look back on the first quarter of 2004 with wonder that so much could happen in a mere ninety-one days. To begin with, our new television program “Inside Motorcycling presented by Parts Unlimited” went on the air on Spike TV on the first Saturday of January. Feedback has been great about the format of the show and we look forward to getting to work soon on the series for 2005.
     While the TV show gave us something to fill in our Saturday morning schedule, nothing beats a Saturday night activity better than the THQ/AMA Supercross races. The series kicked off at Anaheim in January for the first of three races there, plus we had San Diego and San Francisco races to take in. It was fun watching Chad Reed take command of the 250cc series, and hats off to Mitch Payton and his crew at Pro Circuit for getting the all-new Kawasaki KXF250 race ready for Ivan Tedesco and his teammates to ride in the 125 West series. It should be pretty exciting when Ivan takes on James Stewart at the season finale in Las Vegas where the east and west riders go head-to-head. Go Ivan, you’re the man! Be sure to check out our pictorial on the first half of the Supercross season that starts on page 54.
     Speaking of the TV show and racing, we kept one of the six motorcycles that we used as project bikes on the show. It was the Yamaha YZ450 Supermoto conversion and you’ll find a 4-page pictorial of it starting on page 50 that details what we did to make it race ready for the exciting new sport of Supermoto. So, what do you do with a race-ready motorcycle? What else? Go racing! And that’s what we plan to do this year with Freestyle rider Trevor Vines in the saddle. Trevor expressed interest in getting into Supermoto, and we’re proud to have him riding our bike. Be sure to follow his progress here in the magazine this year, and we’ll detail all the modifications we make to develop our machine.
     The month of February was dominated by two trade shows. We first went to the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati to check out all the latest in the world of Harley accessories and customizing. Then it was on to Indianapolis for the Dealernews Powersports Dealer Expo. We’ve got a report in this issue about the show, and be sure to check out the coverage in News & Events about the first-ever “Night of the Stars” awards banquet that LeMans held there to honor the Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialties sales reps.
     We attended another type of “Night of the Stars” event recently. It was the premier of the movie “Moto X Kids,” produced by TAG Entertainment. Anyone that might think that Parts Unlimited has run out of ways to promote its brands should be sure to catch this movie. Everyone including Cody the Chimp is outfitted in Thor gear in this fun family movie and it is just one of many other movies that TAG has planned for the motorcycle sport. Don’t be surprised if you see more of this kind of exposure from Parts Unlimited and Thor in the future.
     And speaking of stars. Parts Unlimited has added Travis Pastrana and Scott Summers to its already-amazing stable of star riders this year. And the names don’t get much bigger than basketball legend Michael Jordan. He’s also a motorcycle enthusiast and is getting into racing as a team sponsor. Is Parts Unlimited involved? The answer is yes. Be sure to watch for the report of his team’s debut in our Daytona Pictorial in our next issue.
     So. One quarter down and three to go. Stay tuned…we’re just getting warmed up!