Shall we turn right next then chaps?
The Central Florida Motorcycle Drill Team, who came to Blackpool for the GoldWing Light Parade in 2008 to display for us, are alive and kicking and they are still World Champions too partly, as i recall, because no one has been brave enough to challenge them for a while.
We became friends with the four Team Members who came over to UK in 2008 and have stayed in contact ever since. My wife and I (and other members of the Light Parade Organising Team) have met up with them whenever we’ve been in Florida on holiday ever since and their Captain, Randy Rodriguez, will be coming back to UK again for this year’s Parade in September and bringing his wife, Cat, too. So we look forward to seeing at least two of them in Blackpool again.
Not as a Display Team this time unfortunately and not to give a Display, but at least Randy will be here and hopefully I will be able to organise a loan bike for him and maybe therefore be able to do some training sessions for us, as he kindly did last time.
They don't usually get quite this close while riding nose to tail!
However this Article was provoked not by the prospect of another refreshment of our trans-Atlantic friendship, pleasant though that certainly is, but by the arrival of a set of pictures of the Team in action this year on home ground. As you can see these show that the team is still very good at what they do and they are still thinking up new routines. For example two riders standing up while riding one bike is a new one.
The Team had acquired two lady Riders in Training when we were over there last May and although one of them was perhaps keener on pursuing Smitty than getting her riding skills up to the necessary standard (which was also featuring strongly in Team Humour as I recall, Smitty was shown no mercy at all) the other lady was showing real talent. And toughness, for learning to ride the way they do is not for the feint hearted.
Look no hands! Two riders standing.
It takes many months of practising, first of all personal riding skills and then with Team Riders on the Training Pad before a rider stands any chance of joining the Display Team proper. It’s quite a democratic thing; the whole Team has to agree to accept a new Team Rider – not surprising since complete confidence in what all the other Riders will do when you and your expensive bike are in such close proximity to them is vital.
Collisions are not common but they do happen occasionally and bikes do get damaged; the deal is that everyone pays for their own damage regardless, which save any disputes. The Team often travels long distances to give a Display and only sometimes get expenses refunded, so being a Team Rider is quite a financial commitment too.
Now which way was I supposed to turn next?
As you will see from the photos the Team ride either GoldWings or big Harleys. The GoldWings are better at maintaining constant speed (thanks to fuel injection and an ECU) while the Harleys can turn a bit more tightly. They reckon you can get a GL1800 down to an 18 foot diameter circle (as an absolute minimum, don’t try this at home!) while a Harley can be turned in as little as 16 feet. Some Riders have a Harley and a GoldWing and I even met one who preferred the comfort of his Harley to his GoldWing, although I wasn’t convinced that was his real reason for the preference; I suspected he was secretly addicted to vibration.
He looks like he's standing still because he is standing still!
They are a great bunch to spend time with and we look forward to continuing our international friendship.
Following the great success of their display at the 2008 GoldWing Light Parade and their generosity in teach a few UK riders some of their skills there was talk of forming a UK GoldWing Drill Team. We got as far as riding tight circles with four of us nose to tail and some simple flaring and outward turns from and back into pairs.
Sadly the upheavals in the UK GoldWing Club scene put paid to that idea but maybe all was not lost and 2010 could see that prospect emerging again in due course. It was certainly a lot of fun learning and, albeit maybe beginner’s luck, no one collided.
Finding a Training Pad wasn’t going to be difficult but there are difficulties finding suitable venues to give displays in UK; there just aren’t the same number of big flat car parks etc in our over-crowded little Island to provide the necessary space and flat surface. Trying to do it on grass is, according to the experts, a big risk too far.
If you would like to see more of the Central Florida Motorcycle drill team in action please visit their Website by clicking here.
And you’re right –...
Stuart, as you know Jackie & I have visited the team on several occasions whilst on holiday in Florida. The welcome and generosity we both receive has always been outstanding. We attended one of the practise meetings, which take place in a quiet corner of a Walmart car park. For those who have never experienced a U.S. Walmart car park they are absolutely huge, and even when they are in use there is always acres of space free. New members of the team don’t actually practise drills on their bikes, to get the precise manoeuvres absolutely perfect they walk through them first. It’s quite strange watching a dozen or so grow adults walking around a huge car park performing strange manoeuvres. It seems to work though. In one corner of the car park a couple, who had turned up with a trailer behind their wing, had set up a gazebo and a cooking range to feed the demonstration team. Believe it or not they had brought enough tables, seating, shelter, chili, hot dogs and salad to feed an army. Talk about being prepared. I would recommend any GoldWing rider planning a holiday in the Orlando Central Florida area to pay a visit to the Team, you would be made very welcome.
If every UK Winger who goes to Florida turned up at their Practice Pad expecting to fed and watered I suspect their resources might be a little stretched but I’m sure they would welcome spectators.
And by the way walking the Routines is used by Team Riders as well as Trainees, especially when developing new ones but quite often as a stage in rehearsal, just to check that everyone knows what’s supposed to happen and in what order. It’s easier and safer than doing it from cold on the bikes, even for these guys.