Motorcycle Roadracing Garage

[ekraft84]

Here's a couple more photos. The next phase is cabinets on the far wall with the window, which will house all the bigger items for storage. In the meantime:

I've had the Ducati 916 poster for about 10 years now. This wall seemed like a good place to put it. The other MotoGP artwork I had matted and framed:

Bike ready to get loaded in the trailer:

 

[markito]

Nice! Really cool garage!

 

[thechickencow]

Very, very nice stuff all around.

 

[bleacht]

That's the biggest sprocket I could find from Pit Bull, who sponsors us with stands and sprockets for the bikes. I believe that's from a Kawasaki ZX10 if I'm not mistaken. www.pit-bull.com.

As for the clock, Recycle Clocks helped put it together. I provided the sprocket/chain and they added the timing hands/clock mechanism.

http://www.recycleclocks.com

Ask for Michole.

Awesome!

 

[ZRX1040]

Looks great! I'd love to epoxy my floor but I dont think it would hold up well with all the road salt up here without diamond grinding the entire floor for prep. My floor is at least 18 yrs old and had sealer applied when it was new. Nice way to cover all the cement work. I just finished installing my lift in the floor as well.

Lift Install

 

[ekraft84]

Looks great! I'd love to epoxy my floor but I dont think it would hold up well with all the road salt up here without diamond grinding the entire floor for prep. My floor is at least 18 yrs old and had sealer applied when it was new. Nice way to cover all the cement work. I just finished installing my lift in the floor as well.

Lift Install

Ha, nice. I just posted in your thread as well. Looks great.

I'm up in Michigan. It's funny - I used to park my truck in the garage over the winter, along with my wife's Jeep. Since the garage has become finished, my truck somehow doesn't make it into the garage anymore. The Jeep dumps dirty snow and salt on the far side and no issues with the epoxy not being able to handle it. The bigger issue is my OCD mopping it out all too frequently.

 

[2fat2fly]

That's an all around beautiful garage. You did a heck of a job.

 

[Retroeunos]

Dude, this garage is so awesome. I would absolutely love to have such a great garage like this. But man I bet all of this cost a fortune, which means I don't think I'll ever get to have something so badass.

At least I can dream and continue to look at this badassery.

 

[2fat2fly]

Dude, this garage is so awesome. I would absolutely love to have such a great garage like this. But man I bet all of this cost a fortune, which means I don't think I'll ever get to have something so badass.

At least I can dream and continue to look at this badassery.

Retro, you could do this in stages as you can afford it and the end result can be just as sweet as this garage. All it takes is patience and a willingness to plan and budget. I'm sure you could find most of the shop equipment and fridgerator used on Craigslist or just watch for sales. Your time will be the most expensive part of the build.

 

[Retroeunos]

This is true. I just need to get a better job. The military doesn't really pay that well in the lower ranks. Haha. But once I do finally get to it, this will definitely be one of the garages I will be referencing probably every day.

 

[ZRX1040]

Ha, nice. I just posted in your thread as well. Looks great.

I'm up in Michigan. It's funny - I used to park my truck in the garage over the winter, along with my wife's Jeep. Since the garage has become finished, my truck somehow doesn't make it into the garage anymore. The Jeep dumps dirty snow and salt on the far side and no issues with the epoxy not being able to handle it. The bigger issue is my OCD mopping it out all too frequently.

Well, I'm in the U.P. ... and my new truck sits outside too

I have another little garage project coming up that will take care of that

 

[LilRichard]

Here's a question - what do you do with all your spare bodywork? I have not found an efficient way / place to keep them. I now have two spare sets (A & B bikes) - and my wife is going to shoot me if I don't get it out of my dining room.

 

[ekraft84]

Retro, you could do this in stages as you can afford it and the end result can be just as sweet as this garage. All it takes is patience and a willingness to plan and budget. I'm sure you could find most of the shop equipment and fridgerator used on Craigslist or just watch for sales. Your time will be the most expensive part of the build.

Agreed. So far I've broken everything down into stages and it's taken the better part of two years to get things to where it is today.

Still working to get the other wall done with cabinets, as well as wanting a TV and computer at some point for work and recreation purposes. Also a sink and parts washer at some point would be nice.

 

[ekraft84]

Here's a question - what do you do with all your spare bodywork? I have not found an efficient way / place to keep them. I now have two spare sets (A & B bikes) - and my wife is going to shoot me if I don't get it out of my dining room.

Bodywork is tricky, given it's size.

On the same wall where the toolbox currently sits in the previous photos, I'm going to put slatwall along that wall with some hooks, which will be perfect for hanging the bodywork. Assemble the upper and lower together and hang it as one piece. That's my plan at the moment.

 

[GRS DESIGN]

Beautiful shop well done

 

[markito]

Please more pics!

 

[ekraft84]

Here's a few more. Nothing radical or new yet, as I'm currently waiting to get the full-height cabinets on the far wall going.

Got some good, heavy duty black rugs to lay down:

Another rug:

Ceiling Lights. The spacing is actually about equal, this photo distorts it:

I've been thinking of mounting a couple whiteboards against the garage door here, for notes and such. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome. I'm a little apprehensive of drilling into the insulated door.

 

[ekraft84]

Race season has also been in full swing, so not as much time to fiddle in the garage lately. Here are some photos from our last races at Grattan Raceway, where we won several races and had a good weekend overall:

Lining up on the start:

The front four through turn 3 on the first lap:

Through the "bowl" - a fun, big-camber turn:

Morning track walk with our teammate Aaron:

My dad tearing it up on his Suzuki SV650:

 

[mtmd11]

I'll add my kudos for a beautifully designed and executed space.
I also got the Sears Gladiator table (6ft) on a clearance price that was hard to believe. Thing is darn near bulletproof.
Love the pictures of your cornering and how far into the corner... or maybe even to the exit, you're looking, head turned and all. Cool.

 

[DirtyBikeRacer]

Hey Eddie,

Stumbled upon this while looking for ideas on my own work shop I'm starting. This is giving me some killer ideas. I'm only racing on the dirt now so I don't think I can convince my wife to allow me to put a lift in the floor though.

Your dad stopped by yesterday as he'll be doing the electric and it really got me thinking about putting an SV together. I'll never be as fast as Joe but it sure was fun to try keeping up.

Keep up the good work mate.

 

[ekraft84]

Hey Eddie,

Stumbled upon this while looking for ideas on my own work shop I'm starting. This is giving me some killer ideas. I'm only racing on the dirt now so I don't think I can convince my wife to allow me to put a lift in the floor though.

Your dad stopped by yesterday as he'll be doing the electric and it really got me thinking about putting an SV together. I'll never be as fast as Joe but it sure was fun to try keeping up.

Keep up the good work mate.

Hey Adam, what's going on. Good to hear from you. The SV's are great bikes. My dad is really riding well with his right now.

My wife rolled her eyes at first, but she realizes the garage keeps me at home instead of working on the bikes elsewhere, so she's cool with it.

She gave me another rolling of the eyes when I said I'm going to install a second ceiling fan for improved air flow.

 

[polexican23]

Go with velcro for your boards. It has adhesive on one side to stick anywhere.

 

[ekraft84]

Go with velcro for your boards. It has adhesive on one side to stick anywhere.

Good call, thanks. Then it's just a matter of getting some custom-sized white boards.

 

[Skandsen]

I enjoyed that! Very nice!

 

[willbrown82]

Another option is whiteboard/dry erase paint to use on the garage door. I'm not sure how well it sticks to insulation but a friend of mine used it on a portion of a wall in his office. It is a little pricey though. http://www.ideapaint.com/

 

[ekraft84]

Here are a some photos from a recent weekend project. We built a little dirt track not far from us for XR/CRF-100's and TTR125's. It's great practice to slide these little bikes around as roadracing training. We run Superpole events and of course, use lap timers and stop watches.

In any event, I had just flipped my 2003 XR100 and got this 2011 CRF-100. It's pretty much the same bike, just less beat up. The weekend included stripping it all down and going through it. Carb, forks, triples, swingarm, linkage, wheels, etc.

Initial Inspection:

Swingarm:

The little linkage was a mess. No grease to be found, only dirt and oxidation:

I'm used to fuel injection. Jets and needles could be messy.

Stock shock, Ohlins shock:

Bike back together:

Another shot:

New sprockets and chain are being done now and a shorter-turn throttle as well, given my wrist doesn't have much mobility.

As for the garage itself, I'm still waiting to get phase two of the cabinets going. The guy who's helping has been swamped with important (better paying) projects. I'm getting antsy.

 

[DirtyBikeRacer]

Love that Ohlins shock.

You guys need to bring those XRs and CRFs up to The Farm next year. We let the track slide a little this year so it's in poor shape, but we are going to resurface it next spring. No jumps yet, and maybe never but it takes up about 100 acres. Lap 1 is on the right and lap 2 is on the left.

The long straight on lap 1 is just long enough to get a XR100 wound out. The rest is all about keeping up your corner speed.

 

[ekraft84]

Looks cool. Yeah we don't do jumps either. That's how you get hurt.

We had 18 invitees for Superpole a few weeks ago. Funny to watch.

 

[Weekend_warrior]

On the white board idea.... No drilling required.

http://www.fathead.com/search-results/?term=white+board&o=48&n=12

Also, Shermin Williams makes a glaze that will make any color a dry erase, but its about 140 a gallon. If I did that I would pre prime with some magnetic primer. That way you could use magnets for sheets or other notes on paper.

I was looking at a Fathead in black for my office as I have 2 doors that would make great use of space.

 

[J Banning]

Here are a some photos from a recent weekend project. We built a little dirt track not far from us for XR/CRF-100's and TTR125's. It's great practice to slide these little bikes around as roadracing training. We run Superpole events and of course, use lap timers and stop watches.

In any event, I had just flipped my 2003 XR100 and got this 2011 CRF-100. It's pretty much the same bike, just less beat up. The weekend included stripping it all down and going through it. Carb, forks, triples, swingarm, linkage, wheels, etc.

Real nice garage build you've done here. Congrats.

Also cool that you guys race 100s. A bunch of us near me started last year. Both dirt and on kart tracks. We've got a 4 hour endurance race this coming weekend at NJ Motorsports Park. It's a complete blast!

 

[DirtyBikeRacer]

Yeah we don't do jumps either. That's how you get hurt.

You don't need jumps to get hurt. My right foot still reminds me about once or twice a month of Sam's Super Sealer from the Grattan National event three years ago.

 

[Skandsen]

I guess I'm officially into bikes now too. Just picked up an '06 SV650N two days ago As far as dirtbike I've made myself a little track around the back woods. Added a berm and a small low speed jump after this video was shot:

Dont mind the poor clutch control in the beginning, video starts at 2:10 lol

 

[thejunkmanadv]

I guess I have went overboard with motorcycles, they are addicting see here http://www.thejunkmanadv.com/about-the-junkman.html

 

[ekraft84]

On the white board idea.... No drilling required.

http://www.fathead.com/search-results/?term=white+board&o=48&n=12

Also, Shermin Williams makes a glaze that will make any color a dry erase, but its about 140 a gallon. If I did that I would pre prime with some magnetic primer. That way you could use magnets for sheets or other notes on paper.

I was looking at a Fathead in black for my office as I have 2 doors that would make great use of space.

Nice. I'll take a look at that, thanks.

Real nice garage build you've done here. Congrats.

Also cool that you guys race 100s. A bunch of us near me started last year. Both dirt and on kart tracks. We've got a 4 hour endurance race this coming weekend at NJ Motorsports Park. It's a complete blast!

That'll be a blast!

You don't need jumps to get hurt. My right foot still reminds me about once or twice a month of Sam's Super Sealer from the Grattan National event three years ago.

Two wrist surgeries later and it's something I'm also reminded of every day.

 

[andersen24]

WOW, awesome job - love this thread!!!

 

[ekraft84]

I guess I'm officially into bikes now too. Just picked up an '06 SV650N two days ago As far as dirtbike I've made myself a little track around the back woods. Added a berm and a small low speed jump after this video was shot:

Dont mind the poor clutch control in the beginning, video starts at 2:10 lol

Nice. The SV650 is a great bike.

WOW, awesome job - love this thread!!!

Thank you.

 

[prowler777]

Good call, thanks. Then it's just a matter of getting some custom-sized white boards.

Easiest way is just get a regular white board,hang it on the door,mark where the seams of the garage door are,cut the white board at the seam marks and velcro them to the door.They will fold and move with the door.It worked good for me in my garage in Florida when i was there.

 

[ekraft84]

I'll add my kudos for a beautifully designed and executed space.
I also got the Sears Gladiator table (6ft) on a clearance price that was hard to believe. Thing is darn near bulletproof.
Love the pictures of your cornering and how far into the corner... or maybe even to the exit, you're looking, head turned and all. Cool.

Thanks, head turned in key!

Yes, great table/bench for sure. Really happy with it.

 

[ekraft84]

Easiest way is just get a regular white board,hang it on the door,mark where the seams of the garage door are,cut the white board at the seam marks and velcro them to the door.They will fold and move with the door.It worked good for me in my garage in Florida when i was there.

Prowler, thanks for the idea. I ended up using industrial strength velcro. So far, so good. I can't pull the board off to reposition it if I wanted to.

Now I just need the markers and eraser!

 

[shawnspeed]

Adam, your xr 100 track looks like it is not far from where I live...small world...I also have a couple of short tracks on my property, a 1/8 mile and a 1/4 mile...mostly for fun, and having some buddy's out , and the occasional test session...I am just down the road from Taylor Knapp, and hear the bikes on the dyno from time to time...Just waiting to get my bikes ready for ice riding, as I have been a little busy lately...Michigan, Home of the Mafia (motorcycle)....Shawn