Hi everybody thought I'd clue many of you in on what we're doing this year just "to be different"! Each year we try and come up with something interesting, a little fun and usually we try not to get too crazy and get hurt. Hurt is bad because it hurts and  because the people I work for don't like it when you get hurt because you miss work :) Go figure, hey maybe they can't get along with out me?

 This year we're going back to our roots and we're going road racing but on a much smaller scale. We want to have the fun and excitement of track racing but not the high end expense or high speed get-offs so the Ohio Mini Road racing League is just the place! I went out and purchased a stock 2003 XR 100 and have begun the tear down, inspection, parts purchases and eventual build up of what I am hoping will be a competitive bike in the stock XR 100 class!

Click Here to check out the pictures of the tear down and rebuild. Stay tuned each week as we bring you a weekly diary of the build as well as some photos leading up to the race. My number is 25..I only wished that was my age and not just my number! Anyways special thanks to Master Mechanic Keith at Gollans Honda Suzuki. He's the man! Also to Ray at Gollans and Chip my suspension guy at Pointview Cycles your local KTM dealer.

April 16th, 2012…man what a great late winter (ha,ha there was none) and early spring it's been. By now many of you have been out on your bike maybe a dozen times! Unfortunately I'm seeing a lot of early riding season accidents and the main culprit has been the cagers..automobile drivers who aren't used to seeing motorcyclists out riding. I can always say that but in my heart of hearts I believe we have lousy drivers all around us! You know why they are lousy? They are distracted by everything especially the cell phone and texting. Am I the only guy in the valley that knows you can tap the speaker icon and have hands free talking?? People aren't taking driving seriously..they take it for granted the privilege of driving a vehicle. Not trying to get on a soap box but if you hit a motorcyclist while texting you ought to lose your license for a predetermined amount of time and if you do worse than the old "I didn't see him" doesn't apply and you should be up for Vehicular Manslaughter. That's just the way it should be..DISCLAIMER Larry Ward's views don't represent those of Clear Channel or its management.

 Okay here's some cool things that have or will be going on soon in motorcycling.  The Western Reserve Motorcycle Club will hold its first Flat Track race of the season Saturday April 28th. Bob Davis WRMC member (Mr. Fairway Ford) will be on hand to talk about the opening of the Flat Track season.

 The Packard Museum continues their Motorcycles from Around the World exhibit Monday through Sunday. Minimal cost and of course stop by to see Slugo! I want to personally congratulate the Packard Museum and Bruce Williams for the awesome job they do each year in hosting these exhibits. The museum also features monthly presentations on topics like restoration, motorcycles on the radio and other interesting stuff.

 Saturday April 14th I was invited by Paul Danik to attend the Penton Owners group meeting held at the Packard Museum. It was way cool to meet many of the legends that keep the Penton name alive. Gunnar Lindstrom was a special guest of the Penton Owners group and gave a wonderful talk about the marquee Husqvarna models from the beginning to 1986.

 If you have some time to spend on your bike this Saturday head to Columbus catch US 23 South and visit Circleville Raceway home of the Ohio Mini Race Racing League (OMRL). They will be racing the YSR 50's, Honda XR 100's (in various forms) and CRF 150's this Saturday. Provided I have the time and the weather holds out I plan on attending the racing. I'm interested and may just find an XR 100 to race? Holy Toledo here we go!!

Here's the link to the racing league.. http://www.ohiominiroadracingleague.com/

 May starts the Rally season for most BMW folks. I'm heading to Sturgis, Michigan home of the Mini Rally the very first rally I attended as a BMW owner. I learned from that first stint. Temps hovered around 27 degrees Fahrenheit that night…zippers were froze on the tent. Crazy but good company. At the end of May I'll connect with my Moped Roots..Slugo and I are invited on Moped Larry's Annual Ride in New jersey. Almost 100 mopeders will be on hand for the 65 mile ride! Big BBQ follows with some music and dancin' Yeah!

Here's the link to the Mini Rally  http://www.bcbmwclub.com/rally.htm

June everything points towards the Steel Valley Nationals at Quaker City Raceway park. This 3 day event packs em' in and who can forget how Salem embraces all the fun and makes memories for the fans.

 As we always say on the show…you're only a kick start or maybe a button push away from a great adventure!