I attended the World Super Bike race in Utah last year and had a great time watching the BMW S1000RR - it didn't perform especially well, but it was cool to be a part of the BMW world and witness the struggles of both bike and rider/team. To be sure the other things to see like people and motorcycles made for a good diversion from work. BMW again provided a special package for BMW riders for the 2010 event and I got onto it right away. The ride in this year was a whole lot different.

I'd offered for a few riders to accompany me and they signed on however for one reason or another made other arrangements except one person. I left at 0445 on Friday morning to meet him in North Bend and we would thereafter press on for Idaho. It was the plan to make for Burley, spend the night and have a short ride into the track in the morning. Didn't work out that way.

Our spring has been extraordinarily wet this year with temperatures in the 40s and - did I say wet? High winds and heavy rain was forecast and so it was as I left the house. I was drenched when I got to North Bend and warmed up with coffee while waiting for my road mate. He didn't show. A cell phone call explained it all. He'd dropped his bike in a corner he'd taken a 1000 times and it was unridable - he was OK, but had to get the bike disposed of. I took off and he followed later in the day in his car. The rain over the pass was simply amazing. The last time I rode in rain like this was in Mississippi while doing a 50CC and it almost caused me to abort that ride. The bike was hydroplaning in spots and I had as much rain inside my helmet as outside. A weakness of the Arai vent system is rain gets forced into the vents and even though closed to the elements one gets a cold drip from each, which turns into a torrent if a small bit of grit gets into the mix. The wind was fierce as well. 40 mph gusts moved everything around - me, the bike, other vehicles, trees, etc. Fun in a sick way. And it remained so until Prosser where I bailed for gas and breakfast.

Lighter rain but stronger wind made the ride into and through Oregon "entertaining" and it stayed around 40 degrees. My bike wasn't running like it should - kind of a story in itself. It is a new 2010 R1200RT and a wonderful machine, but the new cam-head engine has some first run teething pains. The cam timing trigger needed alignment and that was performed along with routine first service stuff, but it wasn't running well. I agreed to do the ride on it to see if, after resetting the adaptive values on the bike, it would learn to run like a real RT. Well it wasn't and I was getting 38 - 40 mpg, and it was rough as hell at 4K rpm. Until the last day of the ride I assumed it was the wind - any bike would complain bashing into 40 mph head winds, but it began to run as it should and got 50+ mpg riding into the wind and it didn't vibrate. Hmmm. Anyway, back to the ride....once in Idaho the wind came at me from behind and all seemed better. However, I didn't make it to Burley. Instead I got off in Mountain Home, ID and called it quits. Duane texted me that he was nearby and we would meet tomorrow in Utah. A disgusting meal and a warm bed made a tough day seem like a fun day, but I was beat and went sleeping instantly.

The ride into Utah was freaking cold. 36 degrees then 40 degrees - but it didn't rain - and it did blow. There is a sign on the freeway south indicating severe winds sometimes happen in the next 40 miles. If what I had been riding in wasn't severe, I didn't want to experience severe. I did. I swear, if I hadn't eaten lightly at breakfast I would have crapped myself in that 40 mile kill zone, however the road descends to Ogden and all I had to deal with was morning freeway traffic. Found my motel near the airport and checked in. I chose this location as it is easy on and off the freeway leading to Tooele where Miller Motorsports Park is located. Duane and I hooked up and we headed for motorcycles.

It is memorial Day weekend - nice touch



Saturday is practice day and it was clear the BMW bikes were doing a whole lot better than last year.

I/we just roamed around looking at stuff and meeting friends and customers. There was a rock concert scheduled and I, and the other dealer representatives had a dinner invite from BMW. I didn't attend. Their tent was next to the band platform and those incredible sound systems favored my musicians so I concluded it would be loud. And I was tired from the ride into Utah and the day's activities - so I rode to the motel and bed.

Sunday was great. I was rested and cruised the pits, watched Troy Corser put the BMW up the butt of Max Biaggi in the first Superpole and then watched him crash out on the second. He starts from the back in the race. Fun checking out the other brands - Suzuki, Honda, Ducati etc. - and talking bikes with other riders. The most interesting thing with this crowd is nobody engaged in brand bashing. Indeed it seemed when a rider asked what you rode he or she - and there were a lot of women riders - knew the strong and weak points of your bike and had a solid rationale for why they rode what they rode, and the gear they wore. I'm not sure how to make use of all this in our dealership but it is food for thought. Kind of interesting that one young sport bike rider looked at my RT as I was preparing to leave. He spent a good bit of time actually, and asked a lot of questions eventually commenting "well its clear to me that bike is all about business". "It ain't pretty, but I can see it gets the job done". I have a new name for my bike: All About Business.

Monday is race day and we get there early - lots of people attending and finally the temperatures are in the 70s and there is sun. There are preliminary races and a lot of stuff like parade laps where people can ride their whatever around the track. Not something I'd do but I'm sure it was fun for the participants as there were oodles of bikes cruising around. Got into the pits again with my camera - always fun, and noticed Carlos Checa doing an interview, and Roger Hayden signing autographs for people - especially nice to little kids.

Would love to have been in on that discussion

Mere mortals don't often get next to umbrella girls but Honda had two out front for people to speak with and photograph - and they were popular! - almost stole the show away from the race bikes.

The first race saw the BMW bike ridden by Troy Corser go from the back of the grid to the front fairly quickly and he finished 5th IIRC. Ruben Xaus maintained a 12th I think - pretty good showing and indicates the team is progressing. Truly unfortunate was Carlos Checa on his Ducati. Leading Max Biaggi all the way and appearing to have an easy win locked in when his bike just died with a couple laps to go. Max won. I waited for the start of race two and it looked like a repeat of the first so I began the trip home - I had to be at work Wednesday. Warm - escaped the end of race traffic - and got to Bonneville where I pulled over for a break. Truly interesting place - and it really is salt.

Made for Twin Falls, ID and ran into some rain and cooling temperatures. Slept well. The rest is a freeway slog home and up over Chinook Pass - more snow up there this year than I have ever seen - should have taken a picture or two but I was freezing.

Epilogue: I discovered my RT would either run perfectly or in some other condition depending on some factor I could not drill down to. I did learn if it was running badly to shut it down and restart it. Sometimes it would then run as it should. The trip over Chinook Pass is an example. Perfect power, roll on, and smooth - real smooth. Our technical department isn't sure exactly what is wrong but it seems there must be a hall sensor malfunctioning or some slop in the cam timing that the upgraded part didn't/couldn't address. Hoping for the best as I really like this motorcycle.