Motocentral @ The Honda Hoot
I believe we picked the best year to attend our first Hoot. The Honda Hoot celebrated it's 15th Aniversary this year. Talking with previous Hoot attendees revealed the vendor area to be lacking from years past. I was a surprised myself on the lack of vendors. I needed to pick up another set of ROK straps and not a single dealer had them. My only other gripe from the entire week was from Friday night, The Party at the Landing. There was not enough facilities and I'm sure everyone that stood in line for twenty minutes like I did would agree.
Being our first Hoot we signed up for a good number of arranged rides. If I had any idea how fabulous the roads were in Tennessee I would have not schedule so many Hoot events. We did take the Devil's Triangle, off of MADMAPS, before heading into Knoxville Tuesday, June 17th. Nice ride even with the ST1300s loaded.
Bill and I met up with Don, a fellow member on the ST-Owners Forum at the Welcoming Party Tuesday. Our small group did a couple of rides together and the Closing Ceromonies. It was great meeting and riding with you Don! By the way, there were many STs (1100 & 1300) present. Who said Honda's Sport-Touring machine wasn't popular.
Tuesday, June 17th: 
Early Bird pickup and the Welcoming Party were held at the Marriott in Knoxville.
Wedensday, June 18th:
We rode the Cheronala Skyway Ride, including the Dragon and we did it twice. We just had to ride in both directions. The Skyway was absolutely beautiful and the Dragon was great fun.
Thursday, June 19th:
We took the Capes and Cavern Ride to the Cumberland Caverns and lunch in the "Bat Cave"
Friday, June 20th:
We took a breakfast cruise on the Tennessee River, on the Star of Knoxville Riverboat. After breakfast we headed out to Chilhowee Park to check out the vendors and other happenings at the Hoot meeting place. That evening we attended "A Night at Volunteer Landing". The fireworks were probably the best I have seen yet.
Saturday, June 21st:
A trip out to Norris Dam on the Best Dam Ride and Fish Fry. This is a ride I would sign up for again. The food was excellent and I'm not a big fish eater.
A "helicopter", I thought this was a No-Fly Zone.
Closing Ceromonies were held at the Civic Coliseum, with a private performance by Wynonna Judd. It was an excellant concert.
We enjoyed our trip to the Hoot and will probably do it again next year. The ST1300s racked up over 2000 miles for the week. I think I need to change the oil again.
Honda Hoot 2008 Image Gallery
Photos by Bill and Kim Muhr. Dragon photos by Zeefoto.com, Killboy.com and US129photos.com
Live from Road America - AMA Superbike Championship, Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader
Sunday, June 8, 08
Rain, rain and more rain. The state of Wisconson didn't need anymore rain. Road America was not spared the lengthy down pours that started in the early morning but as if Mother Nature wanted to see motorcycle racing the rain ended long enough to get all the scheduled races run.
Blake Young drafts by Yates at the line to take the win in the Superstock Race. In the Supersport race Steve Rapp crossed the line first but was disqualified when post race inspection showed an illegal modification to the rear wheel. Ben Bostrom who finished second now shows as the winner. Mat Mladin breaks Ben Spies win streak by taking the checkered in race #2 of Superbike.
The Red Bull Rookies Cup race was postponed until the afternoon, where #36 Leandro Mercade wins in a photo finish.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Thrills, spills and rain was the story of the day. The rain did not threaten until the start of Superbike Race #1, which luckly remained dry. The Formula Xtreme Race was not as fortunate nor was MotoST.
Left: #840 Jason Farrell crashes during Superstock practice.
Right: Red Bull Rookies Cup practice. Look at all the KTM 125s.
#1 Ben Spies takes his seventh win in a row and Aaron Goebert takes the win for the second year in a row at Road America in Formula Xtreme in the rain.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Periods of rain and lots of wind was the story today but practice and qualifing still went on. Everyone had rain tires mounted and ready to go on the tire racks.
Left: Larry Pegram after Formula Xtreme Qualifing this afternoon.
The relatively new division MotoST practice this afternoon as well. Right: No. 87 Speedwerks.com Suzuki's Brain Kcraget at Billy Michell Bend.
Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic - May 17, 08
Milwaukee, WI
The MotoCentral gang (Bill and Kim) attended Lee Parks Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic this past Saturday. The clinic was facilitated by Private Track Time (PTT) with instructors Dave Ruocco and Leon Winfrey. Both gentleman are wonderful instructors. We met Dave last year, who also coaches with PTT during track days.
Our friend Becky Baker-Illman accompanied us, filling the role of pit crew and offical photographer. Thank you Becky. We also ran into a fellow ST rider, Tom (tlartist) Laux from ST-Owners.com.
We truely enjoyed the class and improved our skills. ARC is very much worth the time and money and we plan to attend a Skills Day in August.
MotoCentral recommends this clinic to anyone serious about learning the relationship of rider to machine, suspension, throttle/brake control to traction. Total Control does come through on the promises made on the website.
Gallery Images - Photos/video By: Becky Baker
Flash Video:
Play video in external player.
Motocentral Track Days 2008
Road America - May 10, 2008
The first track day of the year was at Road America. Kim Muhr running the CBR600F2 and Becky Baker- Illman running her CB350 practicing for her first race at this track in June. We did take the Hawk NT650 and it was on track briefly by both Becky and Kim. Photos in the gallery were taken by Bill Muhr, Richard Illman and Sideline Sports Photography, LLC.
Moonshine Lunch Run - April 12, 2008
The complete report.
1988 Honda NT650 Hawk Track Bike Project
Here is another one of our projects -- converting a Honda NT650 Hawk to a track bike. Check out the progress in our NT650 page.
1978 Honda CB400 Restoration Project
We've taken on a new project -- Resoration of a 1978 Honda CB400 that has been sitting in a barn for the past 19 years. Check out the progress in our CB400 section
Photo Information
If you are interested in purchasing any of our photos, or would just like more information on a photo, please email us at mcphotos >at< motocentral >dot< com.
CCS @ Blackhawk - September 17, 2007
In September we took a second trip to Blackhawk for the CCS racing. These photos are from Sunday's races, using the new lens on the D100.
CCS @ Blackhawk - July, 07
In July we visited Blackhawk for the CCS racing. These photos are from Sunday's races.
Kim's Track Day(s)
We now have our 1991 CBR 600 F2 up and running and Kim has been doing track days with it. So far we've done Blackhawk Farms, Road America, and the Autobahn track in Joliet. The galleries include shots of our friends, Becky and Richard Illman on their bikes. Becky is riding the vintage Honda 350 and the blue BMW K1200, Richard is riding the red BMW twin. The sleepy fellow is another friend, Greg, who took video and photos for us. Photos by Bill Muhr, Richard Illman, Greg Braun and DVK Photo.
Road America Photos
Our gallery of photos from Road America, 2007 are now available on the gallery index page or via this link.This year we had rain, and there are some spectacular photos showing just how much rain there was. Check out the river flowing across the track where the old Billy Mitchell Bridge used to be.
WERA Gallery
We've just added a gallery of photos from the WERA roadracing event at Grattan, MI. that took place May 19-20.
New Bike, New Rides
The arrival of the new Honda ST1300 means more time out riding around the neighborhood. Here's a photo from the farm country around North East Illinois.
Jessica Zalusky Gallery
Kawasaki rider Jessica Zalusky is one of the few female roadracers talented enough to race against the guys in the AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes. We've been snapping pictures of her at Road America for the past few years, and now have a gallery of photos. Jessica also has a personal website that is worth a visit.
Contact Info
You can contact us by sending email to motocentral _at_ motocentral _dot_ com.