Favorite motorcycle memories.

He made that story possible!

Jim and I had a rocky start but he ended up being one of my favorite race directors by far. He gave me my first fine, after I stopped in an endurance race to pick up my knee slider that got ripped off… I kicked it to the grass the lap before so I figured I was good telling him we were leading and I thought I could do whatever I wanted didn’t help that convo ended in what started as an accidental water fight on pit lane. He was one of my most vocal supporters when I got into the big pissing match in the press with Duhamel after racing too hard with him at MO in Superbike.

 

After a day like that, the speeding tickets were axiomatic.

 

I really like Nan, too. I may or may not have some stories about the GNF one year when she was hanging out with Cooley and stuff, but not for public consumption. I just remember when I had been out of racing for quite a few years when I came back to WERA for VMD at Mid- Ohio and there was Nan at registration. I probably hadn't seen her in 15 years and it was so nice to have her come out of registration to give me a big hug like it had been yesterday. She is good people!!!

 

San Diego to Brainerd for WSBK in 1991. 8500 miles in 35 days.
She rode her ‘88 Ninja 750.
I rode my ‘76 Kz900.
“Her” speeding ticket in Prescott Az. (and the warrant waiting when we got home!)
We camped except Tornados (@ Junction City Ks.) and @ the MI farm.
The kid pumping gas (Dodge City Ks) telling us his dad is the sheriff, and he just went west.
The old gas station owners that rode their WL45 to Alaska for their honeymoon in the 1940’s.
Looking for the Tall Corn KOA in Normal Il. (Forest of corn!)
Michigan State Blue that “let us go” (DOD ID/CA plates/MI DL)
Racing WSBK style.
Aurora Borealis ALL night in the Dakotas. Mount Rushmore.
Snowing as we went over the Big Horn pass in June.
I-80 SLC to Wendover
US50 in Nevada.
Taking the long way home (via Eureka CA) because we were having fun.
Domesticated pigs @ Eureka camp that LIKED the shower ! (Especially with the girl, LOL !)

Racing AMA-CCS, AHRMA, ARRA, WERA, WSMC.
24 hours of Willow 1999.

 

One that stands out to me. August 2004. Went to the races at NHIS and camped in the infield with a few close friends with reservations to do the STAR school on the Monday . The races finished up and everyone started to clear out. Soon, our little crew were the only ones left. Reasonably sure we were supposed to vacate but we either slipped through the cracks or amazingly no-one noticed . Eventually we were literally the only people in the place and it was a complete ghost town. It was eerie having the whole speedway to ourselves. We BBQed, Bullshitted, had a beer or two and generally had a great evening among friends. What it's all about, really....

 

This is another with Frank. The guy I mentioned earlier with a car on the motocross jump.

My brother and I hung around with three brothers that lived down the road from us. Back when we were all teens these neighbors set up a little tri oval in the field behind their house. We took turns riding anything we had at the time on the oval. One bike that survived a surprisingly long time was a step through frame honda street bike that had no second gear. Another was a 250 BSA that must have weighed 350 lbs. The very ratty 100 hodaka was fun. There was also a honda SL100 and a My brother took a 500 kawasaki triple on the oval once. This mix of odd bikes and goofy kids made for some GREAT fun. Even though we did this several times, nobody ever got seriously hurt. Although a neighbor really messed up his new Yamaha 100 or 125. His bike was too nice for our pick up game of tag, on motorcycles.

 

One of my favorite motorcycle memories is getting my brand new 1995 FZR1000. It was the bike that introduced me to liter bike nirvana. It’s probably considered a sport tourer (almost) by today’s standards, but damn if I don’t wish I could have it back.

 

Christmas when I was 12 years old , got a Tomos moped. Rode the wheels off it
Driving under the Daytona tunnel
The first time with the sbks buzzing overhead.
First expert win
Squid runs across alligator alley racing to the reservation
The list is long ! Good thread

 

ive only won 2 races in the years i raced.
the second race i won i had more points so i was gridded on pole...which felt very different because every other race i had no where to go but forward - i had people to pass - this time i was the one to be passed, i could only go backwards!...an odd feeling. the race started and it quickly became a race between me and 2 other guys and for the next several laps it was us passing each other 2-4x a lap on big willow. i ended up taking the win and the feeling was absolutely incredible!

ive won bodybuilding shows, i have set state and national bench records, ive been involved in other sports, did skydiving once - NOTHING compares to how i felt that day. by far my best memory. i have lots of trophies and medals - some required a lot of effort - but NONE required the effort it took to get those 2 first place trophies. im smiling while i type this

 

I have two fav memories ...

First - right after I got my first R6 I was out late at night with a buddy who was pretty new at riding. We were in the middle of nowhere on a 4 lane divided highway. I'm not a 'mad stunna' in any sense of the word, but for whatever reason that night I thought I'd try to do a stand-up wheelie. Never tried it before, or since LOL. So, we're riding along this super long dead straight boring stretch side-by-side and I just stand up, hop on the pegs and goose it, and holy crap the front wheel just started floating higher and higher and higher. I saw my buddy next to me look up with the biggest eyes like O.M.G. DUDE!!! and then I got scared and dumped throttle LOL!!

Second was in a full downpour at Roebling. I was on a GS500 in Clubman and couldn't afford full rains so was just on the standard race DOTs. I was chasing this one dude down the whole race and just seemed to get closer and closer. On the last lap I said ok this is it and I just rode as hard as I could... the bike was slipping and sliding all over the place but I just kept in the gas, and I was closing in! On the last corner I went to pass the dude on the outside and just kept it pinned and we were both sliding further and further to the edge of the track, and we crossed the line virtually side-by-side, and I got the place.

I think it was for like 6th place or something LOL, but that really made me love racing in the wet. Gave me so much more confidence with a loose bike underneath me, and just the challenge of chasing down and passing someone in ridiculous conditions was amazing!

Thanks to that race, another fav memory is winning my first race back after a multi-year break at Barber after it started raining

 

I could write a book, but one particular memory feels as fresh as if it were yesterday. In reality, it's been nearly fifty years. At that time, you could get a limited motorcycle license at fourteen. Supposedly, you were allowed no more than five horsepower, but I never saw that enforced. A school friend got me a job at his family restaurant, making the princely sum of a buck fifty an hour. After three months of begging rides to work, I had almost five hundred dollars in the pocket of my straight legged Levis. I found a one year old Honda CL360 in the classified ads, and was off for a test ride. The asking price was $450. After a bit of amateur haggling, I put $415 in the seller's outstretched hand, and off I went. I can still feel the sense of freedom that bike gave me. I rode that thing all over the southeast. It never let me down, if you don't count the big stamped steel mufflers literally disintegrating on my way home the very first day. My dad went to the local Honda dealer and bought a couple of chrome shorty mufflers from the scratch and dent pile. I had an exhaust note that would make a formula one driver cover his ears. I have had an uncountable number of bikes since that little Honda, but none made a bigger impact on my life. If I ever stumble across a clean example, I intend to buy it, but I doubt the real bike can ever measure up to the one that roams the roads of my memories.

 

There’s a bunch but as a young kid my dad would set me down in front of him on his Stiletto and we’d ride the trails and logging roads around my grandfather’s and beyond. I remember convincing him to “spend the whole day riding”. We tossed a couple soda cans in the creek to keep them cold and hung a bag with sandwiches from a tree branch to keep the critters out of them and went riding. We were probably only out for a couple hours, it was a damp/showery day. but I remember being out all day. I hope I’ve created some similar, positive, strong memories with my kids.

 

listening to children of the sea/ lady evil by black sabbath on the way to my first race at road Atlanta. I couldn't belive that Road racing was legal. I woke up that day feeling like the world was a little bit different. I think thats the emotion here. You get denied the motorcycle as a kid/ teen you want it that much more story.

 

In the stand to watch KR senior jump on the TZ 750 for "parade laps". Fastest parade lap I've ever seen. Truly an amazing moment and I got the chance to see it front row.

 

I was there with a bunch of motorsports execs as my guests and these guys have had the red carpet treatment at the highest echelon of all motorsports all over the world MotoGP, F1, Indycar, Nascar, SX, MX… they still to this day say that night at the Indy Mile was the best one… podunking in the infield with all the racers was their favorite

 

In 87 I rode my 86 1000R Ninja from Dallas Tx to my parents in Peoria, IL. Decided to take back roads and got my first ticket in Oklahoma when my radar detector lit up like a Christmas tree and I hit the binders. Cop asked if I had a detector? I didn't know if they were illegal, and it was mostly concealed, so I said no. Hour or two later I crashed on an unmarked curve somewhere in Oklahoma or Arkansas. Almost got it stopped before having to swerve between outside corner barriers and trees. Some guys stopped and helped me get it out of the valley, using first gear and walking it up the hill. Broken mirror, blinker and some bodywork. Had already planned a stop in Ft Smith, Arkansas at a friends and put some ice on it and then continued the ride the next day.

Somewhere in Missouri on I-44 I'm flying through rolling hills and crest a hill doing about 120 and see a cop sitting in the center median and know I'm screwed. Get on the brakes hard and slow down and stop next to the fast lane on the center median shoulder, next to the cop. Get off my bike and remove my helmet and walk over to him. He asks, " have a guilty conscience"? I said no. He said, slow down and get out of here. As I remember he didn't even ask to see license and registration.

I didn't make it home until the third day and I've driven that same trip in a car in 12-14 hours. LOL

 

This was just a few weeks ago at VMD. There were four of us like minded vintage racers in a garage. One of them is a music affectionate and had these great play lists set up of oldies and car/bike music. Racing, good music and friends, GREAT!

One high point was Friday evening we all four got in a golf kart and toured the whole place watching the antics.

 

Around 88 I take the California Superbike School with my dad at Mid Ohio. It was f..king amazing. Back then you had two sessions and they timed them. After the first session I was the fastest guy, so they sent us out in order, so everyone knew who was fastest. I remember coming around the keyhole and running up onto the curbing and then going off the track and leaving it pinned while the rear of the bike is going back and forth a bit. Steve Brubaker was following me, I didn't know who he was or if he was anybody back then? After that session he comes over and asks if I was a motocross racer. I've never moto crossed in my like and I asked why? He said when you left the track you never let off, it was swapping a bit and you just came back on like it was no biggie. I said, oh yea, well i did start riding dirt bikes when I was 10.

After that session, I remember telling my dad, that was better than sex!!! He said, well I don't know about that, but if I was as fast as you were, maybe I would agree with you? Unfortunately, dad went off the track at the end of the front straight and had it basically stopped but fell over, so that ended his day.

 

In 90, I go to Mission Yamaha to look at the bad ass R1 for sale and want to test ride it. The owner of the shop, Johnny hopped on another bike to ride with me. We come around a corner and he lifts it up, so I crank the R1 up and ride a wheelie through 3 gears right beside him. We proceed to do that together a couple more times on the way back to his shop.

We get inside the shop and I'm discussing the pricing with him, and he says, "have you ever thought about road racing? I said, no, I did a California Superbike School and it was fun. I was supposedly fast, but that was just a bunch of street bike guys not real racers. I'm sure I can't compete with real racers, I've been a drag racer, but I'm not a road racer. He said, If I were you, I would go get a bike and try road racing. Within 6 months I bought a "setup" 89 FZR600 and won my first Novice race with ARRA at Willow Springs.

 

was it 2000 and an R1 or 1990 and an FZR 1000? Just curious…