FOCUS – BlueRibbon Breakfast of Champions Draws Nearly 500 Fans
INDIANAPOLIS— Nearly five hundred motorcycle race fans enjoyed breakfast, spirited bidding for race memorabilia, and some of the best bench racing stories ever at the BlueRibbon Coalition’s seventh annual Breakfast of Champions Sunday, Feb. 20, at the Dealer Expo here.
The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible recreation, equal opportunity and recreation access to all. The group works to preserve our natural resources for the public instead of from the public, and to promote cooperation among user-groups.
“Not just On Any Sunday, but this Sunday” was the theme for this year’s event. Clips from the Bruce Brown movie classic were shown, and the opening scene with Mert Lawwill, the businessman transitioning to Lawwill, sideways at 100 mph on the flat track, was especially fun with Mert in the audience.
In addition to Lawwill, motorcycling legends Malcolm Smith, Bob Hannah, Scott Summers, Drew Smith, Dick Burleson, Scot Harden, Jeff Fredette, Jimmy Lewis, Mike Kidd, John Penton, Mike Bell, Dane Leimbach, Don Emde and Guy Cooper participated in the program.
An original charcoal drawing of Malcolm Smith in an action pose by Michael’s Action Art was the featured item in a fundraising auction to raise funds for the BlueRibbon Coalition. The artist, Michael Peterson from Port Angeles, Wash., donated the #1 artist’s proof to Malcolm.
Motorcycle industry leaders Mark Woodward and Eric Anderson, with Scorpion helmets, shared the emcee duties.
At the close of the program they also conducted a live auction of motorcycle adventure tours and memorabilia items that raised nearly $30,000 for BRC’s advocacy efforts.
LESS SOUND = MORE GROUND
Many in the powersports industry recognized the leadership role the BlueRibbon Coalition plays in the Less Sound = More Ground campaign. Breakfast sponsor Paul Golde, with Fairchild Sports, said he thought the key point in the event was during interviews with Dick Burleson and Scott Summers, who both spoke about the serious problem of noise facing the growing powersports industry.
Summers, who started competing professionally again, said his head felt like it was going to explode inside his helmet from the deafening roar of the bikes lined up next to him.
He urged the dealers in the audience to consider noise control the most important weapon in the land-use battle.
Burleson said that the problem is not only on public lands, but that even racing tracks nearer to cities are beginning to be threatened due to excessive noise.
“Our mufflers are a weapon against us and we are pulling the trigger,” he said.
BROAD SPONSORSHIP
The 2005 Breakfast of Champions was co-sponsored by the following powersports industry leaders. Yamaha, Xtreme Motor Co. , Western Power Sports, Warn Industries, Works Enduro Rider, Husaberg North America, Tucker Rocky, Powersports Business magazine, Trail Rider magazine, Suzuki, Scorpion Exo, Scott USA, Honda, Polaris Industries, Parts Unlimited, Motorcycle Stuff, Motorcycle Product News, Motion Pro, Mikuni, MIC/SVIA, KTM, Kawasaki, Fairchild Sports, Impact Video, EBC Brakes, Fox Racing, DealerNews magazine, California Motorcycle Dealers Assn., SixSixOne, Southern Motorcycle Supply, FMF, Cycle News and Clear Channel Entertainment.
For more information about BlueRibbon Coalition, and the 2005 Breakfast of Champions, contact Clark Collins, at 208/237-1008 ext. 107, or visit www.sharetrails.org
