I have drunk and loved beer since I was 14 years old, and it sure has given me some unfounded courage and really embarrassing moments in my life. Let’s start this series of embarrassing Tidbits with the story of me thinking my Kawi 350 could do a burnout!
One nice sunny day at my house in Bellflower my buddies and I were hanging out in my garage drinking beer and being biker guys. A usual we were discussing motorcycles and just talking crap. Somehow the subject of burnouts came up. Now to do a burnout on a motorcycle you hold the front brake hard, rev up the engine, as you let out the clutch your rear wheel starts to spin but the bike doesn’t move. Of course the friction caused by the tire spinning on the ground creates noise and lots of smoke. It is fun to do but expensive as it wears out your tire really quickly.
I was the proud owner of a 1973 Kawasaki S2 350 which was a smaller displacement two stroke bike that was very fast and nimble like most two strokes of that era. For those of you that know the characteristics of a two stroke engine you know it virtually has no torque, and to get any power out of it you have to rev it to the moon. Despite this, the beer and my pride said my bike could do a burn out! Well my buddies, of course, laughed and said I was dumb cause no way a two stroke could do one. Since my driveway was really smooth concrete, I knew I was gonna show em!
Now my house was one of those where there were four houses built along one driveway which emptied onto the street, so the houses were very close together. My Kawasaki was fast, and since I only weighed like 150 lbs and I used to drag race and beat Honda 750s, I knew that if I did it right, I could do a burnout. At the time I had shorts, tennis shoes and a t-shirt on with no helmet, but hey, all I was going to do was a burnout. So I got onto the bike in my driveway, put my family jewels on the gas cap, leaned far forward, revved the engine to the redline and dropped the clutch…..
Well, the bike instantly went into a stand up wheelie, dumped me off the back onto my butt and wheelied right into my neighbor’s front door! His screen door was destroyed and it put scratches and scars all over the door. At this point my buddies are on the ground laughing their butts off and I am, as you might think, really embarrassed. So I picked myself up, picked up my bike and we all inspected the damage to it and everything else. I did lay scratch though! There was a 4” patch of rubber on the driveway!
OK, some might call that stupid but after replacing the neighbor’s screen door, painting some scratches on the door and the bike, and replacing a couple of motorcycle parts, all was good. The memory of that is absolutely priceless and this story is just one of the many that I still have to tell. Please don’t do what I did and don’t ever ride when you have been drinking. Otherwise you will have your own list of stupid things you have done to talk about. I absolutely love the life I have had in motorcycling and let me tell you I have more totally embarrassing stories to tell. Stay tuned!
EVENTS
RESCUE OF THE WEEK
MOTORCYCLE NEWS
Triumph Rocket 3 Evel Knievel Limited Edition First Look
A head-turning tribute to motorcycling’s greatest showman.
His later career might have been tied to Harley-Davidson but Evel Knievel’s earlier stunts including his most famous jump—the 1967 Caesars Palace leap that put him into both the public eye and a hospital bed—were made on Triumphs. It’s a partnership that spanned Knievel’s career from obscurity to becoming arguably the most famous motorcyclist on the planet, and it’s marked by a new limited edition of 500 Rocket 3s for 2025. Both the Rocket 3 GT and Rocket 3 R are being offered in Evel Knievel Limited Edition form, each accounting for half that total of 500 bikes. While a Bonneville T120 might have been a more accurate representation of Evel’s old Triumph jump bikes, his approach was always to attract as much attention as possible, and that’s precisely what the Rocket 3 achieves.
The Ducati Lenovo Team back on Track at Montmeló for the Solidarity GP in Barcelona, the Final Act of the 2024 MotoGP Season
Everything is set for the final round of the 2024 MotoGP season, which will take place this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Due to the flooding events that affected the Valencia area, including the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, which was originally scheduled to host the last GP of the year, the World Championship will now make its stop at Montmeló.The event has been renamed the “Solidarity GP of Barcelona,” with all proceeds dedicated to helping the flood victims.
For the third consecutive year, the outcome of the MotoGP World Championship will be decided in the season’s final round, with Ducati riders Jorge Martín and Francesco Bagnaia once again at the forefront of the title battle. Martín, riding for Pramac Racing, enters Barcelona with a 24-point lead over Bagnaia, who narrowly missed winning the Sprint at Montmeló last May (falling on the final lap) but went on to claim victory in Sunday’s race. Bagnaia, with 10 wins this season, will be determined to keep the championship fight alive until the very end.
This weekend is also significant for Enea Bastianini, who will compete in his final Grand Prix with Ducati. The rider from Rimini is currently just one point behind Marc Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) in third place in the standings, keeping his hopes alive for a spot on the world championship podium.
SALES & PROMOTIONS
*PLEASE NOTE - THE 20% OFF SERVICE VOUCHER IS GOOD FOR ONE USE ONLY AND IS PER CUSTOMER, NOT PER BIKE.