Femmoto 2006: Yet another bike blunder

I planned on going to Femmoto 2006 for nearly a year after the organizer, Bonnie Strawser, asked me to be a returning instructor. I got into trouble at the '05 event for strafing the women on the track while dicing with a couple of male instructors, so needed to redeem myself this year.
WORDS: Angie Loy

PHOTO: Mike La Putt

I planned on going to Femmoto 2006 for nearly a year after the organizer, Bonnie Strawser, asked me to be a returning instructor. I got into trouble at the ’05 event for strafing the women on the track while dicing with a couple of male instructors, so needed to redeem myself this year.

On the Wednesday before the event, my husband Brian and I hauled my long-term 2006 Suzuki GSX-R750 to work in our Dodge Sprinter for a tire change. On the way there we realized we'd left the ignition key at home, but that was no big deal because it wasn't needed to change tires. The next day, Thursday, Motorcyclist's testbike manager Michael Candreia prepped my bike for me, changing the tires, cleaning the chain and leaving the bike in the shop for Brian and me to haul back home. Thanks, Michael!

The shop is located two stories below ground level, and houses Motorcyclist's, Sport Rider's and Dirt Rider's testbikes. What Brian and I failed to think all the way through was our van is too tall to enter the parking garage, and without an ignition key we couldn't ride the bike back upstairs. As a result, Brian had to push the GSX-R up two flights to ground level before loading it in the van. We then jumped in the van and raced to a Queensryche concert at the nearby Gibson Amphitheater (we met singer Geoff Tate and guitarist Mike Stone at the USGP), and by some miracle woke up early Friday morning and drove to Las Vegas.

On Saturday morning we unloaded my GSX-R and the DR-Z400SM Brian was planning to ride on the supermoto track, and I could hardly wait to ride! I hadn’t been on the track for a month, and was jonesing to test the new Taylormade exhaust we’d installed on my 750. All I needed to do was put on my leathers and check the tire pressures. That’s when I realized we’d made a huge mistake.

“Bridgestones?” I said to Brian. “I though Michael put Michelins on this.”

Brian looked up and replied, "That's a stock pipe, too. Oh *** – that's Sport Rider's bike!"

Oops. We remembered to bring the key, but we brought the wrong bike!

Fate was good to me, though. Monte Lutz, Bonnie’s husband, had brought his Aprilia Mille to the event equipped with Michelin slicks and loaned it to me for the weekend. Riding the Mille gave me a new appreciation for V-twins and Brian and I got a good laugh out of the whole thing. Yet another unforgettable weekend in Vegas.