Viewer Mail Returns: Plus a Tribute to My Cousin Luca

Hey there, welcome to episode 107 of the Arrive Alive podcast.
I'm your host, Len Bolello, and it's such a pleasure to be with you for what is going on this sixth
season. Now, we've had a bunch of episodes in the sixth season so far, but as we get into the early
May, although it's still kind of freezing in New York, as we get into May, this is really kind of
the start. of the riding season for millions and millions of people around the United States.
Now, we have some good shows coming up. We have a wonderful person named Kristen,
and she is a rider of a very fast motorcycle. She's got two kids.
And just as importantly, she's an organizer. She organizes rides and events.
And we also have a gentleman by the name of Paul. in Perth, Australia. He's a wonderful story.
He was about two days away from dying of cancer. And came back and he's basically doing very,
very well now. And we'll hear about his story hopefully later in the month. And we've had wonderful
guests like Alyssa Clickinger and Alonzo Bowden and Keith and Andre who have their BMWs parked next
to mine in my parking garage. And it's really been so much fun. I met some of the best people.
that I know through this podcast and having them as guests. And if they're listening right now,
I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you. And I know I owe some of you some money.
No, I'm just kidding. But it's really been a pleasure. Now, we're going to do some viewer mail as
we usually do in the beginning of every riding season. But before we do that, and before I get into
anything else, I want to talk to you about my cousin, Luca Simonassi.
Now, as many of you know, My mother was born and raised in Italy, in the north part of Italy called
Genoa. Or as she would say, Genova with a V. Luca Simonassi is my mother's sister,
who's unfortunately passed, her son. And we're about the same age. And unfortunately,
Luca died in a motorcycle crash about three weeks ago in a town called Catania.
which is in Sicily. Now Luca worked for the Coca-Cola corporation for many years.
He was in B2B marketing. He worked with Coca-Cola's major clients. I think there were hotels and
grocery stores and supermarket chains and things like that. And he presented and he was very big on
business acumen and working together as a team and building up people.
And that was his business side.
You know, he's passed, but I'm laughing because he brought smiles to people's face.
I first met him when I was 14 years old, and him and my other cousin,
Giorgio, were all first cousins. Giorgio gave me my first ride, I believe, on a Benelli 125 in a
town called Genzano di Roma. which is about 40 kilometers, 50 kilometers outside of Rome.
And Luca was on a motorcycle not far behind us. And we spent about half a summer together when we
were 14. And then during the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college,
we spent six or seven weeks together while I was going to school in Rome.
And Luca and Giorgio had both cars and motorcycles. and it was the best summer of my life.
It was the best summer of my life. I rented a Vespa that had a manual transmission,
almost gave myself carpal tunnel syndrome in the traffic of Rome, but it was a beautiful orange
Vespa. I think it was like 150 cc, so it did pretty well.
But unfortunately, uh, I guess it was four Saturdays from last Saturday.
Luca was riding on a fairly twisty mountain road,
but it was like a commuter road. Like people would take this road, uh, to get to and from their
work and things like that. From, from what I can understand the, the crash actually made the local
news. And unfortunately it looks like he hit a guardrail and, uh,
he didn't even survive long enough. I think when the EMTs got there, he was already pronounced
dead. And Luca leaves behind an ex-wife and two lovely children who are in their,
I believe, 20s. And it's really a shame.
And, you know, I want to tell you a little bit about that first riding experience with, I believe
Luca was tailing or in back of me and Giorgio, as like I said,
I was on the back of Giorgio's Benelli. And I was 14. I didn't know anything, right? And so when
we're going around a turn, I was leaning the opposite way and we stopped.
And, you know, the three of us are standing there from what I remember. And Giorgio, whose English
was very bad, Luke's English was actually pretty good, partially because of his sister Barbara, who
was very good English. And I'll tell you about Barbara another time. She was great and still is.
Anyway, because I was leaning the wrong way, Giorgio said to me,
something with the word mori or morte or morire, which in Italian means, unfortunately,
death. And what he was trying to convey to me was that if I kept on leaning the wrong way,
something bad was going to happen and we were going to maybe even die. Now, we were two kids. We
were 14, 15 years old. Now, Georgia was a very experienced rider, and he continues to be an
experienced rider to this day. Now, he doesn't do a lot of street riding, but he does a lot of
riding on the track and not really racing. Just going on the track for the day.
So fast forward to when we're like 19 or 20 years old. And back then, and even to this day,
Italy still has the selective service or voluntary service. Well, it's really not voluntary.
You get drafted in Italy. Every man, and I think woman too now, has to serve two years in the
military. And if they are what's called a conscientious objector and they don't want to do the
military, they have to do some type of... to five years of kind of non-combat work,
whether it's behind a desk or something that supports the military without being directly involved.
So, but during that summer that we were there, that I was studying, I was with a bunch of other
American students and we had the time of our life. Like I said, I was riding the Vespa,
I believe Giorgio. And Luca would ride their motorcycles, but mostly they would be driving in their
cars. But that Vespa was really, really great just to get around Rome.
And I'm not really sure what else to say about Luca because I can say so much. Whether it was his
sense of humor. He always made people smile. He always made people smile and laugh.
And he saw the light heart, lighter side of things. Yet he was such a successful. business person
for Coca-Cola. Right. Um,
and I, I, I had the good fortune of speaking to him briefly, uh,
about three weeks before he passed. And, and even after college, we kept in touch. We would meet in
London every couple of years, or I actually went and I saw him around 2010 when I went to a,
believe it or not, a Depeche mode festival, uh, in Milan. And he met me there and it was just so
great. And I was hoping to bring my daughter to Italy either this year or next year,
and I was going to, you know, one of the wonderful things would have been for having her meet him,
and my daughter loves riding on the back of a motorcycle, and unfortunately that's not going to
happen. But hopefully she'll meet Giorgio, and Giorgio will still be riding around the track. So
I'm going to put a little bit more information about Luca and a photo and his old...
LinkedIn profile so you can see both the personal and the professional side of him in the show
notes. And I'm also going to try to dub this episode into Italian using some software that I used
from our friend Coleman Hines, if that is still working. If not, I'll find another way.
And I think, you know, I'm not sure what motorcycle he was riding,
but I know he liked these Kajiva. motorcycles, but I'm not sure. And these are like 500 CC
motorcycles, but, um, Luca is definitely going to be missed. And, um,
and I just, I'm, you know, I don't want to be a downer. And if Luca was here right now,
he'd, I think appreciate the time that I'm taking to talk, uh,
about him and, and, and try to convey his spirit to you.
And I think the next thing he would say, he called me Lenny, right? You know, my name as a kid was
Lenny until I was like in sixth grade. But for whatever reason, he called me Lenny. So he would
probably say, Lenny, get on with the show. So for you,
Luca, I am getting on with the show.
And what better way to get on with the show than to mention our friends and almost family over at
the Heyman. law firm, the Heyman law firm. They're going to be coming to our two wheel Tuesdays
this year. Um, they are wonderful people. They represent people,
motorcyclists in motorcycle actions, personal injury. And they've had, they've represented at least
two or three of my friends, um, who have been in accidents and crashes, uh, that were not their
fault. So if you go down, the Heyman law firm will bring you up. All their attorneys are riders
just like you and I, and they can actually help you no matter what state you're in. So if you ever
go down, call 1-800-H-A-Y-M-O-N-D,
and they will be sure to help you. All right, let's get started with viewer or listener mail.
As they say. And the first email comes from Larry and Jill.
I guess they're boyfriend and girlfriend, he says. And he says, hey, Len, we love hearing about the
Two Wheel Tuesdays and seeing the photos in the New York City meetup Facebook group,
I guess. Well, actually, it's public, so they can see that. It looks like an absolute blast. And my
girlfriend and I feel like we're missing out over here. So we're thinking of starting a weekly
night in our town. We're just outside of Columbus. I'm wondering if I'm overthinking the logistics.
Is this a ton of work to get something like this off the ground? And the big scary question,
I know that you had... The insurance guy on the last podcast, do I need an LLC or need to carry any
special insurance if we're organizing this, uh, like these weekly meetups or even,
uh, rides together? You know, I don't want to get sued if somebody, you know, drops the bike doing
a wheelie in the parking lot or something like that. Well, you know. Larry and Jill,
I wish you would have said what kind of bikes you ride, but I guess I'll email you back. But
anyway, great question. And you know what? We actually have a show. The next episode is going to
feature Kristen Dindial. And I hope I'm pronouncing that right, but I definitely pronounce it right
in the next episode because we recorded it already. But anyway, she is an expert organizer of
something called Wicked Wednesdays, which is a little bit different than Two Wheel Tuesdays, but
also very similar. So she's going to get to that in a lot of detail. But here's what I will say.
So, you know, you don't need a permit to tell five friends, hey, let's meet at the you know,
Columbus Diner or Bagel Place or whatever and just talk about bikes.
You don't need a permit for that. Just need a small public location. It could be a diner. It could
be a park. It could even be a motorcycle shop. And we've actually done all three here in New York
City. The one thing I will say is consistency is king. I would try to make it on a Tuesday because,
you know, Tuesdays is kind of like the universal bike night around the country. Now,
Thursdays has kind of become one and even Wednesdays now. I think Monday's people are like,
okay, I rode most of the weekend on Monday. I'm back to work, whatever. But Tuesdays is really the
perfect day because you're into the work week. You work on Tuesday,
and then Tuesday night you're with all your motorcycle friends, and you just grab a bite to eat.
You look at other people's bike, and you say, that's a great bike. Your bike is so much faster than
mine, whatever it is, right? I have friends from Two Wheel Tuesday I've known for years and years.
One of the things I do is I try to make a point to actually socialize with these people outside.
of two wheel Tuesdays. And that's not always the easiest thing to do, but there's a few people that
I do do it with and we'll go grab lunch. We'll grab a coffee or maybe we'll do a ride ourselves.
Now about the LLC and the insurance question, I'm not exactly sure,
but my, I think my answer would be, you know, if you're just meeting up, you don't need any
insurance, right? And I would definitely Google this or, you know, if you have an insurance agent,
we had one on the show earlier this year than the last episode. But I think once you start turning
this meetup into something that makes money or you're promoting, you know, you're selling
merchandise or renting a track day or getting everybody's money, you know, then I think you start,
you know, getting into some gray area and you might need some business insurance. And if you're
doing a ride, you know, definitely you want to have, look into waivers. But even, you know, we do
these rides with 60, 70, 80 people with Etter Holquin. Um,
you know, there've been a few little minor, uh, accidents here and there, nothing terribly major.
Um, but you know, when you're riding as a group, you just ride, you're just riding. So, um, but the
one thing I will say, if you do go to a track and you organize a meetup like that, you're
definitely gonna, you know, the track is going to need some, uh, you know, legal forms from you.
Now, what I will say is you can't just go to a diner. You can't just show up at a pizzeria.
I mean, if it's five people, I think you could. But we have anywhere from 175 to 450,
sometimes 700 riders at our meetups, right? So what we do,
and there's this guy, Shmuel, who runs the Instagram for the meetup and for other things,
is he will partner with these restaurants or these areas,
right? Normally, you want to be in an industrial area. You don't want to be in a...
A residential area, because even though you tell people not to rev their motorcycles, you know what
a lot of people, well, not a lot, but some people will rev their motorcycles. Or some people will
be blasting Taylor Swift out of their speakers. No, I'm just kidding. But some people will be
playing really, really loud music if they have a cruiser with a lot of speakers. Bob Novy, we know
who you are. Bob's got the big speakers. But he's playing like the Carpenters and Tom Jones'
greatest hits. So he's cool. He's got a beautiful bike. He's got a beautiful bike. Anyway, but what
I will say is that these... These Tuesdays can be magical. They can be magical.
People say they know I'm not a shy person. When I first started going to Two Wheel Tuesdays, I was
shy. I was a fairly inexperienced rider, and I didn't know what to do, what the right protocol was.
Should I park here? Should I park there? But being the son of a hairdresser,
you kind of learn how to be friendly with people, and that's what I've done over the years. So I'm
very, very fortunate. I look forward to Tuesdays like most people look forward to Fridays because
that is my fun night with people that are, I tell you, they are different colored skin than me.
They may be different politically. I don't even know because nobody talks politics, quite frankly,
but they could be different herages. Many of them speak different languages than me, but we all
have one thing in common is that our love and passion and respect. for motorcycles and the feeling
that it brings us mentally and spiritually when we're riding a motorcycle.
So I hope I answered your question, but the other part is listen to the next episode, which will
drop in a few days, and you'll learn more about the details of organizing a meetup and things like
that.
Okay, let's get to the next.
No, let's get to this. This is not WFAN. Let's get to the next email. This is from,
oh, a guy named Theo, and he rides a Kawasaki Intruder.
Okay. Theo says, hey, Len, I heard your episode on smart shopping for gear,
and don't spend too much if you don't have to. I found a top-tier carbon fiber helmet at a garage
sale for 50 bucks. It looks brand new, but the guy says he dropped it once in the driveway.
Is a dropped helmet literally a paperweight or safety experts just trying to get me to spend more
money?
You know, I've always actually thought about this myself. So I ended up doing a bit of research
through the internet and actually talking to experts.
So what I'm about to say, first of all, this is my own opinion. I'm not telling you what to do.
You make your own decisions. So hopefully nobody will sue me. But here's what I've learned over the
years. And what makes a difference, if a helmet is dropped from a relatively low height,
let's say the seat of your motorcycle, or maybe even the handlebars, unless you don't have ape
hangers, right? If there's nothing in the helmet, like a head, right? Or maybe even a gallon of
milk. Who would ever put a gallon of milk in the helmet? But if it's dropped from a low height and
there's nothing in it, you're generally probably okay.
I'm talking like three to four feet.
Even if it's onto concrete, it's unlikely that a drop like that is going to destroy...
the EPS foam, right? And the EPS foam, like once that compresses,
it doesn't recompress. This is not a sleep number bed that kind of comes back to the shape or it's
not a Gumby doll that when you squeeze it, it comes back and being Gumby, right? Now,
when it is dangerous, let's say if you fell off the bike and you hit your head,
and even if you fell off from a low height of three or four feet, I don't know what a head weighs,
but a head weighs like a fair amount, at least 10 pounds, I would say. A head inside a helmet
dropping. That helmet has done its job. These helmets are designed to do one thing and to protect
the head in a crash one time. So if there's something in the helmet...
Yes, you get rid of it, right? You also want to inspect the helmet, but it's going to be tough to
inspect the EPS lining and the EPS foam. Now,
this guy at the swap meet or at the garage sale, can you believe him?
When people are selling their bikes, they lie. When they sell their cars, they lie. So a carbon
fiber helmet has probably a little bit more give to it. If it was me for 50 bucks,
I'm not sure. It's better than nothing for sure. I guess it really depends on what you can afford.
If you're down to your last 50 bucks and you absolutely need a helmet and you do believe, and I
would always ask him, I would say, hey, when was it? Are you sure it was three feet? And look for
body language, right? Look to see if he's lying because maybe whatever. But you know what? The fact
that he said it dropped from three feet, he didn't even have to say that if it doesn't really show
the damage. So maybe that is a good sign that he was being honest with you. So if it was indeed
from a small height, I think you could get away with it. But you're going to have to make up your
own decision.
All right, let's go to the next email. This one is from Nick, just outside of Reno,
Nevada. And he rides a Royal Enfield, he says. Okay, hey Len,
love the show. I just started riding with a group. These are great guys. But they ride much faster
than me and faster than I'm comfortable with. Especially through the twisties.
I'm afraid if I slow down... I'm going to lose them and I'm going to look like a wimp.
How do I tell a group of seasoned riders that they're stressing me out?
That is a great question. My very first motorcycle crash, and if you look at the episode called
AMC, All My Crashes, I was 25 years old. And, you know, we've had Alonzo Bowden on the show.
And I asked Alonzo what advice. he would give to young riders and his advice was try to get out of
your twenties alive. Cause we do, we do really bad stuff in our twenties cause we think we're
invincible.
And this happened when I was 25 years old. And I wasn't riding with a group, but I was riding with
this guy, Mitch. And he was riding ahead of me. And we stopped at a toll. And back then they had
changes, change tolls. And long story short, I couldn't get my change out. So I was about a mile
behind him. And I rushed. And I crashed right on exit 14 on the Henry Hutchinson Parkway in New
Rochelle. And I landed in a fresh cut. three foot pile of grass.
There was an oak tree to the left and there was an oak tree to the right of me. And I basically
split the freaking uprights and landed in grass that was cut the day before. I got so lucky.
But here's what I would say, you know, and these weekends, you know, like I said, Eder puts
together rides of 50, 60, 70 people and they go in groups and we always say ride your ride.
That is sometimes easier said than done. I've been riding for years and these guys are pretty fast.
It starts when you put your helmet on. You want to tell yourself you're going to go at your own
pace. Now, the beauty of these rides, at least the rides I have, you should always have the map,
right? Etter is good because he posts the map of where we're going. So if you get there a little 20
minutes late and just because I'll tell you one thing about these rides, even though these guys are
fast riders, whenever they stop for gas, you know, it's always. Everybody's got to go to the
bathroom. They got to get a cup of coffee, some guys, whatever. So we always take a long time.
So even if you're 20 minutes behind or 10 minutes behind them, chances are if you know where the
next stop is and you have a good GPS and you could use your phone or a GPS, you'll be fine.
And the most important thing is if they're stopping for lunch, know where you're stopping for lunch
because that's where people are going to congregate and kind of wait around the longest. The other
thing I would say is to let the group leader.
Now, in our groups, we have a leader for the fast group. We have a leader for the medium group. And
we have a leader for, like, the cruisers and the slower guys, right, and gals. So what I would say
is let them know. And you can be, you know, kind of casual and even a little bit funny.
Say, hey, listen, I haven't been riding for that long, so I just want to let you know I might be
picking up the rear and you guys do what you need to do. I have the directions. I have the route
map. And I'll get to you when I get to you. And I really appreciate this. And if there's any other
slower riders, maybe you can kind of find out who they are. And you guys form the not as fast
group. It could be two people. It could be 22 people. We have a fair amount of people in the slow
group that we ride with. So I would not worry about it. And you know what I would worry about?
Getting in a crash because of this. You don't need an ego. When riding in a group,
check your ego at the door because you'll end up not in a good place. So great question.
And I think it's a question that I'm going to bring up a lot with future guests of the show this
year because I think it's a great question to talk about. It's a great thing to talk about. All
right, let's go to the next email. This one is from Al in Florence,
South Carolina. He rides a Triumph, he says. And he rides a Speed Triple. And he says,
hey Len, I've been riding since the 70s. You know, a lot of these new bikes have traction control,
ABS, even cornering lights. And I see some of the Ducatis, they have fins or wings or whatever.
He says, do you think all this tech is making riders lazy? I feel like people are relying on the
computer to save them instead of actually learning how to handle a bike. You know,
that's a great question. I've been doing viewer mail for, I think, three seasons now. And I don't
think I've gotten this question like this. Here's what I would say. I think these features of
motorcycles definitely have a place, right? And they can help good riders be better and they can
help less than average riders be good. And I think it really comes down to training and mindset.
and practice, right? We just had a practice session over at Citi Field. This is the most fun that
I'll have at Citi Field this whole freaking year because the Mets absolutely suck and their general
manager is terrible, probably will go down as one of the worst general managers in the history of
the New York Mets franchise, okay? But what I will say...
is I think these things are good, right? My mom's got a Toyota RAV4 that has like the lane, you
know, it tells you if you're moving out of your lane or the blind spot assist. I think things like
that are really good. Traction control, my BMW has it and it's a 12-year-old BMW.
And that definitely helps me, right? ABS, I would not be here if it wasn't for anti-lock braking.
And BMW was the first motorcycle manufacturer to introduce anti-lock braking.
And it has saved my butt many, many, well, many times, I will say.
So I'm not sure I agree with it. I think parts of that are true. But I really think it comes down
to training, practice, and mindset. You know, we always tell people,
pick out a big parking lot. It could be a big Walmart, you know, by me on Long Island where my
parents live. The Long Island Railroad parking lots are huge, and they're empty on the weekends.
Jones Beach is empty on the weekends before Memorial Day. They have beautiful parking lots.
So find a parking lot. Find a space where you can practice. You can put your phone on a stand.
You can actually record yourself, see what you're doing right, see what you're doing wrong, maybe
show it to other friends and family, or just look at it to see what's your head position. Is your
riding style? you know, correct for the bike and the conditions? How are your feet positioned?
All that stuff. So while there is some truth to what you said, I think these features on
motorcycles are mostly a positive for keeping riders safe and adding to the enjoyment and pleasure
of motorcycle riding.
All right, those are the three questions we got for viewer mail. We'll probably do another one,
maybe the middle of the summer. But definitely, we're going to talk more about organizing meets and
meetups and rides in the next episode with Kristen. So stay tuned for that. As we approach the end
of episode 107, I just want to say one more time that if you go to the show notes at
arrivealivepodcast.com, you'll see my tribute to my first cousin, Luca Simonassi.
who passed away on a motorcycle just about a month ago, he will definitely be missed.
But he leaves a legacy of positiveness,
happiness,
jovialness, while being a successful business person and a loving father and husband.
And I don't think you can ask for more than that. So as we end episode 107,
I want to thank everybody that made this show possible. Number one, Mr. Rob. McLaughlin of the West
Coast Hearts. Go to Apple Music or Spotify. Search for the West Coast Hearts. You will like his
music, especially if you're a Gen X or even an older millennial. You'll definitely love his music.
To the Heyman Law Firm, thanks again for sponsoring us. 1-800-H-A-Y-M-O-N-D.
Should you want to reach out to me, you want to be on the show, you have an idea, you want to have
a suggestion, view or mail. Arrive Alive Podcast. At gmail.com is the viewer mail or suggestions.
I answer that. I check it regularly. And please remember to share this show with your friends and
family and coworkers who ride. We do no marketing, right? But the show grows every single year.
And we actually have listeners all over the world now. We're actually big in the Asian markets
right now. So my name is Len Bilello, your happy and humble host.
Be safe out there. And we'll see you next time on the Arrive Alive podcast.