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Winner's Circle at MotoAmerica race- closeup of photographer and second place motorcycle

By AJ Jacobsen   It Sounds So Simple That’s because, really, it is. The hardest parts of getting into racing versus a track day is usually just the flow of the day and understanding the steps you need to take to get ready and to your race on time. IN that vein, here’s a quick

By AJ Jacobsen Picture a beautiful Sunday morning on any curvy backroad where riders like to congregate to enjoy the scenery, twist the throttle, and embrace the freedom that comes from being on two wheels. Suddenly your morning coffee is interrupted by the revving of a sportbike, as the local “street-Rossi” rolls in with his

By AJ Jacobsen   Life never quite decides to go along with our plans though, and early in December 2016, during a dirt bike class, another rider tried to force a bad pass and I ended up with my tib/fib pilon fracture. This happened the day after I bought my new race bike…go figure. At

By AJ Jacobsen   I really debated even writing this post. Let’s face it, we all love the grit and glory stories, the highlights of the races, the amazing changes, and the final results of all the hard work. Reality is; however, we generally aren’t too interested in what led to that story. What was

By AJ Jacobsen   Motorcycles. If you’re reading this, chances are, you ride, know a rider, or have an interest in riding. These two wheeled machines can evoke a wide range of emotions and create a culture all their own. Within that culture there are many sub-cultures, each with unique individuals that collectively make a

By AJ Jacobsen The San Francisco Bay Area is home to a wide variety of motorcycle riders, from those who are Harley Davidson loyalists, to dirt bike riders, to street racers, to custom cafe racer riders, and everything in between. With such a diverse range of riders, skill levels, and reasons for getting into riding,

By AJ Jacobsen       Tablula Rasa, Latin for “scraped tablet” or “clean slate” refers to a state of the human mind before ideas have been imprinted on it. Naturally, as we age, time and experience leaves fewer blanks, and we have fewer opportunities to truly experience things with a blank slate. A blank

By AJ Jacobsen   Recently MV Agusta came out with their new Superveloce 800, a beautiful bike that is designed to meld modern performance with a retro look and aesthetic. I must say, the first information video I watched about this bike had me drooling – it really is a piece of motorcycle art with

By AJ Jacobsen   Following the rather eventful moments during my previous race weekend, the Pacific Track Time weekend event at Thunderhill Raceway was looking to be an interesting experience for me. I was still recovering, and until a couple days before the event, I still wasn’t sure if I could even tolerate the drive

By AJ Jacobsen   As any new rider experiences, the world of bikes has a number of smaller sub cultures and expectations. Depending on the group one falls into, they may experience different “standards” of what one is expected to wear while riding their bike, from the “no gear, no helmet, you can’t tell me

By AJ Jacobsen   The world famous Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca – one of my favorite tracks to ride in Northern California. The great track surface, elevation changes, and variety of corner types makes this an amazing place to experience track riding, and one of only two tracks in California that the pros also race

By AJ Jacobsen   Back in 2011, I had my first experience with a track day. After winning a spot through my riding club, I had shown up excited, scared, and nervous to finally ride my bike on a track. Friends surrounded me, and that first day was phenomenal, and laid a desire that came

By AJ Jacobsen   After completing the rebuild on my transmission, and getting that and the clutch reinstalled in the bike, I had one more weekend of final prep left to do before I felt ready to kick off the season. First up was installing a new chain. While this is a routine task, it

By AJ Jacobsen Since I first got introduced to track days, one day I have hoped and been told I “needed” to attend was the famous “Femmewalla.” This track day is an all-women only day, for all groups, and is hosted by the owners of Chuckwalla Valley Raceway near Desert Center, CA, east of Los

By AJ Jacobsen   In California we are blessed with a wide variety of mountain roads, with pavement, trails, and tracks that can appeal to pretty much any riding style. As part of my riding club, Curve Unit, we host monthly rides in various areas, providing members and attendees with new scenery and different roads

By AJ Jacobsen   Any track rider and racer can tell you that having a properly tuned suspension can make a massive difference in the handling of a motorcycle. Yet, I’ve seen and heard arguments from top level coaches on down to casual racers saying two very different things. On the one hand, they tout

By AJ Jacobsen Every track day rider runs into the conundrum at some point – “how am I getting me, my bike, and all my stuff to the track?” There are a lot of options available, and depending on your personal needs, likes, desires, and budget, you should be able to find something that works

By AJ Jacobsen When it comes to your riding, what do you invest in? Obviously, there’s the motorcycle, but after that, where do you spend your money? Gear? Upgrades? Track days? What about coaching? Many riders shy away from paying for professional riding instruction. I can see why – it’s a lot of money, with

By AJ Jacobsen When it comes to racing motorcycles at the top end of the sport, I doubt that anyone would argue that fitness is a very important factor. Top racers are honed athletes, and they train like it. For them, it may mean the difference between 1st and 4th place after a 20+ lap

By AJ Jacobsen   2018’s season preparation is already far underway, and the investments have already started. The biggest purchase (besides my street/B bike) was the Ohlin’s shock and cartridge kits that I bought for the race bike. Thankfully my sponsorships made these purchases a little easier, but it’s still far from cheap. I knew,

This post is basically a glorified warning. We all know that left-turning cars are some of the most dangerous situations for a street rider, and are the most likely to take out an experienced rider. Today’s warning, however, has to do with stop light controlled intersections that should, technically, be some of the safer “cross-traffic”

After the 6th round of the season, I headed in that following Tuesday to have all the hardware removed from my leg that had been installed back in December 2016. I had scheduled surgery for that time for a couple reasons – 1) if things went well, then I’d have 3 ½ weeks to recover,

By AJ Jacobsen   When it comes to getting to work, most of us have to deal with the best way to make that happen. Of course, there are always options, even if they don’t seem reasonable, but they do exist. Over the past few months I’ve had to evaluate my personal choices around commuting.

If you’ve been around the riding scene for very long, chances are you’ve heard the term ATGATT (usually pronounced “at-gat”). It stands for All The Gear, All The Time. People who tend to live the ATGATT lifestyle can be a little hard-core about it, and often end up labeled as being “gear-nazis” or other such

Pacific Track Time managed to land a full weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this summer, and it turned out to be a great weekend. If you’ve been a Moto GP or WSBK fan, you’ve probably watched races at Laguna. It is a phenomenal track. The only issue there are sound limits, which are strictly

Are all motorcycle crashes avoidable? We would like to believe so, that’s for sure, yet every year, thousands of crashes happen and even here in California the deaths are numerous. Are all of these riders being careless? Most crashes I’ve seen could have been avoided by the rider – perhaps they weren’t paying enough attention,

For those who have been fans of motorcycle racing and Moto GP, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a familiar name. Drawing fans to a world class event, Moto GP and World Superbike have held races at the track for some time. This makes the track rather memorable for those of us who have the opportunity

Trackdays are one place where you can find a vast skill and experience difference all in one place, often riding together. Being touted as a safer way to work on your riding skills while learning to go faster, it is a place that draws casual riders, enthusiasts, and racers throwing them all into the mix.

Risk is a very personal thing for people, what one person considers a necessity for their happiness, another may consider too risky. What one sees as a means of propelling their life forward, another sees a slew of problems that cannot be overcome. We all take risks each day, risk is a part of being

“What’s the fastest way around a track?” “Wide open throttle.” Hearing this reminded me of the very Yoda-like coaching advice that was recently passed on to me of “More throttle. Less brakes.” As frustratingly simple as that is, it really is true. Why can motorcycles with less power than mine get around a track faster than

There are a plethora of motorcycle brake pads out there to choose from: different pads with different compounds all for different stated purposes. Until just recently, I used to think that different pads would make a noticeable difference, but that the opinion on them was just that – opinion. While I was all for buying the best pads you could afford (let’s

Recently a conversation regarding survival tips for new riders came up, with many words of advice. As I have seen and heard many times in the past, often repeated was the phrase of “ride within your limits.” I was reminded of an experience I had a couple years ago and I think it’s an important

As riders, we experience a variety of situations, opportunities, and paths depending on our personal goals as a rider. Some are perfectly content to sit back and enjoy the scenery, while others of us chase the thrills of speed and competition. No matter what aspect of riding you enjoy, we can all benefit from gaining

Fear. It’s a word that invokes a variety of responses from various people. What we are fearful of can vary greatly from one person to the next, especially when it comes to riding motorcycles. To some people, even getting on a bike is way more risk than they’d be willing to take and will go

Following my previous post on the 5% rule (which applies to all motorcycle brake situations regardless of circumstances, location, or pace) the next piece that I have been able to start working on deals more with a track situation. Historically, when braking was discussed, most instructors and coaches would be focused on where I started

The motorcycling community is really like no other. While we certainly have more than our fair share of quarrels, disputes, stereotypes, and outright hate, there is still an underlying connection between all riders. Somehow, the simple act of choosing a motorcycle over a car binds us all in a way that I doubt even an

Photo by our friends @ 4thriders.com One area of riding for many motorcyclists that becomes a pain point is that of braking, and how to properly apply the brakes for the situation. This is something that I have seen be an issue for myself both on the street and on the track. On the track the

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