My Kawasaki Is Back In The Garage

Unfortunately my friend had to give my Kawa back to me so I am looking to sell it so I can build a 450 Super Single. The problem with trying to get my money’s worth out of this bike is the high highway mles. Around 24K  for a 2003. Anyway, so here she sits back in my [messy] garage until I can sell it. BTW I went to move it and compared to my track-prepped Honda. What a friggin TANK that streetbike is!

So, here is the original for sale pic:

FOR SALE (This is the info and the above photo  from the original owner, more upon request)
2003 KAWASAKI NINJA ZX6R. GREEN
NEW CHAIN, FLYWHEEL AND
SPROCKET
DEVIL EXHAUST
BLACK SHIFTER AND FOOT PEGS
INTEGRATED BRAKE LIGHT/TURN SIGNALS, AND FENDER ELIMINATOR.
IN GREAT CONDITION…FEMALE OWNER!

(Odometer: 23,000 (approx)
Price: $3500.
Paid $4000. in April Will part with it for $3,500. PLEASE!  I want a 450 SS! lol
Includes Icon (green) SubHuman Helmet

There is a small dent on the front rim on the lip. It was like that when I got it.

Ahhhhh Gravity

 

When the cat’s away, the mice will play. Got my fix again late last night with Jenn (http://www.twitter.com/stuntbabex ). She came over to my house and packed and after we checked the weather we decided to pretty much go for it. It was pretty much, warm, dark and 2 MPH.  I was worried about the wind earlier in the day since it was super windy but as soon as the night cooled down, it was great. So we made the long drive out there. It was pretty late and I was thinking about backing out because I’d have to make the long drive back by myself, plus I hate that climb (I’m a lazy BASE jumper). Then she said, “Do you have to be anywhere?”  “Um, No.” I reply. “Then f*cking jump!” she said matter of factly.  HEHE! Fine!! You twisted my arm.

The hike out there was a different route than I usually take and I completely slipped sideways on the leaves and grass and fell on my side. I started laughing outloud trying to be quiet. Jenn just laughed quietly and I got up and continued on my way.

It didn’t take long to get to the top, it was hot as hell though. I wore my rig (loosely strapped in) on my back with one of Shawn’s XL inside-out  www.Higbee-Racing.com shirts (lol!) over it for protection. It was SO much easier to climb with it actually on my back rather than my front while still in the stash bag!  I got super hot on the way up so took off the Higbee shirt at the top and folded it and placed it under my first layer in the front. 

BTW my new helmet rocks!! I got the full face idea from K (she uses a full-face BMX) so I bought the Bell Hot Wheels Edition Rally Boys’ Full Face Helmet, Black $47.  (if you can believe it, it truly rocks!) from Wal-Mart (Egads! Who knew Wal-Mart carried BASE gear!) and it worked out GREAT! It is very padded and comfortable. I just had to paint over that little Hot Wheels logo. It’s a bit more hot to wear while climbing due to the area covering your mouth area, but it affords so much more protection than the skydiving helmet I usually use. It fits perfectly and protects everything without interfering with your vision. I strongly recommend this type of helmet in BASE, way better than even the skate helmet I have  which everyone seems to use. I didn’t wear gloves for the jump either, put those in my pocket. I did use them to climb but going handheld with her 48 using gloves–no thanks. That’s a lot of fabric to hold in one’s hand.

This pic was taken at the halfway-I-need-to-rest-my-out-of-shape-ass-point

Lotta apprehension before the jump. I hadn’t jumped since April (holy shit! 3 months!). Plus I put on the PC in the dark down in the bushes with the use of the light from Jenn’s phone. My leg straps felt weird. I had tightened it to the point where the hardware was starting to eat the elastic keeper so I made sure it wasn’t caught in the hardware itself. The straps still felt loose overall compared to my skydiving rig, although it was fine. I know I didn’t lose weight so WTF?! Will check that out in the light today after I pack.  Took me a bit to step off. I kept saying, “I’m scared” lol! It was super dark and I hadn’t gone handheld off that object yet, and with a different PC on top of it. Jenn was an amazing supportive buddy. I really liked jumping with Jenn.  She is calming, supportive, quiet, helpful, knowledgeable and understanding.

Before the jump, I texted Shawn (he had texted me while I was on the ladder on the way to the track. I couldn’t text back right away, he had no clue I was actually jumping that night since it was so late).  Afterwards I started my gear check (AGAIN) and having her check me as well.  I obsessed about the PC again, hehe. I made sure repeatedly that the bridle was no where close to wrapping around me, etc.

So I stepped out on the edge, and after a few swear words and about 5 more glances at the bridle and making sure fabric wasn’t over my fingers on the PC, I counted down and jumped. AND THREW!  lol. A 10th of a second of a delay in my throw from stepping off haha. It seemed like it took forever to open since I tossed it so early. In fact, with the amount of caffeine I have in my system right now, just thinking about it just now gave me a charge and kicked in my caffeine buzz.

During the jump and waiting for it to open. I remember seeing that glow from one of the red lights pass me and thought, “Crap, this is it.” lol!  I haven’t thought that since my first A  (which was also handheld). It is amazing how fast the mind really works,yet how much every detail slows down.  And then the sound of the wind rushing past me picked up and SNATCH!!! It opened with such positive force my neck made a mental note to send me hate-mail. I had a little off heading opening to the right. (Jenn said my pilot chute went weirdly left and then my canopy turned right on opening). It wasn’t bad enough for rear risers so I unstowed and turned left, realized I had a lot of altitude and then turned it a little to scrub off altitude. It was dark as hell and NO WIND.  I hit the ground feet first (be thankful for the little things),  took a knee, and hand to the ground–right into stickers! Ouch!  My canopy almost landed on top of me, no wind at all.  WOOT! What a great jump! AWESOME!

I started daisy-chaining my lines and then stopped to take off my helmet so I could hear Jenn’s jump (she was going stowed). I started dealing with my canopy again and then heard the familiar windy sound and then CRACK! Her canopy opened and she landed about 35 ft off to my left. Her landing was great, at least what I could see.  Man that opening was loud!  I love that sound!

Anyway, so we stashed our gear and took off. I dropped her off at her car to leave for her camping trip, then I made the long drive back home.  Just in time for the beginning of a great sunrise. I fed the horses early so I could sleep in and there you have it. I can’t wait for her to get back in town. haha!

**I know the pics are dark, and/or blurry, but you don’t expect me to burn an object do you?? Need to know basis, my friends. Apologies.**

Track Day #3: 5 Seconds Faster, Still Not Enough!

Ahhhh track day…when everyone can be a racer in their own head, haha. As everyone who begins going to trackdays knows, you will eventually turn your streetbike into a trackbike and there it will remain in your garage until it is let out to run free again. 

As I have mentioned before, it is primarily Shawn’s fault (www.higbee-racing.com) and Dan Lo’s (from www.cornerspeedphoto.com) fault for the onslaught of buying parts.  I blame Shawn for exposing me to track day and soft compounds in the first place (THANK YOU!!! You may have my first born!) and for Dan for triggering me into buying my first set of bodywork which I had tried out earlier on the backroads and found I had indeed been enlightened. 

So with the help of Shawn in my garage, we started chucking needless parts like headlights, tailights, etc..  Also made suspension adjustments, bougth new Pirelli soft compounds, etc. Of course the bike  required modification of the OEM structure itself just because of the bodywork alone, i.e. hacksawing a portion of my tailsection off, making brackets for the belly pan to attach to, tapping holes, resituating the lean sensor, etc. etc. etc.  However, I am NOT Happy with the bodywork that I purchased. I have no idea which model in REALITY they used to make the mold but it seemed like a one size fits all for the Honda CBR. There were some oddities.  But that article will follow when I have time.  

But not to be a downer, this is about Track Day! Yay! So, we take off for Fontana and Shawn ia making fun of me (in a friendly manner) as to why I have all the junk in the rental truck. Canopy, rugs, stands, tire warmers, a cooler, a ramp, fuel cans, tools, tools and more tools, everything you would need to run an actual  race.  I told him simply because then I can be like every other wannabe racer at the track ;)

I am lucky that Fontana is less than an hour away. I don’t have to get up at dark thirty to get to a rider’s meeting like when we go to Willow.  SO we finally got there and a few other guys allowed us to share a garage. I felt bad for Shawn when we were driving around the paddock because a few people said stuff about the skull and crossbones and you know they thought it was his and were making fun of him being a guy in a 600 with a skull. But HA! It’s mine and I’m a girl and I could put a pink bow on it and use the girl card as an excuse. We are forgiven as a gender. 

Shawn wasn’t riding at Fontana that day. Although he did take Dave’s bike for a run to get some vid of me. Higbee on anything but a Buell? Say it ain’t so!  (Of course I have a pic)  So to get to the story, Shawn pitted for me. Um, well, he tried pitting for me. He had to be reminded how to pit, lol. His excuse was, “I have never pitted for anyone, give me a break.”  or “You don’t need your tire pressure checked every session!”  Yes, I do.  I am no different than any professional racer when I am on that track when it comes to gear importance. I don’t need it in my head  that I may have low pressure from a leak while going 100+. He understood. It worked out in the end. And I am only giving him a hard time as he did a lot for me. that day.

I felt like I was riding my ass off all day and I swear to you the best recorded time was 2:00.106.  WTF!!!  I was bonsaiing it every turn.  How can this be??  I know I felt I did better on the last session of the day (they always take your transponder before the last session) . But I have no way of knowing if I really did do better.  I looked back at my prior times and was told that was only my 3rd track day ever so my improvements were acceptable. Acceptable? I am over 30 seconds slower than Shawn.  This is not acceptable.

1st Trackday February 2, 2009 / Time: 2:13.510
2nd Trackday March 14, 2009 / Time: 15:55:30.4 3 2:05.283
3rd Trackday July 12, 2009 / Time: 15:58:05.6 7 2:00.106

But it was fun and that’s all that’s supposed to matter and I do feel I made pretty good progress on transitions–especially making turns 14 – 20. Turns 16-20 have now become one long turn for me with negligible corrections. I still hate turn 3.  [map: http://www.fastrackriders.com/tracks/cal-800.html]  it is worthy to note that we had to adjust my set-up a few times to help my bike transition for turn 1 because of the highspeeds coming out of the front straight. It seemed slow to flick and eventually it got better but still feels heavier to flick than last track day.  It shouldn’t be but the adjustments did alter the feeling in a negative way for this particular turn. I will figure it out eventually.

The modifications held up, the bodywork didn’t fall apart, but even with the wrap the pipes are truly overheating the crap out of my belly pan. S drilled holes in the front to help but we still need to make some mods to get it to cool down. It was actually bubbling my paint. That’s hot.  The belly pan is smaller than the OEM one so making it fit is not easy. 

So after a fun day of riding and visibly salt-stained Under Armor, I left elated and exhausted. And might I add planning a track day at Willow a few short weeks later. WillowTrackday Update: http://msxxfast.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/willow-springs-track-day-what-an-intimidating-track/

Registered For The Mary Hill Festival of Speed (Street Luge)

I entered the Festival of Speed Street Luge race at Mary Hill in Washington coming up on Sept-1-7  Practice and quals are on Wed-Friday and then the races are on Sat and Sunday I believe.  Both of my coaches will be attending.  Mary Hill is like Mesa Grande but 3 minutes long.  Thank goodness it is not as steep though so top speeds are 45-50 MPH, like Palomar but a lot twistier than Palomar.  So 45 will feel like a 70 when you’re trying to stay on your sled.

So pretty much I will be practicing a lot on Mesa and the top of my hill at my house to prepare. Thankfully at Mary Hill, the roads are closed off so I can use the whole road, unlike at Mesa when I accidentally go into the oncoming lane and scare the crap out of myself.  I need to buy a lot of brakes and get some back up shoes although I have three pairs of shoes. So I guess I need 6 pairs of brakes total for the week, which should be enough (depending upon the heat and if the contact cement stays adhered).

When I asked Justin how I am going to handle such a long and twisty race at my skill level, he insists my weight will benefit me and that I just need to loosen my trucks all the way. I will be testing a nd training a lot in the next 2 months. Too bad it is so damn hot outside.

I think I am going to approach some more sponsors this time around. The trip is going to be expensive, hotel and air are not cheap for not being able to podium to help make up for it. .

Wish me luck!

Yet Another Balloon Jump!

I needed some footage for a reel of mine and so when Jenn called me, I grabbed two spots (1 for Karen for video).  I decided to go in my skydiving gear because I was slider off on my BASE rig and was SO not wasting a packjob. Besides how often do I really jump a terminal object?  Not worth the change-out. So I invited Shawn along if he wanted to get up at 3:30 AM and go. He said yes so off we went!

Luckily there was an observer spot available so Shawn hitched a ride and took some cool video from the basket.  He had never been in a balloon so this was a cool opportunity. Although he said he felt pretty damn nervous watching people jump out when he himself had no rig on his back, lol! I feel ya! I hate being on a cliff with no rig, it completely freaks me out. You can see his concentration in the basket as I jump out.

We had the same jerk balloon pilot who always tries to rush us out. I miss Phil the balloon pilot. He gave us a ton of altitude and would take us to freaking Murrieta if necessary.  So as this new pilot grouchily rushed us out, Karen took over and basically took charge and gave him safety reasons, etc for reasons we were taking our time. Not to mention the sun was in the camera angle. She got him to turn the basket and through communication a 3 yr old, but clearly not this guy, would understand we finally were in position.

And I facked up the exit. As she was outside the basket and I gave the count, I looked at her below me and went headlow.  So instead of waiting for airspeed since I was all scorpioned over, I decided to do a front flip. Without enough airspeed I got caught on my back for a second HAHA!  So I flipped over and didn’t track off too hard because I was trying to stay with her.  Karen is a great photographer and videographer and skydiver. She can put herself anywhere and she is amazing.

But like I said, I am the one who screwed it up. So $225 for 3 flights later, that footage was scrapped. (But the stills were awesome!) Not to mention, my brake lines were taken in and I had to pull higher to test them out. Whew! They were a lot tighter and instead of the usual lift I had more planing and not being used to coming in as hot, with no wind and ”different” brake behavior, I wadded it. Great. But I did have the pleasure of watching a newbie balloon jumper pile in, sreaming in flight.   The idiot actually almost hit a chainlink fence so he instead he decided to front riser it and hook in–hard. He rolled for a while in a cloud of dust, jumped up and said “WOO HOOOO! That was f####g awesome!!” And repeatedly explained that this was his first balloon jump for about the next 2 hours if spoken to.

So, even the landing footage was scrapped. It wasn’t even fun because I was too busy trying to “work” and then we didn’t get the shot.  We met up with Shawn at the second lift site and then went to IHOP, as is customary, for some chicken florentine crepes! Now I just need to schedule yet another jump and try and get some footage again this time. Shawn did get a good pic of me tracking over the Freeway which was pretty cool. I’ll post it when I get a copy. Karen took the pics above and has had a lot of her work published. Again, she is amazing

Balloon Jump In Stormy Weather = Awesomeness!

 

 

I hadn’t jumped a balloon in so long, so when I got the word on an open slot I literally jumped at the chance. Balloons are incredible substitutes for BASE jumps. They are also great for  nailing exits for BASE hopefuls and those seeking recurrency.  Not to mention they are far less effort (no climbing!), but about $75. more lol. But beggars can’t be choosers, so count me in! 

Balloon jumps have 1 drawback–getting up at the ass-crack of dawn.  And this jump was no exception.  The night before, I got my gear together, however it wasn’t that difficult as everything was ready to go as always. I decided to use my skydiving rig instead of my BASE rig simply based upon the fact (no pun intended) that I was slider off and could take about a 2 1/2 – 3 second delay and  no more.   If I am going to use my base rig then I am opening low, which meant I had to get out at about 700-1000 feet. And if you’re paying $75 you might as well get more altitude, lol. I am such a hypocrite .  Anyway, since I was not about to unpack my rig and put my slider on, I chose to go with my skydiving rig instead. 

So I set my alarm for 4 am and hit the bed.   I got up and once it started getting a little lighter outside I saw how cloudy it was. Great. The Perris DZ is 30 min away and I was SICK of having balloons canceled every time I got there for the last 6 months. I was tired anyway and thought $75 is worth it to sleep in, lol. They can have it.  But a friend of mine that I wasn’t going to see for  awhile was there and  I decided not to be a loser and flake. I pulled my Under Armour on and some tac pants (tactical), put my hair back into a ponytail, threw the jacket for my tracking suit on and took off.

I fed the horses at 4:45 am (but only half their ration for breakfast since it was so early),  and got hay on my tracking jacket. I know that sounds odd, but it’s actually not a first.  I stopped at 7 -Eleven and got a 16 oz coffee and a ham and cheese croissant (on special for $3!) and continued my ass to the DZ.

I got there about 15 minutes late and it was cloudy as hell.  It looked nasty.  It turns out there were going to be 2 balloons! and two friends of mine (Karen and Hannah) were on the other load.  Hannah was filming for the Swedes and Karen was jumping out with her wingsuit to practice for the valley the following week (lucky!). Also a BASE jumper I know, Andy, was there as well. I had not seen Andy since the last balloon jump.  Interestingly there were two paragliders on the load as well. I have never gotten to see them launch from a balloon, and I still missed out since I was third to leave.  But I get ahead of myself…

It turns out that for some reason the balloon company didn’t want to (or could not) take off from the DZ (weather??) so we all piled into vehicles to drive off-road someplace in Menifee to lift off. The weather was not looking any better so we were all pretty worried if this lift was going to happen.  

We followed the two balloon trucks and the chase vehicle onto a county dirt rd where they pulled off into the field and begin to lay out the tarps. We all just sat around as they debated the weather, sent up an indicator balloon to test wind directions and  speeds at the different levels.  Lightning had begun to flash in the distance and a few raindrops started to pound our vehicles sending everyone rushing to get their gear under cover and the balloon company started putting the balloons back in the truck. Great. I sat back in the car and Twittered.

Well the Sky Gods smiled on us, briefly, and the rain stopped after about 1 minute. Out came the balloons again and we all had renewed hope. Then all of a sudden they started inflating the balloons.  More than renewed hope, this meant we were probably going up. And it was lightning about 30 miles away, holy crap!  I had never been on a load that went up this fast. They essentially inflated and BAM! we were rushing to board and lifting up.

The balloon pilot was not one I had flown under before. He told us at 1,800 feet, over a subdivision mind you, “do you guys feel safe getting out here?” Um, NO. WTF?  SO on we pushed. Towards the storm and lightning.

The second balloon dropped pretty fast below us, presumably to let us go first so they dropped out of that slice of wind. We were expecting only 3K feet, but 4 grand eventually came along and one of the guys got out.  My turn was coming up.  The pilot was actually irritated with me when I was trying to get up on the side of the basket to jump out because it took me three very short tries with my mini wing in the way. It is very difficult to climb up onto a basket with your legs sewn partially together and booties on.  So I simply said, “I have a wing, give me a break.”

Then JB got out and I got out a second or a little more after him (we were pretty much 500 ft in altitude apart the whole time).  I did a standard BASE exit and then about 2 1/2 – 3 seconds later went into a track and waited for the forward speed to kick in. 

 It was beautiful.  As a zero G exit always is.  The first 1 1/2 seconds is the moment of absolute perfection. The quiet time. The time that is neither here nor there, yesterday or tomorrow, you nor me. It is the reason to BASE jump, or in this case, jump from a balloon. It lasts until the wind begins to rush up against your face and you begin to feel gravity take its effect. Then it is over.  I was tracking.  I could see JB tracking under me about 500′ and then I realized he was going away from our intended landing area. So I did a quick 120 degree or so turn and then he followed suit after seeing my change.   He sucked it low (as usual). Then I kept tracking and eventually opened at about 3K.  I know I could have gone lower, but I don’t like going low with my skydiving rig.

I saw his canopy as he headed for the fairway of the Menifee golf course, and the first jumper was getting ready to land near the clubhouse. I set up but with no wind I was at risk in overshooting my landing area so I continued to spiral to bleed off altitude. At 500 feet I still had too much altitude, another spiral and over the pond I went and ducks took flight. Ooops *please no bird strike* Still too high so I sashayed a bit and then passed JB and came down ever so lightly literally skiing on the thin layer of moisture on the perfectly manicured green.  There was no way I was going to stand this up I had pretty good tread on these shoes and I was still skiing so I gently went onto my butt and slid into an eventual stop. AWESOME!!

JB packed while I spoke with the marshal. He wanted to know if we landed off course. We told him yes, the winds were weird and the lightning was scary. Every golfer-filled cart that passed was shocked at the lightning that had started dancing around us. Off in the distance the balloons  were still traveling towards the storm. Eeek!

Dawn (from the balloon co) called me wondering where I was and I told her three of us were on the golf course. We were told to go to the clubhouse so we started walking and had the weirdest looks

Here is a self-portrait from the bathroom near one of the tee boxes

Rode the Wildomar OHV Park

I can’t believe this place is only 10 miles from my house!!! I have truly been missing out!!  I was grabbing a lot more air than I usually do hopping rocks and the little ramp at my place. Not exactly fat air, but hey,  it is high enough for now (until I go back and try it again).  Thinking about hauling some dirt into the middle of the TTR track at my house. Enough to make a double at least.

Got a good wipeout in as well, jacked up my ribs a little bit. But hey, no bones are stickin’ out so I’m good.  While out there I vastly iproved my riding skills, decreased my times, and am riding up higher on the berms.  I still got lapped like crazy while riding the jump loop, Shawn was on the pipe the whole time and I am always so skittish about downhill on gravel, as well as this first left before the double jump.  Still, riding the pegs helped my stability and I did close the gap a little more as the day went on. 

Anyway, it was a good time.  We plan to go back pretty soon. There is a camping area as well, and it only costs 5 bucks per vehicle for day use. If you don’t know where it is you can get there off the 74 (Ortega Pass) and then drive about 9 miles down Killen Trail. It’s worth it! Bring fluid, however, there is nothing out there but high desert and rattlesnakes but there are trails for all levels, mostly internediate to advanced though. I get anxiety thinking about getting lost out there but everything pretty much loops back to the main trails. 

You Know You’re A RoadRacer’s Girlfriend/Fiancé/Wife When…

1. You can change out a shock in a racebike.
2. You have picked up their leathers and team shirts from their sponsors, and are now wanting custom leathers of your own.
3. You know what DZUS clips are.
4. You know the AMA rules and guidelines for each class and regularly monitor any last minute supplemental regulations.
5. You actually have been an umbrella girl even though you swore you’d never do it.
6. You look down at your filthy, greasy hands and understandably think to yourself, “well at least it’s not anti-seize”.
7. You find yourself thinking of ways to reduce the weight on everything by removing redundant or useless parts, or replacing them with lighter materials, even if it is just your toaster.
8. You can put on and take off tire warmers faster than you can tie your shoe.
9. You know the difference between tensile strength and tear, or bend, strength.
10. You can work a pop rivet gun and can think of a thousand uses for it
11. You know the difference between VP-U4.2 and-VP 113 fuels. But you also know the benefit of using Sunoco 260GTX Racing Gasoline (98 octane unleaded) is that the fuel performance is equal across the board, less cost (but still higher than street gas), and results in less wear on the engine.
12. You have used a stop watch for an alarm clock.
13. You have used a stopwatch to time him taking a shower, mowing the lawn or when changing his oil so he will be more competitive, ergo FASTER. Plus you appreciate the value of 1/10th of a second.
14. Being passed on the inside or outside, rev limiters, redlining, and keeping your line can be applied to any situation in life.
15. You have a ton of credentials from past races since you figured you weren’t going to attend enough to justify buying a ”hard card”. Ooops.
16. You are worse than a soccermom for performance expectations.
17. You know post-race sex is beyond what most human beings can comprehend.
18. You have actually raced shopping carts at the grocery store. Furthermore, the staff at the Daytona Target is actually used to it.
19. When a car comes over into your lane on the highway you react by sticking a knee or an elbow out, even when driving your car.
20. You know the sound of his bike and can tell when he passes, even from the race trailer.
21. You know something is wrong if he takes more than 2 seconds over his average to come into sight when you’re timing laps.
22. If he’s not bleeding or damaged, you’re more pissed about the damage to the bike that you now have to repair.
23. You know that trackfood can be a Godsend, and your demise.
24. You believe that if you double the racetime (doubleheaders), you should double the purse.
25. You think that Barber has the best bathrooms of any track out there. Willow is definitely the worst, although you have seen the port-a-potty in pitlane filled to just under an inch of the seat with urine. Those boys stay hydrated!
26. You know male racers can be cattier than an Orange County sorority house during PMS week.
27. You feel that carbon fiber, duct tape and zipties are the best inventions on the planet
28. Gorilla tape makes excellent fairing repair material as well. Really.
29. You can put up a pop-up tent in less than 60 seconds, and break it down even faster
30. You are on a first name basis with some of the AMA officials
31. You have parted out a brand new streetbike for use on the racebike. Even worse you have actually traded parts off of it with other teams for parts you, or they, don’t have.
32. You think Moe Burgers are tasty.
33. You can live off of coffee, Energy Drinks, and Powerbars and think nothing of it.
34. You can change a rear sprocket, and you’re not too bad at changing front tires either.
35. You have ziptied on bodywork.
36. You can work a pitboard and run split-times simultaneously
37. You’ve mistakenly ruined a windscreen using brake cleaner. And you will never do it again.
38. You have done doughnuts in the parking lot on the pitbike. Especially after a good rain.
39. Blisters are a given at any race event, and Gel Soles don’t work.
40. You don’t even get mad anymore when you step barefoot on metal shavings in the garage. It’s probably from your bike anyway.
41. You’ve stopped riding on the street and leave your race plastics on in the event a track day comes up.
42. You check the average temperature forecast for the track the week before each race. Then brainstorm for alternate ways to reduce engine temperature.
43. You own workboots. And your own Mechanix gloves.
44. You have ridden the racebike back to the garage after a race and could not help but be a throttle jockey the whole way.  And prayed to God you didn’t drop it.

45. You have slept in a race trailer for 3 days straight across the US, without a shower, or a decent meal. And would do it again.
46. You have bought silicone tubing from the aquarium section at a 24 hour Wal-Mart so you could make in-helmet drinking straws. 
47. You have burned your hand endless times on a brake rotor.  But still feel you can do a faster job without gloves.
48. You f*cking HATE carting around a generator on the grid for the tire warmers
49. ”Safety Cars” are bullshit. Bring on the bikes.
50. The first racelap and last 2 minutes of a race seem to be the most unnerving.  In fact you REALLY wish you had not drank that case of Monster before all of this started. 

51. And last but not least…you have chosen Pirelli race compounds over Tiffanys for your birthday!

All in all, it’s worth it!

Dare To Dream

The Lazareth XB12.  Me likey.  But I know it’s too much bike for me. 

[from www.thekneeslider.com]

Bought and Sold a 2003 Kawasaki ZX-6

That was a brief relationship.  Last month I bought a green Kawasaki ZX-6 and then sold it to Kalish just yesterday.  We went for a ride all through La Cresta and Tenaja. Good ride!  It is so great to have another female to ride with. Now if I could just get the other two girls geared up and trained that would be spectacular.  I threw in my green Icon helmet to get her started. She is going to rock the track eventually.

Here is a pic the original seller sent me before I took a look at it. I barely have any pics of it myself. Waaaah Bye baby!