Sep' 2003 |
Spokane
Eight Hour - 2003... It was
a long season's quest - get two new racers trained, and enter the
Spokane Eight Hour Endurance race. Click here to
see how we did, and get the flavor that only a full day of racing
can provide... |
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Sep' 2003 |
Rice
Day - 2003... Flush with
the success of the 2002 Rice Day, and the impending end of the
summer of 2003, I present Rice Day - 2003 Edition. There are
five entries in this year's extravaganza, and some very close
competition. Click here to
see these newest developments in rice mania... |
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May 2003 |
Spokane
Raceway Park... I've been
riding with this group for a couple years now. Everyone is
good, but it's time to stretch their legs a bit. Most have
come out and helped me during endurance races, and have been a part
of the racing scene. I invite them out for a weekend overdose
of fast riding in Spokane, Washington. Click here to
see the birth of Some Clowns Racing... |
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June 2002 |
Rice
Day - 2002... Fed up with
the all the imitation Civics (and other rice boy cars) in the area,
we felt these rice boys needed some competition. So here it
is, Rice Day - 2002. John and Nate deck their rigs up with the
de rigor accessories, and go strut their stuff. Click here to
see the latest developments in rice mania... |
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May 2002 |
NorthWest
Endurance Cup - Portland...
Alan took this shot late in the day at the May endurance race at
Portland International Raceway. Here, I had just passed
another rider at turn 4, a very flat right hander. Alan was
our media guru for this race, capturing numerous stills and short
videos. Click here to get a taste of what endurance racing is about! |
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July 2000 |
World
Superbike at Laguna Seca... I
took this shot while attending the WSB event at Laguna Seca in July,
2000. While there was some close racing behind the leaders, the
front of each heat was a run away. Haga in the first, Ben Bostrum in
the second... |
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May 2000 |
My
Best Real Superbike... After test
riding a Y2k 'R1, I had to have it. I picked this one up in
May... Difference between it and my 1 liter Fizzer are night and
day. This one actually handles, is 75 pounds lighter, and has a great
powerband... |
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May 1997 |
Seattle Int'l Raceway - Turn 9...
This was the last year I actively raced sprints... Here the Fizzer has some
stripes, and a fully sucked in crank cover for better ground clearance. |
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June 1996 |
Seattle Int'l Raceway - Turn 9...
Phil also took this shot of me at turn 9 at Seattle. Slightly
banked, and pretty coarse, most new racers have no idea how good and
predictable the traction is here. Look closely, yes, both wheels are
in a drift! |
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April 1996 |
Seattle Int'l Raceway - Turn 4...
Crain took this shot of me entering turn 4 at Seattle. Turn 4
is a 180 degree left hand switchback that has slight camber on the
entrance and apex, but flattens on the exit to the back
straight. Abrasive, but patched, it's bumpy, had variable
grip, so be smooth and save the real speed for the back straight... This was the first race after I put the RS250 bodywork
on... |
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Sep' 1995 |
Pushing
the Front End At SIR... Phil took
this shot at the last race at SIR entering turn 9. 1995 was a very
disappointing year as engine mods we made at the beginning of the season
complicated my jetting, which we never did get right. Then a crank
failure mid-season forced me to sit out 6 weeks! By this time
though, the bike is back together, and everything is perfect! I was
catching Jason Frasier in this race, doing 1:36s in the process - another
lap and I would have had him! |
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April 1995 |
Portland Int'l Raceway - Turn
3... Phil Tanner took this great
shot of me entering turn 3 at Portland. Note the added clearance on
the header and muffler. Portland is so smooth and has decent enough
traction that some insane lean angles can be achieved. But you've got to
watch the throttle on the exits though, high sides can happen pretty
quickly - yes that's experience talking. |
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June 1995 |
Seattle Int'l Raceway - Bailey's Bus Stop
I'm not known for lofting the front wheel, so anytime it's caught on film,
I've got to show it. This was taken at the exit of the Bus Stop at
SIR, a 2nd gear chicane that was created in 1992 following the death of
James Bailey. The purpose of the turn was to reduce entrance speeds
on to the front straight, to enhance safety, the effect was to turn a riders track into more
of a horsepower track. There weren't too many FZR 400s that could do
this (second gear wheelie with no clutch...). |
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Sep' 1994 |
The
Competition... The guy to beat in
the 450 class in '93 and '94 was Damon Mon Wai. I swiped this
picture from his web
site as he leads me through turn 3 at SIR. Damon's bikes were
always fast, and Damon was always smooth, and rarely made mistakes. |
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May 1994 |
Turning
Right at Portland... Racing at
Seattle and Portland was great as the two tracks are organized to turn in
opposite directions. Portland is clockwise, with predominantly right
hand turns, with Seattle counter-clockwise and to the left. This was
great for evening out tire wear! This is Portland Turn 2, a third
gear right hander... |
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April 1994 |
Birth
of a Superbike... In '94, I
wanted to go faster, and get off DOT tires... So I bought some
wheels, ran slicks, and started upgrading the motor. By mid-summer,
I was at 70 hp at the rear wheel... The bikes around me were getting
faster also, I only finished 4th in the Seattle 450 Superbike
championship... This was shot after the first race in Portland. |
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1993 |
A
Very Fun Year... Having pretty
much dialed the Fizzer in the previous year, I had a lot of success on the
track in '93. I finished 3rd and 5th in the Seattle championships
(450 Production/450 Superbike), and 3rd and 4th in the Portland
championships. I'd run the bike a tad rich in the production
classes, and put on a header for the Superbike classes (and run it a tad
lean)! Here I'm entering turn 9 at SIR... |
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1992 |
Portland
Int'l Raceway - Turn 1B While I
was eventually able to go fast on the F2 in 1991, I wanted to step down a
bit in intensity. So in mid-season of '92, I got this '90 FZR 400
for the 450 classes. I was instantly at home on it with my knee on
the ground after the third lap of my first practice. After sorting
out some jetting, I was placing with the top three finishers... |
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1991 |
Revolutions
Happen Every Three Years Or So...
In the 600 class... 1984 500 Interceptor, 1987 Hurricane, 1991 CBR
600 F2, 1996 GSXR 600 and ZX-6R, 1999 Yamaha R6 and so on... Anyway,
I picked up this sponsored ride ('91 F2) from Brothers Honda in Bremerton,
Washington. This shot was taken in turn 9 of Portland. It
spanked me early (in the spring time wet), and it took half the year to
get set up, and my confidence rebuilt. By the end of the year, I was
running consistent top 5 finishes, but too late to make a dent in any of
the club championships... |
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1990 |
My
First Real Superbike... Although
I had been riding bikes fast for almost 15 years (including several years
of racing), I hadn't really owned a bona fide big bore. So in 1990, I
test rode and fell in love with this Fizzer. It took a while to sort
out though as it came with out of round tires (Pirelli), and a slightly
warped rotor. Eventually these were fixed, and the bike rocked! |
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1986 |
Road
Trip In Wyoming... I took picture
as I was making my way back from South Dakota somewhere in
Wyoming... I still have this K75, which runs like a clock. |
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1985 |
International
Racing... With my success during
my rookie year, I jumped on a 500 Interceptor for '85. While I
became pretty fast on it, it required immense attention to detail on the
brakes, as the 16 inch front would tuck or lock up when least provoked! Denise took
this picture of me entering the Clubhouse Corner at the now defunct
Westwood track in British Columbia... The track is now the site of
condominiums and other housing. |
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1984 |
Racing
Mark Haskins... This was
taken during my 4th race day in my rookie year. While I'm leading
Mark at this point, he went on to take the win. Mark and I
had a friendly rivalry going that year - he won the class championships
(450 Production and Superbike, I finished second in both),
but I did manage to beat him a few times. I won four races that
year! This picture was taken at the exit of turn 8 at SIR... |
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1984 |
Rookie
Year Road Racing... Denise took
this during my second weekend racing, coming out of turn 9 at SIR.
Not a bad day as I collected two 2nds after two very crapping starts... |
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1983 |
Superbike
Goes 750cc... I took this shot of
Mike Baldwin at SIR as he heads out of turn 9 toward the front straight. The Honda
contingent was huge that year as the Superbike class went to 750cc, down
from 1025cc. An upstart named Wayne Rainey on a Kawasaki won this
race though. Baldwin's rookie teammate, Fred Merkel ended up sending his bike
through a tree
at the entrance of the turn 3 hairpin!
But the star of the day was Wayne
Rainey - an upstart with the weak Kawasaki GPz
750. He handily won each of the heats he was entered...
|

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1983 |
R65
in Canada... In 1983, I
took a three week, 5,000 mile trip that started near Seattle, took
in Banff in Alberta, to the eastern region of South Dakota, then
back west performing a wide Z through Colorado, down to Phoenix,
back up through Las Vegas, through Death Valley and then north on
the eastern slopes of the Sierras and back to Seattle.
The R65 ran like a top the whole time... Here I stopped in
eastern British Columbia before heading into the Kootenays to Banff. |
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1981 |
My
First Superbike Race... The first
superbike race I ever attended was one of the best. I took
this shot of Eddie Lawson as he clinched his first Superbike championship
with this win over Freddie Spencer. Wes Cooley was a distant
third... Eddie passed Freddie coming on to the front straight on the
last lap by going wide and flat tracking out of the grass! |
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1980 |
Fond
Memories... I have fond memories
of this 1976 Yamaha XS500 - it was the first street bike I really made
modifications to. I had owned one of these a few years earlier, but
it was stolen. I wanted something to squirt around in the twisties,
so I bought this one, and put on some Michelin PZs, S&W shocks and a
Russ Collins pipe, along with some orange paint! For the time, it
handled great. |
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