I just received this from one of the networking groups I follow:

“I wanted to invite everyone to a benefit and motorcycle ride on Sunday, October 12 to benefit one of our long-time employees, Don Wolfe. Don is facing a double kidney transplant in the next few months and is a motorcycle fanatic. The ride will start and at Charlie’s Throttle Stop, located at 7121 Dixie Highway in Fairfield (phone (513) 874-6111). Breakfast is served at 10:00 am and the ride out begins at 12:00. Live music from Kenny Van Zant and friends starts runs from 2:30 to 6:30. The donation is $15 for single or $20 for a couple. There will also be door prizes, raffles and split the pot after the ride. I hope that you will join us!”

Attend if you can.
- Ray

Have you read IronWorks Magazine??? It’s an awesome publication that we here at Biker Rain Chaps can associate a few faces with because we seem to bump into them every year at the Cincinnati V-Twin Expo…

I’m particularly excited about that publication at the moment because they are working on product review for us (publication date TBD). These things always make me just a wee bit nervous because of the lack of control that you have, personally, with stuff like this… I sent them a few pairs, some copy and some graphics and now I’ve gotta hold my breath and hope the reviewer likes the product as much as I, and all of the other people whose hands I’ve gotten them into, do. Either way, I’m hoping that the review will happen soon as the year is rapidly coming to a close.

I mean, Biker Rain Chaps are great at breaking the wind and extending your riding season, but, at least here in Cincinnati, 20 degrees in January is cold no matter how you slice it…

Anyway, I’m going to touch base with my contact there again.

As a side note, my contact at IronWorks is a personal friend of one of our customers that I posted a blog entry about back in July. It was about Frank Boorn, the gentleman who received an award from his local HOG chapter for riding $750,000 miles.

Can you imagine that? 750,000 miles.

Anyway, check out the article. It’s quite interesting. And I’ll let you know when I get a confirmation from IronWorks about the publication.

- Ray
BikerRainChaps.com

So, I just got a message back from Cyril’s editor that they are going to write something! That’s awesome!

Brigitte.

Cyril Huze Blog
www.cyrilhuzeblog.com

Everyone here should check out their blog!!!

http://www.cyrilhuzeblog.com

- Ray

Yesterday, I did three things.

First off, I sent a product “announcement” to Cyril Huze, you’ve heard me talk of him before… I am hoping he publishes it to his readership…

Second, I got a call from American Cycler and American Bagger magazines (they are both owned by the same company…). They wanted to publish a product review.

I dutifully sent them both what they requested and all necessary images for their publications.

What I did next was go viral and Guerrilla… I sent an e-mail to my entire database of people who have bought Biker Rain Chaps and asked them to send unmoderated, real product reviews to these publications.

Sure, I’m going out on a limb. Sure, some one could have a bad review… But, if the trend holds, I’ve not had an unhappy customer. People seem to really dig the product once they try it.

Honestly, I think the two largest problems impeding adoption at this point are (1) awareness of need and (2) the sizing requirements. People tend to think that they either just ride wet or they use their rain gear… They don’t realize or choose not to recognize that there is a better solution out there. That’s the “awareness of need” issue. This will solve itself over time…

The second issue is a bit stickier to address… That’s the fact that you need to know your thigh circumference. If you’re buying them for yourself, you can always get out a tape measure and wrap it around the thickest part of your thigh… However, that’s creating a necessary action between you desire to buy a pair and you actually executing the purchase. Not good.

Second, what if you’re buying a pair for your spouse/friend/lover/riding mates? That measurement is a bit hard to guess…

While I haven’t figured out a good way to solve the sizing issue (part of the magic of Biker Rain Chaps is that they fit soooo well), I have figured out a solution to the buying for others issue… Very, very soon, we’re going to offer Gift Certificates on the web site… That way, if you want to get some one a pair, just get them a gift certificate, which includes shipping, and they will be good to go!

Wow. That’s a bit of a rant…

Morale of the story… We’re trying a marketing tactic to help us get published in trade magazines… If you’ve got a blog, web site, or a newsletter and would like to help us out, just holler at me and I’ll (most expeditiously) get you anything you need!

Keep ridding happy!

- Ray
BikerRainChaps.com

On September 30th, 2006, Cyril Huze’s blog launched.  Although I’ve only been following it as of late, it’s a publication that I look at everyday.

Cyril is a custom bike builder so, of course, his blog slants toward bike parts, but I find he publishes a ton of other stuff about specific bikes, events and political stuff which affects bikers and their rights to do what they do - ride!

I would definitely recommend checking it out.  If you like what you see, sign up for his feedburner feed.  It’s one of the first things I check out, every morning!

Stay warm, dry & Enjoy the Ride!

- Ray
BikerRainChaps.com

Reposted from Cyril Huze’s Blog

Not only is this a sweet ride, but it’s smart, too!  It raises and lowers itself based upon rider’s preference on various surfaces and it also changes how the shock absorbtion works.

Pretty amazing!

Check out Cyril’s post.

I just dig looking at it…  I’m sure I’m not going to be able to afford it any time in the foreseeable future…

- Ray
BikerRainChaps.com

You know, I was talking to Ray about the butt munch who sent him the hate mail about how Biker Rain Chaps won’t keep your balls from getting wet and I got to thinking about this.  And the more I thought about it, the more I thought it warranted a response from me…

This issue is identical to leaving your window open at home during a rain storm.  It may rain inside the window and it may not.

The same idea applies with Biker Rain Chaps.  In severe cases, it depends on how the rain is hitting you.  I personally rode all the way from Myrtle Beach (Bike Week) to Maggie Valley, in the Smokey Mountains, through a constant DOWNPOUR wearing a rain jacket and my Biker Rain Chaps.  When I got there, my crotch was COMPLETELY DRY.  I’m sure this is partly because the product rocks but also because the rain was at my back and not in my face!

Despite the direction of the rain, my product, Biker Rain Chaps, will protect even your balls from getting wet in most situations (from rain water; with other sources, i.e., excitement, mates, etc., your results, and pleasure, may vary) as this area is not nearly as exposed as your calves and thighs…

Just my 2 cents.

- Mitch

Wow, that was painful.

Apparently, our hosting company GoDaddy.com, made some changes to our Virtual Private Server which blew the hell out of this site for about 5 days.

I appologize for any inconvenience this caused anyone.

By the way, let me know if you think there’s anyway we can improve the site or any products you think we should be carrying to make it a better shoping experience for you and others.

Thanks!

- Ray.

Here’s a classic one about joining a biker’s club…  Enjoy!

A little 80 year old lady had always wanted to join a local bikers club so one day she goes up and knocks on a biker’s door and A big, hairy, bearded biker with tattoos all over his arms answers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just got done with a pretty substantial update to the e-commerce portion of the Biker Rain Chaps site.

I had gotten a lot of feedback from folks that they didn’t know how to buy this motorcycle product so I substantially modified the user interface.  Hopefully, I made the purchase process a bit more intuitive.

Check it out and let me know your thoughts!

http://www.bikerrainchaps.com/

- Ray