Motorcycle Quote of the Day

[Biggles]

Dad will tell you, 'As outsiders, we'd always watched and heard about these so-called tyre wars but we never understood how political it all really is. Michelin could control the championship, and could practically decide who was going to win. For some, they'd fly tyres in from France overnight! Casey never had any tyres flown in, I know that for a fact. If he got a tyre in practice that was three or four tenths of a second quicker than everybody else- and you can look at the time sheets if you don't believe me because this what happened- they'd usually take it off him and give it to another rider. Casey would go out in the race and nearly always it would be the front that folded on him.'
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  p155

[Biggles]

Was it all political that season? I can't tell you that but occasionally I thought so. I remember at Phillip Island we had a few problems with the bike but we got it sorted in warm-up and I set the fastest time of the session- we were flying- then, just before the start of the race, Honda officials told us we couldn't use the gearbox setting we had because supposedly the fuel wouldn't make it to the end. Maybe they were right but to me it just seemed like Honda didn't like the idea that I might beat their factory bikes. There were lots of things happening like that, one after the other, which made me realise just how little control a privateer team has.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  pp158-9

[Biggles]

On race day we got lucky. It started raining and the race got under way in wet conditions, which gave me the chance to go up front quite early. I led for a lap before Melandri came past on lap five but I had a reasonably good feeling with the bike and I felt comfortable in second place. Things looked to be falling into our hands until the second half of the race, when the rain stopped, the track started to dry and the wet tyres started to wear out. At that point Valentino and Dani came past and I didn't really know whether to come in to change to my spare bike, which was fitted with slick tyres until the team put 'box' on my pit board.
After we changed bikes there was something up with the steering damper and I couldn't tip into the corners like I wanted but luckily Valentino had a problem too and even though we crossed the line in sixth place we managed to finish ahead of him, which because of the problem with the steering was our only real target that day. Pretty much everybody had a disaster apart from the three who ended up on the podium: Capirossi, Toni Elias and Randy de Puniet.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  pp180-1

[Biggles]

Being up on the podium in front of all those Australian fans was just unbelievable, I'd never felt anything like it. It was also cool because my teammate Loris, who had been good to me all season, was up there with me. With him having won the race in Japan, it was an incredible couple of weeks for the team and for Ducati. Becoming MotoGP World Champion, winning my home Grand Prix and marrying the girl I loved weren't the only three dreams that came true in 2007. In the space of twelve months there had been quite a big turnaround in our financial situation and one more win that season, in Malaysia, helped contribute to a bonus package that amounted to four times my basic wage for the season. I had to pinch myself at the end of that season: could it get any better! At that point, I could quite happily see myself spending the rest of my career with Ducati.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  p184

[Biggles]

In the next round at Brno the bike was working pretty well all weekend and I qualified on pole by over a second in the wet but made a mistake on the seventh lap of the race, lost the front and slipped off. Looking at the lap times I could have probably still finished on the podium if I got back on the bike but it wouldn't restart. The reason why pretty much summed up my season. After examining the bike back in the garage the team showed me a rock, the exact size and half-moon shape to fit into the butterfly valves and jam them closed. There was probably no other rock in that gravel trap that would have done it. It was just not meant to happen.
Lots of people thought I crashed that day because Valentino had got into my head but that is not the case and they were reading far too much into it. When I go out to race I try to win, its as simple as that. I'm not looking at the bigger picture at the championship or things that have gone on before with other riders.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  p200

[Biggles]

That first win was a massive relief and in the next round at Motegi I produced what I still consider to be one of the best races of my entire career. We'd qualified third and never really looked like being on the pace in free practice, when Dovizioso had been setting the most consistent times, but it opened up for me on the first lap and I hit the front. We knew that we didn't have the acceleration to get out of the corners and line up a pass on the brakes so once I found myself in front I just pushed as hard as I could and hung on for dear life for the next twenty-four laps. I knew that bike wasn't capable of winning that day but I was going for it.
I can honestly say I was pushing the limit on every single lap, except for maybe the last two when I had a slight gap. Dovi was right behind me the whole way with Valentino not much further back and Jorge right behind him and the three of them didn't let go. I was on the mat every single lap but managed not to make a single mistake. I was physically destroyed at the end because I had put in so much effort and the next Ducati was so far back it wasn't funny; about 50 seconds behind me in twelfth place.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  pp220-1

[Biggles]

This was my dream team, to run the same colours as Mick, and to think that I could possibly be the person to take them back to the glory days they had enjoyed with him was a motivation for me.
A move to the Repsol Honda factory team would mean that for the first time I would be sharing a garage with Dani Pedrosa, who I knew would be my most competitive teammate ever. I saw that as a good thing. I've always had a lot of respect for Dani, and his talent on a bike, ever since I saw him for the first time in the Spanish Championship in 2000. Even though his results weren't great back in those early days I can remember saying to my dad at the time that he had a nice style about him. Of course he went on to become one of the best riders of his era, a 125cc and 250cc World Champion, and we had battled many times in the smaller classes. Joining Honda also meant we would be working with my old team boss from Ducati, Livio Suppo, but contrary to what a lot of people might think, Livio played no part in our decision to go to Honda. It was just coincidence, and a lot of the reasons I left Ducati were some of the same reasons that Livio left too.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  pp223-4

[Biggles]

Honda were prepared to do whatever we wanted to the bike but in reality it was good from the start and we just needed to make minor adjustments to make it suit me.
We started off with the 2010 model at Valencia so that I could give them a steer on winter development but the moment I got on it felt like an incredible machine. I could open the throttle and it turned. It was finishing off the corners for me so I could turn my attention to picking it up and driving it out and in the first part of corner entry it was so stable. We had to work on braking, and the electronics package wasn't quite what we had with the Ducati, but the difference was that the Ducati really needed the electronics. With the Honda we could make do with what we had because the rest of the package was so good.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  p225

[STroppy]

Thanks Biggles for these excerpts fron Casey Stoners book a very interesting read  . . . I'm going to go buy the book if I can find it . .

[Biggles]

It's excellent.  Written from the heart, unlike Rossi's exercise in narcissism.

[Biggles]

And if a rider doesn't care about own safety then it stands to reason he doesn't care about anybody else's either. Don't get me wrong, MotoGP is as safe as it has ever been in terms of the gravel traps, circuit layouts and rider equipment, but the fact that certain riders were still putting others at risk even after Marco's death bothered me a lot. It seemed to me that the race organisers still wanted to see biff and barge and Marco's death hadn't changed their perspective. Even the Safety Committee set up by the riders, seemed to have become less about safety and, for a few members, more about guys trying to get their own way. As far as I was concerned we were basically puppets in a show and I wasn't sure I wanted to be a part of it any more.
For a few years I'd been feeling differently about the sport I loved. I'd thought I was working with people who shared the same passions and goals as I did but I'd come to realise that wasn't always the case. To be wholly focused on the business of racing and have an eye always on the money wasn't what I was about but more and more I became aware that was what mattered too often to others. Marco's death wasn't the cause of my disillusionment, but it did bring it all into focus for me. My eyes were open to the negative aspects of MotoGP and I didn't know how to change things.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  p248

[Biggles]

I had just twenty-five laps of the track left to go riding the fastest motorcycle ever built.
After twelve laps I had a four second advantage over Jorge but I let it drop slightly, allowing him to close the gap before pushing to open it up again, purely for the sake of giving myself an extra point of focus. You only have to lose your concentration for a split second before you end up like Dani did in turn four. The only thing I allowed to distract me was the crowd. There were Australian flags everywhere and I wanted to soak up this unique moment in my life. The final two laps were the best. I knew the race was wrapped up and I didn't have to look after the tyres anymore. I spun the rear tyre even more than I needed to through turn three and enjoyed the corner.
After twenty-seven laps- the perfect number- I came out of turn twelve for the final time and saw the chequered flag being prepared. It's a familiar moment of relief and joy but that day it held extra significance. Winning at Phillip Island for the sixth time was the perfect way to finish my MotoGP career.
The celebrations after the race were awesome and everywhere I turned someone wanted to congratulate me shake my hand. Adri, Ally, Mum, Dad and lots of friends were there to share it all with me and that made it even more special. It was a great way to say goodbye to the sport and celebrate all we'd achieved.
Pushing The Limits  Casey Stoner  pp268-9

[Biggles]

So I'd sit there and think about things, and then once in a while, just to shake them up, I'd turn to Brivio and say "You do realise, don't you, that if this bike
is no good I'm going to blame you and you alone? Because I know you. I don't know Jarvis and Furusawa - you're the one I know and you're the one who's going to get it."
He'd sit quietly and listen.
"If this bike doesn't go, it's going to be your arse on the line!" I'd say and he'd look at me with this strange expression, somewhere between worry and terror.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p8

[Biggles]

That's why that first race at Welkom was the most important of my career. Because it was my first with Yamaha. Because I battled until the last turn with Biaggi. Because he and I were so fast that Gibernau, who finished third, might as well have been racing in another championship. As for the guy who finished fourth, well, he had virtually disappeared. Ultimately, I had proved what I had set out to prove: the importance of man over machine. That's what it was all about and my win at Welkom confirmed this.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p10

[Biggles]

Still, the M1 did have a few elements that I found interesting and that I even actually liked. The problem was they were lost in the jumbled mess that was the 2003 M1. At one point, I looked at the dashboard and noticed that Yamaha were already using a digital display. Honda on the other hand, had a small, analogue dash which was very traditional. Yamaha's was not just electronic, but huge and full of information and data.
Yoda noticed that I was captivated by the dashboard. He came close to me and switched it on, showing me the various functions. To be fair, it had many things that the Honda RCV simply did not have.
"Very nice," I said.
"We made it nice and big so that, if there's time during a race, you can sit back and watch a DVD on it," Yoda deadpanned, keeping a very straight face.
There was silence. Gibo, Uccio and I looked at each other for an instant or two, before bursting out laughing. And Yoda joined in heartily. I loved it. That episode showed me that Yamaha's engineers, indeed, the whole team at Yamaha, have a certain spirit, a certain joie de vivre. They'll laugh, they'll joke, they have a certain cheek about them. Such an attitude would have been unthinkable at Honda, where everyone is deadly serious and disciplined, constantly preoccupied with reaffirming the superiority of the Honda Empire.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  pp27-8

[Biggles]

Naturally, I was late, very late for my meeting with the Yamaha executives. They were waiting for me in a hotel room, and the more time passed, the more worried they became. They knew I had to catch the flight to Sydney and minutes ticked by, they started to think that maybe just maybe, I wouldn't show. That I would stand them up. I appeared suddenly, all out of breath and dishevelled. I had my rucksack on and I was dragging my luggage behind me.
"Here I am!" I shouted, bursting into the room and tossing my bags to one side. "I only have fifteen minutes to spare, so let's make this quick, shall we? I have a flight to catch!"
They looked at me with disbelief. I was just trying to lighten the mood, to break the tension. And it worked. After all, when you know you're wrong, dead wrong, you might as well go on the offensive straight away, before they have a go at you.
"Come on, we're late, we'll miss the flight, let's see this contract... Great, looks great to me! Fine!" I said, barely skimming it. "Let's get this thing signed."
Thus, I showed up to sign one of the most important contracts of my life in exactly the same way I do most things: at the last minute. For, you see, I am always, absolutely and constantly, late. It's one of my greatest flaws. I can only concentrate and be at my best if time is tight, if everything is on the edge and we all have to rush. If there's time, if we can do things calmly and quietly, I just can't perform.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  pp55-6

[Biggles]

My teachers realised this early on, which is why they've left me a whole legacy of outrageous judgements and catastrophic predictions, which then proved to be completely and absolutely wrong. Thank goodness.
The most incredible one, the one most wide of the mark, came from my Art History teacher, who one day said: "Do you really think that if you keep going around with your silly motorcycles one day you're going to make a living off them?"
That question, that remark, which at the time seemed so cutting, today is something I can only smile about. I have thought about it several times during my career.
Because, I suppose, the one thing even my critics could agree on is that I have managed to eke out a living racing motorbikes, no?
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p104

[Biggles]

At the time, diplomacy was pretty much an alien concept to me. I usually said what came into my head. I spoke my mind, particularly on certain subjects. And I was incapable of making distinctions. For example, at the time I had not fully understood how to behave with the media, so I regularly got myself into embarrassing situations. I judged others, without really thinking about it. Sometimes journalists came up to me and said, "Hey, did you know that such-and-such rider said these horrible things about you?"
And I wasn't exactly restrained. I always answered back. They all laughed and loved it, because I was always good for a line. I laughed too. The difference is that, once they had stopped laughing, the journalists went away and wrote my words in their computers and, soon thereafter, they ended up in the newspapers.
I was too outspoken. Too direct. And that's how my long-running feud with Biaggi began.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p113

[Biggles]

That was something I decided after the Italian Grand Prix in 1998. At Mugello, I was in the 250cc category; the race was won by Marcellino Lucchi. Prior to the race, I had planned to go to the podium as if I were going to the beach: bathing suit, sunglasses, beach towel around my neck. Doing it even though I had not won was a mistake.
At the time I did not realise it, because I was very happy, since I had beaten Capirossi and Tetsuya Harada, my true rivals. And so I thought it would be fun to celebrate anyway, and I performed my little routine, stepping up to the podium as if I were strolling down to the beach. Next day, when I read the newspapers, I saw that everyone was disappointed in me. They said that I had been unfair to Lucchi. He was forty-three and did not win many races. This was his moment in the sun, his big day. And I had unwittingly upstaged him. I did not mean to do this, of course. In my mind, I just wanted to celebrate and make people laugh. And yet the newspapers claimed that, because I had to always be the centre of attention, I had robbed Lucchi of his big moment.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p136

[Biggles]

And, on Sunday, I won. On my victory lap I stopped right near the portable loo and leaned the bike against the wall. The crowd was clapping and shouting, they were really loud, I think they thought I was going to climb the hill towards them, the way a footballer might run towards the fans to celebrate a goal. Instead, I turned towards the loo. The crowd was going wild, they had no idea what I was doing. And then I stepped inside. For an instant, silence descended on the track, as if God had pressed the cosmic mute button. In the toilet, I couldn't hear a thing. And it was wonderful. It only lasted a second or two, but it was incredible. I stepped out and the crowd, once again, went nuts, louder than before.
It was beautiful. Unforgettable. It was the greatest idea I have ever had. So many people around the world who perhaps were not really motorbike fans nevertheless talked about what happened that day. And they still talk about it now, years later.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  pp144-5

[Biggles]

I'd arrive with the bike, Paolo would remove the underfairings, Carlo laid out the tarpaulin, and Brazzi took his trusty small torch and examined the carburation of the bottom cylinder. It was a mystical moment; everyone fell silent. Then he'd get up and we would all wait with bated breath for his verdict. "She's rich," he would say, or, "She's lean," depending on whether there was too much air or too much petrol in the mix. And then he would announce the course of action to follow.
My bike was always fast and dependable. My rivals claimed that it was because we got the best material and parts from the racing department, but this wasn't true.
We simply had Brazzi, who was the best around when it came to tuning a bike. While others always had carburation problems, and sometimes seized up as a result, my bike was always perfect.
My first win in 250cc came at Assen, in Holland. And it was all down to Brazzi. Noale had sent us a new exhaust. The bike did run a bit better with it, but Brazzi was adamant: "We're not using that thing in the race."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because I think it retains too much air, so if the engine heats up, it's going to break," he explained.
I trusted him and allowed myself to be convinced by his judgement. I did not use the new exhaust, whereas the other two Aprilias, belonging to Capirossi and Harada, duly mounted them. And, as it happened, both broke down during the race. My bike, on the other hand, had no problems and so I won handily. This showed that I was right in choosing a man like Brazzi and his team.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  pp203-4

[Biggles]

Today there is no 500cc category any more, of course, it's been replaced by MotoGP. The demise of 500cc helped to weed out many problems, but also a fair dose of excitement. Because the simple truth is that no bike in the world can match a two-stroke 500cc. I loved its violent character- it was so intense that you got an adrenalin boost every time you shifted gears. Besides, I was a massive fan, as 500cc had always been the home of the best racers.
I made my debut, at the end of 1999, on one of Alex Criville's bikes (he had just become world champion). It was also identical to Mick Doohan's bike, and he had just retired. That NSR featured the four-cylinder or "screamer" - version, whereas the one I rode in 2001, when I won the title, was somewhat different from Doohan's bike. I had always imagined my debut on an official Honda 500cc as a sort of initiation, almost as some kind of formal ceremony. I had fantasised about it so many times, that I had already played it out in my head.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p211

[Biggles]

And Michele was very fast when it was wet, and sometimes things did not work out so well. In fact, he banged up the R6 quite badly, just after buying it.
Once, we were in the square in front of my house, right near the restaurant. I tried his bike and, naturally, it was of those typical London days. It was dark and rainy, even in the middle of summer.
When I returned I said: "Look, today is not a good day to be out on the bike. This asphalt is no good, the tyres have no traction, it's very dangerous!" Just then we saw a pizza-delivery guy fly past us on an ancient Kawasaki 350. As he came round a turn on the wet asphalt, his foot-stand hit the pavement and he took a slight wobble but, amazingly, he didn't fall and even kept the pizza boxes upright!
I often wondered about the pizza-delivery guys. To me, they are fantastic riders. They'll overtake you on the wet, in traffic, on cobblestones, they can handle any situation. And they're always fast. I think some of them are wasted talents. In fact, the pizza-delivery kid on the old Kawasaki 350 might have potentially been faster than me!
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p238

[Biggles]

The first time I saw a photograph of the Aprilia SR was in the pages of MotoSprint, and the first time we saw it for real was in the shop window of a store called Champion, in Pesaro. We had actually organised a tour to visit the Champion store and see the Aprilia SR. We left Tavullia and went to Pesaro by bus. I stood outside the shop window open-mouthed, nose pressed against the glass, tongue out, drooling at the sight of that scooter. Yes, it was that beautiful.
When the time came time for Uccio to get his Aprilia SR, both Graziano and I went with him. Graziano had borrowed a van and we had to drive all the way to San Marino, because the bike had sold out in our part of the country. The van we had borrowed didn't have any kind of strap or support in the back, which did pose a bit of a problem on the way back. So we made the best of it. Uccio and I put down the stand and, for the entire journey, stood in the back of the van, holding it up with our hands, making sure it didn't fall. You could say that he and I were the straps that day. Needless to say, we were thrown all over the place in the back of that van, but we gladly put our bodies on the line to protect the bike.
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  p253

[Biggles]

One day I was on my way home and I decided to show off my parking skills with a very sophisticated manoeuvre. I came down the hill towards my house in neutral, thinking that all I needed to do was brake at the exact right time and the Apecar would magically slip into its parking spot. It wasn't the smartest thing to do.
I had picked up a lot of speed when, all of a sudden, one of the tyres hit the pavement, sending the Apecar hurtling through the air. I rolled with it, of course, as if I had been in a giant cardboard box. Our flight down the hill was interrupted by a parked Jeep, which we struck at speed. We rolled a little further until the Apecar came to rest on its side. I was a little groggy, but I was fine. I opened the door, which was facing straight up to the sky, and crawled out, as if I were coming out of a submarine. Imagine my surprise when, just as my head and torso began to poke out of the Apecar, I realised where I had landed. I was just in front of my mum's kitchen. And she was there, staring at me, while cooking her minestrone. She was wide-eyed and shocked, as was I. Her expression was somewhere between incredulity and anger.
"Are you hurt?" she said. She was, after all, my mother.
"I'm fine," I said, using my most reassuring smile.
"OK, in that case, come in and set the table," she said. Dinner is ready."
What If I Had Never Tried It   Valentino Rossi  pp271-2