Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128341
in Mo tor cy cling The Black Prince§§ At the end of his 10-year motorcycling odyssey, EmilioScotto had ridden his Honda Gold Wing, the Black Princess, 485,000 miles as he twice circumnavigated planet Earth . Honda Red Rider magazine and the HRCA Clubhouse have both chronicled much of this journey over the past 18 months. To honor his faithful companion at their journey's end , when Emilio turned off the ignition key for the last time, he vowed that the Black Princess would spend the rest of her days in calm repose, never to be ridden again. And while Emilio had also taken time off to rest, recuperate and focus on many projects relating to his journey - including book and film endeavors - now it was time for Emilio to take to the road again, principally to join the 2004 Honda Hoot in his role as Grand Marshal. What would he ride from California to Knoxville, Tennessee? Without a doubt, it wou ld be a Honda Gold Wing of some sort. But as plans for Emilio and the Hoot began to take shape, the fert ile minds at the Honda Riders' Club of America began to search for a way to mark this event in a suitable manner. And so it was decided that Emiliowou ld ride a GLI800 to the 2004 Hoot, but it would be, fittinglyenoug h, a Gold Wing w ith a distinct personality. The objective was to create a new Black Princess II persona , with a look derived from his original Black Princess, but with modifications that would also set this GL I800 apart from the rest of the motorcycling world . To accomplis h such a feat in short order, Hon da tapped some of the innovative minds of the Special Projects Division at Cobra Engineering. Cobra principal Ken Boyko br ings a keen eye and an intuitive feel for motorcycle design, while Denny Berg essentially serves as a one-man tour de force in bringing Cobra projects to life. So at the HRCA:s request, they set to work. "Like most Cobra pro jects," Berg said, "this one started when Ken Boyko and I sat down one morning and started tossing around a bunch of ideas. The overall concept was actually more of his idea than mine; we had both been thinking about the Gold Wing for years , generating mental pictures of what we might do to reshape this bike. Overall, ou r goal was to make the bike more sporty- looking by cleaning up lines and details to give it almost a Euro kind of look, for something of a wo rldwide flavor. "W hen the Gold Wing tr ansitioned from the GLl500 to the GLl800, Honda's engiPHOTOS COURTESY OF HONDA H-D Viet.nam Memorial Plaque In May of 200 I, Harley-Davidson Motor Company first announced plans to contribute $50,000 toward the funding of the memorial plaque at the Vietnam Veterans Memor ial in Washington , D.C. Three years later, the In Memory Memor ial Plaque was officially unveiled in a ceremony on July 8, 2004. The ceremony was open to the public and was attended by veterans and loved ones of veterans who have perished since the e nd of the Vietnam War. Remarks were made by project organizers and members of Congress, as we ll as Harley-Davidson director of government affairs Wayne Curtin, who honored the sacrifices of the veterans on behalf of Motor Company employees, dealers and customers. The In Memory Memorial Plaque is dedicated to those Vietnam veterans who died after serving in the war, but whose death was a result of their service in the conflict. Many veterans died after the war from being exposed to toxins during service or from complications of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. These individuals are not listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, but are now memorialized through this plaque . Harley-Davidson has long been dedicated to veterans' issues, as approximately one-third of HarleyDavidson customers have at one time been active in the service, and 14 percent of Harley-Davidson employees are veterans of the U.S. military. 116 SEPTEMBER 15 ,2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary