It Takes All Kinds
Article By: Joe Mielke
Originally Published In The April 2015 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
This month’s spotlight is a shout out to all the FXR groups on Facebook. It may seem like a silly thing to spotlight. I know it’s not new news and many of the people who look forward to reading this column may already follow or be part of many of the groups on Facebook. However the success of the Sturgis FXR Show has been helped in great part by the passionate FXR owners of the Facebook world. So here is my Thank You to all of you and an advanced Thank You for your help to spread the word for the 2015 3rd Annual Sturgis FXR Show! I think the first public FXR group I joined on Facebook was the FXR POWER CREW. Right now it has nearly 3200 members. The page started as group of Italian FXR riders and has grown into a great source to find parts, ask questions and see some great FXRs that may otherwise go unseen. It’s a pretty much no nonsense group. Non FXR related stuff, BS and other nonsense isn’t tolerated. Which is great, nothing ruins a message board or blog quicker than a bunch to faceless trash talkers. The next one I started following was the public FXR’S OF CALIFORNIA which now has nearly 12,000 likes. FXR’S OF CALIFORNIA also has a private group of about 4,000 members. Needless to say, just about anything floating around the internet that is FXR related has been shared and seen on the FXR’S OF CALIFORNIA pages. It’s certainly one of the resources I post T Article By: Joe Mielke to when I’m looking for parts or wanting to share information or photos about the FXR Show. Each year at the show I meet people who follow these groups and they tell me how the learned about the show on Facebook. They packed up their gear, fueled up their FXR and rode to Sturgis for one thing and one thing only…to attend the FXR Show. That’s a powerful community right there.
On February 16th 2013 I started and posted my first photo to my FXR FRIDAY community page. On January 1st of 2013 my New Year’s resolution was to ride my FXR every Friday no matter the weather. Rain, snow, ice and even 20 degree below weather didn’t stop me from riding every Friday for nearly a year and a half. If you live in Florida, SoCal or Arizona that may be no big deal. Hell, you may not even own a car and your FXR may be your only mode of transport. But I live in South Dakota where we usually have about 3 months of real good riding weather and 9 months of questionable riding weather. The FXR FRIDAY page became my outlet to share images and my experiences on my quest to see how long I could keep my riding streak. I now share other peoples FXR FRIDAY images from Facebook and Instagram. The page has a little less than a 1000 likes right now but is still a great place for me to share information with Facebookers who may not follow other FXR communities. To be quite honest, the people I met online through my FXR Friday posts and their subsequent FXR Friday posts is what prompted me to evolve my Friday riding ritual into the Sturgis FXR Show.
Another good Public Group is FXR / FXLR / FXRC / FXRD / FXRP / FXRS / FXRT – Harley Davidson. I know the name is along one but the group has nearly 6,300 members so there is a lot of FXR traffic in the group. Now some posts cross over and get repeated on several groups/pages, but for the most part each of them have their own core group of followers and you can get new information by looking at several different groups. I follow several other closed and public groups, some of which I have never posted in. There are ones like SOUTHEAST FXR/DYNA RIDERS and THE FXR PAGE which are primarily US groups. To see what is going on around the globe I follow FXR POWER CREW as previously mentioned, HARLEY FXR RIDERS OF ISREAL and FXR RIDERS OF EUROPE. They are just as passionate about FXRs across the pond as we are. Lots of riders with pretty impressive FXR parts hoards. Guys are over there making repop parts and molding their own fairings just like here in the States. Last night I even saw a post from a bloke in the UK who is making a mold to make his own carbon fiber outer primary. I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out.
And what can I say about our friends in the Far East, specifically Japan? There is certainly an FXR following there. FXRJAPAN is a small closed group but certainly a good amount of killer FXR stuff being shared there. A friend from Japan that I met at Bonneville, Kazutoshi Mizutani and his shop the Marumasu Motorcycle Lounge are proof positive that the FXR is alive and well on the Island of Japan. Kaz always has great FXR stuff on his personal Facebook page. He has set several AMA and FIM landspeed records on his FXR at Bonneville. If you check him out on Facebook you’ll currently find some next level landspeed racer building going on in Japan for Bonneville in 2015. All of this to say the popularity of the FXR is something that can be found worldwide. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. Yes, the power of the internet and social media help to connect people from all corners of the globe. But it’s pretty damn cool when the common thread is motorcycles and even better when it’s a model like the Harley Davidson FXR. And the payoff for my participating in social media is the first Sunday of the Sturgis rally. It’s just plain fun to hang out with good people, looking at FXRs and telling motorcycle stories. It has given me friends across the country that I may not have ever met otherwise. Thanks again to everyone on Facebook who helps spread the work and support the Sturgis FXR Show!! As always if you have an FXR story to tell, be sure to connect with me at mielke@ mit.midco.net or find me on Facebook (Joe Mielke, FXR Show) Instagram (@ sodakbigjoe, @fxrshow_fxrfriday, #fxrfriday, #fxrshow)
