By AJ Jacobsen In December of 2016 I picked up my brand new, fresh from the factory 2017 ZX10R. I was so excited to get my hands on the bike, and could hardly wait to turn it into a race bike and get out on the track with it. I had big plans, and
Chasing Set Up
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
Getting There – Trackside Tips
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
Riding Coaches – Is It Worth It? (Part 2 of 2)
Below is the recap of my first full day with a one-on-one coach. We went ahead and scheduled the first day of coaching for Sunday on the opening weekend for Pacific Track Time. I took Saturday to just feel my bike out, made a lot of adjustments, spent time coaching customers, and just getting myself
Riding Coaches – Is It Worth It? (Part 1 of 2)
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,
Does Fitness Matter?
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
Day in the Life of an Off Season Road Racer
By AJ Jacobsen So what does the off season look like for a road racing “enthusiast” who is determined to do a little better than they did the previous year? Follow along for a breakdown of what a typical winter/off-season day looks like for me. Let me begin by pointing out that I work three
Sometimes It’s the Little Things
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,
Dangers of Intersections
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”
AFM Round 7 Race Report and 2017 Season Wrap-Up
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,
To Commute or Not To Commute
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.
When Riding Doesn’t Go As Planned Part 8
By AJ Jacobsen If you’ve been following my blogs, you are aware that back on December 3, 2016 I broke my leg in a dirt bike accident when another rider hit me, and both of us ended up rotating over my leg. Unfortunately for me, this was not “just” a broken leg – it
ATGATT
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
When Even the Experts Miss the Obvious
This season has been frustrating for me as a rider and racer. Between the injuries to my leg and dealing with that, adjusting to the new bike, and moving up to expert, I’ve often been very frustrated, and while I’ve been “accepting” of some progress, I’ve yet to leave a weekend at the track “happy.”
Laguna Seca Trackday August 2017
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
Avoidence
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,
Ride Report: Laguna Seca
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
Trackside Tips – Passing at a trackday
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 vs Reward
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
How a 250 cc motorcycle can be faster than a 1000 cc
“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
The importance of good motorcycle brake pads
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
Understanding your motorcycle riding limits
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
The value of formal motorcycle training
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 and loathing on motorcycles
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
Thinking about motorcycle brakes – Pt 2
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
Our motorcycle community
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
Thinking about motorcycle brakes
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