So, in addition to having an ever growing case of new bike lust, as mentioned in my New Bike Deliberations blog entry, I’m also spending a lot of time looking at all the track schools that are now available.

There are some track schools, most notably national schools like Reg Pridmore’s CLASS and Keith Code’s California Superbike School, which have been around for many, many years. I’ve heard good things about them and undoubtedly would learn a lot from either. Likewise, a local friend runs a school called Go 4 It which would be nice, since being a local instructor means I could work with him repeatedly to improve my riding. But its the star-power of many of these newer schools that really blows me away.

First, Jason Pridmore started his STAR School. Learning from an active AMA Superbike racer would we impressive, particularly since I’ve heard Jason and his instructors are great teachers. Riding with even the most skilled racer would be a a waste of time if they don’t have the people skills necessary to pass along that knowledge.

But two more schools have opened over the past few years which dwarf Pridmore’s fame in leaps and bounds. Famed Grand Prix racer Freddie Spencer has started his High Performance Riding School at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and has heavyweight instructors like journalist Nick Ienatsch. Additionally, Spencer was able to leverage his relationship with Honda to get CBR600RR bikes for his school, as well as a fleet of XR100 bikes to do dirt track training exercises. Just the idea of sliding a muddy XR100 around a race track with Freddie Spencer makes this school seem like a dream vacation.

More recently, and just as impressively, ex-Grand Prix champ Kevin Schwantz has started a Suzuki sponsored school at Road Atlanta. Like Spencer, Schwantz has pull in an impressive array of talent to be co-instructors including ex-superbike champ Jamie James, WERA champs Tray Batey and Michael Martin, superbike racers Lee Acree, Opie Caylor and ex-World Superbike champ Tray Batey. Jeez-us, what a line-up. Additionally, its at Road A which is a far cooler track than a NASCAR track in Vegas.

But not content to have Walter Mitty visions of tearing around a race track with an ex-world champion giving me pointers, there is also Danny Walker’s American Supercamp, a class focused entirely on dirt track and using XR100s. I know a few folks that have taken this and all of them say you learn more about throttle control in one day that in a decade of street riding. The only downside is that you need to be about twice as fit as I’ve been in the past decade. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to walk if I took the class…Guess I shoulda made a New Year’s resolution…

And today, Suzuki announced a Supermoto class at Road America in Wisconsin. Do these people never tire of finding new ways to torture me!?!?

Guess I’ll just have to spend a few more nights dreaming about riding classes to decide which one to take…or foresake a new bike in 2005 and just take them all!

[image from Freddie Spencer High Performance Riding School web site]

Rumors are floating around that the 2005 Iron Butt Rally may start and end in Denver this year!

The Iron Butt Rally is borderline insanity involving challenging some of the best long distance rally riders in the US to a grueling eleven day loop around the US. Now we here in Colorado will have a chance to watch excited riders and shiny bikes leave on August 22 and a subset of those people return as haggard, exhausted shells of their former selves aboard the smoking ruin of their motorcycles on September 2.

This event is managed by the Iron Butt Association but its mainly the product of the sick and twisted mind of Michael Kneebone and his cronies. Somehow, he always manages to concoct increasingly torturous special optional routes each year, so its worth watching the daily reports during the Rally to see what he’s got the poor wretches doing each day in a bid to win. Since it will be based in Denver this year, it may be possible to watch things develop from a central IBA command center which will be an added bonus.

After years of the event starting and ending on one coast or the other I’m psyched it will be “local” in 2005.

[image from Iron Butt Rally web site]

First, KTM and Red Bull both deserve some public acknowledgement for supporting a US team in this year’s Dakar rally. With the sport growing in popularity overseas, it is great to see a single manufacturer work so hard to grow interest in the sport of rally racing here in the states. KTM has sponsored a US team including Scot Harden, Chris Blais and Kellon Walch to run the rally and all three have been running inside the top 20 for most of the rally, with Chris Blais inside the top ten.

Now for the bad news. This may not be the growth year that everyone was hoping for when the 2005 Dakar was first announced. Motorcycle road races like the Isle of Man, the Macau GP and the NorWest 200, have been highly criticized for the inherent danger involved and all of them have lost a lot of their prestige because of it. Now it looks like the Dakar Rally may suffer from the same image. Just four months ago, the amazing Richard Sainct was killed while racing for KTM in a rally in Egypt. Now there have been two deaths in the Dakar this past week with KTM rider Jose Manuel Perez and KTM rally superstar Fabrizio Meoni both suffering fatal accidents.

These devastating losses could spell disaster for a sport which has been steadily growing in popularity and which has helped fuel the growth of brands like KTM and BMW. It is possible that KTM will pull out of the sport of rally racing (BMW pulled out after a thorough trouncing by KTM in 2000) which would be akin to Ducati pulling out of World Superbike. The KTM marque is synonymous with rally racing and the Dakar wouldn’t have a motorcycle class if it weren’t for KTM. It is a symbiotic relationship in which both parties will undoubtedly suffer because of these fatal accidents.

Nonetheless, the real loss will be the lost talent of these riders, particularly the spectacular rally accomplishments of both Sainct and Meoni. These two men have virtually ruled motorcycle rally racing for nearly a decade and their rivalry helped grow the sport to a new level after Stéphane Peterhansel’s domination in the nineties.

[image from Cycle News web site]

With the announcements over the past couple of weeks from Honda, Yamaha and Ducati, it certainly looks like the World Superbike series is making an astounding comeback from last year’s stories of doom and gloom.

First, Honda announces that both Ben Bostrom and Frankie Chili have found rides with factory supported teams for next year. Yamaha has officially announced Norikuki Haga (as rumored for the past month or so) will be on their factory superbike team and also announced that ex-GP star Norick Abe will be racing in WSBK on a factory supported team. Then, to make things better, NCR Ducati announced today that ex-250 GP star Fonsi Nieto will riding one of their superbikes.

Not only are the Japanese factories making a splash by returning to World Superbike competition but MV Agusta is rumored to be running a factory supported team in 2005. Its not too far a stretch to think that Aprilia may return as well, if not this year than next, now that they have pulled out of MotoGP.

I didn’t include Abe or Nieto in my 2005 WSBK Line-up posting and I think both of them will be a good addition to the series. Abe struggled with the four strokes in MotoGP but to run mid-pack in that star-studded field still shows amazing talent. If the Yamaha is a strong bike, I think Abe will run with Haga which means near the front and that will add big excitement. I don’t think that Nieto will prove so promising based on the depth of the WSBK field, the performance of the NCR Ducati and Fonsi’s inconsistent performance in the past two seasons 250GP. What Nieto does bring is MotoGP levels of sponsorship which will be great for the series.

[image from the Motorcycle USA web site]

I only casually watch Supercross racing, as I’m mainly a road race fanatic. When I do watch off-road racing, I generally prefer rally, dirt track or motocross. However, with all the hype lately, I had to tune into ESPN2 and watch the opener of the AMA Supercross season in Anaheim. What I saw was a series organizer’s wet dream!

The field is incredibly deep. It was only a few years ago when LaRocco, Tortelli, Vuilliemin and Pastrana were headliners, last week they weren’t expected to break into the top five. McGrath is back, Carmichael versus Reed, Bubba on a 250, four stroke versus two stroke and with the opening race, deciding who could survive the mud. Jeez, how could you not get someone excited about this race?

Better yet, I think Anaheim raised as many questions as it answered so the series can keep the wave of hype going for another week. This may be the best publicity situation the AMA has found itself in for nearly a decade in any of their series. The first thing that was shown was that all the talk about the Big Five (McGrath, Carmichael, Reed, Stewart and Windham) was right on the money. All five showed their stuff at Anaheim. It also showed that the 450cc four strokes may be a serious threat in a series with “250″ right in the title. Surely that raises some eyebrows, just as the 250 four stroke domination in the ?125″ class has done.

But all that mud also meant any results have a question mark next to it which won’t be answered until this coming weekend. Does Windham really have what it takes to win? Is Stewart going to crash or step up? Does McGrath have what it takes to run with the young guns on a dry track? Can Reed back his championship against Carmichael? Did the four stroke only shine because of its power delivery in the mud?

I might even tune in this weekend to find out…

[image from AMA Motocross/Supercross web site]

In the summer of 1998, my buddy Todd invited me to join our freinds Jim Bessette and Steve Johnson for a second trip around the White Rim trail in Utah. Todd and I had done the White Rim the summer before and I thought it would be fun to do it again. Besides, this time we’d have Jim’s R100GSPD and Steve’s TDM850 along to carry extra fuel, so we wouldn’t run out and be stranded like our first time. We loaded up Todd’s XR250 and my trusty ‘82 XR500 and headed out for Utah on a Friday evening after work.

Our little group did the White Rim Trail on Saturday, starting early and having a great ride with the usual awesome scenery, easy trail and few people. Todd and I both (again) ran out of gas but were able to siphon some off the big GS. We got back to Moab in the evening, after a 100 or so miles of dirt riding, in time for dinner and to relax.

The next morning, we got up and headed out to make a quick run up Pucker Pass before loading up and driving back home. This meant another relatively high speed ride out Potash Road and then a climb up the Pass. As we had the day before, we kept up a brisk pace. The road was a breeze and near the top we stopped for a photo shot.

When I suited back up and got on the XR, I noticed it was pinging and thus was obviously pretty hot but it was when I went to kick start it, and discovered the kick starter was jammed, that I began to realize I had bigger problems than just a warm motor. Now let me explain that the ‘82 Honda XR500 was a great bike. Reliable, stone simple and easy for a beginner to ride. However, any 15 year old dirt bike will require special attention and this plays into one of the weaknesses of the early XR design…a very small oil pan. Specifically, it only holds one quart of oil. Can you see where this is going?

After the long day on White Rim, the aging motor had burned off some of its oil. Later measurements would show that it was down about 1/3 of a quart. Combine that with a couple of hours of high rpm riding on the asphalt and you get a seriously cooked motor. Another weakness of the XR was that the cam doesn’t ride on bearings or even bushings. The cam instead rides in machined cut outs machined into the aluminum head. Aluminum doesn’t like getting hot. In fact it tends to melt…and when it cools, it welds things together.

I ended up coasting about four miles back down Pucker Pass and parked the bike at Potash Road. Todd rode his XR250 on into Moab, picked up his truck and retrieved my poor bike. I had a spare motor at home, so I tore down the fried motor to find the bottom end was happy. I installed the head and cam off the spare motor and the XR lived again. I also got a brutal reminder about how important it is to check the oil before every ride. Now the ruined head sits in the Bog of Shame to remind me, should I forget that vital pre-ride task.

After I moved to Colorado I started watching the local MRA races and noticed a young kid racing a 125GP bike. I thought it was cool that a guy was giving his son a chance to race and thought that was a pretty neat way to get in some father-son bonding as the father was clearly proud to have his son with him at the track. Over the next few years I was happy to see the kid was doing well. In 2002, he went into what I believe is the best possible training ground for young riders: The WERA National Endurance Series. He raised some eyebrows there by helping his team win a few races, probably a better performance than expected from a kid that wasn’t in high school yet.

Well, the kid’s father, Jurgen Wimbauer, moved them to Germany and the kid picked up where he left off by racing in a couple of the European national race series. The next time I heard about the guy, he was doing some wild card races in the World Supersport series on a factory Yamaha R6, with a best finish of 16th at Misano.

Well, now the news is out that 16 year old Nicky Wimbauer has signed with a factory supported Suzuki squad to race a GSXR in the European Superstock Championship, which is one of the support classes for World Superbike. I guess that little kid from Colorado has shown he has what it takes to race on the world stage, something that will make more people than just his father Jurgen proud. Bravo to the Moto 1 team for hiring him and best wishes to Nicky Wimbauer for a great season in 2005.

[image from Team Trasimeno web site]

Silly season for the AMA isn’t really as silly as in season’s past, with one huge exception, because of the small number of factory teams in Superbike and the confusion of the different classes.

• First, Suzuki, the champion yet again in 2004:



1a) Mat Mladin - What, really, needs to be said about Mladin at this point. He’s made everyone in the superbike class, except Nicky Hayden, look like chumps for the past six years. He’s an animal and I figure its likely he’ll continue to win AMA championships until he retires. I’d gripe about MotoGP seats, riders who buy rides with sponsorship dollars and other things, except that its a sad tale that’s been told again and again. I predict Mladin will have another #1 at the end of this coming season.

1b) Aaron Yates - After being a big fan since his Suzuki Cup days, last year was the last straw. I will say Double A Ron better start the ‘05 season better than last year because he didn’t look like a championship rider after his Daytona fisty-cuffs. I think 2004 took a lot of the wind from his sails and I don’t think he’ll make a big enough jump back forward in 2005 to win the thing.

1c) Ben Spies - Whatever money Suzuki isn’t already paying to Mladin to keep him around, they better be giving to Spies. For that matter, the AMA should be paying him too. He’s got bucket loads of talent and a tremendous dedication to racing. I think he’s the best thing the AMA has on the horizon. I think he has everything needed to fight for a championship in 2005 and may be the biggest threat to Mladin.

• Second, Honda, with a returning lineup:

1a) Miguel Duhamel - At the beginning of 2004, I’d have forecast that Duhamel was being kept around by Honda for his marketability…then he shows me up by having one of his strongest years. I’m not sure he’ll be willing to push that extra little bit needed to race with the young bucks or to keep up with Mladin, though. Miguel has so many war wounds, his body probably aches when going around half the corners on the AMA circuit. Those aches are what I think will hold him back, since its hard to throw it into a corner for the win when that same corner has put you in the hospital in the past.

1b) Jake Zemke - Jake was amazing in 2004, he just lacked a little bit of consistency. He’ll have to come on strong in the first few races, so Mladin doesn’t get his characteristic early season points lead, and that means he’ll have to start the season focused and in shape. Is he the easy going, laid back guy he appears on TV or does he have the focus and drive to turn off season testing/training into quick race wins? Can he beat Mladin both on the track and at the head games? I don’t know…but I think he’ll get a top three again for sure.

1c) Kurtis Roberts - As I mentioned in my Kurtis of the Dead blog posting I’m not really a fan of the youngest Roberts. In fact, I’m more happy to see Erion still in the game than I am to see Kurtis back. Still, its hard to deny his talent and without Kawasaki and Yamaha in Superbike, I’m glad to see another potential race winner on the grid. I still don’t think Kurtis has the focus (particularly if he’ll be spending the year wistfully dreaming of MotoGP) to pull off a championship against the Mladin machine.

• Third, the semi-factory Attack Kawasaki squad fighting with the big boys:

1a) Josh Hayes - Damn do I love rootin’ for the underdogs and Josh is front and center in that role. The Kawi looked like a beast last year and Josh was fantastic to watch. I want them to do well but I think it will be harder in 2005. Without a full factory race effort, I don’t think the Attack squad will be able to take it to the level necessary to fight for a championship, no matter how much Josh deserves it. Still, he should be a blast to watch.

1b) Ben Attard - Attack is also fielding a Superstock rider who is another in the seemingly never ending stream of Aussie riders moving to the US. He was inconsistent in 2004 and presented an attitude in interviews that gave me flash backs of Anthony “Wild Child” Gobert. Until I see otherwise, I’m assuming he’ll win some races but won’t have the attitude necessary to fight for a championship.

• Ducati, again claims to have a stronger focus with:

1a) Neil Hodgson - This is the biggest wildcard in the whole deck. An ex-MotoGP pilot and ex-World Superbike champion coming to the series, perhaps the first since Scott Russell’s return in ‘95. Who knows what tires they’ll run but I think the biggest problem will be learning the US tracks and dealing with our relatively poor safety standards compared to the tracks he’s raced the past few years. Even a great rider will probably pucker when he rides Mid-Ohio’s crap track surface or has to throw a bike into Road Atlanta’s Turn 12 just feet from a concrete wall. As much as I want Neil to push Mladin, I don’t think he’ll consistently be able to win.

1b) Eric Bostrom - Ducati can get a lot of PR out of a popular rider like Eric. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that Eric can get a lot out of a long wheel-base Ducati with vague front end feel. Even with them running Eric’s beloved Dunlops, I don’t think he’ll gain the confidence he needs from the Duc after all those years on the sweet handling ZX7. He better improve, if not win, before his stellar reputation as a rider and his status as a fan favorite fade.

• Michael Jordan has put together a Suzuki backed Superbike/Supersport team with:

1a) Jason Pridmore - Jason seemed to have hit his high water mark while racing for Yoshimura and hasn’t gotten much reward from his talent and hard work the past few years. However, he’s a great choice for the fledgling Jordan team. While I don’t think he’ll be able to topple the factory Yosh and Honda guys, he is a proven talent. What’s more, he has deep ties in the industry, is a super nice guys, knows how to play the PR/media game and will be a huge asset in terms of bringing teammate Montez Stewart up to speed. If the team can get good mechanics and a good crew chief, I believe these guys can give Attack Kawasaki fits for the title of top privateer.

1b) Steve Rapp - Back when Rapp ruled Willow Springs, he seemed to be the next big thing. Then his tours of duty on Suzuki and Ducati superbikes kind of fizzled. When he went back to Supersport/superstock, I thought it would give him a chance to get refocused but he has generally fizzled there too. He is leaving a proven team with an excellant crew to come to the new Jordan team and I think that will further complicate his riding. Sadly, I think he’ll go backwards, not forwards, in 2005.

1c) Montez Stewart - A lot of folks question whether Montez “deserves” his Jordan ride. Personally, I think its a stupid question. Montez is a talented club rider and has a friend with lots of money. Good for him that he has a chance to step up to the national level. Now its a question of whether he can dig deep, learn from those around him and elevate his game. Besides, its great for the sport to have some diversity and having a privateer team with an African-American owner and another as a rider is a definitely a move in the right direction. Hopefully, this will help bring new blood into the sport and help it appeal to a broader spectrum of people. If Montez can get into the top 15, it will be a successful year and will show he is still learning as a rider.

• Canada’s Diablo Suzuki has decided to come race south of the border this year with:

1a) Steve Crevier - Everyone that spectates at AMA races should be thrilled to have the Fuzz back in the game. No one can give a post-race performance like Crevier. His cool down lap stoppies are the stuff of legend and his personality adds a much needed spark to pit lane. Oh wait, I should be talking about racing, huh? Well, Crevier is good but I don’t think he’ll have what it takes to run at the top but his wild card races last year show he’s got the tail end of the factory guys covered. Just consider it a pity that SpeedTV doesn’t interview the eighth place finisher after the race.

1b) Francis Martin - I’ve seen Martin’s name consistently shown in the coverage of the Canadian Superbike series but it seems the most consistent thing about him is how much he is overshadowed by former AMA racers like Crevier, Picotte and Szoke. I think he’ll be racing with the privateers unless he has really learned a lot from those guys over the past couple of years…

There are some other factory teams but they appear to be staying away from Superbike again in 2005. They are:

• Yamaha, with a big lineup:

1a) Jamie Hacking - Ho hum. I can’t get excited about Jamie, even if he is a past 600SS champion. Too many crashes, too many close calls with other riders and too many excuses for all that stuff for me to be a fan. He’s always a front runner and probably will push the Superstock guys in 2005, since I’m guessing that is the class he really wants to win.

1b) Damon Buckmaster - In the same way that Hacking gets on my nerves, Bucky is one of my favorites. He has a no-nonsense attitude, always takes responsibility for crashes or losses and just gets on with the business of riding the tar out of a motorcycle. He’s started to crash a lot lately, which has resulted in two ruined seasons back-to-back because of injuries. I hope he can get things turned around in 2005. Like Hacking, I think he’ll shine the brightest in Superstock.

1c) Aaron Gobert - Aaron ran a great season in 2005 to take the Superstock championship. Unlike his more famous older brother, Aaron seems to be level headed and dedicated to being a better racer. He’s got loads of skill but I think it was his attitude that ultimately won him his Superstock crown. Win when you can, ride hard and take what you can get when you can’t. It also helps that he was pushed all season long and had to keep up’ing his game to stay ahead. Its a damned shame Yamaha isn’t running a factory Superbike squad, if only because this kid deserves to be learning from the best the AMA has racing.

1d) Jason Disalvo - Jason is another Hacking, only younger. His attitude, after multiple accusations of dangerous riding by folks like the Hayden brothers and Ben Spies, was that of a cocky kid who thinks the ends justify the means. I hope he grows out of that. He has the riding skills, now he just needs to work on his personality skills. He will probably have strong results in 2005 but I can’t get enthused enough about him to think he’ll earn any titles.

• Kawasaki is also back with:

1a) Tommy Hayden - Tommy was fantastic back in 1999, challenging for the 600SS title. Then Kawasaki dropped Muzzy and Tommy switched to Yamaha. It has basically taken him four years to get back on a Kawasaki and return to the dominance he should have displayed in 2000. His Supersport championship and strong Superstock performance should have him a favorite for both titles in 2005. For Tommy’s sake alone, Kawasaki should be ashamed of not racing Superbike.

1b) Roger Lee Hayden - Roger made the strides last year that many expected in 2003. He’s now a force to be reckoned with. Whats more, he joins Spies as the two brightest stars of the future for the AMA. If he can step up with a Supersport or Superstock championship in 2005, he’ll move to the “A” list of riders in the AMA. The only thing I see standing between him and one of those championships is his brother.

• Suzuki again has a field of factory supported teams including:

Team Hammer Suzuki:

1a) Vincent Haskovec - Vincent was fast as a privateer but has not been very consistent with the Valvoline Suzuki squad. He is now one of the few riders with 600cc Formula Extreme experience, which will hopefully help him improve in ‘05. Still, it would require a pretty big step up to go from top non-Honda in F-Extreme to front runner and I don’t think he’ll make that big a leap forward.

1b) Geoff May - Once again, John Ulrich has given a talented a privateer the chance to race when one of the factory teams should have hired him. Geoff was the hero of all privateers in ‘04, racing to consistent top ten finishes while maintaining this own bikes and drive to the races. That kind of dedication and those results should have earned him a factory ride but at least he’ll continue racing in ‘05. I predict he’ll give the Attack Kawasaki squad run and probably cherry pick spots off the factory guys if they have an off day.

There will probably be the usual Suzuki supported teams like Corona and Hooters but they haven’t announced their rider line-ups yet. The only privateer that I’ll comment on is:

1a) Larry Pegram - The Worm is trying to put together a Honda (best of luck there, Honda never provides support to privateers!) for 2005. He’s a past Superbike race winner and top dirt tracker, so he has talent but seems like he’s a whole lot less hungry now than he was in 1999 when he put the Ferrari Ducati on top of the box at Willow Springs. Until Larry can top the other privateers, he’ll just be another colorful addition in the paddock and not a serious contender for another shot on a factory bike.

[image from Dunlop website]

Happy New Year to everyone!

So my plan was to post my ‘05 AMA rider review tonight (its finished and just needs a proof-read before I publish it) but I received my copy of the new collectors edition of Faster this past week. I sat down tonight to watch it and that changed my blog plans for this evening.

Maybe its the sub-freezing temperatures outside. Maybe its that I haven’t been on a bike in almost two months. Maybe its the residual euphoria from my holiday vacation. I don’t really know but I can say that I really enjoyed watching the new disc of additional material that is part of this new collectors edition. I can also say that, as with Long Way Round, I get downright giddy when I see motorcycles on the TV shown in such an exciting way.

I know I raved about Faster in my Motorcycle Porn blog posting but seeing high def images of MotoGP racing just gets my blood boiling and I’m still feeling excited after turning off the TV and tucking the DVD safely on my media storage shelf. This movie goes a long way toward showing just how amazing these guys are and, above all, gives detailed evidence that highlights just how amazing Rossi really is with the strongest clues being the personal admissions by other world class riders. Some of the interviews are eminently quotable and great for a laugh.

If you are even remotely interested in motorcycle racing, take the time to find and watch Faster. As documentaries go, it probably isn’t the best (the story line jerks around a bit) but it shows the passion, the thrills and the danger of racing at the highest levels. Its worth a viewing just to enjoy the various first person interviews. The second disc (basically a review of the ‘03 MotoGP season, various “extras” and some things cut from the movie is even more discontinuous than the main movie but many of the short segments are worth in. Even the infomercial for Riders for Health is interesting and includes a great interview with Randy Mamola.

I have a copy of the movie (the non-collectors edition) on DVD that I’ll be glad to loan out to anyone local. Just ask…

[image from Faster web site]