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The other night I got a good laugh when I was looking through this blog’s statistics.  See, I know how you got here, who you are, where you came from…but I digress.  Anyway, this little site was found via a google.com search with the entry “hate my yz426″.  Been there, done that.

I bought my 2000 YZ426f back in late 2001, only a couple of months after I moved to Arizona.  It was from a co-worker and the bike was geared for speed.  I am a trail guy and as time as passed, I have migrated to slower more technical trails versus the high-speed stuff.  Heh - we call them ‘goat trails’ out here.

Shortly after taking ownership of the bike, I hated

This article is stored in the Tech Talk Articles section on the right hand panel.  Comments should all be directed to that version of the article not here.

What is Cryogenic treatment of rotors and why do it?
What is it? Deep cryogenic treatment of brake rotors involves a slow freezing of the rotors (to about -300F), in order to eliminate the internal stresses due to the casting and machining processes. It affects the whole rotor and is not simply a surface treatment. It changes the grain structure of the metal permanently and transforms soft austinite (bad) into a harder martensite (good).

What does it do? Eliminating the above defined stresses improves rotor warping, wear, and heat cracking in heavy uses such

So I am finishing up my summer hibernation from motorcycle riding and getting ready to play Ricky road racer for the next few months.

In my quest for ever levels of greatness, I placed upon myself the task of replacing the drive system on my GSXR Race bike. Now don’t think this is an easy task, the process of chain replacement requires almost ZEN like dedication and focus. Before one can replace the chain, deep meditation on the replacement choice must be considered. Deep research on many racing message boards (WERA, AllStone, BSRacing, etc), it was decided that the DID 520ERV3 Gold chain was in order. There are many

Over the years I have probably owned more than thirty motorcycles, and at the tender age of thrity-four, that’s not a bad start.  When I say “owned” it really deserves quotes around the word because a handful of them were for parts, etc.  In the beginning, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on bikes and decided to establish a bike fund.  I would try to keep all motorcycle expenditures contained within this fund.  I also started buying race bikes to put them back on the street…selling off the extras.  I soon discovered that there was money to be made.  That’s how the viscious cycle for me began.

Introduction: In total, I have probably parted out 5-6 complete bikes

While many excellent technologies have made their way onto modern motorcycles like fuel-injection, fully adjustable suspension, liquid cooling; some of the most simple, effective and useful technologies seem to be continually overlooked by the manufacturers. And it’s starting to piss me off!

I’ve purchased a new bike almost every year for the last 10 years. As soon as I buy a new bike; invariably, I have to start adjusting things and buying things just to make the bike “rideable” and in some case serious engineering and fabrication just to get what I consider reasonable functionality. While I appreciate the many features and technological advances on the latest crop of two-wheelers, some incredibly useful and simple items have remained AWOL.

This is a little long, but worth it if you’re interested in the topic. A nice addition to chuck’s explanations and so we’re clear, this is pulled directly from the Yamaha Racing Tech Corner

Part 1

Mention better performance and most racers head straight for the aftermarket exhaust catalogue and hot-up engine parts micro-fiche. Horsepower is often considered the be-all and end-all to going faster, but there’s no point having the extra power if it can’t be taken full advantage of. This is where suspension comes into the equation, but when you take a look at all those adjusters, where’s the best place to start. But it needn’t be that difficult. The only question is where do we start? Do

Dare I venture here…

RoadRacing World recently had a tire shootout amongst all the big brands for both race compound tires and street/track day compound tires. This shootout was done at the track. The results, for this article, are not important. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely great information about the finer performance characteristics of each tire. But one thing that a track shootout cannot address is the rider’s history.

While I read the article, the first thing I did was to scan through it to find my brand and how it performed as probably did everyone. But I am fortunate enough not to be mired in the tire selection process. I knew that no

Someone asked: “What is Trail-Braking and how is it done?”

Most seasoned sportbike riders probably already do it, but just don’t know it. If you’ve ever over-cooked a turn, you also probably trail-braked. Mastering trail-braking is also mastering the fine line between crashing and staying vertical.

In a perfect turn (read: as fast as possible without losing tire grip), you are either on the gas or on the brakes. NO COASTING! Its actually a helluva lot harder than it sounds. The reality is that trail-braking maximizes your corner entry and exit speed to a lesser extent.

There is a rule of thumb that is taught in driving schools: You only have 100% of available grip and that is to be shared

Brake rotor selection for motorcycles is an interesting topic due to all the differing opinions, designs, and options. Overall, the OE rotor design is sufficient for OD and heat capacity under normal conditions. I have spent some time in the automotive field with rotor design and development with heat capacity, cooling, and fade testing. This article will try to take a common sense approach to rotor design, function, maintenance, and aftermarket choices based on what I have learned over the years and applying it to two wheels.

Normally for automotive, there are really two factors in OE rotor design – Effective Radius (rotor OD), Heat Capacity (rotor thickness), and Cooling (vent design). For motorcycles, the Effective Radius

After several years of doing my own tires here is what I use. This setup is designed to be mobile as half my tire changes occur away from home (track side) and will cost about $250 for the whole set up. From the time I roll my Mille up to riding away I can do both tire changes in under 45min.

From the above pic left to right, then back to front…

1. Green canvas tool bag $5 Army/Navy surplus store
2. Metzler Tire Balancer #119: $150 I purchased from hondadirectlineusa.com. Terrible phone help, but the best price at the time. Handy Industries has a good balancer too but Metz is smaller and the included tire rod adaptors work with single side setups
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