Alanf's blog...

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Its been a busy and exciting year. Work has been crazy but it looks like our products will roll out in 2005 so we will see some success after three long years. Jonna and I did lot of traveling which, as always, was the highlight of our year: motorcycling in Italy, hiking in Moab, visiting friends in Chicago, an anniversary weekend in Crestone, CO and trips to visit family in Florida and California. I helped a friend at some of the local MRA races with his Ducati 999 and maintained my race obsession by watching nearly all the MotoGP, World Superbike and AMA races on SpeedTV. I made it down to watch the AMA races at Pikes Peak International Raceway. I also got in 6000 miles of riding, including a great weekend DP ride with my buddy Todd. I’m looking forward to more of the same in 2005!

We are heading to Florida for Christmas, then going over to New Orleans with my parents to enjoy the Big Easy for a few days. As a result I won’t be posting any new content to the blog until after New Years Eve. Its also possible that dorje will have a problem while we are away and our housesitter won’t be able to fix it, so don’t be surprised if dorje.com becomes unreachable.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

[image from www.christmaslightsetc.com]

In the Spring of 1998, I brought my GSXR to a track day that our local riding group had put together. I’d prep’ed the bike but it was running poorly and seemed to be running really rich with the spark plugs fouling whenever it was ridden hard. It was also overheating on hot days, which seemed the opposite of what I would expect from an engine which appeared to be running rich. After a few laps on the track, the bike really began to degrade until eventually it didn’t have the power to out-drag a BMW K100RS on the front straight. Clearly this was more than just a jetting problem. Since I planned to ride the bike on an eleven day trip through the Pacific NW in July, this problem would have to be addressed quickly.

Back in my garage, I did a compression test and found that all four cylinders had very low compression. I added some oil to the cylinders and tried the compression test again, only to get the same numbers. Clearly, the valves were the culprit. I tried a valve adjustment, followed by another compression test, but the numbers didn’t improve much. Since that meant either valve seats or valve guides, I called my local shop and arranged to have the head rebuilt.

Just before I brought the bike in for its scheduled head overhaul, I got to thinking about how sloppy the second gear shift had been feeling. I called the shop back and asked if they could install new shift forks “while they were in there". They said “sure” and that is when things started to snowball. The shop called me back the next day and mentioned that they might as well replace the transmission gears as well, after all once the transmission is apart for the forks there isn’t an additional labor charge to rebuild the whole thing. “Okay", says I, “how much more can that cost?”

When I brought the bike in to the shop, I got to talking to the mechanic. Marv Rosencranz is an ace mechanic, responsible for building some of the rocket race bikes ridden by local fast guy Ricky Orlando. He’s worked on GSXRs for a long time and casually mentioned how cheap the Wiseco piston kits where for the old oil-cooled GSXRs. Well, now, how could I pass up something so cheap? I mean, after all, they already had the motor apart so how much more could it cost?

It turns out the root of the problem was worn valve seats. They’d finally been hammered into the head, reducing their contact with the valves. The seats needed to be replaced and re-cut. The valves were serviceable but the exhaust valves had definitely been cooked due to poor valve seat contact. Since I was already replacing half the motor anyway, I wasn’t about to put questionable valves back in the head, so I had them order up a new set of those too. Do you see where this is going?

In the end, the motor was over-bored to the max allowable by the stock cylinder liners. New stock valves, valve seats and valve guides were installed. A five angle valve job was done. The cam was resurfaced. Wiseco pistons were installed, bringing displacement to 1110cc. New transmissions gears and shift forks were installed, along with a new shift star. New clutch plates and springs replaced the old ones. All new gaskets and seals. The bike was re-dyno’ed making a touch over 125hp, not bad for an ancient oil-cooled GSXR. The total cost was roughly the asking price for a good condition used ‘88 GSXR1100. Ouch.

All the old parts were put in the Box of Shame to remind me not to let projects get so out of hand in the future.

Then, one week later, I loaded up the bike and headed for the Pacific Northwest, were I re-learned the lesson about touring on a bike before you’ve found all the little problems caused by doing last minute repairs but that is another story…

In the south, we have the saying “Et up with it” (short, presumably, for “eaten up with it” which is itself a long way of saying obsessed).

For the past few weeks, I’ve been reading the biographies of some of the greats of Grand Prix including Barry Sheene, Mick Doohan and Wayne Rainey.

While Sheene certainly was a playboy and a media hound, he was also so obsessed with motorcycle racing that he was willing to come back from two different horrible accidents to race and win. His accidents at Daytona in ‘75 and Silverstone in ‘82 were worse that most racers will ever experience, yet neither prevented him from getting back on the fastest bikes in the world and winning races at the highest levels of competition including the ‘76 and ‘77 Grand Prix world championships. Sheene probably carried more metal in his body than any other racer in history.

Wayne Rainey is perhaps the poster child for being ‘Et up with it. Primarily because of his complete dedication to the task of beating rival Kevin Schwantz but also for obliterating all the other competition in route to his three Grand Prix world championships before his tragic accident and resulting paralysis in ‘93. Any photo of Rainey from that time period shows the complete and intense focus with which he approached racing. The bike he rode in ‘93 should, by all rights, have run mid-pack because of its handling woes but Wayne through the force of his own will made the bike challenge for wins. It eventually cost him the ability to walk.

Finally, Mick Doohan’s gruesome accidents before becoming one of the most dominant riders in the sport provide the most contemporary example of being Et up with it. Mick lost part of a finger, badly broke his arm and broke his wrist in different accidents before “the accident” at Assen in ‘92 which nearly lost him his leg. Despite this physical punishment, Doohan’s drive to compete and win brought him back again and eventually launched his spectacular string of five straight world titles. The famous photo of the fragile looking Doohan in an Italian hospital with his legs sewn together shows the depths of his obsession better than any story possibly could.

There are other stories, thankfully less dramatic but that equally illustrate the dedication required to win at this level of racing. Freddie Spencer’s meteoric rise and rapid fall from GP glory. Schwantz’s battered wrists which, despite over a decade of healing, still cause him problems. Even Criville suffered serious health problems after his ‘99. It seems that most of the riders, perhaps Lawson and Roberts being the exceptions, left MotoGP after paying a physical toll much more severe than most racers would ever consider paying.

So what does this history stay of the current MotoGP stars? First, it would indicate just how focused Rossi has probably become after his switch to Yamaha. In interview after interview, Rossi says he has completely changed his approach to racing in order to get the Yamaha to the level where it can win races. Perhaps this history also explains why riders like Biaggi, Barros and Capirossi have always seemed to lack just that little bit extra necessary to run with Rossi. The risks they may have to take bring dire consequences and the recent history of the sport offers ample warning. Biaggi, Barros and Capirossi were all racing during the time when Rainey crashed at Misano, Doohan crashed at Assen and Doohan’s final crash at Jerez. Rossi was just getting started in that era…

I also wonder about the current crop of young riders, particularly Nicky Hayden. Does he have the focus and dedication to win at this level? Will he reject the temptations of Europe, where MotoGP riders are treated like superstars, and become ‘Et up with being a world champion? Given the stories of these other stars, should he? Maybe Rossi has forged a new path to stardom which won’t exact the price that the champions of the 70s, 80s and 90s had to pay.

[image from Mick Doohan web site

The Cycle World International Motorcycle Show made its annual visit to Denver this past weekend…

Overall, it wasn’t a particularly exciting show this year, as only a few new bikes have been announced for ‘05. The highlight of the show was definitely having Rossi’s M1 MotoGP bike on display in the Yamaha display. They also had some of their AMA race bikes on display, specifically Gobert’s title winning Superstock bike and Hacking’s Supersport bike. Yamaha definitely wins the award for having the best eye candy.

Of the other manufacturers, there were only a couple of stand-outs. The booth-by-booth breakdown is:

I was pretty impressed with Triumph’s new Thruxton version of their Bonneville platform. They are now up to five different permutations of the Bonneville: The standard model, the T100, the America, the Speedmaster and the Thruxton. While the T100 is a nice looking bike, I think its the Thruxton that finally pegs the classic look meter. If I had a big enough garage, its a bike I’d be willing to pay hard earned cash to own. Sadly, the good looks of the Thruxton are offset by the horrid styling of the Speed Four. The Rocket III’s looks are growing on me, with only the radiator really spoiling the overall look.

Suzuki was same-old, same-old. Changing the names of their cruiser line doesn’t mean much as long as they are still peddling the same stuff. I like the new GSXR-1000, though the muffler didn’t look any better in person that in the photos. Still, the specs are just right and the exhaust is easy to replace. Its inching its way up the short list of bikes I may actually buy in ‘05. I was surprised to see how stock the Carmichael Supercross bike looked. I’m sure there are plenty of unobtanium in the forks and shock but no much that jumps out to the untrained eye. Mladin’s Superbike, on the other hand, looked much different from the stock GSXR. Nice!

The only thing in the Honda tent that raised my eye brows, other than the Duhamel Formula Extreme race bike and the Baja 1000 winning XR650, was the CRF450X enduro bike. Almost makes me wish I was a good enough dirt rider to do justice to that bike. Honda also had a Rune on display and I still think that’s a good bike, if only because it stands so far outside Honda’s normal boundaries.

Kawasaki had a particularly low key display. I guess they made their big splash last year with the ZX-10R and ZX-6RR. Even Tommy Hayden’s championship Supersport bike looks pretty mundane since so few modifications are allowed in that class. That said, the ZX-10 still looks evil, in just the right way, so I walked by it at least five different times throughout the day. One of those would look really nice in the garage…

BMW didn’t have the new K1200S, so they were a disappointment from the beginning. They had the new R1200GS but I’ve already spent enough time on one of those at the local dealer that my butt can automatically remember the seating position just from muscle-memory. On the plus side, they had my buddies Chris and Erin there talking about their around-the-world trip and Edelweiss had my pal Scott hawking their tours.

I breezed past the Harley booth so fast I didn’t really notice anything in particular. The new Buells always catch my eye and the fancy translucent false gas tank on the CityX Streetfighter looks particularly cool. I wouldn’t yet buy one since they use that massive sportie motor but their styling continues to stay fresh and interesting.

Another surprise was how much I liked the styling of the Victory cruisers. The massive 250mm rear tire on the Hammer is more form that function but I love the tank/engine/tail section design on the other bikes. The Vegas is really the first cruiser that I could see myself riding (if not buying). Sweet looking bikes and I’m glad to see Victory is doing so well.

The Urals always look good in a retro way but since they are still making the same bike as when they first introduced them in the US they need to do something new to be interesting. I mainly went by there to show Jonna what old Beemers looked like….

Just like last year, I’d have to say that nothing in the Ducati booth did anything for me. The entire line looks like its been beaten with an ugly stick. Doing a nose job on the 999R was a step in the right direction and I enjoyed seeing the cut-away motor but I still don’t find it as beautiful as the old 916. I just avoided looking directly at everything else because of how much I hate the looks. Between the Multistrada and S4, they’ve managed to completely ruin the reputation Ducati had developed for leading the revolution of making drop dead gorgeous bikes.

The Aprilia/Moto Guzzi booth was downright depressing since it had only a sub-set of their models and no real marketing material available. I hope its just that their 2004 marketing budget was scuttled when the company went bankrupt and that the Piaggio money will give them a stronger presence next year. I’ve always liked the look of the ‘04 Mille and the Moto Guzzi V11 LeMans and enjoyed seeing them again but would rather see something new like the Guzzi MGS-01.

Finally, KTM was glaringly noticeable in their absence. Dirt bikes are in a boom in the US, they have a seriously lust worthy line-up, KTM has surpassed BMW and Triumph in world wide sales but they don’t have the bucks to set up a booth? What’s with that? I’m particularly disappointed because all of their V-twin powered bikes peg my crave-o-meter and I was hoping to spend some time drooling on their Adventure (still hate the front fairing, though), the Duke (ooohh….ahhhhh) and their new Supermoto bike.

As always, I loved seeing the old vintage bikes on display and the Cycle World display with various bikes including Ward’s ‘04 championship winning Supermoto bike. Still, nothing can touch seeing Rossi’s MotoGP bike, so the highlight of the show was only ten foot inside the front door.

Maybe next year will offer more surprises.

Help me out here, folks.

Next year, I’m planning to buy a new bike. This bike will replace one of my bikes (the Minister of Domestic Tranquility has forbidden adding a new bike to the garage without first getting rid of one of the four I already have). I’m keeping the relatively new 2000 DRZ400, so my current thoughts are:

1) Finally sell my ancient 1988 Suzuki GSXR1100 (ex-Team Hammer Suzuki race bike) and replace it with a new sport bike. This is the most logical, after all sport bikes have changed dramatically in the past 16 years but also the most difficult since I’ve done so much riding on the old thing that I’m quite attached to it. Nonetheless, if this were to happen I’d be getting something completely excessive like the new Suzuki GSXR1000, Kawasaki ZX-10R, etc. I considered, as a variation on this idea, to replace the GSXR with something more exotic like an Aprilia RSV1000 or a used Ducati 998 but realized I use a sport bike for strictly utilitarian purposes. Why buy an expensive dinner fork? Besides, the old GSXR isn’t worth much so that would mean even more out-of-pocket expense to buy some tarted up European replacement.

2) Replace my 2001 BMW R1150GS with a new BMW R1200GS. On one hand, this is very attractive since the R1150GS is relatively low mileage (40,000) and thus will have a decent trade in value. I love the GS, so the thought of having the same basic bike but 40 lbs lighter is very, very appealing. The downsides to this are that the R1150GS is relatively low mileage, so why trade it in? Also, I *loath* BMW’s power assist brakes and that is a standard item on the new R1200GS. Finally, does it really make sense to pay all that money (hey, I complained about the BMW purchase price the first time around!) just to loose those 40 lbs? Maybe I could get a Touratech carbon fiber sub-frame for the 1150 for the same amount and with the same benefits.

3) Upgrade my ‘82 Honda FT500RR track bike. The reason this one is likely to crash before ever getting off the ground is that I never use the damned thing as it is. Still, I hand built the thing (with some help on the frame from Bare Bones Racing) and I thought it was a hoot to ride the two times I’ve ridden it. Something like an SV650 would make a much better platform for track riding (and racing, should I ever get around that). Factor in that a used SV would be incredibly cheap and this is undoubtedly the best financial decision. A slight alteration to this would be converting the old GSXR into a track bike, ditching the race Ascot and reverting back to plan #1 of getting a new sport bike.

I’d also thought about getting a vintage bike to toy around with (since an early 70s Kawasaki H2 has always been on my wish list ) but I’d rather have something newer right now. Besides, I don’t have enough time to maintain the projects I already have!

I plan to look around at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show this weekend but I know I’ll end up liking whatever I sat on last the best. Does anyone want to offer suggestions?

[image from Lone Star BMW]

First off, congrats to Mighty Mat for his 5th AMA Superbike title. In fact, let me repeat that in case the folks that say he’s not a good rider missed it…his 5th AMA Superbike title. The guy has a work ethic that makes the rest of the field look like its a hobby for them, he’s built a team that rivals anything at the world level and he has proved that he is a fantastic development rider. He’s got everyone else covered and I’m forecasting he’ll earn championship #6 in 2005.

So having such a phenomenal rider in the series is cause for all hearts and flowers, right? No cause for a fan of the series to complain, right? Wrong.

First, I hate dominance. Whether its Lawson, Doohan, Duhamel, Fogarty, Rossi or Mladin. I want the outcome of races to be fought till the finish line and championships to be a question mark until the final points are tallied. Mat hasn’t always had a cake walk but its always obvious in on the first day of practice that Mat is the one to beat. Second, I think Mat has overshadowed his own brilliance as a rider by his constant criticism of everything in and around racing.

So what will Mladin’s legacy be? Ex-Grand Prix rider? King of AMA Superbike? Big fish in a small pond? Whiner extraordinaire? Lets break ‘em down:

1. Ex-GP rider - Can anyone that didn’t astound as a Grand Prix pilot during the ascension of Doohan really be considered a failure? The list of riders that had the misfortune of racing against Rainey/Schwantz and Doohan is long and glorious: Magee, Shobert, Chandler, Kocinski, Cadalora, Barros, Criville, etc. Mat’s finishes aboard the Cagiva 500 GP bike showed he was a good rider and the equal of his more experienced teammate Chandler. Besides, results aside, having your name on the above list of riders isn’t exactly something to be ashamed of! Its a pity Mladin has never had a second crack but I don’t think he’ll be remembered for his Grand Prix past or potential.
2. King of AMA Superbike - If Russell can be called “Mr. Daytona", surely Mladin should be called “Mr. AMA". He has become the alpha dog of the series and all but dry humps his opponents come race day. There is no question that Mat will forever go down as the first person to own the series. Plenty of folks had spectacular seasons but Mladin is the first have them back to back (only interrupted as Nicky Hayden blew through on his way to MotoGP). But outside of the US and parts of Australia its unclear how many people know just how much Mat has dominated in the US.
3. Big fish in a small pond - This is somewhere in between #1 and #2 and could well be how Mat is remembered, through no fault of his own. The world stage, whether it be GP or World Superbike, is where the best come to battle the best. In WSB the money is no good, the rules usually favor one brand and the organizers seem disorganized but it is where national champs can face off across a whole series and not just when the other guys visit your home track. In GP, the money and pressure are astounding but to quote Sinatra “If you can make it there you can make it anywhere". If you wanna be considered the best you have to bet the rest. Since Suzuki never gave Mladin that second shot at GP fame, he may well be best remembered for what he didn’t accomplish rather than what he did.
4. Whiner extraordinaire - In 2004 alone, Mladin lashed out at the tires, the tracks, the other riders, the AMA officials, the TV commentators, the other bikes, the AMA class structure, the post-race award ceremony and even Suzuki for not putting him on the GP bike. Undoubtedly, there is truth in all of this, particularly the track safety issues but he’s managed to complain about so many different things that its hard to take him seriously about any of them. Do I expect Mat to become another meely-mouthed corporate spokesperson? Definitely not. Do I think he should forsake his principles about track safety? Hell no. In fact, I think he should focus all his energies on the important things and can his wise cracks about the other riders, the AMA officials or the other bikes. He could be remembered for making a positive change in the AMA series (as well as ruling it with an iron fist) or he may be remembered more for what he said rather than did.

Ultimately, Mat probably doesn’t care. He’ll laugh all the way to the bank and may not worry about whether he’s remembered in the US or elsewhere…

[image from www.superbikeplanet.com

In 1995 I loaded up my trusty old GSXR (and a truck load of other bikes) and moved to the mountains of Colorado. The riding around Rollinsville, CO is incredible and since Colorado is in the middle of the country I could do some summer vacations to the west coast. As a result, the miles really started to pile up on the old GSXR since it was handling commuting, weekend sport rides and touring duties.

One Thursday evening in the summer of 1998 our local riding group decided to head into the mountains for a group dinner after work. This meant a “spirited” ride up one of the local canyons with everyone converging on a restaurant. I decided to head out with the faster of the riders so that we could do a slightly longer route with the intention of still arriving at dinner on time. My friend Todd led the group for most of the way with the line of bikes stringing out as we passed cars or just rode our own pace. At the top of one particular canyon (Hwy 7 at Raymond, for the locals) I decided to take over the lead and shot off down the road for the final stretch. The bike was feeling a little “loose” but I attributed that to the worn chain and the rear shock which was due for a rebuild.

Coming through one particularly tight left hand curve with the throttle screwed on pretty hard, I suddenly felt the bike jerk to the right and heard what I thought was the chain skipping over the sprocket teeth. Now I know the chain was worn but I didn’t expect it to be that loose, so I immediately pulled over to check things out. Todd was right behind me and had seen/heard the same thing, so he pulled over as well. We both looked the bike over and everything, including the chain tension seemed okay. Perplexed, I got back on the bike (as the rest of the group had caught up by now) and we all headed on to the restaurant. The bike did the same thing once more but when I got to the dinner spot I again couldn’t find anything wrong.

When I got back to my garage, I put the bike up on the rear wheel stand and again went over the chain, sprockets and shock but couldn’t find anything wrong. The next week, I went to the shop and bought new wheel and swing arm bearings. I already had new chain and sprockets I could install and figuring it wouldn’t hurt to replace the bearings since they were 5 years old and I was thinking perhaps a bad bearing was what was wrong.

The following weekend, I hoisted the bike up onto a garage rafter and started to dismantle the bike to replace the bearings, chain and sprockets. When I removed the plastic cover that hides the swing arm pivot bolt I got a horrifying shock…

…the end of the swing arm pivot bolt fell off, where it had cracked completely through. I’d been riding, and riding hard, on a bike with a swing arm that was mainly held in place by the rear shock mount. Yikes!

I bought a new swing arm pivot bolt from the local Suzuki shop and installed that along with the bearings, chain and sprockets. I then reassembled the bike, at which time everything felt and worked perfectly (though the shock still needed a rebuild). I then pulled the engine and had it rebuilt by a local race shop, but that is another story.

The moral of this one is just that if a bike is handling strange, there is a reason. Don’t give up looking until you find the problem. I keep the broken swing arm pivot bolt in the Box of Shame to remind me of the importance of that lesson.

A lot has been written in the magazines lately about the new Motoczysz bike (both Cycle World and Roadracing World have done recent articles) and the bike is also generating a lot of buzz on the blogs and motorcycle news web sites. Add in the recent magazine articles and books about John Britten’s bikes in the early ’90s and the buzz Kenny Roberts is generating with his KTM engined Proton MotoGP bike and you have full blown resurgence in underdog appreciation.

First, let me say that the MotoCzysz project is very cool. Any time someone goes into their garage and comes out with something that is new, interesting and more importantly that actually works, it is worth celebrating. That this team have put together something on their own is fantastic and I wish them all the best.

However, with that said, I think much of the buzz is more wishful thinking than honest appraisal. Everyone wants to see the underdog succeed. Lots of folks want to see someone stick it to the man. We grew up with fairy tales about the little people accomplishing the impossible. How can you not want to see Motoczysz come up with a viable MotoGP bike? Not to throw a wet blanket on the excitement but lets look at the three most recent examples with a critical eye…

First, I’ll commit the heresy of actually criticizing the Britten. The bike was many thing…innovative, beautiful, soulful sounding, creative and powerful. But as a race bike, it still needed a lot of refinement. I saw the thing race two different times: First in ‘92 at Daytona with Andrew Stroud and then again a year later at Road Atlanta with Nick Ienatsch. Both times the bike was stunningly fast but its handling characteristics were scary to watch. At Daytona, the bike had a high speed weave so pronounced it was visible from the pit area. Likewise, at Road Atlanta I talked with Nick in the pits and he mentioned the Britten he was riding had a head shake on the back straight which was causing him to roll off the throttle before the old “Gravity cavity". To paraphrase Rob Muzzy “underpowered bikes always handle well". Its getting them to handle well with power that is the trick. Additionally, the Britten suffered from reliability issues. The 1992 Dayonta Twins race came to an end with a failed electrical connector. Ienatsch’s Road Atlanta race ended even worse when one of the cam belts broke and wrecked the motor. The extreme of this is the 1994 Isle of Man disaster where a carbon fiber wheel came apart resulting in the death of rider Mark Farmer. The Britten was revolutionary but even after years of development was far from a finished product.

Second, the TeamKR Proton which hopes to start its ninth year of GP competition next season and has long been touted as the ultimate “David versus Goliath” story with Mr. Roberts and his gang taking on the might of Japan. While the image has a grand romantic story book quality too it, the analogy isn’t very accurate unless David’s main job was harassing Goliath with spit balls. The V3 version of the Proton had great promise but other than a few odd rain races or heroic qualifying sessions, the bike failed to live up to its lofty goals. The V5 four-stroke had an even more abysmal record despite having even more hype surrounding it. Initial reports of the new KTM motored version indicate their back sliding may have stopped but it has a long way to go in both reliability, power and rider results before the project can truly be considered an effective alternative to the power of Japan, Inc.

Finally, no Grand Prix underdog article can really be written without at least mentioning the WCM Grand Prix machine. So there, I’ve mentioned it. Nothing more really needs to be said…

I’m excited to see another person enter the fray that is roadracing competition with their own bike and I think the project may generate more interest in the Laguna Seca round of the 2005 MotoGP season since it is certain to continue to get more press. That is also a good thing. But I’m very skeptical that they’ll make the race or, if they do, that they’ll qualify. Its a long way from a garage in Portland to a garage in the big leagues of MotoGP. Still, skepticism be damned, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for them since I like to cheer for the underdog too…

[image from USA Superbike web page]

I was out of town last weekend visiting my in-laws in the San Francisco area, thus the lack of new content on Friday. I already have a few things I hope to take from thoughts to blog entries early this week. Additionally, the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show is in Denver this weekend, Michael Jordan claims to have a press event scheduled for early this week, the World Superbike guys are testing in Spain this week and the AMA Dunlop tire tests start soon. Hopefully that will be enough fodder to keep the blog entries coming…

[image from the Official San Francisco City web site]

Fire one up, dude!

At the beginning of last year, things probably seemed pretty good for Michelin. They still had a virtual lock on MotoGP and were part of a full factory effort by Ducati to win the AMA Superbike series after a ten year shutout. I’m sure they were still hurting from World Superbike’s decision to become a Pirelli only series but at least that affected all the tire manufacturers equally. By March, they had taken pole at Daytona, Rossi had put the hammer down in South Africa and the lap times being turned by World Superbike riders were almost two seconds off those set by Michelin riders the previous year. 2004 was going to be a sweet year.

Now fast forward 10 months. With last month’s press release that the factory Ducati MotoGP team would run Bridgestones , this week’s announcement that the Austin Ducati AMA team would run Dunlops and the requirement that the Fila SBK squad use Pirellis, the long-standing image of Ducati’s rolling on Michelin tires has been obliterated.

In fact, with Aprilia seemingly out of MotoGP and Ducatis defection Michelin has lost four Grand Prix riders while only gaining Tamada whose Honda will apparently use the French tires. Another black eye for Michelin was the clear superiority of the Bridgestone qualifying tires in MotoGP as Tamada, Roberts, Hopkins and Nakano all had impressive qualifying times during the previous season. It was even rumored that the Bridgestone rain tires were better but its much harder to quantify that since rider skill, race strategy and bike setup are so much more difficult to separate out during a wet race. (Bridgestone’s highest achievement though was their win at Motegi where a Japanese rider Makoto Tamada on a Japanese Honda motorcycle won the race using the Japanese Bridgestone tires.)

In the AMA, the Michelin tires were a clearly less developed tire compared to the Dunlops which have ruled American road race tracks for almost a decade. It is likely that some of the factory supported teams, like Valvoline Suzuki, will continue to run Michelins in 2005 but none of the factory teams will be providing the much needed technical feedback so the tire R&D can catch up to Dunlop.

Even though the Pirellis were slower at every World Superbike round, the politics of that series mean that they are unlikely to return to the former rules allowing factory teams to run their own tires. Hopefully, with so many riders helping with development, the Pirellis will become a better tire so all those lap records set on Michelin tires will eventually fall as well. On the other hand, if the Pirellis don’t improve their grip then the vicious highsides caused by lots of power and hard tires will result in so many rider injuries that another brand may be brought in to replace them in the name of safety…

Is Michelin going up in smoke? Doubtful but it does appear they’ll have to work that much harder to regain some of the ground they’ve lost for 2005.

[image from www.superbikeplanet.com]

The name Honda is synonymous with winning. Not just winning but dominating. The names of Honda champions reads like a who’s who of the top riders across all disciplines of motorcycle racing: MotoGP: Hailwood, Spencer, Doohan, Rossi. World Superbike: Merkel, Edwards. AMA Superbike/Supersport: Merkel, Rainey, Duhamel, Hayden. Supercross/Motocross: Johnson, Stanton, McGrath, Carmichael. Honda’s might has even been felt in World Endurance (Polen), World Motocross (Everts) and World Trials (Lampkin).

So what went wrong in 2004? After years of dominating, 2004 was almost a complete wash for Honda. Even their star riders left for other factories with Rossi going to Yamaha and Carmichael going to Suzuki. Perhaps the most prestigious title for 2004 was their World Supersport championship with Karl Muggeridge. Certainly short of their previous MotoGP, World Superbike, AMA Supercross/Motocross titles.

Ultimately, I think the problem goes back nearly two decades and is fundamentally rooted in Honda corporate culture. They are a company that thrive on technical challenges and excel in their R&D. Honda’s innovation includes their multi-cylinder GP bikes of the ’60s, their CR series of off-road bikes, the oval piston road racers and it continues right up to their aluminum framed motocross bikes and their V-5 GP bikes. The success that Honda has found with their technology has lead to a justifiable corporate pride. The entire company puts forth the effort and the entire company shares in the spoils of victory.

The problem is that motorcycle racing is ultimately an individual sport. It is the talent, the determination and the bravery of one person that makes or breaks a motorcycle race. If the company puts forth the image that it’s equipment, rather than it’s rider, is the champion then the rider will ultimately look elsewhere. Additionally, when the equipment really is superior, a great rider will have to win on something else to prove that it takes more than yanking the throttle of a awesome bike to earn a championship.

Honda builds championship level riders, thanks to them having a championship budget. Smaller teams like Kawasaki (whose R&D budget is probably half what Honda’s Marketing budget is for a their cruiser line…) and Suzuki venture out and look for fresh talent. Once they are proven winners, Honda can sweep in with a big fat check and sign these diamonds in the rough. That same budget allows for intense R&D to build a bike that fits the rider. That same budget allows constant testing, allowing the rider to learn the bike and give more feedback to the R&D side. That same budget hires top wrenches. All that money buys a championship and builds a world class rider. Honda are truely the king builders of motorcycle racing.

But that same power, that same seemingly endless pool of money and that same history of dominance is ultimately their Achilles heel. As Honda pounds their chest and exclaims their superiority, their riders are secretly talking with Yamaha or Suzuki or Kawasaki or Ducati or someone else to see if they can return to underdog status. If they can then beat Honda, they’ll go down forever as a great.

What can Honda do? Well, giving their riders more credit would certainly help but I think they will always be a victim of their own success. As such, they just have to keep a steady stream of new talent coming up through the ranks so they have someone to step up each time a top level rider leaves. When Doohan left, they had Rossi waiting in the wings. When Jeremy McGrath left, they started building up Ricky Carmichael. It isn’t yet clear who Honda hopes will be their next champion but in MotoGP its a good bet that Nicky Hayden is on that short list. Whoever it is, you can be sure it won’t be long before Honda is on top again.

[image from Racer X Illustrated web site]

In the summer of 1994 I was helping out a few friends that were racing in the WERA and AHRMA roadrace series. One of these was my buddy Ray Hixon who was racing a heavily modified Honda FT500 Ascot (in an FZR400 frame, with a strange combination of Harley and Honda bodywork). One weekend, there was a WERA regional race at the Talledega Grand Prix track near Anniston, Alabama and I agreed to be part of Ray’s pit crew for the day as a warm-up for the Pro races later in the summer.

As it just so happens, there are some great roads for riding motorcycles near there in the Mt. Cheaha State Park, so some friends and I decided to ride over in the morning so we could enjoy the roads and then we could all help Ray out during the races. My GSXR was in need of some routine maintenance, including a new chain and sprockets but I didn’t have much time. Instead, Saturday night I did an oil change and just stuck on the new chain and figured I’d replace the worn sprockets when I got back. Just in case, I threw the sprockets into my tank bag.

Myself, my friend Troy and his brother Dean left Atlanta early Sunday morning and took some back roads to the Alabama border. There we met up with my friend Michael, who drove down from Huntsville, and the entire group of us headed to the track over the twisty roads in the State Park.

Despite being surrounded by tools and having some down time during the day, I was too focused on the racing to install the new sprockets at the track. At 4pm, the racing shut down for the day and we started the return trip. Michael went north but the three of us from Atlanta decided to ride back over Mt. Cheaha then pick up I-20 east for our return trip.

Rather than taking it easy I went into full “attack” mode on the curves around Mt. Cheaha at which time I started hearing strange sounds when getting hard on the throttle. I pulled over at the visitor center and discovered that the front sprocket (hidden beneath the hydraulic clutch cover) was so badly worn that the chain was skipping over the rounded off teeth. Apparently the roller spacing on the new chain didn’t match the spacing of the worn teeth on the old sprocket and basically shaved down every tooth. Uh oh.

I tightened the chain and proceeded on at a much more cautious pace but the damage was already done. By the time we got to I-20, the chain was slipping regularly and as we neared the Alabama/Georgia border, it was starting to slip more often than it would grab. Fortunately, there was a truck stop there so we pulled off and I started to disassemble the bike.

I borrowed some tools from the truck stop (their shop was closed for the day), including a long freakin’ breaker bar, so that I could swap the sprocket out in their parking lot. Fortunately, I had brought along the correct metric socket with my own tools! As with my first “Box of Shame” story, the real screw-up is that one mistake is followed other mistakes. In this case, I was working on the bike at night, in a parking lot, with borrowed tools and working faster than I should have so that I wouldn’t hold up my riding buddies any longer than necessary. As a result, I didn’t pay attention to the small lock nut which prevents the large front sprocket nut from backing off. I applied the big freakin’ breaker bar to the socket so I could remove the sprocket nut and promptly stripped the last few threads off the sprocket shaft when the lock nut was pushed off as the sprocket nut rotated. Argh!

It took about half an hour to clean up the threads on the sprocket shaft with a pocket knife before I was able to install the new sprocket (fortunately, the truck stop’s junk box contained a replacement metric bolt that would work as a temporary lock nut), tighten the chain, re-install the bodywork and get back under way. I finally got home about 10pm at night, a good two hours later than originally intended. The following week I had to buy the correct lock nut and re-cut threads on the shaft. That’s a lot of time and work which I’d have been better off spending replacing the sprockets when I did the chain in the first place.

Well, no one was hurt and the rounded off sprocket looks pretty cool in the Box of Shame.

As a lot of folks already know I’m an avid fan of nearly any kind of music. The best way I’ve found to hear live music is at a house concert, where someone invites a musician to come perform in their living room. The singer-songwriter/folk scene is exploding with house concerts right now and I have a few friends here in Colorado that host them.

Last night Jonna and I went to hear Cosy Sheridan at our friends Greg and Debbie Ching’s house (the Aspen Meadows House Concert Series). I’ve seen Cosy plenty of times over the past ten years and this show was as good as any past performance.

Cosy is an amazing lyricist and performer. Her songs range from gut-wrenching to hysterical. One of her concerts is like an emotional roller coaster. One minute you’re laughing uncontrollably, the next you are in stunned silence. She understands how to share intimate, heart-rending truths, then change the mood to something light and humorous, crafting the concert into something memorable, cathartic and enjoyable. (In addition to her concerts, she also has a one woman play, part narrative part song, called “The Pomegranate Seed” which is incredible.)

If you are really lucky, you may get to see her perform with her partner T.R. Ritchie who is another equally impressive singer-songwriter, as they sometimes tour together.

There are a lot of house concerts in the Colorado area but that is just part of a national trend. If you’re interested in catching one it shouldn’t be hard to find one in nearly any part of the country.

[image from Cosy Sheridan web site]

WSBK made for some great racing last season but I think everyone was disappointed that so much of the grid was filled with customer Ducatis, rather than a mix of factory teams. It appears that things are turning around in ‘05 with a lot of non-Ducati factory-supported teams. Diversity on the grid is sure to generate excitement…

That said, I think the Pirelli spec tire rule will still be controversial. While there is no doubt it provided closer racing in 2004, it also provided slower lap times and spectacular (rider injurying) high sides as the power of the bikes overwhelmed the traction of the rear tires. MotoGP went through this (witness the injuries to Rainey, Schwantz, Doohan, et al) and WSBK doesn’t need to as well.

• First, the kings of World Superbike, the factory Ducati squad:

So, for 2005 we have:



1a) James Toseland - James had what is perhaps the most unconvincing championship season in years. At a time when the Fila Ducati squad had about three times the budget (and access to the only factory bikes) of anyone else on the grid, Toseland failed to dominate. This is only excusable because of the complete mess his pre-season favorite team-mate made of it. I think another year, and one with a lot more competition, in WSBK will help him continue to step it up as a rider. If he can dominate in 2005, then he’ll be able to hold the title with pride since he’ll have beaten a exponentially more talented field to do it. But I don’t think he’ll do it and will end up third or fourth.

1b) Regis Laconi - Jeez, what happened to him? Last season he came unglued like a cheap paperback book. Regis has spent the off-season riding a mondo-powerful GP bike, so hopefully that will help him make the factory 999 a better bike. I think it will also give him a lot more focus because he will know what the Ducati ride can offer in the future if he can bring home the bacon now. I think he’ll win the title in 2005, like he should have in 2004. If he can’t he’ll be out of a Ducati ride and maybe out of any ride. If he does win, expect him to pack his gear for a Ducati GP ride in 2006.

• Second, Ten Kate Honda, who nearly pulled out a championship last year without any major factory support:

1a) Chris Vermeulen - Whoo hoo, what a star this kid turned out to be. With the power of Ten Kate’s engine builders behind him, he put a bitch-slapping on Ducati that hasn’t been done since Colin Edward’s thrilling 2001 WSBK championship. In fact, it may actually be a mistake for Honda to officially help Ten Kate since their underdog status in 2004 made them an instant fan favorite. I think Chris, especially if HRC starts helping the team, will be the biggest challenge to Fila Ducati for the championship.

1b) Karl Muggeridge - Carl has loads of talent, as his Supersport championship shows, and he’ll be on a rocket of a bike. Still, I don’t think he’ll be able to pull it off in his first season, if only because his teammate already has a year of WSBK under his belt. Additionally, Muggy spent a lot of time crashing in Supersport before putting it together for a season and I think he may have the same over-enthusiastic throttle hand his first year on the big bike. Either way, expect the two Ten Kate bikes to be spectacular…

• Third, the Foggy Petronas team with all new riders:

1a) Garry McCoy - If McCoy couldn’t get it done on a customer Duc, he ain’t gonna get it done on the Petronas. In fact, I was hugely disappointed in McCoy in 2004, since at early rounds it looked like he was going to regain the form he’d lost after getting punted off the WCM 500 GP bike for two straight seasons. Sadly, that didn’t happen and he spent most of his WSBK season fighting with people he should rightfully have spanked. Now he’s on the finicky Petronas and riding for Foggy, neither of which I think will improve his results.

1b) Steve Martin - Its a worse disappointment that Martin is on the Petronas that McCoy, as Steve showed impressive tenacity all during the 2004 season. Sure, he had the advantage of being Pirelli’s WSBK development rider for the past two seasons but with things more on an equal footing he also showed he could dice for the podium. I think he’ll slip backwards in 2005 because of the bike. 2004 may have been his career high water mark…

• Alstare Suzuki steps back into World Superbike with:

1a) Troy Corser - This is the best new development for the series. Alstare is back and this time with a rider that has more hunger that anyone. After languishing for years as the lead development rider for Petronas, Corser knows he only has one season to restore his reputation before he’s sent packing for the old folk’s home. He’s perhaps the most talented rider on the grid and probably the most determined too. Unfortunately, I think Suzuki will struggle getting the GSXR into WSBK trim and learning the Pirelli tires and that will ultimately spoil Corser’s season. Still, I’d love to see Corser, along with the Ten Kate boys, booting the Fila guys off the podium for a season.

1b) Yukio Kagayama - Yagayama had a up and down season in the British series. He was often winning and always spectacular but also managed to get hurt when his wild riding went a little too far. Sadly, I think he’ll suffer the same fate in 2005, though I suspect his on-the-edge riding style will get plenty of camera time but his Pirelli inspired highsides will probably be what make the Sunday footage highlights.

1c) Gregorio Lavilla - This hasn’t been announced but I’d guess that Lavilla will get a go aboard the GSXR. He was Suzuki’s development rider in 2004, including a couple of wild card rides in MotoGP, but that roles has been taken by Nobuatsu Aoki in 2005. He’s the last person to ride a factory supported Suzuki in WSBK, gets on well with the Alstare guys and is sitting around without a ride. Besides, he’s Spanish and any rider from Spain with a pulse can apparently bring in buckets of sponsorship cash. If he can find the fire he had in 2003, he could be a contender but I doubt it will happen quickly enough for him to be in the hunt.

• Zongshen may be back with their re-badged Suzukis and riders:

1a) Norwick Nowland - Talk about a let down! Prior to the Valencia race last season, a lot of PR material was spewed out about how the 2003 World Endurance team was coming to WSBK and would be a force to be reckoned with. Well, I reckon they wasted a bunch of yen, cause the Chinese team was nowhere to be seen in 2004. In 2003, they claimed they’d have their own bike in 2005 but I’ll be surprised if the come back at all. Then again, they claim to be working on a MotoGP bike, so they better learn to swim in the WSBK waters before going where the monsters be in MotoGP.

1b) Piergiorgio Bontempi - Well, he barely made the top 15 last season. At least these guys make the Petronas team look good. The Zongshen team couldn’t convert World Endurance experience into World Superbike wins last season and if they’re back in 2005, they’re gonna get hammered even worse as the level of talent and equipment has jumped considerably.

• Kawasaki is back in the mix with PSG-1 and riders:

1a) Chris Walker - This would have been exciting news, if it had happened after Walker was sacked from the Honda Shell GP squad in 2001. The Stalker on a 1000cc version of his beloved Kawi in World Superbike?!?!? But after his 2002 season fighting the underpowered ZX-7RR and now two years struggling on the Petronas, its too little too late. Instead of signing with Foggy, perhaps he should have gone the Hodgson route and returned to the British Superbike series to regain his confidence and hone his skills. I think he’ll improve Kawasaki’s showing but won’t be able to challenge the Duc, Honda and perhaps Suzuki and Yamaha for the championship.

1b) Mauro Sanchini - I think Sanchini has been racing Kawasakis in WSBK for so long that the factory couldn’t dare let him go now that they are coming back…I think he’s done remarkably well for someone who’s background was racing scooters but I don’t think he’ll beat his teammate, much less win races. Then again, maybe I’m just bitter than PSG didn’t hire Chili.

• Yamaha are also back in the World Superbike arena with riders:

1a) Noriyuki Haga - Like having Walker on a WSBK Kawasaki, this is total “Back to the Future” stuff. Wasn’t Haga supposed to be aboard a factory Yamaha in WSBK last season? Anyway, never ever underestimate Haga. His success aboard the Renegade Ducati, not to mention the PR effort brought on by his association with graffitti artist Koji, has to have Yamaha officials salivating. However, I think they probably busted their racing budget on their MotoGP “dream team” of Rossi and Edwards and won’t have the money to build a WSBK effort that can equal Ducati. That means Haga will, like last year, be fighting with second tier equipment. I think he’ll get a top 5 in ‘05.

1b) Andrew Pitt - Pitt has landed in WSBK after his MotoGP outings on the Moriwaki and that experience is bound to help the 2001 Supersport champ out in ‘05. Still, I think he’ll be the “B” rider on the team and that’s going to hold him back. Then again, Yamaha will fight the same daemons as Suzuki in getting their R1 into WSBK fighting trim and figuring out the Pirelli tires…Expect him to fight a season long battle with Muggeridge and Walker.

Rumors are still flying and they involve a few big names:

1a) Frankie Chili - What has the guy got to do? For the past two season’s he has amazed everyone by winning races and being in the championship hunt while aboard a second tier customer Ducati. Hell, in 2004 he even did it on a 2003 998. He is a media darling, he has a bigger fan base in England that Toseland and probably a bigger fan base in Italy than some of the MotoGP riders (excepting Rossi and Biaggi, of course). In what parallel universe must I exist in which this guy can’t have a ride for 2005?

1b) Ben Bostrom - Rumors of a second Honda team, including BBoz, continue to bubble up here and there. Personally, I don’t see it happening because Honda is always so stingy with their bikes. Ducati? They’ll sell to anyone with a check book. Suzuki? Just say Corona is involved and you’ve got a bike. Even Yamaha seems willing to provide bikes to privateer teams. But Honda? No friggin’ way. However, if the earth moves and hell gets frosty enough for Benny to get a Honda, I still think he’ll struggle. Maybe a year of Supermoto would build his confidence or another year of being fleeced by Mladin would get him focused but gifting him with another WSBK season isn’t gonna light his fire.

1c) Giovanni Bussei - Alright, so technically Bussei doesn’t have a 2005 ride but after the show of sportsmanship he showed by giving title-contender and Honda rider Vermeulen a lift after his crash at Imola, he certainly deserves one. In fact, if Ducati severs its long standing support of Bussei because of the Imola incident, they should get the collective finger from the other riders. That said, Bussei hasn’t shown much spark as a 749R or a 998RS rider so won’t factor in the championship either way…

1d) Sebastien Gimbert (Yam R1) - Gimbert made a big splash at this past season’s Magny Cours race and is expected to perhaps run as a privateer full time in 2005. Then again, he is the 2004 World Endurance champ and was riding on his home track so maybe it wasn’t such a big splash after all. I’m sure he’ll again be a force if he races the French tracks in 2005 but will probably be duking it out with Sanchini and the other wild cards at other race tracks.

[image from motorcycle-usa website]

As someone who rides a BMW R1150GS, I know a thing or two about ugly bikes. I’m convinced that the GS is proof German engineers do psychedelic drugs. However, it was the just the start of BMW’s bizarre and downright f’ugly motorcycles.

Thankfully, BMW has finally announced the end of the R1200C line of BMW cruisers which I think are the high water mark in BMW’s pool of aesthetic embarrassments. (Just to show this isn’t another anti-cruiser rant, I’d have to say the F650CS and the Rockster are real, real close behind…) This is a design with so many shapes, colors and eye-sores that it is hard to know where to start the criticism. That big old round tank, the two cylinders jutting out either side, short stubby exhaust pipes, semi-ape hangers and all the gleaming badness that your typical staid BMW rider brings immediately to mind. As a final insult, its has the “soulful” sound of a muffled Braun coffee bean grinder. It was even available in white, the ultimate sign of a cruiser gone wrong.

BMW, knowing something needed to be done, didn’t euthanize the ‘C but instead came out with the R1200CL in 2003. The only advantage here, is that it made 2004’s Montauk only look semi-obscene. Now, eight years too late, BMW has finally pulled the plug on the R1200C line because they haven’t been able to figure out how to get 1800cc out of an engine designed to top out at 1200cc. Whew, the pain is finally over!

Now, if they’d re-examine the F650CS and the Rockster…

[image from BMW USA website]

This year the FIM extended the mandatory MotoGP winter test ban to be a seven week window starting today December 1st and ending January 20th, 2005.

I’m afraid I don’t really understand this ban. I assume it was done to prevent the big factories from testing all winter long and having an advantage over privateer teams. However, at the MotoGP level (not including 250 and 125GP where there are substantial numbers of non-factory teams) this doesn’t seem to make much sense. The larger factories like Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki all have private tracks in Japan. (Honda owns Motegi and practically owns Suzuka as well. Yamaha has the Fukuroi track and Suzuki has their Ryuyo Proving Grounds facility.) It is possible a gentleman’s agreement will prevent them from privately testing at their factory tracks but would anyone know if they did test?

Second, the Japanese All-Japan Road Race series has a prototype class where some of the manufacturers have raced, most notably Honda and Kawasaki. Will the MotoGP winter test ban prevent non-MotoGP riders from testing bikes destined for that series? Wouldn’t having someone like Yanagawa, Ukawa or Abe turning laps on a AJRR bike on a private test track be an easy backdoor way to get in an additional seven weeks of development work for a big factory? This certainly isn’t a resource that Aprilia, Proton or WCM would have available.

Finally, it seems that smaller teams like TeamKR with their new KTM motor and the WCM Blata project need all the track time they can get in order to compete. Is a winter test ban really helping these teams? Granted, I doubt the Blata V-6 is complete enough to turn laps right now anyway but if Pramac buys the ex-Aprilia Cube they'’ll want some run time on the thing ASAP. More immediately, the Proton/KTM bike could benefit from all the testing that TeamKR can afford. In the past, I know TeamKR have had to run their bikes on rented airport runways since they couldn’t get enough track time in England to properly test their prototypes before bringing them to the race track.

Two things I can say for the winter test ban is that it does give the riders a nice holiday break which I’m sure is appreciated and it may reduce the injuries from riders testing on cold tires in Japan in the middle of December. I’d be very interested to read the various teams opinions, especially the smaller teams, about the testing ban and see if they think it helps or hurts them.

[image from WCM website]