Coolest Christmas present I received this year?  Check it out:

Why yes that IS a sweater with Santa riding a duck similar to the cover of Meatloaf’s “Back Into Hell” album, surrounded by stars.  Believe it or not, this gift is genius.  My girlfriend got it for me, and I can’t think of a better way to ensure fidelity than to send the love of her life to holiday gatherings all season long wearing this beauty.  It’s a sharp contrast to the shirt I received last Christmas in reaction to my affinity for bad 80’s pop music:

Moving right along...

Nate Kern Private Track Days have secured some AWESOME dates for 2012 at Roebling Road Raceway just outside Savannah, GA.  The price has stayed the same at $180 per rider per day and events are limited to 30 riders.  It’s a LOT of track time for the money.  All information is loaded on the facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kern-Private-Track-Days/77343295078?sk=info

Also coming in January Schuberth will be releasing the new “World Graphic” C-3 modular helmet.

It’s a nice venture from the typical “angles and skulls and flames” graphics of the other manufacturers these days.  $749 MSRP.

And for the S1000RR tourer in your life:

Don’t forget on January 27, 28 and 29th is the Great American Motorcycle Show.  Held again this year at the North Atlanta Trade Center.  The BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta booth will be setup as always, feel free to stop by and talk shop!

OK now for the two biggest events of 2012:

- We will be having out Spring Open House on Saturday, March 24th this year.  As always there will be food, demo rides  and discounted apparel and accessories.  Be sure to plan your weekend ride with a stop by the open house!

- April 20, 21 and 22nd we will be holding our Second Annual GS / Multistrada Dual Sport Event! If you didn’t make it to our last one, we’ve secured the same 300 acre location in America’s original home of NASCAR and moonshine...Dawsonville, GA.  There will be dirt riding instruction, organized rides, and a marked and closed off “skills course” for playing.  Details are still being hatched out every day so stay tuned for more information.

Well that closes things up for this month’s newsletter.  Be sure to get in some late season riding and feel free to stop by.

Sean DeAngelis

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kern-Private-Track-Days/77343295078

for details.

November brings HUGE congratulations not only to the Cleveland Browns for scoring their first offensive touchdown in 3 games but also to Bob “El Capitan” Wooldridge on his 2^nd successful knee replacement in as many months.  The Captain is up and around almost good as new and hopes to be back on a bike in a few weeks.  Sincerely, we’re glad to have him back at the helm 9am to 6pm.

Looking forward to December:

-Saturday December 17^th is our annual Customer Appreciation Day.  We’ll be here from 9am until 5pm with plenty of food, soda and Christmas cheer (eggnog?) for everyone.

-The following day, Sunday December 18^th is our annual Toy Run assisting the Towns County Sherriff’s Department to benefit the local Women’s Shelter.  (It’s always a pleasure to help out the Hiawassee law enforcement.  Especially because they patrol the roads immediately surrounding the annual Georgia Mountain Rally.  Wink, wink ).  We’ll be meeting here at the dealership between 9am and 10am and stepping off at 10:15am.  Breakfast will be provided by BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta.  Bring your new and unwrapped toy to fill our toy chest before heading out on a great late season ride in the North Georgia Mountains.  Our escorts, Larry Doughty and Greg Gunn have, once again, offered to “lead the way” – in other words – keep us in line. The ride will end at the Towns County Sheriff’s Department located at 4070 State Highway 339 Young Harris, GA 30582-1842.

-December 24^th, Christmas Eve, we will be closing at 2pm so if you have a last minute moto-gift that needs purchased be sure to get here before we head home for the holiday.

If you’ve been trying to buy a Gerbings heated jacket liner this year you’re probably aware that demand far exceeded supply.  A lot of this was due to manufacturing failures of their Asia production facilities.  Well the good news in this story is that Gerbings has purchased and is tooling up their NEW production facility in North Carolina!  This means that effective almost immediately all Gerbings heated garments will be made in the USA using 100% American Made Materials.

Lastly, an extra loud “Go Dawgs!” for Georgia who is playing LSU for all the marbles this Saturday December 3^rd at 4pm eastern time on CBS.

1. I only retrieve the mail from the mailbox more than once a week IF I'm waiting for a new moto-toy. That is to say I apologize to the fine people at the Powder Springs Water Department for the late payment. Unfortunately your bill did not coincide with the arrival of my new Throttlemeister, those sweet CRG frame sliders, or my new Shoei RF1100.

2. The invention of the "We" gift. I spent an hour convincing my girlfriend that she really does fit a medium Shoei RF1100 (see bullet point number one) even though it was easily 2 sizes too small, and she got mildly light headed after 5 minutes of wearing it. The key to "We" gift success is a plausible deniability that said gift is not solely intended for use by you the purchaser.  Might I suggest a paint scheme that one could pass off as “It looks great on you Babe!”  But you’re wondering:  Sean, could you possibly wear that ridiculous pink helmet just because it’s the model you really want and your girlfriend believes it’s for her?”  Answer: “Absolutely!”

3.  I budgeted $85 for an illuminated Santa Claus riding in a sleigh being towed by 8 reindeer and red-nosed-Rudolf. But then the Michelin Pilot Road 2 was replaced by the new Michelin Pilot Road 3; and the increase in price meant that I had to pull $46 from the Christmas decoration budget, and add it to the tire budget.  The result were some old flashlights taped to the roof and gutters, red and white spray paint on the “angry illuminated pumpkin” Halloween yard statue and only 4 reindeer. What should have been a pretty Christmas-tastic yard now looks more like a poorly lit red-and-white angry pumpkin chasing after 4 goats, one of which has a bloody nose.

4.  My girlfriend recently explained to me that a washer and dryer had become a necessity at our house.  Unfortunately my workbench was positioned over the hookups to the water faucets, and I had my welder plugged into the 220 outlet.  At 32 years old I’m able to tell when compromise is required.  And no I don’t mean “compromise” in the traditional sense of the term where she says we are eating chicken and rice for dinner, and I say I want steak again and so we “compromise” and eat chicken and rice.  We “compromised” and got the washer and dryer…atop the dryer sits my welder and I’ve bolted the bench vice to the washing machine lid.  This means I can clamp my custom made exhaust brackets, lay a weld on them and then tip the entire assembly back for inspection by opening the washer lid!

Be sure to stop in “Black Friday” November 25^th or Black Saturday November 26^th and mention this email to save 10% on that perfect “We” gift for you or the motorcyclist in your life.

Thanks for reading

-Sean DeAngelis

Welcome to the BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta November 2011 Newsletter.

Two words: OPEN HOUSE. That's right ladies and gentlemen November 5^th is our 2011 fall open house.

We'll have the representatives here from the BMW Performance Center to talk to you about the upcoming class schedule.

Tim McCarty will be here to do custom earplugs again.

The representative from KLIM will be here to showcase their riding gear

Doors open at 9am and stay open until 5pm.

Lunch will start at 11 and continue until it’s gone.

We’ll have sale pricing on many in stock items, demo rides of nearly every  model, door prizes and……

wait for it……Brats and WOOLIE CHILLI!

Bring your appetite because The Captain will be cooking up the legendary cool-weather dish all day!

October has brought some incredible weather our way and it seems like everyone that comes in the door is prepping for a ride.  Fall is in full swing as is evident by the following:

- The trees in the north Georgia mountains are in full Technicolor dream coat.

- We’ve sold through nearly half of our Gerbings Heated Clothing supply

- Kirk Mellish has started using the dreaded “frost warning” phrase in his daily predictions

- The Cleveland Browns wide receivers are dropping passes like Coly McCoy was lobbing them napalm spheres.

Ducati confirmed that there WILL in-fact be a Streetfighter 848 in our near future!  The world’s best naked bike just got a more street friendly little brother.  You can check out the official details here:

http://ducati.com/bikes/streetfighter/848/index.do

We’d like to take a moment to respect the motorcycle industries’ heartbreak over the death of Marco Simoncelli during the 2^nd lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix.  I’d also like to put a little perspective on just how devastating Marco’s death is.

Last night I watched the St Louis Cardinals win game 7 of the World Series and with that the 2011 Major League Baseball championship.  The television coverage that followed showed all of St. Louis rejoicing in the streets.  Downtown was packed with celebrating residents; players will be etched in the fabric of the city as “heros” and the elation will last for weeks to come.  In Italy, should an Italian rider win just one Moto GP race, the celebration is every bit that intense and more.  In Italy Marco Simoncelli, Velentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso are as household names as Drew Brees, Lebron James or Justin Bieber.  The country lost a national hero, and with him a huge part of their identity.

Moving forward to brighter things!

November is always a fun time for the motorcycle industry because we typically see the various brands of apparel and accessories releasing their new year’s products.  Here are a few links to some cool new toys:

Shoei has released their 2012 street helmet lineup:

http://www.helmethouse.com/

Arai has brought back the Signet

http://www.araiamericas.com/default.aspx?pageid=57#/helmets/moto/signet-q

Sexy new color available for the Ducat Multistrada 1200:

http://ducati.com/bikes/multistrada/1200_s_touring/index.do

Well that’s wraps it up for this month.  We hope to see all of you at the November 5^th open house!

Ride safely,

Sean

Recapping a few notable happenings in the month of September:
Nate Kern held another track day and school at Roebling Road Raceway on September 26th.  It was this year’s best attended event probably due cooler track temps.  More than 30 riders took to Roebling’s flowing curves for a full day of fun and instruction.  Though a few riders had “agricultural excursions” no motorcycles or riders were harmed during the filming of this movie.

September also saw the release of a teaser video on the Ducati’s new superbike, the 1199 Panigale.  In case you missed it the video can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/lXMEoPl-2so.  Rumor has it the bike will use the engine as the primary frame member and should put out power in the mid 180’s!

Also in the month of September our Sprinter van got a makeover:

We figure the new wrap coupled with those high performance wiper blades I scored up at AutoZone should be good for at LEAST 20 horsepower.

Looking forward to this month:
We are finally seeing new “un-presold” K1600GTLs and GTs arriving on our loading dock, so if you’ve been waiting for an “available” one, give us a call.
Our winter stocking shipment of Gerbings heated clothing has arrived and is out on the apparel floor!  We’ve got the Southeast’s biggest supply of the worlds leading heated riding apparel so be sure to stop by and get fitted for the Christmas gift you’re needing.

Remember the BMW F650GS Dakar?  Well yesterday in Sao Paulo, Brazil the new G650GS Sertao was introduced as the next evolution of the legendary BMW Single.

MSRP you ask?   Wait for it………$8650!

Don’t forget the Barber Motorsports Park Vintage Motorcycle Festival is going on this weekend.  Information available here: http://www.barbervintagefestival.org/.  The weather is supposed to be FANTASTIC!

The BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta Fall Open House event will be held Saturday November 5th this year.  As always Paul and Bob “El Capitan” Sr. will be grilling huge quantities of food so be sure to bring an appetite and a few friends!

Well that’s going to do it for this month’s newsletter.  Be sure to check our blog for regular updates and information when you get the chance:  www.bmwmcoa.com/blog

Thanks for reading

-Sean DeAngelis

Husqvarna has also announced HUGE discounts on most of their 2011 models to make room in the warehouses for the 2012’s. If you’ve had your eye on a dirt or dual sport Husky now is the time to contact Bobby Jr in Sales.

Gerbings Heated Clothing was able to send us most of our stocking order to finish out 2011. That said, we have a huge selection of the worlds leading heated motorcycle apparel. We will be running a 10% discount promotion the entire month of September on in stock items. This is the only time all year we will be authorized to discount Gerbings products so be sure to take advantage while supplies last.

Recapping a few of Augusts highlights:

Lynda and I drove the new BMW Ducati/Wooldridge family station wagon out to Roebling Road Raceway for Nate Kern’s August 28th track day and class.

Nate had 25 riders signed up for this event. We cooked lunch on Sunday for everyone. The shining sun with its 90+ degree temperatures almost cooked the burgers/hot dogs for us! Getting 10 miles to the gallon has never been more comfortable (though we’re hoping the 10,000 miles Lynda has put on her Honda Hybrid this year will offset our carbon footprint a little). And in a scene right out of a Walter Matthau / Jack Lemon movie we ran out of fuel and coasted to a stop next to the diesel pump at the Shell station on Windy Hill Rd. True story! If you’re feeling like a laugh at my expense, just stop by the store and I’ll give you the play-by-play on that near EPIC FAIL.

Obligatory Bob Sr.’s knee surgery update:  Bob says “The new knee sucks less than the old knee.”

We also FINALLY launched out new blog website.  The new BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta blog can be read here:  http://bmwmcoa.com/blog

Be sure to check often for updates, news and general information.

Other than that we’re all anxiously awaiting some cooler weather so we can get the fall riding season kicked off.  Speaking of Fall - please make a note on your calendar – Our Fall Open House will be held all day Saturday November 5^th.  More details to follow….

Thanks for reading and keep on riding!

Sean

Next up is a “get well soon” to El Capitan, Bob Wooldridge Senior.  The big man underwent knee replacement surgery Tuesday and is working steadily toward a full recovery.  I’d invite you all to call him on his cell but the morphine you see has made him a bit…..shall we say “un-captain-like.”  His previous experience with morphine was legendary, since he was reportedly instructing the nurses to be careful not to step on the kitty cat in his hospital room, and he was cursing at some ninja’s in the painting on the wall?????  Do you suppose now is an ideal time to ask for a raise?

We have this cool tidbit in the “Hey Check This Out” category.  Service department decided to hook Lynda up with a Ducati 796 Monster.  Problem was that as much as she loved the bike the seat height was too tall.  Well a quick phone call to our friends at Ohlins Suspension with their new low rear shock for the 796 and 696 Ducati Monster models!  This shock has all the great features and benefits of Ohlins suspension components but lowers the seat height of the bike by 1.25 inches!  We slid the forks up in the clamps a bit to keep the geometry the same and like magic we’ve got a 796cc Ducati Monster that handles better than stock AND has a 30 inch seat height!

Have you wanted to participate in a track day on your motorcycle but were intimidated by the idea of sharing the asphalt with faster or more track experienced riders?  Or you simply didn’t feel your bike was a good “track ride?”  Please pay attention to the following paragraphs:

August 27 Nate Kern will be hosting an all women riders track day at Roebling Road Raceway just west of Savannah, GA.  ALL brands are welcome and this is the perfect opportunity to ride that “first track day.”  We’ve also reserved the track for the 28^th and 29^th of August for men and women riders of all brands.  The Price is $180 for the 1^st day and $155 for each additional day of riding.  We will be providing lunch for the 28^th and 29^th so bring an appetite!

If you’ve never ridden on the track but have an interest there is NO better venue for newbie’s.  There are never more than 12 riders on the track and you will ALWAYS be sharing the track with riders of comparable skill and speed.  You do not need to be on a sport bike either!  We’ve had riders on everything from R100RT’s to Kawasaki Concourse’s to F650GS’s.  The other great part is that you do not have to remove mirrors, lights, license plates, etc from your machine.  We simply tape over glass pieces which I personally will do for you if you like.

Camping overnight is welcome (and FREE!) provided you arrive at the track before 8pm at which time the gates are locked.  Otherwise there are a lot of reasonably priced hotels in the area.  All questions or paypal pre-payments can be sent to brettzeitz@comcast.net.  The address at the track is: 1135 Roebling Road, Bloomingdale, GA 31302-4831

Lastly we’d like to offer up a thank you prayer to the gods of all things fair and just for allowing the NFL players union and the Owners to FINALLY resolve their differences and get our 2011-2012 football season back online.  Our sympathies go out to all those who had to sacrifice their Gulfstream G650® personal jets for the far less comfortable Gulfstream G550® personal jets.  I’ve had the opportunity to drive the $192,000 Mercedes CL63 AMG and I promise that it’s really NOT all that much less a car than the $204,000 CL65 AMG.  Sincerely, from the bottom of our hearts we thank all of you for hatching out a deal and giving us fans what we really deserve:  16 + 6 games of-off-the-field DUI’s, questionable conduct in local bar restrooms and a chance to see Ed Hochuli’s massive bicepts!

PS:  Sign up on our website if you want to receive our newsletter in your inbox!

Husqvarna Press Release, 6/23/11

Husqvarna Motorcycles is proud to announce the newest member of the North American team – Fred Hoess. As a former factory Husqvarna rider, Hoess is excited to get back on board with the brand that started his professional career. Hoess has joined the Husqvarna team as an MSP (Market Sales Professional) for the Northeast region of the United States.

“I’m totally excited to be back with Husqvarna, and it’s great to be back in the industry,” Hoess said. “Husqvarna was my first factory supported racing effort during the late 80’s. I have competed on a factory level for Husqvarna at some point during each of the last three decades. In fact, I was the last rider to win a National Enduro, a National Hare Scrambles and an ISDE Qualifier on Husqvarna.”

One of the most decorated American riders in off-road, Hoess has been involved with motorcycling for nearly 40 years. He has amassed an unprecedented 21 ISDE (International Six Day Enduro) medals and has represented the United States as a member of the Trophy Team and Junior Trophy team no less than 15 times.

Hoess has no plans of slowing down any time soon, either. He is already qualified for the 2011 ISDE in Finland, and is looking forward to bringing home his 16th gold medal this year.

“We’re delighted to have a sales professional and rider of Fred’s caliber on board with us,” Husqvarna’s National Sales Manager Revelle Harrison said. “He’ll make a great addition to the Husqvarna team, and we already can’t wait to hit the trails with him!”

"The first place I rode my TXC511 was in Baja at the Mexican 1000," Roeseler
commented. "The 511 ran great the whole time. A thousand miles later, I came
back home, changed the oil and put some fresh tires on it and went to a local GP
where I almost lapped the field. So far this bike's been awesome, and it's the buzz
of the pits wherever I go. People are just amazed by the features and the
innovative design of the bikes and I have a lot of people coming up to me asking
questions.

"I'm really excited to be a part of Husqvarna again," Roeseler continued. "They've
been a big part of my race career. Now they're not just in my past but in my
future, too."

"It's great having a rider of Larry's caliber represent us," said Husqvarna National
Marketing Manager Corey Eastman. "He's exactly the kind of guy you want out at
the races talking to people about the bikes. He's excited about where Husqvarna
is headed, and so are we, so we're happy to support his motorcycle riding and
racing."