We Have a Winner from Lowe's Motor Speedway!

We had such a great time at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday with all the NASCAR fans! We felt right at home with all of the Harley Davidson and Sturgis shirts we saw, too. We had great conversations with folks about their motorcycles, ATVs and even bicycles. It was a great day. Ok, it could have been better if Jeff Gordon pulled out a win, but it was a good night for him in the points and he even lead for a bit to get those all important 5 bonus points!

If you stopped by to see us...thanks! You couldn't have missed us, right? We were directly in front of the main, Speedway Blvd entrance. We just thought that was cool!





We also were running a contest which tons of people entered. We are giving away a New York Chain, New York Disc Lock, Evolution Mini and a Superman padlock along with an Ingersoll Rand Thunder Gun. No, we are not giving away the Club Car...sorry. We'd like to have that ourselves, but it was only on loan and is already back at its home at Club Car.

So....we have picked a winner.....could be you.....

Drum roll please.....

Our winner is.....

Kevin Powell from California!!!

Congratulations Kevin. I'm still traveling, but when I get back on Friday I'll give you a ring and make sure you get your prize next week.

Thanks, again, to everyone who stopped by. We hope you enjoyed the race and having a safe place to park your motorcycle at the track.

Sturgis 08 Bike Week - Chapter 1

by Craig Glab, Central Region Manager

This chapter begins with my two day road trip (towing my bike) from my home around Cincinnati OH to Sturgis SD. I got there Saturday night just in time to hang with my Hamster friends at a block party..(priorities in order). Sunday, I got up and went for a ride through Spearfish Canyon to Deadwood. Great scenery and strange looking motorcycles too. Check out this one...

During the week I got ready for two Custom bike shows. One, that we sponsored, was the Dave Perewitz custom paint show, held at Thunder Road. The show was in a large tent where I set up a booth to show off our product line. I was placed right by the entrance where people would come in and go out of the tent. What a great spot! I talked to tons of people about our locks and proper lock up. A custom motorcycle was parked in the booth for "show and tell", to show them the best place to attach a lock. I gave away goodies like stickers and lanyards...funny how much these tough riders love the free stuff!

I helped Dave Perewitz hand out the winning trophies for a bunch of really cool custom paint jobs. You'll have to come back to the blog another day for more about that. I also worked out at the Top Fifty Rally Park bike show. We gave locks to the winners of the show. We also mixed things up with the crowd giving them crazy questions to answer for a chance to win a lock from us. This was alot of fun. While the crowd was a bit more thin this year than in the past because of gas price sticker shock, the spirit of the event was as strong as ever!

Oh What A Night...

The Women's Riding Essentials at Perewitz Cycle Fab last night was nothing less than fantastic! We had a great group of women ranging from veteran riders to completely new riders. Some have a motorcycle, some are on their 3 or 4th motorcycle, one just bought her first and a couple more are looking to purchase their first.

Not only did Nicole and Jody share their experiences and wisdom, but the camaraderie of the women was indescribable. They listened to each other, shared their experiences and formed new friendships that, I believe, will become new riding partners. I truly feel lucky to have shared in the evening.

So, Nicole, are you going to be kick starting Jody's Panhead?

Nicole fascinated us all by sharing her experiences of racing on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway.

Both ladies talked about being safe on the motorcycle and wearing the proper gear - helmets, gloves, jackets etc. They both want to be as protected as they can be when riding. Bright colors, like Jody's Icon jacket, are recommended so others on the road can see you.

It was a beautiful evening so we conducted the evening outside at the picnic tables. Susan and Jody put out a spread that would have fed an army! We ate and talked about motorcycles for hours on a lovely, relaxing June evening. How much better does it get than that?

Well.....it did....

At the end of the evening, Jody gave us a tour of the "inner sanctum" of Perewitz Cycle Fab. We got to see Jeff's new bike being built, Jody's Buell, some of the other projects they have going on (that shall remain secret!) and then....Jody showed us her newest creation. She's building a custom bike from the ground up. It should be completed by Sturgis. Here's a sneak peek just for the ladies.

We got to see it from all angles and hear all the plans she has for it, but we'll leave you with just the, unfinished, front view. I'll leave out the details about what's unfinished on the front. You'll just have to stay tuned over on the Plog (Perewitz blog) to see the finished masterpiece. Or, head to Sturgis to see it for yourself!

All in all, it was a fantastic evening!

Thank you to everyone at Perewitz Cycle Fab who helped to make this a great night - it was mostly Jody, Susan, Jaren and De...but, if truth be told the guys pitched in on the set up a little bit. Thank you all!

And thanks to the ladies who attended. It was great to meet you all! Safe riding!

NASCAR, Birthdays and Full House

I'm back from the weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway. We had a great time, met some wonderful folks and then watched a good race (congrats to Kasey Kahne on a great win!). I'm pooped, but wanted to post just a few photos before I'm done in for the evening. Don't worry - many more coming...and, on Tuesday, we'll announce the winner of the prize package right here!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our tent. Roby, Nicole, Craig and I enjoyed meeting you all!

The tent was packed all day! We never felt lonely once.

Nicole joined us for half the day and signed autographs, including for the lady on the right. It was her birthday! I am so sorry, but I'm not sure I got her name, or if I did, I don't recall after such a busy day, but, sincerely.....Happy Birthday!

We met so many people who had Harley shirts, Sturgis shirts and even Myrtle Beach 2008 shirts. We talked about motorcycles with people from Connecticut, North Carolina and just about every other Eastern US state. We felt right at home! Here's one of the parking areas for motorcycles in the infield.

Jody on Super Bikes!

So, I'm watching Super Bikes! last night on Speed to catch up with Jason Britton and his team adventures at Sturgis and who do I see at the end of the show? Jody Perewitz! Yup, that's her. She was cruising along the roads of Sturgis when the camera caught her. And I wasn't seeing things because Don (one of our category managers) caught the show this morning and saw her, too!

If you want to catch the show - lots of stunts being done by Jason and his team as well as some of the Sturgis sites in and around the Top 50 Park - it's being re-run on Speed on Saturday. For some reason it's being shown as either the "Florida" show or the "Sport Bikes and Law Enforcement" show. I think it's the "Florida" one. Which is strange to me, but that's what popped up as the show I was watching last night and the one on this morning - but they are grouped together so check 'em both out. And, right at the end, you'll see Jody.

Congrats Jody. You are a star!

Sturgis Trip

by Craig Glab, Central Regional Manager



My little rascals on the motorcycle as I was getting ready to leave for Sturgis.



Here's the hotel - Holiday Inn Spearfish. It's the official Hamster hotel for the week.



Main Street in Sturgis.



This is only one block and there's got to be at least 10 blocks. They all look alike, with hundreds, no thousands, of motorcycles on each block.



The Stugis bike was designed and built by Sabers Specialties to be the official Sturgis motorcycle. It was raffled off in Sturgis.

The Sturgis bike was just off Main Street. Check out the lock hanging from the tent.

Thursday the Hamsters USA hold their annual ride for Hamsters and invited friends. We road from Spearfish into Sturgis which is 17 miles out.

I think there were about 350 motorcycles in the ride. The mayor of Sturgis came out to talk to us all before we left and he was asked to pick his favorite motorcycle of the bunch. Keith Terry, owner of Terry Components, has the nicest bike, according to the mayor.

Thursday was a busy day. After the Hamster ride, I rode out to Jesse Jurens' Top 50 Rally Park to see what was going on.

Dave Perewitz and Jody and Susan were there. Dave was signing autographs.



The Annual Bike Show was Thursday. They also had a motocross exhibition that could be seen from the freeway, too.

Giving away Kryptonite locks to people at the Top 50 Park with my friend Rob Buydos who announced at the Top 50 Park all week.

Congratulations Perewitz Family!

While at Sturgis the Perewitz family was presented with the 2nd Annual Chrome Heart Award from the Children's Care Hospital & School. The award is given each year to someone "in the motorcycle world whose philanthropic support and civic duty represents everything positive in the motorcycle industry". This year they chose Dave & his family. Very cool!

Since we've known them, we have seen first hand just how much this family gives of themselves to support different charities and funds. I don't know how they do it! I'm glad that the whole family was recognized because Dave is truly the front person but Susan, Jody, Jesse and Jaren help to make it all happen, too. They work the logistics and back end details of all their charity work. It's not easy, but they work together to give back and it's truly special to see. I can't think of a better family that deserved the award this year. Great photo of Dave & Susan with the award from Iron Works Magazine!

Not to mention....while they were in Sturgis, Dave played auctioneer for the annual Hamster USA auction and dinner where they raised over $200,000 for the Children's Care Center. The funds will help with physical, occupational and speech therapies to children with special needs in Western South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska.

The press release about this says..."Children’s Care of Rapid City served over 1200 children in the region last year through outpatient and outreach programs. It is affiliated with Children’s Care Hospital & School, based in Sioux Falls. Children’s Care is a private, independent, non-profit organization with a mission to help children with special needs reach their full potential. The organization as a whole served over 2500 children last year."

Pretty cool that the Perewitz family and the Hamsters help out this cause each year. Oh, what are the Hamsters? It's an international motorcycle group founded by Dave and some of his friends years ago. From what I can tell, they are a great group of guys who all give of their time, talent and monetary donations to many, many charities across the country. Clearly, they were all more than generous out in Sturgis at their annual banquet!

While we are talking Perewitz....here are some photos from this month's Bike Night.

All set up and ready....a big kudos to Tim Clifford who

was on vacation but came to work the event anyway!

All kinds of motorcycles filled the parking lot.