WEBVTT

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Robin Dean: In this episode, Mission Rights, Chest Protection, and the Blackbird.

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Brian Wringer: Opening announcements, news, corrections, banter. Robin, what you got?

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Brian Wringer: We got some news here. Let's talk news.

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Robin Dean: Off the cuff here, all of these come from MotorcycleNews.com.

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Robin Dean: So big shout out to them and thanks.

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Robin Dean: The UK government has published the latest transport strategy.

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Robin Dean: The MCN's piece says the new UK transport strategy focuses on road reliability

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Robin Dean: and pothole repair, with implications for everyday and long-distance road riders

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Robin Dean: rather than off-road or ADV use.

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Robin Dean: For sport touring riders, the main takeaway is simple.

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Robin Dean: Smoother roads and more predictable travel conditions matter more than flashy

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Robin Dean: policy language, especially for riders covering serious mileage on fast A roads

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Robin Dean: and motorways. So shout out to the UK.

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Robin Dean: Good on you. This next one's also for the UK. Brian, you got anything you want to add to that?

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Brian Wringer: They need to come over here and inject a little good sense into the US.

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Brian Wringer: But I'm sitting here in Pothole City, let me tell you.

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Robin Dean: MCN also says, UK fuel prices. This is a rider impact story.

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Brian Wringer: That's everywhere.

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Robin Dean: Everybody's got fuel prices. It's directly relevant to sport touring because

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Robin Dean: fuel cost changes hit long-distance road riders first.

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Robin Dean: MCN rounds up reader reactions to higher UK pump prices and frames the issue

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Robin Dean: in practical terms. route planning, trip frequencies, and the day-to-day cost

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Robin Dean: of staying on the road are all getting more attention.

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Brian Wringer: One thing I'll add to that is that fuel prices go up, but a lot of bikes,

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Brian Wringer: including mine, and I think including your Suzuki, take premium.

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Brian Wringer: When the prices on premium go up even faster than normal gas,

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Brian Wringer: and it's really freaking annoying.

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Robin Dean: Yeah, although yesterday I put some recreational fuel into my bike in,

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Robin Dean: you know the place, Winston, New Mexico.

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Robin Dean: Old school pump with the rotating dial.

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Brian Wringer: Yeah, you want gas, punk? This is gas. Take it or leave it. Oh,

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Brian Wringer: and leave it's 50 miles away. Yeah.

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Robin Dean: Carto unveils Beyond GT and GTS smart helmets.

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Robin Dean: This is the closest current week tech item I could justify for sport touring

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Robin Dean: riders, though it was updated on April 20th of 2026 and originally published earlier.

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Robin Dean: But check that out. So Carto's unveiling the Beyond GTS and GTS smart helmets.

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Brian Wringer: Yeah, and there's some really interesting ideas in these helmets.

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Brian Wringer: I mean, there's nothing about how they fit or what quality they are and things like that.

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Brian Wringer: But yeah, noise canceling, crash detection, brake light built into the helmet.

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Brian Wringer: So there's a lot of really interesting ideas in these. And I'm sure they're

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Brian Wringer: incompatible with anything that Senna makes.

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Robin Dean: Including some of their own earlier models.

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Brian Wringer: Yeah. Oh, everybody buy a brand new helmet so we can ride together.

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Robin Dean: I'm still firmly into the modular build of anything of this nature.

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Robin Dean: Buy the small component that works with the other small component.

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Robin Dean: And build out what you need.

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Brian Wringer: Yeah, Radio Shack, walkie-talkies, deconstruct, you know. What's been going

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Brian Wringer: on, Robin? You been riding much?

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Robin Dean: I rode yesterday to the end of 59, which was,

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Robin Dean: an outstanding day. During this ride, a friend brought out his Hypermotard Ducati.

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Brian Wringer: Nice.

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Robin Dean: Had mentioned to me before that his tires need to be replaced.

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Robin Dean: I was like, oh yeah, what'd you get some flat spots? He's like,

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Robin Dean: no, they're only worn on the right side and the left side.

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Robin Dean: I was like, what are you, what are you doing?

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Robin Dean: I finally take the time to take a look at these things. I said out loud,

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Robin Dean: I was like, is the center compound that divided and pronounced from the softer

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Robin Dean: compound, the response, that is a single compound tire.

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Robin Dean: This doesn't make any sense to me.

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Brian Wringer: Welcome to New Mexico. Okay.

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Robin Dean: Because the gas tank on that bike is so small, he puts it into the back of a

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Robin Dean: van, rides it to the beginning of the road that shall not be named,

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Robin Dean: only rides it on that road, brings it back, rides it back up into the back of

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Robin Dean: the van and takes it home.

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Robin Dean: As a result, there's not enough straight road for it to like grind down the

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Robin Dean: center tread, which I thought was hilarious.

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Robin Dean: I've never seen that before. I thought it was worth mentioning.

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Brian Wringer: I like the cut of a jib here. I like that.

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Robin Dean: Not to be dark. I am celebrating my brother's birthday today,

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Robin Dean: which is going to lead to, Brian came up with an excellent discussion topic for this round.

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Robin Dean: And the timing is kind of crazy to me.

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Robin Dean: So honoring my brother, William Monroe Dean, who passed just shy of a decade ago.

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Robin Dean: There's been much talk of riding an Iron Butt rally lately among friends,

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Robin Dean: something I've attempted twice unsuccessfully.

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Robin Dean: And who cares? What matters is the attempt.

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Robin Dean: Bill, my older brother, was the first go of it, and Sergeant Jeffrey David Pate,

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Robin Dean: my youngest brother, who's actually still nine years older than me, was my second go of it.

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Robin Dean: If you'd like to read more on such matters, hit tiara.bike, search for Iron

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Robin Dean: Butt, or visit tr.bike forward slash question mark P equals 21297.

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Robin Dean: Random songs of the minute.

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Robin Dean: And if you go to radio.tro.bike in your web browser, you'll see all of our random

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Robin Dean: songs in a minute, including Brian's or Brian singular.

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Brian Wringer: I need to come up with some, huh? Okay.

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Robin Dean: You're a musician by my trade. So before the ride, and I know this is a throwback,

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Robin Dean: I tried to keep things hip and trendy and up to date, but I got to go backwards on this one.

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Robin Dean: Before the ride, Super Unknown by Soundgarden.

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Robin Dean: I realize that's a throwback, but I love that tune and it's a great riding song. Go look up the lyrics.

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Robin Dean: After the ride, there's a song called Road Bone by Willie Porter.

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Robin Dean: I think I said yesterday that it sounded to me like a combination of folk and flamenco.

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Brian Wringer: And a dash of polka along with some heavy metal.

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Robin Dean: Well, if you watch this guy's finger picking, it just screams flamenco style guitar playing.

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Robin Dean: Yet it's bluegrass driven. It's a beautiful song. Check it out.

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Brian Wringer: I'll contribute one since we're doing a throwback.

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Brian Wringer: It's a Tiny Desk concert. but look up the one from Cranberries.

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Brian Wringer: It's just a really beautiful moment with Dolores Rorden or something like that

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Brian Wringer: and there's so many of those in the Tiny Desk concerts. I'll get some more in here.

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Robin Dean: Last time I talked about some new updated rebuilds of animated GIF images that

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Robin Dean: show things like two-stroke combustion and four-stroke combustion and I found

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Robin Dean: another one that just popped up in my feed that shows the difference between

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Robin Dean: under square versus over square and how that relates to torque, efficiency, and speed.

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Brian Wringer: Okay. This is what people are talking about when they talk about undersquare,

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Brian Wringer: square, over square engines. So, yeah.

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Robin Dean: Undersquare is the taller stroke?

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Brian Wringer: The diameter is less than the stroke.

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Robin Dean: Okay. So the stroke is longer than the width of the cylinder.

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Robin Dean: It's taller than it is wide. The distance that the piston can move is taller

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Robin Dean: than the width of the cylinder.

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Robin Dean: That is undersquare.

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Brian Wringer: It tends to give you more torque and less RPM, less speed.

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Robin Dean: So I've been saying that backwards for years.

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Brian Wringer: Oh, okay.

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Robin Dean: Humility is a bitch.

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Brian Wringer: Yeah, and then over square, the piston is wider than, and they show an exaggerated

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Brian Wringer: example of each, but the piston is wider than the travel.

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Brian Wringer: So it can move very fast. So you can get high RPM and get a lot of power that

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Brian Wringer: way, but it can be very peaky.

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Brian Wringer: And you can also have issues with getting the

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Brian Wringer: cylinder evacuated so you can have emissions issues you know it's like anything

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Brian Wringer: else in engineering there's a lot of trade-offs and a lot of them are not real

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Brian Wringer: intuitive but yeah most engines now tend to cluster somewhere close to square

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Brian Wringer: where the stroke is pretty close to the diameter of the piston very.

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Robin Dean: Nice hey how are you brian

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Brian Wringer: I'm good yeah just got back from uh ohio you know i was an exhibitor at a trade

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Brian Wringer: show So I'm not a natural extrovert. I'm not a natural salesperson.

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Brian Wringer: And I would like to spend a few days in a quiet, dark room with a book and not talk to anybody. Yeah.

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Robin Dean: It says the podcast co-host.

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Brian Wringer: Yeah. Yeah. This is recharging. The podcast is reinvigorating.

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Brian Wringer: So that's good. I'm glad we're here.

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Brian Wringer: You talk to people, get in front of people and you never know what's going to happen. You just got to,

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Brian Wringer: being there and being in front of people. I have a conference coming up in Madison, Wisconsin.

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Brian Wringer: I'm going to bring my wife, Marge, with me this time, and definitely getting

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Brian Wringer: in touch with the one and the only Travatron, Travis, and get some advice from him.

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Brian Wringer: The one nice thing about these conferences, they do have, they had some really good bourbon.

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Robin Dean: Brian Ringer will be in Madison, Wisconsin in May, and being the extrovert that

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Robin Dean: he is, all of you should insist on hanging out with

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Brian Wringer: Him my.

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Robin Dean: Work here is done post

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Brian Wringer: Being a subaru not a not you know

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Brian Wringer: i gotta carry all my exhibit crap and another piece

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Brian Wringer: of news there's a bridgestone rebate through may 31st 2026 there's usually a

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Brian Wringer: spring and a fall rebate on bridgestone and there's usually a spring rebate

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Brian Wringer: on michelin it varies a lot it covers a lot of tires for our interests like

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Brian Wringer: the bridgestone s23 and the t32 touring tire.

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Brian Wringer: You can get a $60 rebate on those. So if you're thinking about tires,

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Brian Wringer: it's about time for new shoes. Check it out.

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Brian Wringer: We keep the road rubber watch updated on TRO.bike. Click DigiTools and look for the rubber watch.

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Brian Wringer: Current pricing for a lot of different sport touring rubber in specific sizes.

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Brian Wringer: There's also like a little, there's something, there's some kind of Michelin

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Brian Wringer: rebate happening right now.

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Brian Wringer: The interesting thing about that is the road six is not

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Brian Wringer: on the rebate list i guess they're selling

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Brian Wringer: well and people just pay what it takes for those whatever but a lot of people

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Brian Wringer: prefer the road four or the road five and those are getting a repeat pilot road

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Brian Wringer: too you're gonna you're gonna go all the way back i want the 2001 pilot road

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Brian Wringer: two people do there are people like that yeah bang.

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Robin Dean: For the buck style the two best tires i've ever used by michelin were the pilot

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Robin Dean: road two which lasted the longest and handled fantastic then they dropped the

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Robin Dean: p and And then I had the Rode 5, which, while pricier, I found to be worth it.

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Robin Dean: Yeah, I loved the Rode 5. Then the R6 came out, and...

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Brian Wringer: You're not a fan, huh? I don't know.

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Robin Dean: There's no reason for them to be that pricey. They are not worth the money.

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Brian Wringer: They're on par with like Dunlop pricing now. You know, I mean,

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Brian Wringer: Dunlop and Metzler have stepped up and over.

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Robin Dean: There must be something happening internally.

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Brian Wringer: 500 bucks. My God.

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Robin Dean: Like there's, it's gotta be internal.

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Brian Wringer: Maybe I should do a deep dive research, but yeah, there's only a couple of motorcycle tire companies.

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Brian Wringer: Metzler and Pirelli and several others are the same company.

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Brian Wringer: And Bridgestone, all the Japanese tire companies.

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Brian Wringer: There's been a lot of consolidation. So I think a lot of those have,

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Brian Wringer: I think Michelin's still on

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Brian Wringer: its own, but a lot of these brands are basically under one umbrella now.

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Brian Wringer: You know, it makes some weird stuff happen. Tire's expensive, rawr.

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Brian Wringer: But we're going to wear them out anyway, damn it. Next up, questions from the wild.

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Brian Wringer: First off, if you'd like us to field your questions, visit email.tro.bike in

00:13:25.155 --> 00:13:29.235
Brian Wringer: your web browser and place electronical messages into our brains.

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Brian Wringer: So these are questions from the wild, and we're going to do something a little

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Brian Wringer: different. We're going to do a lightning round here. We've got five or six of them lined up here.

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Robin Dean: That'll put us on segment one perfectly. I love this. Okay. Yeah.

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Brian Wringer: And so we've got 30 second limit. So you got up to 30 seconds, shut the hell up.

00:13:45.315 --> 00:13:47.815
Brian Wringer: And then the other guy, and then the other respondent.

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Robin Dean: We get the timer going. Go on.

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Brian Wringer: All right. The first question, TW asks, I just bought my first dual sport bike.

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Brian Wringer: Am I rolling around looking like a dork wearing my street helmet?

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Robin Dean: All right, you ready to go?

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Brian Wringer: Yeah, I'm ready to go.

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Brian Wringer: My answer is no. Run what you brung. Wear your street helmet proudly. No one gives a crap.

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Robin Dean: My answer is be safe. Enjoy your bike. You'll figure out other things as the

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Robin Dean: time goes on. What's next?

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Brian Wringer: That was very lightning. All right.

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Robin Dean: You and I have 30 seconds combined.

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Brian Wringer: Fine. Be that way.

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Robin Dean: HM asks, I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was five. Will I get kicked out

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Robin Dean: of the MSF class? That really depends.

00:14:26.425 --> 00:14:30.685
Robin Dean: Can you ride a bike? Go get on a bike, ride it, see how you feel on it.

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Robin Dean: If you can ride a bicycle, then you will probably not get kicked out of the MSF class. Brian?

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Brian Wringer: What Robin said because he's actually an instructor. I don't know.

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Robin Dean: What's the next one? Your turn.

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Brian Wringer: TT asks, I keep seeing Honda Rebels pop up for sale on the face balls.

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Brian Wringer: Should I buy one? If a Honda Rebel is that which you desire,

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Brian Wringer: then buy it and ride it proudly.

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Brian Wringer: If you're just buying it because that's what you took the MSF course on and

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Brian Wringer: you feel safe on that, eh, but they're good bikes. They're fine.

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Brian Wringer: You can always sell it later on.

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Robin Dean: And also, if you already ride in or a tinkerer, why not get one and see what

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Robin Dean: you can do with it just because it's there on the cheap. Go for it.

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Brian Wringer: Nice.

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Robin Dean: That was down to the wire on that one. We made it, though. Okay, next one.

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Robin Dean: RR asks, I'm returning to riding and protective gear seems pretty amazing now.

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Robin Dean: Does all that stuff actually work? Does it make you more reckless?

00:15:20.945 --> 00:15:23.605
Robin Dean: That is a good Joanne question, too, as Brian has made note of.

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Robin Dean: Here we go, and I'm off. Boom.

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Robin Dean: Whether or not it makes you more reckless is up to you. Don't be more reckless.

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Robin Dean: Do feel safer and do feel more protected. Yes, that gear works.

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Robin Dean: Or mostly works? Read the reviews. Find out what works better.

00:15:38.185 --> 00:15:40.265
Robin Dean: Find out what works best. Buy that stuff. Brian?

00:15:40.665 --> 00:15:44.825
Brian Wringer: Yeah, as a crash survivor, yes, that stuff works like you wouldn't believe.

00:15:45.085 --> 00:15:49.905
Brian Wringer: I have astonished EMTs and orthopedic surgeons more than I'd like to.

00:15:50.291 --> 00:15:52.291
Robin Dean: Good answer. Good answer. You're up. LK.

00:15:52.551 --> 00:15:59.131
Brian Wringer: This is a weird one. LK asks, dude, should I get a Suzuki Hayabusa or a Triumph Rocket 3?

00:15:59.671 --> 00:16:00.211
Robin Dean: And go.

00:16:00.531 --> 00:16:05.571
Brian Wringer: That's a loaded question. If you ask me, I would get the Suzuki Hayabusa if

00:16:05.571 --> 00:16:10.411
Brian Wringer: you want warp speed, but the Hayabusa can actually go places and go around corners.

00:16:10.631 --> 00:16:14.551
Brian Wringer: The Triumph Rocket 3, I've ridden one. It is a ridiculous bike.

00:16:14.991 --> 00:16:17.371
Brian Wringer: All you get is the warp speed. You don't get the cornering.

00:16:17.831 --> 00:16:20.711
Robin Dean: Having ridden a Hayabusa and not having ridden a Triumph Rocket 3,

00:16:20.871 --> 00:16:24.191
Robin Dean: I'll agree with Brian on the Hayabusa because you can actually tour that bike.

00:16:24.331 --> 00:16:26.691
Robin Dean: You can kit it out. It's fairly comfortable. The pegs are a little bit high,

00:16:26.771 --> 00:16:27.711
Robin Dean: but otherwise you're good. End it.

00:16:28.711 --> 00:16:32.271
Robin Dean: Like, this is fun. All right. Last one. Are we ready?

00:16:32.891 --> 00:16:33.511
Brian Wringer: I'm ready.

00:16:34.171 --> 00:16:38.591
Robin Dean: CZ asks, I'm about 290 pounds and 6 feet tall. Hold on.

00:16:39.791 --> 00:16:43.391
Robin Dean: 290 pounds and 6 feet tall. Should I get a Honda Grom?

00:16:43.391 --> 00:16:48.611
Robin Dean: And yes you absolutely should especially if you're a carny but even if you're

00:16:48.611 --> 00:16:53.191
Robin Dean: not a carny the answer is yes i insist it might confuse people are you riding

00:16:53.191 --> 00:16:57.451
Robin Dean: or taking a shit but either way you should get one brian i

00:16:57.451 --> 00:17:00.291
Brian Wringer: Think you should not get a honda grom you should get a honda monkey.

00:17:00.291 --> 00:17:03.331
Robin Dean: I don't even know if you've met tim have you met tim i

00:17:03.331 --> 00:17:05.951
Brian Wringer: Only know is tim had or has a honda monkey,

00:17:08.313 --> 00:17:12.673
Brian Wringer: And this guy should totally get one of those. Not the Grom, get the monkey.

00:17:13.213 --> 00:17:17.813
Robin Dean: Again, if you'd like us to field your questions, visit email.tro.bike in your

00:17:17.813 --> 00:17:19.573
Robin Dean: web browser and send us a message.

00:17:19.893 --> 00:17:24.673
Brian Wringer: And let us know if you'd like a speed round answer or an actual thoughtful answer.

00:17:25.013 --> 00:17:26.193
Robin Dean: The show is yours, Brian.

00:17:26.593 --> 00:17:29.073
Brian Wringer: What are we talking about today? Now, I've got a lot of titles here,

00:17:29.313 --> 00:17:31.433
Brian Wringer: so we'll just talk about this.

00:17:31.713 --> 00:17:34.973
Brian Wringer: So the segment today, the topic today, is motorcycling on a mission.

00:17:35.353 --> 00:17:40.353
Brian Wringer: Now, some of my alternate titles were riding for a reason. That sounded a little whatever.

00:17:40.953 --> 00:17:44.553
Brian Wringer: More than a feeling. I kind of like that, especially if you're riding around Boston.

00:17:45.033 --> 00:17:49.033
Brian Wringer: Mission motorcycling, vibe riding, although that may be misunderstood.

00:17:49.333 --> 00:17:52.893
Brian Wringer: But the point is, most of the time when you go out for a ride,

00:17:53.033 --> 00:17:56.133
Brian Wringer: it's just because, damn it, I want to go for a ride. And that's good enough.

00:17:56.233 --> 00:17:57.313
Brian Wringer: That's enough reason right there.

00:17:57.593 --> 00:18:00.953
Brian Wringer: We don't need to justify this to anybody. But a lot of times,

00:18:01.093 --> 00:18:05.753
Brian Wringer: I think having some reason, some other reason or some structure can be a lot

00:18:05.753 --> 00:18:08.033
Brian Wringer: of fun. It can make a ride really meaningful.

00:18:08.353 --> 00:18:12.313
Brian Wringer: You can do a favor for someone or it can be a way to just like,

00:18:12.413 --> 00:18:15.633
Brian Wringer: I'm really bored and I don't know what to do, how to structure it.

00:18:15.673 --> 00:18:18.753
Brian Wringer: So it's going to be a way to think about what's your mission for your,

00:18:18.973 --> 00:18:22.153
Brian Wringer: for that day on the motorcycle. There's a lot of ways to spend this.

00:18:22.413 --> 00:18:25.913
Robin Dean: And I was just mentioning before, I'm celebrating my brother's birthday.

00:18:26.093 --> 00:18:30.233
Robin Dean: I'm not doing a memoriam. I'm celebrating his life as it were.

00:18:30.393 --> 00:18:33.313
Robin Dean: And when I found out that he was no longer among the living,

00:18:33.493 --> 00:18:39.453
Robin Dean: I decided to get on my, at that point, brand new BMW R 1200 RS.

00:18:39.453 --> 00:18:44.913
Robin Dean: I make my first ever attempted iron, but had no idea what I was in store for. Didn't make it, but

00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:51.680
Robin Dean: gave me a dual sense of purpose. I was rising to my own self-imposed challenges

00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:56.300
Robin Dean: to go do what needed to be done and maybe have a little bit of a side adventure

00:18:56.300 --> 00:19:00.460
Robin Dean: along the way while thinking about the reason I'm doing it,

00:19:00.600 --> 00:19:03.180
Robin Dean: thinking about the person I'm doing this in memory of.

00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:08.260
Robin Dean: It all kind of gels well when you do something like that, I've found. We all suffer loss.

00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:15.060
Robin Dean: Do with that whatever you can that is positive for you so that the memory stands strong.

00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:21.340
Robin Dean: Okay, that's just one very segmented compartmentalization of what can be made of this.

00:19:21.540 --> 00:19:24.740
Robin Dean: But even then, like I'm looking for a place to stay, possibly either Louisville

00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:27.660
Robin Dean: or in Indiana or in Farmington, Missouri.

00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:33.600
Robin Dean: I may need Brian to go accidentally take the longest way there as a favor to me.

00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:37.520
Robin Dean: I'm sorry to trouble you, but I'm going to need you to maybe take a day.

00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:39.240
Brian Wringer: Sounds horrible. Ow, ow, ow, ow.

00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:41.820
Robin Dean: I get by with a little help from my friends.

00:19:42.260 --> 00:19:45.900
Brian Wringer: Yeah, we all do. Yeah, we'll need to have a great conversation about,

00:19:46.020 --> 00:19:47.480
Brian Wringer: okay, how sketchy do you want?

00:19:47.760 --> 00:19:51.280
Brian Wringer: Because you want a certain degree of sketchiness, right? No.

00:19:53.820 --> 00:20:00.200
Brian Wringer: You don't want like a Bible camp, but you don't want everybody running around

00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:04.280
Brian Wringer: with their dog on a string behind an ATV and drinking Budweiser.

00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:07.380
Robin Dean: No. Yeah, no Michelob Ultra.

00:20:07.760 --> 00:20:10.400
Brian Wringer: You want some peace and quiet. You know, that kind of thing.

00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:13.300
Brian Wringer: And you want some people that are going to be happy to see you,

00:20:13.520 --> 00:20:14.340
Brian Wringer: facilities and so forth.

00:20:14.520 --> 00:20:17.100
Brian Wringer: So yeah, we're going to have to have a fun conversation about what are you looking

00:20:17.100 --> 00:20:20.160
Brian Wringer: for? Because I don't know anything about this other than, yeah,

00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.460
Brian Wringer: you look around, does this look like a dump or is it?

00:20:22.780 --> 00:20:27.620
Brian Wringer: So let's have the conversation and pick out some spots and pick out some interesting

00:20:27.620 --> 00:20:29.460
Brian Wringer: ways to get there. And it'll be kind of fun.

00:20:29.860 --> 00:20:33.820
Robin Dean: What is realistic versus what's not and build a plan and have some fun on the bike.

00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:36.740
Robin Dean: It's really about the ride and an excuse to, is this place maintained?

00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:38.640
Robin Dean: Cool. I was here for five seconds. I'm out. Poof.

00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:41.000
Brian Wringer: Yeah, it's about excuses sometimes.

00:20:41.580 --> 00:20:44.420
Robin Dean: Another one is validation of a route.

00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:49.340
Robin Dean: If you arrive in a place that you decided to be at because you knew that you

00:20:49.340 --> 00:20:53.080
Robin Dean: saw roads that might be worth riding, you arrive.

00:20:53.320 --> 00:20:56.440
Robin Dean: You have a plan. I go to this road.

00:20:56.540 --> 00:21:01.680
Robin Dean: I want to experience it. I want to take in the scenery. I want to enjoy it. I planned.

00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:11.400
Robin Dean: I showed up. I threw a leg over. I scouted and I came back with a list of gotta do this again-isms.

00:21:11.860 --> 00:21:18.540
Robin Dean: That is in and of itself a rewarding mission accomplished situation. You got all of it.

00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:23.420
Robin Dean: You're providing for the writing community, be them friends or online,

00:21:23.660 --> 00:21:25.180
Robin Dean: or you just want to write about it.

00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:28.000
Robin Dean: And you've gotten a good writing. You probably had a good meal.

00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:30.400
Robin Dean: You probably had some nice lodging. You figured it out.

00:21:30.780 --> 00:21:35.740
Robin Dean: Guess what now you know and now you can come back when nobody's there and just own it yeah

00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:37.460
Brian Wringer: And you can make whatever tweaks or like

00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:40.799
Brian Wringer: I'll give an example. I was doing some scouting in Kentucky,

00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.799
Brian Wringer: and I had planned out some really, really nice-looking roads.

00:21:43.939 --> 00:21:45.019
Brian Wringer: At least they look good on a map.

00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:49.439
Brian Wringer: What I failed to realize at the time was they go really close to a lake.

00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:54.139
Brian Wringer: Lakes are full of people in trucks towing boats around really, really slow.

00:21:54.419 --> 00:21:57.939
Brian Wringer: And, you know, I was like, that was dumb. I knew better than that.

00:21:57.939 --> 00:21:58.759
Robin Dean: Chucking beer cans, yeah.

00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:02.179
Brian Wringer: Yeah, yeah. So you got to watch things like that.

00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:05.739
Brian Wringer: And then a lot of times, I kind of do this. there's

00:22:05.739 --> 00:22:08.519
Brian Wringer: some guys i ride with a lot a couple times a

00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:11.399
Brian Wringer: month probably and even though

00:22:11.399 --> 00:22:14.279
Brian Wringer: i have stomped southern indiana flat i still

00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:17.979
Brian Wringer: wander and take random turns and try and and they're just happy to be there

00:22:17.979 --> 00:22:21.879
Brian Wringer: you know they're just really chill i have no idea where they are they get lost

00:22:21.879 --> 00:22:25.159
Brian Wringer: instantly and they're just happy to i'm like oh that was new this year yeah

00:22:25.159 --> 00:22:29.459
Brian Wringer: well we were there and five years ago but just sat wandering around with a purpose

00:22:29.459 --> 00:22:32.319
Brian Wringer: i know they're having a great time and I'm having a good time.

00:22:32.479 --> 00:22:36.019
Brian Wringer: I'm learning, you know, learning some new stuff like, oh, well, this turns to gravel.

00:22:36.199 --> 00:22:39.999
Brian Wringer: I guess we'll come back on the KLRs, that kind of thing. So that kind of mission is always fun.

00:22:41.208 --> 00:22:44.968
Robin Dean: If we time this right, we will discuss some of the places I was looking at and

00:22:44.968 --> 00:22:47.008
Robin Dean: see if that feeds into any of this as well.

00:22:47.528 --> 00:22:47.768
Brian Wringer: Nice.

00:22:48.248 --> 00:22:52.588
Robin Dean: You know, Brian wrote a fantastic article on this. It's in the Brian Ringer

00:22:52.588 --> 00:22:57.008
Robin Dean: article section of TRO.bike, Finding Fun Roads in the Flatlands.

00:22:57.368 --> 00:23:01.308
Robin Dean: TRO.bike forward slash motorcycle touring forward slash find twisty roads.

00:23:01.568 --> 00:23:04.668
Robin Dean: This one contains a lot of tips and ideas for locating the good stuff,

00:23:04.848 --> 00:23:09.888
Robin Dean: even in a curved desert, and can be a great way to build a day or a week or

00:23:09.888 --> 00:23:11.108
Robin Dean: ride around a central mission.

00:23:11.208 --> 00:23:15.468
Robin Dean: Now, I initially asked him this because I needed to get through Indiana without going insane.

00:23:15.668 --> 00:23:19.048
Robin Dean: And he's like, you know, basically put on your Mayberry cap and start fiddling

00:23:19.048 --> 00:23:20.648
Robin Dean: about finding the interesting neon signs.

00:23:20.908 --> 00:23:24.328
Robin Dean: And now and then there'll be a curve or two that pops up. I know that we got

00:23:24.328 --> 00:23:27.548
Robin Dean: crafty in northern Illinois when we were in Libertyville.

00:23:27.748 --> 00:23:31.268
Robin Dean: And there's a route up there that was like called Roll Your Own Twisties.

00:23:31.428 --> 00:23:36.188
Robin Dean: And basically it's an excellent route, but it's probably the only route that

00:23:36.188 --> 00:23:38.168
Robin Dean: won't have high traffic on it.

00:23:38.168 --> 00:23:42.768
Brian Wringer: Something I would like to do someday, and I don't know if I'll ever have the time,

00:23:42.948 --> 00:23:48.888
Brian Wringer: but is take about a week in Missouri or Wisconsin and see just how rude and

00:23:48.888 --> 00:23:53.788
Brian Wringer: nasty I can, how many bad words I can string together out of the letter roads.

00:23:53.988 --> 00:23:58.868
Brian Wringer: You know, because like there's, you know, F intersect with U and then is U intersect with C.

00:23:59.208 --> 00:24:02.748
Brian Wringer: And then, you know, and then if there's Y and I know there's O and then,

00:24:02.748 --> 00:24:08.008
Brian Wringer: and then I think there's a W. you, you know, dumb crap like that would be a lot of fun. Just

00:24:08.395 --> 00:24:12.475
Brian Wringer: I would love to do that sometime. And one thing we did, like on the way to Missouri,

00:24:12.475 --> 00:24:16.355
Brian Wringer: I think this was last year or the year before, we kind of went through an area

00:24:16.355 --> 00:24:19.495
Brian Wringer: of Southern Indiana where I've got a lot of history, where a lot of my family is from.

00:24:19.835 --> 00:24:22.815
Brian Wringer: Like we passed by where my mom was buried. So we stopped and,

00:24:22.935 --> 00:24:25.955
Brian Wringer: you know, we had a little visit, had a little conversation.

00:24:25.995 --> 00:24:29.415
Brian Wringer: I think connecting with your personal stuff, yeah, that kind of thing matters.

00:24:30.035 --> 00:24:33.155
Brian Wringer: What I think is really interesting is I've been in that area since I was a little,

00:24:33.355 --> 00:24:35.835
Brian Wringer: you know, since I was a baby off and on.

00:24:35.995 --> 00:24:39.995
Brian Wringer: I've never lived there. A few years ago, I was in the area, and it actually

00:24:39.995 --> 00:24:44.355
Brian Wringer: took me a while to find where my grandma used to live because I had like a five-year-old's

00:24:44.355 --> 00:24:47.155
Brian Wringer: memory of the roads and how we got there.

00:24:47.535 --> 00:24:50.255
Brian Wringer: So that kind of thing can be, I don't know, it can be interesting.

00:24:50.255 --> 00:24:51.995
Brian Wringer: It can be a way to connect, that kind of thing.

00:24:52.575 --> 00:24:54.135
Brian Wringer: Different people could put together

00:24:54.135 --> 00:24:58.135
Brian Wringer: other ways, you know, visit where your ancestors landed in the U.S.

00:24:58.255 --> 00:25:01.655
Brian Wringer: Visit, like in North Carolina, Tennessee, there's a lot of history,

00:25:01.795 --> 00:25:05.355
Brian Wringer: Trail of Tears, a lot of Civil War history. Be some pretty interesting stuff.

00:25:05.355 --> 00:25:09.415
Robin Dean: I also saw your notes in here that point to bourbon in Kentucky,

00:25:09.415 --> 00:25:11.215
Robin Dean: which I've been waiting to get to.

00:25:11.595 --> 00:25:12.295
Brian Wringer: Here's the dealio.

00:25:12.615 --> 00:25:18.395
Robin Dean: Half of my family is from Kentucky. My grandparents' side, all Kentucky, all Louisville.

00:25:18.555 --> 00:25:23.975
Robin Dean: I remember the roads, the hills, same memory, five years old,

00:25:24.135 --> 00:25:25.295
Robin Dean: Christmas time, that kind of thing.

00:25:25.735 --> 00:25:28.115
Robin Dean: Huge house with a huge family full of Christmas.

00:25:28.575 --> 00:25:32.735
Robin Dean: Having revisited, understanding just how hilly it really is.

00:25:35.315 --> 00:25:41.175
Robin Dean: Southwest of Louisville is currently our bar for where we want to set up now.

00:25:41.435 --> 00:25:45.515
Robin Dean: That is where we're thinking. We may have found a park. We'll talk about that

00:25:45.515 --> 00:25:47.655
Robin Dean: in a second here for a little bit before Joanne joins.

00:25:48.255 --> 00:25:50.615
Robin Dean: Kentucky's looking real good to us right now.

00:25:51.741 --> 00:25:54.201
Robin Dean: I just had a conversation with a friend. It was like, oh, yeah,

00:25:54.301 --> 00:26:01.121
Robin Dean: I was just in this town, and I saw this one road next to another town, and it was a great road.

00:26:01.461 --> 00:26:06.661
Robin Dean: And I immediately thought of Pete Holmes, the comedian, when he says,

00:26:06.801 --> 00:26:08.481
Robin Dean: you think you're in America right now?

00:26:08.781 --> 00:26:17.721
Robin Dean: Zoom out. Because where he was is just one block south of the entire entangled

00:26:17.721 --> 00:26:23.141
Robin Dean: spiderweb of the moonshine roads, the entire forest.

00:26:23.181 --> 00:26:24.921
Brian Wringer: You cannot go wrong.

00:26:25.221 --> 00:26:28.461
Robin Dean: North to south of the Kentucky border.

00:26:28.701 --> 00:26:33.781
Robin Dean: Just nothing but that consistently throughout.

00:26:34.081 --> 00:26:38.541
Robin Dean: You make a lift turn on accident, don't worry about it. You're going to have a good time.

00:26:38.541 --> 00:26:43.961
Brian Wringer: I had a conversation last weekend with a man who'd be able to help us out in

00:26:43.961 --> 00:26:45.081
Brian Wringer: that regard. Oh, you did? You went? Yes.

00:26:45.301 --> 00:26:50.161
Robin Dean: You yourself went to the Sherwood Inn and Cafe and hung out with Dean Johnson,

00:26:50.321 --> 00:26:51.201
Robin Dean: didn't you? How did that go?

00:26:51.461 --> 00:26:55.721
Brian Wringer: Yeah, we had dinner. Had a very nice dinner. Dean was, you know, it was Friday night.

00:26:55.801 --> 00:27:01.941
Brian Wringer: He was busy running back and forth, but he was very gracious and talked with us for quite a while.

00:27:03.001 --> 00:27:08.541
Brian Wringer: He just exudes charm. Really, I think this should be something that someone

00:27:08.541 --> 00:27:10.101
Brian Wringer: around here should put together.

00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:15.099
Brian Wringer: Where you stay in one place, you do a cloverleaf route, and then you take one

00:27:15.099 --> 00:27:18.739
Brian Wringer: or two days of that, depending on how long you have, and hire somebody with

00:27:18.739 --> 00:27:20.839
Brian Wringer: a minivan or truck or something.

00:27:21.139 --> 00:27:24.759
Brian Wringer: Put you in the back of a pickup. I don't know. But haul everybody around.

00:27:24.899 --> 00:27:27.839
Brian Wringer: Go see all the distilleries because it's really just fascinating.

00:27:28.159 --> 00:27:30.919
Brian Wringer: You know, they have the distillery tours and then they give you samples.

00:27:31.059 --> 00:27:33.299
Brian Wringer: Well, if you're on a motorcycle, that's kind of a bad idea.

00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:37.719
Brian Wringer: Yeah, don't do that. Don't do that. Yeah. But do a cloverleaf route and you

00:27:37.719 --> 00:27:40.639
Brian Wringer: really cannot go wrong. You hit all the wigglies, you know.

00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:45.439
Robin Dean: I'm looking for an entry point here on this because we did just cancel sevens.

00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:46.659
Robin Dean: That's how this year went.

00:27:46.999 --> 00:27:51.899
Brian Wringer: It's like when you're going to go for a ride, the risk factors pile up too far.

00:27:52.159 --> 00:27:56.279
Brian Wringer: It was kind of like that. There's too many factors were just piled up.

00:27:56.739 --> 00:28:00.019
Robin Dean: There's too much opportunity for headache.

00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:04.539
Brian Wringer: Yeah, I know you could have made it happen. You could have forced it to happen,

00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:06.119
Brian Wringer: but that's not how it should happen.

00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:11.419
Robin Dean: Sevens is a no-go for this year. It's only happened once or twice before since

00:28:11.419 --> 00:28:16.079
Robin Dean: we launched it in 2017, and that's okay. Given the conditions of the economy,

00:28:16.359 --> 00:28:21.139
Robin Dean: that's just one variety of reason why things don't always go the way you want, and that's all right.

00:28:21.339 --> 00:28:26.939
Robin Dean: However, this gives us an incredible opportunity to create the fallback emergency

00:28:26.939 --> 00:28:31.319
Robin Dean: show up and run what you brung version of Sevens that I had imagined.

00:28:31.559 --> 00:28:36.699
Robin Dean: This could be amazing, and we are going to centralize it in the middle of Sevens

00:28:36.699 --> 00:28:39.639
Robin Dean: and run it as the Trip 7 Super Clover.

00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:45.579
Robin Dean: Now, Super Clover, it's where you ride out and spend the night in a hotel and

00:28:45.579 --> 00:28:47.999
Robin Dean: then ride back to your centralized location.

00:28:48.059 --> 00:28:52.339
Robin Dean: You're in one centralized location every other night for the duration. However,

00:28:52.903 --> 00:28:56.923
Robin Dean: I think I'm going to start developing it directly with two people specifically,

00:28:57.523 --> 00:28:59.743
Robin Dean: Brian Ringer and Travis Burleson.

00:29:00.003 --> 00:29:04.003
Robin Dean: The three of us are going to build this, in some manner of speaking,

00:29:04.483 --> 00:29:09.603
Robin Dean: through debate and through contesting opportunity for more twisties or stopping points.

00:29:09.623 --> 00:29:13.483
Robin Dean: We're going to see who provides the best options in any given direction.

00:29:13.503 --> 00:29:17.563
Robin Dean: I'm pretty sure Brian's will go off a cliff somewhere at some point for no fucking reason.

00:29:18.103 --> 00:29:19.283
Brian Wringer: I'm good at that, yeah.

00:29:19.283 --> 00:29:26.323
Robin Dean: For the three of us to independently and communally come up with this plan will be a damn good time.

00:29:26.383 --> 00:29:31.023
Robin Dean: And we'll come up with the emergency, I don't have seven days available,

00:29:31.583 --> 00:29:37.063
Robin Dean: fallback version of the Trip 7 Super Clover emergency distress system of good

00:29:37.063 --> 00:29:40.643
Robin Dean: time, happy, fun motorcycle rides. Those roads have to be scouted.

00:29:40.863 --> 00:29:44.923
Brian Wringer: And we were down there in a Subaru, but it was still just so much fun.

00:29:45.223 --> 00:29:48.463
Brian Wringer: Yeah, I think something like that. And having that mission would be,

00:29:48.663 --> 00:29:52.143
Brian Wringer: well, I've got some planning ideas, you know, maybe a three, five, seven day option.

00:29:52.523 --> 00:29:56.283
Robin Dean: That's the idea. You set it up so it doesn't, the days don't matter.

00:29:56.463 --> 00:30:00.383
Robin Dean: So we pick one centralized location. It goes for a week.

00:30:00.703 --> 00:30:03.823
Brian Wringer: Yeah. You come in, you drop your crap and you don't have to pick it up again.

00:30:04.103 --> 00:30:07.743
Robin Dean: One location. And if it becomes more complicated, well, fine.

00:30:07.823 --> 00:30:10.303
Robin Dean: But I think I'd rather just make this one into something that's just not complicated

00:30:10.303 --> 00:30:14.983
Robin Dean: at all, but it still touches every state border. So you still hit seven states.

00:30:14.983 --> 00:30:21.183
Brian Wringer: So this comes back to there's a bit of a mission here, too. Each of the rides has a destination.

00:30:21.643 --> 00:30:26.343
Robin Dean: Seven riders or whatever. Seven states, definitely. Seven days.

00:30:26.923 --> 00:30:33.163
Robin Dean: Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Indiana.

00:30:33.383 --> 00:30:37.283
Robin Dean: They all have to be hit somewhere along the way. Whether you make it for the

00:30:37.283 --> 00:30:40.603
Robin Dean: whole thing doesn't matter, but the tour will do that. I like this plan.

00:30:40.843 --> 00:30:46.683
Robin Dean: And with that, it's time for the Armory. Brought to you by GearChick.com.

00:31:00.465 --> 00:31:03.565
Brian Wringer: A friend of mine bought a Force Field. It's kind of a chest.

00:31:03.785 --> 00:31:06.225
Brian Wringer: It's kind of a combined chest and rib protector thing.

00:31:06.605 --> 00:31:10.665
Brian Wringer: I bought it years ago, years ago. He feels much safer with this thing on.

00:31:10.845 --> 00:31:14.385
Brian Wringer: It's completely worn out. And we're having trouble finding anything that isn't

00:31:14.385 --> 00:31:18.305
Brian Wringer: just like, you know, it looks like it's going to enhance your pecs or like chest

00:31:18.305 --> 00:31:21.985
Brian Wringer: protectors don't really cover the ribs or the abdomen.

00:31:22.305 --> 00:31:27.325
Brian Wringer: I don't know if there's anything modern or anything new out there that works.

00:31:27.325 --> 00:31:32.105
Brian Wringer: We do a lot of dual sport riding on KLRs, we also do a lot of street riding

00:31:32.105 --> 00:31:38.685
Brian Wringer: he'll spend up if it helps him feel safer and more comfortable on the bike yeah.

00:31:38.765 --> 00:31:43.605
Joanne Donn: If we're talking really dual sport so, you know, like true 50-50 a lot of street

00:31:43.605 --> 00:31:50.565
Joanne Donn: action then, honestly the best thing he could do to one, have a more comfortable experience,

00:31:50.865 --> 00:31:55.605
Joanne Donn: but two have even better coverage is an airbag best, and

00:31:56.126 --> 00:31:59.806
Joanne Donn: there's more options now than there were five, even three years ago,

00:31:59.926 --> 00:32:03.146
Joanne Donn: because Alpine Stars has made way more options.

00:32:03.346 --> 00:32:05.866
Joanne Donn: They only came out with two versions when they first launched.

00:32:06.006 --> 00:32:06.866
Joanne Donn: Now they have like a bunch.

00:32:07.166 --> 00:32:11.106
Joanne Donn: So I pulled up a couple that I think would be the best.

00:32:11.506 --> 00:32:16.646
Joanne Donn: I'm going to give you links to a couple of them. But with Alpine Stars,

00:32:17.206 --> 00:32:23.326
Joanne Donn: He could do, I'm going to just share, I'll share the base one, just not to scare him.

00:32:23.626 --> 00:32:27.706
Joanne Donn: Actually, they've changed their models so much. I'm just going to share this,

00:32:27.826 --> 00:32:31.946
Joanne Donn: the fancy one, just to get an idea, give an idea of what he should do.

00:32:32.186 --> 00:32:36.486
Joanne Donn: Their latest and greatest is the TechAir 5 Plasma System.

00:32:36.766 --> 00:32:40.566
Joanne Donn: And it's a shirt. It's like a shirt over there.

00:32:40.806 --> 00:32:45.466
Joanne Donn: So the airbag is sewn into the shirt, you could say, as a way to describe it.

00:32:45.626 --> 00:32:51.266
Joanne Donn: So you wear the shirt on your body like a T-shirt, and then your jacket goes over.

00:32:51.606 --> 00:32:55.866
Joanne Donn: That's what this is designed to do. And they have different riding modes.

00:32:55.866 --> 00:32:59.326
Joanne Donn: They have an off-road mode, street mode, and a race mode because the algorithms

00:32:59.326 --> 00:33:01.986
Joanne Donn: change depending on how fast you're riding, what kind you're riding.

00:33:02.206 --> 00:33:06.266
Joanne Donn: The computer is really smart, but you want it to make sure that it reacts to

00:33:06.266 --> 00:33:10.786
Joanne Donn: the way you're riding, like the right kind of riding because the risks are different.

00:33:11.046 --> 00:33:13.606
Joanne Donn: They work different. They just operate differently.

00:33:13.886 --> 00:33:17.146
Joanne Donn: So the Plasma is the TechAir 5 vest.

00:33:17.326 --> 00:33:20.186
Joanne Donn: And the cool thing about TechAir is it does cover your ribs,

00:33:20.586 --> 00:33:22.466
Joanne Donn: not your stuff, but the rib cage.

00:33:22.986 --> 00:33:24.826
Joanne Donn: That's the best way to get the coverage.

00:33:25.366 --> 00:33:30.786
Joanne Donn: Otherwise, he's going to have to do, like, off-road armor, you know,

00:33:30.846 --> 00:33:33.726
Joanne Donn: like, another off-road piece, which...

00:33:34.314 --> 00:33:38.114
Joanne Donn: Doable, but they really don't have the right, I don't think they have the best

00:33:38.114 --> 00:33:40.754
Joanne Donn: coverage for what he is wanting.

00:33:40.934 --> 00:33:49.414
Joanne Donn: Like, for example, there's not really the armor he wants in the places that he's looking for it.

00:33:49.474 --> 00:33:51.854
Joanne Donn: Because you said he wanted ribcage coverage.

00:33:52.214 --> 00:33:57.474
Brian Wringer: Yeah, that was part of what we're not really finding in a lot of the newer stuff.

00:33:57.774 --> 00:34:04.834
Joanne Donn: It's honestly not one of the areas that are as high risk, lungs,

00:34:05.354 --> 00:34:08.934
Joanne Donn: back, your chest, but not necessarily your rib cage.

00:34:09.194 --> 00:34:15.894
Joanne Donn: I would say his best vet is an airbag because it goes a little lower and the

00:34:15.894 --> 00:34:19.534
Joanne Donn: coverage drops a little lower, but also because it's an airbag,

00:34:19.754 --> 00:34:23.854
Joanne Donn: when it deploys, it likely minimizes the risk of injury to that area.

00:34:24.134 --> 00:34:31.074
Joanne Donn: His worry, I think on the risk factor scale, it's lower than spine injury, head injury,

00:34:31.434 --> 00:34:34.534
Joanne Donn: really why you don't see it he has to reckon that

00:34:34.534 --> 00:34:37.294
Joanne Donn: of what he's comfortable with but an airbag would

00:34:37.294 --> 00:34:41.234
Joanne Donn: totally elevate his game really level

00:34:41.234 --> 00:34:46.414
Joanne Donn: it up to another level of protection above and beyond what he had i know what

00:34:46.414 --> 00:34:51.174
Joanne Donn: he's wearing i used to sell them um and it's a great kit but it's not that was

00:34:51.174 --> 00:34:57.394
Joanne Donn: really a track kit to wear under your track suit and this is also a lighter

00:34:57.394 --> 00:34:59.954
Joanne Donn: way to do it depending on his body type

00:35:00.654 --> 00:35:06.914
Joanne Donn: Just put in the Revit version because they partnered with Alpine Stars and they made their own shirt.

00:35:07.194 --> 00:35:12.274
Joanne Donn: So the outer fabric and the fit is different. And then the back protection is

00:35:12.274 --> 00:35:14.934
Joanne Donn: C-soft instead of the Alpine Stars by Nucleon.

00:35:15.074 --> 00:35:17.414
Joanne Donn: But it's the same idea because it's the same technology.

00:35:17.734 --> 00:35:19.374
Joanne Donn: It's Tech Air bag.

00:35:19.814 --> 00:35:25.214
Joanne Donn: So the fit's just different. So if he's taller, the waist is longer on the Avertum.

00:35:25.334 --> 00:35:27.894
Joanne Donn: And if he's leaner, the fit is slimmer.

00:35:28.054 --> 00:35:31.634
Joanne Donn: The Plasma is their answer to the Avertum because I think honestly,

00:35:31.834 --> 00:35:35.514
Joanne Donn: when they saw it, they were very impressed because all the other Alpine stars

00:35:35.514 --> 00:35:37.294
Joanne Donn: here, I'll link you another system.

00:35:37.494 --> 00:35:43.034
Joanne Donn: This is the 7X system. Their previous airbags were more boxy and better for

00:35:43.034 --> 00:35:45.714
Joanne Donn: an athletic fit. Bigger chest, looser sleeves.

00:35:46.054 --> 00:35:50.594
Joanne Donn: The Avertum by Revit is a more fitted, slim fit shirt.

00:35:50.974 --> 00:35:55.014
Joanne Donn: But Alpine's come out with like this Tech Air 7. It's a more fitted shirt because

00:35:55.014 --> 00:36:00.354
Joanne Donn: it's really a race and sport um focused one so that's why i recommended the

00:36:00.354 --> 00:36:06.234
Joanne Donn: plasma because it's it's really more for street folks and dueling adventuring

00:36:06.234 --> 00:36:07.954
Joanne Donn: you know not racing not the track

00:36:07.954 --> 00:36:14.214
Brian Wringer: Yeah and i like the idea of a of a off-road mode or dirt mode because i mean

00:36:14.214 --> 00:36:19.854
Brian Wringer: falling off the bike occasionally is fairly normal and most of the time it's

00:36:19.854 --> 00:36:23.734
Brian Wringer: you know unless you really screw up and yard sale it, I mean,

00:36:23.834 --> 00:36:27.174
Brian Wringer: most of the time you need to just fall off, okay, and get back on it.

00:36:27.314 --> 00:36:32.514
Brian Wringer: You need to make sure it doesn't deploy if it's a low speed biff to heel the

00:36:32.514 --> 00:36:34.694
Brian Wringer: hill climb. It's just, it'd be annoying.

00:36:35.454 --> 00:36:40.114
Joanne Donn: Also linked to the vest version of Revit Severna. So if he doesn't want a full

00:36:40.114 --> 00:36:42.134
Joanne Donn: jacket, he could do a vest. So

00:36:42.677 --> 00:36:45.857
Joanne Donn: different well it's street it's street specific it might

00:36:45.857 --> 00:36:48.737
Joanne Donn: let you upload different algorithms into it

00:36:48.737 --> 00:36:51.597
Joanne Donn: i haven't looked at that in great detail but i just i forgot

00:36:51.597 --> 00:36:55.137
Joanne Donn: to put that in there uh let me see it's race

00:36:55.137 --> 00:36:59.417
Joanne Donn: and street so that's just street race so if he really wants off-road capability

00:36:59.417 --> 00:37:03.617
Joanne Donn: he wants that plasma the electronic these are electronic because there's no

00:37:03.617 --> 00:37:08.537
Joanne Donn: tether they have computers like there's a crazy computer and a gps thing in

00:37:08.537 --> 00:37:13.177
Joanne Donn: the back little tiny in the back and it is following your every move.

00:37:13.457 --> 00:37:19.417
Joanne Donn: It's figuring out how fast you're going. And we're talking in like a millisecond.

00:37:19.617 --> 00:37:23.257
Joanne Donn: Like you can't even blink fast enough to how quickly they react.

00:37:23.517 --> 00:37:26.777
Robin Dean: Some of them sample up to 30,000 times per second.

00:37:27.077 --> 00:37:30.457
Joanne Donn: Right. And sometimes they won't deploy if they don't need to.

00:37:30.617 --> 00:37:33.297
Joanne Donn: Like it can tell the difference between, oh, I tip my bike over,

00:37:33.617 --> 00:37:36.397
Joanne Donn: depending on the mode, right? They're smart.

00:37:36.737 --> 00:37:42.737
Joanne Donn: Old schooled Airbags that are tethered only specifically rely on you pulling

00:37:42.737 --> 00:37:45.357
Joanne Donn: on the cord because you're separate, right?

00:37:45.697 --> 00:37:51.697
Joanne Donn: So it's a smarter vest. It's, I think, much more useful because if he does the

00:37:51.697 --> 00:37:54.717
Joanne Donn: plasma, he'll get all the modes. He can change it.

00:37:54.937 --> 00:37:55.397
Robin Dean: Nice.

00:37:56.077 --> 00:37:59.957
Joanne Donn: Right? You can get it serviced with, of course, there is, you know,

00:38:00.037 --> 00:38:01.197
Joanne Donn: there's a little maintenance.

00:38:01.197 --> 00:38:06.377
Joanne Donn: Like if it deploys, you want to get it inspected and make sure it gets packed back up correctly.

00:38:06.377 --> 00:38:11.617
Joanne Donn: You know you you don't want to throw your airbag vest back together after a

00:38:11.617 --> 00:38:16.297
Joanne Donn: crash and not know if it's in there right so they do have a set up for that

00:38:16.297 --> 00:38:18.877
Joanne Donn: they've actually the industry like dynase

00:38:19.757 --> 00:38:23.837
Joanne Donn: alpine stars they really kind of pioneered the electronic airbag vest they've

00:38:23.837 --> 00:38:28.477
Joanne Donn: been testing these for like 20 years but only at moto gp level the consumer

00:38:28.477 --> 00:38:30.157
Joanne Donn: ones came out like five years ago

00:38:31.101 --> 00:38:35.541
Joanne Donn: it's not because they just started. They've been studying these things and working

00:38:35.541 --> 00:38:37.261
Joanne Donn: on it for a couple of decades.

00:38:37.481 --> 00:38:41.921
Robin Dean: I have a question. And I'm playing contrarian and devil's advocate and playing

00:38:41.921 --> 00:38:43.441
Robin Dean: the argumentative side of this.

00:38:43.641 --> 00:38:48.581
Robin Dean: Let's talk about it from the non-airbag perspective.

00:38:48.901 --> 00:38:53.261
Robin Dean: What would you go with in that direction? You know, rhetorical reason for my

00:38:53.261 --> 00:38:58.881
Robin Dean: question is if you are rolling hard, if you're digging in hard and you're falling

00:38:58.881 --> 00:39:02.841
Robin Dean: a lot, No, I'm talking about in the dirt.

00:39:03.181 --> 00:39:05.341
Robin Dean: Will those be able to keep up with the fact that, you know what,

00:39:05.421 --> 00:39:07.661
Robin Dean: I'm going for it here. I'm hitting the ground often.

00:39:08.001 --> 00:39:11.141
Robin Dean: I don't want to have to reset the canister or send it away to get reset.

00:39:11.341 --> 00:39:13.461
Robin Dean: I need something that's not that.

00:39:13.701 --> 00:39:19.381
Joanne Donn: I would say probably an off-road kit, chest and back protector,

00:39:19.381 --> 00:39:25.001
Joanne Donn: or something like this, which is a full-sleeve, quote, jacket.

00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:31.199
Joanne Donn: I don't think it's meant to be worn. They call it jacket, but I believe this

00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:33.579
Joanne Donn: one is really meant to wear under your jersey.

00:39:33.939 --> 00:39:36.279
Brian Wringer: You'd at least put a jersey over it, yeah. But yes.

00:39:36.779 --> 00:39:42.779
Joanne Donn: Chest and back protectors, those are pretty common. But he'd want to find an off-road focus.

00:39:42.799 --> 00:39:46.499
Joanne Donn: So an armored vest is probably just a replacement.

00:39:47.179 --> 00:39:51.099
Joanne Donn: Because you can do a nucleot like this here. This is $250.

00:39:51.999 --> 00:39:56.959
Joanne Donn: But it is not going to cover your ribcage. because that's not the focus and

00:39:56.959 --> 00:40:00.119
Joanne Donn: where, you know, the majority of injuries happen.

00:40:00.219 --> 00:40:05.459
Joanne Donn: It's chest and back off-road with a vest. So he's going to have to compromise.

00:40:05.779 --> 00:40:11.279
Brian Wringer: The nucleon and the bionic do have more, these do seem to have more chest protection at least.

00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:17.879
Joanne Donn: Jacket does, right? His shoulder, elbow, you can put in a larger chest protector.

00:40:18.639 --> 00:40:23.339
Joanne Donn: And so the jacket would be the better option, but the fitment is tough.

00:40:23.339 --> 00:40:27.739
Joanne Donn: If he doesn't fit Alpine Stars, then we have to find a different shirt.

00:40:27.979 --> 00:40:32.759
Joanne Donn: So my recommendation is always going to be based on what your body type is.

00:40:32.959 --> 00:40:36.359
Joanne Donn: Because I'm never going to recommend something for you that doesn't fit your

00:40:36.359 --> 00:40:37.679
Joanne Donn: body type. So I need to know that.

00:40:37.839 --> 00:40:42.259
Joanne Donn: I need to know if he's an athletic fit. Is he really slim fit? Is he hard to fit?

00:40:42.659 --> 00:40:44.799
Joanne Donn: That's going to narrow his options significantly.

00:40:45.259 --> 00:40:51.619
Joanne Donn: Because there are certain sizes where you can't get an airbag depending on how he wants to do it.

00:40:51.619 --> 00:40:54.579
Joanne Donn: If money's no option it's kind

00:40:54.579 --> 00:40:57.619
Joanne Donn: of a personal thing because the challenge though

00:40:57.619 --> 00:41:02.799
Joanne Donn: with airbag vest is there's over and under so then you have to go okay well

00:41:02.799 --> 00:41:08.079
Joanne Donn: i like my you know rabbit poseidon i wear this jacket well then you have to

00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:13.259
Joanne Donn: find something to fit that outfit too so his decision may vary depending on

00:41:13.259 --> 00:41:16.119
Joanne Donn: what he's planning to wear with it similar

00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:22.099
Robin Dean: Banter at higher revs can be found via the Gear Chick website or by emailing Joanne directly.

00:41:22.339 --> 00:41:25.419
Robin Dean: That email address is help at gearchick.com.

00:41:40.886 --> 00:41:41.706
Robin Dean: It's time for segment three.

00:41:42.746 --> 00:41:45.786
Brian Wringer: Moments in Motorcycle History with Jordan Liebman.

00:41:46.246 --> 00:41:47.586
Robin Dean: William Dunlop.

00:41:47.786 --> 00:41:51.926
Brian Wringer: With Joey's childhood, family chaos, and early obsession with engines out of

00:41:51.926 --> 00:41:55.886
Brian Wringer: the way, we can finally get to the part where all that raw material starts doing

00:41:55.886 --> 00:41:57.426
Brian Wringer: something dangerous and interesting.

00:41:57.686 --> 00:42:00.806
Brian Wringer: In rural Northern Ireland, motorcycles are everywhere.

00:42:01.246 --> 00:42:04.906
Brian Wringer: Roads are getting better and giving young men speed, machinery,

00:42:05.126 --> 00:42:06.406
Brian Wringer: and a fresh layer of asphalt.

00:42:06.586 --> 00:42:09.526
Brian Wringer: It was never going to end in quiet, calm behavior.

00:42:10.886 --> 00:42:14.766
Brian Wringer: That was the world Joey stepped into, and it suited him a little too well.

00:42:36.403 --> 00:42:42.103
Jordan Liebman: Starting here with my sole correction from the previous recording,

00:42:42.563 --> 00:42:48.763
Jordan Liebman: which is that County Down is in Northern Ireland, not Southern Ireland like I had stated.

00:42:49.063 --> 00:42:55.263
Jordan Liebman: And I will excuse myself by saying that I get confused between County Down and

00:42:55.263 --> 00:42:57.823
Jordan Liebman: County Cork, which is in Southern Ireland,

00:42:58.383 --> 00:43:03.363
Jordan Liebman: because for years I've been going to the Milwaukee Irish Fest in Milwaukee,

00:43:03.363 --> 00:43:07.783
Jordan Liebman: which is the biggest Irish Celtic festival in the world, from what I understand,

00:43:08.063 --> 00:43:11.383
Jordan Liebman: since 88, except for COVID, right?

00:43:11.463 --> 00:43:13.943
Jordan Liebman: So I've been going for a while, third weekend in August.

00:43:14.283 --> 00:43:18.423
Jordan Liebman: And we were down there with some neighbors and we were trying to do the family

00:43:18.423 --> 00:43:23.503
Jordan Liebman: name origin thing where they tell you what county you'd be from if he had such a name.

00:43:24.363 --> 00:43:29.043
Jordan Liebman: And I told them my name was Jordan. Apparently that Jordan could be an Irish last name.

00:43:29.183 --> 00:43:32.723
Jordan Liebman: And they told me I was from Cork and down

00:43:33.363 --> 00:43:36.103
Jordan Liebman: is what do you call it it doesn't make sense because

00:43:36.103 --> 00:43:38.743
Jordan Liebman: it's at the top right it should be at the bottom because it's called

00:43:38.743 --> 00:43:41.523
Jordan Liebman: down but you know they get other words for everything up there so

00:43:41.523 --> 00:43:46.363
Jordan Liebman: that's my excuse and i apologize county down is in northern ireland so the dramar

00:43:46.363 --> 00:43:51.963
Jordan Liebman: destroyers who are the competing motorcycle race team against the armory armada

00:43:51.963 --> 00:43:56.443
Jordan Liebman: are also from northern ireland so it's kind of like they were like neighboring

00:43:56.443 --> 00:44:01.123
Jordan Liebman: town gang right so this is the local situation there.

00:44:01.323 --> 00:44:03.523
Jordan Liebman: Well, that was the correction. The recap is this.

00:44:03.823 --> 00:44:08.123
Jordan Liebman: Leading up to 1975, Joey did get some podium finishes.

00:44:08.839 --> 00:44:12.799
Jordan Liebman: Very only occasionally did he get a first place, and effectively,

00:44:13.059 --> 00:44:14.939
Jordan Liebman: all of it was in Northern Ireland.

00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:20.119
Jordan Liebman: You should also remember that Joey's approach to racing and his riding style

00:44:20.119 --> 00:44:26.539
Jordan Liebman: was very much financial, because he couldn't afford to crash a bike or trash an engine, right?

00:44:26.559 --> 00:44:30.099
Jordan Liebman: This was all out of pocket, and if he won a race, it was almost nothing.

00:44:30.339 --> 00:44:33.839
Jordan Liebman: He's just a kid. He's only been racing for a couple of years, really.

00:44:34.519 --> 00:44:39.999
Jordan Liebman: So backtracking to 1972, technically his third year of racing,

00:44:40.379 --> 00:44:45.879
Jordan Liebman: yet really only a second, because 1970 he took off because he crashed a car

00:44:45.879 --> 00:44:48.599
Jordan Liebman: and couldn't financially afford to race.

00:44:48.839 --> 00:44:51.559
Jordan Liebman: He only had a few placings and podiums.

00:44:51.819 --> 00:44:57.399
Jordan Liebman: But in 72, two things happened. He got together with his first sponsor, Danny McCook.

00:44:57.739 --> 00:45:04.139
Jordan Liebman: And he also married his wife, Linda Patterson, newlyweds might have been a distraction.

00:45:04.499 --> 00:45:09.939
Jordan Liebman: Now, for the most part, back then in Northern Ireland, aside from certain displacement

00:45:09.939 --> 00:45:14.619
Jordan Liebman: limitations, it was pretty much, as they say here, run what you brung.

00:45:14.779 --> 00:45:19.339
Jordan Liebman: So you'd see anything from like modern race-kitted bikes, modern being modern

00:45:19.339 --> 00:45:22.519
Jordan Liebman: to 1972 through 75, race-kitted bikes,

00:45:22.927 --> 00:45:28.307
Jordan Liebman: to bikes that were pretty much stock off the showroom floor to basically what

00:45:28.307 --> 00:45:36.047
Jordan Liebman: we would call a cafe bike, hopped up vintage junk, all at the same time at these races.

00:45:36.487 --> 00:45:39.967
Jordan Liebman: And at the time, Joey was really kind of the middle group.

00:45:40.367 --> 00:45:46.387
Jordan Liebman: Basically, showroom floor bikes that he worked on, but as far as tuning in race

00:45:46.387 --> 00:45:48.907
Jordan Liebman: kit parts, that was pretty much non-existent.

00:45:48.987 --> 00:45:52.087
Jordan Liebman: He was just making them run as well as they could. And he did it all himself.

00:45:52.707 --> 00:45:59.487
Jordan Liebman: So Danny McCook, being his sponsor, he got Joey his first decent race bike to ride.

00:45:59.747 --> 00:46:06.647
Jordan Liebman: And he got it from this guy, Hugh O'Kane, and he got him an ex-Bob McIntyre,

00:46:06.727 --> 00:46:13.907
Jordan Liebman: who's also a very famous racer, AJS, which is a brand, 7R, single cylinder, four stroke, right?

00:46:14.087 --> 00:46:16.907
Jordan Liebman: It was a race bike, but it was yesterday's race bike.

00:46:16.907 --> 00:46:24.507
Jordan Liebman: And coming off of Joey's Triumph T20 Tiger Cub, which was a 200cc bike,

00:46:25.107 --> 00:46:33.747
Jordan Liebman: four-stroke, and his Suzuki Invader 200cc, two-stroke, the AJS 7R was very fast in comparison.

00:46:33.747 --> 00:46:38.487
Jordan Liebman: So he gets him this ex-Bob McIntyre AJS 7R, which is on loan from this guy,

00:46:38.647 --> 00:46:42.767
Jordan Liebman: Hugh O'Kane, who acquired the bike and agreed to loan Joey to try the bike out

00:46:42.767 --> 00:46:48.567
Jordan Liebman: on local roads. So up to that point, Joey had really never ridden a fast race bike.

00:46:48.787 --> 00:46:55.467
Jordan Liebman: And even though he was thrilled by the AJS-7R's speed in comparison to his Suzuki 200 Invader,

00:46:55.987 --> 00:47:01.067
Jordan Liebman: and he was appreciative that Huo Cain let Joey campaign his somewhat historically

00:47:01.067 --> 00:47:05.667
Jordan Liebman: important AJS-7R in a few races, and despite wringing its neck and grinding

00:47:05.667 --> 00:47:08.647
Jordan Liebman: out a few placings and a couple podiums, they,

00:47:08.907 --> 00:47:13.187
Jordan Liebman: being Joey and his sponsor and this guy, Hugo Cain,

00:47:13.767 --> 00:47:18.247
Jordan Liebman: Realized that Joey would be much more competitive if he had better equipment.

00:47:18.696 --> 00:47:23.936
Jordan Liebman: The AJS 7R was just no match for the competition's Japanese two-strokes.

00:47:24.216 --> 00:47:27.176
Jordan Liebman: And together, they made the decision that it was going to be retired,

00:47:27.416 --> 00:47:29.896
Jordan Liebman: along with the Triumph Tiger Cup 200.

00:47:30.376 --> 00:47:32.796
Jordan Liebman: And Danny McCook picked up this

00:47:32.796 --> 00:47:38.616
Jordan Liebman: 350cc Air Maki four-stroke single to complement his Suzuki 200 Invader.

00:47:38.796 --> 00:47:44.796
Jordan Liebman: So that's 72. 1973 was a little bit more successful with the 200cc Suzuki and

00:47:44.796 --> 00:47:49.296
Jordan Liebman: a 350cc Air Mach-E with slightly more funds to tune the Suzuki,

00:47:49.496 --> 00:47:52.536
Jordan Liebman: but still, more and more riders were showing up with faster,

00:47:52.636 --> 00:47:54.156
Jordan Liebman: out-of-the-box Yamahas.

00:47:54.716 --> 00:47:59.916
Jordan Liebman: Joey called his drive, personal drive, an ability to compete against lesser

00:47:59.916 --> 00:48:03.496
Jordan Liebman: riders on much better bikes in road races, his grind.

00:48:03.696 --> 00:48:07.316
Jordan Liebman: Like capital letters, italics, and quotation marks, his grind.

00:48:07.716 --> 00:48:11.976
Jordan Liebman: That's the grind. It's what he did to beat people on much better machinery.

00:48:11.976 --> 00:48:15.916
Jordan Liebman: And I know you've been to track days where there's some guy out there on a 400cc

00:48:15.916 --> 00:48:21.076
Jordan Liebman: single that looks like it's painted with interior latex or whatever and he's

00:48:21.076 --> 00:48:28.716
Jordan Liebman: trashing everybody in the corners and winning against your 1,000cc German or Japanese bike.

00:48:28.996 --> 00:48:34.316
Jordan Liebman: That's kind of Joey's situation there. He learned on these back country roads

00:48:34.316 --> 00:48:40.296
Jordan Liebman: in Ireland and he's bringing all that experience to the track with basically

00:48:40.296 --> 00:48:44.276
Jordan Liebman: outdated equipment and still managing to podium in place.

00:48:44.496 --> 00:48:48.736
Jordan Liebman: My comparison is this. This is my first analogy for you. This is my analog.

00:48:49.176 --> 00:48:51.716
Jordan Liebman: You know those Bruce Lee movies where...

00:48:52.023 --> 00:48:55.783
Jordan Liebman: He's out there and he's surrounded by tent guys and they have knives and swords

00:48:55.783 --> 00:48:59.903
Jordan Liebman: and guns and he just takes them out one by one, you know, screaming all the

00:48:59.903 --> 00:49:01.643
Jordan Liebman: way. That's basically Joey.

00:49:02.203 --> 00:49:06.823
Jordan Liebman: He's got outdated equipment and the competition's got knives and guns and he

00:49:06.823 --> 00:49:07.863
Jordan Liebman: just takes them out anyways.

00:49:08.263 --> 00:49:13.283
Jordan Liebman: And so initially it was that he couldn't afford to crash and trash a bike, right?

00:49:13.383 --> 00:49:21.463
Jordan Liebman: So he had to get really good at finding a line and knowing what gear to be in and what to look out for.

00:49:22.023 --> 00:49:25.023
Jordan Liebman: And also how to handle different road conditions, wet or dry,

00:49:25.283 --> 00:49:30.163
Jordan Liebman: you know, because this part of Ireland, like we said, it was wet a third of the year.

00:49:30.383 --> 00:49:35.123
Jordan Liebman: If you woke up every week knowing that Monday through Wednesday was going to

00:49:35.123 --> 00:49:40.063
Jordan Liebman: be monsoon season, just imagine that out of your week. That's the conditions.

00:49:40.383 --> 00:49:45.723
Jordan Liebman: So after they realized that the AJS seminar wasn't going to cut it and he had

00:49:45.723 --> 00:49:51.243
Jordan Liebman: the Air Mach-E 350, we added to this a Yamaha TD3 with the Sealy frame.

00:49:51.243 --> 00:49:54.783
Jordan Liebman: Because Joey insisted on getting the Sealy frame for handling,

00:49:54.823 --> 00:49:56.663
Jordan Liebman: and they went ahead and paid for it.

00:49:56.923 --> 00:50:01.223
Jordan Liebman: So up to that point, it's not to say that other riders weren't good,

00:50:01.583 --> 00:50:06.463
Jordan Liebman: But many of them had a mechanical advantage over Joey until Joey got his TD3.

00:50:06.723 --> 00:50:10.263
Jordan Liebman: And after 75, that began to change. So that's where we left off before.

00:50:10.623 --> 00:50:15.743
Jordan Liebman: As we said, he did all of his own work on his bikes, and he did so pretty much

00:50:15.743 --> 00:50:18.003
Jordan Liebman: always the night before the race.

00:50:18.003 --> 00:50:21.483
Jordan Liebman: And he became known on the racetracks as this

00:50:21.483 --> 00:50:24.883
Jordan Liebman: is his first nickname the girk the black

00:50:24.883 --> 00:50:27.943
Jordan Liebman: girk g-i-r-k which is a slang word

00:50:27.943 --> 00:50:34.183
Jordan Liebman: that described his ultra casual dress code covered head to toe in oil and grime

00:50:34.183 --> 00:50:38.563
Jordan Liebman: and not giving a shit about it i mean it was really all about getting the job

00:50:38.563 --> 00:50:42.903
Jordan Liebman: done getting it done right and having everything ready for the race really he

00:50:42.903 --> 00:50:46.663
Jordan Liebman: didn't like dressing up at all he hated having to wear a suit or a tie,

00:50:46.923 --> 00:50:50.523
Jordan Liebman: pretty much saving that for weddings and funerals. And I'm kind of the same way.

00:50:50.823 --> 00:50:55.223
Jordan Liebman: So that was his first nickname, the Girk at the racetrack. And

00:50:55.660 --> 00:51:01.480
Jordan Liebman: And I told you at 72, he married Linda Patterson. And in 75, he had his first kid.

00:51:01.740 --> 00:51:07.400
Jordan Liebman: This is the rabbit hole I went down. I'm not going to get into the real history of all the kids.

00:51:07.540 --> 00:51:14.660
Jordan Liebman: But on the topic of Joey Dunlap, you have to know that there is a dynasty and there is a curse.

00:51:15.340 --> 00:51:24.020
Jordan Liebman: Okay. Joey raced. His brother Robert became super famous great racer and died. As we know, Joey's dead.

00:51:24.935 --> 00:51:30.915
Jordan Liebman: Younger brother Jim was part of the Armory Armada from, I think, 76 through 81.

00:51:31.415 --> 00:51:34.875
Jordan Liebman: He stopped racing, which is probably what's going to save him from the curse.

00:51:35.535 --> 00:51:41.215
Jordan Liebman: Robert's kids, William and Michael Dunlop, also raced.

00:51:41.615 --> 00:51:46.975
Jordan Liebman: William died in 2018 racing. But we have to mention that they had kids.

00:51:47.115 --> 00:51:51.315
Jordan Liebman: I mean, these people have actual lives outside of the racetrack, but not by much.

00:51:51.315 --> 00:51:55.995
Jordan Liebman: The internet does not provide a lot of information about joey's kids and i think

00:51:55.995 --> 00:51:58.935
Jordan Liebman: they kind of want to keep it secret because they don't want the they don't want

00:51:58.935 --> 00:52:04.995
Jordan Liebman: the international spotlight on them locally they're just active people so this

00:52:04.995 --> 00:52:09.035
Jordan Liebman: first kid was julia or julia louise in 1975

00:52:09.815 --> 00:52:16.255
Jordan Liebman: donna was born in 77 to 78 and for the record she owns a coffee shop gary was

00:52:16.255 --> 00:52:20.015
Jordan Liebman: born in 82 or 83 i I think he was born in 82 because there's a picture of him

00:52:20.015 --> 00:52:23.215
Jordan Liebman: as a baby wearing a t-shirt with the number 82 on it.

00:52:23.395 --> 00:52:26.395
Jordan Liebman: And he just started racing in 2025.

00:52:26.915 --> 00:52:30.635
Jordan Liebman: He was 43 when he started racing. So that's the dynasty.

00:52:31.055 --> 00:52:36.335
Jordan Liebman: His next son, Richard or Ricky, was born I think around 1995.

00:52:36.555 --> 00:52:42.535
Jordan Liebman: So this is five years before Joey passes away. and his thing is Joey purchased

00:52:42.535 --> 00:52:48.215
Jordan Liebman: a pub that I believe is now called Joey's but before it was the rail pub or something like that.

00:52:48.495 --> 00:52:52.875
Jordan Liebman: They run this pub and Ricky's really into playing darts so that's kind of like a

00:52:53.975 --> 00:52:58.935
Jordan Liebman: Local club thing they do and the youngest I believe is Joanne and she might

00:52:58.935 --> 00:53:03.635
Jordan Liebman: have been born around 1997 or 1998 so this is, I just want to mention that he

00:53:03.635 --> 00:53:07.155
Jordan Liebman: has these kids and we're going to get back to them later on. Now

00:53:07.597 --> 00:53:10.417
Jordan Liebman: Around 1975, now we're recapping a little bit more here.

00:53:10.517 --> 00:53:14.317
Jordan Liebman: This guy, David Wallace from Dunloy, which is in Northern Ireland,

00:53:14.577 --> 00:53:16.837
Jordan Liebman: is a winning film director.

00:53:17.037 --> 00:53:21.877
Jordan Liebman: He got two BAFTA awards, which I guess is some documentary award they give to filmmakers.

00:53:22.337 --> 00:53:28.457
Jordan Liebman: And he decides he wants to make a movie and picks the Armory Armada as his topic, right?

00:53:28.557 --> 00:53:32.997
Jordan Liebman: So he gets his bigger project and he turns his focus to the Armory Armada of

00:53:32.997 --> 00:53:35.677
Jordan Liebman: Joey Dunlop, Merv Robinson, and Frank Kennedy.

00:53:36.317 --> 00:53:40.577
Jordan Liebman: And as a side note, Frank Kennedy, a good racer, and he was part of the Armoy

00:53:40.577 --> 00:53:45.577
Jordan Liebman: Armada, but he was 6'3 and 170 pounds, where these guys are,

00:53:45.597 --> 00:53:46.857
Jordan Liebman: you know, they're jockeys.

00:53:47.437 --> 00:53:50.977
Jordan Liebman: Joey was like 5'7 maybe, and that might be an exaggeration.

00:53:51.837 --> 00:53:56.697
Jordan Liebman: And Merv Robinson might have been 5'8. You know, he could have been his brother.

00:53:56.997 --> 00:54:00.677
Jordan Liebman: So Frank didn't really fit in with the group, and he barely fit onto these bikes.

00:54:01.117 --> 00:54:04.737
Jordan Liebman: I mean, think of your tallest friend getting into like a Mitsubishi Eclipse or something.

00:54:05.277 --> 00:54:09.917
Jordan Liebman: Just look up the movie by Duke Video called The Road Racers.

00:54:10.157 --> 00:54:13.017
Jordan Liebman: You might not find the full documentary, but you'll find parts of it.

00:54:13.257 --> 00:54:17.597
Jordan Liebman: David Wallace starts making this documentary movie, and...

00:54:18.103 --> 00:54:21.663
Jordan Liebman: He turns to the Armour Armada of Joey Dunlop, Merv Robinson, and Frank Kennedy.

00:54:21.923 --> 00:54:25.443
Jordan Liebman: And it includes, I believe, a little bit of Joey's youngest brother,

00:54:25.543 --> 00:54:29.903
Jordan Liebman: Jim, who was part of the Armour Armada at that time. But Jim didn't keep racing.

00:54:30.603 --> 00:54:34.283
Jordan Liebman: Now, Joey probably wouldn't have agreed to participating in the film if it wasn't

00:54:34.283 --> 00:54:38.163
Jordan Liebman: for Merv and Frank, because Joey was a good friend and a teammate,

00:54:38.203 --> 00:54:40.403
Jordan Liebman: and he generally wanted to help people.

00:54:40.743 --> 00:54:45.583
Jordan Liebman: And it became a cult classic among road race fans.

00:54:46.183 --> 00:54:49.963
Jordan Liebman: The film spans the gap between the grassroots effort of the racing scene in

00:54:49.963 --> 00:54:53.863
Jordan Liebman: Northern Ireland and the upswelling of support from the dealerships and factories.

00:54:54.123 --> 00:54:59.303
Jordan Liebman: The movie starts out on the Irish country roads and Joey ripping up a twisty

00:54:59.303 --> 00:55:03.903
Jordan Liebman: piece of asphalt on his somewhat cobbled together 350 Yamaha with the Sealy frame.

00:55:04.483 --> 00:55:09.923
Jordan Liebman: And just opposed against his race bike tearing up this road here is a farmer

00:55:09.923 --> 00:55:12.323
Jordan Liebman: trying to herd his sheep across the road.

00:55:12.783 --> 00:55:16.083
Jordan Liebman: That's the scene that tells you this is where these guys are coming from.

00:55:16.223 --> 00:55:20.743
Jordan Liebman: They're not coming from pedigree, prima donna, race teams that only work on

00:55:20.743 --> 00:55:25.063
Jordan Liebman: tracks and have the best equipment handed to them. These are guys that do it all themselves.

00:55:49.278 --> 00:55:52.178
Robin Dean: Which brings us to the afterwards and the wind down.

00:55:52.518 --> 00:55:59.938
Robin Dean: And I know for a fact that next week is going to be very lonely here at Radio TRO.

00:56:00.338 --> 00:56:01.918
Robin Dean: Because, Brian, you're not going to be around, right?

00:56:02.258 --> 00:56:07.118
Brian Wringer: I'm going to be in Tennessee. I'm going to be out riding in Tennessee and North Carolina.

00:56:07.458 --> 00:56:10.698
Robin Dean: Well, you know, you could just duct tape the mic to your helmet and just...

00:56:12.838 --> 00:56:16.298
Robin Dean: Ow! Airbag deployed. Damn it. I knew it was going to deploy.

00:56:16.878 --> 00:56:19.978
Brian Wringer: Damn it. It's all Robin's fault. It distracted me.

00:56:20.278 --> 00:56:23.178
Brian Wringer: I'm actually going to be riding motorcycles instead of talking about it.

00:56:23.318 --> 00:56:26.998
Brian Wringer: So yeah, and it's, I don't know how good our Wi-Fi at the hotel is.

00:56:27.178 --> 00:56:31.098
Brian Wringer: Like, anyway, well, we're not even going to try. We're just going to have a good time and relax.

00:56:31.678 --> 00:56:37.558
Robin Dean: I believe Travis Burleson may be arriving next week to join me for an episode,

00:56:37.558 --> 00:56:38.958
Robin Dean: which will be a great throwback.

00:56:39.398 --> 00:56:42.098
Robin Dean: Who knows how that'll go. We'll see if he's still available or not.

00:56:42.678 --> 00:56:46.038
Robin Dean: If I could have all these people on at once, that would be, I'd just walk away.

00:56:46.218 --> 00:56:48.378
Robin Dean: Be like, it's your show now. Goodbye, I'm out of here.

00:56:49.458 --> 00:56:52.718
Brian Wringer: So you got all kinds of ideas. It's going to be a grab bag. Who knows what's going to happen?

00:56:53.258 --> 00:56:55.198
Robin Dean: All right, then, Rockstar, you ready to get out of here?

00:56:55.578 --> 00:56:56.338
Brian Wringer: Let's get out of here.