Editor:
I would like to make a few corrections to the last Indian
Motorcycle article discussing the nationwide ride of support
sponsored by the Indian CEO, Frank O’Connell.
Editor:
I would like to make a few corrections to the last Indian Motorcycle article discussing the nationwide ride of support sponsored by the Indian CEO, Frank O’Connell. The ride to show support of Indian Motorcycle as described in your paper never happened.
This ride was part of a nationwide show of support organized by O’Connell. Indian Motocycle owners throughout the Bay Area were asked to meet and ride together in support of Indian Motorcyle across the Golden Gate Bridge. Other riders in the United States were also supposed to ride to their local monuments to show support for this event.
The ride across the bridge and the show of support for the O’Connell ride to show support of Indian Motorcyle never happened.
About 14 San Jose Indian Rider Group members and supporters as well as the Gilroy chapter president rode from the Indian dealership in San Jose to San Francisco.Yes, the 15 riders from San Jose rode to our rendevous point in San Francisco where we were joined by Indian Rider Group chapter members from San Leandro and Santa Rosa as well as a few Indian supporters.
We all sat and talked about the demise of Indian and every rider was hopeful Rey Sotelo wins the auction of the assets.
We were not doing this ride for O’Connell as he was the CEO responsible for running Indian into the ground. We felt Indian owners were just being used by Frank in hopes of driving the price of the assets higher so Frank and the other stock holders would collect their money after the debt was paid off from the auction proceeds.
So, instead of riding across the Golden Gate Bridge in support of Frank O’Connell as mentioned in the article, all the different Indian Rider Groups simply rode through San Francisco to Fishermans Wharf and just enjoyed the ride.
The Indian Riders Group are Indian Motorcycle owners that meet regularly to support Indian Motorcycle and their local dealers. One of our top priorities is to do charity events where we have an event such as a Poker Run to raise money. We charge a price to participate and welcomeall bikes … not just Indians.
Participants draw a card at each stop wemake along the route we select. After the run is complete, the best poker hand wins a very nice prize. We then serve serve the participants a barbeque lunch and give away raffle prizes. All profits are donated to a charity that our members select during the year.
This year, we made a nice donation to Services for Brain Injury, which is a San Jose-based charity that helps people cope with head injuries after they are discharged from the hospital.
There are several Indian Rider Group chapters in the Bay Area with the San Jose chapter being the largest with 60 members.
Mike Dreon, Indian Riders Group-San Jose Chapter
Submitted Thursday, Nov. 13, to ed****@ga****.com
