The other day I mentioned the new AMA XR1200 race series beginning this season. The reaction was mixed, some of you were in favor of it, some had reservations, but what I found interesting was some of the complaints were focused on how boring it would be. When you think about it, you might be right, if you were focused on watching the race instead of racing yourself. Chances are the names of the racers would be unknown to most of us, unless it was a friend or acquaintance, because many of these racers would be trying to learn how to race, sharpening their skills on the track under race conditions. They would be doing something, learning, improving, growing and getting experience. Maybe it would be a phase they would tire of, maybe they would go on to become one of the best racers ever, but until they try, how would they know? But, what is the spectator doing?
The recent demise of American Chopper brought a similar mix of comments, but there, too, the Teutals were doing something, building bikes and making a TV show. It may not have been high art but it was something and it was a lot better than watching the show and doing nothing else.
Think about what you could do with your time if, the next time you were bored, you did something productive instead. Just to focus on motorcycles, you could head down to the garage and do a maintenance check. Tire pressure, fluid levels, check for leaks, check for loose screws, loose nuts and bolts, clean filters, … you get the idea. Shop a little messy? Clean it up, arrange your tools, read the manual to find out out how to do some more advanced work you haven’t done before. All of this is free, and if you do some work yourself you save money on repairs.
If you want to watch someone, watch with a purpose. Find someone that knows how to do something you’re trying to learn and see how it’s done. Search out an expert that can weld or rebuild engines and see what he does. If he’s open to the idea, ask questions along the way, and if you get the opportunity, see if you can put your hands to work.
If you don’t have a motorcycle and few dollars to spare, find a project bike to work on and rebuild it. Project bikes are often hiding in plain sight, leaning on a shed with some old lawn chairs, the owners usually use another name for them, … junk. Offer to take it off of his hands, cart your prize home and learn.
Boring racing and boring TV shows are a problem confined to spectators, if you participate, you’ll never be bored again. So, what are you doing tonight?
matt g says
It’s a lot easier to critcize than get off yer keister and do something isn’t it? My New Year’s resolution was to get out and have fun with my bikes- try some racing- finally do that valve adjustment for myself. I’m even going to admit the XR and new HR 48 are pretty dang cool!
David says
Life is not a dress rehearsal: Participate!
Brian Zooom says
You’ve been aweful preachy as of late about getting involved and active in doing something, rather than bitching about it.
kneeslider says
@Brian Zooom: It may have something to do with the amount of complaining I hear from those who could be doing something constructive.
Oldyeller8 says
I rebuilt a 1974 XL175 this winter. Had to! A $5 oil seal was leaking and the only way to replace it was splitting the case. Never been that deep in a motor before. It was fun without a lot of frustration. Thankfully the shop I use to work at (Shameless plug – Imperial MC, Burnaby, BC) was nice enough to let me do it there (I don’t have the room at my place) and my old boss even looked over my shoulder and helped – Costs! $40 for gaskets / seals and lunch ( for the boss) every day I was there. It was a bargain.
Next project? Thinking about a touring enduro.
nortley says
I raced once, and learned that it wasn’t for me. I’ve been to a few races since but spent more time wandering the pits than watching the track. I love to ride, love the technology, but the track is a safer place without me.
Scott says
better to ‘do’ and fail, than fail to ‘do’!
Chris says
“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. No-one does it right the first time.”
-Joel Salatin
Phoenix827 says
@ Brian Zooom & kneeslider
I’m happy about it. I’m tired of people sitting and complaining. I was down with a vertebrae fusion in my neck that required cutting bone from my hip. I was dying to get out and do something. Now I’m up and moving. Making new gaurds and forward controls for my bike. My bike is mine in the fact I built it and ride it. Thank you Kneeslider!
John says
I’m with you Paul, and hear the frustrastion in your question. Why are there so many that feel justified to complain and critisize when they are do nothings. It’s sorta like the big fat football fans screaming from the couch while jammin food in thier face.
dresden says
Amen. I’m all for doing stuff rather than bitching/complaining. It seems that’s all the internet is made for these days, so rather than focus on the negative, I decided to focus on the positive and started a few blogs of my own focusing on things that I like and enjoy, which means that I have to do stuff and document it to generate content for it. It’s a win/win situation for me. I get to do things, and I get to share it with other people. It keeps me productive and it keeps me from boredom.
Michael Czysz says
I was going to write a long complaint about how your post sucked but no time… need to get back to building something.
MC
JonP says
Yeah yeah.. I always hear this.. Participate?? But I’m off to watch football.. ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz
If I don’t go to bed tired I don’t sleep well.. I spend my days creatively and my evenings learning.. I’ve not got time for spectator sport (can’t think of anything more boring) and can’t be bothered to watch TV.. If I’ve got nothing to do, I chat with my friends.. I’m not surprised people who don’t participate spend their time moaning.. The life they’ve chosen for themselves is boring… I’d much rather go out in a ball of flames than die of a heart attack yelling at the ref on telly while stuffing my face with fries.
@Brian Zooom… Nobody is forcing you to read these posts..
John says
Agree JonP, that’s another thing that gets me, why some people will read a post and then actually take the time to respond to it only to say they don’t like the subject of the post.
Jim Flower says
Motorcycle racing takes many forms, and it attracts different participants and spectators.
My involvement has been in drag racing Harleys, starting in 1994 with a street legal 103″ Shovelhead in a rigid frame. Running in the All Harley Drag Racing Assn, I had a blast. Eventually I got the old sled to turn a 11.47 seond pass @ 113 mph.
By 1996, I was hooked. I built a Modified Class racer for the AHDRA. In Modified, you are limited to gas only (they check it), max 108″ (they changed that since) carb only, max wheelbase 70″, standard transmission with no mods, max 8″ rear tire, and a minimum weight of 550 lbs. bike and rider. (They weigh you.) You are allowed an air shifter and wheelie bar.
Lotta fun, and what an education. I ran Modified for 4 seasons on the west coast and Canada, in the Canadian Motorcycle Drag Racing Association. By 1999, my 108″ Shovel sported homemade billet heads, 15:1 compression, homemade billet pistons and 2 S&S Super D carbs. My best pass was a 9.69 second run @ 135 mph.
Then the fuel bug bit me.
I love to build things, and I figured that I could, from scratch, build a competitive Top Fuel Harley. I started the build in late ’99, and by June 2000 I was testing at the local track. I had to get licensed of course, so now I hold a NHRA Exhibition Fuel Motorcycle license, an AHDRA Top Fuel license, and a CMDRA Top Fuel license.
Nitromethane will put the fear of God in a man. Expect horsepower output at about 4.5 hp per cubic inch. My engine was a 195″ PRP (Pro Racing Products, Abbottsford BC)
So we estimate 850 to 900 hp. (5.375″ stroke by 4.800″ bore)
During the years I ran her, she was the biggest V-Twin in the world. (PRP made three of these combos, but the other two did not get built.)
I ran this combo 6 years, and retired at the end of the 2005 season. Best pass was a 7.02 run @ 195 mph.
12 years of drag racing with no mishaps. Superstitious of year 13, and sponsorship drying up, I decided that was it.
Many of my friends still race, and I still build engines and frames. (Both street and strip) The racing experience has been priceless, and introduced me to some very fine people. Racing is a community, and the innovation boggles the mind. I encourage those who have not attended a motorcycle drag race to check it out, you wont be disappointed.
Thanks Kneeslider. I’ll try to keep my posts positive. I do build, I have earned my chops, and I only criticize when I see something terribly wrong or unsafe. I check in here daily because you put together a great site.
Jim
Domino Dave says
Thankyou to my friend “Cork”.Often when you go to his shop,he will put your bike on the lift, hand you the tools, and tell you what to do … Then he gives you the cutrate price for doing the work yourself !! We should be paying double for the education … (Hope he doesn’t read this)
Brian Zooom says
to JonP and John, I read this blog because Paul puts up some interesting things. Sometimes I glean a new idea for something, or see a new technology that I hadn’t seen before, or the ressurection of some old tech with new style and it is cool to see new life breathed into old things in that way.
To Paul, keep writing, as I like the stuff you put up. It just seemed like you musta been grumpy or got the winter claustrophobic blues or something with 2 posts that harped on the negative so closely in timeframe. I realize that it catches us all, and everyone in some vein lives to bitch about something or other. It is easier to bitch about something than to do otherwise for most. Not that it excuses it or makes it right, but it comes as a piece of the beast when you put up a blog that allows for public response.
As for what I’ve been doing with my winter, I’ve been putting my time and energy into rehabbing bits of a solid car for to make it 100% right for my girlfriend to drive for to replace her increasingly becoming unreliable daily driver. Then we are both going to retake the Cornerspin class in a couple weeks to bone up for the season and then take both of our motorcycles out of winter storage/slumber and get ready for a season of riding.
kneeslider says
@Brian Zooom: “seemed like you musta been grumpy or got the winter claustrophobic blues or something”
People that know me personally would get a chuckle out of that. No, I’m not grumpy and I’m not sure why you would think that. I am perpetually up and optimistic and I keep trying to get the many, who are always in the dumps and complaining, to get rolling and do something. It’s called motivation. I find so much to be interesting and exciting and worth doing, it just amazes me when so many others are finding the dark cloud instead of the silver lining. Life is a challenge, life is an adventure, life is exciting. If my frequent encouragement to participate gets a few of those folks to sit up and shake off the cobwebs, we’re making progress.
Brian Zooom says
@ KNEESLIDER/Paul , I don’t know you personally, but reading your blog, you have a generally upbeat and good attitude, hence why it occured to me as a little odd to read what I did. So I commented and pointed out what I percieved based on how I read it. That is also half of it in the audience has to put a tenor to the voice they are reading as the inflections of voice are not there.
todd says
I stopped watching TV when I was 14, around the time that I started building my Karmann Ghia. TV is a huge drain of time. The last few years I’ve been spending all my available time with my new daughter. I couldn’t imagine wanting to watch TV instead of spending time with family. Of course, spending time with the family means my garage is slowly dissolving and the 9 motorcycles have suddenly become overwhelming… Oh well. Of course, last night I did manage to change the shocks and fiddle around on the free Seca 650.
At least I have time during lunch to read the internet.
-todd
John says
To Jim Flower, Harley Drag racing is my favorite thing in the world to watch. When living on the mainland I went to Fremont a couple times and used to go to LA County AHDRA events.Since then went ot the Vegas AHDRA every year but now it’s no more, that really pisses me off as I live in Hawaii and most events are East coast now.
Paulinator says
So I’m staying in a Marina not only because its way cheaper, but mostly because the hotel SUCKED. The office is 2 minutes south and “Flossie’s Bar and Grill” and “Underpressure Bike Performance” are 2 minutes north of me. The company of fun-loving bikers, bike-builders and sailors is WAY MORE POSITIVE than staring at a TV and four walls.
Next trip out I should pack-up some of the boxes marked “BSA Bantom Bits” and start prepping them to build with my boy. I wonder if Airport Security would rape me if I brought some of it carry-on, though?
Marvin says
I bimble, just bimbleing about, tidying, doing a spot of maintenance, looking at batteryless systems on the interwebs, then a bit more bimbleing it beats telly and gives me a bit of time to think. If I also smoked a pipe and put it still smouldering into the pocket of my knitted cardigan I will achieve the level of my farther until then I’ll just practice and absent-mindedly eat midget gems. Bimbleing represents the tip top of life for most British guys it slowly and quietly gets stuff done. Drop a bit of vinegar on that seized thread then bimble of and glue some jam jar lids to the underside of a shelf for a perfect screw storage system……. Arh bimbleing you cant beat it, stuff get fixed knuckles keep their skin.
steve w says
Once the bike racing bug bites you racing is not boreing. You might not even care what the bike is. You might be watching riders lines or style. You might notice some little part on the bike you like. You will appreciate all the work that goes into it even it’s PeeWee racing. It’s not about the brand of motorcycle, or the speed, and i don’t see all the complaining on this one yet. Yes I too check in on the Kneeslider because I like to and I try to keep the comments constructive . There are lots of things to complain about in this world and motorcycles are to much fun to be negitive about!.
Mule says
Brian Zoom, I disagree that we all have a \Bitching\ vein inherently. People that like to complain like to particpate in complain-fests, but they’re certainly not for everyone. When people start bitching, I’m gone. That’s my quick cure for it. To me, Paul could preach about it every day because and there are a jillion people out that I believe are sick to death of hearing people whine!
As for spectating and TV. I can count the number of minutes of TV I watch a week on one hand. I think I only ever saw one episode of OCC and I couldn’t make it through the whole show.
Luckily I live in Southern California and we get to \Do\ stuff outside year round. If I lived in the cold white north or the northeast and was limted by weather or snowed in………I’d move.
Davidw says
Old bikes are like old people……lots of personality. In my case a ’70 bonneville has lots to say and is stubborn as hell but its all fun and soon she’ll be singing a sweet song.
Sen Heng says
Paul, just curious but do you do any bikes yourself?
kneeslider says
@Sen Heng: “Paul, just curious but do you do any bikes yourself?”
My current ride is a 97 Moto Guzzi Centauro, bought last year which is in very nice shape but I’ll be giving it a thorough freshening and I’ll write that up. My big project or “build” this year is actually going to be the garage, my recent post on workshops was something I came across while looking for ideas and I’ve also been finding some great ideas on the garage journal forum, thanks to a comment on that post.
The Kneeslider takes up a little time, too. 🙂
Troy Cardenas says
Paul this is a good article. Personally I don’t care if American Chopper is on the air or not. I would rather watch a show that is based on the garage builder; you know, the guy who builds HIS bike the way he wants it. The guy who has to stop on one part of his build so he can save enough money to buy the welder he needs to get to the next big piece, the guy who makes his own tools out of a design he found on the internet and learned his techniques from watching somebody like Jesse James or Roland Sands. These are the ones I want to see on my TV.
SteveD says
There used to be a great show called “A (whatever) is Born”. These two Birts would take on a project and you got to watch them build over an entire season. They did two bikes: and old Harley and a somewhat newer Triumph. The difference was you actually got to see the details of the build. It was a like a longer and more entertaining version of the “Fix my Hog” DVDs.
As for spectating, I’ve dicovered that we do have the weekend free in August for the AMA races at Virginia International Raceway. These include Superbike, Supersport, and the new XR1200 spec class. The tickets are coming. . .
dan says
Paul, Moto Guzzi way to go! I’ve got my eye on a used KZ900 to totally redo, but Moto Guzzi’ are my fav bikes. Sharer Cycle center sells them in Verona Wisconsin. He, Lyall is an x racer and all around great guy! So is Louis his long time wrench, as mentioned in this month’s Cycle World. Spent many hours in there, now I just look at TV. That’s all going to change now. Thanks for the spark!
James says
I try to participate, this winter was hard to weather, with all my $$ going into someones pocket (not mine) but heck getting money back from the IRS solved that!
Carlos says
Paul, I have stumbled a few of these articles in the archives that highlight your philosphy. I really like and enjoy reading it, excellent food for thought and reflection that can be applied to any area of interest or life in general.