Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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o 00 O"l .-4 CN CN 1-0 4) ..c o ~ u o lClockwise from top right! The 10th annual Aspencade Motorcyclist Convention featured all the good stuff. from a parade to celebrities like alleged traffic law violator and publisher of Road Rider Roger Hulllhat and cameral and AMA's Un Kuchler larms foldedI to a Goodyear tire foot-printing stop to the Bel·Rayl Dal·Ray oil changing booth complete with real live Texans to supervise the work. Aspencade:A HarleyDavidson Triumph By John Wyckoff RUIDOSO, NM, OCT. 1·4 About 900 miles east of Los Angeles, high in the mountains is the small town of Ruidoso, New Mexico. Every fall an event takes place orchestrated by Mother Nature. The aspen leaves turn from green to gold and yellow. For the past 10 years, · h h . ed b th IS C ange as been Vl~w y thousands of motorcyclists who 12 combined this natura] event with a motorcycle happening. At first there were a few hundred riders. As the years passed and word got around about the beauty of the area and the friendliness of the natives, the Aspencade grew. This was the lOth such event. Over 3,000 motorcycles sported the little green stickers on their head- ligbts indicating they were owned by registered delega~es. Ano~~r l!,OOO to 3,000 motorcychsts parnClpated but didn't pay their share. The Aspencade is the event where the experts meet the industry execu· ti1'e5. These participants are considered to be the "Cream of the Crop" of touring motorcyclists. They came from all over, including Europe and Australia. There were no reported drunks or fights, few loud parties, and an up' beat feeling surrounded the event. Til Thompson the founder and ram-rod of the Aspencade Motorcyclist Con· vention had the ability to be everywhere all the time. There were tours, bike judging, field events and a parade that included a fly-over of some World War 1 and II fighter planes, and a new Aspencade queen was selected to reign during the 1981 event. Each evening the Convention Center, next to the Chaparral Hotel, a run· down ra(1)er dirty place but with a parking lot big enough for the thou· sands of motorcycles, opened its doors to the delegates. The floor of the Center was jammed with all sorts of goodies for the road riders. The major motorcycle manufacturers displayed their 1981 bikes. Distributors and manufacturers like Rocky Cycle, Van Leeuwen, Malcolm Smith, Calafia, Taylor. Mate and many others had displays of their wares. They were staffed to answer the riders' questions as well as to get input and ideas from the riders. Outside on the parking lot, Bel· Ray had a tent set up and were changing oil and replacing mters. They gave away more than they sold. All the winners of the bike judging were given free oil changes in addition to the trophies. Goodyear had a team on hand to do tire foot-printing. Touring riders like to over-load their bikes. The Goodyear tire foot-printing was used to give the bike owners much valuable information relating to tires, pressure and handling safety. Harley-Davidson stole the show. They were not content just to display their touring equipment; they brought in what appeared to be half their office and sales staff, 15 FLT and five Sturgis models. P..articipants were mo .. couraged to take a test ride (over five miles) to see what Milwaukee had to offer those who were considering getting into the "big" bikes. Bill Dutcher, Harley's man in charge of Public Relations, was able to keep a smile on bis face while others shook their beads knowing what the insurance company must be saying about such a risky offering. Bill's confidence was rewarded. No one stuffed a single Harley into a tree or threw one off a cliff. As a matter of fact there was no damage to any of the bikes at all and only one reported traffic violation. Roger Hull, publisher of Road Rider, was ticketed for going 56 in a 45 MPH zone. This resulted in a lot of good natured ribbing. Roger, however, was not amused. Some of the extra events at the con· vention included a poker run sponsored by Harley-Davidson to raise funds for the fight against Muscular Dystophy. There was also an economy run spon· sored by Vetter Corp., and Harley took the first four places. The 151 + mpg turned in by the winner (one a Harley) was incredible to say the least. Door prizes amounting to many thou· sands of dollars and incl\1ding a Honda CX500 from Oklahoma Honda and Custom Dressers, were given to participants. The fall colors produced by Mother Nature were rivaled by the chrome sparkle and rainbows of color of the "touring dressers." The attitude of the New Mexico officials, Ruidoso officials and townspeople made the riders feel at home and anxious to come back when the aspen leaves tum again next year. •