Ohio GNC rider Jess Roeder has put together a program for the 2003 season which will see him aboard Skip Eaken-prepared Harley-Davidson XR750s.
The deal has come together in part, thanks to a new sponsorship agreement between Roeder and Lima Harley-Davidson of Ohio, which will share billing with Las Vegas Harley-Davidson on Roeder’s leathers.
“I am very happy to be riding for Las Vegas H-D again and to have added to my team the great people at Lima H-D,” Roeder said. “I am very fortunate by having both Harley dealers it has allowed me to hire legendary engine builder Skip Eaken to prep the motorcycles, and my dad [George Roeder] is also happy because for the first time I have the budget to pay him to maintain and wrench on them at the track.”
Roeder will also receive the help of returning sponsors Roeder Harley-Davidson, KK Motorcycle Supply and ANCRA International as he shoots for the top 10 in the AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships.
“I can’t run this program without any of my sponsors,” Roeder said. “I am working really hard to do them all proud.”
Roeder said that he hopes to be well-healed from the shoulder injury that he suffered in a battering 2002 campaign, In the off season, he underwent surgery on the shoulder to repair damage done at the Springfield Short Track, labor day weekend.
“I have been in therapy for about a month,” Roeder said. “I’m satisfied with my progress. The shoulder feels solid. I still have to take things slow, but I should be almost 100 percent come Daytona time.”
