Moto-Brian

Listen... Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one. But, unless anyone here has solid info as to the exact business issues between the two, it is really unfair to be slanderous on either side. Promoting not to buy tickets and support MotoGP and road racing in this country is really, really stupid. I am a HUGE fan of KS. I ran his number for a few years and he was one of the reasons I started racing. I have friends that are close to him, that work for him and he is by far as great a dude as it appears. However, COTA is a business. They have a lawsuit against them from Kevin's company. It is strictly a business and pretty much a sensible decision considering. If you have a lawsuit against you and that person attends your facility, why would you want him there? It is a pure business decision and something ANY company would have done. Apple suing Samsung. Think the CEO of Samsung would be allowed to attend an Apple meeting while that lawsuit was on? Maybe not a good example as he wouldn't be allowed even if they were not. But, you get the idea... Kevin IS God. He is... To us racers and race fans. Accomplishments may only include a single MotoGP championship, but understand what he has done for the sport. Much greater things than a MotoGP championship. What has Eddie Lawson given us beyond his racing? Not much... Kevin is a coach, teacher, designer, racer, businessman, etc. He is and will always be a guy that we can all look to and see the results of what he has given this industry. I personally think he has done more than most in this industry. BUT... He has some issues between his company and COTA. A game of he said, he said? Maybe. But, as in anything between non public companies - we will not know the whole situation and even if it reaches to a climax and has an end result, we may still never know details. That's the way it is. But, no offense to Moto's post and blog, but I always tend to feel these blogs are something to shout "Hey, look at me and my opinion". It's all cool and all, but I am siding more on that of Cephas' blog as it is his opinion and allows him to express what he feels. The other blog comes as an opinion of course, but like a guy pushing religion, you seem to be pushing your beliefs on us and I sorta think that stinks. Your opinion is cool and I think if you think it makes a dent, by all means. But, I have a bit of distaste towards you that if you are in fact an actual enthusiast of racing and the sport of road racing specifically, you would look beyond the lawsuit and try and support the sport. What happens if all you guys get on your BS wagon and prevent ticket sales and TV viewership to a point that COTA and Dorna say "Screw it - it isn't worth it and we will lose sales and profits. Let's bail on the US market."? What if that did happen? That's your goal to hurt the wallet of COTA, right? That hurts the sport, man. That hurts an already fragile sport that BARELY has any traction in this country. I dunno. I understand your being upset. Again, I love Kevin and have always worshiped him. I can show you more posters, books, helmets, signed stuff than most will have. But, I am also a business guy and know what happens when lawsuits pop up. Justified or not, let the courts handle it and let the results speak for themselves. I told people on the WERA board that it would be better to take your crew of people and rent a big ol bus/buses and travel down with the same flow yellow Kevin used when racing and make a bold comment on your shirt supporting Kevin. Stay together and shout as loud as you can. TV will catch it, the press will catch it and above all, Kevin will see it. That is supporting Kevin. Not taking MotoGP away from a great venue. Are you going to protest everything that is at COTA? We just did our WORLDWIDE press launch of the new 1199R at COTA. Will you be protesting the purchases of the new bike? Reject the magazines that attended because they should have stayed home in protest? It's silly, man. Passion is fine. Lord knows I have a ton of that for this sport. But, it is a fragile sport that NEEDS support - not opinions driving people away.

What are you looking to get for it?

Holy shit!!! Don't try and have it shipped!!! $349 to ship via truck I guess. I'll check one out at the Ikea in the Cincy area...

So.... Been a while. We had issues with Cometic head gaskets being made and some parts supply issues for the build that finally got here. It's been crazy actually and have missed a couple of shots at riding the bike had it been done. BUT, no issue with my bad ass tech or anyone - just simply a parts deal for a bike that is fairly new and suppliers... That being said, we got a few more steps completed. We are staring to reassemble the power plant!!! Thus far, before the pics, we have gained the following: -Ohlins front and rear. 30mm kit in the forks and a TTX race rear shock -Termi exhaust finally arrived. -Woodcraft rearsets and clip-ons along with the case cover. -New race plastic, but it is ABS stuff which is high quality, but heavy and will be trading for something else in fiberglass. -Carbon front fender. We will be doing the Ducati Performance rearsets that are pure art, but they are not available as of yet and we went with Woodcraft to get them on. So, the pics! not much, but it is a start and will hopefully have more as we go. A really cool tool holds the crank assembly, rods, pistons, etc all together for assembly. Then, placed into the case half. After this is done, there is a plastic based cone that allows the other case half to be placed on and slips right together. Pretty trick and quick to assemble precisely. Bottom assembled!! Will post as I get more pics. At least we are moving forward!!

While it all looks like fun and games, the job is rather intensive and a lot more work than I think people realize. We travel a LOT and we do a LOT of managing and work. While not physical like a factory job or something physically dangerous like firefighters, etc., it is not as easy as it looks on the surface... That being said, we do get a lot of really great perks like this and it makes us understand why it is really cool to have the jobs we have. The hard work pays off, essentially...

So, we had our dealer training on the new 2013 Ducati Multistradas and the new Ducati Hypermotards. We rode the Hyperstrada and Hypermotard SP in the Hyper Families and the Multistrada GT, S Touring and Standards. The big thing in these rides is that we break groups into 14 riders each group. The group is only as fast as the slowest guy and can be somewhat boring at times. However, when you see the pics, the scenery is amazing and definitely had it's amazing moments. We were in Palm Springs, CA and rode 74 or the Palm to Pines Scenic Byway. If you use Google earth, you can see the twists and turns. Nothing like you even remotely see out this way. Pure canyon style roads with rock walls right up to the apex of the turns, etc. Guard rails that if hit, would drop you hundreds of feet off a cliff. It was amazing. We rode in the groups and participated with the dealers and allowed the control riders to dictate the speed and everything. But, at the end of the two days we rode, we got some time (2-3 of us) together and got to really ride these bikes and see what they were about. I will start with the Multis. Some of you own this model bike and know what it is capable of and what it does as a motorcycle. This is a very agile and light feeling multi use motorcycle. We actually target 4 aspects of riding that the Multi can handle and we tried to show all 4 off. I came away just loving the Multi even more. We had some spirited rides up and down on the bike and after riding all three, I got to say that I like both the Standard and the S Touring for two different reasons. I am a guy that wants to run off road. More on that later. But, the Multi is a capable bike of doing a lot more than what the control riders took us on. I think a lot of the guys are out of their elements in riding in sand and off road. The control riders were a bit out of their element also by their body language on the bike as well so, it probably made sense. But, it was sinply a packed dirt road with loose sand and a few erosion cracks sprinkled around. Not much to test. But, going in, prior to the Multi ride, we had been out the night before on a full blown dirt road with loads of loose sand/dirt on the Hypers and I decided to run Sport as it was the best choice on the Hyper. I didn't want to try Enduro. So, I started out on Sport and the thing just was hitting the DTC so often that it was annoying. No wheel spin and zip on rear end slides, etc. So, I tried Enduro mode and it is honestly the best setting. It allows rear wheel spin and allows the bike to be used in a dirt setting with more tolerance to riding it with the rear out and a bit of slipping, etc. Still loaded the DTC to the point it was bonking it while WOT, but it was a slow ride like I mentioned. I would drop back and try and arch a slide in and out of a turn, but ran out of room a lot of times. But, it was great. The thing where I decided to choose both bikes - The S Touring and GT have the new Skyhook. Google the technology, but it is really bad ass. But, the Standard does not and has traditional suspension front and rear. I REALLY liked the Standard on the dirt. I really did. I had better feel in what I was riding. I wish we could have gone back on our own and ride it again and test the differences in totality, but from the amount of limited riding on loose dirt, the Skyhook just didn't have that feel I look for. But, other dealers were saying they liked the Skyhook better. Could be riding style and expectations... But, in the twisties, I liked the Skyhook more so. There were a ton of tar snakes and ripples that gave the feel similar to a chatter at speed. That chatter was reduced and made the ride better at speed. The Standard I rode also had a vague feel from the tires which were the same I ran on the Sport on the same road. Might have had lower air pressure also, but the feel on the front was not as confident at speed as the Skyhook. But, all in all, the Multi is a heart breaker. You can ride that thing like a damn sportbike, but be as comfortable as a tourer on the open road. SHIT pile of torque and power and had me smiling as I really dig this model. I was very happy to see the feeling hadn't changed. A few shots of our Multi ride. At the dirt stop and in between rides on the dirt on both Skyhook and Standard: The Matte Chrome. I really think the design changes are a little better, but makes the bike still recognizable to the fan base: Now the Hyper family... The Hyper has always been that bad boy, hooligan style machine. Had a shit sized tank and was as comfortable as shaving with a pair of scissors. But, the changes are great for 2013. Bigger tank, better ergos, more comfortable seats, a touring model and a new motor. The motors are going to be needing to be better understood. It is a rev happy motor. It loves the revs and rewards the rider easily. You will still have a shit eatin grin on your face after riding these bikes. Strada even. You keep the revs up and you can cross up wheelie out of a turn easily. You have to watch the acceleration in Sport mode or you are going to get a lot of attention being on the rear wheel... We rode the Hyperstrada and the SP. The Hyperstrada is really amazing. A better height seat, comfortable and all the joy of the Hypermotard you'd expect. A little softer in the suspension, but overall, we were getting it done on them and no issues. The SP, however... What can I say? This thing is AWESOME!!!!! Oh my God... We rode these up and back in the group and had a great time. No offroad as Ducati wants to be clear that the Hyper family is not a dual sport targeted machine. It can be, but the focus is not placed on that aspect. This is a paved surface targeted machine. We sorta hurt that focus...Let me just say that we DO NOT advocate the terrain we rode, but I have some experience in Supermoto as well as a large amount of off road experience and especially on bikes like the Adventure, SMT, Enduro R, SMC, etc... We found a great road the first day that was two cars wide up and back. Loose dirt/sand and a bit of a berm on each turn. Ran up the hill in Wet mode to check it out not really knowing what to expect. I decided after banging the DTC every second, I put it in Sport mode for the remainder of the run up the hill. On the way down after knowing the layout to a degree and conditions, I went to the Race mode. Let me just say that it is as capable as ever and did a bang up job at a solid rate. I wasn't putting up or back the road. I think I was running 55-60 at times and not sure in the turns, but I used the berm a few times! The bike was killer!!! The ride up 74 was awesome as you can imagine. The two of us had a great run up and back. The bike is a blast as you would expect and just screams to be ridden at speed. The Diablo Corses were awesome and did great. The second day, we found a dirt road that was pure off road and meant for aggressive off road riding and not for inexperienced riders. You could probably putt up and back, but even at that, at a slower speed, I think it would have been tougher. Stand up, butt back over the rear wheel and the bike would even wheelie when needed to loop up over rocks and cracks, ruts, etc. A little slower up the mountain, but blitzed back down. It was freakin awesome. Some pics: The Hyper SP. This is post dirt ride... 74 and where we were was about the halfway point up. About 3000 feet difference bottom to top. Yes, Virginia... The Hyper can run offroad... Even if Ducati doesn't say it can. A close up of the terrain we ran. Again, in and around 55 plus... The three of us at about midway up the hill. Who's bike has the most dirt on the rear rim? Hmmmmmm... Overall, a great couple of days. The weather was about 85-90 at the base and about 10 degrees cooler at the top. Great road and although not my cup of tea as the road is winding and has slow moving cars, bicyclists towards the bottom half and BLIND walls of rock, etc... It was great and an amazing experience.

Dude... 4 year old thread... I may have another set as my buddy still has his RM. I will ask him and see what he has. No guarantee...

I got a guy at Arsenal Learherworks that is doing Mesa's stuff and some other AMA guys and he does 100% custom stuff in your price range. Slightly above your top dollar amount if you PM me and I tell you his info. They normally are around $2800-$3000 each.

Bump. $500...

They won't keep the fairings, man. But, Thiel's has gone in to the shitter since a lot of the key employees have left since the sale of the shop. That's a shame. I used to be the Sales Manager there and grew up there. Under Larry and the Thiel family, it was a great shop and we treated everyone the best we could. Small town needed to make the best relationships possible or we'd be out in the cold on return customers. The way I look at it, it sounds like the parts guys are clueless. There is NO REASON a fairing should take 30 days to get here. A bike coming across the ocean takes less time than that. If it was ordered properly and with urgency, it should have been there in about 3-5 days.

If you rent, expect a lot of dough to fly away... The end is what do you want out of it? Small safe tracks can be done easily and fast. Legit MX style tracks will take you a LOOOOOONG time. All great suggestions and I think you'll be shocked how much time it takes. I'd honestly, hire someone to do it... They can get in and do it fast and you'd end up probably saving money. You can still rent the Bobcat at times because you need to maintain and you can't let it go or it will turn to shit. Also best consider the pond idea as you need to water. The pond idea is great because it gets you dirt and water to use in the summer. Otherwise, you will have concrete with terrible cracking, etc...

You need a dozer and at least a Bobcat. A dozer will move dirt MUCH faster and allow you to scrape up dirt more effectively and move it efficiently. Depends on seriousness of work needed, but we have built tracks rather fast. And I am talking serious jumps and full outdoor style stuff. Not an expert by any means, but my buddy in Cincy is a killer track guy with a proper mindset to make it user friendly. You need a LOT of dirt. A lot. More than you can probably imagine. Again, depending on the size of the jumps. Even a kid friendly track like what we did in the wooded area we have, I used a good amount of dirt. We are looking at another building of a track in our other area of woods, but won't do that until we add in a drive for the out building. Even with over a 1/4 drive, we will need a shit ton more dirt. Again, if open land, I would get a dozer and start pushing...

For sale is a set of Tire Warmers that are Chicken Hawk Digital Pro-Line warmers made for KTM and sold in the KTM Power Parts Catalog. These are pretty rare and hard to find. They come with the following: -Ogio Carrying bag embroidered with KTM -Digital elements that have their own carrying case. -Front and Rear Warmers. Fit 120 fronts and 180-200 rears. These are in excellent condition as seen in the pics. The front has a few brown marks from the heat elements which is typical of the Chicken Hawks. The rear is spotless. Work great and have been gently used for two seasons and last year, I had so many mechanicals that they barely got used. Always stored indoors during the winter as well. Not sure if that was accurate to do, but was told to me a long while ago to do with warmers... Dunno. They were well taken care of. Asking $500 plus shipping. These are the NEWEST warmers or rather, the newest warmers KTM sold. You will find the older, lower end ones around, but these are legit and top shelf. They retailed for $700. Pics: Front Outside: Inside Heat tracks: Another spot: Rear Outside: Inside Rear: Complete kit: Digi boxes and case: Carrying bag:

I think it is VERY much going to be different this time around with the heavier involvement with Ducati Indianapolis. I can promise as I stated before in all this prior drama that if Bill and Matt were involved and around, the event would have NEVER got out of hand like it did. This time, Indy will be involved and helping run it smoothly. Give them a second chance for Indy's sake and not so much for MCRA...

Mid-Ohio states that only experienced Intermediate riders may attend the twilight events along with of course, advanced riders. This format is sketchy. VERY, VERRRRRRY sketchy. One, no way to tell if someone is actually an experienced Intermediate rider and with them not saying they require a set number of track days, etc., the idea is that a new intermediate level rider that just came from Novice can be out circulating with a racer. That's about as stupid as I have seen. This isn't good... Putnam is FAST and it is not a place where newbies and experts can mingle in unison without incident. But, play as you wish and maybe it isn't going to be a cluster fuck. I highly doubt it and if these are the guys that screwed up the MCRA deal last year? I wouldn't touch it with a 10' pole. As for the MCRA event at Putnam and with Ducati Indy, Bill Carr stated that they will have a better hold on the events this year and will make sure it doesn't end up like it did before. Basically, I think the MCRA event will essentially be a Ducat Indy day with MCRA racing mixed in. So, the quality you expect from Duc Indy's events and some racing at the end. Which will be fun. This sounds like "Be prepared to get hurt" track days...

So, have these two bad ass cases and am using another case as it is for work. So, my loss is your gain. TWO brand new iPhone 5 cases from Lunatik. These are shock and drop safe cases that protect the phone with some neat technology. See info here: https://www.lunatik.com/products/taktik-strike?variant=87 I have the Black Taktik Strike: I also have the White Taktik Strike: Both BRAND NEW in packages... These retail for $79.99 plus shipping. Asking $75 shipped. EACH...

Cold tires can be a bitch, but don't blame the tires. They are a small reason for crashes. It's in the throttle hand and brain of the rider more than anything. Numerous people go out on cold tires and even those with a bit more ability can go fairly fast on cold tires. I personally hate when people blame cold tires as if you know they are cold, don't which it up as much or as quickly. Easy to say and I have been in that spot numerous times where we forgot to turn the warmers on and roll out on fresh, cold tires and buddies are all going out or it is the last practice session, etc. In any case, to turn the brain to the "low" setting and ride around the tires can be tough. But, it CAN be done. Seen guys go out on fresh slicks that hadn't had a touch of warmers placed on them and run just fine... Takes longer to heat them up and get to temps to run spirited, but taking time keeps you off your head...

Mad - YOU RACED MS!!! The school isn't recognized meaning they won't accept it as you coming in and racing the first race with WERA. You've raced at least a season with MS. You're capable of being in the WERA race... You just need the license...

Mad- You've been racing a recognized series so, you shouldn't have to be a PN. However, so what if you do? That would be sweet seeing a PN rip the field... As for the M/C, just run superbike. We need as many locals as we can get!

Floundy... Get with a military person or a police officer or similar. They all get a discount based on their credentials. I think they are limited on how much they can buy, but they have access that normal civilians cannot access... I also offered Meaners a dealer contact that could still assist him (Not sure he can get SI stuff, but would be a constant discount on everything...). If you want that contact, not sure if he would still do the hook-up, but he'd try and take care of you...

Exactly. Someone that says a track is the end all and will make every other track seem like a let down is either a one track wonder or hasn't been able to ride with an open mind and accept the challenge another track will give you... Mid-O is a great track for sure. One of my favs. It also is a fine track to do as your first track day as the instruction and amenities are what makes it a fine track to start on. Putnam is great due to the ability to see everything and it is great for both the starting rider to the seasoned racer. It is a solid choice as well... But, like anything, the track is only as hard as you make it. Listen like MT has stated a zillion times and ask questions. Questions are a thing to ask even if you think it is minor. There are no stupid questions and questions can save lives... Have fun and be on point. Get a great night's sleep prior and pay attention like stated. Doing so will keep you alert and ride within your ability.

Yeah, but you could have gone up the side and back down. Why not try that? Or, just move the damn tree, man... Seen the other vids and you guys are certainly having fun, but not what I would call seasoned... Maybe it's just me being around so many National Enduro and GNCC guys and riding with them (Much to their amusement - I am by no means at their levels...) on some pretty knarly trails. Trails that make that puppy look like a flat field crossing...

Wow. Obviously not the most experienced trail guys. I'd say you might as well have completely disassembled the bike and hucked it piece by piece over the downed tree and put back together once on the other side. I'm not the greatest trail guy, but the guys I've ridden with would have been to the destination and probably packed and loaded before you figured that dilemma out. Wow.

MArion sucks. We know as my wife teaches there and we do shopping for things like groceries, etc. Marion sucks. Not a lot of good places to eat, but the Mi Jalapenos is a really decent Mexican spot and there is a new Japanese Steak House, but haven't tried it yet. Had a cool little place, but it went out. BW3s is OK, but typical shitty food, but good atmosphere if something like football or racing is going on. Typical stops like Applebees, Red Lobster are usual suspects. Really, stop in Delaware at the Ol' Bag of Nails as it is a much better place and good eatin.

I can get you a contact and use my name. He'd probably set you up as a dealer. I'll get you the 411 if you want.