Another SPORTBIKE RALLY?

For those who went, you probably know I was heavily involved in the SportBike Rally in Iraan Texas. SportBike Extravaganza ran 10 years. The upside? Our biggest year was almost 1000 Bikes! The downside, low local sponsorship(only one local business would donate) there is nothing there to do, it's hours from anywhere and county commissioners didn't like the drag racing and stunt shows.
After our stay this weekend and visiting with some locals, we are rethinking doing another SportBike event! Leakey seems to be an excellent location. The area is already Biker friendly, there is great riding, plenty of lodging and it's closer to large metropolitan areas to pull riders from(Austin, San Antonio, Houston) probably thinking of changing from a one day to a three day format mid October. There is an air strip there(drag racing) nice areas to congregate and hang out and it is a great location to base from for riding the Three Twisted Sisters! It takes about a full year to put an event of this size together so we would really need a decision before the first of the year. So fellow TWT'ers what are YOUR thoughts?

Sounds like the perfect location and you should have a good turnout as long as it doesn't happen the same weekend of any other event.(RTB). My favorite part of Texas.

Steve

And there in lies the rub! There's pretty much something every weekend from spring to fall.

I would think with your location, you would have the preferred event over other events with the exception of RTB & maybe Harvest Classic. Pick a place that has good camping set up and you should have a good turnout.

Steve

One thing that might be quite beneficial, with cruiser or tour events staged elsewhere it would draw a different crowd. Tons of things have gone through our minds in the past from a "blessing of the Bikes" to a Gymkhana style ride course. Of course getting vendors onboard never hurts either.
One of the huge draws in the past has been the Dyno Wars HP contest.
But again, what I'm really interested in is everyone's input and ideas. Pro's/Con's likes dislikes. New ideas, old ideas.

So you wanna to bring those rocket bikes round here, scare my wife and chickens. Those guys dressed like pirates are no problem, can pass em with my tractor. And I always know where they are Brp Brp brp brp brp

Ahahaha!
Wait! That's not very funny!
I think for once, the big V twin dress like a Pirate crowd has done everyone a favor by breaking the ice and giving locals a taste of out of towners money. In Iraan it took a couple of years for everyone to get a taste of $$$ and change attitudes, but in the hill country they have already started accepting Bikes.

I'd love to see something do well, but I never could make it out to Iraan either. Leakey sounds more reasonable as far as distance goes, and that would make it a lot more of a weekend-friendly travel plan.

Leakey's good. Or Kerrville for a base of operations for more dining/entertaining/lodging options. Done small group sportbike events with both as bases. If October, I'd just not do Harvest Classic weekend.

Schedule around Harvest Classic, TMGP, CMRA lightweight endurance weekends, and Ride for Kids in Houston and I'll be there.
Good luck Carl. Miss you.

Going back 10yrs to the first SportBike Extravaganza, it was put on because there wasn't really a SPORTBIKE oriented Rally. 10 years later, there's still not. Granted the bikes are vastly different, demographics are somewhat different, but in the end the goal is the same. To hang out with like minded enthusthiasts and have fun. We are all over the place as to activities, awards, advanced Rider lectures, even a basic racing demo. Dealers with new Bikes, Vendors heck pretty much whatever it takes to draw the traffic. So again what appeals to everyone here? Bike show? Bike rodeo? Drags? Stunt contest? T-Shirts, patches? What would you like or be interested in?

That's a beautiful part of the state, and the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum is another cool placed to hang out. It's too bad there isn't a nice track nearby. I'd hate to think of the amount of scraped paint you could get out on the sisters, but we all know how great the riding is.

Triumph did a rally there a few years back and based it in Kerrville. There are a lot more beds there given the number of bikers you'd expect. I'd sure like to see it happen.

I want to suggest Llano. Plenty of cheap hotels.
Suggest timed runs On "G1" rated roads (by Butler
Maps)in the area like FM2323 and Willow City Lp.
Call Court Butler and see if he would sponser it.
Riders could visit Fredricksberg, Kerrville, Marble
Falls, and Luckenbach all within an hours drive.

Llano, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Bandera, Luckenbach, the possibilities are pretty limitless. The catch is, you have to find a place big enough for an event, but small enough to:
A want/need the money an event brings in
B not have a huge bunch of bureaucrats to fight your way through.
Leakey may or may not be that town. The next step for me is to speak to town councilmen.

Initial discussions opened,,,,,,waiting on replies from Leakey authorities

OK everyone we are up and running! Below is the tenetive event schedule.

Friday May 15 2015:
Early arrival & welcome
Early set up and entry for Motorcycle Show $15 entry fee
Rides scheduled in the area
Free maps available
Lone Star Motorcycle Museum open $6 entrance fee
Evening $10 Fajita dinner & Meet and Greet.
Live band at the Buckhorn $10 cover
Shuttle service available so you don't have to drink and ride
Midnight Ride "I rode all Three Sisters in one night and didn't get caught!" date time and location top secret! $20 gets you "THE" shirt and an invitation to the ride


Saturday May 16:
Airport closes to planes opens for Drag racing.
Flag drop heads up racing sponsored by The Evil Right Hand.
Safety Inspection bike and gear courtesy of The Justified Ancients of Speed. Unlimited passes
$15 entrance fee spectator or Racer

Last minute entry for Motorcycle Show
Show opens $5 cover

Motorcycle Rodeo or Gymkhanna style agility contest at Courthouse. $5 entry
Timed ride around the 3 Twisted Sisters(read more below on this)$10 entry
Saturday events at Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop(pending)
Live band at the Buckhorn $10 cover

Sunday May 17 2015:
Sunday morning breakfast
Blessing of the Bikes (tentative)
Raffle for prizes
Plaque/trophy/award presentation

Armbands:
Armbands will be available for purchase in multiple locations for $25
Armband gets you:
Drag strip admittance as either Racer or Spectator
Free entry to Motorcycle Show(enter a bike in the show)
Free admission to Motorcycle Show
Free admission to Lone Star Motorcycle Museum
Free entry into 3 Sisters timed ride
Free shuttle from Bar to Hotel
Free Sunday Morning breakfast
5 free raffle tickets
tentative drink discounts

Timed ride around the Three Twisted Sisters:
This is a timed Ride. Based on Riding the entire loop at LEGAL speeds and stopping to make a purchase in each town. A perfect score would be based on being closest to the predetermined time ie: driving the route at posted speed in every part plus an average stop and purchase time in each location.
Either over or under but the closest to perfect time wins.

Gymkhanna/Agility ride everyone has seen this before a very tight twisty parking lot course laid out with cones fastest rider through it wins.

Bike Rodeo the usual silliness. Slow Race, Keg Race, Board Ride, Balloon Toss, Weinie Bite, Clothespin race.

There is already a discussion of a Manufacturer sponsored resort for one specific brand. Brand X owners only, with some little benefits.
Support for broken/damaged bikes will be available.
Charity nominees have been selected and while we are not ready to release the info they are pertinent to all of us Riders.

Support rolls will likely be provided by the CMA and we are working with a local resort to provide free rooms for support/volunteer staff.

Lastly but by no means unimportant, we all know the allure of the Three Twisted Sisters and the hidden dangers. Our intent is to promote a fun and SAFE weekend. There have been 6 fatalities on the Sisters lets keep that number down!

Sounds like a good time. Can I bring my Guzzi and dress like a pirate?

The CMA State Rally is also scheduled for Leakey that weekend. Could get busy around those parts.

Uh oh! That may tangle up our volunteers! Originally the date tentative date was Aprill 11 but that's the same weekend as MotoGP. So we moved to the next available date.

Or, some folks might want to do both.

It's a huge logistics nightmare to plan a date for any event in Texas. Due to the fact that we have a huge state, it's difficult to find a location that can draw from multiple areas. Due to our largely year round fair weather it's difficult to find a date that someone else isn't doing something. Calendar conflicts come next, Mothers Day, Easter, etc. the next conflict is, what other events in this immediate area may conflict. So in the end, it comes down to the lesser evil.
There are good weekends for Motorcyclists(no other events), but these may clash with prior planned events on the Hotel owners side. Realistically, these businessmen are looking to book a weekend when they are normally empty rather than a date where it's convient for Motorcyclists but they are already packed. A quick search reveals a conflict pretty much every single weekend throughout the spring summer and fall.
So back to the issue at hand anyone have any ideas or requests for other activities? I will need some help on the Motorcycle Show angle as I'm not really sure where to look or how to contact these people other than maybe through the Fall Harvest organizers.
We will most likely be handing out cards at MotoGP in Austin in April the online blitz will start on forum boards by the first. Hopefully some short Videos advertising the Rally can be shot in January.
Oh and last but not least,,,,,,,
We are not using the SportBike Extravaganza name so a new name is needed.
My thoughts are "SportBike" in the name but marketing would definitely need to refer to the Sisters, a bad boy image, racing,,,, I'm open for anything. Let's see what you got.

What about during Moto GP?

..... Along with vintage, cafe racers, hipsters' tin, etc.

Sport Bikes have been down for the last 5 years, time to back on track and going again.

Fredericksburg or Kerrville are both great towns that have enough size and rooms to handle a rally. And both have great riding within minutes of town.

SRADkneedragger said:

OK everyone we are up and running! Below is the tenetive event schedule.

Friday May 15 2015:

Midnight Ride "I rode all Three Sisters in one night and didn't get caught!" date time and location top secret! $20 gets you "THE" shirt and an invitation to the ride.

Saturday May 16:

Timed ride around the 3 Twisted Sisters(read more below on this)$10 entry

Timed ride around the Three Twisted Sisters:

This is a timed Ride. Based on Riding the entire loop at LEGAL speeds and stopping to make a purchase in each town. A perfect score would be based on being closest to the predetermined time ie: driving the route at posted speed in every part plus an average stop and purchase time in each location.
Either over or under but the closest to perfect time wins.

There is already a discussion of a Manufacturer sponsored resort for one specific brand. Brand X owners only, with some little benefits.
Support for broken/damaged bikes will be available.
Charity nominees have been selected and while we are not ready to release the info they are pertinent to all of us Riders.

Click to expand...

Howdy,

I have never organized a large motorcycle rally, but what might be the issue of liability for you? Do you take out a three day umbrella policy for the event in case of a mishap and the participant decides to sue? Hopefully your organization is an LLC and not a DBA which should offer some protection.

Lots of folks crash on the Three Sister's including plenty of sport-bike riders. Have you had an attorney prepare your "Hold Harmless" etc. documents. You're planning a safe event, but I bet you will have some sport bike guys during the event trying to get the fastest time among their friends. In case of that you could have a spotter along the route taking pictures of violators and disqualifying him or her at the conclusion of the timed event.

Another suggestion is to get the photographer dude that camps out on 337 during sunny weekends and takes pictures of riders to somehow work the crowd and then you take a percentage of the sales he generates. Maybe getting some GoPro drones taking pictures of the crowd or bikes riding could be a novel idea.

Finally...the issue of booze. I know sometimes riders will imbibe in excess. Are you selling liquor with a proper license or will you have a third party take care of this aspect of the rally.

It sounds like a fun event. Any ideas on how many people you expect based on past events? Somehow, Kerrville might be a better fit if you get several hundred attendees due the large selections of of restaurants and hotels etc. In Kerrville you are just a stone throw from Highway 16 and 337. In order to avoid a bunch of folks signing up at the last minute, you might have an "early bird" discount, so you can get a better estimate of the number of attendees.

RB

Things have moved forward quite a bit since the early planning stages. I haven't pursued many updates here simply due to a lack of interest on the part of TWT members. I'm not sure but maybe TWT just isn't the right demographic. Or maybe I'm wrongly interpreting a lack of response as a lack of interest?
Personal liability;
Stupid people do stupid things then refuse to accept personal responsibility for their behavior. So, disclaimer or no, anyone anywhere can sue anyone for anything that hurts their little feelings. So whether we have a disclaimer or not the liability remains(we will have one)
Booze. I am not touching alcohol sales! The TABC is one of the few Law Enforcement Agencies in this country that is above the law. So like the IRS, just say no thank you please.
Alternative locations.
Let me explain because this comes up frequently. Fredericksburg or LLano or Boerne aren't nearly as hungry as Leakey for tourist dollars so they won't be nearly as accommodating. This small town has literally rolled out the red carpet from welcoming racing to offering a shuttle to and from local bars! This is a local economy that is already used to Motorcyclists money and would love to have more.
SportBike Riders
Well we always find a way to segregate ourselves and create animosity. Yes more "squids" fall into the "SportBikers" demographic than others, so their behavior should nix a Rally? Kind of like those chest flashin beer swilling Harley guys I hate so much.(I'm a 54 yr old SportBiker)
Funny when I contacted a "family owned Bike shop" in the area about involvement the first thing they said was "We are a FAMILY owned business and don't want ANY involvement with drunken BBy flashing crap".
Wow! Here we go with stereotypes. I would hope that we could have a mutually enjoyable weekend without it becoming a Pirate fest. Or a liability fest. But you are right about one thing, anytime you try to benefit the many the one or the few screw things up for everyone. Sadly
Hopefully things will happen without someone getting hurt/butt hurt and many people will be able to come and enjoy some camaraderie and riding. That's the plan anyway. I'm always open to advice, support, ideas, or requests to accommodate interests.
Thanks
Carl