Another "Harley Day" - Warm, lots to see and hear

In addition to the action on the street, we went to look for Guy Giroux, multiple Canadian and Quebec Enduro champion, and 2009 rider for BMW Canada aboard the new G450X machine. He ran a Grand National Cross Country event earlier this week. (That is the AMA National enduro Championship). He is running another GNCC event in Georgia this week end, where his objective is to break into the top 15 in the Pro class - great preparation for the Canadian Championship - against riders who race year-round. And beating a Japanese BMW rider would also go down well, thank you.

Josée Bouchard on the 883 Iron.

We also rode an 883 Iron, the new Sportster model from Harley-Davidson aimed directly at the women market. In addition to my own impressions, we got Canadian racer Josée Bouchard to try out the machine. What struck her the most is how easy the Iron is to handle and ride, as she is more used to her race bike, which only works well when you are riding hard on a track. She also had to get used to a bike on which she can easily touch the ground, a definite plus. My early impressions confirmed hers - this is a great first bike as well as an excellent city bike, also well suited for short touring. But that rear suspension has very limited travel, and bottoms too easily with a large critter such as myself aboard.

At the track, Miguel Duhamel continued his development work on the suspension of his GSX-R600, in preparation for the 200 Miler Friday night. This afternoon, Brett McCormick ran his first AMA Superbike race, and was 16th after five of the 15 lap race, when a small incident forced him off the track. He fought back to 21st place at the checker - a good day's work for the rookie. The Canadian Championship races will be interesting, especially as his experience level grows over the season.

Tomorrow, we finish off some photos and video, then watch Miguel run the 200.

See you Saturday!





Photo Credit : Philippe Champoux