The Siren Song Of Sponsorship #7
Racers Michael Gougis and Ed Sorbo talk about what it actually takes to earn support from sponsors, for the club racer and professional racing teams alike. A serious, in-depth discussion of stickers takes place. The neighborhood cat Plaid makes a cameo appearance but refuses to comment.
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Blanket
Peter sent his Triumph Tiger forks wrapped up in this nice blanket as packing. His getting his forks back with new seals & oil, better than stock chrome, powdered coated feet, stronger springs, good valving and his blanket.
Follow up photo of the installed forks. Â Note the Bimota in the background. Â It has LE too.
Shop and Trailer
Time for some shop and trailer photo’s. Send me your’s along with some notes and I’ll use the good ones for more Blog Posts. Below is the Me Wall of my shop, how I transport my tool box in my trailer and my pit set up at the track.
Chrome Shop
A tour of the shop I send forks to for re-chroming.
Step one is to grind off the old chrome down to bare steel: Â This lathe is in operation, you can see the coolant flowing over the grinding wheel and the tube.
Step two is applying the new chrome by electroplating in this big tank: The balls floating on top help keep bad stuff from getting into the air.
After the new chrome is on the tube it must be ground down to the correct size and smoothness: This lathe is not operating, the tube has just come from the tank.
The final step is back on the first lathe for finishing.
Plan on a month (sometimes more) from the time your tubes leave my shop till I get them back. That’s a long time but the work they do here is great.
Pro Racing Needs Eyeballs #6
Racers Ed Sorbo and Michael Gougis talk about why free TV – not paid TV – is so important for pro racing. A discussion ensues as to what racing and religion have in common, and what a highside on the moon might look like.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Next U.S. Road Racing World Champion #5
Racers Michael Gougis and Ed Sorbo talk about where the next World Champion motorcycle road racer born in the U.S. is coming from. A discussion ensues as to whether it would be cooler to have Batman’s utility belt or Felix’s magic bag of tricks.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Coasting
Verb. To be awake just enough to know that you are still sleeping, warm and snug with no great need to get up yet.
Usage: I coasted till 11:30 am today, it was great.
The Answer Is Blowing In The Wind
Want to keep the awning on your RV from getting lose and flapping in the wind?
Drag Racing
What does a 200 pound drag racer with a 12 inch extended swing do to hold up the back of his CBR1000RR for street riding and drag racing? He sends his shock to Lindemann Engineering for a much stronger spring and a re-valve. Little did he know that he would get set up instructions so he can change the clickers for best street riding and best drive out of the hole at the strip. Hey Marcus, remember to change it back to the street setting when you leave the track!
Cost of Racing
Over at MotorBikeRacing.blogspot MG has another good post up about the cost of racing. He’s talking about the BS’ness of rules to make racing costs less when the Factories are involved.
How does this apply to club level racing? The same way. You are going to spend all the money you can/have. The smart think to do is, pick the bike and class or classes that you can afford to compete in. Not just on the money scale but also on riding and tuning skill scale.
Every time the rules are used to try to reduce costs we just spend the money on something else. That does not mean the rule makers can ignore the costs of stuff. It does mean that cost control is up to you.