YZ250F

Awhile back I decided the YZ450F is just too hard to kick start so we made a trek to Phoenix to Apache Motorcycles to purchase a YZ250F. This bike is much more my speed, I can actually climb up on it and kick start it myself. Kind of an important skill when you're standing in the middle of no where and need to start your bike. So, yahoo, I am now a happier dirt bike rider. Not completely happy because I still prefer the street.

Check out Apache Motorcycles, their prices are excellent and the service is even better. It's worth the drive to Phoenix to not have to deal with the Las Vegas motorcycle dealers. Not mentioning any names, Ride Now Power Sports, is not for me.

Anyway, I'll be out trying to make friends with dirt bike riding and trying to win over the bumpy roads. Otherwise I will have to stick to the street or better yet the track.

Motorcycle Comparison

I have used my Google Docs spreadsheet to make a comparison chart for motorcycle engines. Please visit and test it out. If you don't know the engine size and horsepower just fill in the motorcycle manufacturer and type and I will add the other information.

Back to the Track

We went to another Fastrack Riders trackday at LVMS on 3/14/2010. It was fun but for some reason I felt nervous and would get off the track before my session was over. I felt unsure of my riding technique so for the next trackday on 4/11/2010 I signed up for the Novice school. You have to attend the Novice school if it is your first trackday or you can take it again as a refresher course. It was great! I had forgotten the correct lines around the track and this can slow you down quite a bit. You want the shortest, most efficient path around the track. I also learned the correct body positioning on the turns. This is me practicing my turns by getting my but off the seat and keep the bike as vertical as possible.

While I was refreshing my track skills my husband was getting bumped up to the next level. Go figure, I've been to more track days than he has and he's kickin' my but like crazy. That's because he has ridden all of his life so it's to be expected. I'm going to practice until I catch him.

How to do an Oil Change

I have created a screencast for your entertainment on How to do an Oil Change on a Yamaha YZ450F. Why do I call it entertaining? Because it is probably more entertaining than educational. Not really, I learned alot from this assignment, not only how to create a screencast but also how to change the oil. Both could prove to be beneficial knowledge in my future.

Motorcycle Wiki

CycleChaos.com is a community of motorcycle enthusiasts that have started a motorycle wiki to share ideas and information. I found this wiki while searching the internet for a wiki that is related to my blog. I thought having a motorcycle wiki on my blog could be a useful resource. You can find this wiki at http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Motorcycle_Wiki. You can search this wiki by motorcycle manufacturer wherein a list of the different models is shown. Each list of models is quite extensive. Some models of motorcycles only have pictures; others have a range of information from minimal to extensive, while some are still blank pages in need of input. I found this motorcycle wiki to be very interesting and easy to use. You can spend hours just looking at the pictures. Some have pictures that range from the 1980’s to present. I found that there is not a picture of the 2008 Yamaha YZ85 which I just happen to have in my garage. There are sections for featured articles, other articles of interest and recently updated pages. There is also a section with a list of motorcycle manufacturer pages that need to have additional information contributed so if anyone has motorcycle knowledge that they would like to share this wiki is ready for input. This wiki has useful motorcycle information and is entertaining. I would recommend this wiki to any motorcycle enthusiast.

Fastrack Riders

Since October, 2008 I've been to several track days with Fastrack Riders. We have been to Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in California with Fastrack Riders. As a matter of fact, this Sunday, March 14, we will be at LVMS riding on the Classic Course. It's riding and not racing, especially at the speeds I ride. There are three levels with one being the slowest (my level). I have a 2008 CBR600 for the track which is a faster, smoother bike than the F4. It's also lighter which makes it easier to handle. I'm going to try and not be one of the slowest five riders. It might be raining so that might slow me down. I don't have the need for speed that the young ones have but we will see.

Taken it to the Track

It's time to go to the track. I was quite nervous about riding with a lot of other riders in a small area. Small compared to the real streets with real cars. On Friday, October 4, 2008 I attended my first track day at the LV Motor Speedway on the Classic Road Course. This track day was sponsored by Sportbike Track Time. The novice group was split up into groups of 3-4 and had female racers as instructors. This was the Femmoto 2008 but men also participated on this day. People came from all across the country to attend this event; it was great. Like I said, I was pretty nervous and wasn't sure I was up to the task but it was too late for that. My husband had put new race tires on my F4 so the bike would slide on the corners and it didn't. Partially due to the tires and partially because I didn't go fast enough to slide. I felt like I was flying around the track but it was not so. It didn't make much sense to me to fly up the straights just to slam on the brakes at the turn so I didn't. My husband kept nagging me I could go faster so on the last lap of the day I managed to pick up the speed a look slightly more respectable.

On Saturday, only women were allowed on the track. Different motorcycle manufacturers, i.e. Kawasaki, Aprilia, and Buell etc. brought their bikes to the track for the women to ride. There were street demo rides for the public, men and women, provided you had a motorcycle license. Riding the different bikes on the track was unbelievably fun. When you go to a dealer to look at bikes you can't take them for test drives like you can cars so this gives you a chance to try different types of bikes. I'm sure the manufactures are hoping you like a bike enough to buy one. I did learn that I no longer wanted to ride a standard motorcycle like my FZ6. I wanted to ride a true sportbike; it just felt right.