Old Fox

The motorcycling fraternity in the Unites Sates, especially the long distance riders (colloquially referred to as LD Riders) have something unusual in their midst these days. The Hoka Hey Challenge Ride - 2010. Called a 'Challenge' to avoid legal complications as it is illegal to 'race' on public roads, this event is about riding from Key West, Florida to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska covering a distance of 7000 miles in an estimated two-weeks. The 'Challenge' becomes a race as there's a prize of $500,000 in Alaskan Gold waiting for the rider who gets there first.

There are some unusual rules to the ride. I'll put down a couple of them here and you can refer to their web-site for the rest.

1. In order to keep everyone on an even playing field, the Challenge is limited to Harley-Davidson™, V-Twin, air-cooled motorcycles. This rule makes V-Rods unacceptable for the ride as they are liquid-cooled .

2. The riders need to camp out in the open and not check into hotels/motels for night stay.

3. The rider who gets there first will be subjected to a polygraph test (Lie-detector) to determine that he has not cheated upon any of the rules .

On the face of it, this seems pretty good a challenge with the money making it all the better. But step back a little and it becomes apparent that the money part is what lies at the root of a lot of demons that will arise from such an event and they have begun showing their ugly faces.

Such a huge monetary prize makes it almost a free-for-all-win-at-any-cost thing for quite a few participants. The riders will be more focused on beating others on the roads than on riding safe. There are already reports of sabotage on fellow participant's bikes during the first night stop. Ignition wires have been cut, fuel tanks stuffed with sand etc etc. Who knows the wild-west might just be round the corner for these 'hombres' on metal stallions.

Apart from that, there have been quite a few crashes involving Hoka Hey bikers, some requiring heli-lift to hospitals. Here's a link to naplesnews.com that gives the latest about the ride and paints a rather dismal picture as far as the organizer's reaction to the mayhem is concerned.

Road warriors: 4 motorcyclists crash in Collier during Hoka Hey Key West-to-Alaska challenge Naples Daily News

There are deep and valid concerns all across the LD Rider community, personified by the Iron Butt Association that organize long-distance rallies across the American continent. Mishaps, unsafe riding and general lawlessness spread around during events like the Hoka Hey Challenge create a negative impression about motorcycling across the spectrum. This affects legitimate organizations who enforce and ensure safe riding practices during any and every event organized by them. The media, at times the law-enforcement agencies and the general public paint the entire motorcycling fraternity with a single brush as a consequence and motorcycling as an activity suffers.

The purpose of posting this here on the forum is to discuss how a small and seemingly innocent inclusion of 'prize money' as a reward changes the whole fabric and context of long distance motorcycling. The Iron Butt Association in contrast has a Rally every two years and it is a 11 day 11000+ miles event that has earned the respect of both the media and the law-enforcers over the years. The 'prize' at the end of this grueling marathon is a mention in the Roll-of-Honour' and a certificate!

Grouping the relevant links below for convenience:

Hoka Hey Challenge Ride - 2010

Latest News Report on Hoka Hey Ride

Iron Butt Association

Iron Butt Rally

Injuries sustained in a crash during the Hoka Hey

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Sunny

This is crazy. Long distance riding has been sacrosanct for a long time now in US and many people are definitely not going to like this. Everytime someone falls in this challenge (which is indeed to be read as a 'race') is going to make news. 7000 miles is by no standards a small distance to be riding like a maniac with $$ signs in your retina flickering all the time like Richie Rich. It is almost like the S is the curve you need to take and the straight line is the devil cutting corners leading to an inevitable crash!

Is it really a good day to die? :

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