Losing my M/C Racing Virginity - MotoGP or MotoAmerica

[petey]

Man what a great week end, wish Rossi would have had a better day!

 

[El Toro Joe]

Man what a great week end, wish Rossi would have had a better day!

Petey...you get all the hot chicks

 

[hppants]

Back home safe - few observations:

1. The best competition I saw this weekend was from Moto American Superbike. Those guys were THROWING their bikes around and fighting for every inch of the track. They were scraping for 7th place as hard as the front two were scraping for the lead. My dad was getting pooped out on Sunday afternoon, but I convinced him to stay for the final Race 2 of the superbike series and boy were we both glad we did.

2. Moto3 is also super competitive. Those 250 cc pocket rockets were running laps in the 2:20 range. That's only about 10% slower than the MotoGP bikes. Very impressed with this series as well.

3. OTOH, I was pretty disappointed all weekend with the MotoGP riders. Rossi crashing on lap 2 didn't help much, and Marquez is on a whole different level compared to the others. By the 4th lap, it seemed like the rest of the field kind of gave up.

4. I've never seen so many Ducati motorcycles in one place - there must have been 500 of them. Very impressive showing from all over the country. Not sure how many rode from home to the track, but judging from cleanliness, quite a few came from a long way out.

5. The fan zone was very nice. I think each manufacturer represented had every bike they sell on display. The reps knew their product and the demo ride setup was really cool. I stopped by to say hello to Scooter, only to learn he has left the mother ship. Really wanted to demo the R3. They would have loaned me a helmet, but the road was wet and I'm ATGATT. Next time, I guess.

6. I've visited about a dozen racetracks in my lifetime. COTA still ranks among the top venue I've seen. They do a wonderful job of providing relatively short distances to walk to cover the majority of the 3 mile circuit. However:

- this place is WOEFULLY short on restrooms. When you pay roughly $100.00 a head to see an event, under NO circumstances should you have to wait 20 minutes to pee, nor walk 1/4 mile to get to the line. About 200 more port-o-pottys would have been about right.

- Further, the concessionaires could all take a lesson from college football. TBH, I didn't wait in line to pay $10.00 for a warmed over sandwich. We just ate a monster breakfast and held on until after the race. But from what I observed, people were waiting at least 30 minutes in line for food. That's just stupid and everyone lost money that way.

- Finally, if I buy my parking pass ahead of time, why do I have to wait in line to park with others that have not? Pre-paid should have been sent to another lot.

So the venue is awesome, seats are great. Event execution and management - not so much. COTA left a LOT of money on the table this weekend.

7. My dad and brother, who know nothing about motorcycles (racing or otherwise) had a blast and immediately said they would do it again. My dad is quite a shutter bug and told me he took over 1000 pictures. His camera/lenses are in the "cost of a motorcycle" class, and he got some TREMENDOUS pictures. He's gonna send me a few and I'll post them on here.

And finally.....

8. I spent some time speaking with a Yamaha member of management on Sunday. I can't be 100% sure of his exact title. He approached me at the Yamaha tent while I was drooling over the 2016 FJR.

(Yamaha) "That's quite a machine there, what do you think about it?"

(Pants) "Very impressive. I knew a few things about the FJR."

(Yamaha) "Do you ride one?"

(Pants) "Yep - I'm on my 3rd FJR and I've got about 90,000 miles under my belt on these puppies. Fine machines to be sure."

(Yamaha) "Wow - that's impressive."

(Pants) "Would you take some constructive observations on this bike from a simple Louisiana boy?"

(Yamaha) "Sure would, what ya got?"

(Pants) "Well first let me say that I LOVE this bike and whether or not you do something about what I'm going to say, as long as Yamaha sells this bike, it will be first in line for my next purchase."

(Yamaha) "I understand - hit me with it."

(Pants) "Well, I've got only 4 complaints. Number 1 - please call Bridgestone and tell them that you are done with any tire deal for the FJR. Then call Michelin and strike a deal for the PR4 GT tire. If that rises the cost of the bike by $50.00, BELIEVE me when I say that we will pay it. You simply cannot understand the difference the PR tire does for this machine."

(Yamaha) "OK, what's next."

(Pants) "Please find out who paints the wheels black and fire him/her immediately. This is horrible - you simply cannot remove the brake calipers without touching the rim. And if you TOUCH it, you will scratch it. Don't get me wrong - I love the black. The finish just has to be better."

(Yamaha) "Got it - next?"

(Pants) "Please consider reversing the linked braking system. NO one that rides a 700 pound motorcycle is going to STOMP the rear brake under any circumstances. We know (or should know) that the front brake stops the bike. It would be much preferred to have the FRONT brake linked to one caliper piston for the rear brake when the front lever is squeezed, rather than the other way around."

(Pants) "And finally - please replace this plastic rear rack piece of crap with something that can actually hold 40 pounds. Make it look like it belongs on the bike. If you do that, then many will buy the Yamaha top box instead of throwing their money at Givi or Shad."

(Yamaha) "That's great feedback - thanks much."

(Pants) "Ok - I did you a favor, not you can return it."

(Yamaha) "How so?"

(Pants) "Throw me a bone. Give me some hint about what Yamaha is doing next with the FJR."

(Yamaha) "I can't say much but I can tell you 2 things. First, Yamaha doesn't disclose anything past 5 years. But I know that as of now, this model is scheduled to continue through at least 2021."

(Pants) "That's very relieving to hear. I always worried about the low sales numbers on this model."

(Yamaha) "Well, worry no more. The FJR is here for a good while."

(Pants) "What's the other thing you can share."

(Yamaha) "Next year, expect something to return to the line that has been missing. I'll give you a hint - what's the one thing beginner riders have trouble with on any motorcycle?"

(Pants) "The clutch. Are you saying the AE is returning?"

(Yamaha, smiling) "Good to talk to you."

So there it is - I think I've just started a rumor.....

 

[gixxerjasen]

*Warning* TMI ahead.

After the Moto3 race, I needed to take a dump. Walked to the port o pots under the tower and there were some folks milling around waiting on a potty to open. I stood behind three guys and all at the same time three pots opened. I waited and when one of the guys finished I went in. Reasonable wait I think. Took my dump, and when I walked out I was greeted by a line of about 200 people (estimate and not exaggerating). No, they weren't waiting on me as there were about 30 of them there, but dang that happened quick. Glad I got there when I did.

I went over to one of the food trucks and saw it was $10 for two tacos. Ahh well, it's like being at the ballpark or the fair. I paid and then when I found a place to finally eat them I went to pick one up and realized it was a two hand taco. Those things were huge and I couldn't eat both of them. Considering one of my local places is about $2.50 per taco, and these were twice the size, I'd say the price was reasonable. Other places not so much. Oh, and I only waited behind one other person. Lines were longer elsewhere which is why I skipped those places.

My beef. Turn the freaking monitors on!!! We say this every year and every year they turn them off. All four monitors between 2 and 4 were off. No reason to turn them off.

 

[Hotboot]

Sounds like you had the GP experience and enjoyed it pants, lookin good with the ladies too. Racing is unpredictable ( Rossi hit the paint while braking ) which is why the whole thing is the reason for going. People watching is a sport also. Thanks for the FJR rumors....

If not for a knee injury, I would have joined everyone.

TMI Jasen !!! $2.50 tacos will result in many trips to the little blue room.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

The race sucked as I predicted, the BBQ in lockhart was great. I'm really starting to hate the race in Austin, the event is stale and boring, and motogp is just plain bad. but what else we gonna do in early April?

 

[gixxerjasen]

One of these days....one day, Marquez will freaking crash and make it interesting.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

And another thing, Moto America looked like a club race. It sucks we have to hope Marc crashes to make the other teams competitive. But I would like to better racing than I have at Austin since it opened. Maybe next year.