I've got 14 mostly-minty issues of Thunder Press from 1996 and 1997:
'96: May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec '97: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Nov
Our own Court Canfield had a regular monthly column in Thunder Press dedicated to chronicling Buell - the Man, the Machine and the People - and FWIW I've got articles and pix published in all but two issues, I believe.
So it's early '96, I'm tootling around the Seattle area on the BLURR - my just-purchased '96 Buell S2 Thunderbolt - and stop by Eastside H-D/Buell in Kirkland to warm up and kick some tires. I was met by legendary (I was soon to learn) Scott Moon, their sales manager (and very successful Buell racer, I was also soon to learn).
He quickly deduces that I'm, um, abnormally afflicted with all things Buell and hands me a copy of Thunder Press to take home, mentioning some cat by the name of Canfield who writes a monthly column for TP, who also has a Buell problem. Wasn't much later that Kim Ridley, the sales manager at Latus Motors in Portland (where I bought the BLURR), gave me Court's home phone number in Kansas - turns out they're good buds.
Between a late night (marathon) phone call (thanks Court!), and amping up on his monthly wordage of wisdom in Thunder Press, the Buell hook was set in me good and truly deep. I've chronicled the story here on BWB in greater detail several times before, but here's a pretty good synopsis:
So, for me: Court Canfield and Thunder Press (and soon Battle 2Win) played a pivotal role in the next several years of my life.
This is how it all began:
During my phone call with Court he invited me and a friend to ride down to Blue Groove a day early and join him and several other VIP types - Reg Kittrelle, publisher of Thunder Press, Howard Kelly (Court's mutant, and much better looking, twin brother), editor of Hot Bike magazine, for example - who were meeting Erik at the airport when his flight arrived later that day.
"Join Buell, Canfield for an unforgettable day"? Oh, yeah!
(^ Didya notice the come-on for Battle 2Win?)
And, for the icing on the proverbial cake, I took home the "Long Distance Rider" and "Best Buell Thunderbolt" trophies from Blue Groove, and got some publicity for my budding Buell career in the premiere issue of Battle 2Win:
^ That's me on the Ice White Pearl S2 and Howard Kelly from Hot Bike on the Parkway Blue S2T, and the photo at upper right of Reg handing out trophies is by me; alas, no photo credit.
I liked riding with Howie!
^ The photo of Clement Salvadori from Rider magazine and Erik is by me. Note that I'm not yet "Ferris Bueller" in Battle 2Win; it won't be long...
The BLURR & Company at Dudley Perkins H-D/Buell in San Francisco the day before Blue Groove; that's Court on the sidewalk, helping sell yet another Buell.
The upper-right pic and the pic on the bottom were both taken during the Blue Groove weekend. Re: the "Curious George" t-shirt pic, remind Court to tell you the story sometime...
Erik at Blue Groove
(^ The above hardware is available, BTW...)
(^ Photo by Clement Salvadori)
(This wouldn't be the last time Clem and I would cross paths at an event.)
What a life-changing, mind-altering weekend! As Court would say: "Gads!!"
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on January 13, 2017)
My life, as it pertained to motorcycling (and pretty much everything else), changed quickly after Blue Groove. I rode the BLURR from Seattle to Sturgis in August '96, working my pen and paper (well before laptops!) and matching black-body Olympus cameras (35mm!) on several different story angles - I was eager to get published in Thunder Press and secure my fame and fortune (ha!)
Come September of 1996 - a mere six months after I bought the BLURR - my wish came true, with a feature piece opposite none other than Court Canfield!
(No, the BLURR did not go home with me on the day I purchased it. )
I also got in a nice feature piece on Dave Walsh and his super-sano Sportster:
^ Dave Walsh is a very cool guy, so much so that when I couldn't compete in my very own BattleTrax (at Blue Groove/Northwest in July '97), due to an unfortunate incident with a wayward rock coming down off Mount St. Helens during the weekend's first Adventure Ride with Erik (with, of all crazy things, young Bryce Canfield as a passenger!), he gave me his trophy from the event. Thanks Dave!
So, how cool was it to be published in Thunder Press alongside my mostly-mutant mentor, Court Canfield? Like a frikkin' meat locker, baby!
(^ Early morning in Sturgis, August 5th, 1996, and the BLURR is the first bike on Main Street, after having spent ALL night in an all-night truck stop restaurant in Rapid City writing - literally, in longhand - the piece published above in TP).
A Sturgis cop took the pic; this, as I recall some 20 years later, is my "Bad To My Bone" look.
Note the phony Big Twin Magazine "credentials" hanging from a belt loop; it's just a business card I laminated before I left home. It's amazing the photographs you can take in Sturgis, if you simply ask for them, with such credentials, a smile, a line, and a couple of high-buck cameras hanging from your neck.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on January 13, 2017)
) 
