We remain indebted to its ample cargo space and sure-footed capabilities. So, as a member of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, Casey penned an ode to his bike in a behind-the-scenes look at our moto-documentary. Click here to read the full story from the September 2008 issue...
If you have seen our documentary, you'd probably guess that the Wilkinson Brothers would be fans of MotoGP. As motorcycle enthusiasts and fans of racing, how could we NOT be? As I've said to many, if you're a fan of the basic elements of good racing (varying road courses, rivalries, a lot of overtaking, intense speed, and the defying of physics), then MotoGP should get yer motor runnin.'
This is certainly a time when we are proud to be Hoosier motorcyclists. It should really be no surprise that the highest tier in motorcycle competition would want to make a stop at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but I'm sure dialing in the logistics between the organizers and MotoGP owners was no small task. We have to give a tip of the helmet to Mel Harder, the Senior VP at IMS for orchestrating what will, or has become one of the most historic invitations in motorcycle racing history. To boil it down: The oldest motorsport world championship in existence is coming to the Racing Capital of the World at the largest sporting facility on earth. Makes perfect sense to us. We're thankful for Mel's vision and hard work in seeing this through.
Living just minutes from the track, we've immersed ourselves in the excitement leading up to MotoGP next week. See our journey that started over a year ago...
Get used to seeing more of this: Bikes and the Circle City. It's sure to be a common sight in mid-September!
We second that "thanks." Thank you, thank you, thank you. This day, back in the summer of 2007, we rode in the Motorcycle Rally that led us to a lap around the famous oval. We parked our bikes in the infield, walked into a room and heard the official announcement of MotoGP at Indy. See our video and photo presentation of the whole experience by clicking here.
Somehow, some way...the Red Bull folks back some exciting motorsports. Rock on.
Casey's GS sitting proud in the plaza right under the Pagoda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Then came the inaugural lap to be completed by 2006 MotoGP champ, Nicky Hayden, on April 7th, 2008. He would get a quick lesson in 1909 technology and ride this Indian around the new MotoGP course.
Corey riding his Tuono just past the yard of bricks. We were thankful to have been among the first 30 or so motorcyclists to make a lap around the new MotoGP layout at IMS. Yeah, we've pretty much completed more laps here than Valentino Rossi at this point, so...
Then came came the three days of testing this July (2008). See the pics below...
Here, the bikes would pass the start/finish line at 190-something miles per hour. I could feel it in my chest when they blasted by. It was amazing to see how soon they started hanging off the bike to begin the process of turning it into turn one.
The third day belonged to the AMA Red Bull Rookies Cup riders. The young teen racers show up to two semis full of bikes and an Alpinestars van carrying their leathers. These kids earn their rides and time on the bikes through a strict point system that involves their performance on and off the track.
Yep, it's a big deal to us. Indianapolis, MotoGP, the history, the motorcycles, racing...it's a special event in so many ways and we're gonna wallow around in it as much as possible! (And, yes, we have tickets to the Indy Mile as well...so much top-tier racing we've got to squeeze in in a few days, but we're up to the task.)
Oh, and if you're wondering where the vids are that we shot at the Speedway, here they are:
During the making of Why They Ride, Casey's BMW R1100GS was the pack mule. It hauled all of the camera equipment and even became a platform for me to hang off and film from while Casey piloted it. We remain indebted to its ample cargo space and sure-footed capabilities. So, as a member of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, Casey penned an ode to his bike in a behind-the-scenes look at our moto-documentary. Click here to read the full story from the September 2008 issue...
