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 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 After loading up the race bike early Sunday morning, my friend Anh and I headed to another friend’s house to see if he could convince this clutch basket nut to come off. Alan had a full shop set up with all the fun machining tools, and we got set up to
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 is
By AJ Jacobsen I had ended the 2018 riding season with a few changes to my bike, some of them minor, some of them fairly major, but basically leaving me with a bike that I really needed to dial in. There was also a fair bit of major winter maintenance that I had completed, so
By AJ Jacobsen With the dawning of the somewhat dreary day, we were aware that the track was going to be damp. In an effort to help dry it out prior to the bikes going on course, everyone was invited to drive their 4-wheeled vehicles around, so our group piled into the RiderzLaw van with
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
Sometimes in life we are presented with an opportunity we simply can’t pass up. I was provided one such opportunity to accompany a friend to the MotoAmerica races at the famous Barber Motorsports Park outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Naturally, I had to tag along! For me, the benefits of being able to go were layered.
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 It was a lovely Saturday morning. The sun was shining, the weather perfect, and I was ready for a weekend of learning some new things about my bikes. I had my service manual by my side and ready to go, my bike on the stands, and space to work and spread
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
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 that
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
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
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 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