Short Comings Vol 2 #5

Moser looks at those that had a tough Budds Creek national

Shortcomings #5 Vol 2

We’re back, or technically I’m back this is kind of a one many show which you’ve probably noticed by now based on the number of grammatical errors and general lack of proof reading. I had my own Shortcomings during the off weekend losing in not one but two motos to Jacki Short. The first moto I came up “Just Short” but I didn’t have anything left for her in the second moto. In hindsight I guess I could have written about myself this week, that would have been ironic, wish I would have thought of that sooner. Time to delve into some behind the scenes information on some riders that had some Shortcomings on the weekend. As always I got the inside scoop and facts that only my type of investigative reporting can find (I can’t even write that without laughing at myself). If you want some real information stop reading right now, if you want some random ass interviews with lots of tangents then open a cold one and get comfortable, I set a record this week on getting the least amount of real information relevant to the riders I’m featuring.

#37 Alex Martin – ~~Eleven10Mods~~ Rock River Yamaha

Everyone knows who Alex Martin is, it’s hard to forget the little people that you come across in life, they leave an impression. Did he have a particularly bad weekend, meow not really but Alex Martin has had so many bad weekends at no fault of his own that he deserves any press he can get. Alex is now riding for the Rock River Yamaha team after the inevitable slow demise of the Eleven10Mods team. Who doesn’t like an underdog? I must have read the article by the Racing Papers Jordan Roberts about his ride along with the Eleven10Mods team six times, I was amazed with the success they had after getting a peak behind the curtain of how unorganized they really were. You couldn’t even call it organized chaos it was just chaos. Eleven10Mods was the Rudy of moto, everyone was pulling for them to succeed and when they got Factory Yamaha support this year from the outside looking in it seemed like it was the opportunity they had been waiting for, it was their time to shine, but alas it wasn’t meant to be.

Last summer at Washougal I was hanging out at the L&MC truck (shocker I know) and Alex Martin walked up in between practices wearing riding gear and flip-flops, grabbed an entire engine out of the semi in a large Tupperware container and walked off without a word. Just another day, another motor, #Eleven10ModsLife. Due to how Washougal falls on the schedule being so far away from the previous and following race L&MC had transferred his bike and parts out for him but you could see this was common practice for Alex to need a motor swap. Anytime I’m looking for, (I guess it’s past tense now) was looking for information on the Eleven10Mods team my go to guy is Shorty’s mechanic @nasty_nine who worked over there for a bit. I’ll get on my soapbox yet again, all you aspiring mechanics out there Nate lived in a tent for awhile on his path to becoming a racing mechanic that’s how bad he wanted it. So what I’m saying is if you want to be a professional mechanic step one is living in a tent, it worked for Nate.

Moser: What are you wearing? I meant to say know any interesting facts about Alex Martin for my Shortcomings article?

Nate: He’s a replica of Andrew Short just a smaller version. Eats super well, only drinks out of glass. Hangs out at Whole Foods just for fun. Works really hard. Mentally it’s been hard for Alex this year because of the team situation.

He pulls a lot of holeshots like Shorty

He’s a Fly rider, podiumed at Southwick year before last. His nickname is the Ewok warrior. He’s the one person with almost as many DNF’s as Nicoletti.

How many DNF’s would you guess Alex has had, I’m taking a poll?

No clue.

Well assuming Alex bike could make it one lap.

(Laughs), dude that’s mean. Alex is shorter if that helps and he’s older. Also Alex is really into marathons.

If you had to bet your Volcom helmet this is now a collector’s item because they are pulling out of the sport, who would you bet on?

It would be close because Alex would ride over his head just so his little brother wouldn’t beat him. If they were both on production bikes I would bet on Alex.

Thanks for your time Mr. Alexander

Check out his picture of Martin Sr. this must be where Alex gets his height from (Picture courtesy of Nate) this picture is awesome by the way.

I would like to think that I’m the leading authority on all things “Short” but that’s completely relative to the context. I got in touch with JT$ for a little insight on being Short as a professional motocross racer.

Moser: You were a Shorter statured rider what things wood you do to your bike to help compensate for that?

JT$: Taller footpegs, lowered seat, shorter subframe, and spacer I shock to lower shock length.

Is it safe to say the biggest advantage of being “fun sized” is stars and the biggest weakness is whoops?

Not really starts for me because I weighted 170 pounds or so, but maybe it is for a lighter guy. I always liked that my legs were out of the way in the ruts. Yes the whoops are easily the biggest weakness.

Can you think of any riders shorter than Alex Martin?

Davide degli esposti

I’ll have to google him.

He raced here a bunch.

JT wasn’t joking Davide is barely as tall as his handlebars, good thing there isn’t a height limit in moto.

If you were so inclined as to give Alex or any of the shorter guys some tips on riding technique from your years of experience what would they be?

No real technique, you’re just screwed.

That’s perfect

Bike setup is everything if you’re short.

Thanks for your time Mr. Money Sir

I remember ewoks’s being much more hairy. Photo by Simon Cudby

What more possible non-information, information could I possibly come up with? Well I found a guy who was wearing a Rock River team manager pit shirt and asked him a few questions. (Backstory is at a supercross after party somehow Weege managed to get the Rock River team manager Christina Denney’s pit shirt and wore it all night never returning it).

Moser: I’m featuring Alex Martin this week and seeing how you actually wear a Rock River Yamaha manager pit shirt I know you are the authority on all things Rock River. So how it come about that you picked up Alex Martin, where do you expect him to be finishing? In the past one of the things that effected his race results the most was literally getting signed up to race in time so how do you think the Rock River Team can help him with that? What say you Mr. Weege?

Weege: Mr. Moser, thanks for your inquiry regarding my team. Mine. Do you understand? Most people don’t realize I am actually the team manager for Rock River Yamaha, but an exchange of power took place around midnight after last year’s Houston Supercross, in which then Rock River Team Manager Christina Denny asked if she could have my Racer X shirt. Shrewd businessman that I am, I said I would only give her the swag in return for the shirt she was wearing, the official Rock River team pit shirt. So, we swapped shirts right there in the parking lot (don’t let your head spin. She was wearing another shirt underneath).

After that, I was team manager, and I quickly introduced myself to team rider Ben Lamay and let him have it, offering up a profanity-laced saliva-spewing tirade that would make any NFL coach whimper. From that point on, Lamay got faster and faster each weekend. I have continued to step up the efforts of the team, knowing when to be abrasive and when to coddle. When Alex Martin and Brady Kiesel needed a ride (literally) to the races, I offered our truck.

Now our team has stepped up, from a Yamaha trackside support effort to a genuine race threat, with Lamay bound to keep improving on the 450, and A-Mart about to hit his stride in time for a track where he garnered his only career podium–Southwick. He’ll also be part of a 1-2 finish with his brother Jeremy at their home track in Millville. And speaking of that, Alex now has a 250F practice bike for the first time in awhile, but, shrewd businessman I am, it came not from my team’s supply, but from Jeremy. I went down to Club MX yesterday to watch Alex ride, and I can tell you he’s much faster on a 250F practice bike than he is just walking around the place without one. Never mind he still has Star Racing/Rockstar graphics on the practice bike. He’ll have Rock River decals on there when it matters, this weekend, when he podiums Southwick again. Plus he’s kind of small so I can yell at him without fear if he screws up.

Thanks for your time Mr. Weege

Here are my impromptu very selective straw poll results via group text on how many mechanical DNF’s Alex had while riding for the Eleven10Mods Team (I just want to clarify this is in no way a slam on Alex, I can’t imagine riding a bike that grenades itself more often than not, guy has huge balls and he no doubt rides around with on his handlebars.)

Matthes: Ten

JT$: Ten

Weege: Eleven

Tits: Fifteen

Swiss: Eleven

Matthes: Eleven to Ten I think (very witty Steven)

@whosthomo: About Eleven/Ten DNF’s (also very witty Homo)

By the way, that “officially” averages out to 11.1666667 DNF’s

I’ve always wanted to try acupuncture but that doesn’t look relaxing

Martins new Rock River ride

Working on his corner speed

#26 Michael Byrne – BTO Sports KTM

Burner lives a charmed life no doubt, he’s teammates with Shorty what more could you ask for? In all seriousness Burner has had some serious injuries that past couple years, broken neck, badly broken leg. It’s admirable that he’s put in the hours, days, weeks, months of work to get back to a competitive level and I tip my hat to him. Two weeks ago Forrest Butler said that the mechanical Shorty had was their first one this season, (sigh) and after this weekend they can tack on three more with a front brake failure for Shorty (he did finish though) in moto one, and rear brake problems for Burner in both motos, yes BOTH motos. The oddest part is JT stated on the post race podcast that the team hasn’t had a single brake failure all season, not one in testing or anything, maybe it’s a conspiracy I hope they get to the bottom of it interrogation techniques like waterboarding are understandable. We all have bad days at work and this was a bad “brake” related day at work for the BTO Team.

Brakes are tricky and I never got them dialed in quite the way I wanted on any of my race bikes. I bleed and bleed and bleed but never had all the stopping power I was looking for. I installed a wire-braided line on my bike a couple years ago and it still didn’t get rid of the spongy feeling. Anytime I need some tech tips on bike maintenance I know exactly where to go, the Bike Bandit YouTube channel where Steve Matthes shows you how to repair virtually everything on your bike.

If you too want to learn how to bleed your brakes watch the video here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcZdqCGBf2E&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL31792C765F827C75

Well I followed his instructions; of course I’m too cheap to buy a brake bleeder check valve but nonetheless no tangible improvement with my brake feel. So I went straight to the source and text Matthes himself, he said to crack the large nut below the reservoir that connects the brake line. It worked, there was a noticeable improvement in the feel it was much firmer. Why he didn’t mention this in his video tech tip I have no idea but now you know. Ready for some random brake related interviews?

Moser: Please describe any tricks or tips on how to bleed brakes. Or where you one of those riders that did no bike maintenance?

Dave Castillo: Are there tricks? I just do it the standard way. But yeah I also did very little bike maintenance.

Well what is the “standard way”?

Pop the bleed cover in the caliper. Open the reservoir. Put a fuel line on the bleeder valve. Pump the brake lever squeeze solid while you open the valve with an 8mm box end and have the fuel line go into a catcher bottle. Keep squeezing and tightening the nut and repeat until you get the feel back. Fill the resevour with brake fluid and close it, done.

Well shit look at you, who knew?

(Laughs)

Best front brake you ever had on a bike that you can recall?

Well it would be a super moto KTM that I rode for a bit but I don’ think that really counts. I really like my Yamaha brake on my 2005 YZ250.

Ever had any notable brake failures?

There were a few times where I changed a tire and forgot to pump the brakes back up before going out. I believe I ended up on my back on the concrete in Atlanta because of it.

I can only imagine all the girls rushing to you lying on the ground.

(Laughs), I landed at LeAnns feet.

No joke I had a poster of her above my bed that I had her sign at Las Vegas Supercross. Thanks for your time GodBod.

It was my “pleasure”

No the “pleasure” was all mine.

*****

Moser: What was your most notable break failure? The DV incident? (Matthes forgot to tighten DV’s caliper bolts one time when they were testing).

Matthes: Yeah that maybe my only brake failure.

What is the easiest way to increase your stopping power?

Oversized rotors.

What bike comes stock with the best brakes?

Probably Honda

Did your dad ever take off your rear brake pedal as a kid?

Oh yeah on my 1987 CR80, he took my seat off also.

That’s awesome.

****

Moser: Thomo you were an ace mechanic “down under” please describe how to properly bleed brakes. (@whosthomo is a regular caller on the pulpmx show who resides in Australia, he loves himself some Zachypoo and he’s a funny bloke definitely worth a follow on twitter)

Thomo: Use a pressure bleeder it pushes the air up. As we all know air like to rise like a honeymooners (censored). The other tried and true method of oil in the reservoir on top and pump the brakes, then while holding the brake lever tweak the nipple allowing oil to come out of the bleeder. Use a hose and bottle to catch the oil and repeat the steps until the oil coming out of the nipple is fresh, then pinch the nipple until it’s tight and reinstall the cap on the reservoir. Next go top gear pinned up and down the pits and apply your brakes.

Sounds solid and/or firm.

Who ever borrowed my pressure bleeder back in 1988 I want it back

I think it was O’Rourke

Think about it when you bleed brakes the normal way your pushing the air bubbles down against the natural way that air bubble go up. My dad made the pressure bleeder he’s a smart dude. (Editors note: I didn’t know air bubbles still went up when you were down under)

Please describe how this pressure bleeder works in more detail.

It connects to the bottom nipple and the brake fluid is in a pressurized reservoir that has an adjustable valves slowly release and it pushes fluid up into the brake reservoir on the handlebars that siphons into a container.

Interesting

That coupled with some aircraft hydraulic lines and fitting and my brakes were awesome.

So you had a handmade hand job. Thanks for your time Thomo.

******

Moser: Please describe any tricks or tips on how to bleed brakes. Or where you one of those riders that did no bike maintenance?

Tramp Stamp aka Regis Harrington (Ex pro racer and now stunt man to the stars): Boom, easy peasy buy on of these. http://www.btosports.com/p/MOTION-PRO-HYDRAULIC-BRAKE-BLEEDER

So do you actually own one of these things or have you even used one?

Yeah I own one. You connect the clear tube to the brake bleeder fitting, crack it open a smudge and pump that sucker. It sucks all the fluid through eliminating air in the line. Just make sure you keep enough fluid in the master cylinder so you don’t suck air back through the line. It’s like cheating, brake bleeding made easy.

Duly noted. What was the best front brake you ever had on a bike that you can recall?

KTM, Brembo. Honda had good brakes too, can’t recall the brand off hand though.

Ever have any notable brake failures?

I can’t remember any. Aside from the typical broken lever. But I do know that with a broken front brake lever I couldn’t ride. Never realized how much I used the front brake until it wasn’t available.

Do the brakes work on any of those beat up stunt bikes you ride in the movies? Looked like the brakes failed on you at the end of The Bourne Legacy and you had to lay her over.

Those bikes are scary as hell. They usually buy used bikes and spray paint them all black. They are much more worried about the look than the function.

Thanks for your time Mr. Stamp

Burner looks good on the BTO Sports KTM, not as good as Short but good none the less. Photo by Simon Cudby

Lets pump the brakes I got a bit sidetracked there we should probably talk about Burner for a minute:

Moser: You have time to give me some info on Burner?

Swisscore: Me? Info on Burner? This should be fun if not at all informative.

That’s exactly what I’m going for. You’re a regular at the 22 compound at this point so it’s safe to also say you and Burner are buddies. How would you describe your relationship?

I think his dogs and I have conversed more that he and I. They seem to like me so yes I’m “in”.

So Burner is a quiet guy?

No he’s actually quite conversational, very down to earth, good guy.

You can tell a lot about a man based on his dogs, so what type of dogs does he have and more importantly can your remember their names?

They are Chihuahuas. I know their names but can’t remember them right now, shocker.

A Chihuahua isn’t really a dog in my opinion, more like a rat. I know you’re a dog lover but do you even like those little bastards?

I’d never consider one as my own but it’s hard to not love the little guys when they are loving on you.

What’s your first memory of Burner?

Honestly the first thing I think of when you say Burner is him racing an XR600 in the Aussie Fourstroke nationals long ago. Badass.

Well I think of the Jeff Emig Edge Team. When is the last time you talked to Burner?

In April

What did you talk about?

I believe it was just about putting the GoPro on his lid. I’m there to work not buddy up to these guys.

What riders do you bro down the most?

I’d say it’s a tie between Broc, Lemoine and Osborne. All guys I consider friends and have a lot of respect for.

Alright so at the Florida 22 compound Reed swings the big dick, sets the fastest lap times etc. JT$ provided the entertainment and was the easy target to be picked on but also loved by all. Where does Burner fit into this dysfunctional family?

Byrner is the middle ground. He dishes some takes some but mostly is saved from the target of the big bombs.

Were you surprised when Burner signed with BTO? That was a big signing for them at the time.

No. I thought it made sense. Florida based team and JT was part of it. Solid guys with a strong effort to succeed and build.

You think Burner will finish up his career over there?

Yes. They are all on the same wavelength; they have a good system in place.

How far does Burner live from Reed?

Not sure where Burner lives just Reed

Good call not admitting you know where he lives, keeps the stalker vibe low.Best ride of Burners that comes to mind?

Easily Unadilla. Last year he blew everyone’s mind for the first ¾ of that moto. So inspired and then so deflated.

I say Chihuahua you say?

Yo quero Taco Bell

As always thanks for your time` Mr. Swiss