Wicked Motorsports may be new, but I'm sure not. I used to go to the races with my Dad when I was a kid. I got to see the European Invasion of the sixties. Lars Larson was a top Swedish rider and Edison Dye the Husqvarna importer had hired Larson to come to the US and show off his new Husqvarna motorcycle.
Up to that point my Dad and all his cronies had ridden poor handling, poor performing English behemoths or street bikes converted to dirt. This new Husqvarna was light years ahead in every aspect.
1966 Husqvarna, this is the bike that
started the MX revolution of the 60s
I was in the third grade and enjoyed playing with my Tonka trucks in the sand during the races. Well when Lars Larson took off on that skinny little red and chrome tanked bike and absolutely rode circles around every one and did wheelie's down every straight away at the same time, well Mr. Tonka had lost a customer and my life changed that day, and I became a motorcycle guy.
Of course I dreamed of being a MotoCross star, but since I didn't have the talent that dream didn't happen.
Then in 1971 the movie On Any Sunday came out. During the movie, they go to the International Six Day Enduro in Spain. This was the only event Malcolm takes very seriously..... Well from that day on, I wanted to be a Six Day Star.
Turns out I didn't have the talent for that either, but I did enjoy riding Enduro's and ISDE Qualifiers. I was not very good at them and I'm a very slow learner, but I stuck with it and had fair success in racing.
I had ridden the grueling ISDE Qualifier series for many years and never even came close to making the team. Then in 1994 the ISDE came to the states, this was my chance. I finished the event in last place. I got the last medal awarded, the event almost killed me and I never even thought about trying the ISDE again, once was enough. But I came away with a life long goal of winning a ISDE medal, it was for last place, but it is one of my most prized possessions.
This was my first bike, a 1966 Suzuki 80,
quite the woods weapon.
Since 94 I have ridden all over the US and many far away destinations around the world. I've ridden to Macchu Picchu, the stone village atop the mountain in Peru South America.
My brother and I did a two week Safari around Kenya Africa riding dual sport bikes.
My friend Chuck Sun and I did a fifty day, 10,000 mile tour around Mexico on KTM motorcycles.
Chuck was the 1980 500cc MX Champion and the 1981 MXdesNations team member. So our tour around Mexico was not at a leisurely pace. You can read more about these trips at my own web site www.gonzorider.com It's not a fancy web site, but it does have many stories from trips and adventures I've taken.
I still ride today, I compete in the Super Senior class in the Indiana Enduro series, I still can't win! Seems like the good riders are the ones who stick around and all the bad ones are the ones who quit, so don't think for a minute that the Super Senior class is slow.
I go on trips for riding too, I've spent a lot of time out west riding and I've been to Baja a few times for single track riding.
My Dad rode a Bultaco Sherpa S
like this one in 1968
Now I'm not trying to brag here, I'm just trying to show you I have a lot of riding experience. It may not be at the front of the pack experience, but if you want to know something about Enduros, or Hare Scrambles, or Adventure riding or Dual Sport riding, there is a pretty good chance I have some experience in it and I am happy to share this knowledge with our customers.
Now the real brains behind Wicked Motorsports is my wife Wilma. She has been around bikes and riders all her adult life. She rides pretty well too. She can pick out lines that I don't see and credits it to watching hundreds of races over the years.
Wilma was part owner of Stoughtons Cycle Ranch on Washington Street in Indianapolis for many years. If you ever shopped at the Ranch, you remember it was a great shop and a good hang out.
Wilma is bringing all her experience of being a shop owner to Wicked.
What separated Wilma's old shop from any of the others was superior customer service and she beats that into our brains every day, customer service is the key.
Not only did Wilma run a very popular shop, she made things happen in the Indiana motorcycling community.
Wilma was the driving force behind the Indiana Motorcycle Expo, a stand alone consumer event showcasing Indiana dealers. This show is now run by the Renfro family during the Boat Sport and Travel show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Wilma helped promote MX races at the Marion County Fair Grounds where the fist race they had 600 riders show up.
This fact proves she knows something about advertising!
Wilma was involved in the early Miracle Rides which now has hundreds or thousands of attendants.
In 2001 Wilma was the Motorcycle Sport Commissioner for the World Police and Fire Games. Through her hard work she secured Camp Atterbury as the location and offered riding for many local riders in preparation for the actual WP&F Games.
The games were a success and motorcycling had a bright future at Camp Atterbury, but the tragic events of September 11 2001 ended those plans.
There have been many other charities, fund raisers, races, rides where Wilma was the driving force and she is going to continue creating riding opportunities in Indiana.
So when you walk into Wicked Motorsports, know that the old fat guy sitting at the table has more miles on him than the average Wal Mart Greeter. Know that the woman in the office has done so much for the motorcycling community and she's is still working on events where you can ride your bike.
I know this was a long winded About Us link, but every thing here are things we have done, not like a lot of shops and sites where they talk about what they are going to do, Wilma and I have done a lot and we are going to keep going and doing, so come in and check us out have a seat at the table and make your self at home.
Thanks
Charlie Williams