#fiscal

Arlen Ness lived in way that speaks volumes to his character and values. A man who has long been associated with the churn of an air compressor and the fizz of a paint gun, the clang of tools on a workbench, the staccato first firing of a straight-piped high compression rabble rouser, and a clan of like-minded loud and proud riders on gleaming custom American V-Twins. After a career and life in motorcycling, Arlen wanted to be in his home to peacefully take his last breath. Following a battle with cancer, Ness passed away after a full life of friends and motorcycles, with loving family at his side.

Gavin Trippe, motorcycle promoter extraordinaire, died July 2nd, 2018, in a car accident in California. Born March 20, 1940, in England, Trippe became a racer and motorcycle journalist before bringing his love of motorbike competition to America, where he started his own publication, Motor Cycle Weekly, in 1969. From there, Trippe’s myriad contributions to the sport of motorbike racing include: introduction of European style motocross racing, and later the first US Grand Prix of Motocross at Carlsbad Raceway (Ca.) in June of 1973,  the first Champion Spark Plug 200 AMA National Championship road race at Ontario Motor Speedway (Ca.), which drew an international field thanks to big prize money, the introduction of production Superbike racing into the AMA class structure – the list goes on.

What will people reading this remember about the 2016 MotoGP season?  A Marquez year, his third of many, for sure.  The year Crutchlow won his first two races?  The year Jack Miller, Andrea Iannone and Maverick Vinales each won his first?  The year Suzuki and Ducati and Australia broke their droughts?  The year Yamaha started one of their own?  My fave is the year nine different riders stood on the top step of the podium, some for the first time and some, perhaps, for the last.

If wealth were measured in career accomplishment, AMA Hall of Famer Preston Petty would be one of the richest men on the planet. If value were determined by the character of a man, he should be considered a national treasure by anyone who has ever swung a leg over a dirtbike.

The asphalt and tar strips are baking. When they throw the red flag on the first lap, you can guess what happened. Somebody screwed up and made a bloody mess out of things and you have to trundle back to the hot pit. If it was a three-wave start, it’s chaos – you are baking in your leathers, and now you have to start thinking. A rational human being would be thinking about what poor soul just augured in somewhere and brought out this red flag in the first place. But you’re not remotely rational, you’re a racer.

Preston Petty is one of those rare souls that is capable of embracing his own motorcycling heritage while also being a cutting-edge thinker who maintains a fascination with the latest and greatest technology, and that includes Zero electric motorcycles.