 Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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OP
Check Pants
Joined: Jan 2005
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I had to go to Florida this past week for work, but was able to work in a few days down in Key West. There were a lot of bikes in town and it turns out they were partcipants in a rally called the Hoka Key Challenge The challenge is to ride from Key West to Homer Alaska by July 4th. No GPS or hotels. You sleep on the ground, or whatever is close by. I bumped into an older guy at my hotel who had just ridden down from the Jersey Shore (couple of thousand miles?). The riders were leaving Key West this morning with a destination in Missippi the first check point. No speeding, etc, ticktets cost you points. 99% of the bikes I saw were HD's, that didn't seem particuarly set up special for a long distance run. I did see a few Gold Wings and ST1300's. It was hot as blazes in FL, those guys are going to get roasted today. The guy from NJ has to ride to Alaska, than home to New Jersey. He said it would be just a little over 20k all done. His bike was an older E-glide. He didn't have any spare parts, etc., just some oil. He said it used a quart on the way down. I'll be looking for this guys name to finish (Robert Griffith), hopefully he makes it.
Al
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,681 Likes: 1
Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,681 Likes: 1 |
I thought ...what a bunch of crazy mo fos, until I read the winner receives $500,000.  Maybe Charlie should have entered this on his R-III tourer, but he's pretty hooked on that GPS thingie. 
"Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at seventy miles per hour can double your vocabulary" Author unknown
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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OP
Check Pants
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537 |
Also no bikes but air-cooled HD's (read the FAQ). V-rods are even not competing. I saw other bikes, but I guess they were just tag-along support riders. Quote:
I thought ...what a bunch of crazy mo fos, until I read the winner receives $500,000. Maybe Charlie should have entered this on his R-III tourer, but he's pretty hooked on that GPS thingie.
Al
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 988
3/4 Throttle
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3/4 Throttle
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 988 |
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,420
Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,420 |
There is a TON of stipulations to qualify for the money. Have to sleep outside with your bike the whole way...they answer how they know in the FAQs Have to be Harley No speeding etc... It's a lot of money!!!!!!!!!! but I don't think I could do it with my meatless posterior. 
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,730 Likes: 5
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,730 Likes: 5 |
It would be fun to try! I think they limit it to air cooled HD's cause they don't want to be embarrassed by a superior make (i.e. Triumph). Goldwinging it wouldn't be a challenge anyway...
Always remember to be yourself. Unless you suck. Then pretend to be someone else.
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 12,964
Stickman Yogi
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Stickman Yogi
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 12,964 |
That's one heII of a run. Now the Alaska Highway is a beautiful thing, not like yesteryear. I've done it by car and deviated up the Dempster Highway (750km of crushed shale) all the way to the Mouth of the McKenzie at the Beaufort Sea. That's as far North as you can go by road (except in Winter with the Ice Roads). I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to do that trek by bike. Let's organize our own Alaskan ride and let only Triumphs in. Hey... let's get Triumph to sponsor us. Any Triumph will do, but it's gotta be a Triumph. Really... LET'S DO THIS!! 
Live to love, love to live.
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,225 Likes: 62
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,225 Likes: 62 |
Says you have to stay with your bike, roll the bike in the motel room with you.
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,580
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,580 |
Quote:
That's one heII of a run. Now the Alaska Highway is a beautiful thing, not like yesteryear. I've done it by car and deviated up the Dempster Highway (750km of crushed shale) all the way to the Mouth of the McKenzie at the Beaufort Sea. That's as far North as you can go by road (except in Winter with the Ice Roads). I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to do that trek by bike. Let's organize our own Alaskan ride and let only Triumphs in.
Hey... let's get Triumph to sponsor us. Any Triumph will do, but it's gotta be a Triumph. Really... LET'S DO THIS!!
Fantastic idea 
Heck, I'd love to do this so much I'd even get a passport so I could join in the fun
Too old to die young, too ugly to leave a good looking corpse
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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OP
Check Pants
Joined: Jan 2005
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Well, reportably the first two challengers crossed the finish line at 4:20 AM this morning. There has been very little news on this, even from the competitors. On the Hoka Key website, they don't say much. Apparently there is a lot of controversy on this ride. Some signs have been removed, etc. I guess when you put a $500k pot for the first to finish, there's bound to be problems. Some folks don't believe these finishers are legit and they aren't officially the winners yet. Some of the commentors on the news site suggest there won't be a payoff, sad if that were to happen. http://homernews.com/stories/062810/First-two-Hoka-Hey-challengers.shtml
Al
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 641
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 641 |
life is good..I am retired..sold my America in 2008,bought a Rocket and sold that in 3/2013 and now own a new Triumph Bonneville T-100
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,284
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,284 |
Quote:
Well, reportably the first two challengers crossed the finish line at 4:20 AM this morning.
There has been very little news on this, even from the competitors. On the Hoka Key website, they don't say much. Apparently there is a lot of controversy on this ride. Some signs have been removed, etc. I guess when you put a $500k pot for the first to finish, there's bound to be problems.
Some folks don't believe these finishers are legit and they aren't officially the winners yet. Some of the commentors on the news site suggest there won't be a payoff, sad if that were to happen.
http://homernews.com/stories/062810/First-two-Hoka-Hey-challengers.shtml
Ha, 4:20am, just in time! 
Strangler
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,225 Likes: 62
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,225 Likes: 62 |
I missed the part about $1,000 entry fee if I could toss that much away just to enter a run I wouldn't need the $500,000. Sounds like the guy who died probably didn't really need the prize either. He owned several HD dealerships.
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 12,964
Stickman Yogi
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Stickman Yogi
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 12,964 |
Quote:
Well, reportably the first two challengers crossed the finish line at 4:20 AM this morning.
4:20 eh? As in time or cerebral enhancement?
Live to love, love to live.
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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OP
Check Pants
Joined: Jan 2005
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I heard about the Naples accident, but not the death in Wyoming. Sad. I'd loveo to know if the guy I met from NJ was still in it. Quote:
http://www.adn.com/2010/06/28/1344785/2-hoka-hey-riders-hit-homer-finish.html check the bottom of news story where Florida rider died in wyoming.
Al
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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OP
Check Pants
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The guy who dies didn't own any dealerships, that was Bruce Rossmeyer. Rossmeyer died last year enroute to Sturgis. His dealerships sponsored this ride. That paragraph wasn't written very well.... The event is sponsored by Bruce Rossmeyer Harley Davidson Dealerships. Rossmeyer, who owned many Harley Davidson dealerships, died July 30 in a motorcycle crash roughly 18 miles east of Farson in southwest Wyoming, authorities say. Quote:
I missed the part about $1,000 entry fee if I could toss that much away just to enter a run I wouldn't need the $500,000. Sounds like the guy who died probably didn't really need the prize either. He owned several HD dealerships.
Al
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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OP
Check Pants
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Hey, I just found a Facebook page for the gentleman from NJ that I met in Florida. He was in Utah on Sunday and apparently safe. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hot-Diggid...f=mf&v=wall
Al
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,225 Likes: 62
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,225 Likes: 62 |
It still makes me think Rossmeyer died, I read it a few times and I still get that he died in Wyoming. I'll take your word for that he didn't but the way that is worded...
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 641
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 641 |
A Florida man died on Interstate 25 near Douglas on Saturday after losing control of his motorcycle.
Investigators believe Charles C. Lynn fell asleep while southbound. His motorcycle veered off of the road and into a median approximately 4 miles north of Douglas in Converse County.
The 44-year-old apparently applied his brakes and tried to steer his bike back onto roadway when it went into a spin, according to Sgt. John Townsend, spokesman for the Wyoming Highway Patrol in Cheyenne.
The Harley-Davidson motorcycle ultimately went into a drainage ditch, ejecting Lynn, who was not wearing a helmet, authorities say. He was pronounced dead at the scene following the one-vehicle crash.
Lynn, a resident of Sorrento, Fla., was participating in the Hoka-Key Motorcycle Run at the time of the crash. The 7,600-mile run began in Key West, Fla., and is supposed to take participants on a prescribed route of travel on secondary roads and highways to Homer, Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula, according to Townsend.
The event is sponsored by Bruce Rossmeyer Harley Davidson Dealerships. Rossmeyer, who owned many Harley Davidson dealerships, died July 30 in a motorcycle crash roughly 18 miles east of Farson in southwest Wyoming, authorities say.
life is good..I am retired..sold my America in 2008,bought a Rocket and sold that in 3/2013 and now own a new Triumph Bonneville T-100
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,537
Check Pants
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OP
Check Pants
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Sometimes it makes me wonder how these writers get their jobs... Rossmeyer did die last summer (July '09) enroute to Sturgis. He owned that mega dealership in Daytona, Destination Daytona. There was some talk as to what would happen to his empire. I guess they are hanging on. Quote:
It still makes me think Rossmeyer died, I read it a few times and I still get that he died in Wyoming. I'll take your word for that he didn't but the way that is worded...
Al
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 11,126 Likes: 13
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 11,126 Likes: 13 |
$1,000 entrance fee? Only HDs? Guess that's two strikes for me. A big hooray for those boys though! That has got to be one fantastic ride!
Blowing gravel off rural roads
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Re: Hoka Key MC Challenge
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Check Pants
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Check Pants
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Well, the gentleman I met in FL made it:
"Hot" Diggidy Dog in Downtown Chatsworth, NJ HERE'S THE CHALLENGE IN A NUT SHELL, FROM KEY WEST FL, TO HOMER ALASKA. HE RODE THROUGH 62 MOUNTAIN RANGES, 33 INDIAN RESERVATIONS, 26 NATIONAL FORESTS, 8 DESERTS, 6 NATIONAL PARKS & 4 SWAMPS. 8,468 MILES IN 14 DAYS. THAT IS TRULEY OUTSTANDING! WHAT A CHALLENGE & A JOURNEY!
(via his daughters Facebook page)
Nothing yet on the prize money, official winners, etc.
Al
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