ou've no doubt heard the saying, "What a difference a day makes." Well, in my case, it's more like what a difference a year makes. This time last year I was hobbling along with a broken leg suffered at the RM400. Today, I have only the great memories of riding again in the high country in Colorado.

Smelling the flowers in the high country near Ouray (Yes, I'm on a trail)

     It's no secret a large percentage of people in the world think that motorcycles are dangerous. Well, they can be, but experiences I have had through the years are proof that how you outfit yourself in safety gear has a lot to do with how you get through the occasional tumbles you might encounter.
     Back in the 1960s and 70s, I roadraced at speeds up to 180 miles per hour, and crashed more than once at more than 100 miles per hour. I also bounced off walls and into hay bales at dirt track events. Fortunately, I had all the right protective gear on to keep me safe and my injuries from racing were all fairly mild.
     Then last year I had a low speed excursion off the trail in the rocks and broke my leg. Despite having a good helmet, goggles, shoulder pads, elbow guards, boots, gloves, pants with hip pads and knee protectors, the one thing I didn't have was a good set of knee braces to help prevent hyper-extensions. And that is exactly what happened. I caught my foot in some rocks and hyper-extended the knee. While nothing can guarantee you won't be injured, I am pretty sure some knee braces would have helped me tremendously last year.
     Today, my leg is healed and I'm riding again...yes, with some EVS Web knee braces. It was really great to get back in the saddle this past summer and I thoroughly enjoyed logging the miles again at my favorite location in the San Juan Mountains near Ouray. Then it was up to Steamboat Springs for the Rocky Mountain 400 dealer ride put on by Parts Unlimited, Thor, Moose and Alpinestars.
     Be sure to check out our report on the RM400. The weather was great this year and everyone had a great time. But this wasn't the only event we had to cover this month. Photographers Frank Hoppen and Kinney Jones were in Los Angeles for the Summer X Games and got some great shots of Thor guys Travis Pastrana, Doug Henry, Nate Adams and two Jeremys (McGrath and Stenberg) dominating the motorcycle action. We've got a great looking report on that event, as well as some Supermoto action in Colorado and the all-new Mini-Supermoto sport that is emerging in Ohio. Of course we've got all the hot new products that your customers need, so be sure not to miss any of that.
     It's a busy time of year, but I hope you have enough free time to get some motorcycle riding in. And take it from me, whatever you ride, be sure to suit up with all the necessary protective gear available for your type of action.

Ride Safe,

     P.S.: To our dealer readers, this month, and in the months to come, you'll notice your copy of the magazine will include a fax order form. You can now order some additional copies to sell in your stores and all you pay is the shipping to get them to you. You've been reading Parts Magazine for years and now you can use the magazine as a sales tool to show your customers what the world of Parts Unlimited is all about. Give it a try