Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

On the Job: John Sudlow

JOB: Project Coordinator of the UI’s Motorcycle Rider Program, located on Gerty Drive next to the Fire Service Institute. The UI, through a contract with the Illinois Department of Transportation, offers free novice and experienced rider-education programs on campus and at 13 other sites in a region that extends along the Illinois-Indiana border through Cook County. The program served about 3,000 motorcyclists in the region last year, and 7,000 statewide.

How did you get interested in motorcycles?
I never had an interest in motorcycles until my father forbid me to have one when I was 16. And that really sparked my interest. I’ve been infected ever since.
 
Why did he think you shouldn’t have a motorcycle?
Motorcycles are dangerous. You were always told that as a kid, right? I certainly was. And a lot of people did get hurt on motorcycles. Most people had the philosophy that a motorcycle was kind of an overgrown bicycle and nobody needed special training to ride bicycles. But in reality motorcycles are fairly powerful and there is a great danger of accident and injury.
 
Finally someone realized maybe we should have some kind of specialized training. So the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers and Harley-Davidson put their corporate heads together and said ‘we’ve got to make motorcycling safer.’ So they formed the Motorcycle Safety Foundation in 1973 and developed a curriculum that is used in 49 states. And that’s what we do. We teach motorcyclists how to effectively manage risk and minimize their likelihood of being involved in accidents.
 
How does the UI fit into motorcycle rider education?
Illinois was one of the very first states in the country that had a state-administered motorcycle safety program. The Illinois Department of Transportation contacted a number of universities around the state to see if they would be interested in administering a regional driver’s ed program within their areas of the state. Originally seven responded and now there are four.
The UI has been the most efficient and effective of the universities in the state and IDOT tells us repeatedly that we are the flagship program for their statewide program. This is our 23rd consecutive contract year with IDOT to offer these courses.

So you are employed by the UI?
Yes, everybody in this office is employed through the university — through the College of Applied Life Studies, department of community health, including our part-time staff of more than 100 instructors.
 
Tell me about your first motorcycle. When did you get it?
Right after my father told me I couldn’t have one. I was 16, and he did consent to let me have it if I could buy it myself. It was a little Kawasaki 100. I paid $300 for it. I lost my girlfriend as a result of that first motorcycle because, in her opinion, I spent a disproportionate amount of time with it rather than her. But that proved to be OK.
 
I’ve never been without a motorcycle since. I’ve been riding motorcycles for about 28 years and I’ve enjoyed absolutely every minute of it. I’ve ridden from coast to coast and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
 
What do you have now?
I currently have way too many motorcycles. Most of them are vintage 1960 to 1970. My newest motorcycle is a 1980 BMW 650. The motorcycle that gets the most road exposure right now is a 1974 Kawasaki 900. I also have a 1969 BMW/2 that’s fully restored, and it lives inside my house.
 
Do you plan on purchasing a newer model?
Well, my priorities have shifted a little bit since I got married a few years ago for the first time. My wife would like to have a little nicer house to live in. And my dream has always been to build my own house, so that’s what I’m doing right now. For the last half-dozen years my resources have been consumed by purchasing two-by-fours and plywood, drywall, plumbing, shingles, foundation block and things like that.
We live just outside of Oakwood down in the Salt Fork River bottoms, a very peaceful rural setting. We’re pretty secluded and we’re really happy where we are.

Do you have children?
One is on the way. So there’s a whole new pressure on me now to get the house done. And everybody who has kids tells me I won’t see a new motorcycle for a while so I’ll just have to be satisfied with a 1980 BMW.
 
How long have you been building the house?
Well, I started about three years ago and have been proceeding very casually thinking there was no deadline. Now with this impending child due in September I have a definite deadline and a whole new focus in life.
 
You’ve done all the work yourself?
I have a cousin who has helped me raise the walls when there was too much wall for one person to lift. But we’ve not contracted for any outside help. I laid all of the foundation block, hauled all my own materials and shingled the roof.
 
Is your wife a motorcycle rider?
She loves to ride on the back of motorcycles but she hasn’t developed any interest in riding on the front.
 
Do you fix your own motorcycles?
Yes, I worked for about 10 years in Danville at a motorcycle dealership, starting out as a mechanic in the service department and then becoming service manager. That’s how I ended up being in this program here at the university. I was an instructor for the program in Danville. And at about the same time, the UI began purchasing our fleet of 200 driver’s ed bikes and there was nobody to maintain them. So I not only taught in Danville but I worked to maintain the fleet of bikes here too.
 
Do you do anything other than build your house and ride motorcycles?
We have a five-acre patch of land, just big enough to plant a little bit of crop on it. We had rye on it last year. That helps us to keep in closer touch with the land and nature.

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