Look closely and you’ll see the top/left 3 boxes of gloves are right side up and the bottom/right 3 are up side down. Three rolls of shop towels and 2013 on Tony’s championship plate. I did not plan this, it happened all on it’s own…

This is an idea for that park:

The money problem can only be solved by a rich dude. Rich dudes are building dream tracks all over the country. A dream track in paradise is possible and it can make a profit.

Space is a big problem on a small island. Build a small track. 1/8 mile drag strip with road course. Infield pits and kart track. 1/8 mile dirt oval with infield motorcycle course. Short sand drag strip. Separate entrances for street and dirt tracks.

Noise is a big part of racing but is a bigger problem for the people who live near a track, thereby greatly reducing the possible locations for a track on a small island. Strict, self imposed and enforced noise limits. Air boxes and quite exhausts on all vehicles. Keep the race vehicles as quite as cars on the show room floor. Stock dirt bikes will be too loud but aftermarket exhaust makers can solve this problem. Apply this rule to generators too. A nice spin off of low noise is the PA system will cost less and you will be able to hear it.

There are fools who will say that it’s not racing without noise and that they make more noise with their street vehicle now. There are fools who will say that 1/8 mile drags are not real drag racing. There are fools who will say a ¾ mile track is too small and that the straight is not long enough. There are fools who will say all kinds of things about how this track is not good enough. All true, but you don’t have a track now do you? This argument leads to what you have now, no track. These fools did not race when you had a track and they won’t even if they lived in a place with a track. There are fools, don’t count them.

Like many bikes in today’s economy the new Yamaha FZ-09 has some cost saving measures inside it’s forks. All the damping is done in the right fork. They did this by just leaving out the compression and rebound pistons from the left fork. Both forks have springs.

This photo shows the main parts of the cartridge from the right fork. From the left. Comp piston assembly. Cartridge body. Reb piston assy on cartridge rod. Spring. Cap with pre-load and damping adjuster.

This bike will get stronger springs for the rider’s weight. I’ll put all the compression and rebound valving in the right fork and leave the left as is. So 2x the valving in one fork much like how some forks have all the comp in one side and all the reb in the other. Total for a rebuild, re-valve and new springs is $560.

If you want I can add the missing parts to the left fork and divide the valving between the two forks like normal. If you want separate comp and reb adjusters, I can put all the comp in the left fork and all the rebound in the right fork. I’m not sure how much the extra parts will cost.

So, if you’ve been bumming about the cost of a kit to upgrade your new world forks, bum no more, LE is here.

I watched a YouTube video today, it was the story of a guy who had a good career as a baker. One day he saw the Thunderbirds flying and decided he wanted to fly. So he worked to get his private pilots license. Next he joined the Air Force, did well in flight school and was assigned to fly the F-15. He met his wife because of this, she was flying F-15’s too. Next he moved to the F-22, then to the Thunderbirds.

At the end of his video he said something I’ve heard from a lot of people who master difficult stuff, I’ve even said it myself.

If I can do it, so can you.

There is no magic to being a great pilot, motorcycle racer, suspension tuner, teacher, parent. Just deciding you want to do it. Then showing up for the job.

Really, if we can do it, so can you.

Marc Marquez goes so fast that he runs into ground clearance and grip limits. Because of these limits he changes his posture to give himself more clearance and grip for different parts of a corner. This helps him battle with the other 3 Aliens.

You are not going Marquez speed. Hanging off like MM when your knee is just skimming the ground and your foot peg is inches above the ground is worst than pointless. It’s extra work.

You are not going MM speed. You are not riding a MotoGP bike. You are not battling Aliens. You do not look cool in the photo’s trying to drag your elbow. You look uncomfortable. You look slow.

The Aliens and all other fast riders have mastered the basic skills of riding, like remembering to breath, braking & down shifting, counter steering, throttle control, lines, up shifting without flapping your arms like a bird, tucking in, looking where your going, etc, etc. They do this stuff so well that they don’t even think about it anymore. Then they add crazy skills on top of their base.

Can you brake hard to the apex of a turn while downshifting? Can you run all your laps on the same tenth of a second? No? Then work on the fundamentals. When you start going fast you won’t have to look for the track photo guy and pose, you will look good all the time.

Are your ready to earn cash racing your motorcycle?  Moto West GP Aug 9 & 10 @ repave Buttonwillow.  Lindemann Engineering Ultra Lightweight Class. $50 each Winner to 6th place. But you have to race to get paid. You know, like a Pro does.

I’ve been at a track working or racing or both, the last four weekends in a row. This past Saturday I was at Buttonwillow with the new asphalt with 5 happy clients. Then I drove to Willow and worked with 12 happy clients.

Christian dropped off these bikes for fork and shock springs and valving. It’s good to be busy!