Safety Report - November 2025

Gary Klinker

2025-11 Odds and Ends

With the end of the Safe Rider training season, I want to thank everyone involved, our staff, and all the students or parents who trusted us to start people off right on their motorcycling journey. We had a successful year and are already working on next season.

I have always been a fan of motorcycle racing, going way back to my start of riding. It probably comes from hanging around the shop of local racers Fred and Larry Pettis, along with a few other racers who worked out of there. This year was especially good with the FS1 network carrying the American Flat Track series. With Indian motorcycles gone from the series due to new rules, Harley came back with a totally new bike. Most of the season was a battle between Harley and Yamaha for the championship. Yamaha pulled out the championship in the last race of the season in the Twins class. This is the first year for a Yamaha championship since 1974, the year ABATE of Wisconsin was born. That was the year I was riding a Yamaha and racing Yamaha snowmobiles. A long, long time ago. At the Springfield Mile, Honda won their first twins class race since 1998. American Flat Track puts on a great show with a wide variety of brands competing. When Daytona rolls around in March, check it out.

Another exciting form of racing is the Moto GP series, the premier road racing series in the world. FS1 also carries all their races. The Europeans really get into Moto GP. The weekends host crowds in the hundreds of thousands. For nearly 200 mph straightaways, braking to 60-degree lean angles in the corners, you can’t beat it for excitement. If you want to watch them you may have to get up early for the races in Europe or record them, but they are worth watching.

For real bikers’ excitement, look at the King of the Baggers series. Harley and Indian go head-to-head with full-sized, but highly modified full full-dressed touring bikes at road racecourses. This year, Harley factory rider Kyle Wyman took the series championship from last year’s champion, Indian rider. This series has a lot of Wisconsin roots with the Harley Davidson factory bikes and the Indians being built and prepared by S&S in Viola.

Another event of note in our house is Shawn’s 50th year of riding a motorcycle. Not many women have reached that milestone. She started early and has kept at it all these years. There was a time when it was unusual to see women riding, but with the availability of training classes, that has changed a lot over the years. Back in the mid-eighties, she even had her photo in Outlaw Biker while riding down Main Street in Sturgis. She has also been one of our faithful Experienced Rider Class students, having taken the class five times. Each time on a different motorcycle. As my most constant riding companion over the years, we know how each other rides and how we react. She’s so dedicated to riding that she exercises every day just so she can continue to ride as she gets north of 50.

In September, we took our annual riding week in the Black Hills. The weather was a lot hotter than we had hoped for. As always, the roads were great, and the riding was fun and challenging. I always say it is time to practice skills every day we are there. We had a very nice house in Spearfish, and the company was very good. Even had Hardtail for a house guest one night. Despite the fun and good times, there were a few problems. John’s bike had some overheating problems. Shawn’s bike blew a fork seal on the last day, and on the second day out, I woke up with shingles. If you ever need it, I can recommend a good doctor in Spearfish. Next year has to be better. Can’t wait.

Ride Safe,

Gary