Today I contacted American Honda. I spoke with a nice lady named Michelle. I asked to speak with someone in Public Relations and explained the purpose for my call. She advised me that such requests are to be put on paper and sent it. Here is a copy of the body of the letter which I will mail.
To: Honda Power Sports Marketing
Re: The 2011 SOHC4.com Relay Rally Across America, Canada, and Beyond
My purpose today is to alert you to this inaugural event being put on through the efforts of the members and guests of
www.SOHC4.com. Our group is over 12,000 members strong throughout the world. We are enthusiasts that want to ride, restore, promote and live the old Hondas that put Honda on the map beginning with the introduction of the first true superbike, the 1969 Honda CB750K0 aka as the original Sandcast. We are a website dedicated to all things SOHC4. This is a non-fee site and invite any and all riders or fans of Honda to join in our pride and passion. Many of our members have multiple bikes and different brands. We are a diverse membership of riders first and foremost but we share this same passion, SOHC4.
Back in November 2010, one of our members posted about putting a little ride together then another replied. I had just returned from a 5,552 mile ride from Colorado to Key West and still had the bug. I picked up on this and ran with it. I asked myself what could we do collectively that represents not only our group but our passion and Honda? How could we get more people involved in one event? What would this take? While there are many events around the country, most riders are unable to attend due to locations, time constraints, jobs, families, and other responsibilities. My thought was why not take a ride to the riders?! While some of us can ride long rides and many miles most can only ride much shorter distances. Our many members mostly only know one another as a SOHC4 handle. Why don’t we meet other members in person and ride with each other? HOW??? During one of my many late night sessions the thought came to me – A RELAY. My trusty worn out road atlas is by my side. I started looking at the US. I’ve ridden in all the western areas since moving to Colorado. I’ve ridden in 3 Canadian provinces. We can pull this off. We have a VERY enthusiastic membership. I immediately broke out the original postings into a new thread – 2011 Relay Rally Across America, Canada and Beyond. The Beyond part was added in response to some of our European members wanting to be a part. And here it was born -
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?board=125.0. This is only a small part of the overall picture -
http://www.sohc4.net/.
From the beginning early in December this has been a passionate project of mine to make happen. I dedicate many hours every day to make this work. We have many volunteers working feverishly. My initial thought was that there was no way this could happen in 2011. THAT WAS A MISTAKE! The membership wouldn’t think of a 2012 start. They jumped on the idea and it grows daily. I couldn’t hold the dogs back so I’ve turned them loose and we’re going to make this happen. We’d love to have Honda somehow involved. It’s not a money thing. It’s our passion for our pride – our/your old vintage Honda bikes that are as much as 42 years old will be rolling all across America and Canada. What a great opportunity for SOHC4 and for Honda.
This will take a long time to complete such an ambitious undertaking of old vintage bikes in a limited time frame. Could we begin early spring and conclude late summer? That’s six months. I covered 5552 miles in 17 days with 1 extra day in New Orleans, 3 days at Biketoberfest and 2 days in Key West. Plenty of time. Hopefully! However these are old bikes, there are many riders involved, and many fantastic sites to tour along the way. It was time to begin the planning. I traced a line through the lower 48 and 10 provinces splitting each continental crossing into 2 month segments. I broke the big picture down into regions. I solicited for regional coordinators. The riders came on board and signed up. It continues to grow and progress. As far as routing we will begin at the Dawn of The Superbike Era, the Daytona 200! What more fitting way to kick off the Rally than pay homage to the mighty CB750 that won on it’s inaugural maiden voyage by kicking off the 2011 SOHC4 Relay with a CB750 Honda! From Daytona we will cover the still chilly southeast by looping up the coastal states through WV and KY then heading back south before turning our sites on the warm southwestern states and into southern California. We head east for another transcontinental journey across the mid section that should be warming up during May and June and heading into beautiful New England. Sometime around July we should be crossing the northern border into the Maritime Provinces then back west we go on the final transcontinental journey across the northern tier of states and southern tier of provinces with our final destination of Vancouver, BC. I stress to our members that it’s not the destination but rather the journey. Have fun and ride safe. Our riders will pick out their routes within their regions and report back to us so we will be able to enjoy their good times and beautiful scenery. They are required to connect the dots with their relay partners and only a SOHC4 bike is allowed to carry our official mascot which will make the entire journey. We will maintain log books and intend on having a website to upload pictures and blog about the segments we’ve covered.
That’s what we’re up to. Promoting SOHC4. Promoting Honda. Having a great time. Making new friends. Accomplishing something that I’d dare say hasn’t been done before. We have other organizations involved. VJMC , APE, Barbers Vintage Motorsports Museum. Now I ask, will Honda be an official part of this? Your bikes already are . Will there be any official Honda events at Daytona that we could be a part of? What about your dealer network? Could they be notified and be on the lookout for us? How can you help us? We’ve obviously been helping Honda for over 40 years and will continue to do so by carrying on the legacy as long as Honda continues to supply the parts we sometime need. What do you think??
I look forward to hearing from Honda in the near future.
Jerry Griffin – proud original owner of a 1975 CB750F s/n CB750F-1001606 aka 1975 CB750 K0 Super Sport
