Sunday, April 7, 2013
A Users Guide to Parking Lot Racing
Rules suck. Let's be honest.
You can never be too careful when it comes to covering your ass or being liable for someone else's mistakes/stupidity. Which brings us to what many riders dream of:
Long curvy cambered roads, no cyclists, and most importantly, no enforced speed limits!
Unless you live on the Isle of Mann, we can only dream of unlimited riding aggression and bashing bars with friends in a safe and controlled environment. That is, until you discover the easily overlooked real estate known as the american parking lot.
As you drive through new environments, take on the role of surveyor of the untamed. Stake your claim of the asphalt no mans land.
Step one: The drive by.
Make it quick, and observe as much as you can. Take mental notes on track conditions, natural surroundings, and proximity of residential areas. Don't stay long!
Step two: The warm up.
For your next visit, be creative and lay out a track that challenges your skills. Keep it tight!
Step three: bring friends and race.
The more the merrier. Make sure your friends are safe riders. You're not racing for points here.
Step four: take pics before Johnny Law comes!
The most important thing about parking lot racing is to remember that it is good cheap fun!
No getting up early to make tech inspection,no driving hours and hours away, and most importantly you don't have to break the bank to do it. Case in point: A beat up Honda XR100. after spending less than $200 for tires and smaller front rim Im ready to roll!
Now for the pics provided by Kristin Voisine:
Friday, March 29, 2013
Roads and a GoPro
This Blog has been dead for far too long.
Now equipped with a GoPro and a limited amount of editing knowledge, let us see if we can revive this blog and get the creative fluids flowing just like the cobweb covered machine that waits patiently for you to realize that winter is over! Let it known that I will spend more time riding than wrenching this season!
LETS GO!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The Golden Ratio of Value
Like all great thinkers through all ages, I was struck with a vast lightning bolt of genius in the shower whilst trying to escape the stresses gained during the day. It might be TMI but thoughts of Yours Truly in the shower will long be forgiven or forgotten at the conclusion of this short but dense (hopefully) passage. I ventured out into the Blogging World to spread the word to question everything we do as motorcycle enthusiasts, and why we have taken it upon ourselves to even venture this far into thought about what others may simply see as a two-wheeled mode of transportation at a simple glance.
Lets go straight to the jugular of this subject: Value.
Many (if not all) enthusiasts that enjoy internal combustion engines and whatever they are connected to add a personal value to whichever variant they own. It doesn't have to be only a monetary value, but try to add a dimension of an experience value.
What car, bike, engine, toy have you ever owned that gave you the Golden Ratio of Value? For me, I can't think of a single one.
Let me explain: The Golden Ratio, a comparison of the added value from the owner to the owned experience that the device provided. In simple terms: Smiles per Miles.
How many times have you seen on CL, an ad for a well sorted machine going for cheap because the owner now renounces complete ownership of the experience provided and now regrets investing time and money into said machine.
HAS THIS BEEN YOU? Buying a cheap bike only to have day dreams about building it? These added values can be imaginary! Wake up! Is this two-wheeled Device paying you back for the time you invest staring at it by giving you the experience value of starting up and allowing you to pass through time and space at an alarming (and dangerous!) rate of speed. If not, then find something that does. Period. Beware the traps of false values.
As your author I can fully preach of these experiences because I have been there. Now I can safely say I have been cleansed through by releasing those bikes that do NOT deliver the Golden Ratio.
Spending more time wrenching than riding? Does this mean you have an improper ratio, or does it only add to the value once that kicker is kicked for the first time. This deserves more thought and more explanation.
Lets go straight to the jugular of this subject: Value.
Many (if not all) enthusiasts that enjoy internal combustion engines and whatever they are connected to add a personal value to whichever variant they own. It doesn't have to be only a monetary value, but try to add a dimension of an experience value.
What car, bike, engine, toy have you ever owned that gave you the Golden Ratio of Value? For me, I can't think of a single one.
Let me explain: The Golden Ratio, a comparison of the added value from the owner to the owned experience that the device provided. In simple terms: Smiles per Miles.
How many times have you seen on CL, an ad for a well sorted machine going for cheap because the owner now renounces complete ownership of the experience provided and now regrets investing time and money into said machine.
HAS THIS BEEN YOU? Buying a cheap bike only to have day dreams about building it? These added values can be imaginary! Wake up! Is this two-wheeled Device paying you back for the time you invest staring at it by giving you the experience value of starting up and allowing you to pass through time and space at an alarming (and dangerous!) rate of speed. If not, then find something that does. Period. Beware the traps of false values.
As your author I can fully preach of these experiences because I have been there. Now I can safely say I have been cleansed through by releasing those bikes that do NOT deliver the Golden Ratio.
Spending more time wrenching than riding? Does this mean you have an improper ratio, or does it only add to the value once that kicker is kicked for the first time. This deserves more thought and more explanation.
Friday, December 9, 2011
What is Torque?
This past week Yours Truly was stuck at an airport for 7 hours. That’s a long time, so long that in fact I broke down and paid way too much for food, water, and magazines. One mag caught my eye, the January 2012 issue of American Iron Magazine. A lowered Fat Bob, clean and cool lured me over from the candy bars, giving me bad ideas about one day building a bad ass air cooled twin.
Not long after scanning the periodical for cool builds and babes, I stumbled upon an article asking the identified tech writer about what BHP means and how dyno readings work.
Call me crazy but I enjoy it when riders want to understand what’s going on underneath them and what exactly to call that instant snap of GO when you grab a handful of throttle. Let’s find out how “Tom” of American Iron Magazine chose to answer the question:
“…Serious types use words like twist and torsion to define torque, but I think of it as the force that gets my motorcycle moving when I grab a handful of throttle, with horsepower the force that makes it move faster and faster if I don’t back off...” –American Iron Magazine, Jan 2012 pg.87
I read this a few times and felt let down. So much so that I decided to pull out the dusty College Physics book and dig in to help the readers have a deeper understanding.
Let’s start with an illustration: A door. Where is the force that you apply to that door the most effective? Close to the hinges? The middle? The very opposite edge of the hinges?
This may seem to be an elementary image but this was just to get your gears turning. The force (F) that you apply (in a perpendicular direction to the outward direction of the door) x the actual distance from your applied force to the hinge of the door yields torque. Eureka!
Unlike the definition of Power, knowing a torque is useless unless the distance from the pivot point is noted. Power on the other hand is in simple terms: energy given in a defined time interval. In physics classes, we used the classic SI unit of Newton-meters. Here in the Good ‘ol USA we use ft/lbs. Meters and feet being the constant measurement of distance from the pivot point.
These forces as “Tom” mentioned are what deliver those (hopefully) instant changes in acceleration. Think of torque as the leverage that wants you lift you off the ground as you let out the clutch or when you need that extra grunt to pass grandma on the outside corner on your favorite back road! I decided to keep this entry short and sweet, aiming only to get the concept of torque in your heads without doing any numbers crunching. If there is anything to take away from this it would be: torque = leverage; HP = force. Think about that next time you go canyon carving.
P.S. If you ever read this Tom, please take note I didn’t use the words “Twist” or “torsion.”
Not long after scanning the periodical for cool builds and babes, I stumbled upon an article asking the identified tech writer about what BHP means and how dyno readings work.
Call me crazy but I enjoy it when riders want to understand what’s going on underneath them and what exactly to call that instant snap of GO when you grab a handful of throttle. Let’s find out how “Tom” of American Iron Magazine chose to answer the question:
“…Serious types use words like twist and torsion to define torque, but I think of it as the force that gets my motorcycle moving when I grab a handful of throttle, with horsepower the force that makes it move faster and faster if I don’t back off...” –American Iron Magazine, Jan 2012 pg.87
I read this a few times and felt let down. So much so that I decided to pull out the dusty College Physics book and dig in to help the readers have a deeper understanding.
Let’s start with an illustration: A door. Where is the force that you apply to that door the most effective? Close to the hinges? The middle? The very opposite edge of the hinges?
This may seem to be an elementary image but this was just to get your gears turning. The force (F) that you apply (in a perpendicular direction to the outward direction of the door) x the actual distance from your applied force to the hinge of the door yields torque. Eureka!
Unlike the definition of Power, knowing a torque is useless unless the distance from the pivot point is noted. Power on the other hand is in simple terms: energy given in a defined time interval. In physics classes, we used the classic SI unit of Newton-meters. Here in the Good ‘ol USA we use ft/lbs. Meters and feet being the constant measurement of distance from the pivot point.
These forces as “Tom” mentioned are what deliver those (hopefully) instant changes in acceleration. Think of torque as the leverage that wants you lift you off the ground as you let out the clutch or when you need that extra grunt to pass grandma on the outside corner on your favorite back road! I decided to keep this entry short and sweet, aiming only to get the concept of torque in your heads without doing any numbers crunching. If there is anything to take away from this it would be: torque = leverage; HP = force. Think about that next time you go canyon carving.
P.S. If you ever read this Tom, please take note I didn’t use the words “Twist” or “torsion.”
Monday, November 21, 2011
superwhat?!
In between readings that question why we motorheads do what we do, I think it would be fun to have a little bit of a show and tell of my toys, tools, builds, and anything else related to two wheeled forms of transport.
We all have different tastes. Thankgod! Ever complain about someone/something you don't agree with? Think about this, how boring would the world be if everyone thought and did just like you? not much variety huh?
Okay, enough of that. Speaking of being different, you may have noticed the little supermoto in my first post. After getting out of a car project, and a fat tax return I started researching why anyone would put slicks on a dirtbike.
It's simple math really:
Add some 17" by(3.5 f, 4.25 r) wheels with slicks
stir in a massive 320mm front rotor and other goodies
and you have a sweet light weight ripper that makes you do bad things:
Long live two strokes
We all have different tastes. Thankgod! Ever complain about someone/something you don't agree with? Think about this, how boring would the world be if everyone thought and did just like you? not much variety huh?
Okay, enough of that. Speaking of being different, you may have noticed the little supermoto in my first post. After getting out of a car project, and a fat tax return I started researching why anyone would put slicks on a dirtbike.
It's simple math really:
Add some 17" by(3.5 f, 4.25 r) wheels with slicks
stir in a massive 320mm front rotor and other goodies
and you have a sweet light weight ripper that makes you do bad things:
Long live two strokes
Thursday, November 17, 2011
First Blog Ever: An introduction
Good Evening Readers,
Let me introduce myself; Evan in Massachusetts. EvinMA for short.
It's only been 10 years since I have started my motorcycle journey. It started on a 1983 Honda XR100 I found on the way to church one morning. It was BEAT! I've been hopeless ever since, doing everything in my power to satisfy my appetite.
Saving up whatever extra cash I could for those "GO FAST" parts, annoying the neighbors with some early morning warm ups, hoping to goodness that people don't notice that dirtbikes have no plates or lights. The list goes on. I should stop now before I get myself in trouble.
Here in New England, it can be tough to keep the faith during those long cold months. Some can't stand it and release their two wheeled summer companion, others pretend they don't have a bike at all until they find it once again waiting for them in the spring, others don't give a damn and ride whenever the hell they want, and lastly if you're like me, you build.
But why?
I think this will take some time for us to discover.
Another big topic I'll be covering is The Workshop. The area in which you create. It may be a dark, damp garage or shed to some but to you it is a Sanctuary. A safe place. I'll talk more about the idea of The WorkShop later on.
Thats enough for today, racing STI's is always fun right?!
Let me introduce myself; Evan in Massachusetts. EvinMA for short.
It's only been 10 years since I have started my motorcycle journey. It started on a 1983 Honda XR100 I found on the way to church one morning. It was BEAT! I've been hopeless ever since, doing everything in my power to satisfy my appetite.
Saving up whatever extra cash I could for those "GO FAST" parts, annoying the neighbors with some early morning warm ups, hoping to goodness that people don't notice that dirtbikes have no plates or lights. The list goes on. I should stop now before I get myself in trouble.
Here in New England, it can be tough to keep the faith during those long cold months. Some can't stand it and release their two wheeled summer companion, others pretend they don't have a bike at all until they find it once again waiting for them in the spring, others don't give a damn and ride whenever the hell they want, and lastly if you're like me, you build.
But why?
I think this will take some time for us to discover.
Another big topic I'll be covering is The Workshop. The area in which you create. It may be a dark, damp garage or shed to some but to you it is a Sanctuary. A safe place. I'll talk more about the idea of The WorkShop later on.
Thats enough for today, racing STI's is always fun right?!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Masshole Moto goes to the
88th annual Laconia Bike Weak 2011
And does the the Lobster Pound-Bike Build Off...
-What can I say, that
was on HELL of a week! Rain every day,heat,cold,the Weirs
traffic,cops,mosquitoes,Drunks,skunks,and more BS than a farmer can
sling,or so you think.
Day one started out with a bang,well not really more like a slow,half a sleep crawl.See I was supposed to leave Thursday afternoon about 4 so I could get there in time to set up camp before dark,
Well that didn't happen.Long story short I got stuck
loading another truck till about 9:30 that night,no big deal
considering a near hurricane of a storm rolled in that lasted till 11pm
here and in N.H..So anyway I was on the road at 3:30 am Friday morning
because I was told we needed to be there early that morning.After a
little over 2 hours I got to the campground,Rocky Road Campground.By
about 6:30am I was set up and sitting in a lawn chair waiting for Rocky
to wake up so I could go check in.Thing is Rocko don't get up before
10,so I headed down to the Weirs to unload the tools at the Pound and
get it over with.
On Saturday we headed down to the tent for the first day of actual building.The rain started about noonish but we were building in a tent so it wasn't a big deal.The set up sucked balls since we only got 110v for juice to run a hole shop of tools.If you tried to grind when someone else was welding pop went the breaker.Then there was the wind,even with the screens closed the welding was a bit iffy with the storm gusts.As the week went on it was up and down,good day,bad day.Got some thing done then made no progress...
Paul had to split back to MA. on Sunday night so after he left I headed
back to camp alone,strapped an 18 rack on the back of the bike and
headed back to camp to huddled up under my canopy in the dark to stay
dry.
On
Monday Goma showed up but it was later on and I wanted to get to the
build tent to make friends with the crowd,and work some votes.He showed
up around 3:30 and we got ready for our 4 pm shift by havin a few beers.
This is how the week went on one guy show up another then leave by
Wednesday more and more got there and camp was filling up.By Friday we
had 12 or more at camp with 2 camper trailers and a shit load of
tents...Paul,John,Matt,Goma,Jenn,Josh,Crystal,Dirty,Barry,Cuz
Weed,Brother Gike and me.Sorry,no group shots.
So
I'll get skip ahead to the good stuff,the end.With 5 on deck on
Saturday we cranked out the last little bits of the bike,with me on the
bullhorn mostly working the crowd...Plus,I'm not one to fight over tools
or a place to use them.With 15 min to spare the bike was checked for
spark and everything looked good,.Shit,John had to build his own
Rectifier from radio shack parts last minute.We got some gas and one by
one the builders started them up.20 kicks in she wouldn't pop to
life.There was worry on all faces but I kicked her like a mule.About the
40th kick we realized that when the tank was leak checked water was
used and the petcock had been opened letting it run into the
carbs...UhOh!!
I kept kicking untill I was just about to drop and then,bbbrr.I kicked again ,bbbrrrrrrr.
Then one more kick and she popped.The crowd in front of us went nuts!!!!I revved that thing till nearly blowin the motor,till we couldn't here the screaming.
So she ran,that was step one.Step two was to get here down the dirt hill to the main tent and through the crowd with only a jockey rear brake.We rolled here out and a small crowd followed.
So we rolled into the big tent,the place goes
nuts.All the bikes line up in front and we all get up on stage.It's so
load I can barley hear the guy announcing. They call us out one by
one,say a little something about us and start the judgeing.Well,we
didn't get last place but we didn't come in first.4 out of 5 ain't bad
for a bunch of knuckleheads with a zero budget and 2 month notice!
-Congrats to Deadwood choppers for there win.
Here are some pics and vids from Sat.More pics to come day to day...
88th annual Laconia Bike Weak 2011
And does the the Lobster Pound-Bike Build Off...
Day one started out with a bang,well not really more like a slow,half a sleep crawl.See I was supposed to leave Thursday afternoon about 4 so I could get there in time to set up camp before dark,
 |
| Brother Gike helpin out with the packing when the storm rolled in. |
I
was waiting on Paul to bring the second load of tools so I went to the
L.B. restaurant to get some grub.He got there about 5pm and after I ate
we got it in fairly quickly.Headed back to camp and got prepared for the
week,or so I thought...
On Saturday we headed down to the tent for the first day of actual building.The rain started about noonish but we were building in a tent so it wasn't a big deal.The set up sucked balls since we only got 110v for juice to run a hole shop of tools.If you tried to grind when someone else was welding pop went the breaker.Then there was the wind,even with the screens closed the welding was a bit iffy with the storm gusts.As the week went on it was up and down,good day,bad day.Got some thing done then made no progress...
I kept kicking untill I was just about to drop and then,bbbrr.I kicked again ,bbbrrrrrrr.
Then one more kick and she popped.The crowd in front of us went nuts!!!!I revved that thing till nearly blowin the motor,till we couldn't here the screaming.
So she ran,that was step one.Step two was to get here down the dirt hill to the main tent and through the crowd with only a jockey rear brake.We rolled here out and a small crowd followed.
 |
| And this is my petcock... |
-Congrats to Deadwood choppers for there win.
Here are some pics and vids from Sat.More pics to come day to day...
 |
| Brother Mikey |
 |
| Matt,Soaking wet Barry and Paul |
 |
| Smitty and Big Red our friends from the camp at Rocky Road |
 |
Looks like Josh in the edge there,Paul,Can,Jenn and Matt   |
 |
| And here we go... |
 |
| She is the shit,thank you dear for everything. |
 |
| XO Sweetheart,thank you for helpin out. |
 |
| H-B Dirty |
 |
| John cast that tail light 2 days earlier... |
 |
| Paul's front end |
 |
| Jockey rear brake any one?!?!?! |
 |
| Perfect time for a monsoon!! |
 |
| Like I said,long week! |
 |
| Last night at camp |
 |
| No beer,drink shine. |
 |
| Unless your this guy! |
 | ||||
| Everyone shut down early,I went and did burn outs... |
 | |||
| What a crazy fuckin week! |
Thanks to everyone who helped,talked to us,made us a drink,got us some food or just plain ended up being good people!
You know who you are!
Thank you...
More to come...
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