  Al Jesse
Al Jesse has been riding since his teens. He has travelled through 43 countries on two wheels, including the Sahara desert, the Australian outback and the central American rain forests. He rode the Paris-Dakar route two-up in 1986 and is just back from 3 weeks in New Zealand. Al’s preference: off-road touring.   Danny Smethurst
Danny has been in the army for 7 years, and is currently back home after being a flight engineer on the CH47F Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan. He has a long heritage of military men in his family, including his grandfather who is a retired officer in the Air Force, his uncles were in the Army, his father in law was in the Air Force and even his wife was in the Army. He has spent two one-year deployments in Iraq before going to Afghanistan. Danny has been riding bikes for about 4 years. He rode everything from Harleys to scooters. He has owned a Ninja 250 and a couple of Ducati. His current bike is a 2002 Ducati 748s. When he is not watching Moto GP with his flight crew (also all riders) or riding the Trace between the lakes in Kentucky and Tennessee. He loves motorcycles not only for the camaraderie that they create but also for the freedom you have on the road and the “feeling” you have while riding. David and Ruth Anne Hannigan
David and Ruth Anne, owners of Hannigan Motorsports have over 40 years of motorcycle industry experience and manufacturing of world-class motorcycle products. The most recent venture is hosting motorcycle tours in Israel, where they enjoy a paradise of riding in a land of fascinating history. They appreciate different brands of bikes but their favorite brand of helmets is a Nolan. Ruth Anne says “Nothing fits me as good as a Nolan”.  Fred Rau
As a professional moto-journalist and motorcycle tour operator, Fred figures he is racked around 1.5 million miles on over 300 different bike models during the past 40 years. As the senior editor of Motorcycle Consumer News (MCN) for 15 years, Fred had the opportunity to try out scores of helmets from dozens of manufacturers but says, “In the end, for my personal use, IO always found myself going back to my Nolan N-103. For me, they hit the most complete balance of comfort, utility, safety, noise reduction and style”. These days, Fred runs personally-guided motorcycle tours of Old Route 66, the Utah Canyonlands and New Zealand and is in the process of starting up a new online magazine for touring and sport-touring riders, “Fred and Friends”. Watch for his new book coming out soon “The Motorcycle Touring Bible”. www.fredandfriends.pro
Suzanne Knaff
Suzanne Knaff grew up borrowing the boys’ bikes, hill climbing and blazing trails through the countryside, only limited in her choice of bike by her short stature. Marriage, children, and college (in that order) sidelined the bikes for several years, but never dampened her passion to ride. She got her license in 1998, bought her first bike a low Suzuki Marauder, upgraded to a V-Star 1100 so that she could follow her dreams to Sturgis. This and other week-long trips got her hooked to long distance riding that she enjoys regularly on her beloved Softail Springer. She is a proud member of the Motor Maids and a National member of H.O.G. Her many miles and her recent trip to the ER taught her an important lesson: no matter how good a rider you are, you may not pull out of that skid. That why you should wear all your gear – including a high-quality helmet – all the time.
Mike and Cyndi Mumford
In the late 50s, Mike had a Villiers in a James frame. Then a Tiger Club started his racing career on short track. A 650 Triumph came along and Mike half-mile and Mile in the Midwest, with Cyndi as his only sponsor. A move to California brought the opportunity to race at Ascot and San Jose. Then Mike became a road rep for Malcolm Smith Products in the Pacific Northwest, and found that Enduro Racing was even better. Colorado became his turf for adventure riding and now, retired in AZ, he spends his days riding in the desert. A couple of years ago Mike and Cyndi rode 9000 miles 2-up on their BMW F650 from AZ to VT, around the Gaspe Peninsula and back! This year, they toured New-Zealand for 3 weeks and plan a summer on their new bike. |