This past weekend, I finally got around to watching the DVD One Man’s Island. This is the story of Canadian road racer Mark Gardiner who quit his job, sold all his belongings and moved to the Isle of Man to compete in the annual TT races back in 2002.

The DVD itself is very well done. Video quality is fantastic and the documentary was shot by someone that understood camera angles, video production, building a story line and developing characters. But its the contents of the DVD that really make it a worthwhile watch. Gardiner’s story is compelling on a number of different levels.

First and foremost is just the thrill of watching someone chase their dream. Mark got into racing late in life but went on to successfully compete in Canadian club racing, then Canadian national racing and then on to the AMA 250GP series. (As an aside, it was wild that I didn’t recognize his name but immediately recognized his leathers from all my time following the AMA series…). Ultimately, Gardiner decided that his real goal was to race the Island of Man TT. Realizing that he didn’t have the funding to chase this dream on the side he had to make a drastic decision. He sold everything, quit his job and headed for the small island in the Irish Sea. The story is guaranteed to be interesting when it starts like that…

Second, Gardiner faced a couple of different challenges which add another interesting ingredient to the story: He is pretty old to be starting real “road” racing. While most of the road race specialists are in, like Gardiner, in their 30s they got their start at half that age. Its quite a daunting proposition to start learning the 38 mile long circuit at an age when most racers are retiring. Gardiner also has lupus which saps muscle strength and endurance. Racing 150 miles over dangerous public roads taxes the body of even the most fit racer. He is very humble about this issue and its just a small part of the overall story line but I think is something that amplifies both this dream and his accomplishment.

The story itself is very well laid out talking about Gardiner, the history of the TT, the famous TT course, the components which came together to help him compete and finally his results. Great on-board footage is used, including an entire lap which is available as a DVD “extra”. There are also a few short interviews with a few famous IoM legends including nine time winner Dave Jefferies (this interview being done the year before Jefferies lost his life during the 2003 TT). The DVD really holds a lot of little gems like this which combine to make for a very enjoyable film.

If you’re looking for something to add to your DVD collection, this one is worth picking up. Its available from both Aerostich and White Horse Press.

[image from the Aerostich web site.]

“Johnny said, Devil just come on back
If you ever wanna try again
I done told you once you son of a bitch
I’m the best there’s ever been.”
— Charlie Daniels Band, “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”

This past weekend was a flash back to my first viewing of the film Alien back in 1980. When I first watched the movie, I remember the combination of suspense and anticipation being unbearable. I was nervous, anxious and my whole body was twitching just because I knew that the certainty of the ending was being stretched out again and again. Well, in Catalunya the monster that is Valentino Rossi put on a show worth of that classic horror sci-fi flick.

The race started out with a frantic scramble for the lead that lasted three laps. Gibernau, Melandri, Rossi, Barros, Hayden, Biaggi and Tamada were all climbing one on top of the other in these earliest laps. There were close passes, elbows rubbed and bike contact. …Everything that makes motorcycle racing so exciting and the skills of these aggressive riders so amazing. As the riders sorted themselves out, the guys that had consistently been fast moved to the front and started to break into smaller groups. Tamada threw his Honda into the gravel trap in a shower of sparks and dust. Out front, Gibernau and Rossi started to pull away. Hayden couldn’t run the pace of the front two but his soft front tire allowed him to gap the Honda battle betweeen Melandri and Barros. Biaggi lacked the speed to catch any of the top five but ran a pace similar to the dice going on in front of him. Questions were already starting early: Could Hayden pick up the pace and join the Gibernau-Rossi battle? Would Melandri and Barros overtake Hayden? Could Biaggi come good in the second half of the race and join the front runners?

The next bit of suspense was added when first Hopkins and then Hoffman pitted for new tires. It appeared that the Bridgestone tires weren’t the equal of the Michelins on the hot abrasive Catalunya track service. Would the Ducatis, running in the top ten, fade as well with tire problems? Would Nakano and Roberts also suffer problems like their teammates?

The one thing that seemed certain from the beginning was that Rossi was once again stalking the race leader and was actually capable of going faster that Sete, as he repeatedly ran up on the back tire of the Honda mounted Spaniard at the entrance to the faster corners. All this despite the fact that Sete was turning laps nearly two seconds faster than the fastest laps from last year’s race. Gibernau set a new lap record a few different times and appeared to be riding confidently and smoothly. Had it not been for Rossi matching him lap for lap, it may have appeared that Gibernau was capable of winning in front of his home crowd. But we have watched Rossi play out this same routine so many different times that experienced MotoGP fans knew that every lap before the final two or three were just wasted. No matter what happened, the real race wouldn’t start until the final three laps as that was when Rossi would finally show his hand.

The two riders ran nose to tail and then with three laps to go Rossi smoothly sliced up the inside of Gibernau. The question of whether Sete could challenge Vale was quickly answered. On the penultimate lap, Rossi threw down a lap *1.5 seconds* faster than Gibernau’s fastest lap. This despite visibly sliding on the well worn Michelin tires and leaving black marks in every corner. This fast lap allowed the Yamaha rider to pull enough of a gap over the Honda that even on the long front straight Gibernau couldn’t close the gap. In the end, Rossi won by a second. Had he made his move earlier it is possible that Rossi could have consistently turned faster laps and won by a larger gap. It is a sign of his maturity that he did exactly what was needed to win but nothing more.

Behind the predictable finish among the front pair things were more interesting. Hayden started to slow as his front tire lost traction which allowed Melandri and Barros to catch and then pass the young American. While a fifth place finish would seem disappointing after Hayden held third for so long, I think this was actually a great race for Nicky. First, he showed consistent speed from first practice until the race. Second, he ended up on a scrap with other riders which is something which at which he desperately needs more experience. Hayden has speed and has shown excellent progress in qualifying this year but he definitely lacks the aggressive riding nature that seems to come standard among the Italian, Spanish and Japanese riders. In order for Hayden to learn how to dice at this level, he needs more time racing in close quarters with the other top riders. Finally, despite the Honda rider slipping backwards out of podium contention he did a great job riding on a shagged front tire and that also shows he is still learning. A great educational weekend for Hayden and some valuable championship points.

Hayden’s moving backwards allowed the Italian superstar Melandri to move forward. He held off a determined Barros to earn the final podium position, his third podium finish of the season, continuing his string of top four finishes. Another fantastic finish for the Honda rider.

Barros’ forth place finish was good but he is too experienced to be commended for finishing off the podium, especially after his win in Portugal made it appear he may have been a contender this season.

Biaggi brought the Honda home sixth which definitely isn’t a satisfactory finish for the Roman. His second at Mugello was excellent but he needs an off weekend to mean a second or third, not a sixth. Honda too the ultimate gamble in making him their star rider this season and placing him on the #1 bike at Repsol Honda. His putting in another inconsistent season and blaming this last mediocre finish on a “bad bike” may well have already written off his dream season as a factory Honda rider.

Finally, the suspense of the Bridgestone tire situation played out with both Checa and Capirossi fading to outside the top 10 with 11th and 12th place finishes respectively. The top Bridgestone finisher was Nakano in 9th. Roberts Jr. brought the Suzuki home 15th, the last of the points paying positions.

But ultimately, all this other news was just noise compared to Rossi’s masterful performance. What he continues to do on the race track just expands his legendary status more and more. Mike the Bike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Phil Read, Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and even Mick Doohan each have their claim to being the greatest rider ever but Valentino Rossi is quickly surpassing all of their records. As the Charlie Daniels lyrics says, he is truely the best there has ever been.

[image from the Yahoo UK Sports web site.]

There have been many famous national rivalries in history. Both Spain and England raced to make the world their empire. France and Germany spent a fair amount of time fighting over the Rhine River. The US and Japan played tug-of-war with the electronics industry in the 70s. Well, in this decade of MotoGP, there is a rivalry between Spain and Italy that is as strong and as brutal as any of them.

There are currently 6 Italians in MotoGP (Rossi, Melandri, Biaggi, Capirossi, Battaini, Rolfo) and 4 Spainards (Gibernau, Checa, Xaus, Elias). If you look at the support classes, those numbers really skyrocket. Nearly all the front runners in 250GP are either Italian or Spanish (this year’s 250GP title seems to be boiling down to a struggle between two of them…Pedrosa and Dovisioso). Events in either country draw huge crowds and television viewership statistics show that around 50% of the TV viewers are tuned into MotoGP when a race is being broadcast. Any time you mix the two throngs of rabid fans, you can bet things will get interesting.

After the first race of the season in Jerez, where Rossi and Gibernau collided in the last corner and the Spainiard was sent into the gravel trap while the Italian went on to win, the animosity between the two legions of fans has been growing. At the end of the Jerez race, the crowd chanted insults at Rossi and it appeared that his next visit to Spain had better be done stealthfully and humbly. Well, this weekend is that time.

The MotoGP series is at Catalunya, just outside Barcelona this weekend and the Spanish fans will deluge the place this weekend. In addition to being some of the most vocal of the MotoGP race attendees they also come armed with loads of noise makers and fireworks. The Spanish riders always feed off this, so expect them to either perform exceptionally or crash spectacularly. Either way, you can be sure the place will be deafening whenever either event happens.

Rossi has to again be the favor, having one nearly every race this year. At Mugello is seemed he was just playing with his opponents and that level of confidence will be needed since he will be the target of over a hundred thousand angry Spanish fans. The track itself is very interesting and has both a long straight as well as 13 turns. Numerous camber changes, elevation changes and passing opportunities mean that handling is probably more important that outright power. Again, expect this to play into Rossi’s hands.

Valentino Rossi isn’t the only Italian making news though. Max Biaggi seems to have figured something out because he downright sucked early in the season and is now running up front, where everyone (especially Honda) expected. He is up to third in the points…might this be yet another year he finishes the year in second place? Marco Melandri is another amazing story. After a year struggling with the Yamaha, he has clicked with the Honda and has finished in the top four at every race this season. Who would have predicted the young ex-250GP champ would be the main challenger to Rossi this year? Even Loris Capirossi is grabbing headlines after his third place finish at Mugello. Perhaps Ducati finally have a grasp of the handling woes which have plagued them since the beginning of last season. Having Ducati back up fighting with Honda and Yamaha would be a huge shot of excitement for the series.

The news on the Spanish side of the equation isn’t nearly so rosy. Gibernau, the perpetual thorn in Rossi’s side has crashed out of two races so far this season and currently lies forth in the championship (53 points to Rossi’s 120…ouch!) More than anyone Sete needs to get it together now to have any hope of pushing Rossi for the second half of the season. Carlos Checa has also suffered. His fifth place finish in Mugello may show that he, like Capirossi, has finally gotten the Ducati to handle. Like Sete, his two crashes so far this season have probably ruled him out of the championship battle. Tony Elias looked solid in the early races as a MotoGP rookie with a best finish of 9th in France. This surely gave hope to the Spanish fans that he would be the next big thing but a huge crash during testing at LeMans has temporarily dampened that enthusiasm. He is being temporarily replaced by another Spaniard, David Checa, brother of Carlos Checa. Ruben Xaus has continued to impress…not because of his race results but because no one thought he could crash more this season than last but the determined Ruben has proven us all wrong. I quit keeping track but its something like 20 crashes so far this year. His best finish so far as been a 10th in China.

With all this turmoil, it will certainly be interesting to see if the Spaniards can step up to give a classic David versus Goliath event or if the Italian steamroller will keep on rolling…

[image from the Australian MCNEWS web site.]

This past weekend the FIM announced some rule changes for the MotoGP class which will take affect for the 2007 season. While none of the changes were shocking one of them does have me a bit puzzled. Specifically, they have announced that the engine displacement limitation for the MotoGP class will be changed from 990cc to 800cc.

This isn’t really something new though it does have a different face now than it originally wore. Back in the 1970s the FIM actually had a separate world championship race series from the then 500cc two-stroke GP class which ran 750cc machines. Not exactly 800cc but pretty damn close. The class was known as the Formula 750 World Championship and it ran for six years from 1973 to 1979. It was dominated by the Yamaha TZ750, though Suzuki and Kawasaki also raced in the series.

What does a 750cc two-stroke class have in common with the newly proposed 800cc four-stroke class you might ask? Good question and an excellent segue… The comparison isn’t so much between the two classes as it is an example of why the FIM may not be achieving what they think they are achieving. Specifically, they are hoping that reducing the engine displacement of the MotoGP bikes will reduce their speed (at Mugello this past weekend they were topping out around 220 mph on the straight) and thus increase safety. This is not unlike the AMA continually trying to change their premier class to be a 600cc Superbike series (Formula Xtreme) rather than the current 1000cc Superbike class. What I think that the old Formula 750 series indicates is that engine displacement alone doesn’t dictate horsepower.

At the same time that the big TZ750s were tearing up European tracks with their 130hp, the premier GP series was the 500 GP. Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki were all going head-to-head in that Grand Prix series which ran simultaneously with the F750 series and involved many of the same riders. What is surprising is that the high-tech 500cc Grand Prix bikes like Yamaha’s TZ500s were making…around 120hp. It was in fact a limitation of the tires, frames and tracks of the time that limited the power, not the engine displacement.

I believe that the FIM is overlooking this simple fact…In two years, if not already, Honda and Yamaha will have 800cc engines that produce the same power as the current MotoGP bikes. In fact, the power increases over the past two years have been attributed to three things: 1) the continual one-ups-manship between Honda, Yamaha and Ducati steadily driving each other to unleash more and more power 2) enhanced electronics that help the riders get that power to the ground and finally, 3) Michelin, Bridgestone and Dunlop’s ability to make tires that can handle that power. Those same issues will be what determines the power of the MotoGP bikes in 2007, not some seemingly arbitrary decrease in engine displacement. What’s more, I think continually changing the rules is going to hurt the smaller manufacturers like KTM/Proton and WCM/Blata. They can’t change their engineering plans that quickly and each re-design costs them dearly in capital expenditure and time. It may also prevent new competitors like BMW or FPR from joining the fray if they think they will have to continually redesign their motor. The FIM can’t afford to make rules that continue to decrease the number of competitors in the MotoGP series.

Besides, I believe that the best approach to limiting power is already in place. Rules which restrict engines to normal aspiration, minimum weight rules and a limit on how much fuel a bike can carry during the race. Not only does the 21 liter fuel limitation impose a limit on horsepower it still leaves plenty of room for innovation among the manufacturers on how to achieve the necessary fuel economy. Honda and Yamaha have slowed their horsepower increases while Ducati has instead opted to build new electronics that try to conserve fuel at key moments like when braking or downshifting while continuing to increase peak power. Both approaches get to the same destination but get there two different ways. That is the very core of a prototype race series’ philosophy.

Then again, this rule could suddenly bring Suzuki from floundering to flourishing. They are the only manufacturer making a 750cc sport bike now, so they can just quit producing it, g ive it a cylinder bore and declare it a prototype race bike. If its as good as the GSXR1000, it may be a better starting point for a GP bike than the current GSV-R… Watching a Superbike spec GSXR750 race again really would be going back to the future!

[image from the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum web site.]

Its been awhile since I did a Box of Shame posting so I decided to delve into the pile ‘o parts for something else with an interesting story…

When I purchased my GSXR 1100 in ‘90, I assumed it would be my sport bike for riding around north Georgia. However, in the tradition of the saying “Give a kid a hammer and everything becomes a nail”, I starting using the bike for commuting, cruising around town and even touring. Over the years, I rode the Geezer on multi-week trips up the Blue Ridge Parkway and halfway across the country to Colorado. I also did trips to most of the states in the southeast. By the time I moved to Colorado in ‘95, I’d put nearly 40,000 miles on the bike with only one major problem (a spectacular rear suspension failure…but that is another story).

In 1996, my riding buddy Ed Guzman suggested a road trip to the Pacific Northwest to attend the annual gathering of the subscribers to the Wetleather mailing list that was being held in Republic, WA that year. I decided to join Ed for the trip to Republic but then extend the trip to ride down the west coast to California before returning to Colorado. Ed then coerced Jim Franklin to join us, giving Gooz a riding partner for the return trip after the Gather. Since the GSXR was the only (running) bike I had at the time, it was once again drafted into touring duty. I threw on my well-used Chase Harper soft luggage, loaded up my camping year, threw in a bunch of tools, did a quick tune-up and headed out for a two week, 11,000 mile trip.

As it turns out, my quick tune-up was probably too quick and resulted in a stripped value cover bolt. In my defense, the GSXR head is soft aluminum and after three years of professional racing and then 40,000 street miles, the threads were pretty tired after all those value adjustments. Whatever the cause, the stripped threads allowed oil to steadily seep out and by the time we entered Utah was visibly dripping off the motor. The next two days of riding included a regular cleaning of the engine at each gas stop (along with a very slow, very smokey stop-n-go idle through a traffic clogged Salt Lake City) until I could get it temporarily repaired in Coure D’Alene Idaho with some JB Weld thread repair. We continued the ride to Republic for The Gather, with the problem apparently fixed (though the bike did pick up the nickname “Suzuki Valdez”).

However, this blog entry isn’t about a stripped bolt hole. One side effect of the oil leak was that the wiring harness which runs behind the back of the motor had been coated with oil. When I lived in downtown Atlanta, I’d added a bike alarm to the GSXR to help discourage bike thieves. Since I was working in downtown Denver after I moved to Colorado I left the alarm installed to keep the bike safe when left all day in dark parking decks. The Ungo bike alarm is very simple, just a mercury switch and a few wires to connect to the battery, a loud alarm speaker and some wires going into the wiring harness to cut the ignition and sound the alarm when the bike is lifted off the side stand. The splice into the ignition wiring was done “right” but after six years of riding engine heat had done a job on the shrink wrap protecting the splice.

Unknown to me, the oil that had misted behind the engine while burning across Utah and Idaho eventually managed to get into the splice. At first, the bike was just tricky to start, which made me think it was just a dirty start button. However, as the weekend in Republic went on, the starting problem became more and more pronounced. The morning that Gooz and I decided to ride up into Canada, the bike refused to start all together. Ed was nice enough to give me a push start and we were off for a day ride into Oh Canada! By the time we were back at the US border, complete with draconian border guard, even a push start was taking more effort than I (and particularly Ed) was comfortable with. I was having horrible thoughts of trying to push start a fully loaded touring GSXR on some deserted coastal road in Oregon so clearly I had to figure this one out that night.

Once back at the campground, I started going through the bike’s electronics with a multi-meter and quickly traced the issue to the alarm’s ignition splice. Rather than re-wiring the splice, I borrowed a butane soldering iron from long distance rider Jeff Earls and removed the ignition splice all together. Quick fix and the bike ran perfectly for the rest of the trip. Sadly, Ed and Jim went straight back to Colorado and missed out on the trouble free riding I got to enjoy for a week on my return loop…a welcome relief after the four frustrating days that started the trip.

I am going to re-install the alarm with a new Ungo wiring harness now that I have the GSXR running again, but that simple problem could easily have ruined that two week trip. I keep the original oil covered ignition splice wire in my Box of Shame to remind me of that simple truth.

[image from my photo collection.]

It was a great weekend to be Italian. I suspect plenty of pasta and vino were consumed and the parties in the boot shaped country were kicking well into the night on Sunday.

MotoGP action was all about Italy, with the racing taking place at the famous Mugello circuit and the race itself was all about Italians since for the second time in the three years the story of the Tuscan track’s weekend in the GP sun was an all Italian victory circle. The race was spectacular, as is to be expected at Mugello with its long straight and fast corners. (In fact, with the World Superbike races at Imola historically being great, its easy to believe that all races in Italy are just intrinsically fantastic!) From the very beginning, it seemed that Rossi was again going to put on a command performance for his home audience as he launched the Yamaha into second and then quickly dispatched with leader Capirossi on the second lap to lead the race. From there, it was pure excitement. In fact, I wonder if Rossi is now so confident of his abilities that he was able to script a race that would drive the Italian fans into a mad frenzy. Over the first third of the race it appeared that Rossi would run away but then slowly Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri reeled him in and suddenly there was an all-Italian scrap for the lead. As the race neared two thirds distance Loris Capirossi on the bright red Ducati joined the fray which just pushed the Italian crowd’s insanity dial to 11. If Rossi did create the script for this dramatic race it was a performance worthy of a Tony award as he again cranked up the speed and with two laps to go rocketed away to victory leaving his three countrymen to fight for the remaining two podium spots. Just as he has done so many times over the past two years Rossi has given his competitors a sniff of glory and then crushed them with unbelievable efficiency. Just as in 2003, the podium was all Italian with Rossi, Biaggi and Capirossi but this time Biaggi finished second with Capirossi having just beaten Melandri for the third place finish. As if having four Italians lead the race wasn’t enough, Ducati managed its first rostrum appearance of the year “at home” and Carlos Checa brought the second Ducati over the line in fifth. I can only imagine how wild the village of Mugello was on Sunday night, not to mention the city of Bolgona!

Speaking of which, in the AMA the boys from Bologna have also been experiencing a welcome resurgence of late. Eric Bostrom’s win at Pikes Peak was the first for Ducati in a year and was desperately needed to buoy the sagging hope of the Ducatisti. Thanks to a Wisconsin deluge on Saturday the Ducati Austin snagged its second win in as many races. It would be easy to assume that that large number of crashers (Yates, Duhamel, Bostrom, Zemke, Spies) helped Hodgson win his first AMA Superbike race but watching the Brit power his bike around the soggy Road America track proved it was actually pure riding talent. Both Mladin and Spies, running with Hodgson at the front, had to pit for fresh rear tires because the first laps where run on a damp track with allowed the tires to overheat and shred before the downpour soaked the track and brought the tires back to their normal operating temperature. After the race, Hodgson admitted that his rear tire was also shot and he wouldn’t have finished the race had it not been red flagged at the beginning of lap nine. But despite all the confusion and chaos caused by the rain it was still an exciting win for Hodgson and for Ducati. Likewise, it was another stunning case of damage control for Yoshimura’s star rider as Mladin earned second when scoring revered back to lap eight…before he pitted for the new rear tire. Even on his bad days he is incredible. The final news worthy of some bubbly was Josh Hayes who earned a fabulous third place for the underdog Attack Kawasaki team. What a terrific turnaround after their miserable results early in the season and a new personal high water mark for Hayes as this is his best Superbike finish to date.

Sunday dawned overcast but unlike Saturday the Superbike race was run in dry conditions. As if to prove that two Ducati wins a row hadn’t really changed the status quo in AMA Superbike, Mat Mladin turned in another of his dominate performances. Leading from start to finish, Mat was never challenged for the win. The surprise was that a Honda (anyone remember them?) ran 90% of the race in second place. In this particular case, it was Jake Zemke who did his best to put pressure on the Suzuki rider early in the race. Sadly, the honor of earning a second place finish for Honda wasn’t to be, as Suzuki mounted Ben Spies snatched that position late in the race but Zemke does get the pleasure of getting Big Red’s first Superbike podium finish in 2005 as he held onto third. EBoz, rebounding from his DNF on Saturday after being taken out by a crashing Duhamel, came home in forth on Sunday. Ducati’s fortunes weren’t completely restored, though, as Hodgson was out with his second mechanical failure of the year.

With this weekend’s success of the Italian riders in general and the Ducatis in particular this weekend was all about Italy. All it all, it was “bella!”.

[image from the Motoring South Africa web site.]

I normally try to do a blog posting each day during the week but the attentive readers will notice there wasn’t a new post yesterday. Well, the reason is that I normally spend my evening working on an article but had to spend Monday evening trying to get police reports and insurance paperwork…

This past weekend my wife and I were going to take a bike trip down to Manitou Springs (just outside Colorado Springs) for a little R&R. When we got up Saturday morning it was cool and dumping rain. At the last minute we decided to skip the motorcycle and take my wife’s 2004 Toyota Rav4 instead.

While driving through Denver, a group of high school graduates, still in their graduation gowns, ended up causing a four car pile-up resulting in a train of three cars slamming into the back of our car. The back of the car was pretty trashed but thankfully we only had sore neck muscles…no lasting damage for us.

Anyway, with the wheels now in motion to get the insurance paperwork filed, the police report in-hand and the damage estimate scheduled I can return to my blog duties. I’ll try to do a second posting today with the review of this weekend’s racing so I’m caught up.

[image from my photo collection.]

This weekend brings racing to two tracks which may well be the heart and soul of their respective series: MotoGP comes to Mugello in Italy and the AMA Superbike series travels to Rd. America in Wisconsin.

The headliner has to be the MotoGP race. Mugello is perhaps the heart of MotoGP. The organizing body (the FIM) is based in Italy, the top rider is Italian, the largest fan base is arguably in Italy and the Italian track has provided some of the most exciting races of the series going back to the glorious days of Doohan domination. The Mugello race was the best race of the 2004 MotoGP season and may have been the best race of 2003 as well. In addition to incredible racing, Mugello keeps things interesting by having the second longest straight of the entire series (second to the new Shanghai track in China). This long straight puts stresses on tires and engines that mean the teams have to be on their A game. Last year Bridgestone found the limits of their new MotoGP tire thanks to a horrific tire failure which slammed Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano to the tarmac at 190 mph+. That long straight also means that everyone better bring horsepower and plenty of it. Honda seemed to have Yamaha covered in that respect last year but this fact just allowed Rossi’s amazing skill as a rider to shine through. The RC211V’s of Tamada, Biaggi and Gibernau could pull four or five bike lengths on the M1 of Rossi down the straight but impossibly late braking and crazy corner speed allowed Rossi to pass them back in turns one or two. It was extraordinary riding and that accomplishment was made that much better when rain late in the race meant the event was finished as a six lap wet sprint race. Rossi showed he was a master of the wet as well as the dry by slicing through the pack for the ultimate win. If this year’s race at Mugello is only half as exciting it will still be the best race of the season. Another aspect of the Tuscan track and its fanatical crowd of spectators is that it always seems to make the Italian racers ride just a little bit harder. As a result, the red-blooded natives seem to switch into “win it or bin it” mode. This reached its peak in 2003 when Rossi, Capirossi and Biaggi all fought from start to finish in a ferocious battle to win in front of their countrymen. All came close to crashing and in the end it was an all Italian podium, including an Italian Ducati, so the crowd really got its money’s worth. If Melandri, Biaggi or Capirossi are going to challenge Rossi this season, this race may be their best shot. Expect all of them to ride with 100% of their heart.

The AMA trip to Road America brings them to the heartland of America and one of the best tracks in the country. The four mile long circuit includes a very, very fast straight away and some 14 turns meaning it is a challenging place to race. In the past, the Wisconsin track has been dominated by Ducati and Honda. The two brands have won 18 of the 30 races at the track and it is no coincidence that both brands have been known for making race bikes with lots of power. Last year the event was dominated by one man: Miguel Duhamel. In fact, the Canadian has won both legs of double-headers there twice, also winning in 2002. The Honda doesn’t appear to be the bike it was in 2004 but the track is the closest thing to a home race for Duhamel and he always seems to set it up there. Naturally, another favorite has to be Mat Mladin. The Suzukis have plenty of horsepower this year and Mladin is riding his best ever. Finally, the Ducati of Neil Hodgson should do well. Road America is similar to the traditional European race tracks on which the Brit has raced for the past three or four years and its high speed corners should play to his strengths. The track always makes for exciting racing and this year should be no different.

Sunday will bring five hours of road racing on SpeedTV including both legs of the AMA Superbike races and the AMA Supersport race from Road America as well as the MotoGP and 250GP races from Mugello. Should be a great weekend of racing!

[image from the waepoint web site.]

I have a couple of big blog entries in the hopper but found some news posted on some of my favorite motorcycle web sites today that has me so excited I wanted to share the news.

Dunlop has decided to make posters of their recent Legends line of print ads. These excellent black and white photos show incredible scenes of famous racers like Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, David Bailey, Bob Hannah, Jeff Ward, Bubba Shobert and others. The first one I saw in a magazine was a shot of Kenny Roberts and the rest of the 1983 Grand Prix grid doing an old Le Mans style push start of their bikes at the Grand Prix of San Marino. I was blown away by the picture and then in other magazines continued to see these amazing photos from the ’80s showing Dunlop riders in action. (Interestingly enough, Roberts is much better known as a Goodyear rider since it was on that brand of tires that he had his greatest success…). At the time I thought Dunlop should make posters of them.

Well Dunlop realized there was an audience for these posters but in a rare case of corporate compassion decided to donate the net proceeds from the sale of them to the Clayton Memorial Foundation which helps injured riders with their medical bills. Not only do I get some more garage eye candy but it will help riders too. Sweet!

The posters can be ordered from a link off the Cycle News web site. Mine are already on the way!

[image from the Dunlop web site.]

The second company to get a thumbs up from me is motorcycle luggage maker Chase Harper.

I’ve been a satisfied customer of Chase Harper for a long, long time. I bought my first soft luggage from them back in ‘91: a set of Aero Pac saddlebags, an Aero Pac tail trunk and an 1150 tank bag. I was immediately happy with them and couldn’t wait to try them out with a bike camping trip. Unfortunately, that also meant that I had an immediate need to test their warranty. You see, Chase Harper makes a great product and in addition to a top notch build quality and excellent features they also include an amazing unconditional lifetime warranty.

Their saddlebags include a little plastic shield, which should protect them from your common idiotic mistakes. Well, as I’ve proven from my Box of Shame postings, at times I can be a particularly uncommon idiot and this was one of those cases. I pre-packed the saddle bags the night before leaving for a bike trip to Road Atlanta to enjoy the ‘91 WERA GNF races. When packing, I was careful to put the camp stove fuel in the saddle bag that would be on the opposite side of the bike from the exhaust pipe. Well, Saturday morning I went to put the bags on the bike and realized they fit better swapped around the other way. What I didn’t realize was that this change moved the fuel directly above the exhaust. During the ride, the hot Yoshimura pipe heated the fuel bottle to the point that it pressurized and misted Coleman fuel inside the saddle bag. That then started smoldering resulting in my GSXR trailing a cloud of smoke like a wounded WWII fighter plane. My riding buddy Troy waved me over and we managed to frantically remove the bag and extinguish the charred clothes inside but not before a four inch hole was melted through the back of the right hand saddle bag.

So that story clearly shows that I made an incredibly stupid mistake and roasted my new saddle bag. Nonetheless, when I called Chase Harper to get a new saddle bag they reiterated that their warranty is an unconditional guarantee and that includes user error. A few days later I received a box in the mail the contained a brand new right side saddle bag. Wow, how do you argue with a company that offers that kind of service?

That story alone would make me a lifetime devotee of the company. But I had another chance to experience the benefits of their warranty and this time it wasn’t because I was brain dead… In 2003, I finally got my old GSXR running again after a mini-restoration and went through all my storage boxes and dug out my old Chase Harper gear. The saddle bags and tail trunk looked great but the 1150 tank bag showed every bit of the 70,000 miles it had endured over 12 years. All the velcro was worn out, one of the strap rivets had come apart, the map case was sun faded till it was opaque and the front compartment’s zipper was broken. I sent the tank bag back to Chase Harper to get a repair estimate for the various bits and pieces. A few days later, like deja vu, a box arrived with a band new 1150 tank bag. No questions asked, no money owed, just a new tank bag to replace the one that I’d flogged like a rented mule for over a decade.

As I said in my first Product and Company Review blog entry I think that a company’s service is even more important than their product. In this regard, Chase Harper is probably the best manufacturer in the entire motorcycle industry. I’ve bought Chase Harper luggage as gifts for two other people based strictly on my knowledge that Chase Harper stands behind their product like no one else. If you’re looking for soft luggage for your bike (or storage bags for hiking, bicycling or winter sports) check them out.

[image from the Motorcycle Accessory Warehouse web site.]