Getting some education on the right way to slide fast and take chances!

Welcome back fans. This past week my oldest kid's school took it upon themselves to give my daughter the whole week off for the President's Day holiday. Since they also get a week off next month for Spring Break I decided to take the week off to help around the house. During the week we did a bunch of family things including a trip to the zoo. Despite my urges, I didn't leave my children at the zoo to be taken care of by the Baboon troop as was my original plan. Part of that was due to the high that I was riding by getting out to the Motocross park to ride some Flat Track and emulate one of my favorite riders on the AMA and AFT circuits, one Hayden Gillim. Read on to see what had me feeling so good.

Here is one of the great bikes that greeted me when I arrived at the track. It was another perfect weather Wednesday for getting out and turning some laps. This is mid-70's Triumph 750 twin outfitted for riding Flat Track. It belongs to a guy named Mark Walters, another one of the great people I've met thanks to deciding to give Flat Track a go. Mark waved me down once to give me some pointers as it was obvious that I was a new at this go fast, turn left thing. Small changes lead to be differences in feel and Mark's pointers helped me to get in a good set of laps. Laps were on the menu for the day. I must have done 110-120 laps on that track in the quest to get as much seat time as I can.

Mark took this pic of me so that I could get a look at my form in the corners. The bike in the background is an older Yamaha SR500 from the seventies piloted by a quick female rider that went around me with the ease of someone used to going fast. She was half of the duo that were the other track rats getting their Flat Track fix on that day. With Mark in their combined pit area was Go and Masumi Takamine of Brat Style Custom Bikes. Go is a custom bike builder from Tokyo, Japan. I am familiar with Go's bikes from the Japanese custom bike magazines and have known about his work for the last few years. His style of bike has become its own genre of custom. It is defined by a simple, functional style with an emphasis on removing parts and making the bike lower, lighter and more purposeful. He works on all kinds of bikes and has worked magic on some very oddball JDM models that we can't get here in the states.

Go and Masumi brought three bikes out to the track. The one in the pics above is the one that Masumi rode most of the day and is a good example of the bikes at Go's Brat Style shop. This one is stripped down for racing at the local Flat Track events. Masumi raced the other week with this bike in a couple of classes at Perris Raceway. She looked very comfortable out at Milestone and at Perris. I tried to keep up with her and get some tips by watching her maneuver her bike around the slick track, at least for the half of a lap I could stay on her tail. I love the way this bike looks. Full of 1970's patina with a dash of old school Flat Track style. It is an Yamaha SR500. Yamaha has been making them in great numbers in a couple of displacements for the last 30 years at least. You can get its little brother, the SR400 in dealerships right now. The only updates they made to bring it to the states is add a front disc brake and fuel injection, I think. It doesn't even have an electric start. If I could find a cheap, clean example to make into a Flat Track bike, I just might.

To show you how hard core Go is, here is his ride for the day. It is also one he rode at the races in Perris. I don't know the exact year, but I believe it is a mid-40's Indian Scout, HAND SHIFTER, bike! Let that sink in. Foot clutch, hand shift, no rear suspension or front brake with a drum brake rear end. I am not familiar with older American bikes to know much about the specifics of the various models years and specifications. I do know that this baby sounded pretty damn cool out on the track. I imagine getting a good start is tricky with a foot clutch bike. Shifting would be difficult as well with the clutch pedal on the left side, especially with a hot shoe on. He did it though and from what I gather, he does it quite regularly.

I took this shot just to put the bad assed-ness of this bike and its rider into perspective. That sticker is a tech inspection sticker from last years Bonneville Speed week out at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Reminiscent of the master of the salt, Burt Monroe, and his world's fastest Indian. Like I mentioned, part of Go's style is performance with subtle looks. He likes to go fast. I was not surprised at all that he would take a bike like this out to the Salt Flats. The bikes he had with him all had a sense of quiet dignity and purpose to them that was unmistakable underneath the patina of a proven machine. They had their issues as any vintage machine that is being pushed to the limits would have, but they all did perform. At the end of the day I was missing my old TX750 a bit and had me thinking that I was a bit premature in selling here off. Oh well, that was the right choice at the time and maybe one day she or one like her will come back into my life when I'm ready to try out vintage again.

I was chatting with Go and Masumi throughout the day. It was pretty easy to get to know them since I have family in Japan on my wife's side and can converse a little in Japanese. Go took it upon himself to act as a coach for me a couple of times. He gave me some good tips on corner entry that will take me some time to work into. Basically he said to hold it open until you tip into the corner. Then roll off and slide through the turn until mid-corner before picking your foot up and easing back on the gas. Much easier to type than to do as those corners get scary fast when the surface is loose and traction is on the edge. I gave it a try and felt better about the idea when I didn't immediately hit the wall on my first attempt. As I get more used to the feel of the bike slipping and sliding under me and my speed starts to come up, I'm sure I'll get better at being comfortable doing this.

Go spun a bunch of laps on the Indian and on Masumi's SR. Here is a shot of him on the Indian later on in the day. For my last session I took the time to slow down and work on some of the pointers Go gave me about throttle work and body position. Afterwards he came over with a concerned look on his face. I had used first gear to practice most of the 20+ laps I did that session after starting out in my usual second gear. Go noticed the change in engine sound and thought I had hurt the bike or was riding the bike in a bad way. After explaining what I did and seeing the relief in his face he asked to take my bike out to see how the gearing on the bike felt. We had a bit of a conversation on sprocket tooth count and which transmission gear is best for the type of track conditions we were experiencing that day. A famous custom bike builder asking to take my bike out on the track?! Hell yeah! Go got out and gave my bike the beans. I could hear him testing the rev limiter and gear ratios of the first couple of gears. He broke that thing sideways powering out on the straights. At turns one and two he gave it a bit of extra throttle and slewed sideways like he was on ice. Just when I thought he was going to save it, he washed out the front and went down. Masumi was worried about my bike while I was glad to see that Go got right back up. I assured her that it was fine while Go went around a few more times. His analysis was that I need to play with my gearing a bit as the bike, as it is set up right now, is between a high rpm first gear and a low rpm second. He also commented that the bike was very light and had lots of power. 

After a great day of meeting new track friends and getting a good education on the fine art of Flat Track, it was time to pack it in and head home. I could feel my hip flexors starting to stiffen up especially on my left leg thanks to the weight of my borrowed steel shoe. I had only eaten some fruit and trail mix at the track and needed something more substantial. Following in the footsteps of the great riders of today I went to a local eatery that made magic with their menu. Kimchichanga Asian Mexican Fusion cuisine was just the thing I needed to cap off the superb day. I had their signature dish which is a chimichanga style, Korean beef and rice meal fit for a king. They blended the sweet beef of Korean BBQ perfectly with a fine Mexican Chimichanga. While I knew I shouldn't have, I finished the whole thing. I felt guilty that I didn't save any for my lovely bride so I bought her one too! She enjoyed it as much as I did.

That day was just another example of why I am so Obsessed with motorbikes and motorbike culture. At every turn you can have the kind of fun and adventures that others only get to read about. If you are reading this, I encourage you to get out to the local dirt track, kart track, race or bike show. You may be surprised at how easily accessible this type of fun can be found. As always friends, ride safe!

Blue