So Kim - I gave you the nickname Dangerous Curves awhile back - before you got on the straight and narrow...... tell us a bit about yourself - when you began riding, how you got to the VRod, and what you do on the weekends when you are not at the strip ......what kind of alternative transportation are you running - any websites that feature you that we should know about.......and how do you like drag racing that VROD?
KSP

Who, me?? :rofl2:

Growing up, I was always attracted to motorcycles but never had money for one of my own. That changed when I met my husband, a Harley enthusiast. Not too long after we got together, he tired of me continually pulling on his sleeve and saying "Let's go for a ride!" and gave me the "800" number for the Motorcycle Safety Course. We found an older Sportster that was in pretty rough condition and after several swap meets and an IROC Z28 Camaro blue paint job, it became my first bike. I rode her for most of the summer before moving up to an '83 FXRS in the fall. While my husband and that bike are both long-gone, my passion for riding has been going strong ever since... through a procession of Softails, Baggers, sportbikes and of course, the V-Rod!

Over the years, I did quite a bit of "get lost" solo touring... got into the habit of taking the bike to work with me on Friday, then riding for 8 hours "away" on the Interstate before stopping for the night. At that point, the "rules" were (a) follow the smallest lines on the map; and (b) avoid all hotel/restaurant chains. I also had the privilege of being involved with the Medinah Motor Corps, with whom I learned low-speed maneuvers on my Electra-Glide.

My exclusive streak of Harleys was broken about 4 years ago, when I handed over my '99 to the boyfriend so he could make some performance modifications to the bike (and also diagnose its' nasty tendency to go into full-out tank slappers at anything over 60 - culprit turned out to be a missing motor mount bolt). He sent me home on his Hayabusa... I was slicing through traffic on the tollway like it was melted butter... when my hair scrunchie blew out (gee, this never happened before!) I looked down at the speedo to find I was going 145 mph! Epiphany. I had taken my first 'hit' off the crack pipe of horsepower and performance. That bike would FLY... turn on a thought and stop with zero effort - you sat on it, and it became an extension of your brain! For the rest of the summer, I alternated between the 'Busa and his '98 TL1000R. Suddenly, I had no desire to ride my bagger, except for the occasional cross-country trips to visit family.

When the new Suzuki GSXR1000 was introduced, he bought me the first one to arrive in Chicago. We took delivery of the bike on February 27... and left for Daytona the next day. The bike was insanely quick and a blast to ride. I'd cover the 500 miles to my Dad's house in 6 hours, surprisingly comfortably! When she was stolen at BikeToberFest nearly 8,000 miles and 8 months later, I was heartbroken.

We'd been hearing lots of scoop about Harley's new liquid-cooled streetbike, and John decided that it would replace my Gixxer... and brought her home that December. I'd also started reading about performance-riding schools and something called "track days"... hey, rider ed is always a good thing - right? And who couldn't stand to be a little more confident in the twisties? I did a little research and found the Learning Curves (www.learningcurves.com) performance riding school. ("Look - it's only $150 and it's held 80 miles from here!") Spent the rest of the winter sourcing the requisite safety gear ("What, I have to buy a LEATHER SUIT?") and John set about "track-prepping" the TLR. Well, $2,000 in aftermarket bodywork and safety gear later, we loaded the bike in the van and headed out to the local roadracing course - Blackhawk Farms Raceway, in South Beloit IL. Turns out that this "school" is held right in the middle of a CCS race weekend - and it's really the "feeder" for folks who wanted to purchase race licenses!

Now, keep in mind I'd never really followed road racing... what little I'd seen on TV equated to a bunch of guys wearing colorful Power Ranger suits rubbing knees/handlebars/elbows/pavement with each other, flying around exotically-named racetracks in foreign countries. Totally alien to me... as was the fact that there were organizations right here in the Midwest where everyday people could do the same thing. And here I was, right in the thick of it! :eek: I think what surprised me the most was how much I had to "unlearn"... talk about being humbled! Succeeding in this new environment became a huge personal challenge... and probably the most fun I've ever had on two wheels.

As for the drag racing... It's all John's fault. Somehow he ended up with my ex-husband's Sportster dragbike (he ran M/XL in the AMRA back in the late '80s). John's co-worker Carl said he was interested in doing some bracket racing, so John dug the bike out of the basement, they gave it a much-needed "freshening up" and we started attending the "Harley Shootout" bracket racing program on Wednesday nights at Great Lakes Dragaway (www.greatlakesdragaway.com). Well, I guess you can say that I'm not a real good spectator... the second time we went I just HAD to make a few passes myself. John and Carl did very well that first season. I sat out most of the second season because of a crazy work schedule. When it started up again this year, I figured "what the heck" and came out on the 'Rod. Beginner's Luck the first night out netted me $106.00 for making it into the semi-finals and while I've yet to duplicate that first night's success, I'm still having fun. Bracket racing is all about consistency... and believe me, it's not as easy as it looks!