Had an awesome time at the MotoGP this year. Even with the crowd obviously being impacted by the economy, it was a great time. I really loved swimming around in the sea of the bike culture in Indy for 3 days. It was cool to be amongst so many bikes of the sporty nature (few HDs).
Here are a few observations. Lots of eye candy. The Ducati Hotties lived up to their name. Lots of very cool and friendly bikers. The crowds were great at the track and around town. What a great bunch of people to hang with.
Picked up 6 different kickstand pads, 3 posters, and 3 shamwow like towels from the Ducati Hotties.
Suzuki was absent again this year in the infield. Very disappointing.
The Speed Channel tent was a cool place to hang out. They had a great sound system, couches, large flat screens, beer, and the speed channel hottties.
KTM was doing demo rides. Looked like fun.
Yamaha had lots of cool customs in their tent. An R6 made up like a bobber was my favorite.
BMW brought out the 1kRR which got a lot of attention.
Saw a Busa with a side car and a 4-wheeled Gold Wing. They had an awesome custom HD flat tracker. I'd love to have that bike.
Most of the bikes parked along the back stretch on the track. It was cool being able to make a quick zip on the famed oval - even for just a very short burst. The yellow shirts were pretty cool about it as long as you were being safe and scrubbing off the speed before approaching anyone.
I estimate there were 4000 - 5000 bikes parked on the back stretch (down from a previous estimate I posted of 20k). The bikes were 5 per row, 3 feet spread, and stretched out for about 2500 feet to arrive at the revised number.
We walked many of the bikes. Lots of great ones. A few rat bikes. Lots of Ducatis, and of course heavily dominated by sporties of all types. It was interesting to see how many of the sport bikes had major chicken strips. There was a lot of unused rubber - me thinks we had a few squids in our midst.
The rain on Friday did little to dampen our fun. Saturday and Sunday the weather was great for bikes. The cool, dense air was making good HP. I think it was DeAngelis that cracked 201mph on the front straight during the race.
The GP bikes were amazing. It was my first time watching them run in the dry where they could run WFO. And, man did they. Seeing it on TV, like many things, doesn't do it justice. You have to see and hear them. You can feel the exhaust notes tickling your ear drums. Then, as they roar by, it thunders in your chest. The long black signatures of the rear tires leaving turn 5 (turn 2 during the oval events) by practically all of them was a blast to watch. Many of them were wiggling all over 5. Nicky Hayden was on the edge there in the first half of the race drifting crazily, but seemed to run slightly wider to miss the bumps as the race progressed.
King Kenny Roberts was in town. Ran his old TZ750 flat tracker at the Indy Mile. I didn't make that, but heard he gave it a good spin. KR was, and always will be the man for me. Wish I could have caught up to him somewhere here.
Kevin Schwantz ran around for a couple of laps. Good to see him here. Always like the bravery he showed saddled up. That guy made some pretty crazy moves on the track in his day. He ran it up pretty hard during his demo laps. He wasn't too far off race pace as far as I could tell. Same with Randy Mamola who had the 2 seat GP bike cranking with a few different people riding on the back with him. I was in awe of how fast he jammed around the track with a passenger. He wasn't holding much back.
The race itself quickly became the Lorenzo show after Pedrosa and Rossi hit the tarmac. Too bad. It would have been a great race. After that, it was fun watching Hayden fight so hard to pull out a 3rd. He earned it. Nobody was using as much track or laying down as much rubber as he did. It was also fun watching Pedrosa pick his bike up and go like **** after the pack. It was pretty amazing watching him reel them in and then pass a few to finish 10th. He had everyone covered if he hadn't dropped it.
Turn 2 foiled several riders over the weekend. There is a pavement change that creates a bump. It was unsettling the tires of a few bikes and causing them to slide out. Saw it happen up close 3 times during the qualifications. Ironically, Rossi fell in that same corner, but it wasn't because of that. Looked like he just locked up the front setting up for the corner.
All told, great 3 days. Can't wait until next year. I'm thinking of renting a room downtown along with everyone else just cause it would be a blast.
Here are a few observations. Lots of eye candy. The Ducati Hotties lived up to their name. Lots of very cool and friendly bikers. The crowds were great at the track and around town. What a great bunch of people to hang with.
Picked up 6 different kickstand pads, 3 posters, and 3 shamwow like towels from the Ducati Hotties.
Suzuki was absent again this year in the infield. Very disappointing.
The Speed Channel tent was a cool place to hang out. They had a great sound system, couches, large flat screens, beer, and the speed channel hottties.
KTM was doing demo rides. Looked like fun.
Yamaha had lots of cool customs in their tent. An R6 made up like a bobber was my favorite.
BMW brought out the 1kRR which got a lot of attention.
Saw a Busa with a side car and a 4-wheeled Gold Wing. They had an awesome custom HD flat tracker. I'd love to have that bike.
Most of the bikes parked along the back stretch on the track. It was cool being able to make a quick zip on the famed oval - even for just a very short burst. The yellow shirts were pretty cool about it as long as you were being safe and scrubbing off the speed before approaching anyone.
I estimate there were 4000 - 5000 bikes parked on the back stretch (down from a previous estimate I posted of 20k). The bikes were 5 per row, 3 feet spread, and stretched out for about 2500 feet to arrive at the revised number.
We walked many of the bikes. Lots of great ones. A few rat bikes. Lots of Ducatis, and of course heavily dominated by sporties of all types. It was interesting to see how many of the sport bikes had major chicken strips. There was a lot of unused rubber - me thinks we had a few squids in our midst.
The rain on Friday did little to dampen our fun. Saturday and Sunday the weather was great for bikes. The cool, dense air was making good HP. I think it was DeAngelis that cracked 201mph on the front straight during the race.
The GP bikes were amazing. It was my first time watching them run in the dry where they could run WFO. And, man did they. Seeing it on TV, like many things, doesn't do it justice. You have to see and hear them. You can feel the exhaust notes tickling your ear drums. Then, as they roar by, it thunders in your chest. The long black signatures of the rear tires leaving turn 5 (turn 2 during the oval events) by practically all of them was a blast to watch. Many of them were wiggling all over 5. Nicky Hayden was on the edge there in the first half of the race drifting crazily, but seemed to run slightly wider to miss the bumps as the race progressed.
King Kenny Roberts was in town. Ran his old TZ750 flat tracker at the Indy Mile. I didn't make that, but heard he gave it a good spin. KR was, and always will be the man for me. Wish I could have caught up to him somewhere here.
Kevin Schwantz ran around for a couple of laps. Good to see him here. Always like the bravery he showed saddled up. That guy made some pretty crazy moves on the track in his day. He ran it up pretty hard during his demo laps. He wasn't too far off race pace as far as I could tell. Same with Randy Mamola who had the 2 seat GP bike cranking with a few different people riding on the back with him. I was in awe of how fast he jammed around the track with a passenger. He wasn't holding much back.
The race itself quickly became the Lorenzo show after Pedrosa and Rossi hit the tarmac. Too bad. It would have been a great race. After that, it was fun watching Hayden fight so hard to pull out a 3rd. He earned it. Nobody was using as much track or laying down as much rubber as he did. It was also fun watching Pedrosa pick his bike up and go like **** after the pack. It was pretty amazing watching him reel them in and then pass a few to finish 10th. He had everyone covered if he hadn't dropped it.
Turn 2 foiled several riders over the weekend. There is a pavement change that creates a bump. It was unsettling the tires of a few bikes and causing them to slide out. Saw it happen up close 3 times during the qualifications. Ironically, Rossi fell in that same corner, but it wasn't because of that. Looked like he just locked up the front setting up for the corner.
All told, great 3 days. Can't wait until next year. I'm thinking of renting a room downtown along with everyone else just cause it would be a blast.