Serious Scandinavian stoppers

“Brakes? Who need’s ‘em? All they do is slow you down.” (Robert “Snuffy” Smith, Philadelphia area, vintage racer.

Given the effectiveness of modern sportbike brakes, most of us don’t realize that they can be improved. Even with stock pads, their stopping power is incredible compared to what was available just a decade ago.  That was certainly the case with TrackdayMag.com’s Eastern division Kawasaki ’05 ZX 6R trackday mule. We’d never noticed any shortcomings when slowing from speeds of up to 150 mph, passing other riders late on the brakes into corners or trail braking. The response from this machine’s stock Tokiko calipers & pads was always linear and predictable. It never occurred to us that there was any need for improvement.

We’re our own little world

Photos by Matt Sturgeon, http://www.limitedctrl.com/

To an outsider, our hobby might seem to be quite solitary.  There you are at a hundred-plus, swaddled head to toe in protective gear and isolated from the world, utterly alone with your machine.  You become one with the bike; a mechanical animal built for speed and living on the ragged edge of disaster; hurtling headlong into the…  Yeah, whatever!  Leave the overwrought notions for those too timid to participate.  We racetrack riders know that one of the best parts of this sport is the people.

An MCRA race licensing clinic graduate shares his story

(Editor’s note: Check out Danny’s cool video of this adventure!)

At some point between gigging frogs and playing wiffle ball, I saw something on TV that stopped me dead in my tracks.  Gracefully unfolding on the screen was a contest of speed and agility, featuring a tight line of riders aboard sleek-bodied motorcycles that must have come from a galaxy far, far away.  It was like nothing I had ever seen.  These racers appeared to defy the limits of traction and even gravity itself as they carved over a serpentine swath of asphalt in the middle of an enormous stadium. Captivated by this furious ballet, my imagination had me weaving back and forth and wheelieing out of corners.  I told myself, “I WILL do that some day.”

From GotTrack.net to “Got Race License.”

At the age of 24, Rebecca Smith has taken control riding to a whole different level. Beck lives in Boca Raton, Florida and spends 1-2 weekends each month control riding for GotTrack.net and SouthernTrackDays.com or other privately organized track days for companies like Monkey Works Cycle out of Daytona, FL and the 1000rr.us forum. She is a well liked individual whom many describe as a breath of fresh air both on and off the track. Currently she rides her CBR600RR with the same ease she displayed aboard the DRZ400SM that was her previous bike. On April 3, 2011 Beck raced her first event at JenningsGP and placed; we are certain this will not be the last event Beck competes in.