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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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
By John Knowles The season finale for AMA Supermoto was set for October 7, 2017 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. I road tripped it out there with Toxic Moto Racing. Rain was on the forecast for the weekend but nobody thought much of it until it started getting closer to race day.
By John Knowles It was a cold day at Utah Motorsports Campus and the view of the mountains was beautiful in every direction. UMC has one of the best Supermoto tracks in the country and it’s home to Utah Supermoto. Utah Supermoto is a great club series with a great family atmosphere. This weekend
By John Knowles MA Supermoto round 4 is the legendary streets of Sturgis race. I got to the track early Thursday morning while they were still turning down town Sturgis into a track. I helped out a little bit with making the dirt sections. Clay was trucked in and dirt jumps were made in the parking
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
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.”
A lot of people questioned my decision to compete in the 390 cup. And why wouldn’t they? I only had one year of road racing under my belt from a background of jet ski freestyle and canyon riding and here I was planning on traveling with a national series. Other people saw me putting unfair
It’s funny how your perspective changes while you grow as a racer. I remember when I first started doing track days and I thought the A Group riders were so fast. I was really intimidated when I signed up for A Group the first time but I was already throwing around the idea of racing
At this point I can’t think of anything more meaningful than racing. I guess that would be great if everyone else felt the same way. It’s hard for me to grasp how road racing isn’t the most popular sport in the world. My opinion is biased but it actually brings on negative emotions when people