This text just in from Bill: Garage looks amazing!

Thank you Bill. Bill has it tough because one car parks in his garage along with the washer and dryer. Still it’s a two car garage so with the race bike on the side next to his work bench and tools hanging from the peg board I think we can call it a Shop/Garage.

When you find a mess in your garage,
When your threatened by a pile of junk,
When it looks like you will take a lickin’,

(puk, puk, puk, puk)

There is someone waiting,
Who will hurry up and rescue you,
just Call for EDventure Racing!

(puk, ack!)

Ed, if you’re afraid you’ll have to overlook it,
Besides you knew the job was dangerous when you took it

(puk, ack!)

He will drink his super sauce
And throw the mess for a loss
And he will bring race bikes in alive and kickin’

(puk, puk, puk, puk)

There is one thing you should learn
When there is no one else to turn to
Call for EDventure Racing!

(puk, puk, puk, puk)

Call for EDventure Racing!

(puk, ack!)

My pit strolling and card distribution process paid off in the form of better handling bikes for two racers this weekend.

Dan became only the second person to have his set up measured by my new invention the EGS. EGS can determine swing arm angle and trail, the two geometry numbers that I’m most concerned with. With my suspisions about the geometry of Dan’s Ducati 900 SS confirmed Dan’s crew made big changes to the geometry and I moved the clickers around. Dan loved the changes so much that when he gets back to the shop he’ll make even bigger changes that we could not do at the track.

Pitted next to Dan was his friend Dave, riding another Ducati, this one a 1098. Dave had a fun weekend that included riding his Supermoto bike in a pit and getting a surprise bath from a lake of rain water that was laying in wait for him on top of his awning. As needed as the bath may have been, Dave’s best move was paying enough attention to the success that his friend was having with the crazy changes we made and deciding to try similar big changes to his set up. They worked.

Both bikes are now more stable, change direction better with less effort, hold the line better and have more feel. If this sounds like a contradiction to you, more stable but able to change direction easier, my answer is that your understanding of the dynamics of motorcycle racing is incomplete.

What I do is different from suspension guys because I change the geometry and the damping. But more importantly I help you understand how it works with you.

Buttonwillow is still here and so am I. I say this because Buttonwillow has a bunch of blind sections. There are three hills that block your view of the next part of the track. You have to learn the line, then trust that the track will still be where it was last time when you come around at full speed on the next lap.

The weather was perfect yesterday when Dave and I were blasting around the track all day in a TheTrackClub.com track day.

TheTrackClub.com and EDventure Racing have a deal that allows me to ride free when one of my clients buys a track day, this deal seriously cuts your cost to hire me for a day of on track coaching. Yesterday was my first experience with TheTrackClub.com. The Ninja Twins were right, the event was well run with an emphasizes on maximizing our track time. We’ll be back.

Dave has been renting a Ninja from Feel Like A Pro and yesterday he put money down on one of his own.

The weather is perfect again today and will be on Sunday as well. WERA practice is going on now. I’m strolling the pits talking to people and passing out cards.

TheTrackClub.com, provider of track days at Buttonwillow Raceway Park and Laguna Seca, made a deal with EDventure Racing. When an Edventure Racing client buys a track day the fee for Ed to ride and do lead/follow is waved. That’s a big savings for you.

I’ll be at Buttonwillow for the Friday May 7th TheTrackClub.com track day. I’ll be set up in RV spot 15C. Then I’ll stick around for the WERA races on Saturday and Sunday, May 8th & 9th.

If you want to join us for one, two or even three fun filled days at Buttonwillow call or e mail right away!

EDventure Racing clients at this past weekends WSMC race included Tony on his ‘08 250 Ninja and my ‘90 TZ 250, Dennis on a RacebikeRentals.com 250 Ninja, the Ninja Twins, Andrew & Niccole, on their matching 250 Ninja’s, Tom on his 250 Ninja, Michael on his SV650 & SV500, Wendy on her 250 Ninja and brothers Guy & Allen also on 250 Ninja’s.

All had fun blasting around in the sunshine. All had good and bad laps. All learned stuff. All are working on doing stuff better. All are subconsciously making their stories better as you read this blog.

Wendy has been named the “Queen of the Ninjas” or “Ninja Queen” for short.

EDventure Racing started sponsoring the New Racers Race. All new racers get a coupon good for $50 off on their first day of Crew Chiefing & Coaching by me. The class is now called the EDventure Racing New Racers Race and I, for one, got a kick out of hearing that on the PA and seeing it on the schedule. If you did not get your coupon call the WSMC office and ask them to mail one to you or bring me proof that you were in a New Racers Race when you sign up with me.

I won’t be at the May WSMC race weekend because I’ll be Crew Chiefing for Elena Myers at the Infineon AMA race on that same weekend. In fact I’ll be working with Elena for the rest of the AMA season. This is good news for me because Elena is fun to work with and her speed will help improve my understanding of race set up. The learning never ends and the journey begins with a single step.

After Infineon I travel to Canada for the Honda CBR125R Challenge School at the Mosport Development Track on May 21st. Then to Circuit ICAR for round one of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. I’m the coach for the riders in the 125R Challenge and the pit parking dude for PCSC. Sometimes the parking gig can be a tough job when everyone wants the same spot but mostly everyone is willing to compromise and it all works out. The coaching gig rocks because I get to ride and race with the kids so I get my racing fix too.

What all this work means for my WSMC customers: Between the AMA and PCSC schedule, I’ll miss most of the summer WSMC races. June is a maybe right now then I’ll miss everything till September. So if you are thinking about hiring me we need to pick a track day that works for both of us. I’ll be home between rounds and there are “lots and lots” of track days so give me a shout and we can pick a date.

I’ll be at Willow Springs for the April WSMC weekend. I hate getting up crazy early so I drive up on Thursday afternoon and get all set up in the Roadracing World garage. Friday is a track day with Track Daz. Saturday is WSMC practices and the races are on Sunday. I’m doing a group rate for this event so call, e-mail or stop by at the track and we can work out a deal based on what you need.

For immediate release:
Date: April 1st, 2010
Location: Secret Track

At a secret test track near EDventure Racing‘s World Headquarters, Jeremy Burgess and Valentino Rossi are taking a break from a full day of rider coaching and crew chief work with Edventure Racing’s Ed Sorbo. This impromptu break came about when a surprise delivery of pie showed up from members of the WERA BBS. “When I find out who told them where my Secret Test Track is I’ll make Mongo eat Cake!” Said Sorbo. “This Pi is good,” said Jerry. “Please sir, may I have some more,” said Val.

On a serious note, Sorbo reports that the day’s test schedule is going well after a few small hurdles early on. “Jerry had his screw drivers in the wrong drawer and he says ’spanners‘ instead of wrenches. Val likes to sleep in and keeps mumbling things about a bunch of World Championships when I tell him to do anything differently.” Still, Sorbo predicts continued increased for Val and Jerry. “Jerry and Val have done OK so far. But they realized that they needed my help in order to truly succeed,” said Sorbo.

About Jerry and Val: If you don’t know, you need a subscription to Roadracing World.

About EDventure Racing: Ed Sorbo provides Coaching and Crew Chief services to racers and track day riders. More info at edsorbo.blogspot.com

The pressure was on for me this past weekend for the AMA races at Cal Speedway. I was asked to be Elena Myers Crew Chief on her RoadracingWorld.com RMR Suzuki team.

The team had the bikes ready for me. My job was to make sure Elena had what she needed and to dial in the settings. The team is a good one, you may have heard of Elena’s team mate, Danny Eslick, he has a big number one his bike. The same guys who build Danny’s bikes, Barry McMahan and Mike “Foot” Earhart also build Elena’s bikes.

We made a few small changes in practice working on our race set up and learning about the new Dunlop AMA Spec tires. We earned a front row starting spot for both races by being 4th fastest in Qualifying on Friday when Saturdays Q was canceled because of heavy winds.

Saturday’s race was a short one for us. Elena and another rider bumped on the start resulting a crash and some repair work for us. With help from all the RMR Suzuki and RoadracingWorld.com crew our bike was ready to go after the red flag but our rider needed X-Rays of her shoulder so we started prepping for round two on Sunday.

Sunday’s weather was perfect and Elena was sore but ready to try. Practice went well until we flipped the bike in T-4.

Elena got a good start from the outside of the front row on her B bike and the fight was on. We battled for 2nd early on but the sore shoulder held us back a little. We dominated the fight for 4th and held a big lead over 5th when a red flag came out on lap 15 of 17 ending the race early.

Working with Elena, her team and her parents was the best kind of challenge. We worked hard to accomplish a difficult goal and we did a good job.

Hyper Cycle had a track day at Cal Speedway on Monday and Dave hired me for some Personal Coaching. I had my RV at the track so Dave dropped his bike off with me Sunday night. We took advantage of my track gate knowledge and did a track walk Sunday night. Dave thought it was cool sneaking onto the track with Elena Myers Crew Chief.

Dave and I did lead/follow all day on Monday with debriefs after each ride. Dave now has a bunch of new skill sets to practice with and is already thinking about when we can spend another track day together.

This just in from Lloyd Johnson, a Willow Springs veteran:

“I have been racing for 36 years now looking after my equipment myself all these years and you would think I would know everything by then. But then you happened to come by! The pointers you gave me about my tire pressure, suspension settings, etc were invaluable and allowed me to go much faster thru turn 1 and 9 without the usual chattering and other issues I had experienced prior. I would like to thank you and now I see why John Urlich has you around his team so much! Thanks again” ….. WSMC #43 Lloyd Johnson

The March WSMC race weekend was another good one. As you can see, Lloyd is happy. Michael went 1.5 seconds faster than he ever has after using the same PSI info that I gave Lloyd. Wendy and Tony did well. The Ninja Twins and both dogs are happy.

Stay tuned to this channel for more updates.