Has it really been already a year ago when I first sat down and came up with the idea to turn my bike into a moving billboard for TAAF? Talk about time flying fast when having fun!
At some point some months ago I had probably thought of doing something to celebrate the anniversary of what I've done to the bike, but to be honest, I didn't really think of what it was I was going to do. Hell, I had only realized recently that it's coming up to a year now, and even then, I didn't get to the realization until an amazing thing happened recently :). I actually held off on writing about it until now, when the situation is the least bit official.
Well now that it's officially posted here, here's my official blog entry.
By no intent of mine, this bike is now due to participate in Yamaha's Custom Sport Bike Show during the Laguna Seca round of MotoGP next month!
Let me try and recount how this came to be...
I've been going to the Laguna Seca GP for the past three years now, and I always remembered seeing a Yamaha tent filled with what were clearly privately-owned custom bikes. I even remembered the Bostrom Brothers being associated with the gallery when Ben Bostrom was racing a Yamaha in the AMA. So, after the paint job that I did on the bike last year, I kept in mind to try and find out if there was a way to get my bike into the display tent, as part of my ongoing m.o. of raising awareness for TAAF.
Fast forward to now when the Laguna GP is upon us, I contacted Zoom-Zoom since they were Yamaha-sponsored, to see if they may have a contact that knows a thing or two about the upcoming Laguna Seca GP. They didn't, but they did send me the link I posted above for Yamaha Custom Sport Bike show, thinking that that's what I was referring to. I looked at it, and I wasn't sure if this was the same display I had seen, but I did see an email contact at the bottom, which I decided to contact.
I basically fired an email saying that I saw the show announcement, but that I wasn't really interested in entering my bike (hell, I didn't even think my bike was contest-quality), but was wondering if Yamaha had another tent or area somewhere to showcase customer/modified bikes as part of their regular display. I mentioned that the bike is modified, but particularly noted the custom paint job to create awareness for the foundation, and I included a link to TAAF for their reference.
A day later, Sarah Timleck responds to my email. Sarah is the person who runs STCreates.com. Basically, she's the one that is in charge of organizing and pulling off all the events for her clientele, with her two major clients being Yamaha and Icon at the moment. In her email, she says that they would love to have my bike in the show, and that they wanted to include it in their "other class." Before I could email her back to ask what she meant by "other class," Sarah actually calls me to touch base, and basically:
The contest is composed of two classes - the Pro Builder class, and the Amateur Builder class. Pro Builders are people in the industry of building and/or heavily modifying bikes; think of a motorcycle shop and the like, while Amateur Builders are regular Joes like me who DIY and just bolts on parts available that they buy online. She wanted my bike entered into the Amateur Builder class without even having seen a photo of it yet. I guess she must have taken a real liking to the fact that it's promoting a non-profit foundation and their cause. She practically guaranteed me a spot, asking me to complete an online submission as a technicality, but that she was going to contact Yamaha herself to let them know to definitely include me and my bike for the Laguna Seca GP contest. Apparently, they will accept 100 online submissions, and from there, choose 30 bikes to participate during the MotoGP contest next month in Laguna Seca.
She then tells me that as part of being chosen for the contest, each participant will receive $300 from Yamaha to cover the expenses to bring the bike to the contest, along with two (2) General Admission tickets good for the whole weekend (worth $80 each last I checked)!
AND, that she has a contact with Super Streetbike magazine (who are co-hosting the contest this year), and with my permission, she wanted to send them my bike and my contact info, cause she felt that they would be really interested in running an article or a column about my bike and its story.
I had to soak this all in while I was listening to her in the other line. I basically told her how floored I was, cause I would've been grateful if they just had a corner or something where they would allow me to put my bike on the stands and my self-made poster next to it (she even told me I can bring my poster ALONG with their display for my bike!). I didn't even think to think my bike and I could or would participate in something like this! And without sounding too eager, I even clarified that I will get the free admission passes, because at that time, my friends and I were finalizing our GP plans and were ready to purchase our passes. Sarah tells me on the phone:
"No. Don't buy your passes. You're getting the free admission passes. You're in."
Un-freakin'-believable!
So now I've actually been making arrangements and bolting on some new bits and pieces on the bike to get it ready for the show and contest. I honestly have NO aspirations to win (I will fucking FLIP OUT if I do! ), but I figured if Yamaha and Sarah are willing to put it in the contest for whatever their agenda, the least I can do is make it look like it ought to be in competition.
Oh, and if by some grace of the motorcycle gods my bike does win or whatever, any monetary proceeds I do receive will of course go straight to TAAF, including the $300 they will give the contest participants.
You know how they say that no good deed goes unpunished? If this is the kind of punishment I'll be getting for this deed, I'll gladly be a glutton for punishment!
I'm sitting here remembering that one of my key principles in having done this to my bike was to give a gift that would keep on giving.
I just never expected that my perpetual gift would be perpetually gifting me with such amazing experiences. :)
