Go to school

Time to go back to school. Riding school. I know some of you think I should go to writing skool but my grades aint gud enuf. Oh well.

A lot of years ago I attended the Original California Superbike School run by Keith Code out at the now long gone Riverside Raceway. It was a great day. I was just making the transition from desert racing to roadracing and what an eye opener it was. The day was spent on a Kawasaki KZ550 and in a make shift classroom. At the end of that day I had my AFM roadracing license in hand. I also had a head full of info that I still use to this day.

Years later, a lot of years later, I put my son in Superbike School. He was a good rider when he went in, he came out a much better rider. He too went on to roadracing with some moderate succeses...he and I and a couple of friends got 3rd in Middleweight Superstock at the WERA 24 Hour race at Willow Springs.

At this years MotoGP race at Laguna Seca I ran into Keith and told him how much I remembered and still use from his school...27 years ago!!!...he told me that he had met a couple others that had attended the school way back when. He was pretty stoked. Before we parted I told him about our podcast and asked if we could get together for an interview, he was up for it, I gave him my card and hoped for the best.

The Tuesday after the race my phone rings and on the other end is Keith Code. "When would you like to get together for an interview?" "Whenever is good for you" says I. A couple of days later I spent the morning with Keith at his home office. I took the picture of me at school that day back in 1981, he was pretty surprised. I was riding bike #5..he told me that they had recently found and bought bike #1 from back then.
We had a great interview, a great time and I truly believe I have made a new friend.

Keith Code is a very interesting man. He is constantly thinking of ways to improve the Superbike School and riders riding skills. His greatest joy is the success and happiness of his students. I admire Keith Code a lot, I have for 27 years.

The aftermath

Happy Saturday all,

A week ago I was sitting in the Media Center At Laguna Seca and wandering the pits scrounging up interviews. As I have said before, I have been going to Grand Prix races at Laguna Seca since the late '70's I have hundreds of slides (remember those?) of Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and more. Some years ago my good friend Craig and I got together for a slide show of all our pictures. A few hours, a bunch of stories and a lot of beers later we were ready for a road trip to Laguna Seca.

Fast forward to the 21st Century. I work in the motorcycle biz, so for the past couple of years, in one form or another, I'm working at the race instead of cruising around eating fried Calamari, Kettle Korn and drinking cold (overpriced) beers. Am I complaining? Nope. But it is a different experience, and one that I completely enjoy.

When you are at a race track, the sounds, the smells, the crowds, the general vibe is always exhilarating and it is never boring. This year, being part of the media circus was a unique experience of it's own. Doing interviews is always interesting...research, scheduling, timing, some are great, some are flat..but always entertaining.
A real highlight this race was the press conference with all the American Grand Prix Champions. Kenny Roberts,Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Kenny Roberts Jr and Nicky Hayden..all together in one place at one time. All telling some stories and laughing with and at each other, a truly memorable moment in racing.

After the special awards were presented to the American Champions, I had a unique opportunity to listen in on Freddie Spencer and one of his former team members remembering old times and telling stories and then the highlight..I had a 15 minute sit down with Freddie alone. What a great guy. Engaging, personable, friendly and willing to share stories. I treasure that time and Freddie said he would be willing to do it again, we both had a good time.

Another good thing about the race weekend was seeing and hearing my friend Brian Drebber doing the announcing. He's been around racing a long time and when he's not doing announcing work he's helping out Corona Extra Racing's Matt Lynn on his Superbike. Brian is a motorcyclist Heart and Soul.

After the races were over, it was pack up the bike and head home. Yeah, we rode..carrying two computers, recording gear and everything else. Five pretty chilly hours later it's hot tub and a glass of Kentucky's finest time...gotta take the chill off ya know.

Ride safe, ride fast...most of all, go riding. I'll see you on the road
Paul
www.themotoworld.com

Work, work, work

Note to self: learn to speak Italian. Or French, or Spanish, or German. To really enjoy all that goes on in a Media Center at an International Motorcycle Race, knowing another language would be quite handy.


Today here at Laguna Seca has started out pretty darn cold and wet but at least no fog to close the track. We got here very early this morning to check in with Valentino Rossi’s communications manager to see if and when we were going to be able to interview the great one. William is a very nice man and quite enthusiastic about podcasting, but…he said maybe, probably not. Interviews with the multi time world champion are all scheduled at the beginning of the season. Ah well, better luck next year. William did however give a ray of hope. The GP season is taking its summer break after this race and maybe we could do it over the phone or via computer or send some questions Valentino will do kind of a free form one way chat then send me the file to put on the podcast. That’s kind of a cool thought.


As Heather and I do more of the big races we’re making some new friends and contacts that are very helpful. The top of that list is Stephanie from Honda. She and the rest of the team really do exemplify the old ad slogan, “ You meet the nicest people on a Honda”. On short notice she got us time with Erion Honda AMA Supersport Champion Jake Zemke. I have always admired Jake and his story is a great racers story. I think you’ll love the interview.


Before we met up with Jake we headed up to the famous ‘Corkscrew’ corner for some pictures. It’s a long hike up the hill, I‘ve got to exercise more!! Between the two of us we got some good shots. As I am writing, Heather is editing photos to put into the photo gallery on the website www.themotoworld.com, some of them are quite good for a little point and shoot camera. Actually, they’re good because Heather is a very good photographer.


It’s lunchtime now; Randy Mamola (a very famous former racer and now TV announcer) is taking people who have donated a lot of money to a certain charity, on two up rides around the track. And while he is doing that it’s time for me to line up more interviews.


Talk to you later


Paul

Ride safe, ride fast, I’ll see you on the road

The World of MotoGP...Day Two

It was a dark and stormy night, no wait, wrong story. It was a cold and wet morning. Yeah that’s it, the fog had settled in so much that Superbike practice here at Laguna Seca was called off. You can’t see the track! So, time for the first interview of the day. First on the list, Yamaha Superbike pilot Eric Bostrom.
Heather and I met him in the luxurious Yamaha team hauler. He is a great interview, we had a lot of fun, we talked motorcycles, family, surfing…a good time was had by all. So far the Yamaha and Honda guys are the most fun to be with. Now it's time to cruise the MotoGP pits and see whom else we can scare up to talk with…wish me luck.

Luck was shining down; we have an interview with Suzuki MotoGP ace Chris Vermuelen later this afternoon, now it’s off to track down Valentino…hey, who can resist me.

We took some time to watch MotoGP qualifying, pretty darn exciting to say the least. Check this out, as we all know, right now Ducati’s Casey Stoner is on a tear. It’s almost like everyone else is racing for 2nd (remember the years that Rossi was on fire?), Casey Stoner has broken the track record here, are you ready for this, 8 times this weekend!!! Six times today! Unreal. But as we all know Valentino is no slouch. Valentino doesn’t like Laguna Seca all that well but you couldn’t tell it today, he is on the front row right next to young Mr. Stoner.


Australian Chris Vermuelen is fast. He’s also a really nice and fun young man. We spent about 20 minutes together talking about racing and how he got started and then the conversation turned to his other love…American Hot Rods. Listening to the stories of he and his dad restoring and customizing these cars was a blast. I asked him if he would come to California in the off season and help me restore my old ’63 Fairlane. Then it was show and tell time, pictures of his favorite cars on his Blackberry. You can hear which ones on the podcast.

The MotoGP press conference after qualifying was good fun, I’ll have bits and pieces of that on the podcast too. Done for the day. My crystal ball shows dinner and bed in my future. I’ll talk with you tomorrow.

Ride safe, ride fast, I’ll see you on the road.

Paul

Live from MotoGP...Day one

Those foreigners, it's like they have a different word for everything!! (thank you Steve Martin). Here we are covering another race, this time the MotoGP circus is here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It's great to be at another World Event, the media center is alive with more foreign languages than a U.N meeting. Writers, photographers, TV, and little 'ol podcasters...us.

The lessons learned at Miller Motorsports Park were invaluable. Getting credentials through Dorna (the owners of MotoGP) is quite a bit more difficult. With the great help of Press Officer Ed Nichols here at Laguna Seca, we finally got them and into the media center we go. Thank you Ed. The center here is big, it has to be, MotoGP brings a lot more attention. The video screens are giant, showing the track sessions, timing (in detail) and every bit of information an information junkie (journalist) could want. Oh, and free Red Bull...this is the Red Bull Grand Prix you know.

After getting settled in it was off to Yamaha to interview Superbike pilot Jason Di Salvo. What a great kid, we had a really good time. Jason has a very interesting story, you can listen to it next week on the podcast.

Next on the hit list, Suzuki ace Tommy Hayden. After watching his brother Nicky run a very successful practice session, he and I sat down and had a bit of a chat. He's just coming back from a pretty nasty spill so it's really great to see him back on his bike. He was anxious about this weekend because it would have been the first time in 10 years that he would have missed the race.

We wound up the day at the track in a great way. I sat down with multi time World Champion and great guy, Freddie Spencer. What an interesting man. Prior to my talking with him, I was listening in on a conversation with he an old friend and team member, it was fascinating, two old friends talking story. Freddie and I talked a good 20 minutes about the year he won both the 250cc and 500cc World Championships. Freddie is a great talker, no wonder he is a very popular Speed TV announcer.


Well, next week you can check all these great interviews on The Motoworld podcast. I hope you all listen. Now it's off to dinner at our favorite place in Salinas, the Pennyfarthing Tavern.

Ride safe, ride fast and I'll see you the road.

Paul

Saying Goodbye

The time has come to say good bye to a very good friend. My Yamaha TDM850. It's actually my second one. The first one I bought from one of my racing partners who had recently traded up to a BMW GS1150, nice bike but really big..I liked the TDM a lot. A little haggling and the TDM was mine. I had forgotten how much fun John had doing wheelies (the TDM wheelies real easy!) so first stop was new fork seals.

The Red Sled and I put a lot of miles on real quickly. Never hiccuped, never did anything weird, just a great bike.

Until...one morning on my way back down from visiting my sister in Northern California, a truck and I decided we should become close friends at a freeway onramp. Bike was pretty banged up and so was I. After it sat in the garage for a few months it was passed on to a friend of mine who had bought one with a blown motor. A little transplant surgery and Jeff is a TDM freak too.

One day a posting on the TDM list showed up...'1992 TDM 850, low miles, needs minor work but runs..$500'. An e-mail, a phone call, a couple of tanks of gas and I'm the owner of another red TDM. The 'minor work' included a couple of new electric components and tank of gas. Cheap.

So,here I am seven years and around 60,000 miles later saying goodbye. That TDM has taken me all over the western U.S and pretty much trouble free. Heather and I had our first road trip together, camping up on the Kern River, on the TDM. We have traveled mountains and deserts with friends, our son and his wife rode to Laguna Seca on it. I have ridden it in waist deep snow, I commuted to work on it ( I ride 'The Mighty 350' nowadays..better mileage) and even considered making a 'track day bike' out of it. All in all it has been a great bike.

Why am I selling it? Good question, but I believe the new owner will give it a good home. So, you know what...I'm going to get my helmet and take it out for one last ride.
Maybe one day a TDM will show up on e-Bay or Craigs list and...nah.

Ride safe, ride fast, I'll see you on the road..but not on my 'ol TDM

Paul

Home at last

I'm a news junkie, I wake up sometimes at 3 or 4 in the morning and turn on either CNN or the BBC World Service. Over the past few days there has been a lot of press over the newly released hostages out of Columbia. I have been fascinated by their stories.


But...over a year ago I spent time on the phone with Glen Heggstad, Moto Traveler and author. His book, Two Wheels Through Terror, is a must read. You can find his book on Amazon.com or my favorite place, www.whitehorsegear.com Glen too, was a hostage in the jungles of Columbia and what a story he tells. You can hear a good portion of it on our podcast, www.themotoworld.libsyn.com, give it a listen. This man is truly one of my hero's. He started a trip from here in California to Tierra del Fuego..the southern most point in South America. What a dream for all of us that travel on a motorcycle. Unfortunately, in South America, he got sidetracked as a prisoner by Columbian Rebel forces for a quite a while. Glen was finally released and through the help of a whole lot of people, was able to continue his quest. It really is a fantastic story and Glen is an amazing man. Read the book, listen to the podcast.


Glen just got back from a year long journey through Southeast Asia. We spoke a couple weeks ago while he was still in Asia. He is home in Mazatlan Mexico now and we will be having another visit together in the next few days. I would imagine he has some interesting insights to what Ingrid Bettencourt and the three American men went through during their time as prisoners.

Just a couple of timely thoughts

Ride safe, ride fast, I'll see you on the road.

Paul

Motorcycle Jeopardy

Happy Monday boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen...I just flew in from Philadelphia...and boy are my arms....just kidding.

Welcome to Motorcycle Jeopardy..

I'll take motorcycles for $1000 Alex..
Alex.."The answer is, "the Honda CB350"
DING...'Paul'...That would be "what is the biggest selling motorcycle of all time?"
'Alex'...Thats right

In 1971 I bought a brand new Honda SL350. I had been riding my step dads Bultaco Matador 250, his was still street legal, mine wasn't (I was racing mine in the desert at the time). My friend Eddie had bought a new Yamaha DT1 250.. a neat little bike and a lot less of a pain in the fanny than the Bultaco. We rode all over the So Cal area..before fences and lawyers. But as motorcyclists tend to be, it came to who can outdo the other?? So, I just had to have a bigger bike! Next stop, the local Honda dealer...an hour later I rode off with a new Honda SL350..."hey Eddie..try to keep up now!!" I rode that bike everywhere, even took a date to the Drive-In on it, she carried the lawn chairs, I think we saw Fritz the Cat...it was a great bike.

One race, my not so trusty Bultaco stranded me in the desert. Next thing you know, it's in the deepest darkest corner of the garage. Wait...I have another race in two weeks...now what?? Hey, the Sl is supposed to be on AND off road bike...off come the lights, blinkers, mufflers (hey, I should have kept those..they're worth a lot of $$$ nowadays!),replace the fenders with Preston Petty plastics..you have to have an AARP card to remember those...a pair of little shorty muffler/spark arrestors and a better skid plate. Ready to go. A bunch of races, a few trophies, that SL350 was a great motorcycle.

The SL eventually went to another owner. I guess I should repent for that one...

Twenty Five years ago I was talking with my dad about motorcycles and Honda 350's came up. Well, a week or so later my dad called, he had found one, a yellow CB350, in a back yard in Riverside and they wanted to sell it. A few hours and $100 later, I'm back on a Honda 350. The biggest selling motorcycle of all time.

I have ridden that little motorcycle somewhere in the vicinity of 30 thousand miles. All over California..the Sierra's, the coast, to the US GP at Laguna Seca (back in the 2 stoke days). These bikes won't die..change the oil once in awhile, clean the points, new plugs and some tyres.

"The Mighty 350", as it's known in our family, is still in the garage and still runs great. Both our kids learned how to ride on that bike and still like riding it. Heather and I took it for a ride with friends just yesterday...when we arrived at the Cactus Patch Restaurant for breakfast even a couple of Harley riders commented on what a cool little Honda it was.

In this time of $5 gas (remember, I'm in California), small motorcycles are the perfect vehicles. Motorcycle Daily.com recently conducted a poll asking readers what they think manufactures should make now in light of gas prices. I sent my response...they already are, look around the rest of the world..small displacement motorcycles. Simple.

'The Mighty 350' lives, proving that 'Cool' never dies...and I love riding that little bike.

Ride safe, ride fast, I'll see you on the road...on 'The Mighty 350'
Paul

Monday Madness

Once a motorcycle racer, always a motorcycle racer. Some sort of genetic defect I guess. I went from desert racing to enduro's, back to desert racing and then on to my real love, roadracing. I had hurt myself pretty badly in a desert racing get off and bouncing around the puckerbushes was no longer an option for me. Thats Ok..it's too hot in the desert anyway, well except in January and February when it snows.

In 1981 with my friend Ted Toki, it's off to the original Keith Code California Superbike School at Riverside Raceway. At the end of the day we were whooped but we had our AFM racing licenses in hand, thank you Keith and crew. Now came the hard part...roadracing ain't cheap. It was a great time to be racing, heck, they still had a 50cc class!!! So many interesting bikes, crazy ass modifications and a lot of fun.

Fast forward into the mid nineties, after a taking a few years off to raise a couple of kids on my own, the urge was back. Off to Willow Springs I go, piloting a... Honda Ascot??? Hey, it was kinda cheap (the race motor cost four times as much as the whole bike!!!) and a lot of fun. Singles racers are a very weird bunch, a close knit family and all families are weird. But in that group I developed some very close friends. We all raced WSMC, AHRMA, AFM and CCS. So what has that got to do with the title of this post you ask... sit right back and I'll tell you a tale, a tale of a crazy group...that started on a Monday night...OK, sorry about the Gilligan thing.

A little while back we all seemed to semi retire from roadracing...businesses, families, paying for kids college educations..you get the picture. But, we're all still racers, it's that right wrist thing...
Our friend and fairly close neighbor Jay, has a five acre hunk 'o land and a couple of Honda XR100's. A frenzy of tractor work, buying up more XR100's...let the fun begin!!

Monday Madness was born. During the 'Daylight Savings Time' period, our group of ex-racers and a couple of other friends would gather at Jay's, on Monday's, for some slidin' around the track, good food and of course...good beer. Hey they're only 100cc bikes, we're not going that fast, it's only a sixteenth of a mile oval...we won't get hurt. Thats what we told the wives. Uh, yeah. Remember, we are racers and we have to win, friends be damned. Bumping someone off the course, sure. Running over someones foot, natch. Cutting the corner, wouldn't you? Hitting someones kill switch at the start, yeah. All in the name of friendly competition?!

Very large contusions (read..really big nasty bruises),some painful sprains and a couple broken bones (small ones)..hey, thats what beer is for..pain killer. Well, after a couple years of that, the wives got a bit tired of playing nurse when we got home. We had big smiles on our faces, and the women just shook their heads.

Monday madness came to an end a while back, recovering from all that racing was starting to take a little too long to heal, we do have jobs to go to on Tuesday. A number of us took our newly discovered flat tracking skills to a real flat track race, vintage bikes and us, vintage riders. We all went with two goals in mind..don't fall down and don't be last. We all succeeded.

Heather and I were sitting in bed last night and somehow Monday Madness came up, I got a big smile on my face and surprisingly, so did she. I miss Monday Madness...I'm still a racer.

Roads to Ride

So there I was, working away at yet another motorcycle race and all I really wanted to be doing was be out riding my motorcycle in the Sierra's with my friend Jeff. Jeff and I have traveled throughout the Sierra Nevada for years. Criss Crossing the mountains over all the passes, Tioga, Sonora, Ebbits, Monitor, Carson, the list goes on. We've never had a bad ride. Every weather condition...sometimes on the same day. No kidding, on one trip we went from 28 degrees in the morning to 90 degrees in the afternoon to 29 degrees in the evening, what a day that was!! From slipping and sliding in the snow to thinking we were riding in a convection oven. Isn't that one of the real beauty's of traveling on a motorcycle? Yes. If you do it right it's always a great adventure.



The reason I bring this up today is Jeff and his wife Kathy just got home from a 10 day ride. If I could write this in green ink I would!! Do you watch the news much? then you know that Northern California is on fire, so many fires that firefighters can't get to them all. Jeff and Kathy's ride took them up the California coast through Big Sur, I left Jeff a message on his cell phone wondering if he started those fires by riding so fast...he does hustle that big 'ol BMW GS around pretty quickly. From there up to Oregon and back down to Lake Tahoe. They ran into conditions where the smoke was so bad they couldn't see the top of mountains, Mount Lassen the most notable. Despite the conditions they had a great ride. It was the longest ride Kathy had ever done and Jeff was just warming up.

I always advocate riding in the Sierra's but for the next few weeks it might not be a good idea..the smoke can't be very good for your motorcycle and certainly not for you.

For those of us that live in Southern California, Hiway 1 through Big Sur is our route of choice to go to Laguna Seca for the MotoGP race..this year due to a huge fire up there we might be stuck taking an inland route. Coast Hwy is closed currently and is expected to stay that way for a while. So...if you live in So Cal or are going to MotoGP from So Cal, are you ready for a great route to Laguna? Sure you are...and this route will take you ALL day..you are really going to want a cold refreshing beverage at rides end!!!


Ok, Hwy 101 north out of the L.A environs, at the northern end of Santa Barbara head up HWY 154 (the San Marcos Pass road) entertaining and beautiful. Before you reach the 101 again, turn onto Foxen Canyon Rd...through the Santa Ynez Valley wine country you go...slow speeds but really beautiful (well, there are a few places you can step up the pace)it's too early to buy wine so keep going. Just as you would reconnect with the 101 at Betteravia Rd in Santa Maria( the end of the Foxen Cyn Route) the restaurant at the truck stop is a great stop for breakfast!

After your fill of corned beef hash and eggs..well, maybe thats my fill...standard road trip breakfast for me, it's back onto the 101 North, oh..don't forget to gas up. Along the coast you go..Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach (the best Italian restaurant outside of Italy is there..Guiseppi's), San Luis Obispo then it's inland..and HOT!! Stop again in Paso Robles for gas cuz' you're going to need a full tank from here. Just north of Paso along the 101 is the town of San Miguel. San Miguel is the site of one of the early California Missions, a beautiful place currently undergoing a major renovation so you can't visit it..too bad. This is where you turn off, cruise through the tiny town..now here is where you need a California map, you want to be looking north east(up the map) for Hwy 25..you need to head east of San Miguel before you end up back on the 101, the route# is unmarked at San Miguel but on the map it is obvious..

The road from there to Hwy 198 is a bit iffy sometimes and not all too friendly to stiffly sprung sportbikes but what comes next is well worth it. At the County Road G13 intersection you will need to make a bit of a right left jog (about 100 yards) onto Hwy25. Now the true fun begins...no traffic, high "Giggle Factor" riding and great scenery. Next stop, the town of Hollister...scene of the movie the Wild Ones with Marlan Brando and Lee Marvin..They didn't ride Harley's, they rode Triumphs and BSA's.

Now it's back over to the 101, south to Salinas and over to Laguna Seca. It's a great ride all the way around. If you are staying in Salinas or if you get there around supper time you have to go to the Pennyfarthing Inn. Check this out...a really good English Pub in the heart of a major farming community dominated by some really great Mexican restauarants?! Yeah. Well worth the stop.

Well, kind of a weird post today, all over the place..which is exactly where I wish I was...all over the place..

Ride safe, ride fast and I'll see you on the road..

Paul

Time Flies...

...when you're having fun or... getting older. Hey, I'm not getting older, I tell everyone I'm only 30 years old... with 25 years experience!? The reason I bring this up today is, it's my daughters 28th birthday. I bought my CB750F about a week after she was born. That bike and I spent over 100,000 miles together.

Leah has been on motorcycles since she was about 3 years old...standard stuff, riding with me...I got a ticket for having her in between me and the gas tank on the way to day care..geez..she had a helmet and gloves on!!! Then there was the time she fell asleep riding on the back. Later in years we would take longer rides on the CB750 and then my FJ1200..she liked it a lot. We had many great rides together and the day came that she wanted to ride herself. So, onto the '59 Honda Super Cub (a 55cc Honda step through) she went.

Ok, that lasted a day. Next up, the MSF course. Successfully passing that, onto what is fondly known in our family as ...'The Mighty 350'. A 1971 Honda CB350. I'm a firm believer of starting new riders on small bikes. Both my kids started on that bike. I have seen and heard of far too many new riders that buy large displacement motorcycles, whether it be a sportbike or a large cruiser and trying to learn to ride it in the parking lot before heading off to home to show it off to his / her family and friends. I digress, sorry. Fodder for another post.

In a short period of time, Leah was bored with the little 350 and wanted/needed more. After school one day,her older brother wasn't home, the key was in the ignition of his Honda Hawk..you can guess what happens next. Twice as much power, better handling and way more cool looking. The hook was set. Fortunately, her brother was a good brother and gave her permission to ride the bike whenever he wasn't. Lucky her. But...remember, this my daughter...my only daughter..and she was riding pretty fast..really good and smooth but fast...scared the bejeebers out of me. One day I even got in front of her to set a good pace, but a pace I felt comfortable with her going..Ok, I was just being a dad..anyway, when we stopped she was all over me about going slow!!?? Oops.

Through the 90's I was roadracing out at Willow Springs on a Honda Ascot, WSMC and AHRMA, Leah would come out occasionally and be the pit crew along with my dad. There were a couple of women racing at that time, I would ask Leah if she wanted to try, the answer was always no...but she was a really good rider and I thought she had great potential, there I go being the proud papa again.

It's been quite a while since Leah has been on a motorcycle, college and career seem to have gotten in the way. I always hope that one day she'll show up and say "Hey Dad, lets go for a ride"..This time I'll ride the mighty 350.

Happy Birthday Leah, it's been the best 28 years of my life.

MotoJournalists? Oh yeah...

Here we are, camera and voice recorder in hand and just stoked as can be to be at the race. I have been going to big motorcycle races for a long time and you know what..it never gets unexciting. In the stands, in the pits it doesn't matter..the sights, the sounds, the smells (well,since the end of the 2 strokes the smells aren't quite as wonderful..we don't get the 125's and 250's here in the US..., the tension, it's all great. I love motorcycles and motorcycle racing!

We wandered the pits, the garages all around the track, getting the lay of the land. Miller Motorsports Park is a really great facility. All the staff were friendly and helpful. Our first day was great but not too productive...hey, where are all the racers??? They get off the bike, talk to the technicians and disappear. They come out of the back of the garage, get on the bike and off they go..the cycle repeats itself all day. How do we get to these guys???

Saturday, a new day,back to the media center... more updates, press clippings, schedule changes..this is really work!!?? Down to the track, check out whats going on, over to the Pirelli press conference regarding how to run a 'Spec Tyre' program and learn as much as we can. Back to the media center for more updates and schedule changes and a couple of quick press conferences after qualifying. It's time to figure out how the pro's do it....ask the pro's..duh. After getting some great advice off we go. Well, lets watch a race first.

Next thing you know, we have scheduled interviews with Matt Mladin, Ben Spies, Miguel DuHamel and Neil Hodgson. Cool. Back to the media center to do some research and get ready for interviews. Like I said, this is a job!


Photogs come in between races, upload and download photo's like crazy. Stock up on water and back to the track. Magazine and internet journalists are watching the TV feed and typing away. Posts are sent, notes compared with other writers and catching up with friends. Back to the pit's to get some photo's and see if we can snag an interview or two. Lucky me..After the second WSBK practice session and a bit before Superpole, I got a couple of minutes with Troy Bayliss. A very cool guy...didn't have a great race weekend though. The rest of the afternoon was watching WSBK Superpole and the first of the AMA Superbike race. And..more research. A great day.


Sunday... more press conferences, a lot of racing. In between the races, do the interviews. Three out of four were great and one was good. You can listen to them on our podcast and you choose which one was just OK. The Honda guys were very nice and fun, Matt Mladin took time in between pictures and autographs with everybody and Ben Spies and I hung out at the Suzuki rest area.
Back to the media center...get more updates, watch a bit of the races, catch up with an old racing friend of mine, Evans Brasfield..writer and photog for numerous magazines..and a darn fine WSMC Lightweight Twins racer..I have a great story to tell about racing with Evan at the 2000 WERA 24 hour event at Willow Springs..but that will have to wait for another time...

Well, There you have it. The life of rookie motojournalists. A lot of work..and it's great work. Listen to the podcasts, send me your thoughts paul@themotoworld.com

Now, lets go for a ride...see you on the road

Paul
www.themotoworld.com

The World Comes to Utah

Well,well...what a weekend!! It's been four years since the World SuperBike circus has come to the states and I could hardly wait to see it again. The last time we all saw WSBK was at Laguna Seca and it was great so I've been missing it. In my opinion it is currently the best of the two wheeled racing series. In the AMA it's generally the Ben and Matt Show and everybody else racing for third (this last weekend was a bit different with Jamie Hacking getting his Kawasaki in there for second..well Matt crashed on Saturday and just didn't have the setup going into Sunday...but Hackers Kawa was really fast!!) MotoGP is good this year with Rossi seeming to come grips (no pun intended) with his new 'Stones and the Yamaha developing some more speed and the bloom seems to be coming off Stoner's rose. The racing is good but it can't come up to the surprises WSBK can..like Carlos Checa doing the double this last weekend. And check this out..these were his first wins in ten years!!! It was great to see.

Anyway, this was a very spectacular weekend in all ways. Because of the growing sucess of the Motoworld podcast www.themotoworld.com we decided to apply for media credntials and with the help of John Gardner of Miller Motorsports Park www.millermotorsportspark.com we got them. Thank you John.


Load up the truck with camping gear and all our audio equipment..(uh, a little digital voice recorder, a mic and some headphones...whew, lugging around all that gear can wear a guy out...) and Heather and I are off to Salt Lake City and The World Superbike and AMA Superbike races. We're on way as professionals now..real motojournalists! The drive was easy enough, long but easy. we arrived at the track around midnight only to find the gate to the campground closed..so, camping in the back of the truck it is. A little of Kentucky's finest to ward off the chill and we get a few hours sleep.

Friday morning dawns bright and clear and pretty chilly. Looking like we had slept in the back of a pickup, we pick up our credentials and the weekend begins. After a bit of clean up we make our way to the media center. We are greeted at the door by a very nice young lady who provides us with all sorts media material and told to go ahead a find a space. The Media Center is alive! One hundred people, six languages, 99 laptop computers (we only had our little recorder)and about a million dollars worth of camera gear!!
Needless to say, we were a bit overwhelmed. So after finding a space to call 'The MotoWorld' we scoured the volumes of info and then headed out to the track. What an amazing facility. Lets go find some one to interview for the podcast. Results of our search...check back in tomorrow.
Oh, and listen to the podcast..www.themotoworld.com

See you on the road,
Paul

AMA circus rolls into town

Well,as promised in the last post, this one will be all about AMA Racing at Daytona. After some really great racing the weekend before, Moto-ST, CCS and ASRA followed by very exciting vintage racing, AHRMA, the first days of the week...it was amazing to watch and hear some of these really, really old bikes go around the banking. One thing I have to add here is the heroic effort Nate Kern (www.natekern.com) and the BMW of Atlanta team did to get Nate running in the Moto-ST 300KM race. While I was at Galfer Brake Company, I had the pleasure of getting Nate set up with some really great brakes and meeting the guys at Daytona was a real pleasure. Anyway, Nate's bike got tossed in practice, pretty badly too. Fortunately, Nate was also there to spend a day teaching with the Team Hammer School and he brought his personal school bike, another BMW R1200RS, but it's a completely street legal sled!! Mirrors / blinkers and all!! Less then 24 hours later it's a full blown race bike!! Nate ended up finishing third in the Moto-ST 300. Next for Nate it's onto a full Factory BMW Race bike for the 200..

After all that, the AMA Roadracing and Supercross Circus rolls into town. Wednesday is set up and some practice time. The 200 is the only long distance race on the AMA schedule so the teams need to practice the pit stops, fun to watch. BMW Motorrad showed up with the Factory Endurance team. German precision at it's finest.

Thursday at Daytona was a good day for racing..qualifying for the 200 and Superbike and the Superstock and Supersport races..you can read the results at AMA Superbike.com I got a chance to see a little bit of it..work, work, work..the dogs life of a sales rep!

But the real highlight of my day was a chance to spend about 15 minutes with Earl Hayden, yep, that Earl Hayden.
I had met Mr. Hayden a couple of times before but just briefly. This time I got to have a good conversation with him. We talked about Nicky and the struggles he has been having developing the 800..I probably shouldn't be saying this but, Earl is not all that happy with Honda. Nicky wasn't getting what he needed until halfway through last season and he feels that they are already a bit behind the curve as they get ready for this season. Side note here, Nicky's teammate Dani Pedrosa has won a race this season but we're talking about Nicky. We also talked about Tommy and finally starting a season healthy and it shows. Watching him at Daytona and him finishing on the podium last weekend at Barber, this is going to be a good season for the eldest Hayden Brother. I gotta tella you, Earl Hayden is one of the most interesting people I have met in all my years of racing and the motorcycle biz.

Friday..check this out...we're under Tornado watch!!?? the rain is unbelievable (just look at the picture..sheets of water off the Market Area. There are rumors of canceling the SuperCross scheduled for that night. I didn't get a chance to watch any of the practice, but I could hear it every now and again. This afternoon I got a really fun interview with former Speed TV commentator Brian Drebber at the Corona Light Honda pit..you can listen to it on the podcast. It was raining so hard you could hardly see!..
Anyway, they held the Supercross Torrential downpour and all. I was lucky enough to have a nice dry VIP suite to hang out in and watch the race. Our friends at Primedia....Motorcyclist, Dirt Rider etc set us up sweet... beer, good food and a lot of friends.

The Supercross racers are unbelievable!! The strength it took to ride in those conditions! Over the doubles into axle deep mudholes...They are truly my new heroes..if the bike would stall and not restart..they would just leave the bike there, standing upright in the mud and walk away. The end of the race was pretty amazing, Chad Reed had a substantial lead over Kevin Windham and then disaster struck. Three corners from the end in a horrendous mud bog Chad's bike stalled and would not start again..Chad stood there in the mud and watched his victory disappear with Kevin Windham.
After the race it was off to a local dive for more beer and hangin' with friends..tomorrow, back to road racing.

Ride safe, ride fast..I'll see you on the road..
Paul

The Really Big Shew...Part Duex

Ok, more about Daytona Bike week...it really was quite an experience. As the week plus worn on, more and more bikes were in town. Like I said before, our hotel was right on Speedway Blvd. this is the main road through / into town and right past the Speedway itself ( hence the name ) so there was a constant flow of bikes. One thing about Florida, no helmet law. I was really surprised to see how many riders went topless..no helmet. Sportbikes, cruisers, dual sport..it didn't matter. No brain buckets, which in my mind means no brains period. Thats just me. Anyway, our hotel parking lot was full of bikes, from a really cool old Sachs 250 two stroke to one of the coolest Trikes I have ever seen.

Sunday at Daytona was quiet by all reports..hangovers from Saturday night? But, the racing was great. The Moto-ST races were on. BMW, Ducati, Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki, Aprilia, Guzzi...all there and flying. I did get a chance to break away from the Galfer booth to check out some of the racing. The 300KM was great to watch. Last year a good friend of mine Angie Loy, www.ponyrific.com, was teamed up with Jay Springsteen and Jimmy Felice for the Moto-ST Endurance race and absolutely loved it and those guys. This year was Jimmy and Jay racing the Kawasaki 650 Ninja. I remember watching these guys as dirt trackers and Jimmy Felice as a great 250cc roadracer, seeing them together is a real treat. Through out the whole race they were battling back and forth for first place in their class. After 300KM they won out..I got a chance to meet Jimmy Felice later that evening at the recording of the Chris Carter Radio Program. Jimmy was a very cool guy..girlfriend a bit ditzy though..

The Chris Carter Radio Show. A Daytona Bike Week institution. This man comes over from Britain every year to do race announcing and record his radio show which is broadcast locally there in Daytona and now over the internet, www.wndb.com It's really amazing, everybody comes to be interviewed by Mr. Carter. One evening was the Hayden brothers, the Bostrom brothers..another evening was Kevin Schwantz, Scott Russell..it just went on and on..My young friend Aaron got into it as well. Each evening we would leave the racetrack, head over to the Marriot and sit in on the recording. Great fun. Our first time there we met a young lady, Danielle who works for Street and Comp accessories www.streetandcomp.com , and just loves roadracing and roadracers. She collects autographs in all the magazines and...well, look at the picture. She really is a fun lady and track day junkie.

Well, thats it for today. Tomorrow it's all about racing.

Ride Safe, Ride Fast and I'll see you on the road.

Paul

Daytona Bike Week...what a show

If you have never been to Daytona Bike Week, you need to go. If only once. It's quite an experience. So how did I end up there this year you ask?? My day job, sales rep for Galfer Performance Brakes, sent me. Two weeks. More work time than fun time but the fun time more than made up for the work time. We see the racing on TV and a little bit of the scene, well let me tell you, 'The Scene' IS the show.

My friend Aaron and I arrived in Orlando on Wednesday night about three hours late, airline travel in 2008, you'd think it would get better instead of worse... AND it was a balmy 35 degrees !!?? I'm in a T-Shirt!? not smart on my part..I was told before I left home to take some more warm clothes..did I listen? uh, no. Gourmet dinner at the McDonalds next to the hotel... business travel is so glamorous. Thursday dawns bright and beautiful and still too cold for Florida as far as I'm concerned. After renting a high style U-haul van Aaron and I head off to Winter Garden Florida to the legendary 'Custom Sportbike Concepts' and my friend Nick. If you guys are into customizing sportbikes, this is the man to talk to. Check out any issue of Two Wheel Tuner Magazine and there you will find more of his creations than just about anybody elses. Very cool stuff. Check out his website www.customsportbikeconcepts.com NIck was good enough to let us ship all our products to his shop for Bike week. After a good visit it's on to Daytona Beach.

Our hotel is right on Speedway Blvd. pretty cool. We're there a couple of days early so we can get set up so not a lot of bikes cruising around quite yet. Because it's club racing, the first part of Bike 'Week' is pretty quiet..good racing though. The Moto-ST series is very cool..all Twin Cylinder bikes..and based on horsepower, not so much on displacement. Pretty cool seeing built to the hilt Suzuki SV650's..racing and beating bigger bikes. Now, I have to say..watching motorcycles go around the banking for the first time is truly awe inspiring. I have a couple of friends who have raced there, I envied them then, now I really admire them...and I still really envy them !!

After a couple of somewhat quiet nights Aaron and I decide it's time to hit the main drag, the BIG SHOW..main street I called my son from there and just held up my phone so he could here the cacophony..big word for a lot of Harley noise!!! You can barely walk down the sidewalk. Nine Gazillion people and bikes parked on the sidewalk. Main Street is closed off to cars for a full week..bikes only. And I gotta tell you.. a lot of very cool motorcycles. Yeah, mostly Harleys, but a few really interseting bikes. From a very unique Honda 350 to a couple of old Vespa's, a beautiful 83 Suzuki GS1100..the list goes on. My young friend Aaron was truly in awe and having a great time..check out his smile !!
It litterally took us 2 hours to walk a few blocks there were so many people and bikes but it was very cool and fun..however..we only got flashed twice..Aaron was so disappointed. After one good tour of the scene, we decided it was time for dinner..however this time something a little more upscale than McDonalds...Wing House here we come....chicken and cold beer..what better eh??

Sunday a full day of racing...but thats in the next post....
Ride safe, ride fast..but most of all, go riding...

Paul

goin' really fast...

Good evening Speedsters,
Well, I just got back from The BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials at the Bonneville Salt Flats...WOW is all I can say. Thats it for this post..thanks for reading it...
Ok, just kidding...
Here's the story, about 4-5 years ago a couple of roadracing friends of mine got a wild hair up their fannies and deciced that building a Bonneville Streamliner was something they wanted to do. No problem..they're both engineers, good mechanics and racers. Fast forward to about January 2006...this thing is actually beginning to take shape. Powered by a 920cc Norton engine..going after the 1000cc pushrod motor Streamliner record. Cool huh??!! The frame is pretty well sorted out and is coming together, the motor is ready to go, so let's put it all together. Easier said than done. Build the cockpit..design the controls, outriggers..on and on and on...time is flying by and September is coming up really fast. Originally scheduled to leave on Friday September 8th..still working on the 'liner' Saturday night the 9th till about 11pm...guess we're leaving Sunday. Sunday 8AM we hit the road...13 hours later we roll into the Wendover Nugget Hotel parking lot, 4-5 miles from the Salt Flats. We meet up with our friend Kevin Johnson from Reno Nevada, another former Willow Springs speedster, settle into our rooms, enjoy a bit of Kentucky's finest ( Makers Mark Bourbon..) and talk about the upcoming speed trials.

Monday morning dawns clear and beautiful. A short drive and there we are..the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats. History is made here..how fast can a man go on a motorcycle or in a car?? THIS is where you find out. It's an unbelievable sight..surrounded on three sides by mountains..the salt goes on and on as far as the eye can see. Stark white, like snow but solid. It truly is awe inspiring, even if you're not a motorcycle racer. As was said in Hot Rod Magazine about 40 years ago..it's like racing on the moon. A 5 mile drive along the salt and we arrive at the pit area..more like a small city of cars, trucks, vans, trailers and...motorcycles. An old hand shift Indian, side valve Harley Davidsons, a Bultaco, a couple of vintage Triumphs. a handfull of Vincent Black Shadow's, our Norton's and all accompanied by the appropriate amount of grey hair and beards. And then...

... the modern motorcycles...Hayabusa's abound..well, yeah...they're really fast. A couple of new Kawi ZX14's, Ducati 999's, Honda CBR100RR's..the list goes on and on...but, here's where it gets interesting...
BUB has added a 'Run What Ya Brung' class to the event. You can show up on your daily rider street bike, pay your $100 and take a couple of runs on the salt to see how fast you can go. Full dress Harley's, BMW RT models, a Honda CRF450 dirtbike with Street tyres, a young man with an MV Agusta F4 Agostini replica ( he went somewhere in the vicinity of 175mph!!?? ) too much fun. I took the opportunity to interview some of these riders for my podcast..interesting people and having a lot of fun. Isn't that what it's all about??!!

Another thing that was really interesting about this meet was how many women were there racing!! I interviewed a few of them..one young lady was riding a Honda RS250 roadracer expecting to go somewhere in the vicinity of 160mph..she ended up a bit short of that but still achieved a record speed. I met a lady named Laura from South Dakota on a very custom and highly built Harley Road King...check this out..fairing w/ CD player ( blaring away..) and saddle bags...147MPH!!! Another lady, Valerie Thompson on a bilt to the hilt Harley Davidson pushed past 160mph!! These women are truly awe inspiring.

Another side of this event, and actually any motorcycle racing event, is the family and friends supporting the racers. As I was cruising the pits interviewing racers, it dawned on me that talking to the families would also be very cool. Completely by accident I started talking to Rocky Robinson's family...mom, wife, son, brother..Rocky is the pilot of the Ack Attack Streamliner. They broke the exisiting Land Speed Record of 322mph on their first run...347mph! Anyway, that was one of the most fun interviews I had..I'll have it up on the podcast in the next few days.

Now, back to OUR team effort...after waiting and waiting and waiting inline to get on the track ( 5 hours !!!) They closed the course because of wind...damn. Ok..back to our pit and time to drink beer..wind is blowing like crazy so we lower the canopy, huddle inside and wait out the storm. Other racers come by and visit..all in all a fine way to spend the late afternoon. The LSR ( Land Speed Rcing ) family is very special and unique.

Tuesday again dawns beautiful. We get to The Salt Flats earlier and get in line..a few hours later..SEVEN to be exact..we finally put Ken and his old Norton 750 on the course. Within the hour Ken holds the AMA Land Speed Record for 750cc pushrod motorcycles at 126.35mph!! Yeah Baby!! Back to the pit's and start working on getting the 'Liner' ready. Now, here's the deal..Eric, the pilot, has NEVER driven a streamliner..so we spend the late afternoon running up and down the back area of the flats figuring out how to start and steer this thing..a lot of laughs. But, we also discover a few problems..as in the really high tech electric shifter doesn't shift. OOPS...designed to shift a Harley drag bike..(does that mean it wears a dress???)...you'd think it would shift a Norton, right?? Well..uh, no. These old gear boxes take a bit of finessing..not bang/slam. A call to Pingle, a few adjustments and hey, it looks like it works...

Wednesday it's out to the Salt and see if we can get the 'liner' on the course. Here's what I learned about racing at Bonneville...it's called 'hurry up and wait'..no kidding, you wait for hours for your few minutes of glory. Anyway, we finally get the liner out on course and.......off Eric goes...for about 100 yards...the motor died. Ok, back to the start line, wait for a few other motorcycles to go and guess what...up comes the breeze and the course is closed to Streamliners. They can close the course anytime the breeze exceeds 3mph. A good safety proceedure I think. Well..back to the pits and drink more beer...thats the other thing about Land Speed Racing..I think it's powered by beer. Ok with me....

Thursday again dawns beautiful. But today, the last day of the meet is going to be short..done by noon. We gotta get out there...no problem. We've got the drill down. Line the bike up pointing a little to the right, leaning on the left skid, start in second gear..good push and away he goes...motor sounds great..go Eric go...
jump in the truck and go chasing after him...tune in the CB to hear course control...something about a 'parachute test' was successful..huh??? the chute popped out a mile 2 and Eric dragged it through the flying mile..speed??? a whopping 65mph!!
Ok..lets see what we can do for the return run..
Line him up...point right, lean left, big push...uh..Eric..the course is over there...no wait..now it's over there...ah..there he goes down the course. Back in the van..let's go get him...listen to the radio...through the flying mile at a blazing...108mph! HUH??? The electric shfter failed. Eric couldn't get out of second gear..so..well..108mph in second gear??!! Not bad 'eh?!
So, as they say...there is always next year..stay tuned..
oh, one more thing...I'm going to start working a supercharged Honda SL350 for next year...Bonneville does strange things to your mind...
See you on the road..
Paul

New website

Good morning,
Well, through quite a bit of hard work, our new website is up and running. themotoworld.com We'll be adding to as the days go by so we hope you'll go there often.
As you know we've been podcasting from the palatial Motoworld Studios here in beautiful Fillmore, Ca. and listenership keeps climbing with each new show. Thank you. We are also part of a group of motorcycle podcasters known as 'The Motorcycle Podcast Group'. www.motorcyclepodcastgroup.com and you find links to them through the links page on themotoworld website. Last night we all got together on Skype for a roundtable discussion about things motorcycling..a couple of good topics like, what's the stupidest thing you've ever done on a motorcycle ( there were some dandy's!) and what kind of motorcycles we all have, favorite trips and dream trips. I had a great time with the other podcasters and I'm sure you'll have a great time listening to it as well. We have nearly two hours of gabbing away that will get edited down to about an hour. I'll post here when it's up on the net for your dining and dancing pleasure!
As a former roadracer, I plan my weekend around what races are on TV and we have a group of us racers that get together regularly throughout the season to eat, drink watch the races and what a season MotoGP is turning out to be. The race last week from Mugello was probably the best race I've seen in years..exciting from first lap to last. And I think Valentino Rossi is not going be able to runaway with championship this year. I've always been a fan of Loris Capirossi and it was thrilling to see he and the Ducati put pressure on Vale and... Nicky Hayden!! The Kentucky Kid was rockin'. Even though he's been put in the role of developer by Honda, his racing this season is just spectacular. So come on HRC...give Nicky the 'go-fast' parts! The sad part of this season is poor John Hopkins and his not so reliable and not so fast Suzuki. Hopper is such a talented rider and a very nice young man. I remember when little John was a teenager and hustling a 125 around Willow Springs. I was racing a Honda 500 single back then, he and that little buzzbomb would go inside of me in Turn 8 and 9 with no effort...me and my motorbike were pretty slow I guess??!! Anyway, it's been great to watch his career blossom, now if Suzuki could just find him some horsepower.
well, that's it for this week..check out our new website, listen to the podcast and check the motorcycle podcast group. Ride safe, have fun and I'll see you on the road.
Paul
www.themotoworld.com

Listen to the podcast

Greetings all,
I just got back from a family visit to my girfriends hometown in Goshen, New York. A small village in the Hudson River Valley about 90 miles north of NYC. An incredibly beautiful area. Forrests, rivers, lakes, ponds, the Catskill Mountains, West Pont Military Academy and, unfortunately...Orange County Choppers..you know, the totally dysfunctional family that builds choppers on TV..when you've got really talented people like Billy Lane, Indian Larry (RIP) and others, why glorify these examples that are proof positive that Darwin was right!!?? My Father-un-law asked if I wanted to go there..uh...no thank you. Actually, in hindsight, it might have been a really interesting interview for my podcast...but I just don't think I could have stomached those people...even if they would have seen me.
I hope you'll take the time to listen to my podcast...www.themotoworld.libsyn.com or check out our website www.themotoworld.com
I've been having a lot of fun with them both. The website is still a work in progress and the podcast keeps changing a bit but it keeps growing like crazy. We've almost 4000 downloads so far for just the 12 shows that are up!!?? This week I'll be interviewing Glen Heggstadt. He wrote the book 'Two Wheels Through Terror'..it's a diary of his trip from Palm Springs California to the tip of South America and back..it's an unbelievable story! I read the book in 2 days...you can get the book from amazon.com and whitehorsepress.com My interview with Glen will up on the net by the end of this week..so tune in.
It's been raining here in Fillmore for a couple of days now so I think I'll head up the Sespe River Canyon and see if any of the waterfalls are running...
Paul

back in the saddle again,

Good morning all,
It's been quite a long while sine I posted anything and I admit, I miss it! My magazine job and my podcast have really taken up my time. The podcast...The Motoworld..is going great. With only 6 shows up on the net, we've shot past 1000 listeners!! To those of you who found out about from here and tuned in ..Thank you! Our podcast is family friendly and workplace acceptable, it's just simple stuff. A segment called MotoNews, stuff happening in the business of motorcycling, some racing, and maybe a few oddities. A travel story, either my travels or someones elses. Each week we have an interview, this week I'm interviewing a former motorcycle messenger..in the past I have interviews with a Long Distance Lunatic, the 'McGyver of motorcycling' on how to rig up a video camera setup on your bike, a friend who rode solo to Alaska, a woman who got into to motorcycling in her 40's and is now doing track days, RacerMom!!. Coming up soon is an interview with a contributor to Motorcyclist Magazine and one of the editors, two men building a Bonneville Streamliner, a former factory Ducati roadracer and a man who built the largest Vintage Ducati internet business in the United States...lots of things going on..oh yeah, and a guy that was a very successful club roadracer that is now getting back into it with his nine year old son..mini roadracing! And then some sort of product, bike or even movie review. All in about 30 minutes, So, if you'd like to check out the podcast, go to
http://themotoworld.libsyn.com I hope you'll like it.
Now changing gears here..I live about 50 miles north of Los Angeles and we have had some crazy weather of late..over the weekend the snow level was down to 1000'!! No kidding, Saturday I went to Motorcycle dealership Open House down below Palm Springs California..the desert!! and there was snow just about down to the freeway and despite, rain, hail and snow this place was jumpin', I hope my new friend Bob Greene of Desert Cities Honda had a great day. If you ever find yourself near Palm Springs, stop by and say Hi..Bob and his brother Mike are really cool guys. Anyway, back to weather stuff, Just up from where I live is the California Condor Preserve in the Los Padres National Forrest. It's a beautiful mountain area that with all this rain we've had has waterfalls and small lakes all over the place. A beautiful ride just a few minutes from here on my trusty old Yamaha TDM 850. Last year we had major floods, this year..snow..who says Global Warming isn't changing everything??!!
Well, thats it for today..just getting back into writing..the next post will be better and more cohesive. Check out the Podcast, get a copy of Friction Zone magazine, go for a ride and send me an e-mail..paul@themotoworld.com
See you on the road..
Paul