Story
David Grant
• Pho
tos
James Pratt
friendly with the tire guys at the track. They are
your best source of information everyday as
those round black hoops of life is all they
know.
If you start looking at your wallet, and see
the cost to take your pride and joy on the track
exceeds your allowable cash flow, consider
buying an old, obsolete, race-prepped bike.
These have already been setup, beat up, and
ready to be fired up in anger for competition.
Many times these are salvage-titled bikes, with
only a bill of sale to accompany them, buyer
beware! In these instances, be ready to perform
all the required maintenance as before, as it is
your life and well-being the machine will be
carrying at 160 mph into turn one at Hallet!
Y
our gear, yes more than just jeans and a
t-shirt is required. The first will be a
quality helmet, one that fits your head and al-
lows you good visibility when tucked into the
bike. Next is a set of leathers, one or two-piece.
The difference is when rolling, sliding, tum-
bling always consider if there is a way for the
item to come off, example is if the waist zipper
on the two-piece does not make a full circum-
ference. Now look at impact areas and critical
human joints. Is there impact protection and are
the seams single-double stitched and folder
over? Again, your skin and body here, how
much is it worth depends on how much you’ll
spend on the leathers. Back protectors were
originally developed by the late Barry Sheene
to keep the spine from bending backwards too
far and breaking, Consider getting the one
which fits your body and leathers while provid-
ing the maximum amount of protection you feel
comfortable with. Gloves and boots are not as
severe as motocross, but good ankle protection
and gauntlet-style gloves will ensure the skin
and joints won’t get too busted up. There is a
reason you see specific motorcycle gear being
worn and not just a set of work boots and
gloves.
The mantra of all racers is you live and die by the
So there you go the first step in earning
your race license and the envy of your peers for
choice of your tires. They are the only things holding
taking on the crazy attitude of racing motorcy-
cles. Next time we’ll cover the mental and rid-
you and the bike up, so pay attention to them.
ing skills required.
July 2008/21
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