rentmyninja.com

6 trophies this weekend

2009-08-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here is my art shot from the Hallet round of the CMRA mini sprints and endurance weekend. The trip was uneventful though long (about 1500 miles with a side trip through Plano to pick up a rider and an unplanned side trip after following Google Map instead my instinct) and hot around 100 degrees. Oklahoma is a very spread out state with long areas between cities, they must be afraid of an attack from Texas. It has been over a decade since I went there and crashed a lot on the then recently installed sealer strips of gooey asphalt which ran in line with the track. They have since repaved the track leaving what looked like a pretty good time for a 250 rip. The races were good with Alan Philips winning the formula 4 race with a fastest lap of a 1:34 on the rentmyninja rented by Zeb Harris and his dad. Zeb was running the brake away pace with Jess Foltz (the eventual winner) until he fell moving JD Mosley up to second place giving him his first trophy of the day. His other trophy came from the third overall in the 3 hour mini endurance. His team mate and father Jimmy came from niceville Florida and ran a steady race to beat 14 of 16 formula 4 entries and 28 entries overall. Zebs earlier crash affected their endurance race with them ending up in 7th overall. Joey Howell got his second trophy in two outings with his 3rd place finish in E superstock. These trophies combined with the 2 that Charles J. won in clubman and E superstock at the WERA cycle jam in Virginia make a rentmyninja.com total of 6 trophies in one weekend, not too shabby!!

GMD Atlanta

2009-07-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here is Kent at his GMD workshop in Atlanta. I have known him around the track for the grater part of a decade and highly recommend their services. The reason for this visit was a customers 636 which he had crashed and pushed the headstock back to about 6 inches, the wheel was mashes into the radiator and the wheel had to be removed to get the rad. out. Kent and his crew were able to pull it out and saved the guy about $1000 over buying a new frame. The other reason was to discuss the 250 set ups. Ask me about it and I'll be happy to tell you about our conversation. We put the strings on the bikes and have fixed a few alignment issues and will probably add some fork mods in the future. This was the last stop on a long trip, I got a lot done, went far and had a few good rides, see you out there!

Road A. after turn 5

2009-07-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

I finally got there late after a number of obstacles prevented my normal early arrival. The changes that were made to the track are interesting and I think detract from the course. I used to ride here in the 90's when the gravity cavity was in place and the "improvements" had not happened. The area surrounding the track used to be forest and field now the developers have had there way stripping the area of much of its beauty. As I headed to my last stop on the trip I drove by a few signs on hwy 53 which expressed that they were not in favor of a new motorsports park near Dawsonville. Perhaps they are against the collateral damage to the view.

Road Atlanta

2009-07-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

So after the paint job in Austin was done (Friday afternoon) I headed down to MSR Houston to check out a Texas Trackday and the track. It seems like it will be a good one for the 250's and I look forward to working with them soon. I went home on Saturday afternoon for a quick visit which included a much needed lawn mow and a pick up of a smashed 636 for a drop off at GMD Computrack Atlanta. In the interim I had a trackday at NPR on Sunday. I the guys had a great time and I rode to the point of exhaustion. No really, like heat exhaustion. I was drinking water all day but was unable to cool off in the afternoon. I spent the trip cramping and puking until we got into Alabama.

A beautiful job!

2009-07-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the reveal. In 4 days we took the bus from school bus to cool bus. The roof is coated with Kool Seal (thanks Christian), the green is 2008 Kawasaki and the look is great. I'll be putting stickers from my partners and sponsors on the bus so the look will change a bit. The green paint is expensive, call it $200 a gallon but I have enough left for the bikes. I am planning another stop by JD's world for painting before the Hallett CMRA round. Thanks Man!!

NIght Painting

2009-07-03T06:31:00.000-07:00

Due to the oppressive Austin summer heat we ended up painting at night. The added degree of difficulty did not affect JD much who laid down a great paint job. The temperatures during the day were around 107. We would work in the morning and then return in the afternoon to work till after morning rush hour. It was a tiring week but worth it!

2009-07-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

Here are Jessie Davis and I shaking hands after agreeing to the reasonable terms of the bus painting proect. Notice we are smiling, little did we know what the work would entail, if we had we migh not have been smiling as broadly.

What a nice gift,

2009-07-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

This couple have a nice connection. Alessandro actually brough his leathers and gear from Italy when he came to the U.S. 2 years ago for work. His girlfriend Lynette saw the ad and rented him a ride at Texas World Speedway. What a nice surprise. Notice the yellow color of the bus, this is the last time you will see it.

Pit Bulls and 250's

2009-07-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

During the week before Oak Hill I took the time to drive up to get these PitBull trailer restraint systems. They have proven easy to install and use and have freed up about 8 feet of floor space. Here are 5 bike in the space that used to fit three. Look back in the blog photos and see the difference. They are a lifetime purchase and can be adapted to many different bikes with an inexpensive retrofit kit. Installation is the drilling of 4 holes and the tightening of 4 bolts. Due to the number of stands I use and the fact that I was drilling through a few frame pieces I also bought a drill doctor. This is an amazing drill bit sharpener which made money on the first project. During this trip I also stopped by Walt Schaefers place in Altoona Al. He donated a bunch of used rain tires to the cause which should be a blast if the summer heat ever ends.

Podium Shot

2009-07-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

Another shot of Elites riers on the podium. The riders are ranging in weight from about 130lbs to much, much more. They were all able to adust to the compromise and rip for hours. Their lowest lap time was by the young man sitting on the bike; Brandon with a 1:38.9, Jim Learmonth stands watch on the left while Jessie Davis stares at his feet. Big man Chris Thomas completes the team and had a blast handling the 250.

Elite Trackdays

2009-07-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of the team that finished in second overall; Team Elite Trackdays. I met these guys during a trackday at Harris Hill Raceway in Kyle Texas. This is a nice track especially for the 250 due to its curves and relative lack of straightaway. Elite Trackdays can be reached at 225 971 1231 or moira@elitetrackdays.com. They used a different strategy than most and only put gas in every other stop. They found that the gas would go 2 hrs 15 minutes at Oak Hill. Thats a long time on a bike at Oak Hill for sure.

Eurtoast 3rd

2009-07-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

This is the team that got third overall; Eurtoast. The 4 man team includes Zeb Harris (seated) with his dad as the crew. These guys proved that the stock pads, even when new will only last 6 hours. They completed the race using only the back brake and engine braking. There times only gained a second or two. Nice ride guys!

2009-07-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry but it has been a busy month with a lot of days on the road. This shot is from the 8 hour CMRA Mini endurance race at Oak Hill Raceway in Henderson Texas. The bikes were all rented with one in Alabama and the remaining 5 entered in this race. One of the teams in this shot eventually overcame the vaporization of a new set of stock front brake pads to finish third overall after running first for most of the race. Can you guess which team?

Barber 250's

2009-06-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot that shows the kind of weather we had this weekend at Barber. The rain clouds were a constant presence and caused a mad scramble for rain tires on Sunday morning for practice. The joke of course was that it dried up for the races and was beautiful. The danger at Barber after a rain is water running across the track which caused a few wrecks on Sunday. During the rain on Saturday, while I was cornerworking the Museum turn, there were at least 40 falls including Charles and Jim in my corner. Their wrecks cost them less than $75 each, sweet!. Barber rocks though I know if I had tried to learn it on my 10r I would have crashed it for sure. After the races on Sunday, Brad and I drove through the night to Kyle Texas and an Elite track day. Moira rented all the bikes and let her people give them a rip. The reception was great except for one guy who was overly impressed with the acceleration of his zx10 which he "improved" with -1, +2 gearing. He said it was hard to ride. I guess so 'cause I smoked him on a 250. The total trip was 1800 miles in 4 days with 4 days at tracks, whew! thanks Brad!!!
Here is the address to the a couple of vholdr videos of Barber that I took;http://www.VholdR.com/node/27806
please let me know if this works on your 'puter.

2009-06-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here is another Barber renter Jim H. He took the Ed Bargy school on Friday and took advantage of the fact that when you rent; you rent for the event! He was easily convinced to take in a race (or 3) and fully experience a weekend of racing. Jim rides over 30,000 miles a year on streetbikes and used this experience to take a well deserved 5th ( midpack) in his first E superstock race. Jim is a tall man and will give testamony about fitting on and the ease of operating the 250 at speed around a race track. He also slept in a tent a Barber with a torrential down pour trying to float him out of Alabama ,so perhaps he is nuts.

Charles J.

2009-06-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here is Charles J. on his way back to the pits after one on his victories on the 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. He is actually making money on the 250 by winning races. He is winning $150 per race in Michelin cash as well as a few other contingencies if he is filling out his tech. As I learned at Daytona; always fill out your form, you never know when lightning will strike.

An unhappy Don

2009-06-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here is Don R. pondering the error of his way. He has just fallen victim to NPRs turn 4. This is the slowest turn on the track and most novice riders choose it to crash on. My theory is that due to the turn's slowness, people feel confident enough to push their limits, leading to more crashes in the same place. Fortunately, Don wasn't hurt too badly and his crash bill was about $150. This was for a rt. handlebar, rt handlebar switch and a rear brake pedal. I shudder to think what the same wreck on his Duc. would have cost.

2009-06-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here are Jacques and his buddy Christian. Christian had not ripped a bike since his dirtbiking past faded into marriage. He had a blast and was able to go pretty well on the 250. C. also promised to donate some cold seal for the roof of the bus and an A/C for summertime comfort. This will work well with the upcoming tint job that is going to darken the bus nicely.

2009-06-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

This Dwaine getting ready for a rip at the May 17th NPR track day. He has parked his CBR 600 and gotten his work done on a RMN 250. That is not a look of terror or concentration on his face but a look of pleasure, a common expression on those who ride 250's.

Houston Dirt

2009-06-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Within the TWS road trip I stopped and visited 22 bike shops including Orange, Houston, Kyle, Austin and San Antonio. Houston is an especially busy city that took me most of a day to cover. This shot shows the crazy dirt pattern that was imprinted into the white primer of the HotBodies bodywork during this part of the trip. The strap seems to have had a wave effect making the dirt land in this decoratice pattern. Jill figured out that a Mr. Clean magic eraser works great at general motorcycle cleaning. Notice also in the picture the GSXR damper that makes these bikes race legal.

Focus at TWS

2009-06-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

These next couple of photos are of the Focus and a few bikes at Texas World Speedway. At first glance the scale of TWS might make a Ninja 250 ride less interesting. There are however over 14 turns in which to focus on getting the most of your cornering speed . Here there is a great dependence on acceleration and top speed on big bikes, on the 250 just let her rip! and don't slow down too much. The Focus returned over 28MPGs towing the 2 bikes at 65MPH this allowes me to just show up with a bike or two and still be "profitable"

The other pitbike wheelie

2009-04-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

This picture goes with the previous one. It's not Adam Coco style but is a basic wheelie.

No Nashville Photos, Pitbike Street Wheelies

2009-04-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

Well The trip to Nashville was a long one; 11 hours in the bus, I was tripping out on the heat coming onto my feet and discovered that the boot surrounding the shifter has failed. The air coming through the hole is HOT!! I was shown how to ride the s#%t out of a 250 by both Chris and Peter both WERA regulars, Chad showed up and gave Chris a run for his money on Sunday. I watched the races from corner working stations 6 and 3 in a bid to increase revenue. A blog shoutout to Red, Guy and Maggie. You guys are really watching the riders and I personally appreciate it. The races actually were all good to watch and I remembered that I had been to this track before and not cared for it. They have changed the track up a bit since that last visit. The track seemed better on a 250 and I would recommend it to SV riders and possibly novice 600 riders. I would still say that Nashville superspeedway is definitely not a big bike track. Next event is TWS, see you there .

Sponsor Shot

2009-04-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Just another sweet sponsor shot!

turn 11 npr

2009-04-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

Here we are in turn 11 at NPR Jacque is giving it a go and is about to rotate his head to look up into the next turn.

NPR 4-20 Pit shots

2009-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Dwaine who took these and many other fine shots. Heree are a few of me, the bikes and the boys. This day brought 3 renters to the party and with me on number 11 we took to the track in both the faster and slower groups. Usually the day is broken up into 3 groups: A, fast group; B, mid with passing allowed and C with no passing allowed in the corners. For first timers, the Ninja 250 is sweet because it doesn't send out a lot fear inducing signals and allows everyone to focus on cornering speed. The big bikes allow riders to cheat by using their extra horsepower to go faster, the Ninjette requires a commitment to not slowing down.

Daytona Podium

2009-04-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

OK, So the 2009 ASRA Superstock victory at Daytona was a bit of a fluke. The lesson is to be ready on the right tires, in this case Michelin Rains front and rear, with all of your sponsor stickers and forms filled out. Oh Yea, you also need to be there!! In all honesty it was all a bit surreal, I had clear track in front of me, with no spray the sheen on the track was a bit confusing in the beginning but it all worked out. See you in the fall for the Race of Champions.

Training on pitbikes

2009-04-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is the video for the afore mentioned training on pitbikes.

Cecil

2009-04-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Cecil McCracken of CompuCrew. He is responsible for the rentmyninja website. He claims that the last time he wrecked he was done, I say that is only a temporary diversion. No one escapes...

2009-04-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the other main villain in my Elka trip. John is the guy on the phone if you are calling Elka about motorcycle shocks. A former semi-pro hockey player who seems little worse for the wear (the many knocks to the head seem to have little lasting effect). These guys certainly know their business. I also met the owner Martin who is enthusiastic and positive about life. One thing that I'll say about everyone I met over the too brief visit/learning session is that they are all knowledgeable proffessionals who engage in the sports they are making products for. If you are talking to someone about quad shocks they probably used to race one. Elka supports many series in Canada including a 125 cup for Honda CBR 125's. This could be the basis for a 250 Ninja Cup in the US.

The Elka trip (1)

2009-04-11T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here is Sam, engineer hard at work at Elka Suspensions in Montreal Quebec. This guy knows the internal working of suspension and can draw you a picture that is easily understood. Definitely the guy who filled in many of the blanks that existed in my head about the black magic of suspension inner workings. The shocks are the prototypes of the shocks that I will soon be selling. I have ridden the sh*t out of the shocks and think they work great, a huge improvement in control over the stocker.

Texas World Speedway Ridesmart

2009-04-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the bikes at Texas World Speedway at College Station at a Ridesmart event. In truth the bikes are more fun at a smaller tracks. This superspeedway was built for speed. It is much safer now that turn 8 has had the too close wall removed. Don't forget to visit the Dixie Chicken.

Race Results through Early April

2009-04-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

This is how we roll with 5 bikes in the bus, There is actually a JR 50 hidden behind the center bike. The bus is slow and loud and has yet to give any signs of future trouble.
To catch up, the bikes have been successfully ridden to many trophies so far. Miles Thorton and C.J. rented at Talledega. Miles came in second in his race (sorry Miles, I can't remember which race that was.) C. J. has been very successful on RMN rentals with 3 firsts and a second on the 250 and 3 firsts at the CCS spring opener on my ZX10 R. I also won one; the ASRA Superstock. Thanks Walt Scheaffer at Michelin who supplied the rain tires, giving me a 1:47 sec win over the second place winner, which rocked the highbanks. Keith Hertell also has co-piloted a 250 to a top three overall finish at a CMRA Oak Hill mini endurance and a solo win at Eagles Canyon. I have a renter for Nashville which is the weekend of April 20th so I'll be there for sure. The new world order is that without a pre-renter I cannot guarantee that I will be there. With 1 pre-renter I may bring 2 bikes only on the trailer to save a bit of gas money and time. Sorry for any inconvenience but the economic realities of a no renter day have quickly become apparent.

drz pitbike racing as training

2009-04-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

I like to train on a pitbike with whoever I can get to come over. This is H and I ripping on the "short track" both left and right followed by the "Moto GP" section. The latter is where they scoop out the Bayou in the back allowing us more room to ride on. It can get pretty scetchy out here but injuries are rare. Kevin

bus 1

2009-04-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of the bikes when we came back from the Kankakee Il. to an Ohio River Vally shops which have asked to remain anonymous The trip began late December in Gulfport with the boarding of a flight to Chicago (Midway). I then took the subway to the Greyhound bus station to travel to Kankakee at Midwest Transport where I hung with Jerome and removed the many seats which make this hauler a large storeroom on wheels. It is a 71 passenger Thomas bodied International which is the largest non flat nosed bus that you can get. It is a 5 speed manual, hydraulic brake model (no special licence required) diesel which I hope to eventually run on Bio Fuel (I know that all fuels are bio fuels but hopefully one that does not depend of outside fuel sources) perhaps a byproduct of the local sugar market in the future? We now are running the bike in a staggered longways location and get over 9mpg's, it only goes 62 but it goes 450 miles on a tank of fuel. I highly recommend this type of transport to anyone looking for an economical race hauler. I use a converted ladder and will eventually put up a video of the load up procedure. If you want to go to a race or trackday and save fuel you can usually meet me at my house or I'll pick you up on the way. Currently accommodations in the bus are a bit spartan but I will improve it in the future. Some future shots will just be before and afters with definitions pages. Now on with the adventure...

One of the Race Ninja 250's for Rent

2009-04-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

Shot this photo while loading up to go to Texas Speedway today (April 3, 2009) then on to No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, La for the trackday there on Sunday.

Our bikes currently have M-4 exhausts and Woodcraft rearsets and clip-ons. I'm sure there are other modifications that I'm missing as this is Jill writing this blog.

Kevin will be traveling to Canada this week to work with the folks at Elka suspension in developing their suspension system for the Ninja 250.

The bikes should be painted within the next month!

The fleet unloaded

2009-03-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

I flew to Chicago, took a bus to the suburbs, picked up a school bus, learned how to drive it in the parking lot and headed to Ohio to pick up the bikes. Ohio was beautiful, but the steep hills and curvy unfamiliar roads were a challenge in the middle of the night when I arrived. Picked up six brand new 2009 Ninja 250's and headed for Louisiana. Here's the picture before they were converted to race bikes.