Motorcycle rally organizers pleased with changes

Last weekend’s Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally, estimated to have drawn 6,000 riders, was bigger and better than it’s ever been, according to Steve and Eric Folkestad, the event’s organizers.

“The rally was a great success this year,” Steve Folkestad of Portland said in a telephone interview Thursday.

In his conversations with motorcyclists and vendors, 95 percent had nothing but good things to say.

“The negative ones tend to blow their horns louder,” he said, referring to complaints from people who were upset that Main Street was not closed as it has been in past years.

In a telephone interview from Tampa, Fla., were he was attending a business conference Thursday, Eric Folkestad, of Camas, Wash., said he believes some of the concerns expressed by rally participants, community residents and vendors are based on misinformation.

The Folkestads made the decision not to seek the closure of Main Street this year after an incident that occurred at last year’s rally when an intoxicated biker knocked over three motorcycles in a crowd of people.

“Fortunately he only ran into motorcycles instead of people,” Steve said. “The (Police) Chief (Wyn Lohner), Eric and I and everybody involved feel like we dodged a bullet there.”

That incident was the trigger that prompted the brothers to move the rally headquarters to the Sunridge Inn this year.

“The decision was made between my brother and I,” Steve said. “We talked to the chief and that was that. It had nothing to do with the city.”

The process of closing Main Street, which is part of the state highway system, requires approval from the Oregon Department of Transportation and the city, and the Folkestads were required to buy liability insurance for their event.

The Folkestads said they will not be seeking the closure of Main Street for future rallies, which they expect to continue — and to continue growing.

Although Main Street remained open to traffic during this year’s rally, Eric said he appreciates that the City Council voted to temporarily restrict Main Street parking to motorcycles only from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. last Friday and from noon to 10 p.m. last Saturday.

“It really helped out to have that motorcycle only ordinance,” he said.

To Steve, the stretch of motorcycles lining both sides of Main Street downtown was a beautiful sight to behold.

“Motorcycle parking only makes for a great scene,” he said.

Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner said he proposed the motorcycle only parking idea as a way of inviting the riders into Historic Baker City.

Lohner said he ran the idea past Jennifer Watkins, assistant city manager and community development director, and Ann Mehaffy, Historic Baker City program director.

Both thought it was a great idea. Then all that was left was for City Council members to sign off on the plan, which they did in May.

“My evaluation would be it was actually safer than it was last year,” Lohner said.

The Folkestads agree, adding that it was a great weekend all the way around.

“We did better than ever this year,” Steve said. “If it’s not broken, what are you gonna fix?”

Not everyone concurs, though.

Linda Haynes, a motorcycle rider from Baker City, wrote in a letter to the Herald: “Tourists as well as locals commented that leaving the street open to traffic was dangerous and detracted from the rally.”

Despite such concerns, the Folkestads contend that as the rally continues to grow it would not be practical to use Main Street as the headquarters.

Eventually, the brothers plan to transform the two-day rally to a 10-day event that would be known as “Hells Canyon Bike Week.” It would begin the second Friday of June — following the same schedule as past rallies — and continue through that next Sunday, Steve said.

“We want to  involve all of the community,” he said. “There’s no way for it to grow if it’s concentrated on four blocks of Main Street.”

The 10-day event would allow major motorcycle dealers, who can’t justify the expense of traveling to a two-day rally, to participate, Eric said. Future plans also call for booking a well-known entertainer to perform and incorporating motorcycle races in the event.

The Folkestads will return to Baker City this summer to meet with representatives from the city, county, HBC, the chamber and the tourism and marketing staff.

“We met with Tim (Bishop, the county’s newly hired marketing director) and Fred (Warner Jr., Baker County Commission chair),” Eric said. “They came over and congratulated us and offered their assistance in the future.

“We’ll all be working together to organize this for next year,” he said.

Steve notes that the rally is good for the local economy, bringing bikers from the Puget Sound area, Boise, California and other sites.

“If we bring 6,000 bikers to town and each one spends $500 ... that’s $3 million that gets spent,” he said.

The two men said they were happy that this year’s changes resulted in fewer problems downtown. They will continue to work toward that goal.

Steve said next year they also hope to provide all riders with a free map and a program guide of activities. Because there is no admission gate for the ride, a majority of the bikers don’t register and, therefore, don’t have a tour book or a schedule of activities. They hope to enlist community volunteers next year to distribute a free one-page map of the city with the complete schedule on the flip side.

“The other thing that is really important is that the Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally was never designed as a party rally,” Steve said. “Our rally is a riders rally.”

From Baker City, riders have a variety of beautiful routes to travel, he said.

“All the people who understand a riders rally go out and ride,” he said. “They’re all excited.”

Those who come expecting a party like atmosphere are probably going to be disappointed, he said.

Offering a shuttle bus to transport the bikers from the downtown area back to their motels or to the campground area at Baker High School helps keep the rally orderly, he said.

About 300 tents were erected near the BHS track during the weekend. Eric Folkestad, his 29-year-old son, Peter, who’s also a motorcyclist, and his 26-year-old daughter, Megan, who traveled to the rally by car with a friend, were among the campers.

Tent sites were offered for $10 per night and included the use of the locker room showers. The camp site allowed the bikers to gather with friends around fire pits at night. And Jerry Peacock, BHS principal, coordinated a barbecue for the bikers.

“No other community offers that,” Steve said, adding that the hospitality of Baker City is part of the allure that keeps bikers coming back each year.

“They are grateful and really, really happy to find a nice place like Baker where they’re welcomed,” he said. “People pretty much have treated the bikers great.”

Eric said he’s heard many comments about how friendly the people were during the bikers’ weekend visit to the community.

“We love Baker City,” he said. “It’s our home away from home.”