February 15th, 2008 by R.J.

There’s a McGuinness Replica bike up on eBay to raise money for the CJ Riders Fund.

Here’s the link (Item# 120220013997): Click here

Honda has commissioned only 10 of these beautiful bikes and you can be the proud owner of one. The bid right now is at £12,400 (Yes. British Pounds.)

The winner will not only receive the bike, but lunch with Mr. John McGuinness himself. The bike will also be signed and the winner provided a certificate of authenticity. If that wasn’t enough, you’ll also receive a signed photo, a signed edition of TT magazine, and a limited edition signed TT Nitro helmet.

February 15th, 2008 by R.J.

The site was down most of this morning as I moved it over to WordPress.  WordPress just has a lot of niceties that I was missing with my home-grown blogging solution I was using before. Hope you like it.

February 14th, 2008 by R.J.

With the help of a witness, three motorcycle thieves in Ridgecrest have been apprehended.

The Ridgecrest Police Department responded to a residence on the 900 block of East California Avenue to investigate a report of a garage being burglarized and a motorcycle and tools being stolen.

With the help of the victim and a witness, the investigation led to 433 S. Richmond Ave., where the stolen property was recovered.

“As the investigation unfolded, the parent of one of the juveniles arrested, assisted in the investigation and brought the male subjects to the police station,” said the RPD.

Two juveniles, a male and female, were booked at the RPD and released to their respective parents. The sole adult arrested, Joshua Miles, 18, was transported and booked to the Kern County Jail in Ridgecrest.

The moral of this story? If you’re going to scumbag motorcycle thief, make sure your mommy doesn’t know about it so she can’t turn you in.

February 12th, 2008 by R.J.

With only a few days to go before the official MotoGP test in Jerez, Rizla Suzuki have officially unveiled their new 2008 GSV-R for the upcoming racing season.

Suzuki achieved better acceleration from fine tuning the 2007 GSV-R engine without massively altering the fundamental design. In addition to the improved acceleration, the new bike boats improved aerodynamics, chassis performance and
electronics.

The team also reports lower fuel consumption, improved cornering performance, and enhanced handling capabilities are also anticipated for the new season.

Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins combined for a victory and several podiums for the Rizla team in 2007, what does Vermeulen think about the 2008 bike?

Vermeulen: “The new bike looks great and is already a lot better to ride than last year’s GSV-R. It feels quicker and I am able to get on the power better out of the corners. The handling is even better than it was so that is a huge plus - because it was very good already.”

“Suzuki have worked really hard on this bike, they listened to what we wanted, and tried to come up with a solution for everything we gave them. It is not quite the finished article yet, but I am sure that when the season starts it will be pretty close to it.”

January 10th, 2008 by R.J.

My friend Jessica is selling her 2005 Suzuki GSXR600.

Click Photo for Larger Image

The bike is located in the Palm Springs, CA. The bike is in great condition and I know she’s always babied it. She’s asking $6,000.00 for it, but may take less if you have the cash.

You can message her on Myspace.com for more details.

Click here to send her a message.

January 9th, 2008 by R.J.

Which Racing Series are you Looking Forward to the Most for 2008?

MotoGP, of course!

Cast your vote on the SpeedTV.com website and feel great knowing that you did your part to ensure Speed’s coverage of our sport for years to come!

(Note: The poll is about mid-way down the page on the right.)

December 9th, 2007 by R.J.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released numbers this week showing that for 2006 nearly half of all fatalities involved motorcycle riders over 40 (i.e: baby boomers).

Just a scant 10 years ago, riders under 40 accounted for almost 70% of all motorcycle fatalities.

Looking at the chart, you can see the fatalities for those under 40 have remained relatively stable for the past 10 years. That number has increased less than 2-fold in ten years (though there is greatly more than a 2-fold increase in
the number of bikes on the road).. But for those over 40, it’s almost a five-fold increase in the number of fatalities. The median age for motorcyclists also rose from 27 in 1985 to 41 in 2003.

What do these numbers mean? The NHTSA doesn’t speculate. Fortunately for you; I do. Here’s my list of reasons why baby boomer motorcyclists are dying at an astounding rate:

1) People that were considered young in 1985 have regained interest in the hobby thanks to shows like American Chopper, Orange County Choppers, etc. They haven’t ridden in 20 years, yet assume they still know how. It’s just like riding a
bike, right? Wrong. If you haven’t ridden in any significant amount of time (a year or more) do yourself a favor and take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) rider training course. It will save your life.

2) It’s “cool” to be a middle-aged biker now. When you’re middle-aged, your life is boring. People want a break from their routines. They see these aforementioned shows, EZ-Rider parties, women flashing their tits, and think “Well, shit! I need to get me a bike.” They don’t realize that people building these bikes and putting on these parties have countless years of riding experience. Not that they care, though; they just want to be cool and different. Just like everyone else.

3) As you get older your reflexes decrease. It takes longer for your brain to register “Hey, that giant SUV just pulled into my path. I should try to avoid it.” There have been studies proving that older people have slower reflexes and
that is why they contribute to a growing number of car accidents. With a motorcycle it is even MORE dangerous because you’re balancing yourself on two wheels, can more easily lock up your tires in a panic situation, and you have no cage (or airbags) protecting you from the impact.

4) I wish they would release number for DUIs related to motorcycle collisions for those over 40 vs. those under 40. Countless times I’ve seen people getting hammered at biker hangouts only to get on their bikes at 2am and ride home. When you’re middle-aged and a badass biker; you have to go to biker hangouts and get sloshed. It’s like an unwritten rule. I firmly believe that these jokers think riding a bike intoxicated is not as bad as DUI in a car; you’re only
hurting yourself, right? Yeah. I guess…

November 29th, 2007 by R.J.

Well we’re all moved in now, unfortunately the season is over for motorcycle racing at Spring Mountain. Which makes sense because the temps here are about 55-degrees mid-day; which is far too cold to maintain grip on racing tires. Not to mention freezing your ass off in leathers from the wind-chill at racing speeds.

The next scheduled track day with SoCal Track Days is March 15th, 2008. I’ll probably sign up for one a little later in the season; maybe April.

If you’ve never heard of Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, check it out here. It’s mainly a Corvette/Camaro driving school, but they have a full compliment of Lotuses, and Radicals. They also rent the track out to clubs such as SoCal Track Days for the weekend to host track day events.

October 9th, 2007 by R.J.

There hasn’t been an update to the site in a while, but I have a pretty good reason. I got married and we recently bought a new house and moved to Pahrump, Nevada.

It’s about 4 1/2 hours out of Palm Springs, and only 40 minutes outside of Las Vegas. I still have a lot of family out near Palm Springs, so I’m sure I’ll be out that way a lot.

We’re really liking it so far and the best thing is that my house is less than 3 miles from the Spring Mountain Race track. Woohoo.

August 6th, 2007 by R.J.

First it was Kellen Winslow Jr, then it was Ben Roethlisberger, then Arnold, now add Steeler’s offensive lineman Barrett Brooks to the list of celebrity idiots giving our hobby a bad rep.

In the wee hours of the morning, Brooks rode recklessly around a police car. When the police officer lit Brooks up, he fled on his motorcycle — with no helmet. The chase lasted five minutes, Brooks was reportedly riding at “unsafe” speeds and ran a red light and a stop sign. The chase ended with Brooks dropping his motorcycle in an intersection. He tried to pick the motorcycle up and flee when officers made the physical arrest. Brooks was charged with fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, driving at an unsafe speed, and other traffic violations.

I just don’t understand what is wrong with these people. Why do they think their money is a suitable replacement for having a brain? Was Barrett jealous of all the attention Roethlisberger had when he crashed into a windshield? Did
he want to try and out-do Ben? I mean, WHY did he run? He wasn’t under the influence, he wasn’t fleeing a robbery or murder scene, he at MOST would have gotten a ticket (which I’m SURE he can afford), but he decided to run and get
arrested? He’s now in jail, is going to pay a lot of money, he may get fired and I see an anti-motorcycle clause in Steeler’s contracts in the near future… For what? It’s just so stupid.

If you can’t operate a motorcycle safely and in a reasonable manner, why own one? Having the money isn’t an excuse for having a motorcycle. These aren’t toys, people. It’s so easy to be seriously maimed or killed, and I’ve had many friends end up like that… I just don’t understand why people aren’t more careful about how they operate their bikes…