| Author | Message | ||
     Wolfridgerider |
Does anybody have any info they could pass along to me about BattleTrax? I know Buell does not sponsor it anymore, but my local dealer is willing to spend some cash to put on a like event. Friday night races under the lights! It should be fun, I just need some help getting headed in the right direction. | ||
| Spiderman |
PM sent | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
 Thanks for the info! | ||
| Spiderman |
'nother PM sent | ||
| Budc |
Hey Wolf, Good luck trying to get a hold of them. I tried earlier this year to get BattleTrax for our Homecoming events at Hal's but I never heard back from the organizer or from Thunder Press. If you do get in touch with them please let me know so I can find out why they never answered my emails and phone calls. Thanks, BudC (Hal's H-D/Buell) | ||
| Spiderman |
Bud, TP isn't owned by Reg anymore, did you try and contact him directly? | ||
| Budc |
Spiderman, Yes, I tried to contact Reg by phone and email for several weeks and no response. I then called Thunder Press figuring that they would at least know how to get a hold of him. They said they would email him to contact me and I never heard another word. It's like Reg just feel off the face of the Earth. Too late now because we have already made other plans but I'm still curious what happened. BudC | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Can we hear about the other plans? I/we still want to do a "Battletrax" like event. I have got a few emails from local riders and we should be able to put something together. I just need some direction. | ||
| Budc |
Hey Wolf, I was very disappointed that I couldn't get in touch with Reg but I couldn't wait. Here's what we've put together at Hal's: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=17143&post=869931#POST869931 I hope there's enough for everyone to do. Also, if you are in need of a hotel, Steve and Toni Mackay have booked some rooms at a nearby hotel. See Steve's post: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=37&post=885318#POST885318. Hope to see you there. BudC | ||
| Jaimec |
I've always wondered about simply setting up the old MSF ERC "Evaluation Circuit." Just need a couple of old MSF Instructors (not "Rider Coaches") who've got experience scoring that thing. It's a lot of fun and not terribly hard to set up. There's cornering, a cone weave, a swerve and a braking section. Not as technical as a Battletrax, but it's SOMETHING... | ||
| Firemanjim |
Go over to Sacborg and contact Reg there. | ||
| Leftcoastal |
Reg has not fallen off the edge of the Earth, I saw him stroll by while I was attending the 'Legend of the Motorcycle' show in Half Moon Bay on May 5. AL | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I think I'm going to go to the dealership this Saturday and set up some cones after the Riders Edge class lets out. If anybody in Columbus area is interested let me know. | ||
| Regkittrelle |
hmmm... Budc, I did talk with a woman at Hal's. I explained the insurance situation. That is, it has skyrocketred in cost. The bulk of my BTX activities are with large companies who can afford the $5K premium. I caution any of you who try this: It's very easy to hurt someone if you don't lay out the track properly. Given the litigeous nature of our current society a lawsuit is always close at hand. And for those of you who believe "riders don't sue riders..." you might be correct, but survivors do. Keep something else in mind; I've yet to find a garage liability policy (as have dealers) that covers this event. There have been a few times when the agent was given a false impression of what the event was like, and he covered it. One of those instances resulted in a huge blow-up that came near to costing the dealer his policy. Don't screw with people's biz or their safety. While I can't and certainly wouldn't do anything to hinder a BTX-like event, I ask that you not use the name as it is proprietary and I vigorously pursue those who rip-off. I had to learn this the hard way. Again, BTX seems like a dead-simple thing to stage; it ain't and it's dangerous if done incorrectly. | ||
| Spiderman |
Again, BTX seems like a dead-simple thing to stage; it ain't and it's dangerous if done incorrectly. +1,000,000,000 | ||
| Davegess |
Again, BTX seems like a dead-simple thing to stage; it ain't and it's dangerous if done incorrectly. You got that right!! | ||
| Court |
Add me to the list . . . I drive past a HUGE freshly paved asphahlt parking lot on the East River waterfront everyday. The thing is perfectly virgin, cured asphalt with the residual oil gone just betting to be "Regged". I was there plopping down cones to Reg's instructions at the First BattleTrax® and you don't really get a sense of how vital the set up is until you ride the course. It's an art, it really is and what a shame that insurance has put the kibosh on it for now. . . I was never all that good at it, but I loved doing the BattleTrax® gig on S-2' and S-3's. One of my fondest moments was taking the German Motorrad reported on the two-up BattleTrax® at the East Troy Grade School . . talk about a hoot! Great memories | ||
| Oldog |
Just what is Battle Trax? and Why is it dangerous? How do MX events or drag strips avoid the legal issues? | ||
| Davegess |
at the East Troy Grade School . I remember the Journo at that event who came hammering into the stop box they had at the end and doing a monster stoppie, panicking and trying to bale off the bike instead of just releasing the brake. Luckily I think only pride was hurt that day. I think some of the setup lessons Reg learned were learned the hard way. Do you remember the set up at the high school in East Troy where a certain Mr. Brown decided the only way he was gonna be fastest was to dirt track it around the last corner? He got about 1/2 way round and the rear tire hooked up. He managed to stay on the bike but the landing had to hurt! | ||
| Blake |
A moto equivalent to barrel racing would be different yet maybe fun too? | ||
| Jaimec |
Oldog: http://tinyurl.com/36yzo8 | ||
| Regkittrelle |
O-dog, The events you mentioned still have insurance issues, but they're significantly smaller because they're on race tracks within a protected perimeter. BTX is laid out free-form as the site dictates. Sites are parking lots, school yard, dealer's lots, etc. The Danbury site on the clip was part of the Buell dealer and part of the rent-a-car lot. I have never duplicated a track in over 400 events. Insurance agents blanch at the thought. Dave: Some of those lessons were learned at the expense of those who entered! One of the first things I learned was that most riders do not know how to stop quickly. The original courses ('97) had a box you had to stop in after the finish line. Crashes were so prevalent that I had to changes the rules. The very first BTX crash in March of '97 in a mall parking lot in South Daytona. We had invited all the press to enter, H-D and Buell execs and various others were on hand, including the mayor. Buell provided the motorcycles. After the speeches were made Scott Miller announced that I would take the first lap of this new sport as I had designed the course. I almost made it through the very first turn... and then gloriously threw the S1 down. Lesson #1: Do not use flour to mark a course. The key to the course is to design it as a continuous series of constant radius turns. The riders that figure this out are the quick ones. Sounds easy but the courses are designed to look nothing like that description. Other observations; --There are a significant number of people on motorcycles that shouldn't be -- On the average, European riders have a higher skill level. -- It's easier to get a woman to try it than it is a man. -- As with all other types of motocycle competition the secret is in throttle control -- A good bagger rider will be quicker than an average sport bike rider -- The one time a woman won overall... the excuses from the men poured like wine. -- The largest BTX purse paid: $5,000. -- There are two versions of BTX: Top Time & Target Time. The latter is the most popular. -- I've run BTX in 29 states and 5 foriegn countries -- The coldest event was in Waterloo IA hosted by our friend "ArcherBoy" Dave. -- the wettest was in England at Silverstone. Which reminds me... it was so wet that we couldn't mark the course with chalk, so I did it all with cones. I use a special cone (use the wrong ones = someone gets hurt). As I was refining the course one of the helpful Brits replaced a small corner cone with a tall one. As I came around the turn this tall cone clipped the throttle side of the bars. This put me down immediately. Ok, no problem... except I was riding the only new Buell X1 in England; They weren't happy. BTW: craig Jones set fast time -- the Brits, Euros and Japaness understand BattleTrax -- The most impressive rider I've ever watched on the course is Don Canet -- Numerous professional racers have had their butt beaten by a variety of BTX fanatics. -- On the other hand, a good racer, regardless of discipline, will always prevail. -- At a KTM BTX in Florida the "European Motard Champion" strutted around a bit before trying it. After a couple of laps he turned fastest time. Then Joe Kopp climbed aboard, did one lap, and beat him by almost two seconds. The Euro fellow left. --of the Buells, the S1 was the best BTX'er. -- the Blast can be laid over so far (without crashing) that you drag the rear pulley -- a surprising number of riders can never figure out which way the course goes. -- besides motorcycles, we have run bar stools wheelchairs legend cars go-karts baby carriages (w/ babies) go-peds trikes quads skateboards razors bicycles runners rental cars and on one very memorable occasion, the tractor portion of the Buell demo truck... to name just some of the competitors. There will be a BattleTrax at Lake Tahoe in August as part of "Blue Groove '07" | ||
| Spiderman |
-- The most impressive rider I've ever watched on the course is Don Canet HEY!  JK  | ||
| Leftcoastal |
Penny (the spousal unit) ran the BTX course at Laughlin quite a few years ago, and came away with the "most improved" trophy! It's still on prominent display. I kid her that she went from "completely slow" to "moderately slow", which usually gets a "Yea? - where's YOUR trophy?" I didn't get one. AL | ||
| Daves |
Reg, it wasn't "that" cold that day! It was just Iowa! | ||
| Daves |
Here's Shazam, wearing his BTX crown! http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/Buellsales/Buell%20stuff/KingSam.jpg (Message edited by blake on May 21, 2007) | ||
| Court |
Dave: That was Manfred from Germany and resulted in a new move, correct me if I am wrong, called the "Manfred Step". Manfred, as is frequently the case with motorbikes, ALMOST did something very impressive. But, alas, as is frequently the case with motorbikes, things went quite poorly and, as is frequently the case with motorbikes, they went quickly. Manfred, tall drink of water that he was, decided, somewhere as the arc of the wheel eclipsed the noon sun decided the love affair twinxt him and the top-secret, set for release in 28 days, Buell, had ended and he was getting out while the getting was good. He, in something that oddly reminded me of Jay Springsteen extending a leg in Turn 1 of Sacramento, tossed out a leg . . and the bike continued, in a perfect vertical plane, he simply "walked off" as the rear of the bike passed vertical and started it's rapid descent toward an innocent parking lot. But, as is frequently the case with motorbikes, it got better. Manfred was perfectly safe, making silly German Giant steps at what I'd estimate to be a 30o angle with the path of the Buell. Often times the bike, once the rear end goes over and slams into the pavement, goes sliding or generally gets wadded up. Apparently they do it differently in Germany for this bike never deviated from perfectly vertical through about 720o of, as is frequently the case with motorbikes, RAPID rotation. A Hollywood stunt man could not have better scripted that move. I went and got a cold bottle of water. It was a bit later that I pulled a BattleTrax first with German Horst Rösler on board with me. Court | ||
| Oldog |
Thanks For the education Reg, I looks like it would be an excelent training test type thing. Sad that the legals / insurance types have to make it difficult, that has Buell all over it. so the S1 is the best Trax bike? this include the XBs' ? a surprising number of riders can never figure out which way the course goes. I can see me having this issue... Jaimec thanks for the link cool... } Again thanks.. | ||
| Regkittrelle |
'dog... S1 vs. XB is a huge arguement starter... I'll just leave it alone. | ||
| Jaimec |
Reg, I'm rather surprised (and impressed) that you remembered where that video clip was taken! I took 1st in the "Cyclone class" that day. I always have fun with Battletrax and I miss participating in them! Still have all of my valuable pieces of acrylic, too! |
