Motorcycle Racer for the Stars Corey Alexander

0:02 Bloomberg Audio Studios.

0:04 Podcasts.

0:05 Radio.

0:06 News.

0:09 I'm Hannah Elliott.

0:10 And I'm Matt Miller. This is Hot Pursuit. Today we are talking to a motorcycle racer that I've been following for many years. And I feel like I've known him for a long time, but I realize... but I've only seen him in person like a couple times. So I hope I wasn't too overwhelming for him. He like went to shake my hand and like dove in. I'm like, God, come on, bring it in for the real thing. But I've known forever his uncle, his dad and his uncle and his grandfather, frankly, because I've been a customer at their dealership since at least 2010. Wow.

0:47 Yeah, that's a long relationship.

0:51 Yeah. Um, so I'm talking about Corey Alexander. He races, uh, for Arch Motorcycle, um, which is the Keanu Reeves company in the Super Hooligans class, which is such a cool class of motorcycle racing. Um, and, uh, so we'll be talking to him. I'm very excited about that. I'm kind of, I'm kind of a fan boy. You know, I once had, um, a pair of very expensive Dainese, like $ 3, 000 motorcycle leathers, um, designed to look exactly like his motorcycle leathers.

1:22 Are you serious?

1:23 Is that too much?

1:24 Did you tell him that? It might be a little too... Does he know that?

1:27 I didn't tell him.

1:27 That's probably for the best.

1:28 Yeah.

1:29 That's too much. But that's nice to know for us.

1:33 So anyway, very cool to get him on the podcast. Plus, I'm driving the Lamborghini Revuelto. Yay!

1:40 One of my favorites.

1:41 Great car. Oh my God. This car.

1:46 Yeah.

1:46 Yeah.

1:48 It's just, I mean, you know that I'm already, I'm a Lamborghini fan through and through. I always have been ever since, I mean, the Countach was on my wall when I was a kid. I had, I obviously never drove one and I have never driven one, but I always was in love with it. And then the Diablo when I was in high school and- The hits keep coming.

2:09 And then I, you know, for many years, the Aventador, for most of my professional life, the Aventador has been my favorite car, um, you know, since it came out, I think 2011, um, and I've driven pretty much every version of it. Um, it's always been in my number one spot until now.

2:28 Oh, we've had a change to your Mount Rushmore.

2:32 I mean, I don't know if I would say that yet. I've, I think it's too fresh and I'm still, I got this, uh, I got this Revuelto delivered to me on Monday. Today is Thursday. They're picking up tomorrow. So I've been Driving it every day, obviously, I told my wife, like, look, this week I'm not going to be able to do much at home because I'm going to have to be in the car. The Aventador has a special place in my heart, and I love some of the flaws of the Aventador, like the violent transmission, the brutal kind of, I guess, agricultural. Yes. level of that car's handling. It's almost carnal.

3:18 Yes.

3:19 But this car, it's a different kind of thing. It's much more precise. It's much more like a scalpel. It's got a dual clutch transmission that they made in-house, by the way. It's not Porsche's DCT. It's not from ZF. It's their own thing from Santa Agata. And I guess, I don't know, it's perfect. It's just- Everything about the car.

3:42 It's got a six and a half liter naturally aspirated V12 in the back. That's exposed, by the way. There's no glass panel over it. It's just there.

3:50 It's just there.

3:51 Like leaves fall on it. You know, the squirrels go in. And then it's got three electric motors, one on each of the front wheels. The gas motor drives the rear axle. It's got one electric motor on each of the front wheels. And it's got an electric motor, I guess, for the trans axle in the rear axle. And it makes 1,001 horsepower, which, you know, I mean, it's obviously a ton. It doesn't sound insane now because you've got, like, the ZR1 and all these other cars that make more. But it's all you need and more. Like, every time I put the gas pedal down, I'm doing hyperlegal speeds, like, instantaneously. Mm-hmm. Um, you don't notice if, if I were to drive like 130 miles an hour, which I wouldn't do on public streets,

4:40 I wouldn't notice. I wouldn't notice that I was doing that.

4:42 Well, yeah, don't, this is, this is the car I got the very expensive ticket in.

4:47 Ah, yes. And now I'm.

4:50 So happy that you know why, because if you get on a highway heading North and there's nobody around you and it's, early in the morning and it's a perfectly sunny day and there's not a cloud in the sky, you will do bad things.

5:04 But not bad. Like you should be allowed to.

5:06 I know, I know. But it makes me so happy. It makes me so happy to hear you say this because I know I'm not crazy. And that ticket was so worth it. Yeah. And it just, it makes me so happy that you agree on this because I think it's such a fabulous car.

5:23 It's, I mean, I hate to say this, I don't want to say this because I'm driving it now and I'm always smitten. I always fall in love with whatever I'm currently driving.

5:33 Right.

5:33 But this, to me, it seems like it's the best car I've ever driven.

5:36 In my life.

5:37 And, and I just, it's actually 400 pounds heavier than the Aventador. So it's a heavier car. It's 4,290 pounds. I think then, then it's predecessor because obviously it has electric motors and a battery and stuff in it. And it does, by the way, five miles of range, uh, It sounds minuscule. Which is useful. It turns out to be useful. So yesterday I was on the Ticonic. I was going up to, I was driving up to Millbrook to British Sporting Arms because I had a, I have a shotgun that the butt pad is deteriorated. So I had to have it repaired by Charles at BSA. And so I'm driving up there and the car keeps telling me like, you got to refuel soon. But I'm looking and I see I have 50 miles left. I have,

6:22 40 miles left. And then I have 30 miles left. And then all of a sudden, like nothing. It went from 32 to nothing. And so I was worried because I only had like three miles to go until the Millbrook exit. And I didn't want to obviously run out of gas. I just slipped it into E mode.

6:41 Amazing.

6:41 And then I saved the day. With the electric motor, I drove to the Shell station and filled up.

6:46 Amazing. I love that. It's a perfect application of hybrid technology. Totally love it. how do you feel sitting in the car and how do you feel the ingress and egress is with those doors, the way they open with your larger frame?

7:03 It's no worse than a 911, to be honest with you. In terms of getting in and out.

7:08 No better?

7:08 Not better. No, not better either. I mean, getting in and out in a tight spot is much easier. So if you're parked, I went to the Wegmans. I've been going to the supermarket that's furthest away. That's a very good indicator. In the morning, Mario's like, ah, you need to go get yogurt. And I'm like, okay, I'm not going to the stop and shop down the street. I'm going 30 miles away to the Wegmans. And so I park in between these cars because the parking lot's full.

7:36 And I have no concerns about slamming my door into the car next to me because the door opens straight up. It's a little tiny bit awkward because you're not used to getting out or in a car that's straight up with the doors. But in terms of like the seat height, like I just put my legs out, get up, or I just put my legs, you know, turn my butt towards the car and then sit right down.

8:01 Like your back doesn't move. You just swivel at the waist.

8:04 Yeah.

8:04 So it's not embarrassing. A lot of cars are... more embarrassing to get in and out of than this.

8:10 Um, well, I wanted to ask, speaking of embarrassing too, do you feel any qualms about driving such a flashy, expensive vehicle in your neighborhood or parking it in your driveway, et cetera, et cetera?

8:20 Well, all the dads have made comments. Uh, I went to a school event last night. Um, and all of the dads are like, dude, what's up with that Lamborghini in your driveway, but they know what I do for a living. So they're used to seeing, um, you know, cool cars, but this is something that you can't not comment on, you know, like it's another level of, I mean, the sticker on this car as optioned is $ 815, 000. That's insane.

8:53 That's definitely the most expensive car that I've ever borrowed to drive for a few days.

9:00 Yeah.

9:01 I mean, I guess I drove a Bugatti Chiron, but that was like one day at the track.

9:05 No. Yeah.

9:08 So it's a different level. And when you're driving as well on the Sprainbrook or on the Sawmill, I notice that a lot of guys will pull up next to me or drive quickly to catch up to me or slow down to check me out.

9:26 Well, it looks like a spaceship. It looks like an unusual car.

9:31 Yeah.

9:32 And I think people can also know, if they don't know specifically, it's Rivalto. Yeah. they know it's not your normal Lamborghini either.

9:38 It doesn't- Dude, nobody knows what it is. Right. Even people who know it's a Lambo, the UPS guy today was freaking out. He was like, oh, dude, I love this. He says, what is this? He said, is this a Gallardo or a Murcielago? And I was like, bro, you're a couple generations late here.

9:57 Okay. My other question for you was, how did you feel about the clearance with the nose? And how often were you using the nose lift on the car? Because I found that that was the thing that I was most careful about.

10:11 I bottomed out once crossing over Central Park Avenue and Ardsley Road. There's a place where every car hits.

10:18 And Had you lifted the nose at that point?

10:20 No, I hadn't. So I bottomed out and I was like, oh.

10:24 It's the worst.

10:25 I wish that this car had a nose lift. And I'm looking where the Corvette has it, you know, in the middle panel and finding nothing. And I'm like, I can't believe an $ 800, 000 car doesn't have nose lift. But of course, there's a button right on the steering wheel.

10:39 Yeah, but you have to really know where to look. Right.

10:41 I guess I kind of knew. But after that, I used it constantly.

10:46 Me too.

10:47 I use it a lot and I've never had a problem. Yes, it helps. It completely solves the issue. I mean, I'm telling you, this car, if I had like a million dollars liquid, right?

10:59 You needed to put somewhere by the end of the year, so to speak.

11:02 And the smart move, of course, would be to invest that money.

11:05 Buy gold.

11:05 I wouldn't. I would buy this car.

11:07 This car might make you happier.

11:09 I would daily drive this car. I hope you would. It is perfect. There are some issues with the value, right? Like I had to park it in the Bloomberg Courtyard today because my parking.

11:20 They wouldn't let the parking garage.

11:22 No, the parking garage won't accept it.

11:23 I understand.

11:24 They say, nope.

11:24 I've had that problem.

11:26 Yeah. And then, you know, when I'm driving by people, I wonder what must they think of me. Because they think this is a guy who owns that car. But I don't care.

11:37 So be it. They hate you, so be it.

11:41 Exactly. And most people that aren't car people, they might look at it and think it's cool. By the way, one other thing I did was I took it around to all my daughter's friends' houses.

11:50 Did the kids like it?

11:53 Oh, my God.

11:54 Yeah, I love that.

11:55 But this five-year-old boy, Orson, that Edna hangs out with, he like went over and he intuitively knew how to open the door, but he didn't realize it was going to go up instead of out. And he almost lost, lost it. He was like, Oh my God, it's a space car.

12:11 I love it.

12:11 And then, but what he was most excited about was the frunk. Like he figured out how to open and close the frunk. And then like he wanted to go inside and get his mom to show her the frunk.

12:20 That's very cool.

12:22 Um, that's great. So it's been so much fun to have, but honestly it's, uh, I've, I've been using my motorcycle, uh, driving app to find curvy, twisty roads for this car, the Kali Moto app. And it is so precise. It's so much different than an Aventador, but it still is, I think the design is 100% perfect. Like it's so beautiful.

12:46 It's got a little bit of Pantera vibes.

12:48 What color is yours?

12:48 Purple-y?

12:49 Yeah, it looks black in almost every light, except for when the sun's shining directly on it, and then it's actually kind of a brown color. purple, red, brown.

12:58 Aubergine.

12:59 Yes, that's right. Eggplant.

13:01 That's very cool.

13:02 And it is, I think it's the greatest car I've ever driven. I don't think I've ever driven a car that's better. And it's so funny. I was pitching, I was talking to some guys from GM and I am going to drive the Corvette Grand Sport next week. And I was like, guys, you know, it's going to be a cool story. I'm going to drive the Lamborghini Rivalto and then I'll drive the Corvette. And I bet you that, you know, obviously I'm not going to be able to ever afford the Lamborghini, but, The Corvette is going to do 95%. It's going to be almost as good. And the GM guy's like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

13:35 Slow down.

13:36 Slow down a second there, buddy. It's a V12 you're talking about. It is just an unreal car. And I'm sure when I drive the Grand Sport, I'll love that too. But this thing is like, it's just so special.

13:49 Yeah, I I'm really, I'm really happy. It reminds me, I was in one during pebble beach and like the comment I made about people hating you. I actually, I don't know if I think it depends on how you drive it because I was reminded, um, that in Carmel, like a couple of old ladies came up and wants to talk about the car and they were not car people, but it does have some factor. And like, when you were talking about the children and Orson, Loving it. It does have something that might not actually be that off-putting if you don't drive it like a jerk.

14:23 You know?

14:24 I mean, I've been driving it as if I had stolen it. That's good. I have not been holding back.

14:30 That's good, too. But.

14:33 I drive safely, obviously, through towns.

14:34 Yeah, you're not out of control.

14:36 I slow down in school zones.

14:38 Sure. Well, that's another reason why I actually really like the electric motor. When you're rolling through a small street or a neighborhood or an area with a lot of people on the sidewalk, if you're in electric mode, you're not just being really loud and obnoxious.

14:56 By the way, it does have the same electric startup problem that the Temerario had. When you lift up the red cover that protects you from going weapons hot to turn the car on, it turns on an electric only mode.

15:08 Yeah, I know.

15:08 It's like, what?

15:09 So what's the point of having that protective cover over the ignition if it only starts the computer?

15:15 It's kind of a fair question.

15:17 I would probably, if I had the money, I would have someone program a change to that. I also, the turn signals, I really got used to and fell in love with. the way they are on the steering wheel. With your thumbs.

15:29 You do them with your thumbs.

15:30 I found a series of buttons on the back of the steering wheel that allow me to control everything. I mean, it's hard to listen to music or have a phone conversation because the engine is so loud. But it has a nice stereo in it, the Sonos Faber, which is, you know, whatever, a $ 20, 000 option. The infotainment system kind of works.

15:53 Yeah.

15:54 A little bit. But who cares, right?

15:56 I know. To me, I think we've been in cars that are expensive cars that we think are not worth that amount of money, and even if we had the money, we wouldn't buy them, and et cetera, et cetera, and I can list you some of those. But this car is different.

16:14 Oh, yeah.

16:15 And it's like, yes, it's very expensive, but it's different because it may be worth that amount.

16:22 For sure.

16:23 Do you think there's any. Uh, credence to the idea that Jaguar needed to make a strong step and they've, you know, done this, this is their strong step. It's very polarizing.

16:37 No, I don't think so. I think it's a swing and a miss from a brand that's dying in a country with a dying auto industry.

16:44 Here's what I don't get. Why would they make and debut a pure electric sedan? in the U S which is not buying sedans and not buying electric cars.

16:58 Look, because this is a, the car design and production cycle takes five years. So five years ago, somebody thought this was a good idea and they were like, yeah. And now they're just throwing good money after bad. I mean, it's, it's, it's a, it takes the worst of like the new BMW seven series in the front with those slits for eye for headlights for eyes. And it, has some kind of a Cadillac rear end, um, in terms of the way the fastback looks. And actually speaking of, uh, Johnny Lieberman, he pointed out that it looks like the, this Cadillac, um, concept car. No, the concept car that when they were going to put a V16 in a Cadillac that never was or something. And, um, and he put two pictures side by side and I agree. It still looks like

17:49 some kind of appliance, uh, You know, like in a restaurant when they have a giant machine that makes ice, you know, or in a hotel, it kind of looks like that from a number of different angles. And I think what they're doing is they're pricing it as cheap as they possibly can. And everything's so expensive now.

18:09 That $ 130, 000– isn't the same price as a really good brand could get for a top-of-the-line luxury limousine. But that's the most that anyone would ever pay for this thing.

18:23 It's an EV nobody wants.

18:26 We'll be lucky. First of all, we don't know how many they're going to make. I've asked. They haven't answered. They haven't said. So we can assume they're not going to be making very many. We know even less about how many of those will come to the U.S. And of those... Who knows what the dealers are going to tack on to the MSRP, which typically they will tack on something.

18:49 You think someone's going to pay a premium for this thing?

18:52 I think a few people might. But what I'm saying is I think the dealers will try to charge a premium. I don't know if they only have to sell two or three, then they can probably find somebody to pay that. And that kind of will kill it in the end. If they're not making that many and they're going to end up coming out of the dealership priced a lot higher than $ 130, 000, I don't think that doesn't bode well.

19:20 This whole thing, it's kind of emblematic of the failure of. European car makers that Mate Rimac has been talking about lately to beat the Chinese at their own game. To me, that's what this looks like. It's a design that I don't think Westerners are really going to accept other than the Cybertruck crowd. And it's an EV in a place where they're not selling. And it's probably all full of screens inside. And there are no buttons and switches.

19:54 It's pretty minimal.

19:56 All of these car makers, to Matej Rimac's point, he put out an Instagram post saying this. And he was looking at an old Bentley or a Rolls Royce. uh, and saying like, look, you guys have to go back to do this instead of trying to beat the Chinese at their own game with screams and screens and, and charging times. Like I agree a hundred percent. Um, and I think that us car makers would be, uh, wise to heed that advice as well. You know, put in buttons and knobs. Don't give me a giant screen that looks like an iPad maxi pad, you know, in the middle of the dash. Um, I guess, you know, I'm not saying that we don't need any technology. Like, you can still have screens here and there, but not like BMW where you just plaster it all the way across

20:46 the entire dash. You know? We need to have some gauges. We need to have some buttons. We need to have real materials. And if you do that, people will, I think, buy the product rather than buying something that has a million screens and buzzing lights and worrying bells.

21:07 And I agree, but I, I do think there's a caveat there that execution matters because the exception to what you're saying is Mercedes. And we both have been in Mercedes vehicles that have that massive skateboard screen and we are not bothered by it and we're not distracted by it. And it somehow seems to fit with the idea of the car.

21:33 They've done better at integrating it.

21:34 Yeah, their execution is superior. And so it doesn't bother us like a lot of these other automakers that have more screens and it just seems poorly executed, I think.

21:49 No, you're right. Some people do it. Some car makers do a worse job or some car makers do a better job than others. And Mercedes is one of those car makers.

21:56 One of the very few.

21:58 Better job than others on those cars that you're talking about. Right. You're talking about an SL. You're talking about an AMG GT.

22:04 Sure.

22:04 Remember that GLA that we both just drove. And during the daytime, I thought it was fine. I didn't pay much attention to the interior at night when my buddy from Hamburg got in the car and he said, I thought this was Chinese. Right. You know, because it looks like a discotheque inside. Right. So they've done very well on some products.

22:23 Yes.

22:24 And on others. Others, not as much. They're just, it's kind of like appealing to the lowest denominator. Like you're just trying to put in as many bright screens in as possible and you think that's going to sell your vehicle. A lot of car makers are guilty of that. And I think they're going to... I think they're going to reverse course. I hope they do.

22:43 I think so. This, this to me feels like the first moment since the chaos and complete insanity of last year in the auto industry, where everyone was, we all knew like China. China, no one beat China. Like you say, no one beat China at their own. Like all of these, all of the German automakers, all of the Europeans, sort of the Americans tried, just thought we could march into China and do well. And that did not happen. And last year we saw the fallout of basically every automaker who attempted that. And now this feels like the first moment where we are seeing some very specific, okay, we've We took our losses, we have regrouped, and now we're going to try a different tack. And what by that, I mean, like, look at now Porsche has come out

23:33 and announced, okay, this is our plan. Now that we've faced up to the fact that we failed miserably in China, this is our new plan. We're reducing volume. We're raising prices, et cetera, Jaguar for better or worse. went dormant, literally went dormant for multiple years. And now here's this car and they're saying, okay, this is our plan. We may not like it. We may like it. I don't know, but they're saying this is it.

23:59 We're not going to like that.

24:01 So do you feel that? Do you feel that this is like the first moment when automakers are like, okay, this is, here's our new plan because we just spent two years flailing.

24:10 No, I think no. In the case of Jaguar, I think honestly, they're just trying to stay alive with a plan that was developed years ago and they're just not willing to cut their losses like they can't so they.

24:24 Have a really strong brand.

24:26 They have to come out with this yeah they're a really strong brand because they used to make yeah amazing cars beautiful designs the e-type the xjr like um i know they were amazing and then it got a little bit squirrely with the with the newer ones, you know, in the two thousands.

24:44 Yeah.

24:44 They were still okay. I think Idris Elba was driving one, but.

24:49 The F type, I think was a lot of car for them.

24:52 The F type was awesome. I like the F pace with the, with the supercharged. No, the F pace, the F, the F SUV. I thought it was a really good car and I was hoping, and I still hope it depreciates to a point where I can buy one on the cheap. Cause it has a great motor and it was really fun to drive. But this thing is, it's a monstrosity, honestly. It's really, it's a tragedy, I think.

25:19 It is kind of sad.

25:20 And maybe this will be a less, the problem is that the development time is so long. So it's so hard to make quick decisions, right? You're trying to steer a huge tanker. But for example, when I heard Mate Remax advice, I thought instantly of Aston Martin. Aston Martin is a company with an amazing brand. They still have the top design, I mean, globally. And they have, I think, an incredible chance to beat Ferrari, which is turned into just a supercomputer, a very fast and precise supercomputer, right?

25:57 At becoming an analog luxury sports car. Like if Aston Martin says, we're not going to go down the road of all the screens. We're going to put real gauges, you know, with needles back into our vehicles. We're going to have buttons and switches, and we're going to have a manual transmission and a handbrake that is where it should be, to the left of the driver. I mean, if they did that stuff, I think they would sell like hotcakes instead of trying to imitate. All of these.

26:28 Other companies are doing for- But they've proven for 30 years they cannot.

26:32 They have a new CEO. They have a chance to do it.

26:35 He's not that new anymore. That's- I mean, to me, and someone said this, it was Steve Serio who said this, I'll give him credit. He said Aston Martin is like Coca-Cola in terms of it's such an iconic brand. It is woven into the fabric of culture. And it is, because I had made a comment to him, you know, it's unbelievable that with all of Aston's financial problems, they are still here. They are still producing cars. People still love them. They're still trying to figure it out. Adrian Hallmark is a CEO with a proven track record. He's very well-liked, et cetera, et cetera, good in a crisis.

27:20 And I was just making the point, I don't think a lot of other brands could have... survived all of that, but come hell or high water, Aston Martin has, and that is a tribute to how strong the brand image is, and Steve made the comment, it is like Coca-Cola. It would be very difficult to completely destroy it.

27:41 If Coca-Cola had gone bankrupt like eight times.

27:44 Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, you can lay it out like how you think they should run their company, but I truly don't understand, I don't understand why They haven't been able to fix it. It's way above my capability.

28:02 We should ask Adrian.

28:05 Yes, we should, because we're going to talk to him in a few weeks.

28:08 I'm really looking forward to talking to the CEO of Aston Martin. And next week, I'm going to talk to the CEO of Porsche. Michael Leiters will be here in... I thought it was Brooklyn. Someone else told me it was Queens. I'm pretty sure those are the same place, basically. In the map of New York. They're both not Manhattan, and they're on the end of Long Island.

28:29 Now, this will be a great conversation that our listeners can look forward to hearing.

28:34 I mean, what is going on? I understand wanting to move up into a higher price bracket, especially with their higher-end cars, like a GT3 or maybe a Turbo S. is going to be 20% higher.

28:48 Fine.

28:48 If you're paying $ 270, 000 for a turbo already, I think you can stomach $ 330, 000.

28:54 Fine.

28:55 And also, there's a need for another supercar, right? They had the Carrera GT, they had the 918, and now it's time.

29:03 It's 2013, and they've tried to do it a couple times, and it hasn't panned out. So we'll see.

29:08 I'm excited to see what they do.

29:09 Here's my thing. It seems like you don't think that they should raise prices and lower volumes and cut back variants. But here's, I do think that, is that true?

29:20 Well, I think it's fine if they raise prices at the top end, if they make another hyper car, obviously they're going to charge a lot of money for it. Everything's gotten more expensive. I'm just still rooting for the everyman because the Porsche for so long was like the best car that was still accessible. You know, the 911 or then the Boxster and the Cayman, the 718.

29:43 I'm going to disagree with you on that because when I was growing up in Bend, Oregon and I didn't know anybody who had a Porsche. Only rich people who lived in California had Porsches as far as I was concerned. And I think historically, actually, until the last 20 years, Porsches were not attainable by most people. And it wasn't until they started making SUVs and they started making sedans and wagons that they sort of tried to become all things to all people. But actually, if you go back to the history of Porsche, the true history They were always sports cars that were for racing and they were not around. You might've heard about them and seen one once and really remembered it because it was not a

30:35 normal thing. So to me, when I hear that they're reducing variants, and by the way, I think like 23, 25 variants of a nine 11 is kind of nuts. I can't even keep track of all of those reducing variants. I don't know if they're reducing that 11 variants, but they might be, they haven't said, um, To me, that seems just like you're cleaning up a house, tidying up, because it got a little out of hand.

30:59 I mean, so in my small town, Granville, Ohio, there were two doctors who each had a Porsche.

31:08 Dentists or doctors?

31:10 The eye doctor had a 911, and I'm not sure the other guy had a 928. I'm not sure what he did. But I always knew that there was a 914. Like, there was. A more affordable version that you could buy. And I had heard tales told of the 60s and 70s when even the 911 was affordable. But it had gotten, you know, too expensive for most people at that time. So I guess I agree with you're probably right to some extent that it's always been a car for rich people. but it hasn't been something like this Lamborghini that I'm driving.

31:47 You're right.

31:48 It hasn't been something like the Ferrari. You're right.

31:51 And they do want to be Ferrari. Ferrari only makes like 10, 11, 12,000 cars a year. Right.

31:53 And Porsche wants to sell, you know, 110, 150, 200,000.

31:55 Yes.

31:55 Uh, cars a year. And.

31:56 Okay.

31:56 I understand wanting to make, they, I want them to make, um, you know, a nine 18 successor. I've heard rumors that there could be a flat eight. That would be amazing. Um, but I can't understand why they would kill a gas seven 18, which by the way, they've gone back and forth about 50 times in the last year on this.

32:29 And just a couple of days ago, there was new reporting that they have again canceled the gasoline version of the seven 18. I can't understand why they would want to kill, um, I don't think they will kill the volume business and the Macan and the cayenne. Right. Those are still. They can't.

32:46 I mean, those are their best selling. Yeah.

32:49 And I hope they still. There's always been the allure of the stripper 9-11.

32:54 Right.

32:54 Of the.

32:57 Base model Carrera.

32:59 You'll have to define that for me.

33:00 Stripper meaning no options.

33:02 Stripped down.

33:03 Yes. The base model with no options. You're not choosing a leather interior or, you know, any special.

33:15 Well, you used to have to pay extra for a second side mirror.

33:19 Fine.

33:20 I just, I hope they keep something and it would be great if it were just, uh, you know, a stripped down manual transmission, like what the Carrera T was supposed to be when it was introduced. You know, the second time when they introduced it again and whenever it was 2018 or whatever. I was so happy when they did that.

33:41 Yeah, I remember really liking that car.

33:42 Took all the options out. It comes with a manual transmission. It doesn't have anything special in it except for maybe a sports exhaust.

33:50 And then.

33:51 Bob's your uncle. I hope that they keep something like that for the guy who, you know, all he cares about is cars and he's maybe not on Wall Street and doesn't make a million dollars. And also doesn't need a spoiler. And he's kicking ass in some sales job at, I don't know, working at Hertz, you know?

34:10 Yes.

34:10 And he can finally scrape together the $ 97, 000 that it cost to buy the base Carrera or the that it used to when I was thinking about it. So I don't know. I hope they keep something like that. Let's toss it over to Corey Alexander. Our interview with Corey Alexander, motorcycle racer for Arch Racing. I feel like I've known Corey forever. And Corey, you must get this a lot from fans, I'm sure, because I watch you racing and because I follow all of your content on the socials.

34:40 And also because I've grown up going to your family's motorcycle dealership. in, uh, in Austin, Hudson Valley motorcycle. So, and like, I've been where I wear your like team shirts and I had leathers made with your, so when I see you like run up and give you a hug, but then I realized you actually don't really know me.

34:59 So it's kind of weird, right? I really appreciate you coming in, dude. Tell us first of all about what you're doing right now, because you've had such an incredible career and now, um, you just had a victory with arch and you were on the podium at a couple of races. I saw at Laguna Seca in mid Ohio and, um, And then you have had like a spinal surgery, but tell us generally just what you do. Like, what do you say to someone who meets you? It's like, Hey, what do you do?

35:22 Uh, I always, I laugh first and then I kind of look at my wife and, and you know, well look at her facial expression while she waits for it to come out of my mouth. But usually I refer to myself as a professional motorcycle racer. Um, I do a lot of different things. I'm also technically the team manager of arch racing, which is the racing team of arch motorcycle, which is Keanu Reeves and guard Hollinger's motorcycle brand. Um, so that's really my, my day job currently.

35:47 I put producer on your badge. I don't know if you saw that because you also produce the, the show that you guys made, right?

35:53 Yeah, I guess I do have that in my, they did, they did give me a producer credit, which was very cool of them. I'm not really sure what that means yet fully, but it's on there and I guess I could put it on my LinkedIn or something like that.

36:09 What do you like? 30 years old, uh, 25, you started racing when you were a kid. And I know from, uh, hanging out at your, at your dad's shop and your uncle Richie, um, that you were for a long time racing with Michael Jordan with like the Michael Jordan, the basketball player before I realized that he was into racing. Um, I was, you know, at H, uh, HVMC and they were like, Oh yeah, we, we have our, our nephew, my nephew, Richie said, you know, racing for Michael Jordan.

36:38 That's how I found out.

36:39 Yeah. So, I mean, uh, a lot of people don't realize that. And I think it was kind of like when social media really started taking off. So now probably a lot more people would realize that if he was into motorcycle racing back then, uh, I turned professional basically 2011. Um, and even prior to that, MJ had kind of helped me come up through the ranks and, uh, Richie at the time, my uncle Richie Alexander, um, was managing that team. So, you know, it kind of took me under his arm and, uh, and yeah, that kind of kicked off the start of my career. Um, it feels like long time ago now because it is, I'm 32 actually, I'm getting old. So, um, it's been quite a while, but, but yeah, it, it's definitely been a long, it's funny to call it a

37:17 career because you don't, a lot of times it doesn't feel that way. It just feels like something that you love and you just keep getting up every day and chasing it. Um, finally it feels like a, you know, I've accomplished enough things and, and especially in the position I'm in right now, things are, are going so great that I can finally call it a career. Um, I suppose, but it's still just something I'm just really thankful to be doing and, uh, and excited about everything that's going on.

37:39 Corey, I have so many questions about the start of your career, but since we're on the topic of Michael Jordan, I'll ask the pressing question right now, which is how is it working for and with like sports greatest and most notorious competitor, uh, Was that intimidating at all? And what is Jordan like in the area of motorsports versus like we all know him from basketball and a little bit of baseball? But it's been really interesting to see, of course, his team in NASCAR do fairly well. And can you just give us a sense of like, what was that like for you?

38:15 And change NASCAR, right? They kind of changed the way it works.

38:19 Totally. Yeah. You know, you have to take it into consideration. I was 13 at the time. So in that context, um, I probably didn't realize the magnitude of the world that was kind of navigating back then, but, um, and, and he was, he was involved, but he was pretty hands off when I was racing with him. So you see him quite a bit more involved, I think, in the NASCAR thing than he was in the motorcycle team back then.

38:43 And again, I was a kid, I was a teenager, so I was just glad to be there and glad to glad to get a shipment of Nike gear every quarter and be able to have a Michael Jordan logo on my helmet, but. Um, outside of that, you know, there wasn't a ton of input that I, that I directly got. So I didn't get to work with him in the same capacity. Like I am right now with Keanu Reeves, for example, and his partner guard, I, you know, communicate with them on a weekly basis. That's a little bit different. Um, with MJ, I think the main thing that you could grasp was just the intensity. And anytime he was around, you know, you just felt that in the air of he was there to win, you know, no matter what. And, uh, and ultimately it was unfortunate

39:19 that things, you know, wrong place, wrong time as far as continuing in motorcycle racing, but obviously they pivoted to the NASCAR and um that's going this year I think is their best season to date um I don't I followed a little bit but I did follow closely the whole the whole you know business side of things they had going on with NASCAR and it was interesting to see he won he won that right he always wins uh yeah that's that's what guys that are destined for greatness do so um yeah it it's, it's pretty crazy to say that I've been able to work with somebody like that. And I forget about it because it feels like it's so long ago now.

39:53 You still use his number though, right?

39:55 I do. I actually, I get that a lot. Uh, people are like, Oh, you must be a big Michael Jordan fan. Um, my birthday is actually May 23rd. Um, and there's a, the racers play like these number games. So like five 23, Richie's number was number five 23 is obviously my birthday. Five 23, three minus two is number one, which you always want to be number one.

40:13 And There's, there's all these things you can kind of play around with it, but 23 is actually my number because of my birthday. First and foremost, number five was taken. So I had 23 and then obviously paying homage to my boss at the time when I, when I turned pro, um, it was, was, uh, just fitting.

40:30 So how did you get hooked up with Keanu Reeves? I mean, is it, I think I read that you met guard first or that he was hanging out at the track where you at Willow Springs and, um, tell us the story.

40:43 Yeah.

40:44 So I actually have a business, uh, Richie and I have a business out at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, which is a racetrack out in the middle of the desert outside of Palm Springs. And, uh, that business, essentially we just bring people's bikes from the East coast out to the West coast during the winter and they can fly out and ride. And it's kind of like in car racing, it's much more popular to have like an arrive and drive kind of program. We created a similar thing for motorcyclists. So, uh, we have this, yeah, we have this, this property out there, the racetrack. And, um, And actually, uh, a different partner of mine at the time had been kind of, you know, uh, they had mutual friends essentially, and were participating in this

41:19 track day that I was at. And, you know, one thing led to another in a, in a group of conversation and I got introduced and actually guarding Keanu kind of. Got put on the spot a little bit to offer to help me at the time. I was like at a point in my career where I was just, I recall like stacking pennies. I was just doing everything I possibly could to keep racing. keep chasing the dream. And it was like at that, at that time, every $ 5, 000 I could, you know, get here and there was enough to keep me going to the next round. And, um, and somebody put them on the spot basically and said, Hey, you know, these guys, they can help you out. They've got the money. And, uh, and I was like, you know,

41:53 slightly embarrassed, you know, because obviously I don't like being put in those situations, um, or, or having people feel obligated to help me, you know, it's never a charity thing, but, um, but guard, uh, counter's partner was gracious enough, like several weeks later, just cold emailed me out of the blue.

42:08 I don't even know how you got my email, but it was like, Hey, you know, I know, I know, you know, that was kind of one of the situations, but we do want to help you. And so they ended up just behind the scenes supporting me a bit. And, uh, I kept bugging them like year over year. Like, you know, I know I can't really do anything for you from like a marketing perspective or whatever the case is, because Keanu Reeves doesn't need help marketing anything. Um, but, uh, if you ever want to come out to the racetrack and spend time at our, at our garage and, um, just have kind of a private, you know, members experience with your owner's whatever the case is, please take me up on it. And eventually they did. So, uh, we

42:42 spent some time riding, you know, quite a bit over a handful of years with, with Keanu guard, some of the arch owners and their, their inner circle and, um, just fostered a relationship really. They're just great, great people. And, and, um, I think that's something I learned from my family actually with the dealership. I think anybody who comes into our dealership kind of feels that it's like a very family orientated, but you know, obviously we're there to sell motorcycles, but at the end of the day, it's like, Motorcycles is a very passion driven thing. And when you share that and kind of respect that it, it, it resonates with people.

43:11 So I was able to, uh, yeah, just build a relationship with them and, and, uh, keep, keep doing the right thing. And that turned into, you know, obviously a lot more steps to it, but turned into where we are now with having a docuseries on Samsung TV plus, uh, cold hooligans and, uh, and a Moto America winning race team now, which is unbelievable to say in a matter of 18 months.

43:32 When you joined up with the team or when you were sort of getting first connected, was the bike the same, basically the same as what you're racing now? And I ask, cause I know it's an air cooled, um, engine, which is a little bit different. So has it, was it always that? And like, how do you approach that as a racer versus a more true or more prominent liquid cooled.

43:56 Type of bike? Yeah, it was.

43:58 Um, so the joke always was, was like, if you guys arch traditionally makes like a cruiser.

44:03 Right.

44:03 For people who don't, who don't follow motorcycling too much. So they're, they're like more of your Sunday rider type of bike.

44:08 It was like an S and S it was like a two liter S and S.

44:12 Twin, right?

44:12 Yeah.

44:13 Big crate engine and forward controls and something. You see some guy riding to get, you know, coffee on a Sunday morning type of bike. Um, they're beautiful and hand-built and so on and so forth.

44:22 I want one so badly. I just want to ride one.

44:25 Yeah. Um, and so, you know, but definitely not something you'd ever see at a racetrack. So I always joked, if you ever want to race an arch, call me, cause I'd love to be the guy. And sure enough, last December a guard called me and was like, Hey, are you really serious about racing an arch? And I'm like, yeah, but you know, my mind, I'm like, what does that look like? That sounds kind of scary. Um, they had been developing a proprietary engine, uh, over the course, like the past five years, which I, I wasn't privy to, I had no idea. And, uh, because typically they were using, uh, S and S, which is just a, you know, buying an engine from another manufacturer and putting it in their, their chassis. This is their own engine. So, um, I

45:00 came to their shop in Hawthorne, California and checked it out. Richie and I actually drove up there from Chuck Wallow, which is like a three hour drive and looked at the thing. And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know if it'll ever go around the racetrack.

45:12 What gave you pause? Like in that moment, what, What are you like sort of worrying about showing.

45:18 Any pictures of it? Yeah. It had forward controls on it. It had a big two 40 rear tire, which is like a massive, a massive, massive tire in the back. It was, it was in its pre-production form, which was meant to be the future of their cruiser bike. It was not meant to be a race bike. Um, it was developed in collaboration with Suter racing, which is a very well-respected racing chassis and engine development company. So I had racing DNA in it, but it was not developed for racing. So looking at it, I'm like, I don't know if we're ever going to be able to win a race on this thing, but it's Keanu Reeves company and guard believes in it. And I know the people behind it are, they're going to put everything into it. Um,

45:55 and you know, anybody would be stupid to say no to the opportunity just to be involved with the program. And, um, that's one thing I've learned over my career is like never, never shut a door before you walk through it, you know, like definitely explore everything and, and, uh, take any opportunity that seems like a good one and see where it goes. So, yeah, I mean, we said yes. And, And kind of to my gut, it was like, you know, very quickly apparent Keanu and guard both wanted to expeditiously get to a point where the bike was capable and, and, uh, there's been some bumps and bruises, but the cool part is you can watch the whole process. So you can actually go and watch like episode one of the show on

46:30 Samsung and see like exactly what I'm talking about. You can see how the bike was like, whoa, that thing looks like it does not belong in public.

46:37 Well, and to the, uh, I mean, the show is called hooligans and the series is the super hooligans, right? And it's the first time that I had, well, when I first heard about it, I should say, um, it instantly made sense. Like I thought, uh, that these big, like KTM super Dukes or Ducati, like multi stratas or hyper motards or, or the arch, there's sort of taller bikes. And, um, there wasn't a series for them before that. So was this series made by, uh, with, with those kinds of bikes in mind or how did super hooligans come about?

47:12 Yeah. So Roland Sands, uh, who, who's a kind of notorious figure in, in motorcycling, um, he started this series actually in dirt track racing, which is like oval dirt track stuff. Um, and he had done that for a few years on these bikes that really, the idea is you're taking something that's not meant to be raced and racing it. That was like the premise of it was backyard built, you know, build it in your garage, show up to the racetrack and see what you got. And that's kind of, that's really what, you know, what the foundation of motorcycle racing started from and what it used to be, which was very much like, you know, build the bike and show up to the racetrack and let's see what you got. Um, and so that's where hooligans

47:47 started from. It started in the dirt. And then as that kind of fizzled out, Roland took it to road racing at the same time, this whole bagger phase kind of started with an American motorcycle racing and They kind of went hand in hand very well because a lot of the, you know, the Harleys and the Indian bikes that were typically never had a place in road racing or, or, you know, getting on a racetrack finally had a place to show themselves. And obviously if you look at the industry, you know, Harley and Indian are the two biggest motorcycle manufacturers.

48:16 So naturally, you know, it gave them a home to be able to participate in a, you know, a competitive way with a bike that they actually sell. Um, and so, you know, in our case, arch looked at it, like, you know, where, where can we build a bike that actually fit and as competitive and could be competitive and, and, you know, the rules kind of work in a way that makes sense. And that's basically the only thing that existed was hooligans. And so, um, the way they run the class now is kind of nuanced because they, there's a lot of different types of bikes, some that are much smaller, um, lightweight, more performance orientated and they're balanced.

48:54 So like, you know, they can control things on the bikes now electronically and we, You don't have to dive into all that kind of stuff, but essentially it allows all the manufacturers that make motorcycles to put a bike in a, in a class, which isn't usually the case anymore. Usually you see Ducati and BMW and these, you know, bikes that you see on the, on the street more. So, um, those have dominated racing for a long time, but now there's finally something that all the brands can participate in and it's, it's created an opportunity for, um, new styles of racing really. And more importantly, fans who are riding these bikes, because the bikes that we race, the street fighters, as you call them, or the naked sport bikes, that's

49:29 the market. That's what people are buying. So obviously if you're a guy who's riding on Sunday on, on your KTM super Duke, you want to see a guy riding that same bike to its fullest potential. And now you can do that because of the hooligan class, the super hooligan class. So that's, that's, uh, I think, you know, I don't know if it started out with that in mind, but that's kind of been the use case for it.

49:48 And it's proved to be pretty successful.

49:50 It does seem to be like the street fighter class. And I'm guessing that you moved to your forward controls back to mids, at least on the arch and yours, the suitor motor or the arch proprietary motor, like revs much higher than the S and S motor.

50:04 Not much, but it does. It revs a little bit higher. You'd be surprised how I have to ride that thing. It's, it's a big tractor.

50:10 Corey, you're also pretty tall, right? Are you six, four? Did I, did I read that correctly? So is the bike at all, uh, set up differently to accommodate that?

50:20 Um, well, firstly, to answer your question about it revs right now, I think we're, we've got a limited at about 67, five. So not very high considering, um, uh, the bike itself is bigger in nature because it's got a big, it's a 1920 CC engine in it. Um, so the nature of it is big. And so the frame of the bike's kind of bigger and bulkier.

50:42 That's huge to put it into perspective. You're racing a super Duke is like what? 1390 and, um, a multi strata is like 1100. Yeah, exactly. And yours is 1920. So it's gotta be the biggest displacement. Um, until you get to the king of the baggers of any moto America entry.

51:02 Totally. Yeah. It's, it's massive. The pistons are huge on it and the engine weighs a ton. I think we're, I don't know the exact weight at the moment. We keep trying to get a lighter, but it's 450-ish pounds, somewhere around there. So the bike is definitely, I've had a lot of influence on it because of my size and I'm the one developing it. But also keeping in mind the fact that we have to actually sell this bike.

51:22 you know, arch motorcycle has to produce these to sell them. That's part of it in America.

51:25 So Hannah and I are both very tall.

51:28 Proud, tall people. I come from a tall family. So this is great. Cause I always thought, you know, it seems like most writers are very small, like, you know, jockey, jockey size. Um, but yeah, surely there's a, quite a market for, you know, people who are tall, who want to ride and feel comfortable.

51:46 Yeah, we, we definitely kept that in mind. And then my teammate is Jeremy McWilliams, who he's, you know, a legend motor GP racer, Irishman, and he's, I don't know, five, four, maybe he's very small. So we have both ends of the spectrum and the bike is rideable for both. Yeah.

52:00 How tall is Keanu?

52:02 Keanu, I think he's about six, one.

52:03 Okay.

52:04 He's about six, one. So he, he definitely prefers the comfort as well. Um, but yeah, we, we've been developing in a mind where it's like, okay, obviously we can make it all fit for me at my size, but we also have to keep in mind that somebody else is going to buy this bike eventually and, and, uh, it needs to be able to work for them. So it's kind of, that's a whole new process for me of like, not just making it all about me all the time, which is the typical mindset of a racer.

52:25 It's gotta be, you know, the end of the day, arch motorcycles participating in this one because Keanu loves racing and he's always wanted to go racing. But secondly, because they're developing a new motorcycle to actually sell. So we've got to keep that in the back of our head, which is, like I said, a new challenge.

52:40 I feel like you, though, have become much more of a businessman, of a producer, of a team leader. You're still very young, but you've been doing this for a solid 15, 16 years. And it just seems like you have the mindset of someone who's not just an athlete, but but much more. Have you built that up over the last few years?

53:06 Yeah.

53:06 I took a break from racing actually. 2016, 2017, 2018, I didn't ride much. I had my first back surgery. I'm on my third now, unfortunately, as you mentioned, but my first one was back then. And that was at a point where I was just an athlete and I kind of had to change my mindset when it came time to getting back into racing because One, you know, in general, racing is very expensive, but finding people that are willing to support it is even harder. And, and, um, and making a business, a true business use case for supporting a race team is, you know, is really, really challenging. My, my wife actually works in, in, you know, FinTech stuff.

53:45 So she's always at startups and she's fundraising and doing all that kind of stuff. And she's like, you're literally constantly just in fundraising mode. Like your whole life is just fundraising. And I'm like, yeah, you know, listening to her talk, I'm like, we're, we're talking the same thing all the time. It's just, we're, I'm selling, you know, fun racing motorcycles and she's selling business stuff, but long story short, yes, I've, I've definitely, especially in the last handful of years, I've definitely adapted a lot to be able to grow, um, my career, grow race teams and just more or less make myself valuable because that's what it comes down to. Um, you know, there's guys who are exceptional talents. There's the Mark Marquez's or Cameron will

54:19 be as of the world who literally just so talented that they can ride that out for the whole career. And then there's guys like me. I think that, you know, I'm, I'm definitely talented. Um, but I've had to work really hard at it to, to get my talent to a level that is, you know, where I'm at. Um, and so along the way, I've had to develop some other skills to make myself an asset to teams or sponsors or partners or whomever it is. So, um, and, and I, I enjoy it. I definitely would like to be able to just ride the bike and not have to worry about putting together budgets or presenting to sponsors or pitching sponsors or, you know, whatever the case is. But, um, it gives me something to look forward to after I'm

54:54 done racing, which I think is a big challenge for a lot of guys.

54:56 You know, talent is something I was wanting to ask you about because obviously you come from such a, uh, background and a family that is steeped in motorcycles. And it seemed like you did want to be on a motorcycle and racing from a very young age, but was there a point when you realized I do have talent, you know, how old were you? Anyone can learn to ride a motorcycle, but, um, what does it take to, you know, to be successful racing. And when did you figure out I've got that?

55:31 I think I'm still figuring it out. I surprised myself every time I win for some reason, but, um, I think, uh, I think it's just kind of getting up and, and just chasing it every day and just being really stubborn more or less, you know, you have to take a lot of bumps and bruises and racing. It's not like, it's not like, you know, business where if you take a loss, usually it's financial pain. This is physical pain a lot of the time, you know? So it's also, it teaches you pretty quick, right? So at least hopefully it does. Um, and I've had a lot of great people like my uncle raised professionally in the nineties and he's been a huge influence on me. And a lot of his friends, Jason Predmore is another guy. Um, if

56:06 you're involved in the sport at all, you know, that's synonymous with instruction and so on and so forth. So a lot of guys like that. And, um, and yeah, my, my wife tells me also I'm very stubborn. So just, just, just continuing to keep working at it. And, and, um, as far as believing it, I mean, I think A lot of times for me, it was specifically like when I finally started to beat some of the guys that I grew up looking up to, you know, even as a competitor, you tend to have guys you like, you aspire for, you watch what they do when they're doing something and you, you go, okay, like I want, I want to be able to do that. And, uh, when you start to compete with them or beat them, you, you start to believe it, you know, and you kind of,

56:42 you start to add those, those little wins and they, they tally up over time. And it comes a lot down to just confidence. Really. I think you can teach most people to be a good motorcycle rider or racer or whatever the case is. but having the confidence and believing that is like the last, you know, 10%.

56:57 And it's interesting. You're not saying I'm an adrenaline junkie. I'm a speed junkie.

57:02 I'm not, I really, you.

57:03 Do seem very low key.

57:05 Yeah. I mean, I definitely, uh, I've, I've been talking to my wife a lot about that recently, particularly because I find myself like I've been recovering from surgery. This is today's eight weeks actually since my last back operation. And I'm like, I'm starting to itch a little bit, you know, like I feel like I need some excitement in my life a little bit. So, you know, when I get behind the car, you know, she'll be grabbing the passenger seats. Cause she sees me, you know, ducking into, uh, cut somebody off at the last minute or something like that.

57:32 But I'm like, I need, I need that little bit. So for sure, you can't grow up racing motorcycles from five years old and be a little bit numb to what makes most people get excited. You know, I think it takes a little bit.

57:43 Do you ride on the street as well? I know a lot, I noticed a lot of people don't ride on the street, but, um, But obviously a racers, I was doing a ride in Texas with, uh, with your buddy, James Rispoli. And, uh, I thought it was so funny that we were all the journalists try and go as fast as they can.

58:02 Right.

58:02 And, uh, none of us is capable. Um, but the whole time Rispoli is like just chilling, like on a phone call with you, you know, riding at the back of, at the back of the pack. I mean, you, you can obviously ride better than almost anyone else on the street.

58:17 Do you?

58:17 I do. I do. I mean, I, I less and less just because of my schedule more. So, um, when I'm home and I have a free weekend, it's usually because I'm not at the racetrack riding a motorcycle. So like one getting the sign off that I can go spend a day again on motorcycles after I spent time away on motorcycles for is one thing, but also, you know, it's just hard scheduling-wise. I try to get out at least once a year. My grandfather is 89 now.

58:43 He's awesome.

58:44 And he still rides 10,000 miles a year.

58:46 Wow.

58:46 What does he ride, like a Kawasaki Versus?

58:48 We finally got him on Ducatis. He's got to fly the flag. Ducati is kind of how our family makes our bread and butter these days. So he's riding a Ducati.

58:55 What was he on before a Ducati?

58:57 We're a Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Ducati dealer. We're actually, I think, the oldest Kawasaki dealer ever. that's still operational in the U S believe it or not. Uh, we existed before Kawasaki USA was even a company.

59:10 Wow.

59:11 So he was a Kawasaki guy for a very long time and a Suzuki guy. So he had a V-Strom. He was a big V-Strom 650 guy. Then he had the Versys, and then we talked him into the Ducati. So I think he's on a Desert X right now or one of the more enduro-type bikes right now. Um, but he, he rides a ton still. And so for me, it's like, I know those every year is like, you know, something to cherish if I can get out and, and ride with him just because it's like, I don't, I don't know how many more years he's going to have left riding. He, he surprises us all every year because he's still out there. But, uh, we actually got to film it last year. And that was like, that was really special just because like we had, you know, some

59:46 drones and stuff, be able to follow us. And I know I'll be able to get that footage. And like, that's something I'll be able to show, you know, my kids and, And grandkids someday that like, look at how cool my, my grandfather was at the time he was 89. He was still riding a motorcycle. It's insane.

1:00:00 So, um, you do make a lot of, uh, content dude. And I guess it's part of your generation, right? You're, um, automatically fluent in social media, but you have a podcast. with Rispoli, right? And you're doing the show with Arch. You're in your third season of Hooligans, right? Does that just come naturally to you making that kind of content?

1:00:24 I've always been a bit of a creative, I suppose. Like I started graphic design in high school, really out of essence for racing because I was like, you know, I want cool posters and I want to have cool leathers and a cool helmet. So I just started designing on the computer and that's actually kind of paved the way for a lot of my racing careers. Like I've been able to do a lot of the design work and pitch decks and that kind of stuff. But I think for me, the hard part is actually being the one in front of the camera. I'm really good at capturing stuff and I have a lot of ideas, but I'm not so good at actually being the guy who's like the influencer type that's sitting at his phone, looking at it and talking to his fans. That's just not

1:01:03 it's not something I'm great at. And I wish I was better at it because I know it from a, from a sales perspective, you know, uh, when it comes to the partners and such, like they appreciate that stuff, but it's just not something I have to force myself to do. And I have to always think like, Oh, this is something cool that's happening that I should probably try to capture. But a lot of times, you know, I just, I live in the moment.

1:01:24 Corey, have you sort of followed like the rise of F one's popularity in the U S and do you see any path forward where you know, motorcycle racing could reach a lot higher level of, uh, fan base and awareness here.

1:01:40 A thousand percent. I mean, I think everyone has kind of watched the rise of F1 and how they've been able to accomplish that. A lot of it was timing, right? The show came out during COVID when everyone else was sitting there going, what do we have to watch on TV? And it was the only thing that had just kind of been rolling out at that time. So definitely lucked out with that. But, you know, I think even watching the guys who are involved with our show, kind of learn about our sport. and learn how good the drama is once you kind of understand just a little bit of it and how naturally this stuff unfolds and just these storylines that appear. Um, I think as more and more people have become accustomed to picking up on those

1:02:15 things through F1, it's definitely has a trickle down effect. Obviously motorcycling, we battle the fact that, you know, it's not the main method of transportation in America, for sure. It's much more of a thing in Europe. So, you know, that's why it's always been Europe focused. But I do think because of F1, you've seen a growth in IndyCar, you've seen a growth in NASCAR, um, and we've seen it.

1:02:35 I mean, there's definitely younger kids, especially that are more into motorcycling. Then I think there was a, there was a big lull in it for a little while because of just people aging out. So also, I don't know how much you follow, but Liberty media who owns F1 also bought motor GP. Um, so for sure, you're already starting to see some of the things that they're implementing.

1:02:56 and obviously better for worse. Yeah. I mean, I think Matt want to expand on that.

1:03:01 I mean, this, there's been a big, um, there's been a small controversy last week because Mark, Mark has didn't take part in Liberty media's go-kart racing, which they, for some reason did like two hours before an actual race. And I mean, Corey, obviously you can get hurt doing anything, right? If you're fighting for a championship, especially someone who's, got so much riding on it, you know, in terms of like history as Mark Marquez, you're not going to put yourself in that position. And now, um, in my opinion, to make matters even worse, Liberty media or somebody at MotoGP, um, has decided that they're going to add another qualifying session this time with all 22 riders on the track at once going for time attacks in a 15 minute period.

1:03:47 And then they're going to add, uh, a separate qualifying for the race, but for some ass backward reason they put it before the sprint. Like it just doesn't make any sense at all to me. Um, I feel like whoever's running MotoGP just isn't thinking.

1:04:01 Yeah. I, it's definitely peculiar. It's also funny to see kind of all the riders come out and start saying they liked it.

1:04:06 So it's one of only the VR 46 riders like it, right? Only Pecco and Bez and like the Italians and um, have been behind it. And everybody else was like, this makes no sense. It's dangerous. We're going to hurt ourselves much more. So it's like the storyline of, uh, Valentino Rossi versus Mark Marquez just continues to grow and flourish.

1:04:30 And it's totally, totally. But also, you know, I mean, I think from Liberty's perspective, they don't really care about the convenience for the racers. They care about producing a good show. So, you know, um, you can only hope and trust that they're doing something that makes sense from some angle, which is the idea of getting more people to watch racing, motorcycle racing specifically. So, um, I think hopefully we'll see that trickle into America. I can't, can't say it'll have the same effect as F1 did, but if it has any of the same thing, it'd be, it'd be great. And also because of the fact that there's not a lot of Americans, still not a lot of Americans in F1 either, honestly, but, um, motorcycle racing,

1:05:06 especially there's not a lot of Americans. So we're kind of all hoping in Moto America, especially that it opens some doors and puts some, some light on, on us and, you know, gives us some opportunity. And I think what we're doing with our show too, also kind of does that in a way at the same time, there's a lot of, you know, rising tides happening right now at this moment.

1:05:25 So, I mean, I think what you guys did super hooligans and king of the baggers were the two things that Moto America did differently that made me, um, start to want to watch more. And then your show, obviously it helps to have Keanu Reeves involved and, um, you know, it's not just his star power. It's, we, we can't not talk about the arch motorcycle. Like this is for guys who like American cruisers and I'm one of them now, you know, I grew up on Ducatis, but I can't constantly be chasing lap times on the Taconic. Right. So I like to ride slower and take my time and I got, you know, first a Sportster and then a fat Bob and then a street glide. But what I really want is an arch motorcycle because it's like a

1:06:15 work of art as well as, you know, um, a big inch motor. And I mean, I think you have really brought more attention to moto to moto America and motorcycle racing here. And I wonder what they think. Do you, do you see that feedback in the numbers as well?

1:06:31 Yeah. I mean, there's a bunch of stuff they put out not too long ago talking about that. Samsung has definitely been a big help with that in general. It's free. If you have a Samsung product, any Samsung product, you can watch it. So that unlocks a lot of visibility there. But yeah, for sure, the Keanu factor kind of opens the door, at least for our show, right? And what we're doing, it opens the door. But I think the fact that it's really well-produced And there's a lot of really good characters in it and people that's, that's what racing is, right? You kind of fall in love with a character or your rider, right? And then you're cheering them on. And once you're invested, you're invested. And that's,

1:07:07 that's what we need to really focus on as a sport is getting people to invest in the riders and the characters. So yeah, it's, I think to your point, what you said about baggers and Moto America kind of thinking outside the box a little bit has definitely helped that along. Like you have to be willing to take some risks to do things that aren't exactly what everybody else is doing.

1:07:25 You seem like you, uh, sort of straddle East coast and West coast writing very well. I'm very curious to hear your take on, do you see differences in the way people ride in California versus in the tri-state area? And please tell us your unvarnished opinion. Cause I, I think they do ride quite differently, but your take.

1:07:48 Totally, totally. Um, I can only speak to the racetrack for sure, but I do spend a lot of time down in New Jersey at the racetrack.

1:07:54 There and Um, New Jersey motor sports.

1:07:57 New Jersey motor sports park. Yes. And for sure. How do I put this politely?

1:08:02 Uh, you don't have to put it.

1:08:04 In people in California. It definitely seemed to have a lot more respect, uh, for, for riding on the track and just for people that they're riding around. I think it comes with a little bit more of just the fact that people spend a lot more time riding before they come to the racetrack.

1:08:18 Right.

1:08:18 And where it like in the East coast. people literally buy, you know, a brand new Pentagali V4R and come out to the racetrack as a novice, you know, and have no business being out there. And they're just, you know, blowing your doors off on the front straightaway and then parking it in the corner and then pissed off when you pass back, you know, just things like that. Um, California, there's a lot less ego. It seems like, um, because there's also levels to it. Like there's, there's a lot of professional guys who live out there and train out there and ride out there. So reality is, even if you're the track day hero who's winning the track day as a local guy and you're fast, there's going to be somebody faster than you at any racetrack on any

1:08:53 given day in California where New York, it's not so much the case, or New Jersey rather. you know you're not you're not going to get a ton of pro guys out there on a regular basis so i think you have a little bit of that and just the you know the tri-state area mentality it's it's uh it's a thing right if you drive on the highway in new york and you go to drive on the highway in california you can see the.

1:09:12 Difference Do you have any strong opinions on the electric bikes, you know, that we've seen?

1:09:30 You mean the delivery bikes? No, no.

1:09:33 Like Harley is the live wire.

1:09:35 Oh, live wire.

1:09:36 Yeah. And I ask because, you know, out in California, there's a lot of conversation around, you know, electric bikes aren't as safe because there's not a lot of noise associated with them. So when you're, you know, lane splitting or whatever, no one can hear you. Um, do you have a thought on that? Yeah.

1:09:54 I mean, I think there's something to be said for that. The other problem in California is you can't put an exhaust on anything. So, you know, I think they're trying to dismantle that argument just by banning, banning all exhaust from an emission standpoint. But, um, you know, I mean, I think I'm a big, a big advocate for the electric dirt bike, uh, Enduro motocross thing, especially, um, and especially in New York because it's become such an issue for, for being able to have a place to ride. And, you know, especially I live in, you know, Dutchess County and it's like, you can't even have an acre of property and ride on your own property because your neighbor's probably going to call the cops on you if you

1:10:29 have a dirt bike and you build a little, you know, track in your backyard. Whereas you get an electric dirt bike and that goes away, right? They can only complain about the dust at that point. So it opens the door and accessibility wise for kids and people just to be able to continue loving the sport and not worry about their local track getting shut down because somebody built, you know, a townhouse complex next door. Um, as far as the street goes, I mean, I think, um, uh, I'm, I'm an advocate for anything that gets people to ride a bike. So if people are intrigued by the accessibility and maybe a little bit less intimidation by being able to get on an automatic electric bike, then, then great. Um,

1:11:06 I'm a purist when it comes to the racing, like I, you know, I like to hear things and I like to feel things. And I think the visceral side of riding a motorcycle is very much something that people are attracted to. And if you lose that, I don't know if it's quite the same anymore. Um, but you know, the hooligan class, we, we race against an electric bike.

1:11:23 Josh Heron competed this year and got on the podium on an electric bike against ice, you know, internal combustion bikes. So, uh, it's called, um, uh, what's the name of the company that they race drawing a blank on it? Um, light fighter. Um, but nonetheless, you know, that's how universal the classes and that's exciting. I mean, it's cool to be able to have that and there's people who are strongly for it and they're constantly rooting for Josh on the electric bike to beat the gas bikes and vice versa. So I think it's a good thing. I have this really far out theory that once all the cars drive themselves, people are going to be much more attracted to riding motorcycles because one of them will be safer when all the

1:12:01 cars aren't texting and driving. Um, and also people are going to be so desperate for something that is, that gives them control again, that people are going to get back on motorcycles. So I'm, I'm, you know, eagerly awaiting the day where cars are all driving themselves and we'll see what happens.

1:12:18 I hope you're right, dude.

1:12:19 Me too.

1:12:20 Um, I want to ask if you have a favorite bike, but, or a car before you came up here, you were hanging out at the classic car club. So you're, you're not, uh, you're not a two wheels only kind of guy, but what, what do you like? What are you into?

1:12:33 Oh man.

1:12:34 Uh, besides the Panigale, uh, V4R, which I'm.

1:12:37 Sure I do have, that is my, that is my training bike. I have a V4R that Richie's finishing up with a dealership for me as we speak. Um, I've got my, I had an M 1000. I actually have it in my living room right now. Um, my championship bike, I raised the BMW M 1000 and that for me was like a bike I got on after struggling for a few years and I just clicked and it was just, it fit me really well. They're, they're actually built a little bit bigger. So I really liked the ergonomics for that. Um, I don't really have a favorite bike. I mean, uh, I'm supposed to say an arch, I think right now. Um, which every time I get on that thing, I do have to pinch myself a little bit just because it's like, this sounds amazing. It feels amazing. It's, you know, there's

1:13:16 only two of them that exist in the world. So that's pretty cool to be able to ride a prototype. And, um, so yeah, that, that, that's kind of that on the bike side. Um, car wise, I'm not, I'm not like a big car head. Like I'm not super big into anything. I've had opportunity to drive some really cool cars and spend some time in really cool cars. Um, I have an old pickup truck. I have a 97 F two 50. uh, five speed. It's two tone silver black. Yup. Yup.

1:13:43 So cool.

1:13:43 Yeah. Um, I really enjoy that. I like anything that's kind of analog. I don't know why I'm just like, I like old school stuff. Just that kind of going back to the point of like something visceral and just like feeling something when you get in it and it doesn't have to go fast. I just like, you know, that everything has a lot of feedback and there's a lot of slop in the steering wheel and it's just like, you know, shifting and the clutch is heavy and just that kind of thing. So older stuff. Um, I've spent probably more time in an F40 actually driving an F40 on the racetrack than any other car. So like that, that's, that's my experience. Jesus Christ, dude.

1:14:16 Does the mentality for being great at motorcycles translate into being a great race truck driver?

1:14:24 Right. Um, I don't know. I, I've only ever driven other people's cars and usually expensive cars. So you're pretty tentative when you're doing that. You know, I've not I would like to have my own car that I'm not worried about like spinning out or, you know, just doing whatever I want in. Um, so I haven't really pushed myself too far, but I also don't get the same excitement out of it. I, I definitely prefer riding a bike.

1:14:47 Right on dude. Well, I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for coming in and hanging with us. It's been awesome.

1:14:54 I'm glad you brought him in, Matt. That was a good one.

1:14:56 I was really happy to, as you can tell, I was really happy to talk to him. And I still have a million questions that I didn't ask him about.

1:15:02 Yeah.

1:15:02 Um, and that he's part of this whole generation of racers. Uh, there's another Corey. And as I said, his buddy, James Rispoli and Kyle Wyman and all these kids and the hooligans and baggers that, um, are just crushing it out there. And I, I just had to, I have so much to ask, but I didn't want to bother him for too much longer.

1:15:24 We'll just have to have him back.

1:15:26 Yes.

1:15:26 Invite him again.

1:15:27 For sure.

1:15:28 That does it for this week's show. Remember to follow and subscribe to Hot Pursuit on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else you listen. You can also send us your comments. Email us at hotpursuit at bloomberg.net.

1:15:40 And check out Hannah's columns and stories on bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business app. Go there for car reviews, events, and stories that you won't find anywhere else. Find it all at bloomberg.com slash pursuit slash autos. I'm Matt Miller.

1:15:52 And I'm Hannah Elliott. We'll be back in your podcast feed again next week.