yea its true I finally made it happen! I've wanted to race Wera for a long time. My first time riding a motorcycle it was the fall of 2002 I bought a 2000 ninja 250. I had a go-ped in high school and i tricked it out from top to bottom but I never rode a motorcycle not even a dirt bike. Picked up the bike in the RAIN and rode it home. I rode it the entire winter unless the snow accumulated on the road and hadn't been plowed yet (Northeast). i bought brand new with many many payments a 2006 Yamaha R6 and rode it home for the dealer poured RAIN the entire way i rode it for 10 years and 45000 miles that entire time i dreamed of racing. many times almost making that dream come true but something would always happen. 2017 i sold the R6 and bought a mountain bike with the money, i thought my dreams of racing were done forever. beginning of this year i told myself before this year ends im buying a bike and racing it. March i bought a 2008 SV650 it was a SS race bike that sat in the RAIN for 3 years and was pretty thrashed. i went through the entire bike fully stripped and rebuilt, replacing anything that even gave me a side eye. accurired leathers, back protector, chest protector, tire warmers, and even a trailer all from the wera classifieds. Boots and Gloves from STG and a NOS Helmet at a local speed shop with a date that fails 12/24 for free! Now its RACEDAY and you guessed it ITS RAINING! I brought a crew chief Shane the Chain he's a well know moto guy from the mid Atlantic he's done 100 races and it was great to have that experience with me in the paddock. I signed up for the riders school and 1 race LWT SS. The riders school was 1on1 with a great instructor whos been working and racing with Wera for 39 years. I did 2 practices session in full wet conditions with radial tires and full wets would have been a better choice. I touched the paint had a nice poop in the pants, but at lunch the track dried up and we switched to full slicks for the race. For the race i started last and finished last. i was consistent feeling better and better each lap. I felt comfortable everywhere on that track except the back straight. the speeds are pretty high even on a sv650 and those tire walls are intimidating. WERA Staff was amazing, and much thanks to all the corner workers and officials.
Awesome!!!! Good on ya!!!! Out of curiosity, Shane who? Not being sarcastic, I’ve lost contact with a “Shane” from the mid-a region
Glad you had a great time. My son and I also race SV's and Nelson is one of our favorite tracks, but wouldn't you know we had to go to a wedding. We had it all planned out to be there this weekend except for that. Look forward to racing against you next season.
I love reading stories like this. I'm also really glad you made it happen. Here's to more seasons of racing. Was this your very first time on the race track?
Thanks everyone definitely planning to race again next season 2-3 events budget depending. Same everything maybe just an airbag. yes this was my first time on a track riding a motorcycle. I took the R6 down the drag strip 10 years ago if that counts
Great writeup. Remember, "The sun will rise up tomorrow", and you have already done something a lot of people will never do, race in the rain! Good luck,
