GP Week

Online magazine, GP Week, covers motorcycle gran prix racing as well as four-wheel racing. The free on-line magazine is published every Monday. Check it out

http://www.gpweek.com

Road Conditions – Spring 2009

An early ride up the Chumstick to Plain and Lake Wenatchee found the roads exceptionaly clean.  The use of chemical de-icer rather than sand is a welcome change.  The only sand we found was on the Plain side of Beaver Hill.  Hopefully that is gone by now.

Many roads in Chelan County have been swept, including Sleepy Hallow and Lower Monitor Road.  (Mar. 29 2009)

Thursday Nights at Dusty’s

Bike night at Dusty’s Drive-in is starting up again in a continuation of the popular Meet-n-Ride started last season.  All types of bikes are welcome.  After the chomping of burgers and a little bench racing, a local ride will usually spontaneously ensue.

Meet time – 6:30

World Superbike Lineup

2009 FIM Superbike World Championship Rider List

No.	Rider	Nat.	Bike	Team
41	Noriyuki Haga	JPN	Ducati 1098R	Ducati Xerox Team
84	Michel Fabrizio	ITA	Ducati 1098R	Ducati Xerox Team
19	Ben Spies	USA	Yamaha YZF R1	Yamaha World Superbike
66	Tom Sykes	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	Yamaha World Superbike
7	Carlos Checa	ESP	Honda CBR1000RR	HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
65	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
53	Alessandro Polita	ITA	Ducati 1098R	Sterilgarda
67	Shane Byrne	GBR	Ducati 1098R	Sterilgarda
71	Yukio Kagayama	JPN	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	Suzuki Alstare
76	Max Neukirchner	GER	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	Suzuki Alstare
23	Broc Parkes	AUS	Kawasaki ZX 10R	Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
100	Makoto Tamada	JPN	Kawasaki ZX 10R	Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
24	Brendan Roberts	AUS	Ducati 1098R	Guandalini Racing
96	Jakub Smrz	CZE	Ducati 1098R	Guandalini Racing
15	Matteo Baiocco	ITA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	PSG-1 Corse
86	Ayrton Badovini	ITA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	PSG-1 Corse
55	Regis Laconi	FRA	Ducati 1098R	DFX Corse
9	Ryuichi Kiyonari	JPN	Honda CBR1000RR	Ten Kate Honda Racing
33	Tommy Hill	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	HANNspree Honda Althea
94	David Checa	ESP	Yamaha YZF R1	Yamaha France GMT 94 IPONE
25	David Salom	ESP	Kawasaki ZX 10R	Team Pedercini
99	Luca Scassa	ITA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	Team Pedercini
36	Gregorio Lavilla	ESP	Honda CBR1000RR	Pro Ride World Superbike
3	Max Biaggi	ITA	Aprilia RSV4	Aprilia Racing
56	Shinya Nakano	JPN	Aprilia RSV4	Aprilia Racing
11	Troy Corser	AUS	BMW S1000 RR	BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing
111	Ruben Xaus	ESP	BMW S1000 RR	BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing
31	Karl Muggeridge	AUS	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	Celani Race
77	Vittorio Iannuzzo	ITA	Honda CBR1000RR	Squadra Corse Italia
44	Roberto Rolfo	ITA	Honda CBR1000RR	Stiggy Motorsport AB
91	Leon Haslam	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	Stiggy Motorsport AB
88	Roland Resch	AUT	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	TKR Suzuki Switzerland

2009 Moto GP Teams

The provisional entry list for the 2009 MotoGP season, as released by the FIM earlier this month:

No.	Rider	Country	Team	Bike
3	DANI PEDROSA	SPA	REPSOL HONDA TEAM	HONDA
4	ANDREA DOVIZIOSO	ITA	REPSOL HONDA TEAM	HONDA
5	COLIN EDWARDS	USA	MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3	YAMAHA
7	CHRIS VERMEULEN	AUS	RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP	SUZUKI
14	RANDY DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR HONDA MOTOGP	HONDA
15	ALEX DE ANGELIS	RSM	SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI	HONDA
24	TONI ELIAS	SPA	SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI	HONDA
27	CASEY STONER	AUS	DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM	DUCATI
33	MARCO MELANDRI	ITA	HAYATE RACING TEAM	KAWASAKI
36	MIKA KALLIO	FIN	PRAMAC RACING	DUCATI
46	VALENTINO ROSSI	ITA	FIAT YAMAHA TEAM	YAMAHA
52	JAMES TOSELAND	GBR	MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3	YAMAHA
59	SETE GIBERNAU	SPA	GUINEA ECUATORIAL TEAM	DUCATI
65	LORIS CAPIROSSI	ITA	RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP	SUZUKI
69	NICKY HAYDEN	USA	DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM	DUCATI
72	YUKI TAKAHASHI	JPN	SCOT RACING TEAM MOTOGP	HONDA
88	NICCOLO CANEPA	ITA	PRAMAC RACING	DUCATI
99	JORGE LORENZO	SPA	FIAT YAMAHA TEAM	YAMAHA

Moto GP Stats Viewer

This is an introduction to an incredible web site for those of us who follow Moto GP racing. I’m going to quote Kropotkin from his motogpmatters.com site:

“Like many sports, motorcycle racing is a numbers game. Some of those numbers, like horsepower figures, the dimensions of engine internals and chassis geometry are closely guarded secrets, and kept carefully concealed. Others, the numbers which result from those secret figures, are almost painfully public. Every lap, even every sector of every lap, is recorded, then published on the MotoGP.com website and exposed to the full glare of public scrutiny. Anyone wanting to know just how fast a specific rider rode on a particular lap during a particular session at a given track, and to see where they finished a specific race, and where that left them in the championship, can pop over to MotoGP.com and look it up.

Of course, the ability to look at find that information is completely different from the ability to digest and understand it. To many people, those figures quickly become a jungle of numbers, and they end up not being able to see the MotoGP wood for the trees.

Fortunately, the internet being what it is, there are a few rare individuals who have an affinity for figures, a passion for MotoGP, and the necessary skills to present those numbers in a more digestible form. There are even one or two people who, from sheer love of the sport, then put the result of their labors up for the rest of the world to enjoy.

One such person is Ming-En Cho, a software engineer and interaction designer from San Francisco. She has used her formidable talents to create a MotoGP stats viewer, which displays the results of each race and the resulting championship standings in an easily comprehensible form. No longer are you left attempting to do mental arithmetic and juggling results to work out what really happened, Ming-En Cho has created a simple yet beautiful representation which helps you understand what went on during the race at a glance.”

Whether you love Moto GP or inventive software or clever graphical presentation, you should check out this stats viewer. I could spend hours exploring the capibilities os the various screens and the story they tell, race by race; lap by lap. Sellecting the recent race at Laguna Seca, you can “see” Stoner get into trouble in turn 11 without looking at a picture or reading a word. It’s in the lap-time gap graphic. Go ahead and give it a whirl. Placing the cursor over an item or clicking on it will reveal additional information. This is just plain cool.

Ted

Sportbike Night – Thursdays

An informal gathering of sportbike riders has been meeting on Thursday nights at Dusty’s Drive-In. People start showing up about 6:30 and have a classic burger while checking out the bikes and making moto connections with other riders. By 7:30 the group has usually broken up with some riders heading out of town for an evening ride. Once on a lonely country road, speeds can vary greatly but riders regroup at some stopping point. I like to remind people to ride their own pace and not to get sucked in by faster riders. These long days and warm evenings are great but they won’t last forever.

Ducati Owners

We have a lot of Ducatis running around these days and some of us have gotten together for group rides. If you want to be included shoot me an e-mail at breezebike@gmail.com

I have also set up a website for Ducati owners at wenatcheeducatiowners.wordpress.com

B&D Motorsports

Brian at B&D Motorsports is starting up a home-based service for motorcycles and ATV’s for the Wenatchee area.  He specializes in tire mounting and balancing using a power machine, as well as repairs and modifications.  He is able to supply many parts and accessories.

Phone:  509-679-6939

Pro Tec Dyno

Wenatchee has a new dyno tuning service. Mike Kirkpatrick has purchased the latest Dynojet motorcycle dyno and is doing dyno runs, carburetor tuning and Power Commander tuning. Contact Mike at 670-1400

His web site is www.protecdyno.com

See my report on using Pro Tec at http://saddlerockrider.blogspot.com

Events – 2008

Sportbike Northwest / Northwest Sport Touring, Columbia River Gorge, Stevenson Washington – Aug 21-24 – camping, group rides, factory demo rides, workshops – see www.soundrider.com for details…………..

Local Road Racers

Anybody doing any road racing or track days out there?

Cruiser Test

I’ve never owned a cruiser but have ridden a few. Today I rode a V Star 1300. This bike gives quite a pleasurable experience. The motor is very smooth and the whole bike is so refined and gentlemanly. There are no rough edges, extraneous noises or annoying vibrations. What you get is good power, deep and mellow exhaust tone, even a bit of sporting flair in the handling. The 1300 is clearly a close relative to the larger Roadliner/Stratoliner. These V Stars are the most sophisticated cruisers I have sampled. I have to say though, that it was their raucous and unruly cousin, the Warrior, that put the biggest cruiser-grin on my face.

Suspension Service

We have a local suspension specialist ready to tune up your bike’s handling. Here is a message from Mark at Lowedog Performance Suspension:

Riding season is starting and now is the time to change those leaky seals or service those forks and shocks. If your bike is 2 or more years old or has a lot of time on it you won’t believe how nasty and degraded the fluid in your suspension will be. A service and fresh oil will go a long way to liven up those suspenders! Or if your thinking of upgrading your suspension I am a Moto-Pro Suspension trained tech and dealer. Anything from custom spring rates to complete revalves with Moto-Pro’s Ultramax Valving Kits.

Fork Service includes complete disassembly, cleaning, inspection of internal components and Silkolene Pro-RSF suspension Fluid: $85.00

Shock Service includes complete disassembly, cleaning, inspection of internal components and Silkolene Pro-RSF suspension Fluid: $85.00

Fork and shock seal replacement will be the same as above plus the cost of seals which varies by brand.

Call or email for more pricing on revalving and springs.

Lowedog Performance Suspension 509-860-8841 lowedog @ verizon (dot) net

Sport Bikes

A sport bike to me is any bike that is made to lean over in the corners.  Yes, they all lean but some bikes and some riders just aren’t really into it like others are.  It’s really a broad, inclusive and subjective category.   It doesn’t make sense to  include only repli-racers like the GSX-R type bikes because on a really twisty road a good rider can do just as well on a dual-sport bike.  When riding on public roads we generally ride somewhat near the speed limit most of the time anyway.   A sporty ride could include  most kinds of bikes as long as the rider is not afraid to  trust  the tires in the corners and goose it a little when it seems safe.

Road conditions – Spring 2008

Major highways seem to be clean now but Ive only been on the road between Dryden and Quincy. The Squilchuck road is clean except at intersections. From Squilchuck road to Wenatchee Heights is mostly clean. Halverson Canyon is showing more dirt and sand than asphalt. Number Two Canyon has been swept but is still a little dirty in places. North Dryden Rd. is mostly clean but watch for dirt and sand in places. Stine Hill Rd. between Dryden and Cashmere is clean. (2/29/08) ……….. Sleepy Hollow Rd. is fairly clean. A little dirt and sand in places but not a real hazard if you keep your eyes peeled for it. Not much worse than summertime really.(3/9/08) ……… Peshastin North road is fairly clean (3/13/08) ……..The Haverson / Hampton Rd. loop has been swept. There is still dirt residue that one sweeping won’t get but with a little caution it is ready to ride. (3/16/08) ………… The Chumstick Beaver Hill road is in great shape – swept and ready to ride.  The Chewawa River loop road is a little rougher and should be ridden with caution but is still a fun road.  Tumwater Canyon is fine (4/5/08) …….

Dirt Bikes

My first dirt bike was a Honda S 90 I converted into a trail bike. In 1967 it was hard to find a real dirt bike. The Japanese companies weren’t making them. (see comments) Honda made the step-through trail bikes and the heavy, road-oriented Scrambler. In 1968 Yamaha came out with the DT-1 “enduro” but by then I had bought a new Bultaco Matador. As much as I love riding a road bike, I love a good trail even more. Today I ride a KTM 450 EXC, which I think of as the spiritual successor to the Matador. Both are what I would call a “woods bike.” With the steep, wooded terrain we have in the foothills of the Cascades, this kind of bike is very useful. They are light weight and have a torquey motor with a good spread of power. Neither one is all that good on a paved road but that is the sacrifice we have to make to get the best performance in the dirt. In the open terrain of Eastern Washington, a motocross bike works well. Combining paved road comfort with dirt road and trail agility in the same bike gives us the popular “dual sport” category of bike. Although other bikes attempted to do this earlier, I think of the DT-1 as the bike that really founded this category.

Welcome

The motorcycle obsessed of North Central Washington come in all stripes and persuasions.  Road bikes, dirt bikes, cruisers, superbikes – It’s all good.  We would like to hear from you.  Got any ideas for a good ride?  Looking for somebody to ride with?  Trying to decide on your next bike?  Shopping for gear?  Go ahead.  Post a comment or question.

Ted