Watch the Blockers: How to Run a Urban Motorcycle Ride

Isolation is a silent profit leak in modern life, shrinking a man's world down to the borders of his routine until he forgets what real connection feels like. When life gets loud with pressure and work, too many people get incredibly good at hiding their struggles behind a stoic face. We sit down to unpack why getting dressed up and riding vintage machines together is the ultimate antidote to that modern isolation.

We get into the technical layout of the shop’s latest custom builds, tracking the specific lines of an indie racing green Phoenix 250 and a satin pewter Halcyon 450 built for the open road. From there, we sit down to talk about the logistics of hosting a massive urban ride, the operational necessity of dedicated road marshals, and the historical grit of George Wyman’s 1903 cross-country journey on a 225cc motor. The secret sauce of this episode is realizing that the polished tanks and vintage shackets are just the staging ground for conversations about men's physical and mental health that too many people avoid until it is too late.

Putting together a massive global event like the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride isn't just about navigating stoplights and blocking traffic; it’s about breaking down the mental walls that keep guys isolated. You will walk away with a clear blueprint of how mechanical passion can be leveraged to build an intentional, local community that protects its own. It's proof that despite the fracturing of modern life, a real, boots-on-the-ground brotherhood is still very much alive if you know where to look.

Transcript

Welcome And What We Ride

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Hello everyone, welcome to the Ramble Stream Podcast. I'm Richard.

SPEAKER_03 0:09

And I'm Jansen. Each week we sit down for rambling conversations about motorcycles, the experience of riding, design, and whatever else catches our fancy. Bring a beverage of your choice or stories, and we'll see where this takes us.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

If you're interested in thoughtful conversations, friendly and informative banter with fellow riders, and the latest dispatches from Janus Motorcycles headquarters, you're in the right place. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Hello.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Good evening and welcome to Ramble Stream episode number 129.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

129. You were correct.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

I was just double checking there with Jansen before we uh before we got started. I'll go ahead and get started. My name is Richard Worsham, co-founder and head of design at Janice Motorcycles. I am broadcasting to you live right now from the Ramble studio. Wow. At Goshen HQ. It is daylight outside, you know. It's summer, it's getting hot. Hot in here. It's really hot. We had to leave the door open. So if you hear extra noise, it's people changing tires because a couple of guys from the shop are swapping tires on their bikes.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

It takes three people, two and a half people to change a front tire on a GS.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

I mean, doesn't have to.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

I mean, uh I'm not here to ow at anybody. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

No, to be fair, I haven't changed a GS tire, but me either. Um I'm sipping on, oh no, I ramble with a uh Cushman Truckster from 1980, a 2009 Kawasaki KLR, a Hausyan 250, number 68, and a Vespa 50. Currently out of commission as of yesterday. Um all of them are great rambling machines from different of different types, different eras and different types. And this evening I'm sipping on a lovely bottle of JT Mellick Distiller's Louisiana handcrafted whiskey. Yeah. And it is really good, and I'm really sad because I'm almost out. You got like one more week. Yeah, I got one more Ramble stream at least. Depending on how this one goes, how many refills I need. Anyway, that's me, Jansen.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

My name is Jansen. I'm also coming to you live from the Ramble Stream studio. Um, I ramble in a Ford Lightning and soon to be rambling on a Phoenix 450 number four named Force, officially. Uh, and I'm sipping on some water, just some high-quality H2O. We've got a great show for you guys talking about DGR. Happened yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

This is a season of DGR.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

It is. It happened yesterday all around the globe. We were talking about in the pre-ramble how it's uh a nice ride. It's part of like you were saying, uh, your motorcycle liturgy, like over the year. Yeah, you have like specific things that you participate in, and DGR is one of them. If you guys would like to be a part of that conversation uh 30 minutes before the Ramble stream, you can do so by hitting the join button down below. Uh down there, you'll get access to the pre-ramble as well as uh early access to our videos and uh members only shorts. You could do so for at least two bucks.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

And you get to see Jansen in action figuring out software problems. That's audio issues.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

That's I mean, I don't want to oversell it, but that's maybe 10 minutes the first time. You might learn something. Yeah, absolutely. The first how not to run a podcast the right year. But we're figuring it out, we're getting it done. Uh, each episode is better than the next.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

It is, and and I think I hope you all have noticed in recent episodes, even though we have had some technical difficulties, what we're trying to do is level up. So we're using a new streaming software that allows a lot more things to happen, um, including short videos. Uh, we're trying to mix it up. Yeah. So it's a it's a work in progress, but um, yeah, we're excited and we're gonna keep uh pushing the envelope, shall we say?

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Once we get it working, don't get too comfortable. Once we get it working, we're gonna find something else to break. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Exactly. That's a great way of putting it. Um,

A Poem About Peacock Chaos

SPEAKER_02 4:14

how about a poem, Richard? Yes, we got a good one. Um, this is from uh we'll say friend of the stream. Yes, even though she doesn't know it. Um A.E. Stallings uh from her collection called Like. And if you know me, you know that I love um ancient history and a little bit of epic. Yeah. So she always works it in.

SPEAKER_03 4:42

I'm ready.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Um, this poem is called Peacock Feathers. A plague of feral pea fowl in the garden. I know, who knew? Now decimates the grapes, makes salad of the young geraniums, dust-ups of dust baths in denuded planters. They leave ubiquitous piles of poo, as drab as any other poo. They make that sound as if something throttled in the jungle or honk to outgoose geese. They're worse than roosters at judging dawn, say 4 AM. The moon, when full, rattles them off, one after the other. There's something else to fight about. You swear come autumn, you'll take up a rifle, blam. Are we the sort who murders birds? Sometimes they catch us off guard with pure pulkritude. The sheer implausibility of it, sublime unlikelihood, and when they molt the garden sprouts a ferny iridescence, dazzled with targets. Sometimes I think of Argus, monster with a myriad sleepless eyes, set to spy on Jove or ward his mistress, fabled insomnia of the suspicious spouse. Her pet slain, Juno gathers the glamour of glares, still watchful, in a fan of green blue feathers, unlucky things to bring into the house.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

I like that one. Especially when I talked about how you like it. Especially when I talk about poo. Poo. That's uh there was a peacock farm next to my house growing up. Wow. And um, I tell you what, the most obnoxious sound in the world.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

What did she say? What did she call it? Out goose geese. As if something throttled in the jungle.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

Uh-huh. It is it is unreal.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

It sounds like I always say it sounds like somebody screaming. Like a like a person.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

Yeah. It's terrifying, especially when there are a bunch of them going. Dog, it's it's not it's not a good time.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Did you have did you consider taking up the rifle? No, I didn't.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

I was eight, so my dad, maybe. No, that's a good poem. Good mystical bird poem. I always like the poems for uh kind of bringing us down, you know, bringing us down to center, relax, and focus on a task, you know. P Fowl, not P Fowl. Yeah. P what? He's making a joke. Oh,

Build Of The Week Bike Specs

SPEAKER_03 7:12

okay. Uh up next, a fan favorite segment, Richard.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Build of the week?

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Build of the week. Man, what a great time to be alive. Um, let's switch over to that here. That looks a little zoomed in, huh?

SPEAKER_02 7:31

I'm gonna say uh I'm gonna go with Teal.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Okay, Teal on uh Jay's Phoenix 250. This is 1014. Oh, I'm probably wrong. Teal. I can't take it back. I mean, you jumped the gun. You really jumped it. Okay, I'm gonna guess um uh uh gosh. Black. I'm just being simple, simple black.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

That's a good guess.

SPEAKER_03 8:01

Confid Yank says green. What's up, our one and only Twitch viewer and moderator? So glad you're here. What is oh there we go.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

There we go. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Got our our leading link front end on unfortunately no time. Oh, we don't know yet. We haven't got shocks yet, so we don't know.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Oh, we have M bars, nice low bars. Oh well, BGR. Or I would say that the Indy uh Kelly. No, Confed Yank is right. Confed Yank Indy racing. Indy racing green with gold.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Classic. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

And I I don't I know I've seen them with a feather, but man, that looks good.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

That looks really good. It fits great on it fits great on the uh on the Phoenix tank, which is much shorter. Yeah, it may I wonder if they resized it at all. Maybe that that would be cool if it just fit like that. They do in fact have tie-downs, thank the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Got a rear swing arm. I love that we get to say that. Uh-huh. The rear swing arm. Single gold pinstripe on the fenders. Got that classic number plate there celebrating the 10th anniversary. Number 14.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

I wrote um LED headlight. Mark Zwags Phoenix 300 is what he's calling it. It's a bored out uh 250. It's got a new head on it. No, it's not just a board, it's a new head on it. Oh, it's a new engine altogether.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

It's actually an overhead cam.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

The gearing is different.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Yeah, it's completely different.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

It is wild.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

But I think it's the same bottom end. It's like essentially not the same engine, but it they just took the CG 250 and put a timing chain on it.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

That thing rips. Yeah, it's it's putting out some power. It's a lot of fun. Coming together here. I love Tideons. Me too, speed racer. Me too. Oh, black leather. Black leather or black seat. Nice. That's an interesting.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

So we've got here, let's just do the rundown. We've got a um Phoenix 250 with black seat, polished exhaust, number plate, single gold pinstripe, m-bars, and the 10th anniversary logo. Very nice.

SPEAKER_03 10:17

Man, look at that feather logo. That's beautiful. Tie downs, boo. No, Jason, they're good. I swear. Yeah, that's a great looking Phoenix. That's a good looking Phoenix. Uh up next, we've got. Let me get to the right page here. We've got Mike's Housey on 450. This is number 423. I am going to guess. I am going to guess vintage right.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

That's what I was gonna say.

unknown 10:54

Score.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Can we both be right?

SPEAKER_03 10:56

Yeah, sure. We've never guessed uh the same color. Just gonna skip black real quick. Oil tank going on. Probably not. Probably not. Unless it's just a complete red bike.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Yeah. So we got ox blood leather, which that's why we're both saying maybe not, because it's uh it's unusual that people will do vintage red with oxblood. But I mean I'm here for it. It'd probably look good. We got everything going together, rear suspension going on. Got our 450 engine and then we got an olive drab.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Olive drab, a absolutely classic olive drab. I just got a duck tail fender tail. Vintage red and gold pinch or copper pinch red. Copper. A classic halcyon look. That ducktail sharp, too.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Very nice. Number plate. Got your rear brimbo break on there. And that makes a lot of sense with that color a lot.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Yeah. Yeah, it kind of ties in that vintage red pin strike. Fork tie downs. Did we say that already? Oh no, I missed them. Fork tie downs, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

I was so focused on uh Janus motorcycles script logo on the fuel cap.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

A classic. Zero for two red free sets.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Um it's going together. Oh, we got a real cargo rack. And they've chosen the red as their the primary color as their pin as the logo.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

That's sharp.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Okay, we have a Halcyon 450 in olive drab with gold and uh vintage red pinstripe, or vintage red and gold pinstripe, uh oxblood seat, cargo rack, fishtail exhaust, and brushed stainless, ducktail fenders, number plate, two mirrors, and saddlebags. Holy smokes. I don't think so. Oh, and we also have that engraved fuel cap. Oh, yeah. I was riding a bike uh for the for DGR um vintage red. Uh-huh. Uh, and it had fishtails on it. It just makes a nice just looks so good. Uh huh. Sounds so good.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

Uh-huh. That bike was at the Ghost and DGR. 423 was? I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

I didn't see an olive dry bike there, so yeah. I didn't register the number.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

All right. Last but not least, we've got this is another Halcyon 450. I believe this is 425. Yep, and it's going to Andrew. Andrew, let's see what you got for us, my man. Richard, you guess first.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

Alright, I'm gonna go first. We got a halcyon 450. I'm not gonna go with VintageDroid again, even though I want to. Um I'm gonna say cream.

SPEAKER_03 13:44

Jason says black. I'm gonna say um Charlevoy. Ooh. I'm gonna go with Charlevoy.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

Nice shot with the Halcyon 250. Or 50cc.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Let's go back to it really.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Very first produ uh not production, first prototype Janice ever made.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Do you think if we rip that off the wall it would run?

unknown 14:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

Pretty serious hard point.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

It's a two-stroke, it'll start up. Yeah, yeah. Coming together here. Just gonna kind of go through these relatively quick. We've seen this before. Whoa! Is that slate?

SPEAKER_02 14:26

That's I think that's um matte olive drab.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

With gold? Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

Wow, it almost looks gray.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Yeah, it's very nice. I mean, I think honestly, it looks like gray to me too. It looks pretty gray. These colors are it's like a really gray day in that photograph. Yeah, we have we have, I just want to let y'all know we have the best monitor that money can possibly buy. The best. And we're having a little bit of trouble here with this color. It's not the monitor's fault.

SPEAKER_03 14:55

It's not the monitor, it's our fault for sure. For sure. Guaranteed.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Ducktails. I think I go back and forth on fenders on pinstripe. Uh-huh. I there's something in me that just likes single pinstripe. The single then I see doubles and I like it too.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

I like clean. If I think if I had to choose, it's pewter. I feel like it is pewter.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

No?

SPEAKER_03 15:17

Just satin.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

It's definitely satin something. Maybe we get it under the light, it'll show up better. Because it looks green there. Yeah, it does. But it's a red green photograph. Copper copper uh feather logo with the uh the gold pin. Saddle brown, which is a good choice. Yeah, I want to say that that that is Peter. That's Peter.

SPEAKER_03 15:37

I think that's Peter. Span Noah, you got it. Or spa noah.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Where's Mitch to clear this up? Mitch is up at Elcard Ian.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Yeah, he's probably learning a whole new set of colors.

SPEAKER_02 15:49

New set of colors and horsepower. I I was asking him what all the different bikes, horsepower.

SPEAKER_03 15:53

He goes, Oh, I need to look that up.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

It's probably they've got there are a lot more models to take in your head. Yeah. And can and different trim levels.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

Yeah. Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

That's really neat.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

Old broken wrench.

unknown 16:07

Man.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

I really like that color. Okay, imagine that.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Now, under the light, you can very clearly see that that is a not green.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

That is not green. What do we got here, Richard?

SPEAKER_02 16:17

So we have a very nicely loaded up Halcyon 450 in pewter, which is a satin colorway. Um, it has the single gold pinstripe, copper feather logo, saddle brown leather with saddlebags, polished exhaust, and a custom number plate with a wrench on it. Um, obviously picked by the owner. And two mirrors. What else we got? Is that got duck tails?

SPEAKER_03 16:44

It's got uh highway bars on it.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

It's got duck tails and highway bars. Very nice. And a headlight visor.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

That looks great.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

I I really like that color. That color's really crawling on me.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

They must be forgiven for their lack of tie-downs.

SPEAKER_03 16:59

We will deem them forgiven.

The Volkswagen Thing As A Thing

SPEAKER_03 17:03

Up next, we've got a fan favorite segment here, another one. Another fan favorite? Uh it's called The Thing. Oh, The Thing. Oh, I got a good one. And speaking of the Thing, have you ever heard of a Volkswagen thing?

SPEAKER_00 17:17

All cars eat gas tear.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

So that was uh that was Jansen just getting creative with some video he took.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

I rode in that thing all day yesterday, and it just it it spoke to me. It it's that thing is really cool. I didn't get to drive it, but um it it was a blast. I got to ride in the back and get a bunch of cool footage for DGR.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

Um yeah, that is Devon's uh ref free. That's Devin's um yellow thing, which is I I think is really fitting because he used to have one when he was like late teens. He had an orange one. So it's I mean, totally understandable that you can go back to that. And and honestly, for me, rat driving it, it was it was like all these like senses coming back because my first car was a Volkswagen Pug 72. I'm not sure what year that thing was, but like I was remembering the fact that you can't shift into first when you're really going very fast at all. You have to kind of wait, and then it pops in if you don't, it grinds the gears and just like finding the different and then the smell and the uh the instrument panel, you know. It was really awesome.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

The the funny thing was we're driving it back on on our way back from Triumph, and uh it makes a whole bunch of weird noises, right? Noises that it shouldn't make, but that's kind of like the the joy of it. Uh and the front left tire suspension area started making like this this squeaking noise. And Amy and I kind of looked at each other and we're like, Amy's like, Do I pull over? I'm like, nah, keep going, it'll work itself out. And then we finally it got pretty bad. And she finally, like, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna pull over. She shifted into neutral to pull over to the side of the road and and threatened it, and it said, Oh no, I'm cool. And the squeaking stopped, she put it back in gear and we kept going, didn't stop, didn't do it for the rest of the ride. Amy spoke to it.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

I heard she was talking to it.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

Yeah, it was it was great.

Pocket Watches And Everyday Craft

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Anyway, our actual thing this evening is I thought in the spirit of DGR, and you were wearing your pocket watch. I was uh I was not yesterday, but I did for the promo video. Um it's DGR time, um is a pocket watch. And this is an interesting one because you talked a little bit about you know how things are handmade to offen often there a lot of effort has been put into them. But then we just talked about the Volkswagen thing. I mean, that's a vehicle designed for mass production, uh, in the in the line of the Volkswagen bug, right? Which is basically a Volkswagen bug. Um but they somehow over time, if there's something that's worth preserving, they can still, even though they're mass-produced, they can they can become a thing.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Um it's like they graduate to a thing at a certain point.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

Yeah, if they're if they're worthy of it. And some mass-produced things absolutely can be things. And this is a mass-produced uh pocket watch. So this is um a Westclocks bullseye, and these were sold. Um, I think they came out in like the 1920s. A number of companies manufactured the kind of bullseye type watch, like Ingersoll. And but I think West Westclocks is the most famous. Um, and uh it's a very, very, very cheaply manufactured watch, kind of designed for the every man. And people would people would have these in their pocket. Um, and oftentimes they would I they would like you know attach like a use like a boot lace. Yeah. So you'd tie it to your belt loop and keep it in your jean pocket. So it was like kind of a working man's inexpensive uh watch. Um mine does not keep great time. It's already, I I said it at the beginning of this ramble stream, but it's already a minute off. So um, I think it's of an old one. This was a gift from a good friend of mine, um, Bruce, uh was at a I think he was at the like the he was at like a pawn shop. And it's like he'd been talking to me about these, and so he just picked one up and gave it to me because we both appreciate watches and this is sort of a a neat addition to my collection because it's uh it's it's really really cheaply made it's got it's kind of got some neat little features on it.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

Yeah let me let me bring it up to the camera here.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

Show them the and then I'll and then I'll it's also really loud. But you can see that that uh the ring that it's attached to is just punched out of metal and then it's got a little interesting pattern on the back. Very very simply made very very cheaply made. I think these were you know these would cost like a dollar or two. Yeah. So anybody could kids could have one. Um one of the an older guy that I know says that he when he was a kid had one on a boot lace in his all at all times in his pocket. That's awesome. But anyway they are really loud and let's see if you can y'all can hear I'm not getting anything.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

You're not getting anything I can't I can hear it. Here do you guys you can probably hear it when you talk so you just like whisper.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Hello it's it's actually remarkably loud enough that if it's in the bedroom with you you have a hard time getting to sleep.

SPEAKER_03 23:09

I'm having a hard like my eyes are going crossed a little bit just being able to hear it through our microphones. But no it's that's super cool. Didn't you say you were saying that um a lot of manufacturers made pocket watches because they're a lot easier to manufacture than regular watches.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

I'm not sure about that. I do know that the the the watch as we know it started off much bigger and then it gradually as they refined the watchmaking craft they were able to get them smaller and smaller and you can get increasingly thin watches which is really you know a challenge obviously because you're packing a clock into a but I I I think by the time this was being manufactured they had figured out how to make relatively small ones. Now but by the 1920s the the wristwatch was had only recently come into fashion. There really wasn't um something that people had they would have a pocket watch or sometimes a pendant watch that would um and then I think the the first watches were either ladies watches or they were where they would actually braise lugs onto a pocket watch um in the army. Interesting and they were used like you know like um uh in uh infantry charges so they could all time when they're gonna be charging and have a watch that you didn't have to hold right um that's one legend I'm not sure how how accurate that is but the there are many examples of old watches pocket watches that have had lugs braised onto them so that you can wear them on your wrist which is kind of neat. There's a company here in one of these days I'm gonna get in South Bend that takes South Bend watches and turns them into pocket watches for you.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

That's cool or sorry into wrist watches right um anyway this one's yeah go ahead kind of large for your wrist yeah they're very large they're kind of they're kind of a statement uh um but anyway I this this was interesting to me be just because if it's uh it's not an expensive thing you can pick these up at antique stores or yeah pawn shops uh right for very little very cool cool thing very cool and related to DGR and related to DGR my my watch

Upcoming Streams And Rider Events

SPEAKER_03 25:10

was definitely uh one for my grandpa and it definitely was not bought off of Amazon three years ago for DGR it was it's a family heirloom for sure and it's very well made and it keeps time very well uh what other announcements we got we got um we will be going to the makers market May 31st um for a live ramble stream as well uh if you were in the Detroit area so that would include I would include in that um northwestern Ohio northeastern Indiana all of Michigan make make a trip make a trip out it's gonna be a very posh cool artsy gathering which trying to figure out my motorcycles trying to figure out my outfit you got to go with like your Thoroughgood boots and your I'm wearing my salvage denim and your motorcycle jacket maybe like a scarf or something I have a brand to uphold Richard um I'm gonna wear my cross I think it's required I can try I guess uh we're excited about that uh we will not have a show on June 1st that following Monday because the 31st is a Sunday um that's happening in two weeks two weeks from yesterday um so we're really excited to go to that and uh experience that we are having a stream um next week next next week yes we're it's memorial day but we will be live we will have a stream we'll we'll be here I'll be here I don't know if Richard's gonna be here uh but we will be live next week for a little memorial day special um don't know what that's gonna be just yet but uh we will be here and then last but not least of course we've got the Ramblers Roundup happening September 17th I said that and I don't know yeah yeah you got it uh September 17th uh we encourage you guys to get some VIP tickets uh we've talked about this a lot um there will be a fun little ad here soon um but that's just a fun little weekend a big weekend actually a fun big weekend uh to hang out with other Janus riders um and staff and we just kind of hang out and ride motorcycles and eat good food and do cool things so um I sent the leak in the chat you guys can buy your VIP tickets there. Um Rambling at Janusmotorcycles.com if you guys have any questions that you want answered on the stream or um you know any tidbits and fun little things to send us uh we'll see all of those there also we haven't shouted this out in a while we have a voicemail to feature we'll do that next week as well um if you guys want to leave us a voicemail to be featured on the ramble stream you can do so by calling the number 574 501 3830.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

You can complain you can praise you can ask anything demand it doesn't mean you're gonna get anything you can glaze you can gloss gloss what else you can do whatever you want I mean it might not be featured on the ramble stream but but it might because we get very few voicemails so we want your voicemails.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

At this rate we're desperate 574 301 no gosh let me re start 574 501 3830 leave us a voicemail we we'll look forward to hearing your your sweet sultry voices we should make a um ribbon at the bottom we should I'll do that that way people can just constantly be reminded uh always just throw it up call us throughout the uh throughout the show um before we get to talking about DGR I wanted to show you guys a little feature video uh that we did so uh you guys can check it out here in three seconds once I get it popped over every year something unusual happens thousands of motorcycles begin moving towards city centers all

DGR Video And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_03 28:37

over the world old bikes new bikes loud bikes quiet ones people dressed up far sharper than motorcycles usually require but if you stay long enough you realize that this day isn't really about motorcycles at all. Underneath the polished tanks and vintage jackets is something much heavier that almost every rider understands without needing to say it out loud. Life gets loud. People disappear into work they disappear into pressure into isolation and into routines that slowly shrink the world around them. And a lot of men get very, very good at hiding it. And that's why the distinguished gentleman's ride matters. Once a year men and women all over the world choose to show up for each other to raise money for men's mental and physical health for conversations that too many people still avoid until it's too late. And motorcycles they just make those conversations easier. Running has always been one of the few places where people can finally hear themselves think you feel present again, human again and connected somewhere between the engines and the laughter and all the miles, the whole thing starts to feel less like an event and more like proof that community still exists. That maybe we're not as alone as modern life keeps trying to make us feel for one afternoon the walls come down the phone stay in your pockets and people look at each other in the eyes again. And the motorcycles they're just the reason everyone showed up Jansen I just want to say really good job. Thank you. I really like that video I'm proud that was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

I'm proud of that one that one's a good one it really captures like the the fun yeah I mean just like just shots at bike riding is like actually kind of reminds you of how much fun it's like a mini rally.

SPEAKER_03 31:18

Yeah it it's exactly what it is it's it's a mini rally uh and you want more out of it like when it's over and I think if it was just a ride it wouldn't I mean obviously it wouldn't be as fun.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

It's just like it's a thing that we were talking earlier about how it's kind of part of the calendar of motorcycling because most people who are really into motorcycling can get behind DGR and participate typically. But it's just something that's like happens every year in the spring and you can get out and have a really good time.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

Right. There's a reason to uh A ride a motorcycle with a bunch of people B look super cool while doing it and then C like you you're not just riding like all of you most of you uh most of the people who are in the ride have have put toward uh put money toward a a cause and a reason there's a reason to ride outside of just getting together and it's a little bit competitive too because like you want to try and get your numbers up. Yeah yeah it's really neat uh it's one of my favorite events uh I I think it's a blast and I think that riding for a cause like really kind of um makes it even better like I think if I had to encapsulate the whole the whole ride into uh an ethos it's like it's because it's for something other than just riding uh George Wyman rode uh he was the first he was the first person to ride a motorized vehicle drive operate a motorized vehicle across the US and uh a portion of that ride goes through is it South Bend um it goes he did did he go through South Bend well he can't he must have coming this way but he went through Goshen right down Main Street and then he went through Ligonier he ended his ride in Ligoneer and then can proceeded on through Kendallville and so uh a school teacher a retired school teacher in Kendallville has taken it on himself to host a whole event about George Wyman and it's gonna basically be um we're gonna have um we're going to have Tim Masterson who got me into George Wyman and George Wyman got me into through that and through Tim into Iron Butt riding.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

So the whole that's my whole introduction to the Iron Butt association he will be there he'll give a presentation I'm gonna give a presentation on my ride and a little bit about George Wyman. If you don't know George Wyman was rode a 225cc motorcycle across the country in 1903 um followed short but a couple of months later by the first people to drive in a car and they kind of stole all the attention. Unbelievable we're gonna be doing a fun ride we encourage all riders from the area or if you're not come on in it's gonna be a fun event.

SPEAKER_03 34:01

So we're looking forward to that's gonna be a great time small town America yeah yeah what else about DGR? I mean we've got I'm I'm trying to think of like what my favorite moments of of yesterday uh was and I think going and again we talk about this a little bit uh when we talk about the uh Ramblers roundup or the previously known as the the owner's rally it's like oftentimes you would have absolutely no reason to hang out with these people um but you all share a common interest and it makes conversation much easier and it doesn't feel weird to be like hey man like I like your motorcycle like what do you tell me tell me a little bit about it. You know uh conversation comes a lot easier and it's just kind of fun like there's some energy in the air.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

Yeah I think that that's something that is common to most motorcycle gatherings is that ability to befriend and be befriended by people that you otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity for and we've talked a little bit about that. Um just on the kind of back to what I was saying about especially yesterday's DJR which I really think was the best one we've we've had ever had. I mean it's we have only been doing this I believe it's either two or three years that we've actually hosted our own um but it was really I will say that it was really fun to host um that's another part of the experience that I really value. For the last couple of years I have been in charge of um promoting it, posting about it. I have not did not do that this year. Amy took care of that very well. But being part of that kind of team that organizes it and and I got to two weeks in two weekends in a row I I test rode the route made sure it was good and stopped at some dealerships to test ride some bikes too oops um but it it is I'll just reiterate that it is an event that it wouldn't be so much fun if there wasn't so much like buildup to it. Yeah. Because you're you're thinking because they start sending any meals in like February get ready right and and then you also realize that you are part of a larger ride. It's not just I think it's the only time I I mean unless it's like it's just it's unusual in the fact that you know that around the world thousands of other people are riding at the same time doing the exact same doing the exact same thing having a really good time and you're just participating in that no matter if you're in a Chicago or San Francisco or in a little town like Ocean um we're all doing the same thing and having a really good time. Yeah and I get messages from friends and family in different parts of the country saying oh is that DGR because I saw a bunch of people in like you know bow ties go by it's like yep yep I was doing it too here's a picture.

SPEAKER_03 36:44

Yeah and it and it just brings like we I think the intention right is to raise awareness. So you kind of you try to go places that have a lot of people and when we were at Gibico uh some guy pulled me aside and was like what are you guys doing? And I got to explain to him like what it was. Did the thing yeah yeah it's it's great. It does exactly what uh uh what it's supposed

Hosting DGR And Group Ride Safety

SPEAKER_03 37:06

to do.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Yeah this year instead of last year we rode up out of uh out in the country out to another town up in rural town in southern Michigan which was really fun because it was a lovely vintage motorcycle show and SWAT meet um but we actually opted to not do that this time in favor of riding in a more urban area um and we ended up the ride at El Kart Tramp which was really fun because um we're really good friends with um Jason uh some of you may know him as Foxy as a YouTuber he's done a number of videos about Janice and some videos with Devin on performance parts but he runs the Elkart Tramp and so he emailed us like hey you want to like partner up with this and it makes sense because Tramp is the primary sponsor of DGR as well. So he had patches out to give people and yeah so we really uh yeah would definitely want to extend him a big thank you as being a destination for us. Um and uh yeah it's it's um it was more fun I think to be in front of other people yeah yeah and kind of like make a splash like when you go through an intersection like you're right everyone's beeping their horns and like we're like waving and yeah yeah it's great.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

I told I told Amy sit in the back of that uh the thing I felt like a princess because she was driving and I'm just sitting in the back and I feel like I'm just like in a big parade and I should like be waving at people you know instead of operating a camera. Well no the times that I was in operating the camera. But no it's it was a really good time. Uh some of you have already shared about your experience at DGR. I would love to hear more of that. And then also I think we're gonna open it up to kind of any questions about Janus as a whole, about the ride itself or just anything. This is kind of more of a a laid back show today.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

Yeah tell us about how many if you if you did a DGR tell us how many people were there and where you where you rode I was really impressed with Kelly saying there were 180 people in Leesburg. Yeah um what's the goal for next year?

SPEAKER_03 38:59

How many people do you want at uh 100 would be great. I think we can do it. Yeah I wonder if there's like a per capita percentage that we can beat.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Well like per yeah yeah I don't know but uh we do have a kind of an advantage of having a being a motorcycle manufacturer we have a good people number four to reach we've got a good pool I would say obviously uh Janus motorcycles were very well represented at the uh at the ride although we had Indians lots of triumphs yeah uh Harley Davidson Suzuki's a Honda Shadow I saw Honda Shadow um BMW G S's what was that there was a uh an od green it was a royal enfield it looked like an older Royal of a meteor that super meteor I'm not sure I think it was there was a super meteor or whatever they're I forget the name um really good looking bike yeah lots and lots of different a Ural Ural yep uh what else Devin was in a real what any other interesting I'm trying to think that was Gabe popping a wheelie in the video by the way he was our uh what do you call a blocker that actually I would like to say a little bit about hosting a ride having dedicated blockers and making sure that everybody understands that they're gonna come by you transformed the ride. Yeah especially in an urban area it's very I was nervous because there's so many stop and go and so many lights traffic lights I mean a a a four-way intersection is not hard to navigate with a large group because you just everyone's gonna have to stop and you just go through it. But if you're at a stoplight if then if you have 60 riders it's very likely that halfway through the group getting through the light it's gonna change. Right. And so having dedicated blockers um just makes the ride I don't have to wait. I don't have to be like constantly checking my mirror and worrying about maybe it's just me but um it just made the ride a breeze. So I am so thankful for all the people that helped out with that.

SPEAKER_03 40:50

I think Doug Earl and on a on a on a jan a hopped up Janice listen Doug watching Doug and and Gabe ride their motorcycles was probably a highlight of the the day for me like they had an excuse to get a little gosh they were just they're they're just ripping it it was so fun. You'll see Doug uh in one of the shots he just like up on the bumper of the thing yeah just ran up on the thing. It was awesome so good. Second the blockerslash marshal roll we had a great road marshals in St. Paul last year.

SPEAKER_02 41:17

Yeah it's really important to do to to have that and and that's something that we are going to be instituting for the Janice Owners rally yeah because that has been a a problem when you have 80 or more riders um together it can make things just take way more time. I remember one of the first rallies we had we were in Elkart and the group got split up we all had to pull over to the side of the road and wait and I just always feel kind of nervous because you're just exposing people to more hazards like if you can just keep moving and and if you have a a blocker that's clearly stopping people it just makes everything go smoother.

SPEAKER_03 41:53

So that was really

Calendar Giveaway And Wrap Up

SPEAKER_03 41:54

fun. Yeah. Atlanta's DGR is escorted by motor patrol those officers can ride no red lights no stops uh we could give away calendars to end it's everyone sitting right there to end it you want to do that well you gotta make sure that you send us an email with your address because last time we did this like we didn't nobody ever actually fought well we did give send out one I think but yeah we can do calendars that's fine whatever we we need to get rid of we need to get rid of these stream giveaway yeah I know I have one on my wall right there and it's of DGR man somebody really thought put some thought into their calendar planning how convenient how cool um let's see what do we want the giveaway to be we'll just do distinguished element if I'd spelled correctly I'm not even gonna try to do that okay we're gonna do DGR oh we've got two calendars here that we can give away I'm gonna move this to whoa here Strawdog says he got his calendar good here we go thank you Amy I'm gonna move that a lovely calendar here this month we have I'll show you lots of them are are individual owners' bikes that they submitted but this year we have DGR and this is a picture of courtesy of David Bowen Griffin 250 number 28 very cool all right so if you'd like to enter to get a calendar go ahead and type in the chat DGR we'll give you a couple minutes here um and then we'll uh click the magic button we'll give away a couple of them doesn't look like very many people want a calendar there's only nine ten people ain't there ain't there anything you can give away tonight yeah we're giving away the calendar calendar two of them you could you could be the lucky winner david hyde how are you doing from Facebook there we go now we got them there they are Air Force Recruiter Michigan Road Joe Keep them coming. Keep them coming. Keep them coming.

SPEAKER_02 44:03

We got 17 people. Yeah. Is that in there already? Better be. Well, it's it would be for the next year.

SPEAKER_03 44:13

Owner's rally is circled. Oh, that's cool. Right there. Speed racers video is lagging. Yeah, it's okay. Hit refresh. Okay. Um couple more seconds here, and we'll hit the button. 19? We'll see if we can get 20. We need one more person to enter. If you already have one, calendar. Give it to a DGR. Jim, hit DGR. I owned one last time and they sent an email, but never received it.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

Okay. Uh Tracy will get you one.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Oh, there's 20. Yeah, well, Tracy, we'll send you one. There's 20. And go.

SPEAKER_02 44:58

GDR. Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

Oh, David High.

SPEAKER_02 45:09

Facebook for the win.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

That I don't. I think this is our first uh Facebook winner. Nice. Nice. Congratulations. We're going to do another one.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

So just one quick housekeeping note. Yes. You must send me an emailing at Janis Motorcycles.com with your name and address and the fact that you need a calendar, and we'll get it out to you. Um and we will do a better job than we did with Tracy. I didn't see that email. I missed it.

SPEAKER_03 45:37

And it happens. Inboxes fill up, you know. Last one here, and then we will get out of here. Hey, we gotta send you two or what? I don't know. I know, right? Do you all shit? Can you all share a calendar or do you need yeah? You can put it in the shared garage or something. I don't know. Yeah. Congratulations, Felix Brothers. Um, you are the lucky winners.

SPEAKER_02 46:00

And thank you for making the trip down for the yeah, our DGR. Yeah. They were they were riding with us this weekend.

SPEAKER_03 46:05

Yeah, they pulled him.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Good to see y'all.

SPEAKER_03 46:06

Yeah, it was good to see y'all. Awesome. Well, thank you all so much uh for tuning in to episode 129. It's been a great time. Uh, we'll see you next week for episode 130.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

Holiday stream.

SPEAKER_03 46:19

A holiday stream. Maybe we'll wear Hawaiian t shirts or something.

unknown 46:26

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 46:27

I will see you guys next week. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

That wraps up this episode of the Ramblestream Podcast. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the show, subscribe wherever you listen, share it with a fellow rambler, and please consider leaving a rating. And join us live every Monday at 7 p.m. on YouTube for our weekly Ramble Stream. You can also find us at ramblestreampod.com and on social at ramblestream. We'll be back next week with more conversations, more stories, and of course, more rambling. And remember, many of those who ramble may very well be lost, but that's probably the point.