Motorcycling Family

I have a very close family, as many of my motorcycling friends know. Even though my parents don't ride, they attend many of our events and my friends are their friends. Both my wife and son ride, while my daughter is just now starting to ride again and is helping with the magazine.


Tyler McDonald, a third generation roadracer, will be competing in the upcoming Daytona 200

I recently attended Bike Night at K&N Motorcyles and it reminded me a great deal of my family. Unlike many corporate-style dealerships, K&N is a family owned business and has been for many years. Norm and Lucie McDondald started K&N in Tulsa many years ago and have extended their close family to the Tulsa motorcycling community. Roadracing is in their blood, so three generations of the McDonald family have been involved in racing, with Norm's grandson Tyler heading to Daytona next week to participate in the world's most famous motorcycle race, the Daytona 200.


The McDonald's treat Tulsa motorcyclists just like family, serving homemade burgers from a grill outside as riders gathered around.

K&N's monthly bike night is more like a family reunion than a typical bike night. The McDonald's treat all their motorcycling friends like family, with free burgers, small gifts, and a fun bike night atmosphere.


World class tuner Phil McDonald provides suspension tuning for Tulsa sport bike riders at each Bike Night

A favorite part of K&N Bike Night for Tulsa sport bike riders is "suspension tuning". Phil McDonald, a world class racebike tuner, is on hand to adjust and fine tune the suspension for customers. Charging only $30 for his expertise, you get AMA Superbike level experience in tuning on your own sport bike suspension. The line for this perk is quite long at each gathering, needless to say.


Phil Schreck builds amazing motorcycles, including this beautiful Norton cafe racer

I am always amazed at the type of bikes and the variety of motorcyclists who attend any bike night. Phil Schreck rode his beautifully built Norton cafe racer to the event, which was ogled by everyone there. As a single cylinder fanatic, Phil had always wanted a cafe racer and built this unique bike over a period of two years. It has a 1951 Model 18 motor displacing 500cc, which is mounted in a 1963 Featherbed frame, coupled to a 1969 Commando gearbox and brakes. Finally, the front is controlled by Norton's famous Roadholder forks. I was drooling over this bike and hope to bring it to readers in a full profile soon.

While visiting Tulsa area motorcyclists earlier in the day I came across Mihai Dumitrescu from Paris, France. He was drooling over a long low cruiser as I handed him a magazine. Like always, I started up a conversation and found out he was from Europe and working in Tulsa for 3 weeks. An avid motorcyclist with a BMW R1200S, Mihai was hoping to rent a bike for a ride our our wonderful state. Of course, that is nearly impossible to do in the U.S.A except in major metro areas such as Denver, Los Angeles or New York. He said it was his dream to ride in the United States. I invited him to K&N's bike night and told him I would try to fix him up.


Mihai Dumitrescu from Paris plans a dual sport ride with Keith

Later that evening when he arrived at K&N, I introduced Mihai to the McDonald's and several other area riders. I finally hooked him up with a friend of mine, Keith, who jumped at the chance to show Mihai a bit of Oklahoma motorcycling hospitality. They are planning to ride KTM 950 Adventure's this Sunday on a fun loop through eastern OK and western AR. Good luck and have fun!

A is for Adventure

Our own Brian Hopkins has a great story on springtime riding in NE Oklahoma. Be sure to let him know you are reading!

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I’m camped beneath the spillway at Spavinaw State Park in northeastern Oklahoma, lulled to sleep by the sound of all that water pouring over the dam. For the first time, I understand those white noise machines some people use when they sleep. The spillway here is an impressive sight – it’s got to be 300 yards long! – and tonight there’s a lot of water flowing. It’s a relaxing accompaniment to the phantom motion of the motorcycle still moving beneath me: muscle-memory from having flown the twisty stretch of Highway 10 that parallels the banks of the Illinois River earlier in the day.

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Ducati 1098 Introduction

Friday night saw the Ride Oklahoma party bus at the Skkybar in the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City for the Ducati 1098 Superbike introduction. This fun event, hosted by BMW of OKC, drew Ducati fans from all over Oklahoma to see this stunning new motorcycle. Returning to traditional Ducati styling, the 1098 is an Italian masterpiece. Best of all, Ducati focused on building a bike that most any motorcyclist could afford. The standard 1098 model lists for under $15,000, which puts it at only a slight premium to top-of-the-line Japanese literbikes.

Stop by BMW of OKC to look at this latest Italian wunderbike.