Episode 38, in which we chat with comedian Alonzo Bodden

Hello and welcome to Episode 38. I’m excited about this episode because my guest is Alonzo Bodden, a comedian I’ve seen not only on television (he won Season 3 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing and he’s been on all the good late-night talk shows), but listen to regularly through his appearances as a panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me. You know he’s on the show because he’s a gearhead like the rest of us, a tried-and-true motorcyclist, and though we talk about his craft and career a bit, most of the conversation is, of course, focused on motorcycles and the people who ride them.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best connection over Skype when we talked, so there are a few things that are tough to understand. I’ve tried to gather my memories of the conversation and use my skills of deduction to piece together the chunks that are missing enough to let you know what he’s talking about.  There’s two where it’s hard to understand the name of the person; the first is when he mentions an actor who is also a member of the Boozefighters MC – that is Robert Patrick, perhaps most well known for his role as the relentless, frightening T-1000 in Terminator 2. The second is Kathleen Madigan, who Alonzo says is “one of the funniest people in the world” – and I have to agree with him on that.

Alonzo mentions some things during the conversation that I wanted to provide links for to make your lives more clickable. First up is AIP Speed, the outfit that’s building one of his dream bikes.  (Hint: it’s the focal bike of the CBX Forum.) He also mentions Robert Pandya, who was my guest on Episode 15, specifically his highly modified 1947 Indian cafe racer. We also chat about Fred Rau, who was the guest on Episode 37, and now I feel like I should include a link to a random show, maybe Episode 22, when I spoke with Dakar Rally finisher Bill Conger.

If you want to know more about Alonzo, you can visit his website, AlonzoBodden.com. There you can find a schedule of his appearances, including his next gig after this episode comes out at the Improv in Denver. Check out his news, sports and politics podcast, Who’s Paying Attention?, or watch him wrestle a Ural Gear Up on Jay Leno’s Garage. One of the numerous bikes Alonzo mentions during our conversation is his custom 2005 Triumph Rocket III, which I dug up an article about for you. All in all it was a fun conversation, and I’m not just saying that because Alonzo’s a comedian.

In The News, there’s some analysis of the motorcycle industry based on an article about how KTM is dealing with the volatile global market. Racing season for the major circuits has ended for the year, but there’s still racing news. For example, Peter Hickman won the 2018 Macau Grand Prix on a BMW S 1000 RR, and Justin Morgan won the 2018 Baja 1000 on a Honda CRF450X, beating everybody including the super fancy race trucks. Back in Episodes 31 and 32, we heard from Curtiss CEO Matt Chambers, and they’re featured in an electric segment because they’re launching a crowdfunding campaign for investors. In other electric news, there now exists a 132-pound 3D-printed electric motorcycle called the Nera E-Bike. That is seriously exciting news!

Starting next week, I’ll be doing another podcast called One Day With Us. The format will be familiar to regular listeners; the major difference between that show and this one will be that on ODWU, every guest will be a member of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. I hope you’ll join us! The episodes will be posted on the MOA website, so be sure to check that out.

In addition to the audio podcasts, we’ve also got some video stuff going on. There’s Nicht Uber Max, a channel of BMW-related (for now) tech videos; Motorcycle Test Kitchen!, in which I (and some guests in the future) do reviews of motorcycle gear and accessories; and my personal YouTube channel called Moto Chiba, on which I’ve recently started posting some vlogs. The first two episodes spin the story of how I came into possession of my KTM 990 Adventure. Subscribe and enjoy!

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Episode 39 will feature a discussion with Jenny Morgan, a British woman travelling the United States on a 300cc BMW motorcycle and will be out on Monday, 10 December. Until then, we’ll see you out there somewhere on the road – or off it! Ride safe.

Chasing the Horizon is brought to you by the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America and Dunlop Motorcycle Tires. Please take a moment and join the CtH mailing list; it’s the only way to win anything in the (infrequent) giveaways and other promotions we have. Follow us on social media (Facebook | Twitter | Instagram) and find us on all the major podcast outlets for your mobile device (iTunes | Google Podcasts | Google Play Music | PlayerFM | Stitcher | TopPodcastpodfanatic | fm). Thanks for listening!

2 thoughts on “Episode 38, in which we chat with comedian Alonzo Bodden”

  1. So now I’ve GOT to make Americade in 2019. Enjoyed the chat with Alonzo Borden, Wes.

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