Moto-Brian

1:47 is fine. It isn't about the speed as much as predictability and consistency. But, it is for only experienced Intermediate and Advanced riders. Advanced riders - it will be Intermediate passing rules. Point is this. If you are in the 1:47 and riding like a beginning Intermediate rider, you will be pulled for safety reasons. If you run a 1:47 and are on a slower machine and riding with consistent and predictable lines, you will be more than fine. And if this is the case, no refund is not the decision of Rusty. It is the decision of the track director. So, the idea is simple. If you are a new Intermediate rider, I would suggest getting a few more under your belt. If you've ridden a few or more Intermediate group events and are comfortable with potentially faster passes and speeds, this will be fine. Finally, the secret is timing. Typically, everyone rides immediately and as the twilight progresses, the amount of riders out at one time gets thinner and thinner.

Been racing with Bell helmets since they came to the US. Was skeptical at first, but they are amazing lids. Especially the Star and RS-1. Not sure what the foam falling out deal is. They have removable liners so, may be an inner liner? I am 100% sure that Bell would stand behind the issue and help you out. I was testing a Star as a pre production and the shell'a graphics were breaking apart. They took care of the issue as I haven't had an issue yet. Also, they've changed liners and shell shapes a tad. Always improving. Great lid for street or track. Can't go wrong.

The ones where it was your fault are easy to brush off and learn from and move on. The ones that were a result of another rider are the ones I always had a tough time dealing with. I've had a share of them all from slow to high speed and not remembering much. Some hurt, some didn't. Some still haunt me while others were easy and had me laughing. Some took friends away from us and I've seen some terrible results of crashes. All in all, the haunting ones still linger and are hard to keep in a dark place. But, the bottom line is to LEARN from them. You did something to cause it. If not throttle, no brake, no off throttle, something caused it and 99% of the time, it is human error. Typically, it is from off throttle or rolling on and not feeling the rear becoming loose until it is too late and you're on your head... Jump back on, grab that damn thing by it's bars and teach it something.

So, called up ol' Paul (Attackpainter) to see if he had time to paint an old man's 1199. He said he could get me in and I also had a buddy's ZX10R to have some paint done also. We dropped off Jason's ZX10R stuff first and considering Paul is the go to guy for Kawi Green and painting race plastics, it made sense. The results were awesome and spot on. I do not have any real pics of the bike finished, but we did a WSBK theme on his bike also and thanks to the same decal guy I use and Paul's seriously bad ass painting skills, it came out stellar. Who cares about the other guy. This is about MY bike! So, I drop off brand new Armor Plastics that had some paint lines masked off from the decal guy. Who is the decal guy I speak of? See below for contact info, but it is Scott at SR Sign Design. He is responsible for the layout and vision. Paul took the plastics and Scott's line work and made magic happen. I had my last year's set to use until I got the new stuff done. I was getting Ducati red and gloss black in key spots on the bike for the decals to work. Paul NAILED it! Timeline was perfect and to me before I needed them. I actually had to delay pick up due to my crazy schedule. But, i also dropped off some wheels and Paul got the plastics done first and I picked them up. I cannot wait to see the wheels and again... They are completed and done well within my hopes, but I am having issue getting together with Paul to pick up so, all on me. But, considering the results of the plastics, I cannot wait until I see the wheels. Price was crazy awesome. Call for a quote as he I am sure charges depending on what needs to be done, but the price he charged me was well worth it and honestly, cheaper than he should charge for the quality of work. My biggest concern was the color. He had stated that he's done a few Panigales and has the red right on target. But, as many may know, Ducati red is somewhat tough to hit. I had two tanks that were OEM red and was hoping fingers crossed that it matched. I didn't doubt Paul, but I was just wondering how well it came out. The pics below show the results. I couldn't be happier. No runs, no cracking after use, glossy as all get out and beautiful and DEEP colors. i am beyond thrilled and with the decals, the bike is literally one of the best ones I have had yet. I pride myself on making the bikes look as professional as possible and try hard to stay on budget. Scott and Paul worked some damn solid magic and th results speak for themselves. It honestly looks amazing in person as much as it does in pics and maybe even better. I tried a little low light photography this round and think it looks pretty good. I will be getting some action shots soon from Kyle Hunter, but these will do... And the bike... Thanks goes out to Paul from 614 Paintworx. AttackPainter on the forum and well worth contacting to get your bike painted. 614-394-2195 Also, Scott from SR Sign Designs. He does high profile racing graphics and is soooo reasonable that you can have a stellar result with little cash and he is one of th best customer service oriented guys i have worked with. Several choices out there and I have tried to use a few, but never got calls back, never got returned emails, etc. Scott is on it and has better quality results and uses high end materials. Best guy out there! Scott at 570-332-8227. www.srsigndesign.com There's a lot of people I need to thank, but in the interest of this thread, these guys made me look good. One of them is a forum sponsor and worth his weight in gold as to the service he provides. Get with Paul for your paint work. He's a good dude!!

Pat- Are you officially a coach with Mid-Ohio per Todd? Please confirm before using the PTR coach name... Could be confusing to some.

This is great news. Coming from someone that was there during the FUSA years and seeing the unlimited bikes racing for a few years before it went away, this should be a great time for road racing in this country. The only issue I see is that the factories will still be doing AMA. However, I see factory riders coming around at times. But, that's not the important side of it. It will attract the young guns that will be racing 600 and 1000 level bikes and using this series as a stepping stone or seat time for keeping that edge IF - IF the purses and contingencies are there. Basically, WERA has a National series, but is missing the TV element and money aspect. Plenty of the up and coming kids have and still use WERA for that seat time and competition. However, they leave and do not return. I think this promotes return and some really cool possibilities for teams like EBR, KTM, Ducati, and speed shops and satellite teams to build true Superbikes for racing. A quick story of why the FUSA stuff was so bad ass... We were racing during the years that a speed shop in Texas had two twin brother racing CBR900RRs with TURBOS attached. They were so strong in power, they would wheelie every lap coming out of turn 10 until the flag station. Every lap. During Rider's Meeting, Jim stated that they would black flag racers doing wheelies out of 10. One of the brothers spoke up and said that Jim was welcome to try and keep the wheel down on their race bikes. Jim responded with he recognized that some of the racers were racing some very powerful bikes and asked for them to try as hard as they can. Awesomeness. That and the 500 GP bikes at Road Atlanta. Great racing. Run whatcha brung is always great to see.

He knows everything about the motorcycle industry. You're being silly with such great examples. What were you thinking? By the way, you racing WERA at Mid-O, right? You doing the Twilight on the 22nd?

Apparently you missed the 1199SL and how well it was sold. Never made a showroom. Some deals went sideways once bikes were delivered, but sold out before they were shipped. Always a market. Depends on availability and how realistic it will be. I do not foresee Honda doing this differently than what they already offer in the Customer Bike such as what Nicky is riding. There is a market. Always has been. Always will be.

Your PMs are full, man. Take $150?

And I want to support MS. I really do. But the deal with Dunlop and the fact that Putnam is so high, I just cannot justify it. Plus, Ducati Indy has a trackday there next weekend and I am going to do that to play with Matt and the gang... Last year, he allowed half day pricing. Neyra and I did after lunch. I just need to break a motor in and don't need the whole day. I'd race if the prices were better.

It's $210 for the trackday, $120 first race, $70 second and $40 third. That's $440. No tire money available... It just doesn't make sense and I can work setup for the VMDs and WERA two day event this weekend for a ton less...

I'm out. Just can't swing the $500 for the weekend in entry fees. My fault for not pre-entering, but just can't justify it. I'll be at Mid-Ohio for the Twilight. Good luck everyone and be safe.

In. First time riding the bike this season. Break-in Saturday and race Sunday!

Email sent...

Pony- In terms of your sign-ups, I will be at the store this morning and can tell you how we did it at KTM if you'd like. Essentially, we did it as follows: -Had a sheet for each 30 minute or 45 minute loop. -Listed every unit top down on the left side with a blank next to it. -Filled in the person's name on that blank under that sheet (Each loop had a sheet) -Person signed up with driver's license and signed waiver. -Person was instructed to show up for the rider's meeting 5 minutes prior to ride time. -Rider's meeting is key. Allowed us to get a visual. Also allowed us to release the riders and when they go to the bike, any cut in line folks were turned away. But, it had exactly the correct number of riders to bikes. -We did a role call. Each person had a lanyard that had all the models on it. -Anyone missing, we had a waiting list and that person was there early for any available slots. We as staff knew who they were and knew when we had an opening. ***KEY*** - As soon as each rider was on their bike they were to ride, we punched the lanyard. This told us that they've ridden each bike. They had multiple opportunities, but had to be signed up. If we were doing a dealer ride, we had waiting lines (Really only for MX/Off Road rides) under canopies with the model listed where they stood. -Lead and sweep goes out and comes back in, dealers talk and chat it up with potential customers... We typically booked the day within an hour...

There's always two sides to every story, man.

You don't get it. You do understand that cars secure dates a lot sooner and with a LOT more frequency than bikes... They could tell bikes to take a hike and never be an issue...

Uhhhhh... It isn't the way it is being painted.

Wasn't there a tentative second round? That sucks... Oh well... I will be looking at returning to WERA. I tried the Moto Series thing and may still run there. Just not thrilled with some things and with the fact it is a Nelson based series, I am not willing to buy new parts due to the track not relating to a crash...

I didn't make it up due to not having the part I needed. Glad I missed it... The thing is, it hurts the series more than anything. People aren't going to want to race there if the surface is so bad. I'm also a bit miffed at the Dunlop situation and am thinking of just the Putnam rounds...

I owe Hellmut for the sprinter connection. So, you guys come see me this year at the Ducati Grandstands and we will hook up.

My $.02... Go to the infield. Watch from around Turn 8 where they are running the right hander onto the middle straightaway. The reason for this is if you are a true enthusiast, you can watch them roll to wide open throttle and listen to the riders' TC choices. The bikes can be seen working suspension and everything. The added bonus is that all the riders do their mock starts from the middle straight. Pretty cool. As far as bike parking, if you have a Ducati, you get to park in Ducati only parking and it is UBER easy to get out. The grandstands and areas outside the track are cool for the sound and speed. But you are looking at them in very small sizes. I'm not a huge fan of at the races viewing, but if I am there, I want to see things working and hear the setups each rider uses...Come by and say hey at the Ducati tents...

Check out our IG feed at @ducati_hyper. Both are showing what we did in MN with Ducati Hyper Motorads. One was a Strada also... We are doing some more events soon, but we did the ice thing and it was really sweet!

It is officially cancelled, everyone...

Why is the baffle required? Just askin because I know we threw those puppies out a while ago...I will try and find one for Casper as i traded him my stocker, but the stocker with the baffle out is as loud as the FMF is... Just wonderin so we can prepare if I have the boy come...