MotoAmerica Twins : How to grid up 101
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I hear a lot of people say that getting on to the MotoAmerica Twins grid is too complicated or their bike isn’t competitive. Those are some of the saddest excuses anyone’s momma has ever heard. Your bike is plenty competitive and the process to get going isn’t that hard so stop making excuses. This is an attempt to make it as simple as possible. If Dustin Ducote and Gino Angella can figure it out, so can you!
Getting your Pro MotoAmerica Twins license.
First off, Danelle Kingham is your best friend here. She makes everything so insanely easy.
Most of the registration process for the licence and races is done here: https://www.motorsportreg.com so make an account right away.
You will need to fill out your licence form. http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Racing/Story/professional-licensing
Part is this process is getting yourself verified by your local club. This part is easy. You fill out this form HERE, send it to your club. They give it their stamp of approval and send it to MotoAmerica. DONE! You are finished. You now have a pro licence that not only allows you to enter the Twins Cup race, it gets you into all MotoAmerica events even if you’re not racing.
Having the proper gear.
The main thing you need to make sure is you have newer helmet that is equipped with EQRS (Emergency Quick Release System). You’ll see on the underside of your helmet on the cheak pads, red tabs which indicate the quick release system; if you don’t see these then you need a different helmet.
Your leathers should be in decent shape showing the proper Dunlop patches on the shoulders and back as well as the MotoAmerica/FIM/AMA patches on the front. Motoamerica will supply you with these patches at the track. Get some good double sided tape or leather needle and thread. For me personally they only inspected the helmet and leathers.
Your crew is suppose to have matching pit shirts. Go buy some plain golf polos and iron on patches.
Getting the bike MA prepped
There are 6 main things MotoAmerica looks for when your bike comes into the tech garage.
- Lever Gaurd – Only a brake lever guard is required and there are plenty of options out there. Here is Woodcrafts
- Case Gaurds – Need the engine gaurds and GB Moto is one of the only options but they are a must. OrientExpress sells them
- Shark Fin – The Shark fin/Toe Guard/Sprocket guard for the rear sprocket is needed. Woodcraft Sells them.
- Tank Foam– Yes, MA will open up your tank and look in to find the anti-slosh foam. When you put the foam in the tank, make sure it can be seen from opening the gas cap. It will be much easier to insert the foam through the bottom when you take out the fuel pump. Purchase the foam HERE
- Tail Light – You will need a small tail light wired up for if and when it rains. I used these lights from Amazong HERE. Quick way is to run a wire to the battery and a switch on the bar or toggle switch mounted under tail near the light.
- Belly Pan Drain Plug – A rubber drain plug needs installed in the belly pan. Again, you can purchase them from Amazon HERE. Cut roughly a 24mm hole in the pan and slap one of these in there.
Don’t be a fool, safety nearly everything on the bike but of course make sure you wire the oil lines, oil fill, oil drain, oil filter, and coolant drains.
DUNLOP – You will need to run the spec soft Dunlop tires. At tech/registration you will be given tire stickers. Make sure you have a tire sticker on which ever side of the tire they tell you to apply the sticker. They will check for these stickers, don’t cry to them when you forgot to put them on. For those riding a SV650 or Kawasaki 650R, you must convert to a 5.5″ rear wheel. Zoran@TWFRacing.com sells conversion kit to put a GSXR wheel on the SV or ZX6 wheel on the ER.
The weekend procedure
Do yourself a favor and get there Thursday around 1-2pm with time to set up and go through tech/registration. You’ll first need to stop at the main gate and pick up your credentials and parking pass. When you are entering the paddock, a MA employee will assign you your paddock location.
Tech/Registration is all at the same spot and done by the same person. This is where they will sticker your frame, inspect your bike and gear, and complete your race registration. MotoAmerica supplies a map of where everything is located so pay attention to your email!
The twins class gets one ~30min practice session Friday morning. Another ~30min qualifying session will be your second time on track; also on Friday. Saturday morning warm up is your 2nd qualifying session. That’s 1.5 hours of track time before the race. If your excuse is “I don’t know the track”, think about all the time you have to learn the track before race time.
Race time. You will get a sighting lap. Grid up. Warm up lap. Grid up. GO TIME. Half the rounds have been a quick start procedure just like a club race, no sitting on the grid with your umbrella girl sipping from your RedBull water bottle. No cameras. No BS.
But two of the rounds have had the full show so you will need a crew to get your warmers, stands, generator, and maybe an umbrella. You must take your helmet off during this time.
Seriously pay attention to all the emails you get. Very valuable information. Go to the riders meeting. Get a radio to hear the MA officials.
A separate post will be made about easily getting your 03-09 SV650 ready for AM competition.
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