Frigid frustration

February has been a strenuous month here at TrackdayMag.com.  The Chicago area location of our offices was recently buried beneath one of the heaviest snowfalls in the city's history. The white stuff added one more complication to an already frenzied schedule.

Our magazine was asked to provide motorcycles for display purposes at two different shows. For the Chicago IMS, held February 11-13, we intended to exhibit a very Top-Secret project that we've been working on.  This machine would be displayed in the Race Tech Suspension booth.  Unfortunately, the Chinese New Year got in the way. Apparently, that country more or less shuts down for a few weeks during this festival, which is not good news if you have a shipment of parts vital to your project sitting on a loading dock in Beijing.  Once these long overdue items reached our shores, they were again stalled by the blizzard.  Admitting defeat, we rushed to reassemble and polish the venerable Salvage Sweetheart GSXR 600 for this gig.  The Gixxer was completed with mere hours to spare, allowing us to honor our commitment.

Even as this thrash was occurring, we were still elbow-deep in our preparation of the Literbike Lust GSXR 1000, which had to be in the Woodcraft/ Armour Bodies booth at the Indy Dealer Expo on February 17.  We actually picked up the final items necessary to finish our Thousand while at the Chicago show. This is one stunningly prepared motorcycle that we can’t wait to ride again. Armour Bodies wanted their glass displayed in its original primered finish. Other than paint, the big 1K will arrive in Indianapolis ready to ride.

Unfortunately, all this drama has left us with no time to write!  As a result, this four-paragraph excuse is what we have to offer for mid-month content.  The upside is that our March 1 issue should be killer!  There'll be reports on both shows, reviews of several hot products, another Fast Woman article and who knows what else. Stay tuned!

We highside the Silverstone clean over a tire wall

 Too many damn lions!  That’s about the only complaint we could come up with regarding BKS’s Silverstone suit, which has eleven lion-head logos on it; thirteen if you count the ones on the included knee pucks. Raise that number to seventeen if you count the ones on the gloves that come as part of the package deal. Sure, the English Lion is a centuries-old symbol rich in tradition, but c’mon guys; we get it already. 

Think YOU”VE had trouble living down a crash?

An acceleration darkie.   It takes talent to make one.  It takes an exceptionally special individual to make one six feet long their first time EVER in the seat of a motorcycle. Did I mention that the ejection launch mirrored the best efforts of Superman?  The landing was pretty special, too.  Think Wile E. Coyote and you'll be close.  Sudden STOP.  Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.... 

None of us would consider wearing half a suit at the track but that’s exactly what we do when riding on the street.  How often have you made do with a riding jactet and jeans when taking your bike for a cruise in the country?  Really, this is only going to present a problem if you fall, right?  Since we can’t predict when we’ll crash, Alpinestars has come up with a solution.