Welcome to the Worldwide V8 Bikers Forum

Guys and Gals,
Friday, March 7, 2008 at 2:00pm will the the date and start time of the 4th Annual V8 Motorcycle Run in Daytona. Staging will begin at 1:00pm as usual with the ride leaving at 2:00pm.

We will once again be accepting donations for the Shriner's Childrens Hospitals and very dollar will go to the Shriners. We had over 70 bikes last year and raised approximately $700. This year I would like to see our group averaging $20/rider for this very worthy charity. If we could double the amount we raise from $700 to $1,400 that would be quite an accomplishment.

I will post more details here as they become available and, as usual, we will have signs made up and they will be posted at all V8 motorcycle dealers displaying at Daytona.

I hope to see you all there.

WB

P.S. When I saw that the V8 Chopper guys were having their dinner that Friday night I immediately emailed them with our plans. They called me and we are working together in an effort to make both events successful. I can tell you that I am planning on attending their party so we will definitely end our ride with more than enough time to hang out with Stan The Man!

Wild Bill where does it start at.

Bill,

How the heck are you?! Missed seeing you the last few Daytona years due to commitments, my moving, etc. I've got to figure just how far you are from my hacienda in NC. I regularly cruise through a few VA towns but they're inland in the mountains. We'll talk and perhaps I'll eat some bugs (no windshield on the choppa!) and come visit the "other Virginia."

As to your ride, great thing especially the charity piece. Looking forward to participating and will spread the word to non-readers.

I'll finish here by saying...I want to ride way back in the line if you're up front. Picking rubber chunks from my teeth and permanently stanking my jacket up with burning rubber may be more than I can handle. Nahhhh, I still love the smell of burning rubber.

Looking foward to seeing you and glad to see you come to this low life, scum sucking, money grubbing .net board, ha ha.

Elliot (Elsboss)

Boss V8, we're still working out some of the details of this ride (starting point, etc). There are many details to work out to pull this thing together and sometimes things don't fall into place as quickly as I would like them to. I'll be posting the details here once confirmed. Also, you will see signs up everywhere in Daytona all week.

Elliott, Yo!!!! How the hell are ya man? It's been a while for sure. I knew would find your way back to the V8 motorcycle world eventually. I live a bit east of Charlottesville, VA at Lake Anna. We can definitely do some riding this year... once I finish building this friggin' house!!! See you in Daytona.

WB

Bill, I'm going to look up "Charlottesville" on my mapping program as soon as I quit laughing my stones off. That picture of your bike's rear end, the fire....I'm speechless. That's just too damn funny!

Bill, was it your Dad or Uncle who wrecked outside Daytona? Has he fully recovered? Neil had mentioned it to me well after the fact when we were chatting one day about Capt. Bob's trike. That was quite some time ago. If it was deer (in FL of all places), I can relate. They're a significant problem here where I am. I killed two in one week a few weeks back. Thankfully, in my F350 instead of a bike.

Again, great going with the ride plans, the money raising effort, and coordinating it around Stan's barbeque. That will be a fine day. NO RAIN, NO RAIN, NO RAIN! Regards,

Elliot

Elliot,
That was my father... bad luck. He owned a Honda Dealership for years, sold it in the 70's and stopped riding. He decided to start riding again and bought a bike in the Fall before Daytona ('04?). He hadn't ridden very much at all, but was enjoying the heck out of it. On our first night at Daytona we were heading back to my Uncle's house in Palm Coast and a heard of deer (10-15) ran out in front of both of us. It was in a neighborhood area so we were only going 35-40 MPH. I was not wearing a helmet and got lucky. He was wearing his helmet and a deer ran straight into the side of him. He was riding behind me and all i could see was his headlight hitting the deck.

He landed on his head/face and left shoulder. Nine days later we were finally pulling out of the hospital parking lot. It was a bad Bike Week!!!

Among his other injuries he had some head injuries which to this day causes him to get overly emotional at certain things. Well, my Uncle (Captain Bob Rodgers) hopped on his Boss Hoss Trike and met us on I-95 to ride with us up the interstate for a ways as we were pulling out of town. My father was still pretty bad, so he was laid-out on the back seat of the SUV. When he leaned up to see what was making all that noise next to him to started crying like a baby! Once in a while I'll look at my dad and say, "Wasn't that cool of Uncle Bob to escort you up I-95 after your wreck?" and he'll just break-down crying... it REALLY touched him!

He is ok now, but he was in his mid-60's and decided that it takes too long to heal so he hasn't ridden since.

Thanks for asking.

WB

Bill, really sorry to hear that story about your Dad. I had only vague memories of Neal having mentioned it to me and it was well after the fact. In the big scheme of things I think your Dad was lucky. You've still got him and can relish many good days ahead I hope.

There was a young gal this past year who was riding her Sportster on the Blue Ridge Pkwy near us. Doing everything right as far as speed, clothing, helmet, etc. A deer bolted on her hitting her sideways and she died at the scene. I have a real love/hate relationship with them personally. Most of the guys around me hunt and I've been kept in good supply of deer hams and shoulders. We've enjoyed doing our part in controlling the population via my smoker. Again, very thankful to hear your Dad survived and is doing ok in spite of the hardships you mention.

On this note, do you or anyone have any info whether those deer whistle contraptions they make for bikes and cars work? I've seen some small ones that aren't electric but just make some kind of ultrasonic whistle via the wind velocity of your forward motion. Have heard both sides of their working vs being useless. Even if they do, uncertain whether I can bring myself to bolt on the new bike...unless they're chromed, ha ha.

Good hearing from you Bill,

Elliot

I have no proof either way on the deer whistles, but have known some people that say they work. I haven't used them but probably should. Most that I know of stick on with double sided tape and come in chrome or black. I have never heard anyone claim that they attract deer so they atleast shouldn't hurt anything. I did ask once and someone said they had seen vehicles that had hit deer an had the whistles so they don't always work.

Shane

Regarding deer whistles:
The very well respected motorcycle periodicle "Motorcycle Consumer News" did a study on the effectiveness of deer whisltes. They studied various brands and ones that were powered by the wind as well as ones that were powered by electricity. Their results showed that these whistles put you further in harms way. The finding was that you should leave a deer that is standing still on the side of the road just as you first saw him... standing STILL. The deer whistles cause the deer to become startled and run. The question is, how does the deer know to run away from the road as opposed to INTO the road? There aren't too many intelegent deer out there!

I say the best defense is to ride a big, heavy V8-powered motorcycle, wear a helmet, gloves and blue jeans that are lined with Kevlar (the "Draggin' Jeans" brand works for me).

Just my $.02 on the subject.

WB

Bill,

Not that there's any science to my statement here, but I killed those two deer back to back in the truck in one week and killed another two during the course of a month all recently. One came out of nowhere and I nailed it at 55 mph in the truck on a busy 2 lane road. No time for any evasive action. The other three were probably my fault and all the same deal. I'd see them either solo or in a group on the side of the road. In all cases I'd slow way down and when I thought I had cleared them I'd gas it. Every damn time I'd nail one as they always jump into the car or truck instead of away from it. One I almost missed (a decent sized buck) when gassing it but caught it at the very right rear quarter panel above where the exhaust comes out. That method almost worked but they're just too quick. I've come to the realization that when I see those overgrown rats grazing or staring off the side of the road, I'm going to come to a full stop and creep by them.

I saw something this past fall that amazed me. Wife and I were driving down a busy 2 lane hwy and I saw a deer running full blast down a slope toward the road. I figured the Honda Accord in front of me 5 car lengths was going to get nailed. The deer jumped over the Honda and there was a bike coming the opposite direction. It cleared the bike as well and hit the ground across the road at full speed. Must have been close to a 30' jump. I thought we were going to see body parts (auto and deer) all over but didn't. The guy on the bike must still be trying to catch his breath 3 months later if he even saw it. Never realized these critters in SW Florida but sure do here and it's scary.

Thanks for the info on the deer whistles. I kind of had them in the same category as ultrasonic bug killers. Yeah right.

Man I like that picture of your tire or rather "fire"!

Elliot

Sure hope there are a lot of folks who will be in Daytona the last Friday. Between Bill's ride and Stan's barbeque, it's going to be a great day to hook up with all the V8 brothers and sisters. I know a big group of SW Florida guys changed their plans from the first weekend to the second just to make both these venues.

Elliot