Motorcycling

I received a call from Senator Queen yesterday saying that he had met with the superintendent of the North Carolina Highway Patrol endorsing the four number position.  This was an important endorsement as if the three number option pervailed, the maximum number of motorcycle tags that could be issued would be 999.

The North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has favored the three number position with the suffix BR.  Tags would be numbered like 123BR.

Four positions allows more options for vanity combinations.  A copy of the letter will be posted as soon as it is available.  We will meet with DMV soon to get their commitment to the design.

This decision will be important to the success of the program.

More later ... we are appreciative of your patience.

Persistence and effort have always remained our best friends, and we have been rewarded with BMW ON Magazine and its prominent promotion of the Parkway tag in their March edition.

Carolina BMW of Greensboro has promoted the tag from the very beginning, and if you happen to be in the area this Saturday, March 8 --- stop in because they are having one of their famous open-houses which features great BBQ and rides of their new machines.

Ride safe!

Everyone is doing a great job in helping us to spread the word about the Blue Ridge Parkway Specialty Motorcycle License Plate.  Your ideas have been appreciated and the Foundation is well under way to reach its goal. As of today, we are  almost there: 211 applications of the 300 needed (updated 7/02/08).

One of the more common questions we get, is "How can I help?".  Right now, there are 3 main ways you can help:

1)  If you're a North Carolina resident, and you own a motorcycle, THEN BUY THE TAG!  You can get an application on the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation's web site. Simply download the application now and send it in.

2)  Spread the Word!  The main way we will get enough tag registrants to get this specialty tag approved is to let others know about it.    We put our heads together and then asked our friends at Virtual Blue Ridge if they could help us develop something for getting the word out on the Internet.  They came back with some good ideas.  One of those is a "thermometer" that you can place on your web site or blog.  You can see it to your right in this blog post.  It's just a few lines of code you can easily add to your site, and it links right to this page. To install the "thermometer" on your site, simply copy the code below and put it in the HTML source of your web site or blog:

<a href="http://www.blueridgeparkwayblog.com/motorcycling/general/how-can-i-help"><img src="http://www.blueridgeparkwayblog.com/scripts/thermometer-new.php" alt="Blue Ridge Parkway Specialty Motorcycle License Plate" width="120" height="301" border="0"></a>

3)  Give us more ideas.  So far, we have received some great ideas and we're continuing to get more.  Don't be afraid to post your comments on this blog.  We're checking them daily and your thoughts can help inspire someone else to even greater thoughts.  Comments on the blog are the easiest way to share your ideas with us!

We all look forward to see this great license plate on North Carolina motorcycles next year and your help is what will allow us to do that.

For more information on the specialty tag program, view the press release on the Foundation's web site.

Everyone has been absolutely terrific with their suggestions.  Here is where we are and where we are headed.  Our moto friends protesting encroaching development in the Roanoke Valley.

1. Senator Joe Sam Queen who introduced this legislation will be having conversations with NCDMV soon about finalizing the design to include 4 number / letter options.  This will allow us to produce a promotional counter card similar to the one for the automobile.
2. Grandfather Mountain will put this in the hands of every motorcycle that comes through its gates (warmer weather coming!)
3. GWRRA - this opportunity is being worked on a number of levels with straegically placed notices from the NC district representative.
4. Concourse Owners Group (COG) - we have looked at their website and will look for a point of entry and opportunity.
5. Motor Maids - same as COG
6. Honda Sport Touring Association (HSTA) - same as COG
7. Road Runner Magazine - eventhough this is published in our community, it is a national magazine.  Jim Parks, their director of public relations has offered to place their eNEWS.  Most all of these groups have discussion forums which have varying degrees of particpation.  It will take a little time to figure all of that out.
8. Rider Magazine - again, a national publication but we will look for an "in"
9. Wing World - the monthly magazine of GWRRA, we just found out about that one to day.
10. Roy's Folks - travel show of WGHP in High Point, one of the editors is a rider and has done stories for us before.
11. Raleigh News and Observer - we learned today that one of their editors is a rider and would be in a position to do a story
12. Ralph Knox, director of photography, for Main Street Teleproductions has offered to produce a 30 second PSA for us that can be used in numerous application.

Thank you!  We will be giving updating comments on our pursuits.  If any of you have already existing relationships with these opportunities, please let us know.  We could use some help without having to start cold.

Houck

Hello friends of two wheels (sometimes three)!

We need your help to accelerate this project.

 

Houck and K.B. Medford are motorefs with the United States Cycling Federation

 

Legislation was passed last summer authorizing this license tag, but the program could not be rolled out until the fall.  Cold weather came, and you know what happens to our bikes and our minds when cold weather sets in. They get parked and we go numb!

 

We (the Foundation and National Park Service) issued independent press releases to all our media outlets, ran three ads and supporting articles in Full Throttle Magazine, sent press releases and applications to all their advertisers which included biker bars, tattoo parlors, and dealerships and have published the story in all Foundation related materials.

 

As of today (February 4), we have 121 of the 300 applications that we need to put this tag in production.  When we introduced the automobile tag program in 2001, we had 400 applications in 4 months.

 

We know that this program will fly and with warm weather and new options for promotion, we know we will get there and we are anxious to see these on the road.

 

Please send us your ideas!  We will pursue each one with earnest.

 

Ride safe!

 

Houck Medford

Executive Director