No, I’m not talking about costs of professional bike racing like Moto GP and WSBK. I’m talking about good old amateur club racing, the one that’s supposed to be affordable.

This weekend I had a pleasure to attend my local club race, WSMC. A friend of mine was debuting in novice race, so I had to support him. During the idle time (his race wasn’t to start until 4pm) we tried to round up the cost of the racing weekend. The final figure was pretty staggering, especially if you compare it with the money I used to spend racing supermoto. Tires alone were almost $700, and that is considering the fact that he raced on tires he used in the morning practice, ideally he should’ve spent another $350 on a fresh set. Add the entry fees, costs of food, gas and service and the price quickly skyrockets way north of $1000. This makes me question whether I can afford racing.

It wasn’t always like this. With costs on everything going up this year the paddock was half empty, and the racing grid wasn’t as full as I remember it. I really hope economy turns around soon, people should be able to do what they like without stressing out about how much money they put on their VISA.

A little over a year ago I picked up pre-owned Honda Element. What sold me on that car was it’s ultimate versatility. So far there is not one negative thing I could say about the car, it’s been great, even better than I ever expected. Today I thought I would try to see if my race bike fits in it. And to my shock, it did. Now I have to figure out the way to secure it.

This morning I was at local AAA office taking care of my bike’s registration. It always amazes me how a place like that could be profitable, they have huge buildings with dozens of employees and very few customers, it feels like a flashback from 80’s. They are still in business, so it must work for them. However it’s not what I want to write about.

While standing at the counter waiting for my representative, I witnessed a little confrontation. One of the office workers (black female about 30 years old) was approached by the manager (grumpy looking white male in 60’s) who invited her to take a test. She refused to take it noting that she doesn’t need “all this knowledge” and that if the needs help she could ask somebody for it. I assumed that the test was some kind of corporate policy knowledge but later conversation of the above mentioned lady with her friend shattered my prediction. From her outraged discussion it turns out it was a test to check the familiarity with US and Canada states. She kept on going how they already learned all this in middle school and how she doesn’t want to learn again. Her friend fully agreed, stating that she would rather have breakfast with warm bagel. Who cares about state knowledge when you can eat instead? This was the perfect example of average American getting dumber and dumber as time goes by.

I had received these boots over a month ago. They came as the replacements for the REV’IT! Freestyle boots that I had trouble with. REV’IT! was kind enough to let me replace the older style boots with their new product. And Beachmoto.com was instrumental in making this happen.

I am very much a creature of comfort. I strongly dislike when my feet are uncomfortable. I dislike even more when my feet are hot. I’d much rather have my feet a little cold than a little hot. So no wonder I was pleasantly surprised when REV’IT! added this boot to their 2008 line up. According to them “these boots are fully vented thanks to mesh panels on the sides”. I was excited. I wanted to have them. Summer weather in Southern California is merciless. I’ve been on rides when temperature would go over 100F. So one can only imagine how excited and anxious I was to try these boots on and start riding. Did I mention I was really excited?

First thing I noticed about the Air Blends is that they have much better protection than the Freestyle boots. The Freestyles had only three velcros that would lock the boot on a foot and try to keep it in place. I can’t call that the best safety feature in case of a fall. Secondly the Freestyles were lower there fore offering less ankle protection and support. Conversely the Airblends are taller. More like the taller version of basketball sneakers with side plates protecting your ankle bones on both the outside and inside. The velcros are replaced with a lacing system with a velcro flap going over it.

After logging approximately a couple of thousand miles wearing these boots I will admit that they are not FULLY ventilated. They become fully ventilated however if you are crafty enough and are able to turn your feet perpendicular to the way you are going. I have done that on longer stretches of rides and that makes the boots fully ventilated. The mesh is only on the sides of the boot while the toe and the lacing are completely covered up and have no mesh material on them (which is understandable). So obviously the trick is to let the air flow from one side of the boot to another. That is why turning your feet perpendicular to your bike works like a charm. The boots still offer significant ventilation even without that trick and I did not feel hot in them. Especially when I wore the Tour Summer socks.

Another really nice feature of these boots is the boots inside material. It makes them so easy to put on and off. My foot slips right in and out. The laces are really cool and easy to operate as well. It is virtually effortless to loosen them up and then slide your foot out of the boot.

At this point I am unsure if I am going to require a special “winter” riding boots. I am in Southern California after all. Winter temperatures rarely drop below 55F here. And as I said earlier I’d rather prefer my feet to be a little cold. It is possible that with the use of warmer riding socks the Air Blend boots would suffice for winter riding out here as well. I will try adding a winter riding in the Air Blends once the winter comes.

Attention Ducati lovers - this post contains graphic content!

This is a very painful picture to look at not only for the Ducati enthusiasts or the Italian bike lovers out there but for all motorcyclists who can appreciate a beautiful piece of motorcycle engineering. This catastrophe (apologies for the use of a dramatic word) had happened a couple of days ago at a MotoGP event in Indianapolis. The nature’s wrath took its toll. 8 Ducs were damaged in the pile up.

My sincere condolences to the owners of the damaged Ducs. It is a shame this thing happened.

This story was found on Ducati.ms - http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=51236.

Business owner in Indianapolis went one step further from regular drive through car wash and created the same for motorcycle. Even if you disregard the fact that I like washing my own mororcycle because it’s a form of relaxation therapy for me, I woud NEVER wash my bike like that. First of all I highly doubt the mashine will be able to remove anything other than dust off your bike. The worst thing about this concept is that motorcycles do not like high pressure water, it gets into connections, bearings and hard to reach places to cause all kinds of problems. So would you damage your bike and pay 10 bucks for it?

http://www.ksat.com/video/17448669/

It seems like I live on the moon. I just found out about Metrolink crash on Saturday, the one killing 26 people. Well, I don’t want to talk about how terrible is was or how Metrolink failed to install automatic systems that would prevent collisions like this. Instead, I want to point out that the cause of the crash was distracted train operator who was sending text messages from his cell phone. It was only yesterday when I blogged about the dangers that these communication devices present, and this accident is another living proof of that. How many lives must be ruined before someone comes to realization that cell phones and driving cannot live together? The train wreck took “only”25 lives away yet the media is buzzing about it. How many people die in road accidents daily because of cell phone distractions? I can bet it’s more than that. IMHO cell phone use while driving should be banned completely, hands free or not. If you are caught with one on your car, you get $1000 fine. Second offence it $5000. You wouldn’t want drunk waiving a gun in your face (or driving 3000+ lbs missiles around you), and drivers on cell phones are MORE dangerous that drunks (according to research, not just my guess) Our roads would be a lot safer. After all, we all got along just fine 30 years ago……

Just walked in the office fuming. I had to run an errand here in Santa Monica. On my way back I stopped at the light right next to a couple years old silver Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T. The light goes green I start moving and I see the guy right on my tail about an inch away from me. I gun it only to see that the guy is trying to keep up. I am sorry. A Jetta can’t keep up with any motorcycle let along the Orange Beast. The guy is right next to me at the next stop light. And even before the light turns green he guns it. A VW/Audi 1.8 turbo engine does provide some torque good enough for a small Jetta. It seemed like he was going at least 65 mph till he had to stop at the next light. Sort of like a “Meet the parents” kind of style if you know the reference. For the record the posted speed limit at that street, Colorado Ave in Santa Monica is 30 mph.

I was getting pissed. I can maybe understand going a bit over the speed limit. But more than twice the speed limit in a car weaving around frightened Santa Monica soccer moms? Not so much.

Next stop light the guy guns it again even before the light turns green. I wait till it turns green and gun it to to catch up to him and possibly talk some sense to the idiot. He clocked 80 mph till he had to stop again at the 3rd light. When I pulled up I saw an older white male. He was lokoing straight ahead and seemed visibly frustratedand. My revving did not attract his attention. And when I was about to get off the bike and knock on his window all of the sudden he began banging on his steering wheel. That’s when the light turned green again. He went on his crazy way and I pulled into my office’s parking garage to fume about this on my blog.

So if you are in the greater LA area please beware of the following vehicle - early 2000s silver VW Jetta 1.8T custom license plate RR AIA with a middle aged white male behind the steering wheel. If you do seem him either try to stay away or punch his lights out.

And this is a one mile commute stretch when this thing happened about half hour ago, around 11am:

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Every motorcyclist knows how dangerous people who talk on the phone while driving are. As a matter of fact most of my near miss encounters with four wheel vehicles involved the dreaded cell phones permanently attached to “driver’s” ears. So understandably when on July 1st  cell phone use while driving was restricted to hands free devices, it was quite a relief for me since I blindly believed that law enforcement will do what they have to do, enforce the law. For a couple of months I actually noticed the decrease in cell phone talking bastards, with some occational yahoo on SUV still chatting away. However in the past couple of weeks it’s back to normal, the cell phone talkers are at a rage yet again. I think it’s caused by police not enforcing the law, I’m wondering that the statistics say. It sucks that people have such disregard to law, what was the point of making that rule then? By the way inlike similar laws in other stated texting is still legal, one could imagine that it’s also a little distracting. So for now, whatch out for soccer moms on the phones.

Since starting my business a little over two month ago I’ve been learning something new every day. Some things were expected, some come as a surprise. One thing really stands out though. I expected a lot more support from my so called “friends”. I’m not talking about buying something from me, or helping me at the shop. Just moral support, that’s all I’m asking for. The least you can do is stop by to see my place. Pass the word around. Give the word of encouragement. In reality, I get way more support from complete strangers. Kind of makes me sad. As far as friends who do support me, big thank you is due. Without your help I wouldn’t be able to make it very far.