" I’ll show up with my 392-powered Chrysler 300C on a set of new RE-71RSes"
consider my interest piqued but i wonder if a set of front wheels as wide as the back could stave off tire degradation so they dont immediately get consumed which is not a slight against you
as cool as some people find the baggers i think they look completely retarded but id love them if they werent baggers but sportsters or something
who doesnt like screaming vtwins making heaps of power
Hey Jack, off-topic question: do you know anything about Resco watches? My son bought one, supposedly they’re made in America, the guy who owns The company is a retired Navy seal. Anyway, just wondering if you had an opinion on it.
Just googled it. Got bought out. I had good luck with a SEIKO PROSPEX ‘SUMO’ SOLAR GMT SBPK001 MADE IN JAPAN JDM (apologies for the caps copy & paste). Nice solar GMT. True JDM per various sources. If you’re looking for reasonable price decent watch.
From what I can tell and guess in ten minutes of research, he's assembling the watches here using Swiss movements and Chinese components. Some people really like their Rescos, that's for sure.
i was under the impression that the sportster has a better and 350lbish lighter chassis under it and the 131 engine would fit in it making it faster or far more appealing given the potential performance
I don't think anyone is going to go racing at 160 mph on a bike with no fairing. I doubt a Sportster actually would be faster because the drag would become so bad. Also, have you ever ridden a Harley touring bike? They handle better at all speeds than the smaller Harleys. The weight doesn't matter.
Why would the Harley factory put a 131 of any sort into a bike that only sells with the Rev Max engine? Doing these events with a Sportster defeats the entire argument Jack detailed out for this series.
What intrigues me is that they can scalpel two hundred pounds off what in base form is 825 pounds, lots of expensive materials for sure, carbon fiber and titanium are premium materials, I see how removing weight could easily improve performance of even stock engines.
I have watched, over the past four days or so, probably 10-12 hours of basically silent YT videos of dudes building off grid cabins in Alaska, Maine, UP of Michigan, etc. I am fascinated, and it’s relaxing and soothing to watch. Sign me up for some Alaska stories. I’ve only been once, on a cruise, and it was “Disney Alaska”, not nearly the real thing.
Well, as a preview: there is no, repeat, *no*, Level 1 trauma center in Alaska. So for much of the really gnarly stuff, they fly you to Anchorage via Cessna Grand Caravan, then to Seattle via Cessna Citation.
Alaska's a long way away. After my father and I got back from Fairbanks to Bremerton, I found that if we'd gone that far in the opposite direction we could get to Mississippi.
Every time I'm up there I'm uncomfortably aware of the fact that if I broke two legs I'd be headed to the exact same hospital that I would be at home, but this time it would be a three- to five-hour plane flight instead of a few minutes in an ambulance.
None in the Upper Peninsula either. When my then 10 year old daughter and I fell 30 feet into a riverbed while checking out waterfalls in the Keweenaw Peninsula, the nearest hospital, 40 minutes away, was a Level III trauma center. Coincidentally, the resident who treated us trained under a friend of mine at Henry Ford in Detroit.
Usually they get a grant at the state level, sometimes with fed assistance. And the feds have a bunch of PC-12s that as far as I know are no longer being used for ELINT work overseas.
That would make too much sense. It's all about the optics. Giving it away to a remote EMS area makes for good press. Virtually no one knows what the CAP is, much less that it's still a going concern and a useful service.
Most people not named “jack baruth” Never see a level 1 trauma center in their life. I wouldn’t want to race cars up there but day to day shit i probably wouldnt worry. I say this having two level 1 trauma centers within 30 minutes and my mom worked at one of them
Interpersonal drama in Alaska (I say as someone who is regularly exposed to it in my work) is riveting. The entire state has less population than the city of Portland, Oregon. And people just don't move. Everyone has known everyone else since they were born. In spite of the physical reality of a vast open land it's a hothouse of impossible relationships, betrayal, and lifelong hatred.
There were 200 people in my high school class. Of the ones still alive, most of them live in or near where they grew up. If you approached all of them and said “I’ll double (or triple) your salary (doing whatever it is they do), AND you get to move to somewhere ‘cool’ or ‘glamorous’ like Austin or California” they would invariably turn you down.
About ten years ago, I was having breakfast on a Sunday morning with some college friends at an excellent restaurant (that later closed) called the Fremont Diner. It was near Sears Point / Infineon / Sonoma Raceway.
I am deeply fascinated by Alaska for this reason. Whittier always comes to mind as what my version of hell actually may be.
I grew up in a tiny, tiny town with like 1200 people. My mom's family had lived there for as long as anyone could remember. Coming of age was absolutely fucking brutal because of it. Could never be myself, could never be independent.
An entire populace living in one building would be the apex of that, I'd assume.
As my wife would say to one of my enthusiasms, glad you're enjoying it. Me, I never got bikes and never will but appreciate that others do.
I'm typing this sitting at Waterford Hills waiting for the afternoon sessions to start up in my local PCA track day. I'm almost done with my day job, as in I work from home a few hours a week and resist all efforts to take on something new. Buy me out please and we'll talk.
What's out here on a lovely Michigan Tuesday? My Cayman R, another one I know, a lovely 964 RS America, several rough but quick 996s, a couple Miata racers, a GT3, a GT4, a few Caymans and Boxster some grey, white, black or silver BMWs,and a Fiero. The instructors are primarily old guys, most older than me, which doesn't predict a great future for us.
There are no spectators or even wives/girlfriends. We are blissfully ignored. There are a few newbies whose money we need to pay for the track. It's 70 degrees in August and the sky is full of fluffy little clouds. It's a really good day.
"It is extremely unlikely that Justin’s birth fell outside of that gestational range, meaning that Castro and Margaret Trudeau would have to have conceived their secret love-child between March 16th and April 22nd, 1971."
Fair enough.
Where was his mother for a considerable amount of early April 1971? Very close to Cuba!
Did you see Mick Jagger's dig at Justin Trudeau when the Stones played Vancouver? "We love your Mr Trudeau. I mean, his family has always been such big fans of our band."
I'd say that she probably fucked the whole band but she was probably too old for Bill Wyman.
I always loved Canada. My love of the outdoors is because all my family vacations growing up were fishing trips to Canada, from Southern Ontario all the way up to the top of Saskatchewan just below the NWT. My 82 year old Dad caught a 48” Northern on the last afternoon we fished up there. Many great memories from all those Canadian trips.
I have a fully-caged, race-spec S2000 (and I really love it) that I am thinking about selling so that my racing buddy and I can get the same type of car. I was thinking spec Boxster or a 996. Your thoughts on those two?
Much as I love the Boxsters, I'd do a 996, get one with a done IMS bearing and put a half cage in it. They're comparatively cheap and plentiful with plenty of track mods and support.
Alternatively a 987.1 Cayman base. Less risk of an engine problem than the 3.4L S and lots of ways to make it track friendly.
Unless owning a Porsche is psychologically satisfying for you, chances are you'd be better off with almost anything else, including the S2K you have now. A Spec Boxster should be SLOWER than your current car. Most 996es will struggle to match it.
If you want to go faster for five figures, you should be thinking either C5 vette or "real race car", in other words, a Formula Continental.
And perhaps the most disappointing breakfast at that!
I expected a CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST to be roughly equivalent to a TITANIC BREAKFAST, not just "toast and a cello-wrapped pastry," lacking not only the English bacon, sausage, and egg trio but also the delicious smoked salmon served in Germany.
It should be called the "Lowest Common Denominator EU Breakfast De-Contented by Indians."
Part of my moral obligation to the readers is to prevent them from making a mistake, if it's within my power.
Spec Boxsters are, by and large, pieces of junk with SMX5 pace and 917K repair costs. The same is true of Spec 944, except it's "SSM pace" and "Audi 5000 Turbo Quattro repair costs". There are a couple regions in NorCal where they are common enough to race by themselves, which is probably fun because the 986 is an easy car to drive at the absolute limit.
This fellow has a Honda S2000, which is faster than any Boxster short of a 3.4 around a racetrack, does not depreciate in any meaningful fashion, and will run until the end of time with little attention paid to anything but the rear diff, which is made from chocolate and fairy dust. Going to a Spec Boxster is gonna HORRIFY him, after he does it.
Todd Lamb was charging $45k for Spec Boxsters back in 2018, and his justification was, I shit you not, "they're 3 seconds faster a lap on long tracks than a Spec Miata". There is no way the price has gone down since 2024.
End of rant. I just don't want anyone to be disappointed.
It would be nice to answer the question asked (which, to be fair, did not explicitly limit the options to Porsche, just that he was currently thinking of those two). But I the disclaimer about "psychologically satisfying" does a lot of work.
But there are a number of times in life where unsolicited and/or more generalized advice to myself or to a family member could have been life-changing.
Once involved a move to a town that I had no particular passion for; it just seemed convenient enough and affordable enough. It turned out to be extremely inconvenient and mostly filled with nasty people. A relative's friend, who was aware of the planned move, later said "Oh, I knew you'd hate it," yet failed to say anything.
And similarly, when I ask a question, unless I'm very specific that it is _strictly_ between A and B, I really like suggestions that I had not thought of if they meet the objective. In fact, suggestions of possibilities that I hadn't though of are often the most valuable of all.
Well, don't take my word for it... spend some time looking at what stuff like control arms, and power steering pumps, and alternators, and other wears-out-during-racing stuff costs. For the German cars, it's in another ZIP code.
Thank you for the reply. Question to Andy about those two cars specifically since he is actively involved in his local PCA. My local PCA has several events throughout the year and they don't mind me bringing the Honda (I am in PCA because I have a 76 911 targa - which would probably be the slowest thing on the track if I were to use that).
I like the idea of a Formula Continental or similar as I'm already trailering a car. I just don't know how many events I could attend in my local area (Dallas).
So that leaves the venerable C5, which corners and moves down the straights. That is probably the correct answer, I just need to find two so that each of us can have one.
What do we get around here, maybe a week's worth of days like this here in Michigan?
It's been a hot, wet summer so it's nice to have a day with mild temperatures and low humidity. It's been so wet that the mosquitoes in my backyard are out in enough force that I need to use my Thermacell gizmo just to work in the yard.
When I lived in Illinois I used to say “if you ever calculated how many blue sky weekend days with comfortable temperatures we get every year, you’d cry”.
But the joke is that it’s probably a dry heat in the extreme places. It’s never a dry heat in Chicago.
I’m blown away by the great four season weather here in the mountains of NC. Never too hot, never too cold. I hardly ever even run the AC in the summer and snow is not common in the winter. I have a bunch of Arctic level clothing I used in Chicago that’s been sitting in boxes down here for the last few years.
Wedding photography is a fun gig. Pays well. Hard if you're the primary shooter, blissfully easy if you're not. Just have to be good with people (cynicism need not apply. Customer service face and voice on a 10 for 8-12 hours. Gotta be extremely outgoing and helpful at all times), perfect with time management, and good enough with a camera.
I'm sitting at my desk in Auburn Hills turning green with jealousy.
We did have our annual golf outing yesterday, though, which was lovely.
If Dave with the green NB is there, he was my instructor for the one OTD I did in 2018, in my 2012 Charger R/T. He seemed impressed with me and the car!
Fantastic! And if you bring an Olympus XA, I'll have to bring my Olympus PenFT! (Which is the end of my 3 camera collection thus far. They're like cars, bikes, and guitars in that N+1 is the correct number to own.)
I looked for you on the broadcast and didn't realize you'd be in the car! Naturally, I wondered if you would attend as I would not (and good thing, too, because my family spent the weekend ill).
While enjoying my flatbed tow home on Thursday I asked the driver, who has a pair of Harleys, if he watched KotB and he said yes, and he liked watching it. He loves that they bikes start off as a genuine article and then get modified to hell and gone for racing.
Supersport has been somewhat spoiled this year, in my opinion, with Scholz and Jacobsen handily outclassing the younger fellows in the field and messing up the ladder experience up to superbike. I know Scholz had nowhere to go with Westby retiring his team. Still, I had been looking forward to Hobbs, Scott, and others fighting on the sharp end as inexperienced riders rather than being crushed by huge margins.
Superbike's competition was a blowout on a freshly dried and rubber free track by Josh Herrin, whose attitude and personality I don't really care for but who dominated with aggression from the jump. Race 2 was closer with the BMWs putting up a real fight against the V4 Panigale until the end and it was good to see ex-Moto2 rider Sean Dylan Kelly put up a fight.
Gagne continues to be gone-yea this year.
There were a lot of wrecks across classes and not just due to rain. This makes me wonder if it's TC set up for classes where electronics are in play and there's no data for Mid-O, or just mistakes as in the case of Gillum going skyward at the close of Race 2 for KotB. Bobby Fong threw his bike over a fence in a superbike wreck, Petersen was injured, etc.
I agree about PJ and Scholz in Supersport. But look what Pegram did to the rest of the field— they shoul all be embarrassed. Rahal has already announced PJ will be back in the class next year.
See elsewhere for my other comments regarding the weekend.
My great niece and I were there, and chuckled every time we saw Jack pedaling as hard as he could in the safety car.
it seems a bit like the early days of superbike racing in which nothing is suited for task and the entertainment comes from watching bikes get tortured into doing things they were otherwise not designed for
I wonder how long it will stay like this. I hate to say it, but perhaps in 5 years the field will consist entirely of purpose-built machines completely divorced from their retail counterparts.
Great piece on a cool race series... did you get a chance to call any of the Harley riders gay?
"Everything south of that is driver-funded, pathetic to watch, or in the case of NASA and WRL, both"
Ok, BS flag. This is completely untrue. NASA is mostly spec racing, and I loved watching the small-bore group after I raced the big-bore group... on the contrary, some of the classes, like Spec Miata and Spec E30, are the best racing you'll watch. Admittedly, there's never a crowd other than the drivers and their families... but the racing is still fun to watch. Ironically in your case, Jack, the only NASA class I see as boring is the top Super Touring class... they run away from each other and then just have a track day through the spec classes. I'm sure it's fun for the drivers, just hard to see how it could be fun for spectators...
...I'm not sure why you got kicked out of your NASA region, and I'm sure you'd probably rather not discuss it publicly. But I know getting kicked out is a severe penalty, and I honestly don't know anyone who's been kicked out of my NASA region. Sounds a lot like sour grapes...
"Great piece on a cool race series... did you get a chance to call any of the Harley riders gay?"
Just the baggers that cut me off when I was leaving the Outback!
"I'm not sure why you got kicked out of your NASA region, and I'm sure you'd probably rather not discuss it publicly."
You could not *be* more wrong. I will be discussing it here and elsewhere, in depth, including providing the full text of the email that led to my removal and any conversations I have with NASA National going forward.
WRT the other comments, every region is different but mine has had an awful hard time putting on smallbore races without ending under yellow or red. We had a weekend earlier this year where I think the combined total of green flag laps across both days was... five? six?
Thanks for not using my real name on the photo credit of the “Tribute” bike (but I’ll admit it). I have nothing against “baggers” (touring bikes to me) out on the road. Rented an Electra Glide back in the 90’s and found it fun to ride in its own way. Racing them is akin to the Olympics adding the 100 meter sprint in a suit of armor. Once as a curiosity is fun, but not permanently. As usual I find myself completely befuddled by something that is very popular.
The big story (for traditionalists?) is the double by Herrin on the Warhorse Ducati— extending his championship lead. The legend, Eraldo Ferracci (team consultant) was as excited as I’ve seen him recently—fun to see.
Smart assed comment for those in the know— is Gagne really suffering from arm pump? Maybe he’s suffering from pump gas (assuming they are now running the same fuel as everyone else.)
Flat track is fantastic. They used to do the Indy Mile in conjunction with MotoGP. That was excellent! I was there when King Kenny rode the TZ750 again in 2009. I still can’t believe how hard he rode it for a few lap exhibition.
Ok Jack, the Alaskan medic is pulling your leg. He is telling you not to go, because he doesn’t want lower 48 people heading there and taking over.
I love Alaska. I’ve been 6 times as I recall, having family there makes it easy to go hang out. I went mostly as a teenager and took my family a few years ago. I haven’t been during winter, but there are 4, maybe 5, real solid months there that are fantastic. If you like the outdoors. City people need not apply. It is a long trip to just go to Anchorage. That is the least interesting place there.
There is some super mite biting every member of my family right now because of the damn cicadas. Worst bug bites I've ever had. I'd welcome 4 ft Alaska mosquitoes at this point.
My wife is claiming to have the same but she’s a notorious hypochondriac with a penchant for drinking wine on the patio in the evening so I remain unconvinced.
They're getting me, my wife, my kids. We had a huge cicada presence in our neighborhood. Invisible mites that bite sounds ridiculous but my welts disagree.
I have the same thing going on in NC. I usually don’t wear long pants at all in the summer, but have been doing so because the welts on my ankles look so bad. It’s not even buggy by my house, I rarely see even a mosquito or a fly. The bats are out in force at dusk every day.
I was in Alaska for a week in July, 2001, as a chaperone for a youth trip up there from church. A few observations on the state:
1. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking!
2. You have to like cooler weather to live up there! (When a couple other adults in the group went to the Hertz counter to pick up the E-350 18p vans used for transportation, the woman behind the counter was breaking out in heat rash! The temperature was in the 70s!) However, it can hit triple digits in the interior portions of the state.
3. I think I’d probably go out of my gourd with the two hours of daylight, if that, around Christmas, and needing blackout shutters on my dwelling around July to get normal sleep!
4. The mosquitos could probably carry away small dogs and cats!
One other note on that trip: my group had a six-hour layover in Newark, so we arranged a guided trip into Gotham. One of the stops was the lobby of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. This was on July 21st, 2021. Uh, huh! 😬😥
I lived in Anchorage for 8 years and have been entertained to varying degrees by the Alaska tourist comments here. What prompts me to write is the impression given that the Anchorage hospital is some sort of Third-World clinic. It is far from that. It is a modern 400-bed facililty, full of talented, caring professionals and the largest private employer in the state. Among its many facilities is a Level II ER, a Level III NICU, and a Burn Unit. Patients from all over the state come to it for care; only the most severe are flown to Seattle. It is part of the Providence network, with a proud tradition of service. And yes, I used to work at PAMC.
Yeah, the mosquitos are plague-like during one month (July? I don’t remember.). If you go for a drive outside the local town your car may be covered in blood and guts from running through clouds of them.
Thermacell devices work very well. The last time I went camping in the UP, when I woke up the mesh tent walls were covered with hundreds of mosquitoes. I fired up the Thermacell and they left me alone while making and eating my breakfast.
In the long term the difference is that a Harley is a unique product and much harder to replace than generic mass market beer. Harley's much larger problem is that their customer base is aging out and the group to replace them is much smaller.
"Harley's much larger problem is that their customer base is aging out and the group to replace them is much smaller."
From recent data, it seems their median customer age has held at around 45 for a decade (per their finance arm, which obviously doesn't capture all buyers, including presumably many wealthier older guys who buy cash).
I do think the DEI dust-up may hit disproportionately high, as this customer group does seem very self/style conscious and identity based.
WRT the racers, not that I could see... but I did NOT see a lot of people lined up to ride the demo bikes. The other manufacturers had more traffic at their displays.
They certainly shot themselves in the foot discontinuing the Sportster line IMO. an 883 Iron or 883 "Low" was a not-unpopular younger guy's machine, priced within reach. The newer Nightster, which they just outsourced the production of to Thailand, just looks/sounds all sorts of wrong, and priced notably higher.
I don't know why, but bike racing has just never done it for me. I think part of it is that the danger is too obvious and I partially find it stressful. I've also never ridden. Doing a few track days and a bunch of iracing has greatly sharpened my existing appreciation for car racing.
I went to one motorcycle race at Mid-Ohio about thirty years ago and all I could think of was what would happen to a rider who crashed in traffic, I found watching it stressful as well.
" I’ll show up with my 392-powered Chrysler 300C on a set of new RE-71RSes"
consider my interest piqued but i wonder if a set of front wheels as wide as the back could stave off tire degradation so they dont immediately get consumed which is not a slight against you
as cool as some people find the baggers i think they look completely retarded but id love them if they werent baggers but sportsters or something
who doesnt like screaming vtwins making heaps of power
I would do 285 square, which is the only RE-71RS that fits the car, and would be fine, I think.
thats pretty meaty and would be rad
please post pics and stuff when you do it
Hey Jack, off-topic question: do you know anything about Resco watches? My son bought one, supposedly they’re made in America, the guy who owns The company is a retired Navy seal. Anyway, just wondering if you had an opinion on it.
Just googled it. Got bought out. I had good luck with a SEIKO PROSPEX ‘SUMO’ SOLAR GMT SBPK001 MADE IN JAPAN JDM (apologies for the caps copy & paste). Nice solar GMT. True JDM per various sources. If you’re looking for reasonable price decent watch.
From what I can tell and guess in ten minutes of research, he's assembling the watches here using Swiss movements and Chinese components. Some people really like their Rescos, that's for sure.
I think the Sportsters would be a lot slower (smaller engines, worse aero). They also sell in much lower numbers so who would care?
i was under the impression that the sportster has a better and 350lbish lighter chassis under it and the 131 engine would fit in it making it faster or far more appealing given the potential performance
I don't think anyone is going to go racing at 160 mph on a bike with no fairing. I doubt a Sportster actually would be faster because the drag would become so bad. Also, have you ever ridden a Harley touring bike? They handle better at all speeds than the smaller Harleys. The weight doesn't matter.
Why would the Harley factory put a 131 of any sort into a bike that only sells with the Rev Max engine? Doing these events with a Sportster defeats the entire argument Jack detailed out for this series.
Harley's are not my cup of tea, but I would seriously enjoy watching that in person. It's almost as cool as the sidecar races at Road America.
One would assume that the "bagger" community generally eschews the word "tea" as well.
Except when preceded by "iced"
What intrigues me is that they can scalpel two hundred pounds off what in base form is 825 pounds, lots of expensive materials for sure, carbon fiber and titanium are premium materials, I see how removing weight could easily improve performance of even stock engines.
God only knows what the modern bagger fairings weigh...
I want to hear the Alaska stories.
guest post time
Having recently visited and returned unharmed, so would I.
I have watched, over the past four days or so, probably 10-12 hours of basically silent YT videos of dudes building off grid cabins in Alaska, Maine, UP of Michigan, etc. I am fascinated, and it’s relaxing and soothing to watch. Sign me up for some Alaska stories. I’ve only been once, on a cruise, and it was “Disney Alaska”, not nearly the real thing.
Bushradical is my favorite off-grid cabin guy on the youtube. I'm ready to start digging foundation postholes in my backyard.
Alaska, where "The Bear or the man" is really an option.
Well, as a preview: there is no, repeat, *no*, Level 1 trauma center in Alaska. So for much of the really gnarly stuff, they fly you to Anchorage via Cessna Grand Caravan, then to Seattle via Cessna Citation.
Seems like that's something they should build there!
There's not enough density to justify it, unfortunately.
But probably enough trauma.
Uncork ANWR and there might be enough density o'er time.
Level 1 trauma centers are actually fairly rare even on the mainland.
But I was surprised that ANC-SEA is such a long flight: about the same as Seattle to Kansas City, and 8% longer than CMH-ABQ .
Alaska's a long way away. After my father and I got back from Fairbanks to Bremerton, I found that if we'd gone that far in the opposite direction we could get to Mississippi.
Bremerton?
The famed HOME OF THE BREMOLO?
Yeah, home of the Bremolo! I actually live in Olalla, a few miles south, but I wanted a reference that most readers would know.
So for you,
"Bremerton's the city right outside of mine"
Every time I'm up there I'm uncomfortably aware of the fact that if I broke two legs I'd be headed to the exact same hospital that I would be at home, but this time it would be a three- to five-hour plane flight instead of a few minutes in an ambulance.
Yup... and apparently the Grand Caravans tend to fly, and LAND, hard in the Alaska conditions.
None in the Upper Peninsula either. When my then 10 year old daughter and I fell 30 feet into a riverbed while checking out waterfalls in the Keweenaw Peninsula, the nearest hospital, 40 minutes away, was a Level III trauma center. Coincidentally, the resident who treated us trained under a friend of mine at Henry Ford in Detroit.
What, they couldn't afford something decently fast that had rough field performance, like a Pilatus PC-12?
Well, that would have been a BIG step up for an EMS department. I’m surprised they could afford a Cessna.
Usually they get a grant at the state level, sometimes with fed assistance. And the feds have a bunch of PC-12s that as far as I know are no longer being used for ELINT work overseas.
God willing, they'll hand one to the Civil Air Patrol.
That would make too much sense. It's all about the optics. Giving it away to a remote EMS area makes for good press. Virtually no one knows what the CAP is, much less that it's still a going concern and a useful service.
Most people not named “jack baruth” Never see a level 1 trauma center in their life. I wouldn’t want to race cars up there but day to day shit i probably wouldnt worry. I say this having two level 1 trauma centers within 30 minutes and my mom worked at one of them
Where's Jack London when we need him?
With Chris McCandless.
Brutal.
Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I meant they shared a passion.
(we don’t believe you)
Interpersonal drama in Alaska (I say as someone who is regularly exposed to it in my work) is riveting. The entire state has less population than the city of Portland, Oregon. And people just don't move. Everyone has known everyone else since they were born. In spite of the physical reality of a vast open land it's a hothouse of impossible relationships, betrayal, and lifelong hatred.
So it's Arrakis!
Appalachia is like that too.
There were 200 people in my high school class. Of the ones still alive, most of them live in or near where they grew up. If you approached all of them and said “I’ll double (or triple) your salary (doing whatever it is they do), AND you get to move to somewhere ‘cool’ or ‘glamorous’ like Austin or California” they would invariably turn you down.
Because they could work in those places but not LIVE in those places.
About ten years ago, I was having breakfast on a Sunday morning with some college friends at an excellent restaurant (that later closed) called the Fremont Diner. It was near Sears Point / Infineon / Sonoma Raceway.
https://www.sonomamag.com/sonomas-popular-fremont-diner-in-flux/
Our group all locked eyes in horror when we heard a certain David Allan Coe song come over the Spotify playlist:
“Tryin' like the devil to find the Lord
Workin' like an ***enslaved person*** for my room and board
Coal-burin' stove no natural gas
If that ain't country, I'll kiss your ass!”
***Coe used a different word, and that’s the word that patrons of the Fremont Diner heard. We were the only ones who noticed.
I could double my salary, and have a career, in California.
I can't stand being there for more than a week at a time.
You could get botox, a haircut, and say catchy phrases like "I appreciate you"
Your housing costs would more than double, so you're not missing out.
You have to be in California because you really love California.
I will listen to job offers on the East Coast -- I genuinely love both NYC and DC -- but not to ones in California.
I am deeply fascinated by Alaska for this reason. Whittier always comes to mind as what my version of hell actually may be.
I grew up in a tiny, tiny town with like 1200 people. My mom's family had lived there for as long as anyone could remember. Coming of age was absolutely fucking brutal because of it. Could never be myself, could never be independent.
An entire populace living in one building would be the apex of that, I'd assume.
As my wife would say to one of my enthusiasms, glad you're enjoying it. Me, I never got bikes and never will but appreciate that others do.
I'm typing this sitting at Waterford Hills waiting for the afternoon sessions to start up in my local PCA track day. I'm almost done with my day job, as in I work from home a few hours a week and resist all efforts to take on something new. Buy me out please and we'll talk.
What's out here on a lovely Michigan Tuesday? My Cayman R, another one I know, a lovely 964 RS America, several rough but quick 996s, a couple Miata racers, a GT3, a GT4, a few Caymans and Boxster some grey, white, black or silver BMWs,and a Fiero. The instructors are primarily old guys, most older than me, which doesn't predict a great future for us.
There are no spectators or even wives/girlfriends. We are blissfully ignored. There are a few newbies whose money we need to pay for the track. It's 70 degrees in August and the sky is full of fluffy little clouds. It's a really good day.
I am not at all jealous of any part of this comment.
Also, soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNfjpmvbQG0
THE ORB! Man, it's been a while.
video not available in canuckistan
fuck this place
I could send you an alternate link, but I think that you really need a $10/month VPN service to circumvent the Castro regime more generally.
This is describing the same place where you could buy Cuban cigars, and take a trip from there to Cuba if you wanted.
Cognitive dissonance!
Let's resolve it.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/justin-trudeau-is-fidel-castros-love-child/
"It is extremely unlikely that Justin’s birth fell outside of that gestational range, meaning that Castro and Margaret Trudeau would have to have conceived their secret love-child between March 16th and April 22nd, 1971."
Fair enough.
Where was his mother for a considerable amount of early April 1971? Very close to Cuba!
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-journal/17430251/
More details:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Snopes/comments/7zidq8/snopes_made_a_mistake_regarding_trudeaus_april/
Not saying it _did_ happen, but it definitely _could_ have happened.
it absolutely happened
he doesnt look a thing like pierre
Did you see Mick Jagger's dig at Justin Trudeau when the Stones played Vancouver? "We love your Mr Trudeau. I mean, his family has always been such big fans of our band."
I'd say that she probably fucked the whole band but she was probably too old for Bill Wyman.
Just saw the description of Canada as a “3 star hotel charging 5 star rates”.
3 stars is generous and 5 isnt high enough
granted some places are absolute wonders but others are comparable to hell on earth
I always loved Canada. My love of the outdoors is because all my family vacations growing up were fishing trips to Canada, from Southern Ontario all the way up to the top of Saskatchewan just below the NWT. My 82 year old Dad caught a 48” Northern on the last afternoon we fished up there. Many great memories from all those Canadian trips.
I dream of going to Canada so one person someday might pronounce my name correctly
Many of us are heartbroken about Canada, because, as a Canadian wrote, "Only Love Can Break Your Heart."
Since Jack dislikes Neil Young, here's one of many covers (coincidentally from the same era as my other link):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZAajrxvDs4
I'd prefer this:
https://youtu.be/P2uQ6TwQOOM?si=jGcLKl-w6g3jV5JS
I have a fully-caged, race-spec S2000 (and I really love it) that I am thinking about selling so that my racing buddy and I can get the same type of car. I was thinking spec Boxster or a 996. Your thoughts on those two?
can we get specs on that s2k
love those
nominating you for a harambe post too of course
Much as I love the Boxsters, I'd do a 996, get one with a done IMS bearing and put a half cage in it. They're comparatively cheap and plentiful with plenty of track mods and support.
Alternatively a 987.1 Cayman base. Less risk of an engine problem than the 3.4L S and lots of ways to make it track friendly.
Chiming in here:
Unless owning a Porsche is psychologically satisfying for you, chances are you'd be better off with almost anything else, including the S2K you have now. A Spec Boxster should be SLOWER than your current car. Most 996es will struggle to match it.
If you want to go faster for five figures, you should be thinking either C5 vette or "real race car", in other words, a Formula Continental.
formula continentals look like what people think an open wheeler is supposed to look like and its great
not sure why they named the series after a breakfast however
And perhaps the most disappointing breakfast at that!
I expected a CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST to be roughly equivalent to a TITANIC BREAKFAST, not just "toast and a cello-wrapped pastry," lacking not only the English bacon, sausage, and egg trio but also the delicious smoked salmon served in Germany.
It should be called the "Lowest Common Denominator EU Breakfast De-Contented by Indians."
I just ate dinner—and now I’m hungry again!! 😋😋
And here I was imagining a spare tire under the wing...
That would improve ANY race car.
But the Boxster and 996 is what he asked about, not what race car you think he and his buddy ought to get.
its a legal strat
maybe a c5 also fits the bill
Part of my moral obligation to the readers is to prevent them from making a mistake, if it's within my power.
Spec Boxsters are, by and large, pieces of junk with SMX5 pace and 917K repair costs. The same is true of Spec 944, except it's "SSM pace" and "Audi 5000 Turbo Quattro repair costs". There are a couple regions in NorCal where they are common enough to race by themselves, which is probably fun because the 986 is an easy car to drive at the absolute limit.
This fellow has a Honda S2000, which is faster than any Boxster short of a 3.4 around a racetrack, does not depreciate in any meaningful fashion, and will run until the end of time with little attention paid to anything but the rear diff, which is made from chocolate and fairy dust. Going to a Spec Boxster is gonna HORRIFY him, after he does it.
Todd Lamb was charging $45k for Spec Boxsters back in 2018, and his justification was, I shit you not, "they're 3 seconds faster a lap on long tracks than a Spec Miata". There is no way the price has gone down since 2024.
End of rant. I just don't want anyone to be disappointed.
I see both sides of this.
It would be nice to answer the question asked (which, to be fair, did not explicitly limit the options to Porsche, just that he was currently thinking of those two). But I the disclaimer about "psychologically satisfying" does a lot of work.
But there are a number of times in life where unsolicited and/or more generalized advice to myself or to a family member could have been life-changing.
Once involved a move to a town that I had no particular passion for; it just seemed convenient enough and affordable enough. It turned out to be extremely inconvenient and mostly filled with nasty people. A relative's friend, who was aware of the planned move, later said "Oh, I knew you'd hate it," yet failed to say anything.
And similarly, when I ask a question, unless I'm very specific that it is _strictly_ between A and B, I really like suggestions that I had not thought of if they meet the objective. In fact, suggestions of possibilities that I hadn't though of are often the most valuable of all.
Thanking you again on your perspective of Spec Boxster! Audi 5000 costs scare me enough.
Well, don't take my word for it... spend some time looking at what stuff like control arms, and power steering pumps, and alternators, and other wears-out-during-racing stuff costs. For the German cars, it's in another ZIP code.
Thank you for the reply. Question to Andy about those two cars specifically since he is actively involved in his local PCA. My local PCA has several events throughout the year and they don't mind me bringing the Honda (I am in PCA because I have a 76 911 targa - which would probably be the slowest thing on the track if I were to use that).
I like the idea of a Formula Continental or similar as I'm already trailering a car. I just don't know how many events I could attend in my local area (Dallas).
So that leaves the venerable C5, which corners and moves down the straights. That is probably the correct answer, I just need to find two so that each of us can have one.
Or, I convince my buddy to buy another S2k!
Just do that! Then you can share Honda spares.
What do we get around here, maybe a week's worth of days like this here in Michigan?
It's been a hot, wet summer so it's nice to have a day with mild temperatures and low humidity. It's been so wet that the mosquitoes in my backyard are out in enough force that I need to use my Thermacell gizmo just to work in the yard.
Pretty sweet day alright. It was almost as hot and humid for parts of June and July in Maine.
When I lived in Illinois I used to say “if you ever calculated how many blue sky weekend days with comfortable temperatures we get every year, you’d cry”.
Some places get Extreme Heat Alerts for weeks / months at a time in summer.
But the joke is that it’s probably a dry heat in the extreme places. It’s never a dry heat in Chicago.
I’m blown away by the great four season weather here in the mountains of NC. Never too hot, never too cold. I hardly ever even run the AC in the summer and snow is not common in the winter. I have a bunch of Arctic level clothing I used in Chicago that’s been sitting in boxes down here for the last few years.
All of this is fantastic. I'll be there on Saturday, trying to set another track record with the SR8.
I'll have to come out with the Minolta 35mm!
That would fantastic. My son is photographing a wedding and won't bother with his dad.
Didn't you get him a nice camera? Ungrateful wretch.
I did! And a decent lens! And a lot of the food he's ever eaten!
If that's a paying gig who can blame him? I'll bring the Sony too, so we have some instant pixels as well.
Yes..flying and photography..nice range of hobbies, to go along with the BMX and the bass-playing.
Nice!
Wedding photography is a fun gig. Pays well. Hard if you're the primary shooter, blissfully easy if you're not. Just have to be good with people (cynicism need not apply. Customer service face and voice on a 10 for 8-12 hours. Gotta be extremely outgoing and helpful at all times), perfect with time management, and good enough with a camera.
What time? I'd do some pics but they won't be motorsport pics.
It's a "no-schedule schedule"... the race should be a bit after noon?
Maybe I'll skip my tennis, sacrifice on my part. I've done pro boxing and "pro" wrestling, I can do "pro" grassroots, but gotta be asked nicely lol.
Nothing you see at this race will improve your opinion of the sport, but I *will* cover your lunch.
I had some of that at the track today, better to pack your own. Still, it's a 3 Michelin meal compared to Grattan.
(my opinion of the sport is fine, it's the participants I question)
I'm sitting at my desk in Auburn Hills turning green with jealousy.
We did have our annual golf outing yesterday, though, which was lovely.
If Dave with the green NB is there, he was my instructor for the one OTD I did in 2018, in my 2012 Charger R/T. He seemed impressed with me and the car!
No green NBs but several Daves.
As is tradition
If you bring a 35mm Minolta, I'll bring an Olympus XA.
Making me miss my OM-1.
Those are so pretty to look at. I imagine they're lovely to shoot as well!
Fantastic! And if you bring an Olympus XA, I'll have to bring my Olympus PenFT! (Which is the end of my 3 camera collection thus far. They're like cars, bikes, and guitars in that N+1 is the correct number to own.)
Selling the business? What are we talking about? jcolinclyne google mail.
As you kicked off MotoAmerica discussion early:
I looked for you on the broadcast and didn't realize you'd be in the car! Naturally, I wondered if you would attend as I would not (and good thing, too, because my family spent the weekend ill).
While enjoying my flatbed tow home on Thursday I asked the driver, who has a pair of Harleys, if he watched KotB and he said yes, and he liked watching it. He loves that they bikes start off as a genuine article and then get modified to hell and gone for racing.
Supersport has been somewhat spoiled this year, in my opinion, with Scholz and Jacobsen handily outclassing the younger fellows in the field and messing up the ladder experience up to superbike. I know Scholz had nowhere to go with Westby retiring his team. Still, I had been looking forward to Hobbs, Scott, and others fighting on the sharp end as inexperienced riders rather than being crushed by huge margins.
Superbike's competition was a blowout on a freshly dried and rubber free track by Josh Herrin, whose attitude and personality I don't really care for but who dominated with aggression from the jump. Race 2 was closer with the BMWs putting up a real fight against the V4 Panigale until the end and it was good to see ex-Moto2 rider Sean Dylan Kelly put up a fight.
Gagne continues to be gone-yea this year.
There were a lot of wrecks across classes and not just due to rain. This makes me wonder if it's TC set up for classes where electronics are in play and there's no data for Mid-O, or just mistakes as in the case of Gillum going skyward at the close of Race 2 for KotB. Bobby Fong threw his bike over a fence in a superbike wreck, Petersen was injured, etc.
I agree about PJ and Scholz in Supersport. But look what Pegram did to the rest of the field— they shoul all be embarrassed. Rahal has already announced PJ will be back in the class next year.
See elsewhere for my other comments regarding the weekend.
My great niece and I were there, and chuckled every time we saw Jack pedaling as hard as he could in the safety car.
A 51 year old, rain or no, almost certainly shouldn't be standing on the podium in a race that isn't age limited for geriatrics.
And by the way, I’m not a fan of Herrin as a person, either — but he’s on the right bike; so…
The funny thing is that nobody would think twice about this in IMSA, but that's not nearly as physical.
I would not inherently find this interesting, so the explanation, including the comparative paces, was extremely helpful.
it seems a bit like the early days of superbike racing in which nothing is suited for task and the entertainment comes from watching bikes get tortured into doing things they were otherwise not designed for
I wonder how long it will stay like this. I hate to say it, but perhaps in 5 years the field will consist entirely of purpose-built machines completely divorced from their retail counterparts.
itll stay like this until the rules allow custom frames is my best guess
i dont think the manufacturers are going to make kotb homologation bikes but that would be neat to see
I don’t see prototype racing coming to MotoAmerica.
The Hooligan class is the closest analog to the original Superbikes.
Great piece on a cool race series... did you get a chance to call any of the Harley riders gay?
"Everything south of that is driver-funded, pathetic to watch, or in the case of NASA and WRL, both"
Ok, BS flag. This is completely untrue. NASA is mostly spec racing, and I loved watching the small-bore group after I raced the big-bore group... on the contrary, some of the classes, like Spec Miata and Spec E30, are the best racing you'll watch. Admittedly, there's never a crowd other than the drivers and their families... but the racing is still fun to watch. Ironically in your case, Jack, the only NASA class I see as boring is the top Super Touring class... they run away from each other and then just have a track day through the spec classes. I'm sure it's fun for the drivers, just hard to see how it could be fun for spectators...
...I'm not sure why you got kicked out of your NASA region, and I'm sure you'd probably rather not discuss it publicly. But I know getting kicked out is a severe penalty, and I honestly don't know anyone who's been kicked out of my NASA region. Sounds a lot like sour grapes...
"did you get a chance to call any of the Harley riders gay"
how could he
he already said the baggers were way faster than the acura
Haha
There were plenty of them wandering around at the track. Not the racers, real Harley riders
Tea baggers?
bag riders
which amusingly is a company my friend stumbled upon when trying to lower his car https://www.bagriders.com/
"Great piece on a cool race series... did you get a chance to call any of the Harley riders gay?"
Just the baggers that cut me off when I was leaving the Outback!
"I'm not sure why you got kicked out of your NASA region, and I'm sure you'd probably rather not discuss it publicly."
You could not *be* more wrong. I will be discussing it here and elsewhere, in depth, including providing the full text of the email that led to my removal and any conversations I have with NASA National going forward.
WRT the other comments, every region is different but mine has had an awful hard time putting on smallbore races without ending under yellow or red. We had a weekend earlier this year where I think the combined total of green flag laps across both days was... five? six?
95% of fullcourse yellows are unnecessary. period.
Agreed. Let's blame the lawyers!
Thanks for not using my real name on the photo credit of the “Tribute” bike (but I’ll admit it). I have nothing against “baggers” (touring bikes to me) out on the road. Rented an Electra Glide back in the 90’s and found it fun to ride in its own way. Racing them is akin to the Olympics adding the 100 meter sprint in a suit of armor. Once as a curiosity is fun, but not permanently. As usual I find myself completely befuddled by something that is very popular.
The big story (for traditionalists?) is the double by Herrin on the Warhorse Ducati— extending his championship lead. The legend, Eraldo Ferracci (team consultant) was as excited as I’ve seen him recently—fun to see.
Smart assed comment for those in the know— is Gagne really suffering from arm pump? Maybe he’s suffering from pump gas (assuming they are now running the same fuel as everyone else.)
I used to go to the Sacramento Mile and watch the flat trackers all the time. Those were fun.
Flat track is fantastic. They used to do the Indy Mile in conjunction with MotoGP. That was excellent! I was there when King Kenny rode the TZ750 again in 2009. I still can’t believe how hard he rode it for a few lap exhibition.
https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/video-my-greatest-yamaha-memory-with-king-kenny-roberts/
Nice patina on the Tudor. Bronze watches are cool.
I gotta clean it up so it looks new!
If you insist, I suppose Brasso or Barkeeper's Friend would work.
Ok Jack, the Alaskan medic is pulling your leg. He is telling you not to go, because he doesn’t want lower 48 people heading there and taking over.
I love Alaska. I’ve been 6 times as I recall, having family there makes it easy to go hang out. I went mostly as a teenager and took my family a few years ago. I haven’t been during winter, but there are 4, maybe 5, real solid months there that are fantastic. If you like the outdoors. City people need not apply. It is a long trip to just go to Anchorage. That is the least interesting place there.
Tell me about the flying insects. I have heard they are horrific.
There is some super mite biting every member of my family right now because of the damn cicadas. Worst bug bites I've ever had. I'd welcome 4 ft Alaska mosquitoes at this point.
My wife is claiming to have the same but she’s a notorious hypochondriac with a penchant for drinking wine on the patio in the evening so I remain unconvinced.
They're getting me, my wife, my kids. We had a huge cicada presence in our neighborhood. Invisible mites that bite sounds ridiculous but my welts disagree.
I have the same thing going on in NC. I usually don’t wear long pants at all in the summer, but have been doing so because the welts on my ankles look so bad. It’s not even buggy by my house, I rarely see even a mosquito or a fly. The bats are out in force at dusk every day.
The damn things have infested my balcony this summer too. Can't spend more than a few minutes outside without dozens of welts appearing.
I was in Alaska for a week in July, 2001, as a chaperone for a youth trip up there from church. A few observations on the state:
1. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking!
2. You have to like cooler weather to live up there! (When a couple other adults in the group went to the Hertz counter to pick up the E-350 18p vans used for transportation, the woman behind the counter was breaking out in heat rash! The temperature was in the 70s!) However, it can hit triple digits in the interior portions of the state.
3. I think I’d probably go out of my gourd with the two hours of daylight, if that, around Christmas, and needing blackout shutters on my dwelling around July to get normal sleep!
4. The mosquitos could probably carry away small dogs and cats!
One other note on that trip: my group had a six-hour layover in Newark, so we arranged a guided trip into Gotham. One of the stops was the lobby of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. This was on July 21st, 2021. Uh, huh! 😬😥
"Ok Jack, the Alaskan medic is pulling your leg. He is telling you not to go, because he doesn’t want lower 48 people heading there and taking over."
Just the idea of having a six hour plane ride to a proper hospital, when it's 25 minutes to a Level 1 from Mid-Ohio, is enough to make me think twice.
I lived in Anchorage for 8 years and have been entertained to varying degrees by the Alaska tourist comments here. What prompts me to write is the impression given that the Anchorage hospital is some sort of Third-World clinic. It is far from that. It is a modern 400-bed facililty, full of talented, caring professionals and the largest private employer in the state. Among its many facilities is a Level II ER, a Level III NICU, and a Burn Unit. Patients from all over the state come to it for care; only the most severe are flown to Seattle. It is part of the Providence network, with a proud tradition of service. And yes, I used to work at PAMC.
I mean no disrespect; just repeating what the medic said. Apparently they did a lot of Seattle flights.
No offence taken. It's just that I consider ACF to be a source of truth, both generally known and not, so I wanted the truth to be posted.
Thank you!
For the record, I've had my life saved twice at a Level 2 facility.
Scott is actually a sentient colony of mosquitos enticing victims so it can have more new blood.
Was hoping I'd see this today! Now to actually read it...
Yeah, the mosquitos are plague-like during one month (July? I don’t remember.). If you go for a drive outside the local town your car may be covered in blood and guts from running through clouds of them.
rub yourself with sulfur and bugs stay away
As would other humans, I’m sure! Yikes!
Why didn’t someone mention this sooner!
Thermacell devices work very well. The last time I went camping in the UP, when I woke up the mesh tent walls were covered with hundreds of mosquitoes. I fired up the Thermacell and they left me alone while making and eating my breakfast.
They are great. I run them under my telescope on the (increasingly rare) nights I go stargazing.
I’ve been hearing a lot of pushback against H-D and the supposed DEI work policies that their new CEO implemented.
The pushback seems similar to what happened with Bud Lite.
I wonder if this affected enthusiasm for the Harleys at Mid Ohio.
I saw the press release on Twitter and it looked like a non-apology to me.
In the long term the difference is that a Harley is a unique product and much harder to replace than generic mass market beer. Harley's much larger problem is that their customer base is aging out and the group to replace them is much smaller.
"Harley's much larger problem is that their customer base is aging out and the group to replace them is much smaller."
From recent data, it seems their median customer age has held at around 45 for a decade (per their finance arm, which obviously doesn't capture all buyers, including presumably many wealthier older guys who buy cash).
I do think the DEI dust-up may hit disproportionately high, as this customer group does seem very self/style conscious and identity based.
WRT the racers, not that I could see... but I did NOT see a lot of people lined up to ride the demo bikes. The other manufacturers had more traffic at their displays.
H-D’s problem is not the recent wokelash.
It’s a generation of NOT cultivating the next generations of customers.
They certainly shot themselves in the foot discontinuing the Sportster line IMO. an 883 Iron or 883 "Low" was a not-unpopular younger guy's machine, priced within reach. The newer Nightster, which they just outsourced the production of to Thailand, just looks/sounds all sorts of wrong, and priced notably higher.
I don't know why, but bike racing has just never done it for me. I think part of it is that the danger is too obvious and I partially find it stressful. I've also never ridden. Doing a few track days and a bunch of iracing has greatly sharpened my existing appreciation for car racing.
I went to one motorcycle race at Mid-Ohio about thirty years ago and all I could think of was what would happen to a rider who crashed in traffic, I found watching it stressful as well.