Ducati comes to Grandview

Just a few words before too much time passes from Tuesday night, 6/24/08. I must say that I was absolutely blown away by how the whole evening came off. The good news, the folks from Ducati said they had a great time and will be back. I already look forward with great anticipation to that happening.

Speaking of those folks, I can’t say enough good things about the trio from Ducati. Elliot Cho, thank you so much! Elliot is the Ducati representative that helped make this night happen. He was such a pleasure to work with and I look forward to the time when we can get together again. Bobby and Danni Reidel (hope I spelled that last name right, never did get a business card from you); What a great, great couple! They brought the Duc Truck and were responsible for the amazing setup on the lot of Spencer Research. They were both so very nice and worked so hard to make sure all of you had a good time. They were an absolute joy to talk to and made the night incredibly special for me personally and hopefully all of you. Thank you, guys!

I also want to thank Bruce Ridenour of Motohio for being so instrumental in pulling this thing off. I really feel like Grandview Euro Bike Night took a major step forward thanks to Bruce. Problem is, we really set the bar high on Tuesday so we have a lot of work to do now to keep this thing rolling. What a great problem to have. A big thank you to all of the other guys from Motohio that give of their time to come out and join us as well. I appreciate you guys being there. Last but not least, a huge thanks to Mike Allen, the new owner of Motohio for his continued support of Grandview Euro Bike Night. I look forward to working with you in the future on our continued success. Mike and his family attended Tuesday’s event and have very quickly convinced me that Motohio is in great hands. They are a wonderful family and I’m enjoying getting to know them.

Now, about that Hypermotard. Folks, I’ll be honest with you, when I learned Ducati was coming with the Duc Truck and that they would only be bringing Hypermotards I was only slightly disappointed for selfish reasons. I knew it would be a great event but I thought to myself that I’d never really have much interest in a motorcycle like that. Well, I guess that’s why they have these demo days… for suckers like me. I was thunderstruck by that bike! I do have a birthday coming up in July so if you all want to go in on a present, well… ok, fat chance I know, but it certainly is on my wish list now. That bike has it all. Their website could not say it better… “Two wheels, one purpose – to thrill”. It does all that and more. I was very impressed with the power, the sound, the riding position, the handling. You name it, I liked it! UnfortunateIy, I had to lead all three demo rides and it left me little time to mingle and socialize with the many wonderful people I’ve met since we got Grandview Euro Bike Night off the ground. The good news, though, was that I got to lead all three demo rides giving me lots of time on that bike. I’m no motorcycle review expert but those that are seem to agree with me so you don’t just have to take my word for it in case you didn’t get to ride one. If you were fortunate enough to go on a demo ride then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Tuesday was by far our biggest night ever. Some estimate there may have been upwards of 250 motorcycles and scooters attending. That is thrilling to me and the many comments I’ve received from some of you expressing how much fun you had are appreciated. I’m also hearing there were a number of people from outside the Columbus area who joined us. I’d love to hear from you to get your feedback and find out where you rode in from. It has been my goal to see this event grow and Tuesday was a thing of beauty to me. The weather was perfect and things really came together without a hitch.

One more huge show of appreciation goes to George Maynard, owner of Spencer Research. George allowed us to use his parking lot for a staging area for the demo rides and the setup was fantastic thanks to him. Thanks bunches, George!

I still feel like a kid in a candy store even now just thinking about Tuesday and can’t quit smiling. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did planning it for you. I’m pretty sure Steve had a good time with all this too.

We’re already throwing some other ideas together for the rest of this year and beyond so stay tuned.

Ok, so it was more than a few words. Hope to see you all tomorrow at our special edition of Grandview Euro Bike Night at the Arlington Bank.

Mike