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AGV Backmarker:
2006
May 11, 2006
AGV Backmarker:
Milan: Getting There is Half the Pain
"The old Parabolica banking is still here, even though it’s no longer used. There was an art movement called futurism that got its start here in northern Italy, and they must have loved this place. I don’t know how steep the banking is at the top, but I can barely walk up to the barrier (and I’m wearing sticky shoes). For the rider, it must have been less about skill than simple will...."
May 4, 2006
AGV Backmarker: No Rules? Cool
"I always thought that the first FX concept was the heir to the original Formula USA, which was really no-holds-barred. Rumor has it that the first F-USA rules (written by Willow Springs track owner Bill Huth in the mid-‘80s) read simply, 'Two wheels, one motor'" ....
April 27, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Select All
"I guess it was a little less than a year ago that I was up at Infineon Raceway (nee Sears Point) with the ZX-6RR. I used a Pridmore CLASS school to shake the bike down for some to-be-determined adventure. Then I stayed to ride the promoter’s practice prior to the AMA race. The bike was so fast that I thought, I’ll get someone to time me against the AMA boys, and if I’m in the zone I’ll try and qualify for a national...."
April 20, 2006
AGV Backmarker: RiderNarrative—remembering the ride, with mind and body
Last week I was invited to speak at the joint conference of the American Culture Association and the Popular Culture Association. Somewhat surprisingly at a gathering of university profs and Ph D.s, there are always a few sessions on the role of motorcycles in popular culture....
April 13, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Is there a Hunter S. Thompson Chair of Motorcycle Studies in the near future?
"Now motorcycling is coming to university as a subject of study. Have we made it? Or does this mean we’ve passed from action into history? I ride precisely because I over-intellectualize almost every other aspect of my life. On motorcycles I finally stop thinking about what other people think of me. I stop thinking about thinking, and live in the moment...."
April 6, 2006
AGV Backmarker: The Writing Life ...
"A couple of Sundays ago, after watching Speed’s coverage of the year’s first MotoGP race, I went to a local Starbucks and bought the Sunday New York Times. That’s a good way to kill a few hours. The magazine’s cover story was about hunting, which may or may not have any relevance to “Backmarker”—you can be the judge in, oh, a thousand words or so...."
March 30, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Notes on an aging (riding) population
"I hung up not really knowing if I should have faith in my future, or whether I should start riding only the most dangerous tracks and pulling hairball passes on corners with nasty walls and bridge abutments in the runoff. Still, for readers who have lived more responsibly than I have, I suppose this is good news...."
March 23, 2006
AGV Backmarker:
Daytona Nights: It was the Hess of times, it was the ...
"I guess, like most road racing guys, I’m jealous of the success of SX. Not that they don’t deserve their mass-market, mainstream audience; I watched them practice Friday around noon. Those kids (that’s what they are) ride a new track slowly for one lap, then start nailing the doubles and triples, because they only get about 15 minutes of practice before they have to qualify....."
March 16, 2006
AGV Backmarker:
Daytona notes: Who cleans up after a storm of controversy?
"....Then the pace car incident happened. Yamaha filed a protest, though the exact nature of their complaint was not made public. While Ron Barrick pored over TV tapes, the assembled press corps waited. And waited. The ‘stands emptied. The champagne dryed on Jake’s leathers. Down at the far end of pit lane, privateers celebrated or commiserated over beer. All the big team transporters grumbled off into the darkness. And finally poor Ron came down to explain what had happened....."
March 9, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Hollister Motorcycle Rally Cancelled
"I had planned to write a more conventional “Backmarker” this week—something that would come in around 1,000 words and deal with current road racing events. But I got sidetracked by news that the town of Hollister, California, has (again) cancelled its traditional July 4 biker weekend...."
March 2, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Mann and Machine Part 3
"Mann’s deal with Honda was for one race only. Honda had not intended the 750/Four to be used as a race bike at all, and they had no intention of racing in other AMA events later that year. So the fascination with Mann’s Honda was piqued by the way it simply disappeared after Daytona...."
February 23, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Mann and Machine Part 2
"Nowadays, maybe racing teams have a stronger sense of history. Maybe they’re more inclined to preserve—or at least keep track of—a bike that racked up a particularly historic win. But in 1970, that wasn’t so true. After a year or two, as the two ex-Daytona CB750s got less competitive, the French importer pawned them off on a dealer team. One of the two was crashed heavily and (again, shades of Ralph Bryans’ Daytona mishap!) caught fire...."
February 16, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Mann and Machine
The prospect of a new Harley-Davidson (okay, Buell) in the Daytona 200 this March puts me in the mind of the last time an epic new Harley took on the challenge of America’s greatest race. No, I don’t mean the VR1000. Whatever that was, it wasn’t epic. I mean the XR750. The year was 1970, and while the race itself was a bit of an anticlimax, that “200” probably had the most historically significant starting grid in the history of the AMA....
February 9, 2006
AGV Backmarker: Reality Bites
For every racing-themed T-shirt or bumper sticker I spot, I see a hundred Nazi-inspired West Coast Choppers logos and many more from Orange County Choppers. I’ve finally realized who that sideways-hat guy was on those Coors billboards, too—Jesse James. Not the original Jesse James, who was a real outlaw, but a new Jesse James, who’s a pretend one. Choppers are everywhere....
February 2, 2006 Buell Rules
"It’s been a while since we’ve expected interesting road racing news at the annual Harley-Davidson dealer meetings, but late last month they unveiled a $30k Buell production racer, the XBRR. The very first motorcycle I ever tested for a magazine was a Buell, and I’ve retained a soft spot for Erik Buell’s idiosyncratic creations ever since...."
January 26, 2006 Something Fishy ...
"In the old days, the motors were two-strokes but now they’re mostly four-strokes. Competitors didn’t use to wear outfits covered in brightly colored logos, like they do now. In fact, the top series are sponsored by big out-of-the-industry corporations and get a ton of TV time on cable television. I could be describing motorcycle racing, but I’m not. I’m writing about bass fishing...."
January 19, 2006 Into the Darkness
The people best able to describe conditions in the fire would certainly be the drivers trapped behind the burning truck, in the smoke billowing back in the direction of France. Twenty-seven of these people died in their vehicles. Ten died attempting to escape down the tunnel on foot. Of the approximately 50 people initially trapped by the fire, about a dozen survived. All of them emerged from the French portal saying the same thing. “That guy on the motorcycle saved my life.”
January 12, 2006 Longing for the Good Old Days of the Cold War
Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, I watched “Smiley’s People,” a six-hour BBC mini-series set in the Cold War era of the 1960s, based on the novel by John LeCarre. It starred Alec Guinness as the implacable, imperturbable spymaster George Smiley, drawn out of retirement by the prospect of capturing his old Bolshie nemesis, Karla. It made me a little wistful for the simple days when it was us versus them, and it was easy to identify who “we” and “they” both were, since there was an Iron Curtain between us. Most of us even agreed on who the good and bad guys were....
January 5, 2006 An Idea Saved From the Dustbin
An Idea Saved: The Dustbin
"Fans shouldn’t have to choose which championship they follow, any more than they have to choose between food and wine. The two should complement each other. Superbikes’ popularity will always hinge on the fact that fans can easily relate to racing on bikes like the ones they ride. MotoGP bikes should not just apply prototype technology, they should look different, too...."
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