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FREEOENE!!
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PLUS: Can RIT’S EVTill Finish rev2 in time? pweak?! jeremy win at pikeshandle can your stomach er of the peerless pow the
garbage plate!?
moToclectic
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ISSUE
003 CONTENTS
STAFF SCOTT WAKEFIELD Editor-in-Chief
DAN HOSEK Art Director
CONTRIBUTORS Dale G. Cuer, Michael Hanlon, Tom Owejan, Phil Bond, Dan Shapiro, André Green
IFC | R IDER FRIENDLY DIRECTORY 02 | F ROM THE TEAM Why so serious?
03 | T OM OWEJAN AND THE BATCYCLE
A local craftsman has his atomic batteries to power restoring bike after bike
12 | G AS-TRONOMICAL
Our food critic is able to eat a mountain of food on a single plate
22 | C ATCHING UP WITH RIT’S EVT
A tale of suspense nears its electrified culmination!
28 | I NTERVIEW: JEREMY HIGGINS PT. 2
He’s off to Pikes Peak! (We ran out of clever comic book references)
40 | E VENTS Printed by Tri-Tech Inc. tri-techcanada.com © 2 019 DHSW Media, LLC All rights reserved
MOTOCLECTIC | 01
Sometimes I think we need a little less Christian Bale and a little more Adam West. Or, maybe I could say, less gravely-voiced, broken-spine, death-of-Gotham-City terror, and more Shark Repellant Bat Spray.
ogling gorgeous motorcycles, and talking about racing! It’s all so amazing! Yes, life can feel like Tom Hardy is mumbling through his facemask something about your death, or like Joker just shot you out of the air with an absurdly large pistol. That’s the reality of work and finances and having to fix the roof. But, you know what? We have motorcycles and the friends, roads, places, stories, and memories that come with them! When things just suck, the solution usually lies somewhere on two wheels.
Please don’t misunderstand me—I love the Batman franchise in almost every form, from the comic books to screens large and small. LEGO Batman might be one of my all-time favorite movies, and The Animated Series was an essential part of my childhood. The live-action movies are a mix of great and terrible, but I think I can help make my point by borrowing Arnie’s Mr. Freeze line: Have your Dark Knight moments, but don’t let them beat the Batusi spirit out of you. “Everybody chill!” We hope you enjoy reading this issue of Full disclosure: We had a few serious moments MOTOCLECTIC as much as we did making it. putting MOTOCLECTIC 003 together. We Please share it, support our advertisers, and if have to; that’s how you get crap done. While it’s you’re getting a little down, just imagine that been a ton of work, it’s been a million times more exploding shark. fun. Are you kidding me? We have an article about a 1960’s BATCYCLE! We’re watching an electric motorcycle being built by Rochester students! We’re reviewing delicious Plates, and
CONTACT US! To inquire about advertising opportunities: advertising@motoclectic.com To let us know about any upcoming events: events@motoclectic.com For general inquiries: mail@motoclectic.com To contact Scott directly: scott@motoclectic.com To contact Dan directly: dan@motoclectic.com
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02 | MOTOCLECTIC
INTERVIEW
We met with Tom Owejan and asked him to tell us a little bit about himself—where he came from, how he came to love motorcycles, etc.— and to tell us a whole bunch about his partnership with Motorcyclepedia and the 1966 Batcycle he rebuilt!
www.motoclectic.com | 03
TOM OWEJAN AND THE BATCYCLE!
I
was born in Cornwall, New York, in 1950, and was one of four children living at Orange Lake, Walden, New York. I graduated in 1968 from Valley Central in Montgomery, New York, and attended Orange County Community College.
indoor lumber yard and employed me to help set it up. That was 2010. The Museum opened in April 2011 with 500+ motorcycles and lots of related items.
Working out of my shop in Rochester, I have My origins with two wheels and a motor began restored 80-plus motorcycles for the museum, when I (unknown to the parental units) removed plus all kinds of other neat display items like an the engine from the lawn mower and attached Indian twin-cylinder outboard motor, a Maytag it to a 26” bicycle. It was the terror of the washing machine two-stroke engine, and even a neighborhood! I was 11 years old. 1944 Eliason Motor Toboggan. I had a number of tired old motorcycles and scooters that we thrashed in the fields and woods but we were too poor to ever own a real trail bike. In 1968, with the help of the bank, I bought a nearly new 1968 BSA 650 Lightning and my 50-year love affair with motorcycles began in earnest. At that time, Ted Doering and I began our friendship. Ted was just starting out with his Ted’s Cycle Shed, which morphed into Tedd Cycle Inc. and eventually became the mighty V-Twin Mfg. The BSA was turned into a chopper (I know!), which was traded for a 1950 Harley-Davidson Panhead. That Pan became the love of my life and still runs in my dreams. I became pretty familiar with Harleys and for a time I was a traveling mechanic—“Have Tools Will Travel”—and met a lot of cool people and had fun while earning a couple bucks.
In my lifetime I have restored at least 150 collectable motorcycles, and have wrenched on thousands. I would say my favorite all-time motorcycle was that 1950 Pan; I was so in tune with that bike I swear it was like an extension of my being. Really! Other favorites were a 1933 Indian Four that I restored for a family. Their son had purchased this bike and dismantled it, and then died at a young age, leaving a young family. I had heard about the bike and tracked it down but it was not for sale. I convinced the family it would be a good idea for them to let me restore it. They agreed to pay for parts and materials, and in exchange for my labor I would get to ride it for a season. The Indian arrived at my house in January and the following April I was riding it. I had the best summer ever with that machine and on Thanksgiving Day I gave it back to the rightful owners.
I began working on automobiles and eventually went back to working on cycles, but it is hard to earn a living as a motorcycle mechanic and becoming an auto mechanic made more sense at the time with my growing family.
Another favorite was my ‘33 VL. My son found that bike down in Texas, bought it, crated it (it was a basket case) and shipped it to me. I rebuilt it, showed it, and rode it daily for about ten years. It now resides in a museum in St. Louis.
Fast-forward 35 years. My friend Ted is getting ready to display his huge collection of motorcycles and set out to establish Motorcyclepedia. He bought and renovated an 85,000 square foot
In my shop I do all work myself including the painting. Mark Weld from Middleport, New York, is a great artist who comes in and does lettering and striping.
04 | MOTOCLECTIC
TOM OWEJAN AND THE BATCYCLE! The 1966 Batcycle is my latest to date. We purchased it from a wrecking yard in California with the story that it was one of the five originals built for the 1960s Batman TV series. It was in really rough shape and the original Yamaha YDS
Catalina was beyond repair. We found another YDS in Texas and had it shipped to New York. I spent about five months restoring the Batcycle to its present condition. The motorcycle was completely disassembled. The painted parts
how the batcycle came out of the wrecking yard.
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TOM OWEJAN AND THE BATCYCLE!
06 | MOTOCLECTIC
TOM RIT’S OWEJAN ELECTRIC AND THE VEHICLE BATCYCLE! TEAM
www.motoclectic.com | 07
TOM OWEJAN AND THE BATCYCLE!
were media blasted and refinished, repairing any problem areas like filling drilled holes, straightening footrest mounts, etc. The motor was rebuilt along with the carburetors and the bike was rewired. All the rubber parts were replaced and parts were re-chromed, polished, or painted as necessary. The sidecar frame was missing so I built another using the impressions left by the original in the upholstered back wall for the dimensions. One of the biggest obstacles was the canopy (windscreen) was broken. Now, there have been many Batcycles built over the years and somewhere along the line a new set of molds was built. The newer molds differ in the shape of the canopy. In my search for parts I found a supplier for the canopy and after waiting several months it arrived. It was slightly different so I had to make a modification to the fairing which required making a buck from plaster to form a frame for the new canopy. When I work on something like this Batcycle, I try to leave as much original as possible, I don’t replace every part—only what’s needed. As any of my friends can tell you, I am an avid Hot Rodder. I own a 1940 Mercury chopped-top sedan (built 2006), a 1932 Chevrolet coupe open wheel car (built 2016), a 2004 stock Corvette, and am currently working on a 1964 Galaxy mild custom. I ride a 2003 Road King. I would like to add that having the opportunity to work daily on these beautiful old motorcycles is the most rewarding job anyone could ever have. And the fact that they all go into a Museum for everyone to enjoy is gratifying beyond expression.
To see the Batcycle and many of Tom’s other restorations, visit Motorcyclepedia in Newburgh, New York! And check out their website at www.motorcyclepediamuseum.org
08 | MOTOCLECTIC
TOM OWEJAN AND THE BATCYCLE! step-by-step and with great attention to the smallest details, the batcycle was brought back to life.
www.motoclectic.com | 09
the final product just before heading off to motorcyclepedia.
10 | MOTOCLECTIC
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FEATURED ARTICLE
GAS-TRONOmical! By DALE g. cuer
My review of plates in the greater Rochester area!
A customer sizes up his garbage plates at nick tahou--home of the original garbage plate!
12 | MOTOCLECTIC
I
was born dead-center between Buffalo and Rochester, and it was an easy 45-minute drive to get to either city. While most of my friends tended to go toward Buffalo when they were interested in doing something (stupid chicken wings), I always favored Rochester. There was something about that city that drew me. I liked the feel of the city; I liked the people; I liked the way it is laid out. But the thing that I liked the most—the thing that drew me there was that culinary delight known as the garbage plate. (Insert smile emoji here.) I enjoyed them so much that I would occasionally make the late night trip up to Nick Tahou (pronounced, as you know, “tahoo”) just to get the first and original “Garbage Plate.” If I were anywhere near Rochester I would go out of my way just to stop in at Tahou’s and get a garbage plate. I would talk about them, tell my friends about them, (insert sad emoji here) I would even dream about the famous garbage plate. And then one day my life changed forever. I became aware that other eateries in the area carried “plates.” (I am pretty sure I heard angels singing.)
These culinary marvels were not called garbage plates. They carried other names because the name Tahou’s owns the copyright to “garbage plate” (as it should be). Even though the name was different, the concept and the presentation were the same. There are many variations, but they were all wonderful. Since I could stop at many places in the Rochester area and order a “plate,” I started out by making it a point to get a plate at least once a week at the eateries that were closest to me. I worked my schedule around my weekly trip to get a plate. Even on those rare occasions when I would experience a break from sanity, and decide to go on the horrible torture trail called the diet, I always made sure that a weekly plate was on that diet. As my enjoyment of the plate increased, I began traveling farther afield trying out the different plates in my area, and it didn’t take too long to figure out what I liked, what I didn’t like, and who I thought made the best plates. The discovery and testing of new plates became such a part of my weekly routine that I would plan day trips on my motorcycle just a test out a new plate. (It was a tough job but someone
www.motoclectic.com | 13
GAS-TRONOMICAL had to do it!) As I talked about my adventures, more and more people got interested and started asking questions. Questions like: Where’s a good place to get a plate in this area? How’s the plate in this location? Do you always smell like that? Where’s your favorite place to get a plate? And the most important question: What about the plate at that eatery do you like? It’s from those questions, and many more like them, that the idea for this column has sprung. (Sprang? Springed?)* The idea is to rate plates in the greater Rochester area. To do this effectively, a couple of things need to happen. First, they all need to be rated by the same person. I’m not a big fan of some of the current rating systems like Google and Yelp where many different people rate a restaurant, because each person has different tastes and they might not like the same things that I do. So there needs to be a consistency in the evaluation process. Me, being the kindhearted person that I am, have decided to take one for the team, to dive on the sword and, to be that taster.
Second, there needs to be a consistent rating system along with an explanation of how the rating was derived. Your taste might not be the same as mine so you need to know why things were rated the way they were. That way, as you try some of the same places that I did, you begin to have an idea of whether you like the same things about a plate that I do. For example, I like a traditional style ground beef meat sauce. So meat sauces that are tomato based or chili style will get a lower rating. If you prefer a tomato-based sauce, then you’ll know going in why I gave it a lower rating. It will enable readers to make an educated decision on whether they will like a plate or not from a particular eatery. I know that the classic garbage plate is a cheeseburger plate over Mac salad and homefries. But the traditional ground beef meat sauce over any kind of burger patty is a bit redundant. So for the sake of these ratings I’ll be using the red hot plates. The contrast between the meat sauce and hot dogs creates a better flavor profile in my estimation. (Hmm I used “flavor profile” in a sentence. I sound so food tasterly!) And in order to qualify as a plate, it has to have
some of those perfect home fries cooking up on the griddle at nick tahou.
*Editor’s note: it’s sproinged
14 | MOTOCLECTIC
GAS-TRONOMICAL the two side dishes in the bottom of the dish, with the meat on top, and meat sauce over all of it. If it doesn’t have those basic elements it will be disqualified. Most plates are served with mustard and onions as well. If it doesn’t have the mustard and onions, the score will be reduced, but I will extend grace and not disqualify it. So the base plate that I will be testing at each location will be a red hot plate with mac salad and home fries with meat sauce. Here’s how the rating system will work. The top score in any catergory is 5.
hot dog and two sides and just calling it a plate. I won’t put the name of the eatery in here but they were disqualified from the review.
Macaroni Salad: The first issue with Mac salad is that the macaroni is cooked well. It needs to be cooked al dente— not mushy. Nothing ruins a good mac salad more than overcooked macaroni. After that comes the overall flavor. I like my macaroni salad to be a little on the tangy side and not with a lot of extra stuff thrown in. I’ve had Mac salads with carrots, celery, peas, and tuna fish. It’s a little bit too much extra stuff for a garbage plate.
Well, we’ve laid the foundation, so now it’s time to get down to business. My hope was to do four reviews for this first article, but the disqualification changed that.
Home fries: With home fries, it’s all about the crispiness, baby! What I’m looking for here is good quality crispy potatoes. Not perfectly cubed frozen and reheated potatoes, but real potatoes cooked to a crispy golden goodness.
This is the place that started it all. Hail to the king! These folks are fast and the garbage plate is excellent. They really do set the standard. It’s not the greatest destination for a motorcycle ride unless you enjoy city driving, but if you are a fan of plates you need to make the pilgrimage at least once and get an authentic garbage plate.
Hot dogs: The red hots need to be a top shelf hot dogs with good flavor, split down the middle, with a little bit of char, either from the griddle top or the grill. Meat sauce: This one may be the most controversial. There are number of good meat sauces out there, and honestly, I like them all. But for this rating system, in order to get my highest marks, it needs to be a traditional Texasstyle ground beef sauce. One step down from that would be the sauces that favor a Louisiana-style hot sauce with ground beef in it. 3rd on the list is a chili sauce. I’ve had some chili-style sauces complete with beans. They’re good, but will get a slightly lower rating. Any other type of meat sauce will rate lower than those. I need to pause for a moment here and remind everyone that anything calling itself a plate, that does not have those first four elements, or those elements are not stacked one atop the other will be disqualified. As part of this month’s review I went to a restaurant that had a so-called plate, but what came out of the kitchen was a hot dog on a roll, with two side dishes in two separate bowls, and no meat sauce, with nothing together. Really, what they were serving was a
Mustard and onions: I grouped these together because there’s not as much to rate in this area. A plate will lose a point if it doesn’t have onions. It will lose a point if it uses yellow mustard instead of spicy brown mustard and it would lose two points if it had no mustard at all.
It seemed important that in this first review, we start with the one that really began it all. The Nick Tahou Garbage Plate.
Nick Tahou
MAC SALAD: 4 The macaroni was al dente. Perfect as far as I am concerned, but I like my salad a little bit more tangy, which is why they get a 4.
home fries: 5 I have not had any better. Crispy golden goodness!
hot dogs: 5 Good quality hots, split down the center and grilled on the flat top. Yum.
meat sauce: 4 Great meat sauce - not the best I have had but very close.
MUSTARD and onions: 5 Good spicy mustard and onions.
overall rating: 23
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GAS-TRONOMICAL
henrietta hots
Okay place for a ride. The traffic is a bit lighter than downtown. There is a lot to do in the area and the red hot plates are fantastic.
Charred American Bar and Grill
Located in In Mt. Morris, which is about 45 minutes southwest of Rochester, and is a beautiful ride through some great country.
MAC SALAD: 4 The macaroni is cooked to a perfect al dente. But like a lot of mac salads, I would prefer a bit more tanginess.
home fries: 4 These were good but not as crispy as I would have liked.
hot dogs: 5
MAC SALAD: 3 The macaroni is cooked well - not over-cooked but a little too done for me. It was also not as flavorful as I would like.
home fries: 3
Good red hots split down the middle and fried to perfection.
French Fries instead of homefries. So not quite up to standards, and not as crispy as I would like.
meat sauce: 5
hot dogs: 4*
This sauce has the edge over others I have tried. My favorite so far.
Good hots but not split.
meat sauce: 3
MUSTARD and onions: 4
The best score a non-traditional sauce can get. I really liked it. It was like a buffalo wing sauce with ground beef in it. But not the traditional that I love.
They lost a point for yellow mustard.
overall rating: 22
MUSTARD and onions: 3 It had onions but no mustard at all.
overall rating: 16/17* I would love to hear from other plate enthusiasts. If you have a comment or would like to suggest your favorite eatery that serves a good plate. Send us an email at mail@motoclectic.com.
The plate at Charred American Bar and Grill.
comparison Eatery
Overall Salad Fries Hots
Sauce Mustard and onions
Nick Tahou 23 4 5 5 4 Henrietta Hots 22 4 4 5 5 Charred 16/17 3 3 4/5 3
16 | MOTOCLECTIC
5 4 3
*Editor’s note: the photo we got from charred showed split dogs, so if that’s your thing, add a point.
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CATCHING UP WITH RIT’S EVT We took a minute to catch up with the Electric Vehicle Team to see how things are progressing with REV2 in preparation for Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 30. Needless to say, progress has been phenomenal since we first saw REV2 back in Motoclectic 001 and we can’t wait to see how it performs at Pikes Peak!
Since the first issue, the team has been hard at work completing the REV2 build. We finished making our 400v liquid cooled battery, validated in house designed and built electrical systems including our Battery Management System, Low Voltage Subsystem, and Thermal Management System, finished fabricating our custom fiberglass and carbon fiber fairings, and wired the bike. The bike was ridden for the first time at Imagine RIT on April 27 in the snow. We then sent out our suspension to get tuned for the new weight of the bike and got the frame powder coated.
REV2 being ridden for the first time at Imagine RIT.
22 | MOTOCLECTIC
We tested the bike on a track for the first time this past Saturday (6/1) at New York Safety Track with Jeremy. Testing went well, and we worked with Jeremy to modify throttle and power characteristics between runs to get the bike feeling right for him. One of the main reasons testing is so important for us is so we can look at the data we collect from our electrical systems, analyze it, and modify the power-train accordingly to get the highest performance possible. On Saturday we saw a power output of about 155 hp and 280 ft-lbs of torque with a top speed of about 115 mph. We are using these numbers as a baseline of what REV2 is capable of and are confident significantly greater output will be achieved in Colorado later this month. That said, we are happy with REV2’s promising start and are excited to show off the bike we’ve been passionately crafting for the last year.
What REV2 looked like back in issue 001. Below, how it looks today.
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CATCHING UP WITH RIT’S EVT
The team has worked relentlessly to finish REV2 in time for PPIHC.
24 | MOTOCLECTIC
CATCHING UP WITH RIT’S EVT
www.motoclectic.com | 25
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INTERVIEW
JEREMY HIGGINS Last issue we started an interview with Jeremy Higgins and his wife Amber that we thought would be a couple pages. Turns out Jeremy’s super awesome and we ended up talking for almost three hours and had to make the interview two parts. Here’s part two.
The Simpsons theme is playing in the background. It’s trivia night at The Eli Fish Brewing Company in Batavia. Surprisingly, none of us know the answer to a Simpsons trivia question (it’s from a later season; my Simpsons knowledge starts to getting foggy around season 15). Without being able to show off our nerd knowledge, Scott gets back to being a serious interviewer, “So, do you have any street legal bikes for the road?” “Everyone laughs when I say this, and I’d be shocked if you didn’t… I don’t even have my motorcycle license,” Jeremy replies. “A lot of racers don’t, because, honestly, it’s more dangerous on the road,” Amber chimes in. Jeremy says, “And, it’s almost like—for me—I know myself. “ Everyone laughs, knowing that Jeremy’s implying that he loves the speed of flat track racing and it would be hard to contain that on the open road. “It’s almost like a training thing, I guess. I’m so trained that from putting a set of handle bars in your hands, you need to be the fastest person on the planet no matter what. That’s what I know. Whatever’s underneath these handle bars, push it to the absolute limit. We’ve shown up to races with full-suspension motocross bikes and borrowed tires from people in the pits to go
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racing.” Then Jeremy adds with a little prideful grin, “And won.” “So going 30 through LeRoy isn’t gonna cut it?” Scott jokingly asks. “Whenever I’ve had handle bars in my hands, they were there for a reason. They were there for going fast. And I‘m getting to the point now, where I wouldn’t say I’m at the end of my racing career, but I’ve made my other career a hell of a lot more than my racing career, because my day job pays my bills and my racing makes my bills. I still try hard at the races, but some of the chances you might take to get a win, I’ll take a second place now. Some of the risky moves, like where you have to pile it in to somebody coming into turn four, I’m probably not gonna pull it anymore. Back when I was 16, and it was just going to school the next day, those moves happened a lot.” The conversation comes around to Rochester Institute of Technology’s Electric Vehicle Team when I ask, “So, did you get hooked up with the RIT guys through Will (Scharvogel—co-owner of Leaf & Bean) or Carlos (Barrios—faculty head of the EVT team)?” “It was through Will. Will and I should be incredibly close friends, because of all our
mutual friends, we should almost be best friends. He knows this guy, I know this guy. We race with him, he races with him. Our families were close in vicinity but we never really hooked up together and went riding or racing together. We knew enough to know of each other. But he was more into recreational riding and I was gung-ho with the professional racing,” Jeremy says. “His other mutual friend is Carlos, who he rides with a lot. All the decisions for the EVT go through him and everyone bounces ideas off him. So, I think out of the blue one day Carlos mentioned they were considering racing at Pikes Peak and asked Will if he knew anybody that would be into it. You need the right person, ‘cause when you start to lay it out—driving to Colorado to race up a mountain, with no guard rails, on a bike that’s never been raced before…”
‘I’m good.’ The biggest thing with the Pikes Peak deal is you have to be used to speed, so a lot of the motocross racers, it doesn’t apply to them. They’re talking a max of 30 or 40 miles an hour on a track. The bottom section of Pikes Peak is 135. So, you’re either looking at road racers or dirt trackers and there’s almost zero road racers around here and the ones that are around here are really good, and they’re actually racing fulltime for teams. I knew the whole Pikes Peak deal and how cool it would be to do it, but I never really thought I’d have the opportunity to race ‘cause you need a special bike that costs tens of thousands of dollars. I had so much money tied up in other areas of racing that I couldn’t swing it.”
After the first couple of conversations Jeremy was still undecided about doing the Pikes Peak We all laugh, and Scott interjects, “What could International Hill Climb. Around the same time go wrong?” he had finished up a pretty good year on the pro circuit and was talking to a team in California “Exactly,” Jeremy says, “there’s a lot of people about racing Yamahas for them full time. The who would look at one of those things and say Yamaha team was going to make a decision the
Jeremy rides REV2 at the New York State Safety Track.
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first of the year, but the Pikes Peak entry had to be in before Christmas. The decisions overlapped by three weeks and he couldn’t do both. He did some interviews with the Yamaha team and they seemed interested, but in a situation like that there’s no certainty. The flat track offseason is called “silly season” by racers because people play musical chairs with rides, switch from one team to another, and you can never tell who’s going to end up where. If someone came to the team in California with a better résumé, he’d be screwed out of both opportunities. After being on the fence and getting a feeling that racing full-time in Amercian Flat Track wasn’t a definite, Jeremy choose to race Pikes Peak.
right above Gatlinburg. And it’s the same thing. You go to downtown Gatlinburg it looks like the main strip in Daytona, but you can get into the sticks pretty quick.” Amber agrees, “As soon as you get off that main road it’s like windy roads and mountains and cabins.” “Dirt paths and stuff,” Jeremy adds. “We were like a mile from the main road in our cabin and you couldn’t hear anything. It was super quiet,” Amber explains.
We get distracted by more trivia questions It was also a chance for Jeremy to see part of before Scott gets us back on track asking, “How the country he’s never been to (except driving does your flat track skill set prepare you for through it at 3 in the morning to get to races Pikes Peak and is there any other training you on the West Coast). I mention a family roadtrip need to do to get ready?” we took and how we spent a couple days in Colorado and were impressed by the mountains “Flat track racing’s a lot like sprint car racing. and overall beauty of the landscape, but were When we’re going into corners, we’re turning a little put off by how built-up the whole area right. We’re going so fast into the corners that around Colorado Springs and Denver was. your tires can’t hold you in line anymore and you get this one or—most of the time—twoJeremy says, “We did something similar. We wheel drift. So, you’ll be coming into the corner love camping and outdoor reaction, so we and both the tires will slide across the ground, rented a cabin in the mountains of Tennessee and you’ll have to correct it and straighten your
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front wheel out to have some kind of control brake, you will crash. Take your foot and hook coming out of the turn.” it underneath your brake pedal. Never move it,” Jeremy says. “So, now I’m like super lost, ‘cause Pikes Peak used to be half dirt and half pavement that’s all I know how to do. And the instructor and Jeremy felt he would have a better shot at says to clamp on that front brake, and I’m like, winning (don’t worry—he’s still super-confident) ‘How?’ I had to override all my racing instincts. if that was still the layout. Because of his flat I was in over my head and I didn’t even have track experience, he could gain all his time on the right leathers with the knee pucks, so I had the dirt and hold on to it. But he does have to borrow a set from one of my buddies. It had some experience on pavement. When he was the wrong name and number and the sponsors 10 to 15-years-old, he did a lot of Supermoto didn’t match, but I didn’t care. I was going.” (a riding style that combines elements of both street and dirt) that will help with the pavement. In summary, Jeremy has a little bit of Supermoto was big for a while in the mid-2000s, Supermoto background, a little bit of road then it faded and road racing started to come to racing background, and a whole heck of a lot the forefront of the scene. At that time KTM and of flat track background. And on top of that, he Redbull held junior tryouts for 12 to 16-year- obviously has incredible natural talent. To get olds where they would bring semi-trucks full of road race bikes. Kids had to submit résumés and grades to be accepted into the program. 250 kids from New Hampshire to Florida showed up at Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama. Jeremy was one of the kids that was accepted. It was a two-day affair, and after the first day, they cut it down to 22 eligible participants. And after that, the final cut would be the top three racers. “I made it to the second day, somehow,” Jeremy says, “because I had never seen or touched a road race bike in my life before the first day. I remember we were being shown around and shown the bikes and they asked if anyone had any questions and I was like ‘yeah… how do you ride it?’ I wasn’t going to act like I knew. I race flat track. I’ve never touched a road race bike before in my life. How do you lean? What do you use? The thing shifted backwards for me, so down was up and up was down. I was so used to the rear brake ‘cause that’s all I’d ever use. In flat track, the front brake is almost illegal.” Of course the first thing he’s told is never to use the rear brake. “Don’t ever touch the rear
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into the top 22 out of 250 riders your first time “Well, if you’re setting records, it takes nine,” on a road race bike? Come on. Jeremy adds. “I think we’ll be okay,” he says. “Once REV2 (the electric bike being built by the EVT) gets done, there’s a couple go-kart tracks I’d like to test it on. And I’d like to take it to the New York State Safety Track just to open it up once or twice.”
Amber continues, “Once that person hits a certain mark, the next one goes. And there’s not a whole lot of entries into the race.”
“There’s 28 motorcycle entries and I think there’s about 70 car entries. It’s like a field of 100 total,” Scotts asks, “So do you get practice runs at Jeremy explains. “They probably wait about five Pikes Peak before the actual race?” or six minutes before they send another one up. The whole thing will be over in a couple hours. It “So, my schedule…” he pauses a second. “The should be pretty crazy. I’m excited for it.” amount of information that they give you once you’re accepted as a rider is incredible. They What seems now be typical of our conversation, are phenomenal. They get back to you within it wanders and covers more trivia questions, minutes to answer any questions and give you Airbnbs, the RIT EVT Club and just how smart information. So, we’re going out to Colorado and impressive those college students are, the Sunday before the race on June 30th. On junker cars, and finally comes back around to flat Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they actually track racing. “I hope you guys will become flat let us go on the track at like 4 AM, but they split track fans,” Jeremy says. “That’s always my hope the track into segments, so we do the track in when I start talking about it, ‘cause I think it’s thirds. You have to be suited and booted at 3:30 one of the coolest things you can ever possibly AM, cause at first light they start sending us up watch. It’s controlling the uncontrollable. We’re the hill.” consistently out of control, that’s essentially what flat track is. We’re on the edge of crashing They only have a couple hours to do it because all the time. It’s unbelievable. People think it’s it’s a public road. They have to shut down the just going fast and turning left. But it’s all done practice runs by 9:00 AM, so they can open it so fast. It is a simple thing, but imagine being up to the public . People have to get to work. one of the top people in the world at doing it. That’s the hard part. ” Scott asks, “Is that week only motorcycles? ‘Cause cars race Pikes Peak as well.” “So, to segue from your statement, if someone wanted to learn how to go fast and turn left…” “It’s everything,” Jeremy says. Scott says, strongly implying himself as that someone. I follow up with, “On June 30th, cars race as well, or it that a different day?” Jeremy cuts him off, “Call me. I got a practice track in my parent’s back yard.” “I believe it’s all the same day,” Jeremy says. We will definitely take you up on that offer, Jeremy. Amber says, “I think the whole race only takes 12 minutes.”
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EVENTS PAGE
PLACES TO GO AND PEOPLE TO SEE Check out these local events, happenings and meetups in the area and support your moto-community.
EVERY WEEK!
Every Thursday at Leaf & Bean Coffee Company 3240 Chili Ave, Rochester , 7:00 PM till they kick you out.
EVERY
Damascus Shriners Cruise Nights Every Friday beginning June 1 Roll-in at 5:00 PM 979 Bay Road, Webster, NY
FRIDAY!
JUNE
23
JUNE
ABATE Dice Run 10:00 AM–12:00 PM 20 Lakeshore Dr, Canandaigua www.abatenyontario.com Summer Swap Meet & Fun Run
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Stan’s Harley-Davidson 4425 W Saile Dr, Batavia, NY 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
JULY
Cruise & Bike Night Rush Creekside Inn 6071 E Henrietta Rd, Rush, NY 5:00 PM–8:00 PM Every 1st Wednesday of the month
3
JULY
13
Wilmont Cancer Institution Poker Run 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM 4400 Sweden Walker Rd, Brockport
EVERY
MONTH
JUNE
20
JUNE
26
JUNE
29
JULY
13
JULY
20
The Roc Moto Social 2nd-to-last Wednesday each month. Follow The ROC Motosocial on Facebook and on Instagram @rocmotosocial Junior’s Log Cabin Bike Night of the Year 8818 NY-415, Campbell, NY 6:00 PM–9:00 PM Bike Night at Iron Smoke Distillery 111 Parce Avenue, Fairport 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM West Avenue Cycle Customer Appreciation Party 1:00 PM–6:00 PM 5643 West Ridge Road, Spencerport, NY American Flat Track New York Short Track 1 Speedway Drive, Weedsport, NY jstanbro@amaproracing.com Third Annual Ride to End Duchenne 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM 50 Canning St., Rochester YouTube.com/revvitup92
For more details about these and other events check out our website:
www.motoclectic.com/events
Please email any events or meetups you run or know about! email: events@motoclectic.com
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OF BUFFALO
And now, KW is the only Vanderhall dealership in NY! They’re 4 cylinders, 3 wheels, 2 seats, and 1 amazing ride!
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moToclectic ALSO IN : E U S S I S I TH JEREMY HIGGINS!
REV2! ! l a c i m o n o r t gas ISSUE
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