arts Unlimited’s 5th annual UP300 dealer ride was held in September. Labeled as an “Enthusiasts Trail Ride, this event in the wooded hills outside of Marquette, Michigan lived up to its reputation and provided plenty of good off-road riding for the attending dealers, sales reps, vendors and other guests of Parts Unlimited and primary sponsors Moose, Thor and Alpinestars.
     The format of the UP300 was for the attending riders to a take a tour of “Vendor Row” the morning of Day One. There are free goodies and samples galore, plus riders have a chance to talk with the manufacturers about their product lines. Following the group photo, the course was open for riding in the afternoon.
     The next day was a full day for riding; some of it on the various trail courses, plus the ever-popular Grass Track activities. When the day was done, a dinner and awards banquet entertained the participants.
     Finally, on Day Three, the courses were again open for the final miles of the 2004 event. If you attended this year’s ride, then this report will serve as your album. If you did not attend this year, be sure to talk to your Parts sales rep about how dealers qualify for this and other Parts Unlimited rides.

Step One of the ride was to get checked in. Parts Unlimited’s Kathy Sommervold pulls the paperwork that contains the rider’s stick-on numbers, badges, instruction sheets and other vital information.	Riders of the UP300 receive great treatment from leading manufacturers just like the factory teams get at the races. Brad Henton (left) and Rory O’Neal were there from Bridgestone.
Another perk of the UP300 is all the free goodies the sponsors bring. Tim Meer of DP Brakes (right) shows off the cool DP T-shirt they gave to all the riders.	Dunlop was also on hand with a nice selection of different off-road tires for the riders to choose from.
Aaron Brumbaugh (left) is a Product Manager for Parts Unlimited dedicated to the Pirelli tire brand. Brandon Mueller works with the Moose product line.	Heather Wilson chats with Bevo Forte of Scott USA. Heather is one of the leading female off-road riders in the country and participated in the ride as a guest of Moose Off-road.
Off-road racing legend Scott Summers was one of the celebrity riders at the event. He manages to keep his bike and Moose gear clean all day by staying ahead of the pack.	Greg Blackwell, Vice-President of Sales for Parts Unlimited has ridden off-road bikes his whole life. His brother Mark is a former National Motocross Champion.
Taking a break on the trail are Aaron Buffo (left) and Nick Blacklaw of RCR Kawasaki.	Parts Unlimited’s Lou Lopez sails cleanly down a rocky trail.
Will Parker from Pro Grip cuts through the Michigan backwoods on his KTM.	Whoa Nelly! Going uphill on wet, slippery rocks can be challenging.
Richard Johnson of Midwest Performance Power shows good form on his Honda thumper.	Joel Reno from Hawkeye Motor Sports found that his Honda CRF250X worked great on the tight trails of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The rider in the background stops to watch Dick Burleson fly. “King Richard” won eight straight National Enduro titles and eight ISDE Gold Medals during his racing career.	Tom Parker of Tom’s Cycles navigates one of the downhill sections.
Riders gather for the start of one of the fun activities of the UP300, the “Grass Track” competition.

Bob Mugen from KTM puts his product to the test.	Her number plate tells the story of success that Moose-sponsored Heather Wilson has had in GNCC and Hare Scrambles in recent years. See page 78 for more about her 2004 season.
John Payne (left) from Parts Unlimited and Dave Smith from Iron Pony take a break along the trail.	Steve Johnson from Wiseco Pistons waits his turn to cut a timed lap in the Grass Track competition.
The guys at Moose Racing never miss a chance to test their products. When Brian Weber from Moose had a little “slip” on the trail, Moose Off-Road’s Chief Product Engineer Dick Burleson, was right there and had a front row seat to see if the Moose gear he has worked on through the years kept Brian safe. Brian was okay, although he declined Dick’s request to do it again.

These rides don’t come off without sponsor support. Kicking in some dollars and their time were representatives from: Parts Unlimited, Moose, Thor, Alpinestars, Braking, Bridgestone, CMP, Dunlop, DP Brakes, EVS, Motion Pro, FMF, Smith, No-Toil, Scott USA, SBS, NGK, Ohlins, Pirelli, Renthal, Pro Circuit, Pro Grip, Supertrapp, Sunstar and Wiseco.
The riding is great, but everyone looks forward to the times when you can sit and tell everyone who will listen your best story of the day.
You can’t bring big groups of riders out to the woods and expect to keep the peace if you don’t show some “love” to the local community. Dick Burleson knows that well and presents a donation to the Sands Township Fire Department from Parts Unlimited.	The Sandstormers Motorcycle Club helps out each year. They do everything from helping Burleson lay out the course to providing guides on the trails. To show his appreciation, Chris Carter of Motion Pro (dark blue shirt) made a $400 donation to the club based on the profit from products he sold on vendor row earlier that week. His contribution was on top of the $2,000 donation to the club from Parts Unlimited.
Jose Pagan, Ray Hempstead, Jack Lambert, and Brian Martin of Barney’s Motorcycle Sales in St. Petersburg, Florida were named the Co-Riders of the Year of the 2004 UP300. Their names will be added to the unique UP300 Perpetual trophy.