ABATE sponsors racer in outreach to sportbikers

Jon Kuo is sponsored by ABATE of Colorado

Jon Kuo, on bike 168, is sponsored by ABATE of Colorado

No, your eyes do not deceive you, that Honda CBR on the track has an ABATE decal on it. ABATE is not just for Harley riders anymore.

Of course, it never was. But try telling that to most sportbike riders and you probably won't find a very receptive audience. To many of them ABATE is all about "those grey-hairs on Harleys."

Like ABATE chapters around the country, ABATE of Colorado would like to change that perception. What ABATE of Colorado is doing about it is presumably a first: They're sponsoring a racer.

Jonathon Kuo is that racer. In his second racing season and still in the novice class, Jon is already a darn fast racer. In three runs at High Plains Raceway on May 9 he took second place twice, and he and Eric, the guy who beat him both times, smoked the rest of the field, lapping the larger portion of them. Jon then had a disappointing finish in a third race when a shift lever problem left him stuck in second gear.

Jon's showing was particularly impressive when you consider that many riders in the field had power modifications on their bikes, while Jon's CBR is basically stock.

"I had a blast! That track's so awesome," he adds.

Jon, who works in software configuration management for EchoStar, is also an ABATE motorcycle riding instructor on weekends. It was his idea to approach ABATE about sponsorship. Terry Howard, ABATE of Colorado State Coordinator, jumped at the proposal.

"We wanted to reach out to a different crowd than our current membership," she explains. "It's also about advertising. We promote rider education. Thirty-nine percent of motorcycle fatalities in Colorado last year were unendorsed (unlicensed) riders. ABATE is also involved in insurance issues and other concerns encompassing all of the motorcycle community."

Terry finds the misperceptions about ABATE more than a little frustrating. A couple years ago she went to the Suzuki Cycle Fest in Copper Mountain to promote ABATE. Speaking with one young rider, his response was typical: "You're those anti-helmet people."

No, she explained, ABATE is not anti-helmet. ABATE is about having the freedom to choose. She asked him how he would feel if the government forced him to wear a helmet. Although he chooses to wear one, he replied that no, he didn't want the government requiring him to do so.

He ended up joining ABATE, Terry says, but it takes that kind of one-on-one contact to break through the stereotype.

ABATEs in other states are also trying to break through the stereotype. Terry mentioned Indiana and some other states where the chapters are sponsoring track days for sportbike groups.

This focus on outreach is new within the last couple years, Terry says, and so far the results are discouraging. She has gone to Bike Night at Boston's Restaurant and Sports Bar, sponsored by Grand Prix Motorsports (http://www.grandprixmotorsports.com/), and contributed as door prizes two ABATE rider training lessons. ABATE recently added rider training with a sportbike focus.

"We couldn't give them away," she sighs. "They say 'I already ride, I don't need training.' I don't know what would attract these people to what we do."

Jon Kuo may be better able to reach the sportbike crowd, however. No one can question his sportbike credentials, and he knows the value of training.

"So many people who ride on the street are ignorant to riding skills," he says. "It's ego. They think, 'I know how to ride.'"

Yet, at the training recently for ABATE instructors learning to teach the new sportbike class, "You could see how much they improved in one day of instruction, and they were instructors!"

For Jon himself, the skills he has acquired come down to racer school and one word, repeated again and again: Practice. Practice. Practice.

In addition to having the ABATE logo on his bike and trailer, Jon has ABATE literature and other materials at his trailer. At the races the riders' sponsors are announced and there are a lot of people who are going to be hearing "ABATE" in connection with racing. Only time will tell if this outreach succeeds.

Jon raced May 23-25 at Motorsports Park in Hastings, NE, and then returned to High Plains Raceway this weekend. Six other events will fill out the season.

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