By Dennis Dumapias (There are ‘first-world problems,’ and then there are ‘Dennis-first-world problems’…) Part of the fun in dreaming is finally having that which you hope to attain. The ultimate goal. The thing you’ve desired the most. But what happens when you achieve something sooner than you could’ve expected? What happens when you finally
Goal Achieved
By Dennis Dumapias Under Two Minutes Riding Coach Rob is persuasive. You’d think he’d be glad to read that I’ve quelled one of my fundamental fears out on track. In any case, I couldn’t not listen to him, or why else did I ask him to coach me? So on the second day
Letting Loose
By Dennis Dumapias There were two fundamental problems I told Rob – my riding coach – that I had when it came to my track riding, which I believed were holding me back from a lot of time I could gain every lap. One was leaning the bike too much, past the point of
2002 Yamaha R1: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
By Dennis Dumapias For the longest time I really wanted to put my 2002 R1 inside my house as a personal trophy bike to commemorate all the smiles in the miles I’ve racked up with it. It really does embody a rich part of my riding history, encasing it between its two wheels. Like
Bargain Beauty: 1997 Ducati Monster M750
By Dennis Dumapias Last year I had another friend ask me to look for a motorcycle for her (…you know, I really should start a used-bike shopper service). She used to ride before we met, but it was short-lived. So while she isn’t going to be new to riding, she’s new again. And she
Heartbreak at the Raceway
By Dennis Dumapias You never forget a heartbreak. You can physically feel it every time you remember. You can even remember the sights, the sounds. You may even remember the date. October 19, 2018 Track days are great for when you only want to work on your riding without any pressure from a race
A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
By Dennis Dumapias Hubris really can be a witch sometimes. I had just redeemed myself at Laguna Seca since my crash there the year prior, and I found myself back on the deck right after, this time at Sonoma Raceway. Rookie mistake too, crashing on my out lap from the pits in only the
Moto-Life Imitating Art
By Dennis Dumapias In the past year alone, I’ve pulled off the following two-wheeled good deeds: Stopped to help a stalled car in the middle lane of a busy commuter freeway. The driver said the car just died, and not only was he not able to restart it, he couldn’t get it out of
Lane Sharing: Swimming with Metal Sharks
By Dennis Dumapias I was going east bound on Highway 92 in Foster City, CA, homeward bound after a day at work. It was just before 6PM, the worst time of the work day to find yourself in a car here, as the majority of the peninsula and San Francisco workers like myself rush to
Redemption at Laguna Seca
By Dennis Dumapias Not one race circuit is less prone to crashes than the other, but I don’t know, I just thought that given how infrequent I rode Laguna Seca, that my chances of having a tumble there were slimmer than, say, Sonoma Raceway or Thunderhill Raceway. Just statistically speaking, I figured it’d be
Triumph Speed Triple: The Brass Knuckle Trilogy
By Dennis Dumapias My friend Lili has always been a massive fan of Triumph’s Speed Triple. She’s also a coworker, so I basically spend more time with her than I would care to on any given work week. She’s harped for years about the virtues of the Speed Triple, having owned a 2002 model
Aprilia RSV Mille versus MV Agusta F4: Reality Check
By Dennis Dumapias It’s been over a week now since I checked out that RSV Mille. Over seven days, I’ve now had to decide whether to move my F4 out of my garage, and have another go at my dream bike – eleven years after I last owned one – or to keep my
1st-Gen Aprilia RSV Mille: Relive the Dream?
By Dennis Dumapias I make no claim that the early-gen RSV Mille is one of the best motorcycles ever made, or that it holds a fabled status like its other Italian counterparts such as Ducati’s 916, or MV Agusta’s F4. The RSV Mille is Aprilia’s first hand at a superbike, but other than that,
Open Letter to Bay Area Motorists
By Dennis Dumapias Really, I should say to all motorists, but while lanesharing motorcyclists are prevalent here in California, not all states have to deal with lanesharing – and never more present within California than congested regions like the good ol’ San Francisco Bay Area during the commute week. I know. You as a
Going Green
By Dennis Dumapias Patience. This is very much moto-related. I promise. 🙂 I got the chance to spend a few weeks driving an all-electric car this past winter. A co-worker of mine – who also happens to be a neighbor – had leased a Volkswagen e-Golf to use as a commuter during the week.
Lessons in Riding
By Dennis Dumapias 2018 had a rough start to the year. By the time the month of March rolled around I was mentally, emotionally, and physically reeling from the most trying time of my life that I can remember to date. I remember sleepless nights. And when I did finally fall asleep, cold sweats would
MV Agusta F4: Sight Versus Sound
By Dennis Dumapias I keep going back and forth between leaving the OEM quad pipes on the F4, or running the aftermarket titanium dual slip-ons I found for it. Ever since finding the aftermarket slip-ons, I’ve swapped between those and the OEM pipes three times now, and I’m pretty sure I’m not done oscillating
Only Fools Rush In
By Dennis Dumapias My friend and fellow blogger AJ covered the value of riding coaches before. If she had her reservations about commissioning a riding coach, I not only shared them but also had it worse. I like figuring things out on my own. It’s almost a hobby in itself to take up something
2009 Yamaha R1: Silver Linings
By Dennis Dumapias I try to see the silver lining in things. It’s how I take little victories even in frustrating situations. For example, it does suck to have get up a few minutes earlier to gear up for my work commute on a motorcycle, but at least I don’t have to sit through
Satin-Wrapped Hellspawn
By Dennis Dumapias Oh, for sure, this bike is a looker. But trust me. If ever you get a chance, you must ride an F4. You MUST. Some bikes intrigue you because of a particular novelty about them that just may be exclusive to that bike. Maybe it’s some new and trick performance part,
Riding Under a Microscope
By Dennis Dumapias That’s my friend Everett. I hate him for being right. It’s not that I went too long without using a lap timer, I just flat out thought I didn’t need one. I’m just a track day guy, who despite being an avid road racing fan, just has no aspiration to race. So
2005 MV Agusta F4: Let Your Supermodel Strut
By Dennis Dumapias I’ll confess that I’m equal parts admirer and rider when it comes to motorcycling. I appreciate the finished product both as something to put under gallery lights half the time, and race the sun the other half. This applies to every bike I’ve ever owned. And whereas the common man may look
A Riding Brother
By Dennis Dumpias For all intents and purposes, Jonathan Ko and I were just strangers to each other. But for just a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon spent getting to know one another proved enough to realize we were more kindred in spirits than merely being motorcyclists. Jon and I both chose to
2009 Yamaha R1: That Awkward First Dance
By Dennis Dumpias “I passed Dennis!” I swear. Who needs enemies when you have friends like mine? It was June, already a hot day at Thunderhill Raceway and there I was feeling the heat of having to learn to ride my 09 R1. My friends weren’t any help, as they were like sharks that
This Never Gets Old
By Dennis Dumapais My ’66 Suzuki Trail 80. I can’t believe I almost passed up on this bike. I can’t believe I drove home with an empty truck bed after the first time I went to see it in person, all because of a couple of hundred dollars off of Kelley Blue Book’s valuation on
2004 Ducati 749S – Of Third Times
I give up. I have been trying to switch the gear shift pattern on the Ducati to GP-style (one up, five down) but despite three different attempts via three different methods, none of them offered a solution without having to compromise foot ergonomics. Normally, I could just take the shift arm attached to the transmission
Every Day is Independence Day on a Motorcycle
It’s a Wednesday afternoon and I’m standing over a sheer cliff staring out the Pacific Ocean. It’s practically the middle of the day in the middle of the week, right smack in the middle of the year, and even I woke up that morning not knowing I would find myself right where I was. I
2002 Yamaha R1 – Rear Shock Service and Oblivious Handicaps
“I know it’s been awhile since I last rode this track, so I’m not surprised that some bumps have turned up here and there. But I just feel like there seems to be too many bumps. I’m getting a lot of action on my front end. Can you check it out?” I had asked my
2004 Ducati 749S – Where the Roads Bend
After trying the bike for a day of commuting, I wanted to give it a try as soon as I could where the roads don’t just go straight. So as soon as I had the weekend and time, I rode it forty miles south to the Saratoga hills. My plan was to take Highway 9
1981 Kawasaki KZ550 LTD – A Ride Fit for a Prince
My cousin Prince (no, really, that’s his real name) had texted me to let me know that he finally got the new chain and sprocket kit installed on his KZ550. He had bought it awhile back, but have not had the chance to actually install them. Like me when I started out, he wants to
Ducati 749S – First Commuter Ride
I certainly did not plan on making my work commute to be my first ride on my Ducati 749s, but it was a Monday following the day I took it home so I figured what the heck. I was curious anyway what it would be like to be riding one of these through day-to-day traffic.
Thunderhill Raceway June 13-14 2015: Baptism by Fire
I picked a hell of a time to finally return to some track action this season. They actually wrote “sizzling”. Uh-oh. SATURDAY This really was my first ride on a track in 2015. Nevertheless, it wasn’t going to be my first trackday to ride or work in triple-digit heat. I’ve had at least a handful
2002 Yamaha R1 – Break-In Done
Well, the bad news is that was the longest 500 miles of my life I’ve ridden. The good news is that it’s over! I can’t emphasize enough just how painful of a ride it made to baby my R1 the way I had to, in order to bed in the new piston rings in the
Motorcycles of the Philippines
This year I embarked on a personal journey back home that has been twenty years in the making. Though a long-time US citizen, I wasn’t actually born in the US, having spent the first thirteen years of my life in the Philippines. I always wanted to return to my birth country since I left, but
2002 Yamaha R1 – Break-In (Up) is So Hard to Do
“You know you’re going to have to break it in, right?” My friend/mechanic Rob asked me. I actually gave him a perplexed look for a bit – break it in? What does that mean? Then I realized he was talking about the R1 after the latest engine refresh. I haven’t had to break-in a bike
1988 Honda NT650 – Staying Power
Earlier this April Facebook reminded me that it had been one year to date since I posted the following photo: Man. Has it really been a year? It totally escaped me! It crept up on me that I’ve owned this for a year now, much like it’s crept up on me how many thousands of
60k mile R1 engine rebuild complete
“It will all be worth it.” Rob’s words to me about a couple of weeks ago. I was getting frustrated at the progress on my R1 engine rebuild. It didn’t take long for Rob and his crew to refresh the transmission and other items in my engine after I had removed the engine off the
2002 Yamaha R1 – 60,000 mile engine rebuild
With me only just recently getting the engine out of my R1 not too long ago, this winter engine rebuild project is actually taking longer than I initially anticipated, simply due to circumstances. But I’m not crestfallen. As far as I’m concerned, my R1’s getting a second lease on life and much needed and deserved
2002 Yamaha R1 – Finishing Up, So We Can Get Started
Found another Saturday to head over to Rob’s shop, in hopes of getting the R1’s engine out and off of the frame, ready to get it cracked open and sort out its transmission. Since I got to the point of getting the throttle bodies off of the engine the last time out, I was about
2014: A Riding Year in Review
Pivotal was what I pegged 2013 when I reviewed that year rolling into 2014. 2013 was a year racked with accidents involving myself and others that I either personally knew, or simply have come to respect and follow, all of which I simply pegged as necessary lessons I needed to further learn. But I think
1966 Suzuki Trail 80 (Model K15)
Jacob calls it "aging tastes", which just sounds so ominous, so I'm going to stick with "I'm going backwards" with my interest in motorcycles as of late. And you simply cannot go any backwards than with a truly vintage specimen. A 48-year old specimen, to be precise. I didn't know about this bike before two
Thunderhill West, November 2014: Back, and in Black!
It’s been just over two months since I last had any kind of track action. In anticipation of the birth of my second child with my wife, I had taken a sort of paternity leave from trackdays as my wife headed into the final leg of her pregnancy. I knew that my return to the
Trackside Tips: Visual Aids
I’m in the midst of a two-week paternity leave from work since my wife gave birth to our second child on October 7th, but I’ve been on leave from sport riding far longer than that, having last been at Thunderhill in late August. And even though I’m due to return to work before October’s over,
AFM Racing Super Di… NOOO!
I previously wrote about the AFM Racing’s Super Dino class of racing, wherein only motorcycles of a particular age are eligible to compete in, but otherwise the regulations for the types of bikes and modifications are pretty open. It’s my favorite class of racing in the AFM partly because of my historical love for older