The Latest Cheesy K12 Pirates' Lair Newsletter

News From The Two-Wheeled No-Spin Zone...!!

Pirates Lair Chimney Rock Party El Grande Success! Gracias To All Who Attended!

Nothing like planning a party and having good weather and lots of friends and guests show up to make a pirate and his 1st mate feel all warm and squishy inside. Our Pirates Lair Chimney Rock Party held on Friday the 12th was all we had hoped for and more with 216 attendees rolling in on almost 200 bikes. The turnout was about double my sub-Dionne Warwick prediction but fortunately, the prophetic Amber prepared food for over 200 so no one went home hungry..or angry. Even the Lake Lure mayor dropped in to say hello.

A special thanks to all those that attended our little swaree in spite of the hellish temps as well as a big hug and pat on the back to those who helped us setup and tear down. Especially the effervescent, Lurking Charlie Hughes. The staff at Chimney Rock were without a doubt some of the best people to deal with we've seen. They went out of their way to be helpful. I have to add.. they said our BMW crowd (their first) was by far the most considerate and well behaved group they had seen in the history of the park.

They told us the Harley guys are the worst and added.."they refuse to park anywhere except on perfectly flat ground with no gravel." Pussies. Lastly but not leastly (I proclaim that a new word..).. If anyone wants to thank the person responsible.. that would be Amber at piratesmate@acelink.net.. It was her show from day one and she pulled it off with flying (pirate) colors. It wouldn't have happened without her..

Anyway..as Conan would say.. "Enough talk!" Pics of the event can be found in the Pirates Lair Photo Album. It's the first album cleverly titled.. The Pirates Lair Chimney Rock Party . Enjoy

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BMWRA Rally at the Biltmore: It Was the Best of Times.. It Was the Worst of Times

I think almost everybody was skeptical going in as to if the "stodgy" Bilmore people could pull off a large motorcycle rally after the debacle a couple of years ago. Apparently they learned their lesson and actually listened to past complaints as last weeks BMW RA was a roaring success.

While the weather was brutally hot the first day or two it got a little better towards the last 2 days when some wind provided a little relief. Rally organizers, including our good bud Bert Brumfield, brought it all together with only a few glitches. Very impressive. As a non-camper, I honestly can't think of a single thing I'd have done differently. However...not all was wine and roses. I heard complaints of long bathroom and/or shower lines at all hours of the day. Of course, in my line of thinking.. that's why God created motel rooms, but.. I digress. There was one other thing worth complaining about and I believe any and all hostile verbiage should be aimed squarely at the ears of the Biltmore people.. NOT the rally organizers.

While the Biltmore picked the perfect spot on the estate grounds for the thousands of incoming motorcycle campers and the 2 dozen or so vendors... alongside the river... they did NOT prepare the area like they do for ALL equestrian events as if we motorcyclists don't deserve the same courtesy or as if we aren't as important or as if we wouldn't bring in as much money for their coiffeurs. What I'm talking about is the site condition which consisted of mostly dirt .. NOT grass. I heard one lame excuse that they weren't watering because of the local drought, but.. that turned out to be a lie. (see postcript below)

As a Biltmore season pass holder who visits the estate grounds on a weekly basis, most visitors don't know this little tidbit of info... A month before virtually every equestrian event, they start watering the fields NIGHTLY by pumping thousands and thousands of gallons out of the river onto the property.. the same property all the RA campers were on.. At the end of the month on the day of the equestrian event they have lush, green fields.. No dirt.. no dust..

For whatever reason, the estate didn't think we BMW riders were worthy as what little grass that was to be seen in the camping area was brown and dying. The dust and blowing dirt was so bad that on the last full day.. the day of the closing ceremonies and photo shoot (pic above lower), I came early.. spent about 15 minutes walking amongst the mortals and could simply not deal with the flying debris. In less than 10 minutes my bike had a layer of dirt on it so thick you could plant shrubbery. I got dust/dirt in BOTH eyes and could barely ride home. It took HOURS for me to clear my eyes which meant I couldn't attend the closing ceremonies. How bad were the conditions? I heard that some Fremen from Arrakis showed up (in their stillsuits) and even they said conditions were too harsh for them.

Whining aside... It was a very successful event in spite of the less than ideal site condition. I had a good time in spite of the wind blown micro-boulders impaled in my retinas. The rally broke all attendance records for BMWRA with 2964 paid attendees, and over 3000 total. About 40% female.
Postscript: The day after the rally was over and all the bikes had gone, the Biltmore started watering the grounds for an upcoming equestrian event. Ain't that a pisser?

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Product Review: Dainese Laguna Seca Pro Suit

May 28th was my 5 year anniversary. As usual, my one of a kind wife Amber came through with yet another waaay cool gift. ...a fully perfed Dainese Laguna Seca Pro Suit.. Is she a great wife or what? FYI.. I have been wearing a non-perfed Alpinestar suit for track days and Deals Gap duty for the last 2 years, but that sucker gets down right steamy when the temps soar into the 90's tempting me to wear less protective gear in order to stay cool. I'd been looking for and trying on various brand perfed suits for the last 8 months with no luck whatsoever when we ran across the new Laguna Seca Pro Suit. (pic at right) We did some quick price shopping and found this suit at www.Cyclegear.com for a cool $999.

I wear a size 52Euro/42US in the Alpinestar brand and the Dainese (pronounced.. Dain-EZ) has virtually the same sizing chart so we ordered the same size and amazingly it fit me like a glove. In case you've never purchased a high-end one-piece racing suit the first thing you realize is that they are NOT meant to stand around in.. If the fit is "perfect" you should NOT be able to stand fully erect and if you do the crotch will be painfully tight on the "nads." Most suits are cut and sewn in a crouch position so when you sit on the bike, the suit fits THAT position perfectly. Get off the bike and you should be slightly leaned over like a Cro-Magnon man with osteoporosis. This is the case with both the Dainese and the Alpinestar. While the cut is sleek and trim, the Dainese cut allows just enough room in the back for virtually any brand back-protector. A nice touch.

While the Dainese is NOT as well made as my $1700 Alpinestar (and it shouldn't be for $700 less) it's still a wonderful, comfortable suit with lots of cool features. For instance... the lower legs not only have a standard zipper, but each leg has a second zipper allowing extra room should the rider have Arnold Swartzeneeger-ish calves or just to make getting the suit off easier. The lining is removable for washing. Knee pucks come standard. There is a good size inner pocket for carrying a wallet. The neck has elastic on the backside which is a nice touch. Virtually all the areas you see pictured in black are a heavy duty spandex-type material which allows the rider lots of movement and very little restrictivness. The suit comes with it's own zip-up carry/storage bag which is where mine will reside in the winter months. The suit even comes with a leather cleaner/preservative kit. The main benefit of the Laguna Seca Pro Suit is the chest, leg, rear hump perforations which allow lots of cool, life giving air to move in and out. I'd guess it's about 60% cooler than my non-perfed suit. I couldn't have asked for more.. Lastly.. I would suggest to anyone buying a leather suit to avoid WHITE leather, which is what I got. I can already tell it's gonna be a beeatch to keep clean.

I must add.. I was blown away by the helpfulness of the staff working at www.Cyclegear.com. Honestly, the most pleasant buying experience in years. Good people who understand how hard it is to find leathers that fit and strive to make that happen. Those slackers at Vanson should take note. Worthy of support. My personal thumbs up.

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Knee Dragging Epiphany: Why Can't I Get Me Knee Down? Help Me Mr. Wizard!

I do regular track days with a few friends. All are taller than me. I'm 5' 7" with a 28" inseam and the others range from 5"10" to 6ft+. with 32-36" inseams. We all ride at about the same skill level.. Our hang-off techniques are similar. We've all had Keith Code or similar training. All ride similar sport bikes. All ride our tires to the very edge. More often than not, I'm as fast or faster than the others, yet the other guys regularly are dragging their knees and I don't.. Why? How can this be?

On any given trackday weekend I may touch my knee down once or twice but only when I'm at extreme angles. In most track or Deals Gap photos I see of myself, my knees are about 1-2" off the tarmac at full lean. On the other side of that coin, my tall friend's knees look like pterodactyl wings when he extends them (similar to the freak in pic at right) and he drags them easily. My 5"10 buddy touches down less often but me... my pucks are almost virgin and I catch a lot of flack about it.

So what, if anything have I been doing wrong, Mr Wizard? The answer may be instantly apparent to some of you, but my Homer Simpson intellect didn't figure it out until just recently in one of those moments of supreme clarity. The kind of clarity that usually accompanies the use of high end acid.. but not this time. This time it came right out of the blue at about 3am in the morning... a rare epiphany! I ran my theory by the guys at 3 motorcycle publications including Motorcyclist and to my ego's relief.. all backed me up. WooHoo!! I am NOT flawed.. I am not a "bad machine".. I just have short legs which put my knees further from the pavement. Apparently, a person with a 30" inseam would have to have his bike leaned over 1"+ or so further to touch down than his buddy with the longer legs and 32" inseam.

So what have we learned today, Tooter Turtle?...Yes.. that a rider with longer legs, (pro or squid) will drag his knees easier than a vertically challenged rider. The blame for your puck not being scuffed can, for all intents and purposes, be blamed directly on your parents. I sleep better these days... "Drizzle, drazzle, dradle, drone.. Time for this one to come home."