The Day After...

👀 It's official! The canvas on which all future work will be performed has arrived. Can't thank my friend Rob enough in brokering this deal; he worked some magic and completely blind-sided me. Bike was bought unseen and was a bit serendipitous on how everything played out. We were on our way up to North Hollywood to check out (and most likely buy) a bike I'd found on Craigslist. We were driving through La Jolla when I realized the seller had no idea of our departure. Checked the phone only to realize he had just texted letting me know he took an offer from a local buyer for full asking. Completely understandable. It's not to say I wasn't torn between sadness of losing what I thought was a decent deal and happiness that we didn't have to sit through 3,5+ hours of traffic. But we did what any reasonable adult would do on a Monday night at 5pm; happy hour at Draft Republic. I mean we were only down the street. Drinks and food came and went, and came again, and again...when Rob suggested he circled back around to his good friend regarding this R3 he had on his hands and managed to use my sob story as leverage to come to an agreed upon price. I was very excited at the prospect of receiving an even better deal but couldn't help but be a bit cautious in managing expectations in the wake of the deal that just fell apart in the matter of a single text. Rob assured me that it was a done deal and we left it at that. Well. Rob was right. Last night he handed over the keys to a 31 mile-old R3 in what I'd consider the best livery. Finally, all the planning, the searching, the daydreaming, the dreaming of racing was starting to come together. It's only been step one and I already feel loads of gratitude for the people that have supported and advised me this far. It won't all be dandy, but talk about an auspicious start. 

So what's to come? Rich and I have a track day (his first!!!!) in a couple weeks on Sept 3rd at Chuckwalla, the location where race league will take place and it will be my first time out with the Yamaha. I'd just like to pay homage to my first bike at this junction; the bike that I thought I would eventually track at Chuckwalla but is now in the hands of a new rider who came all the way down from Merced to purchase. You can never truly appreciate where you are now without remembering where you came from before and while I always knew motorcycling would continue to play a role in my life from the day I brought it home, I never knew to what extent. If it wasn't for the FZ-07, (literally, had to sell it to free up money to roll-over) this would never come to fruition in such a quick way. So. Hear-hear! Salut! 

FIRST PICTURE EVER - DECEMBER 3, 2014

WITH SOME FRIENDS...

...AND BACK TO [MOSTLY] STOCK. POSTED AD JULY 10, 2017.

LAST GOODBYE. AUGUST 5, 2017.

Yesterday, feeling both the hype and the rush to get the bike as bare-minimum track ready, I worked through a short list of mods with the great Paul at Bellissimoto. First round of mods include:  

• EBC EPFA Front/HH Rear pads
• Spiegler SS Brake Lines F&R
• Spears Titanium Brake Caliper Bolts
• Spears Oil Drain Plug
• Zero Gravity Corsa Windscreen
• GB Case Savers

We couldn't exactly iron out suspension the way I hoped so I opted out of rushing in an order I may (or may not) regret in the future. For now, this will do. And if you're wondering, no, I didn't forget tires but the Pirelli SC1s (F&R) will be purchased and installed at the track. First time around, I'm sticking with stock width rears 140/70/17 and was convinced by Jesse after sharing my background, experience and trepidation of this transition from the S1000rr to go with a slightly wider front (120/70/17) to add a little more stability on turn-ins and hopefully more confidence in the bike itself. 

Can't wait for what has yet to come, everything up to this point in my motorcycling career has been amazing--run-offs, tank slappers, accidental wheelies, close calls, speeding tickets, day-long rides, camping, lowsiding--I'll take it all in the name of experience and growth. I have an inkling that in this journey of becoming an amateur club racer much more knowledge is coming my way in a faster way, well, as quickly as a 300cc can get anyway. For now, it's time to visit Portland to see some friends and see/not see the sun. Total Eclipse baby! Also quick shout-out to Pickle Rick & Game of Thrones. 

--If you're more into picture books than a book with pictures, follow me on Instagram where I'll be doing similar, less involved updates @itsmeber--