Oil Drippings: News and Opinion

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

Spending some time on Saturday morning cleaning out the e-mailbox and wondering…

– What’s the point? A press release from the Concours Owners Group (COG) that arrived shortly before sunrise today contains info on the dates and location of the club’s 2014 national rally. The event has been dubbed the “Silverdammit National Rally” and will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the organization.

The release says “the event location has been a closely guarded secret” and that it will be revealed on Aug. 29 during an awards banquet at this year’s national rally in Idaho Falls, ID. The email from Vic Salisbury, COG Industry Liaison, then requests that the press release not be used until Sept. 1 – three days later. Huh?

That’s not the way the news business works. Once info like this gets revealed at a public setting such as an awards banquet, it’s fair game to use. Given the absolute idiocy of the request, I’m almost tempted to print the details now. Almost.

Update: Neglected to provide a link to COGs website, an oversight now corrected. Also, RIDE-CT.com’s Steve Smith, who is very active in COG, reports that the press release was due to go out much, much earlier and that the Sept. 1 embargo was designed to keep the secret info from appearing in August editions of motorcycle magazines. Makes sense, I guess.  But it could have been changed when the release actually went out.

– Can the volume get turned any higher? Harley-Davidson sent out a press release this week stating that “MILWAUKEE IS READY TO ROCK!” and declared that “Everything’s ready for America’s biggest party of the year – the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary celebration in Milwaukee of Labor Day Weekend.”

It continued:

“The Milwaukee party is the culmination of a year-long, global celebration that has rocked 11 countries on six different continents, where Harley-Davidson has celebrated with fans united by a common bond and shared passion for freedom, self-expression and adventure. In the past year, Harley-Davidson employees, dealers and riders have shared thousands of amazing experiences, including a ride through the Tibetan Plateau in China, a parade along the beaches of Sao Paulo and even a Papal blessing.

 “’It’s been an amazing ride around the world for our 110^th. And, now we’re bringing the party home,’ said Harley-Davidson Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Mark-Hans Richer. ‘What better way to cap off this year-long adventure than by hosting the biggest party in America over Labor Day weekend, right here in our hometown with thousands of our family and friends? It’s going to be epic.’”

And so it shall…

More to read:

– If you’re planning on attending Harley-Davidson’s 110th anniversary bash in Milwaukee next weekend and haven’t booked a room, well, good luck. WISN.com has a story on dwindling room availability here.

 

– From Canada, the RCMP have released a video of a motorcyclist hitting a black bear while going 140 kilometers per hour. Neither the biker nor the bear were seriously hurt. See the video here.