There
are things that are out of your control and there are things that are in your
control, riding motorcycles definitely drills that in to your brain. The one
thing that I had never counted on, when I decided to gear up and start my amateur
racing career was that I could lose my job. But it happened, and I wasn’t ready
for it. My race bike was completely taken apart, I was in the middle of totally
rebuilding my wiring harness, and I still had loads of testing to do on the
dyno. It seemed my prestigious days of being an R&D technician for a major
player in the motorcycle electronics industry were over, for now. If only the
world could exist without politics, drama, and bosses with Napoleon Complexes. But
that’s not the way it is, and sometimes you just have to roll with the lemons
you were dealt.
Fortunately
for me as one door closed another opened up, and I found a motorcycle repair
shop in southern Orange County, run by young motorcycle enthusiasts just like
me. It happened that they were in need of a tech who knew his way around electrical
installs, and could handle the jobs that didn’t always have a clear path to the
answer of “what the hell is wrong with this bike, and how do I fix it?” It
seemed like a good fit for both of us, and so now I’m getting to learn all the
stuff about fixing motorcycles that a cushy R&D position doesn’t teach you.
And that is definitely a good thing; my hunger for knowledge has a full plate
in front of it.
It’s
been a little rough, my daily commute is now 92 miles instead of the previous
14, and getting used to working as a flat rate tech is a giant mental
adjustment from being on salary. But the future has a whole new array of
potential, and at the end of the day that’s what keeps me going. Progress on my
beloved track bike is beginning to move forward again. The motor and wiring
harness will hopefully be completed by the end of the month. The chassis will
be sent to the powder coater for some beautification, and I’ve we’ve got a welder
friend who can make me the custom titanium midpipe I need to tie together my
Akropovic headers and megaphone exhaust.
In fact my new employer has all
kinds of industry contacts, which enable us to give our customers top notch
service, and that’s a good feeling. I like being able to give a bike back to a
fellow rider in way better condition than when it came to me. Whether it’s an
insurance repair, carb tune, or just a new chain and sprocket set, we get it
done better than anyone else around. I like being part of a good team, and I’ve
definitely found that with +Riders Revelation . If you want to know more about our team and what we can do, check out our web page: ridersrevelation.com
And to my future opponents in
CVMA: I’m coming, and I’m bringing my friends ;-)
