SPRING 2023: Moto and Scooter Season is (Almost) Here!!!
Which means it’s almost racing season, warm weather, scooter rides, and enjoying the wind in our faces! A good thing, it’s been colder than usual this winter. I can’t wait for it to be 65+ degrees consistently again. Riding when it’s 50 or so is doable but in my not-quite humble opinion kind of sucks. Too cold!
Preseason Racer Projects
I got a lot done over the winter. I built an aluminum sub-frame for my racing motorcycle, a “bucket list” project and the start of more things to come. My process for learning how to TIG weld is to make stuff and learn as I go. I’m still going for functional, pretty comes later.
Now I’m working on the wiring for that bike, but it should be running and better than it’s ever been shortly, before May 6 at the latest. Here’s how much it weighs, whether or not this is the dry or the wet weight you will have to use your imagination.
Carbureted Motorcycles and Scooters
As far as customer projects go, there’s more than one “90s sportbike” in the rotation right now, including an extremely low miles Yamaha R6 I’ll be excited to talk more about once I have it running properly. Also a ’71 CB350, Suzuki Katana 750, and an older, more touring-focused Kawasaki Ninja. All carbureted, all cool old bikes.
Carbureted Japanese sportbikes and scooters are my specialty. If you have one that doesn’t run, book online before it starts really warming up!
Winter Track Days
I did a track day on the ZX7R I got running last fall in February. That bike’s a wonder on two wheels except for the front brakes, which could use some work, and short of replacing the calipers nobody really has much of an idea about how to make them work really well. The bike went where I pointed it, the legendary “front end feel” was 100% as described in literature and film, and it was fun having enough power to spin the rear coming off of corners.
I have a lot of extra track gear, so if you’re a customer or not and want to take your motorcycle to the track, I can be a decent source of information about how to go about doing that. Call, text, or make an appointment online to talk more about it! First MRA race of the year is May 6/7 at HPR assuming it doesn’t get snowed or frozen out. I plan on being at Pueblo at least one Sunday in April to test my racer before I go racing with it.
It’s March 12, 2023. It’s 35 degrees, and there is snow on the ground. Here’s hoping it warms up soon!