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I got new leathers

Got some new (used) leathers, sold the other (also new) leathers, sold the (used, crashed) leathers.

At one point, I had approximately $1800 in leather suits hanging up in my house. I originally had a set of off-white Dainese leathers that I crashed in. I decided to upgrade to a new-new set that was a little larger, since I added a back & chest protector to my ensemble.

After riding at Carolina, I felt like the new-new Dainese Racing Lady suit in a sz 46 was choking me.

I was able to find a used (nearly new) condition Dainese Yu suit for sale in a sz 46, in black. Then I found a local buyer for the new-new leathers that didn’t fit. And then someone bought my crashed leathers on eBay! All of this leather selling happened within a week- I was totally expecting those crashed leathers to sit on eBay for months!

Also, did you know that there’s such a thing as leather paint?
Angelus Leather Paint: meant for shoes, so it’s pretty tough. Also comes in a rainbow of colors and happens to be in stock at my local (10-minute walk) art supply store.
I didn’t like the red/black/gray color scheme going on when I purchased my new-used leathers. So I changed them. I made them more… KTMish. I’m very matchy-matchy now. Squeeee!
Before & After:

I think I’m going to tweak it a little more, but it’s pretty close to done.

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Road to Racing: Getting the Race License


Remember that feeling of bewilderment when you went to the first day of school? You didn’t know where anything was, were afraid to walk into the wrong classroom, and were generally uncomfortable for a while? That’s a little what getting my race license felt like.

Maybe it was a bad idea to take the bike I’ve never ridden to a track I’ve never been to before.

MAYBE.

Now that I think of it, I was wearing new leathers also. All shiny new stuff for the race class!!

With AHRMA, the race class is a full day and license is conditional after your performance over the weekend. Basically, don’t crash or cause someone else to crash, and you’ve got a license to race. It took the whole day, but I believe that it was also related to having to fit in track time amongst the race practice going on. It probably could have been a half day if the instructors had an open track to work with.
Race class, condensed:

  • learn about flags
  • learn about race lines
  • go on track and follow the instructor
  • learn about body positioning and starting procedure
  • go on track and follow the instructor
  • mock race against the classmates

I have a decent idea about race lines from having been on tracks before, and learning more about how to read corners will come with time/experience. It was actually really helpful to learn the lines at the track by following an experienced instructor-racer who considers it their home track. I’m pretty comfortable with flags as well. Body position is an ongoing issue for me, and it’s painfully obvious when I’m uncomfortable in a corner just by looking at my awkward riding style. Starting procedure is (theoretically) simple, but multiple-wave starts are confusing. Every time you go out on track, you have to wear a bright safety-orange vest so that your fellow riders know you’re new and can make fun of you be aware of your potentially erratic behavior
Here’s me getting ready to go out and follow the leader and learn some lines:

Those new race leathers were a pain in the ass. I’d forgotten how stiff they feel when they’re new! Additionally, I’m pretty sure I purchased the wrong size. I could barely move, and it felt like I was being choked even when I was in a full tuck on the bike. They were the same size and brand as my older leathers, but the model was different- I didn’t realize that sizing could vary so much within a brand, but I guess it’s that way with all clothing.
Mock Race
At least, since there were only six people, there weren’t all that many people on the grid. I was placed in the 3rd position- on the front row, to the outside edge of turn one.
YAYYYY I didn’t get last! Ok, so third out of six people isn’t great, it’s exactly middle. I probably shouldn’t have been worried about my finishing position when it’s just a mock race for a class, but my pride/ego didn’t want to be last. Once I completed the mock race, the next time I’d be on track was for morning race practice and my afternoon race.
First Race
I really should have paid more attention to where the guy with the number boards was going to be in a multi-wave start. My race class, SOS3, also grids up with the Thruxton Cup Challenge in front of us. I was staring at the wrong person/overall wrong area when my race started. I had a horrible start! During the mock race, I hadn’t had to deal with larger bikes being in front of me- I started getting more and more frustrated after my terrible start, which means I was missing apexes all over the place and not concentrating on being smooth. Smooth is fast. I wasn’t smooth at all. :/
I didn’t do all that well. I was lapped!

At least I finished the race?
Next time, more preparation. The next race is Gingerman, which I’ve been to before. I hope I do better.

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Road to Racing: Prepping the bike

I’m pretty naive sometimes. I thought that getting a bike that was mostly fully set for racing up would solve the issue of having to prep the bike for me.

I was wrong.

Don’t get me wrong, it saved a ton of work and money, but more than a full day’s work had to be done with it.

I already knew that the suspension would be unacceptable for me- the previous owner was over two hundred pounds, I’m about one hundred forty pounds with my gear on. Gunther was purchased with Andreani fork internals and a Penske rear shock, so I made sure to take care of getting new springs right away. Conveniently, Jon knows somebody who does suspension! We gave Mike at GP Suspension all the necessary info, and he sent a box with a new rear spring and new front springs that are perfect for my weight. I went from not being able to even touch the ground on Gunther to being able to tippy-toe it, which is all I needed.

Jon and I set aside a day to change the suspension and make a list of anything else that would need to get done. He tackled the suspension issues first, then gave the bike such a thorough inspection that I’m pretty sure it feels violated.
I used the time to peel off the existing decals with a heat gun, because I’m helpful like that. And Jon is so fast and efficient that I normally get in his way as he hovers about the motorcycle, flitting from place to place like a hummingbird.


Since my Gunther was someone’s “B” bike, we figured out pretty quickly that bits and pieces here and there were cannibalized as needed. A small list was created, but overall there didn’t need to be many purchases. Some bolts had vibrated out and needed to be purchased, along with new handgrips. Mostly, we set about making sure that the bike was in race-ready condition: everything clean, tightened to spec, controls/suspension adjusted for my (smaller) body and lighter weight, and a complete fluids flush.

In the end, I think it came down to a little over twelve hours of labor done on my bike alone.

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Road to Racing: Getting the bike

While I’m brand new to racing, I’m not new to racetrack riding. There’s a fine difference: track days are not officially timed events, while races are. (Make sure your health insurance covers race events!)
I’ve done track days off and on for years, on different bikes, and I’ve learned that I have way more fun on the smaller displacement bikes than on the bigger ones. This is going to help my decision making, since there aren’t all that many modern smaller displacement bikes available for me to choose from.

Since I already made the decision to join the same race organization as my partner, I’m limited to what AHRMA specifies in its race classes.
Unfortunately, my current beat-to-hell 2009 Ninja 250r with +30K miles on it doesn’t fall into any of them. It’s been a great bike, serving double duty as both street bike and track bike, but it’s time to get something that I can race. I really liked the way the lil’ baby ninja felt at the racetrack, so I want to stay within 100cc of that if possible. My personal motorcycle technician hates carburetors, so picking a modern bike would make it nicer for him. Bonus points if I can find one that is already race prepped, which will ultimately save me at least a thousand dollars.

I narrowed down my choices to a single make/model: KTM RC390.
PROS: modern bike! fuel injection == no carb cleaning. An ECU we can map. Suspension options == better handling. plus, it’s pretty and it’s interesting. RAWR.
CONS: I’ve never ridden one before and it’s too cold to do it now. They’re kinda expensive since they’re still new to market. Parts will be harder to find, and there probably won’t be all that many people with spare parts in the paddock if I need help. Boyfriend/technician isn’t familiar with the brand, so he’ll have a learning curve that he probably won’t enjoy.

This bike is a brand new addition to the AHRMA organization for 2017 in the SOUND OF SINGLES® class.
Here’s an excerpt of the new rule straight from the handbook:

I searched high and low for a race-prepped KTM. I made full-price offers on three, and was rejected each time! Venting my frustration on facebook seemed like the right thing to do. And then, magic: one of my friends sent me a message, saying that he knew a guy who might be getting rid of one.
The bike wasn’t even up for sale yet (the owner had two that he was getting rid of, and he’d already sold one of them but was still undecided about selling the second.) but I sent him a message offering nearly full asking price for if/when he was ready to sell. He was nice enough to respond with an “I’ll think about it”, and a link to some information about the bike. I was actually asking for a racer’s B bike, his alternate bike in case something bad were to happen to his primary bike when he was at an event. It was a solidly set up bike that would come with lots of spare parts, making me even more excited to potentially own it. But I’d been let down before after making offers, and wasn’t particularly hopeful.
Then, magic happens AGAIN: the owner sends me a message about two weeks after initial contact, saying that he’s ok with my offer and I should come pick it up as soon as possible. Pickup is scheduled for the next Sunday, and the bike is about 5 hours from where I live. It’s going to be a long day, but at least it’s a day trip. and at the end of it, I’ll own a new motorcycle!!

And that’s how I bought my race bike. He’s named Gunther. He’s awesome.

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Road to Racing: I’m finally gonna do it!

So I’ve finally decided to “take things up a notch”, as it’s said. 2017 will be my first year as an amateur racer.

2016 has been spent watching my boyfriend race and traveling to a few different locations, meeting a bunch of new people and taking a whole lot of pictures.
(Click here to see some from my flickr account!) While I love taking pictures, I love motorcycles more. It’s been agonizing to watch them go by and not be a part of it, especially as I began to meet people who just kept telling me to join them out on the track.
So this is it: I will race.

My partner in cookie-eating/boyfriend/personal motorcycle technician Jon is already a racer with a particular organization (AHRMA), so I decided to make our life easier and just join the same one.

It’s gonna be fun!