Editors Letters

Well ,,, I hope everyone made it through all the holidays in good shape. The toy runs and Christmas parties are history for another year but there were plenty of them. I was out of town for much of the early parts of the month and missed a few events, but managed to catch a few also. 2002 was a mixed year with a few minor bumps in the road but 2003 in on us. I am looking forward to getting back on the road in 2003 and back to hitting the rest of the state more frequently. We continue to welcome stories and participation from all over the state. The more we receive, the more information we are able to put out there for all our readers. The calendar this month is almost non-existant so get us the dates for the your future events and we will get them into print well in advance of it happening. It is a free listing so use it.

Many bike nights have come and gone, but the strong ones are still around. With plenty of them popping up like mushrooms, some turn out ok and others don't have a chance. If a bike night does what it tells people, it has a much better chance of survival. But when empty promises are made as some do, it is usually history. So be it.

Even though it may be a bit chilly, get out there and ride. If need be, get some heated stuff because it beats sitting around watching Friends re-runs. There is usually not a lot of planned rides this time of the year so get creative and make one.

Put a fork in it baby, this year is gone. Where it went I can't tell you that because I don't have a clue. I do know that this time last year I was diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease, but the fact I am here writing this letter is a good sign. Thanks to the big guy above. I also know Full Throttle Magazine celebrated their two-year anniversary with the November issue. Who woulda thunk? Over the past year I have met plenty of new friends from all over the state and enjoyed putting this mag out for you. Our staff of Nappy, Vicki, Dianimal, Tank, Stargazer, Fat Cat, Wolfman and many other ghost writers have made solid contributions to the overall product you now see. I thank them all.

There are several new festival or rallies that have started up last year in our state. Southern Bike Fest in Baton Rouge, Cajun Thunder in Abbeville, Louisiana Purchase in New Iberia and Halloween Bikefest in Donaldsonville. There are also several others in the planning stage.

When we look back at 2002, we all have probably lost some close friends. I know I have. Although we don't understand why, it is a part of life. My thoughts are with those families especially at this time of the year. Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are looking at Christmas. Remember all the hoopla about the big 2000. Bah.

In 2003 we are focused in getting more input from around the state, particularly biker areas such as Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Alexandria, Lake Charles and the Northshore. Fat Cat is covering Shreveport-Monroe areas but need reps in the above mentioned areas. If interested-please call me at 800-262-1631. We are trying to bring more parts of the state into FTM as far as events information and coverage. We are a state publication and your local help is needed. Check it out,,,,,, pick up the phone.

That is about all I 've got on my mind except Thanks to everyone who supports us. I hope everyone has great holidays and remember to be safe. Alcohol and driving to not mix. Don't forget that during the party season. Have a good and safe one. See ya next year!!

Well, lot's of stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Steel Pony Express starting Halloween weekend, Halloween Biketoberfest at No problem over the Oct 25 thru Oct 27th. There is also the re-scheduled Cajun Thunder Motorcycle rally in Abbeville on the Oct 25th to 27th weekend. Also, on the horizon is a new "Church of Speed.us" race scheduled in January for sport bikes running the road course also at No Problem raceway in January 2003.

To recap the Red Knights/Full Throttle 9-11 "We will never forget" poker run, we all felt it was a great success in view of some adverse conditions. It took place 2 days after Tropical Storm Isadore blew through and left massive amounts of water but we still registered 242 bikes or about 300+ people. We raised $5,100.00 in our 1st effort and we extend Thanks to all who participated in it, and look for it again next year.

Things will start slowing down after next month going in to winter so we welcome stories of interest from all over to publish and run during this slow period. Around 95% of all submissions are usually run so send them in.

It does not seem like it, but you are holding the 24th issue of Full Throttle with November marking our 2-year anniversary. Who woulda thunk? In view of that we are having a 2 year anniversary party celebrating our birthday at Bada Bings on Nov. 8, 2002 with live music, free food 7 to 9pm by Big Al, raffles, etc. (see back cover for location) Come on by. Gifts are welcome!!

I need to thank all the sponsors who have supported our magazine over the past 2 years. Without them, this magazine would not have been possible. I also need to Thank my staff of roving reporters: Nappy and Mary Ann who has tirelessly covered just about anything that moves, Dianimal in Baton Rouge, Vicki in New Orleans, Steve Turner in Lake Charles and Wolfman in Alexandria, Fat Cat in North La., Lady Rose on the Miss. Gulf Coast, and a new addition, Bobby Anding. I also want to send a Thanks to Kym Valene who although is no longer with the magazine, she was there from the beginning during the growing pains and was a great help in getting us up and running. Thanks to all of you. We look forward to keep bringing it to you over the next few years.

There are several business opportunities coming available with Full Throttle Magazine in the Louisiana-Mississippi-Texas area with expansion happening all over. It requires a moderate investment but will allow you the opportunity to earn a living while doing a bunch of motorcycle stuff. If seriously interested in any area, call me at 800-262-1631.

Well here we go again with a jam packed month and I am up to my eyeballs in our "We will never forget" Red Knight poker run as well as finishing this issue. Where does the time go??? It is FTM's first endeavor in promoting a poker run and I must say it is a lot more work than one would imagine. The Red Knight have been true Knights in their efforts and are a really great bunch of guys to work with. A pictorial will follow in next months issue if I make it till then.

Also on the horizon are several big events from our own local promoters. As we speak on Oct 4th to 6th is the Cajun Thunder rally in Abbeville, La. You may be reading this at that event as we will be there too. Look for Nappy. Then we have the second annual Halloween Bikefest at No Problem Raceway on Oct 25 to 27 offering racing with all types of bikes, so check it out. Steel Pony is also right around the corner on Oct 31 to Nov 3 and as usual will be a huge draw. And, the Southern Bike Festival had their 1st annual last month at state capital drag way and the talk on the street is everyone liked it a lot. I spent the weekend there and also was impressed with it being as first time event. It had great racing, lots of vendors, bikini and wet t's, along with all the bike games. Stay tuned to next years date and check it out.

As I have said before, Louisiana is now producing several large events all promoted by local La. bikers and that says something about the biker community in our state and that is great to see. Support these guys so they can keep them going.

Ed Piglia, owner of Daiquiri Bay is now doing a monthly run to Baton Rouge as a rally to help find the killer who murdered his sister and several other Baton Rouge women. All funds are going into flyers, posters, billboards and the reward fund to catch this sick bastard so check out the dates in this issue and join us if you can.

On another note, I need to clarify some information that was published in the August issue regarding a local area map. The map in question did not indicate any registration, copyright, trademark, licensing, restrictions or publisher information on it. The owners of the local map have since contacted Full Throttle Magazine and stated that the map in question is an original concept and that the map was created from scratch. They have asked us not to reproduce it again and we have honored their request. We will not reproduce that map again and it has been pulled from our website. We apologize for any confusion we may have created relative to the entire map situation.

Well, that about covers it for this month as I need to finish about a million things I am currently trying to get done. Till next month, keep the rubber on the road.

There is a whole lot of big stuff coming up I the next few months all of which will give Louisiana a better reputation as a biker active state. The Southern Bike Fest in Baton Rouge, Goldwing Rally in Alexandria, Biketoberfest at No Problem Raceway, Cajun Thunder in Abbeville, La., and Steel Pony Express and a host of good poker runs. This time of the year is the best weather in my opinion, so get out and enjoy it.

Full Throttle with the major, major help of the Red Knight M/C is co-sponsoring it's first ever poker run to help out the local area firemen families. It is called the 9-11 "We will never Forget" poker run and will be on Saturday September 28, 2002. Please support this very worthy cause, and let's not forget. The Red Knights will provide all the manpower to make this run a great one complete with a Fire truck escort hopefully. Your help and participation will be greatly appreciated and 100% of all funds will be turned over to our local Red Knights M/C for Orleans and Jefferson parish firemen.

Well, I finally got brave and treated myself to a little customizing of the factory paint job on my HD Utltra. Matt Landry, the painter did a step-by-step feature story this month on the project as it came along. I think you will find it interesting and I love the outcome.

It is hard to believe that we are coming up on our two year anniversary of FTM in November. Our first issue was printed in October 2000 for November 2000. We have printed around 250,000 thousand magazines since then with a collective total of 1500 pages. The big difference is we have established our material from all local sources and minimal national fill stories. Thanks to everyone who has contributed in this effort.

On a sad note, we offer our deepest sympathy to the Pam Kinamore family in Baton Rouge and to Ed Piglia and his family in Metairie, La. We are running a reward bulletin in all 10 of our Full Throttle Magazines from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas to assist in finding this sick bastard before he acts again. I am hoping he is caught and dies.

Well, here I sit at my computer putting the finishing touches on another jam packed issue. It is very hot outside right now, probably about 210 degrees is my guess. We still have August ahead of us but then in my opinion is the best riding time of the year-fall. Grab the leathers and hit the road. There is plenty of stuff going so check out our cruisin calender and take off. Poker runs and benefits are abundant every weekend all over the place so don't say there is nothing to do. Also if you don't see a FTM rep send in pics and the story and we will run it.

We wish to welcome a new addition to our staff by the name of Tina Dauro, and she goes by the name of ”Lady Rose“ She lives in Gulfport Miss. and will be providing coverage of the Gulf Coast happenings and gathering up details and flyers on upcoming events on the coast starting with a story this month. She is active in many events so expect to see her around. She can be reached at 800-262-1631. Welcome aboard.

There is a new addition to our FTM that has been running for several years in our other issues. It is a map of the local New Orleans area that points out dealers, biker bars and other points of interest and is a free service we provide for our readers. I guess copycatting is the best form of flattery. A bikers guide which has recently hit the streets of New Orleans is amazingly similar to maps Full Throttle has been running for years.

My understanding is it was produced by Kym, a former sales rep for us. Other than a bad address here or a bad phone number there, it ain't bad. Although it contains around 90% of our current or former advertisers please be aware that Full Throttle Magazine is not associated in any form or fashion with this product and accepts no responsibility for its quality. I didn't realize that Full Throttle ideas and features were so sought after. Our Full Throttle map is available monthly in the magazine and also may be downloaded from our website at www.fullthrottlemag.com. Maybe we need to hire security guards to protect our secrets and ideas in the future.

There are many other things we do in our other magazine and we will continue improve on in the future. One of our other new additions is our new website at www.fullthrottlemag.com It provides much of the information our magazine does and archives pictures of prior events and has only been up for 3 months so check it out.

Speaking of events and coverage. I continue to get complaints about FTM people not attending certain events. With the number of events each weekend we do not have the staff of a People magazine yet to cover all the events. Look at it this way. If you can clutch, brake, shift, downshift and keep from falling over-you can operate a camera. Step 1. Point camera towards intended target. 2. Look thru view finder to see what pic will be of. 3. Push button. 4. Take camera to drugstore. 5. Pick up pics and mail to FTM. Done.

You know what really yanks my chain more than anything? Writing a letter and having your computer crap out and all of a sudden- poof the document is gone. Well this is the second publisher letter, so please enjoy it twice as much.

It was a busy month as well as the next few will be. Lots of stuff going on and we are trying to cover as much as we can with our limited staff. (page 6) If you want your event covered: 1st send us the flyer so we can run it in the calendar for free to get more people there, 2nd- then send us some pictures and a story so we can that for free also. It is that easy. Unfortunately, we can`t be in all places at all times.

Louisiana has a new festival coming to Baton Rouge this year. The 1st annual Southern Bike Festival featuring Top Fuel Racing, live music, games etc over three days from September 13 to 15th. It looks like Louisiana is starting to develop its own local rally schedule with Steel Pony, LA Bike Expo, the Louisiana Purchase Rally in New Iberia and now Southern Bike Festival. Cool.

New Orleans is starting to take advantage of the empty Thursday nights around here. Hooters at 4748 Veterans in Metairie has started a bike night offering specials on wings, beverages and Hooter girls. The Bar, also on Veterans at 2440 Vets is serving up a new Thursday night bike night as well as Cutters at 5252 Veterans offering several biker specials all located on Veterans Blvd. Get out on Thursdays and check these places out, and maybe we can get a Thursday night bike night going. Nothing wrong with having another night to go riding right.

We are also always looking for additional part-time reps to assist with coverage in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Gulf Coast, North Louisiana and expansion into central Mississippi. Ride your bike, attend events, take pictures and write stories and get paid. Bingo. If interested call me 800-262-1631 or gilberte1@msn.com .

www.fullthrottlemag.com constructed by webmaster extraordinaire Shawn Adams. You too can have a website if you like. His site has already won an award for the site design, and we are expecting many more. A big Thanks to Shawn for his time and hard work. Contact me and I`ll give you the details. Till next month, keep the rubber on the road.....

Well, here I sit mid month doing my letter without the usual rush at the last minute. The La. Bike Expo has come and gone along with the No Problem Drag Races, Lagniappe Cycles Bike Show, NCOM as well as many other events. There should be good coverage throughout the mag this month, and are still waiting for additional stories to be received.

One thing I am excited about is our new website, www.fullthrottlemag.com How's that for an easy site to remember? I was staying focused on the magazine so the website was put on the back burner until now, and what a great site if I do say so myself. www.fullthrottlemag.com provides bike night info, a live active weather radar, our crusin'calendar, custom bike photos, staff writer articles, club meeting schedules, pictorials of events all archived for future viewing and much much more. Due to a lot of motorcycle activity along the Mississippi Gulf Coast there is also information regarding their activities and events also listed as well as a Mississippi directory for your convience. We feel it is a great site, so check it out and send me your comments.

www.fullthrottlemag.com was built Shawn Adams of “ShawnsWorld.net”. Shawn is into web site building as much as he is into motorcycle riding, so it will continue to get better as time goes by. A tremendous THANKS to Shawn for his time, efforts and creativity in building our site. Shawn also builds and maintains several other sites, and if you need a site built, give him a call at 504-828-6742.

To provide better coverage we have added a few new sales reps: Vicky in New Orleans/Metairie, Dee on the Northshore, Wolfman in Alexandria a few others around the state for coverage. Steve Turner “Stargazer” who covers the Lake Charles area got into an accident with a few 4-wheelers recently and it out of commission for a while. We all wish him a speedy recovery, and watch the flagman.

For every action there is a reaction. On a sad note, Kym has parted ways with Full Throttle Magazine. Kym had been with Full Throttle Magazine since early on and had done a good job of getting FTM up and running in the local area. It is unfortunate she is gone, but I want to Thank her for the time and effort she has spent with us and the contributions she has made to the magazine. On a positive and professional note, we all wish her the best.

Anyway it has been a good month, full of activities. We cover as much as we can, but as always, send in stories as you would like to, and they will usually be run. While the weather is good, take advantage of it and ride, ride, ride. Until next month, keep the rubber on the road.

Well, what a busy month in the motorcycle magazine business, but most of it was fun this time. First was the HOG rally in New Orleans on the first weekend with outstanding weather all weekend and great music. The second weekend was the Bayou Brigade Special Olympics Torch Run from Alexandria to Lafayette to Baton Rouge and ending at the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival, which I was honored to reign as the Grand Marshal. Other than the real possibility that I may run out of gas on Hwy 22 during the final leg of the run , it was great. I had to leave the ranks and speed ahead of the escort, gas up and then rejoin the group. I had 3/10 of a gallon fuel left. Have I ever talked to you about checking your fuel before a ride? Oh well.

I am now preparing for the La. Bike Expo in the Superdome which is the weekend after this baby goes to the printer. The last weekend is the Bayou Nitro Challenge races at No Problem Raceway, as well as numerous other events all over the state. I want to thank all my various reps who assisted in providing coverage of these events as to not completely wear my ass out. That's what they get paid the big bucks for!

Check out the coverage of these events throughout the magazine this month. If you don't see an event covered in this issue, check out the June issue. Last month we recapped some of the bike nights around the state we had information on. Of course, some were inadvertently missed and are as follows. NEW ORLEANS: Bada Bings has a great Friday night bike night drawing a good crowd. They provide free food such as ribs, seafood pasta, etc. so were talking good food and great parking. Check them out on a Friday night. Also, Acadian Brewery & Beer Garden is hosting a Thursday bike night starting May 9th along with free food and good parking in the front and back. Check them out if you are looking for a place to ride.

We get plenty of calls asking for coverage of a local event. Unfortunately, we can be everywhere all the time. Again, if you don't see a Full Throttle rep at the event, don't fret. If you send in pictures either email or hard copy (see info below) along with a story, we will probably run it. The same goes for Custom or Classic Bike of the month, Women Who Ride as well as any story of a motorcycle interest. You don't have to be a Steven King to submit articles either.