Archive for the ‘Bike/Riding’ Category
October 2nd, 2011 | 
Author: Well, I did it. I got a new bike and a Triumph Sprint ST to boot. It’s a 2006 that had 9300 miles on it.
I’ve wanted one of these since I saw my first one up close at Triumph of Tacoma.
We’re just heading into the “off” season so I took advantage to try and get a good deal.
Buying the Bike
After looking around a bit, I had an idea of what they “went for” and was ready to try and buy one even if it wasn’t local to me (these bikes aren’t easy to find for sale so finding one down the street is problematic).
What I chose to do was something one step further and having just been through this, I can’t recommend it (him) enough. I used Barry Jaroslow of http://www.autobuyingmadeeasywa.com who is a buyers advocate/representative. We exchanged a number of emails and he asked me a lot of questions (at first it seemed like too many, but he was just making sure I wasn’t forgetting anything important, like insurance or my endorsement.
The second phase was amazing; while I sat working one day, he called and haggled with the dealership (I found mine at a dealer in a neighboring town) until we settled on a figure that ended up including the taxes and license fees you have to pay anyway. On a bike that was listed at $7995, dropped to 6300 upon my first contact with the dealer, Barry saved me an additional $800.00!! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 
Had a great couple of days out at the TOR at Pacific Raceways. As always, Darren Beatty (http://www.darrenbeattyphotography.com/) is out shooting pics. Here are some he got of me.
Heading into the Bus Stop
Heading into Turn 2
Turn 2 Reverse Angle
At the end of the Back Straight
After having done the Taste of Racing at Pacific Raceways in Kent, and finding out they wouldn’t have another until August, I decided that I needed to plan a trip back down to Oregon to see my mother…and if there just happened to be a TOR at PIR that would just be such good luck 
So, finding out that June 25th-26th would have one on each day I made a quick plan and hopped on I-5 south. I’ll skip all those details and just give you my impression of the event at the track.
First Impressions
Ok, so the first thing you run into at PIR that is very different is that the main infield/paddock area is inside the track. That means to get to it you need to cross the track. In other words, you need to wait for them to open the gates and let you across.
The TOR bikes were assembling near a sign that said Registration (but nothing about a Taste of Racing as it did in Kent). No big deal, just sign up, pay your $20.00 and assume that your bike will pass inspection.
After hanging out a while they had the same basic team talk as the first one I did. “We’re here to have fun”, “Pass on the outside”, “Only after the second lap”, etc, etc.
We lined up and waited for the green flag.