Bill RR (Dale) Appendicitis

Bill RR (Dale) hit me up and informed me that he had to have his appendix removed.

Bill - I wish you a speedy and healthy recovery

Breakfast and a ride...

Breakfast and a ride...

I'm not sure why it is but having breakfast and going for a ride on the weekend has to be one of the best ways to enjoy a beautiful weekend.

I don't care where it is or where we go, just as long as the food is warm and the weather nice.

Last Sunday Kyle R6 and I went to the Buzz for breakfast. After we stopped off in Santa Margarita and waited for Bill RR (aka Dale) to meet us in the middle of town.

Soon after we went on Highway 58 out to 228 through Creston, onto 41, to 101 to Vineyard, to Adelaidea and over to Mt. Olive Company for a drink. After we went back Adelaida to Vineyard, to 46 to Old Creek into Morro Bay, onto Highway 1 onto Bayshore, and finally to Turri and into San Luis.

Not a bad way to spend a morning.

Casey Stoner, 2007 MotoGP World Champion

Casey Stoner was always earmarked out for greatness when he made his debut as a wildcard at Donington Park in 2001. Having been drafted into the same academy system which has seen the likes of Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias rise through the MotoGP ranks, Stoner took full advantage of his family’s bold move to Europe to build on a promising national dirt-track career.

Beginning a permanent Grand Prix career in the 250cc class under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello, it was when he dropped down to the 125s the following season that the motorcycling world began to take notice, as he took four podiums and a win at the final round. In 2004 he battled for the 125 championship with KTM, taking their first ever Grand Prix victory and finishing fifth overall.

A return to the LCR team and the 250 class in 2005 saw him battle his old stablemate Pedrosa for the 250cc title, winning five races on the Aprilia, before he continued with LCR for his and the team’s rookie season in MotoGP on board a Honda.

His rookie year in 2006 saw flashes of brilliance mixed with a few disappointing crashes, but stand-out moments included pole position in just his second race at Qatar followed by a battle to the line with Marco Melandri in Turkey where he was just pipped into second place. His performances saw the Ducati factory come knocking at the door, and since the end of 2006 his career has gone into overdrive.

A maiden MotoGP victory the first race of 2007 at Qatar was a self-confessed surprise for both rider and team, but once he followed this up with wins at Turkey and China, it was clear the Stoner juggernaut was rolling towards a title tilt. His standout performance at Catalunya, where he battled toe-to-toe with five-time champion Valentino Rossi will go down as one of the great races in history, whilst he dominated the mid-season with pole-to-flag victories at three consecutive races at Laguna Seca, Brno and Misano.He has been the dominant force in MotoGP this season, the only rider to score points in every round, and with four rounds still to go he seals the title with a total of 297 points, 8 wins and 11 podiums, including 5 pole positions.

Birth date: 16/10/1985 (21 years)
Birth place: Southport, AUS
First Grand Prix: GBR – 2001 - 125cc
First Pole Position: ITA – 2003 - 125cc
First Podium: GER – 2003 - 125cc
First GP Victory: VAL – 2003 - 125cc
Grand Prix Starts: 92
Grand Prix Victories: 15
Podiums: 32
Pole Positions: 10
Race Fastest Lap: 9
World Championship Win: 1 - 2007 - MotoGP
Total Points 2006: 297

MotoGP Career
2001: 125cc World Championship - 29th position on a Honda, 2 starts, 4 points
2002: 250cc World Championship – 12th position on an Aprilia, 5 starts, 68 points
2003: 125cc World Championship – 8th position on an Aprilia, 14 starts, 125 points, 1 win
2004: 125cc World Championship - 5th position on a KTM, 14 starts, 145 points, 1 win
2005: 250cc World Championship – 2nd position on an Aprilia, 16 starts, 254 points, 5 wins
2006: MotoGP World Championship – 7th position on a Honda, 16 starts, 119 points
2007: MotoGP World Championship – 1st position on a Ducati, 15 starts, 297 points, 8 wins

Some Facts About Stoner's Achievement
- At the age of 21 years and 342 days, Stoner becomes the second youngest rider to win the premier-class title in the 59-year history of world championship Grand Prix racing.
- He is only the fifth rider in history to win eight or more premier-class races in a single season along with motorcycling greats Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi.
- He wins a first MotoGP riders’ title for Ducati and it is also the first time a European manufacturer has won the title since Phil Read on an MV Agusta in1974.
- Stoner is the third Australian to win the MotoGP title, after MotoGP Legends Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/motogp/moto/40496/

Love Machine - The Why of Riding

I read an article in this month’s Cycle World and it moved me so much I decided to type it and share it. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do.


Tei

Love Machine - The Why of Riding
By Peter Jones

I love old bikes for what they were and new bikes for what they are. I love the romance of kick starts and the convenience of starter buttons. I love bikes with more power than I sometimes have the discretion to use properly. I love passing cars where no car can pass. I love how motorcycles keep getting quicker, if not faster. I love the feeling of freedom and power a bike gives me.

I love the responsibility of riding smartly. I love being alone on a motorcycle. I love riding in groups. I love how motorcycles make me feel like the hero I’m not. I love that riding a motorcycle means I might be half as cool as Steve McQueen.

I love that motorcycles are confusing to non-bikers. I love how being a biker is to be a member of a special club. I love how bad girls are turned on by guys who ride bikes. I love how good girls are turned on by guys who ride bikes.

I love how a motorcycle is the cheapest way to go racing – roadracing, drag racing, dirt racing, any and all racing. I love choppers. I love sportbikes. I love riding down a long road to nowhere. I love riding too fast down curvy roads. I love the boom of Singles, the bellow of Twins, the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida beat of Triples, the screams of Fours and Sixes…I’d love the sound of a five cylinder if someone made one. I love complex valvetrains. I love fully adjustable upside-down forks. I love modifying a perfectly good bike into a beastly machine that’s a pain to ride.

I love putting on my leathers. I love hanging out in leathers, but only if I have a bike nearby. I love girls who ride…in leathers. I love attending roadracing events. I love the sound of a bike taken to redline in every single gear. I love the thrill, the look, the art, the feel, the smell, the taste, the sensual adventure of motorcycles.

I love wide tires. I love spoked rims. I love magnesium wheels. I love being able to pick up an engine with my own two arms that can take me to speeds more than twice any legal limit. I love doing stopppies. I love dragging my knees through turns. I love two-fingered braking. I love one-fingered braking even more. I love my memories of the Syracuse Mile. I love the hints of crazy hope that emanated from Jimmy Adamo every time he threw a leg over a Ducati. I love the stunning artistic beauty of the 1974 Laverda 750 SFC.

I love 70-year-old bikers who ride like there’s no tomorrow. I love watching the road fly by just below my feet. I love standing on the pegs and seeing the front tire going ‘round. I love riding a bike as fast as it will possibly go. I love going 140 mph for three minutes straight (that’s 6.99 miles). I love riding with no particular place to go. I love that being a biker means something, even if I don’t always like what it means to some. I love how bikes have connected with people across the country and worldwide. I love hanging out at motorcycles nights. I love the foolish hell of Daytona Bike Week. I love saying aloud the mysteriously promising names GiaCaMoto, Yoshimura, Yoshima, Dunstall and Ferracci.

I love clip-ons and rearsets. I love loud pipes. I love tight racing gloves. I love wearing black leather. I love wearing leather of loud colors. I love going 175 mph with only the dyed skin of a dead cow between me and the planet earth. I love riding bikes and writing about them. I love hanging out in the streets of L.A. with other bikers. I love riding the mountains of North Carolina. I love walking through seas of parked bikes. I love motorcycling’s brave history. I love taking girls for rides. I love how children stare in wonder at motorcycles. I love riding in any mountains. I love riding across the desert. I love splitting lanes in California. I love washing and polishing my own motorcycle. I love visiting bike shops in whatever state or country I’m in. I love doing that for no special reason at all. I love dragging the pegs and bags of cruisers. I love customizing bikes. I love admiring someone else’s customized bike. I love lightweight 600cc sportbikes. I love heavy sportbikes with insanely excessive power – I love those very much, thank youi. I love riding around the Grattan racecourse outside Grand Rapids, Michigan. I love the Streets of Willow.

I love holding modern, thin, lightweight, chemically coated pistons in my hand. I love the chatter of flatsides. I love the rattle of a dry clutch. I love the intake honk of big bikes. I love the crisp rasp of an open exhaust. I love the beastly booming brutish bellow of a big Vee’s low-end torque. I love the risks of riding. I love 90-degree Twins. I also love 45- and 60-degree Twins. I even love parrellel-Twins. I guess I love Twins. I love old GSX-Rs. I love the feeling of anticipation while rolling a motorcycle out of the garage on a cool morning. I love the smell of burning two-stroke oil of any time of day. I love the conspicuous mechanics of motorcycles. I love the stance of a bike resting on a rear stand. I love the insane hubris of the Isle of Man. I love riding ratty old bikes that remind me of my original thrill of motorcycling. I love bob-jobs. I love re-reading old motorcycle magazines. I love collecting stickers from aftermarket companies.

I love how motorcycling makes travel intimate. I love how a bike gives me an immediate feel of subtle changes in temperature. I love wearing full-face helmets, because I’ve used every inch of the exterior of them at one time or another. I love how, on a bike, each of my limbs has controls of its won. I love right-side-shifting bikes. I love riding for days on end. I love hiding under a bridge during a thunderstorm. I love how riding clears my head. I love bike clubs. I love motorcycle movies. I love parking on a mountain summit and staring at my bike’s engine. I love machined-billet brake calipers. I love windowed case covers. I love how a motorcycle is sometimes a preposterous dues ex machine. I love the echo of a drive chain on tight left-hand curves. I love the technological efficiency of modern sportbikes. I love the simplicity of old naked bikes. I love the imposing nastiness of rat bikes. I love the mystery, romance and sex appeal of motorcycles. I love how bikes make me dream. I love how bikes make me who I am. I love how a motorcycle is never just a motorcycle. I love motorcycles.