Peter Starr (fifth from left) and the 2012 Grand Riders tour participants in Taiwain.
Film maker and motorcycle enthusiast Peter Starr will lead 20 riders 55 years old or older on a tour of Taiwan in Grand Riders 2013, September 25-October 7, 2013, his second Grand Riders tour. Starr led the first tour in 2012 after meeting 11 of the original 17 Grand Riders, a group of geriatric motorcycle enthusiasts made famous in a 3-minute Internet video that went viral upon its release in 2007.
That video, since viewed almost 5 million times, inspired Starr’s 2011 Taiwan visit (Motorcyclist published Starr’s account of meeting the Grand Riders in its April 2012 issue) and the subsequent 2012 tour, and he’s doing it again as he prepares to lead riders on another tour, but this time on Harley-Davidsons instead of scooters as in 2012. Eleven of the original Grand Riders will join the group for two days, and the approximately 700-mile tour of the island will conclude at BIKERTOPIA, celebrating Harley-Davidson’s 110th anniversary, in Kaohsiung on Taiwan’s southwest coast. Participants will then board Taiwan’s high-speed “Bullet Train” (top speed 186mph!) for a high-speed blast north to Taipei.
A critically acclaimed film maker, Starr has produced more than 30 television specials on motorcycling and motorsports and was the first film maker to mount a film camera on a race bike (at the AMA National Race at Laguna-Seca in 1980). He tells us that five of the 10 riders from 2012 have already signed up and additional five have reserved spaces, so you’ll probably want to act fast to secure your place in what’s certain to be an amazing adventure. And don’t forget, you have to be 55 years old or older to play. Proof, we think, that age does indeed have its benefits! Contact Peter Starr at (310) 312-0012, email info@Americangrandriders.com or visit his Facebook page. — Richard Backus
