July 23rd, 2006 by R.J.

Ths Formula Xtreme race is over and the results are in! Yamaha riders Eric Bostrom (22:13.890) and Jason DiSalvo (-2.509) take the 1 and 2 spot (go Yamaha!), and share the podium with Honda ridier Josh Hayes (-12.358).

Buell had another astounding performance this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Buell had announced that three teams would be riding the new XB-RR, but only two teams ended up competing.

The race was 15 laps, and the top finishing Buell, Jeremy McWilliams, finished in 8th place <b>47 seconds behind the leader</b>. The other Buell competing finished <b>15 laps behind</b>, yes, you heard me right, 15 laps behind in a 15
lap race.

July 22nd, 2006 by R.J.

The practice times for the MotoGP race in Laguna Seca have been released…

I’m very surprised Hayden placed so poorly. I’m sure he’ll do better in the race, but I’m still rooting for my man Rossi. And the rest of the field looks to be a lot closer this year…

Here are the top 10 fastest times in practice 1:

1.   Kenny Roberts, Jr - 1:23:951
2.   Collin Edwards - 1:24:310
3.   Casey Stoner - 1:24:360
4.   John Hopkins - 1:24:608
5.   Valentino Rossi - 1:24:674
6.   Marco Melandri - 1:24:698
7.   Chris Vermeulen - 1:24:739
8.   Nicky Hayden - 1:24:943
9.   Carlos Checa - 1:25:100
10.  Sete Gibernau - 1:25:150

July 22nd, 2006 by R.J.

Buell is set to relaunch its XBRR platform at Mazda Raceway LagunaSeca this weekend.

Buell has announced that three teams are going to enter the Formula Xtreme class during Round 7 of the AMA Superbike Championship. They will be competing with the “new and improved” XBRR bike.

A few of you may recall the disastrous showing Buell had at Daytona in March. If you don’t, let me remind you…

Buell had entered four of their bikes in the FX class in the Daytona 200. There was a lot of controversy prior to the entry as the XBRR has twice the engine displacement as the rest of the field. This “supposedly” gave them an unfair advantage — hah.

During practice, the fastest Buell rider (Jeremy McWilliams - 1:44.065) was more than 2.5 seconds off the pace (Jason DiSalvo - 1:40.0).

The race was even worse. McWilliam’s pitted and his team couldn’t get the bike on the stand. They ended up dropping the bike on its forks (with no front wheel), while they all ran around like chicken’s with their heads cut off. They had a lot of trouble getting the wheel back on and couldn’t get the brakes pumped up at the lever. All three of the other Buell’s also suffered mechanical failure and did not finish the race.

After the race, in typical Harley-Davidson style, Buell claimed the root cause of the failure was evil Japanese-made clutches installed immediately prior to the race. Please… Like anybody that follows sportbike racing is going to believe that. But… I mean, they had to come up with something, right? They couldn’t just tell everyone they make a piss-poor race bike… Might as well blame the japs and score some points with the HD crowd.

I’m really anxious to see how Buell performs this weekend. I just hope they don’t leave too much oil on the track for the GP race…

July 19th, 2006 by R.J.

Unfortunately I can’t attend (having a penis disqualifies me), but its that time of the year again for the annual Kelley Maylor All-Girl Ride.

The All-Girl Ride is a memorial ride in honor of Kelley Maylor, a fallen female rider. Each year they hold a raffle with all proceeds going to support breast cancer research, a very worthy cause.

More info about the event…

WHEN: Saturday August 26th
MEETING AT: Mobil Gas station - 210 Freeway and Lake Ave. in Pasadena.
MEETING TIME: 8:00AM. Departing at no later than 8:30AM. Registration for raffle opens at 7:30AM and closes at 8:15AM.

RIDE ROUTE: 210 Freeway, exit Sunland, Big “T”, 9 mile, ACH, Stop at Newcombs for prizes.

July 18th, 2006 by R.J.

Tomorrow, Wednesday July 19th, Judge James T. Warren will have a hearing to reduce the sentence of a drunk driver convicted of the vehicular manslaughter of a motorcyclist.

On June 4, 2005 Sherri Ann Smith of Lake Elsinore was attending the Temecula Balloon and Wine festival. On her way home, she drove up Ortega Highway to meet her boyfriend at a popular bikers bar. Police say she drifted across the double-yellow line and smashed her pickup into the Harley ridden by Kerry and Sheryl Suglia.

Kerry Suglia died of his injuries, but his wife Sherly survived only to have her leg amputated and be sentenced to a wheel chair for the rest of her life. Sherri Smith’s blood-alcohol level was .11 — the California intoxication threshold for motorists is .08. She has killed a man, ruined a woman’s life, and tore apart a family because she thought it was O.K. to drive drunk.

This is happening more and more lately. People are killing bikers and getting off with little or NO sentence. This woman was convicted AND sentenced (albeit the sentence itself was weak; two years for killing someone while drunk? what kind of crap is that?), but the Judge found it in his heart to resentence her? Why?

This resentencing wasn’t initiated by the defense team of Ms. Smith. They weren’t even aware of it until the Judge announced it and were surprised to hear it! For some reason Judge Warren has found religion and decided to act out on his feelings — against any sort of normal sentencing standards — to save this “poor woman.”

It’s total bullshit. We should be letting Judge Warren and the Riverside County District Attorney know this isn’t acceptable…

The contact number for Judge Warren’s court is 951.304.5000 and the number for the district attorney is 909.955.5400.

July 15th, 2006 by R.J.

Out of all the modifications I’ve made to my bikes, the Pazzo Racing shorty levers are among the best. And for the money,
they were definitely the most bang-for-my-buck.

I installed these on my 2005 R1. This bike comes stock with non-adjustable levers, and the adjustability of the Pazzo levers alone makes this modification worth its price. Having your clutch and brake levers the perfect length for your fingers will increase your reaction time and help your riding tremendously in the twisties.

You can order these levers in three configurations: short brake, short clutch; long brake, long clutch; short brake, long clutch.

The short brake, long clutch configuration is useful for people who grip their levers like a girl and need all four fingers to engage their clutch. I chose the short, short levers because I only use two fingers for braking and clutching. I’m cool like that.

Pazzo Racing levers can be ordered with the lever and the adjuster in your choice of black, blue, red, gold, or silver.

The fit and finish on these levers is superb. They are CNC Machined out of 6061-T6 billet aluminum. The levers have a distinct swirl-pattern machined into them, which some people don’t like, but I do. It makes them easily distinguishable and just looks badass when the light hits them right.

The cheapest place I’ve found to order these levers from is my pal Corey over at MotoMummy.com he’s got the best prices around on these, and his customer service is excellent.

Overall, I’m very impressed with my levers and would recommend anybody with a bike to order a pair. You’ll never go back to using stock levers again.

July 13th, 2006 by R.J.

A 21-year old man riding a 2006 Kawasaki sportbike was pronounced dead at about 2pm on Wednesday.

Chad S. Linton, of Solvang, CA, was riding his brand new motorcycle along Alamo Pintado Rd. when he crossed over the double-yellow line, lost control of his bike, and crashed. As he lay in the road he was struck by an oncoming SUV. Linton was ran over, pinned underneath the SUV, and died at the scene.

The section of road where the crash occured is straight and relatively wide. There are no intersections and there were no other vehicles involved in the accident. Linton did not have his M1 endorsement. I believe the CHP are going to attribute the cause of the crash to rider inexperience.

The thing that bugs me is that the lady driving the Explorer that killed Linton said she had only caught a glimpse of him for a second before she hit him. I just don’t see how that’s possible… Bike accidents are pretty noticeable, they leave debris and dirt everywhere. They even explode or smoke sometimes. And bodies laying in the road are also pretty noticeable… Was she on her phone? Doing her makeup? Nobody really knows…

The fact that she wasn’t able to stop in time and only had a second to see Chad before she hit him tells me what she wasn’t paying attention or traveling much too fast for the road. I highly doubt they are going to bring any charges against her, though.

Whatever the case may be, we’ve lost another rider due to lack of skill and (probably) a cager not paying attenton…

July 11th, 2006 by R.J.

3J’s Motorcycle Track Days is holding a charity track day at Infineon Raceway on August 28th.

The event is a fund-raiser for Speedway Children’s Charities. Since the formation of the group in 2003, $100,000 has been raised for qualified youth groups in Sonoma County.

If you’ve never been to Infineon, this is a great opportunity to ride the same track that hosts the AMA Superbike races you see on TV each May.

The course is 2.2 miles long and consists of 12 turns. The cost of the track day is $290 which includes a safety meeting, a full day of riding, a t-shirt, and lunch. Tickets are going fast.

July 11th, 2006 by R.J.

California man jailed in Oregon for speeding at 120mph on I-5.

Jay Brooks, 25, of Grand Terrace, California was booked into Jackson County Jail after being arrested for riding his 2003 Suzuki motorcycle at speeds estimated over 120mph at 9 A.M. on Sunday. He was reportedly passing between cars as he sped down the freeway’s center line during the chase.

He was arrested on charges of reckless driving, operating a motorcycle without insurance, operating a motorcycle without a license, and his bail was set at $13,000.

July 10th, 2006 by R.J.

Nearly six months after the Terminator plowed his Harley Davidson (along with his kid) into an SUV, he has finally received his M1 endorsement.

In January, Arnold crashed his Harley into a volvo pulling out of a driveway. His son was OK, but Arnold received 15 stitches in his upper lip. He had been riding for years in Pacific Palisades and Malibu Canyon without having a license and was unlicensed at the time of the accident.

There was some confusion about this as the LAPD “decided not to issue a citation” to the Governor. The reason they gave was that, with the sidecar, the motorcycle was actually a three-wheel vehicle and the M1 endorsement only covers two-wheel vehicles. The C endorsement covers cars and light trucks with two or more axles and they classified his Harley with a sidecar as a three-axle automobile. How ridiculous is that?

… In any case, Arnold has apparently went through the necessary channels to get his M1 endorsement and can now ride his bikes without the fear (yeah right) of getting his bikes impounded or going to jail like the rest of us…