Greetings, one and all, and welcome to my motorcycle road racing blog!
The title of this blog is a reference to the reason why I am racing. I have given myself modest goals throughout my racing career, but the primary reason for undertaking this pastime is for the simple pleasure of it.
The spring of 2018 saw me buying a brand new 2018 Kawasaki EX400 Ninja from Rocky Mountain Kawasaki in Longmont CO, getting accepted onto their team of sponsored road racers, and then working to prepare the bike for the first MRA race in May. In part due to a lack of availability of racing parts for this brand new model, but more importantly due to my lack of focus and commitment, I did not complete the work in time and ended up competing on my prior mount, a 2014 300 Ninja for the first race weekend. While it was good to have a stand-by motorcycle, several other competitors did manage to get their new 400 Ninjas prepared in time. This opened my eyes (finally!?) to the importance of timely preparation, and acknowledging the need to balance my attention between work, home, and racing. This in turn has led me to begin my 2019 race preparations now, rather than waiting for the first race to be just around the corner. Maturity comes late to some...
The very first thing that I did to prepare for 2019 was to winterize my engine by adding anti-freeze to the cooling system. (To those who are unaware, anti-freeze is a no-no on racetracks, where we are required to run plain old water.) This simple act in itself put me well ahead of many years past, and will preclude the possibility of damaging my engine due to freezing. I have lost literally years of racing opportunities due to ignoring this simple task. While I was at it, I also put the Ninja back into street trim - replacing the lights and getting it registered. I have been out on it a few time since, and as I have said many times, I enjoy that bike more each and every time I get on it.
I have already begun seeking out sponsorship opportunities for next season. Woodcraft Technologies, Inc., maker of some of the finest controls and chassis gear around, has agreed to sponsor me once again, to include Hindle Exhaust and Armour Bodies racing bodywork (both available exclusively in the US through Woodcraft). I have been in discussion with Spears Racing, and while they have trimmed back their sponsorship program I expect to be using them as a source for certain performance goodies. I have a couple more feelers out there, and will post updates as they become available.
Being new to the blogging world, I will be taking a fairly conservative approach to this new realm. With the understanding that it is easier to open up the security and displayed capabilities than it is to lock them down retroactively, it is going to be fairly bare bones to start - no comments and no contact information at the moment. If you got this link from me then you have my email or cell, and I am always willing to listen to any comments there. I look forward to writing more in the near future.
- Chris
MRA #38
