"I loaned that racer my rims and he never bothered to get them back to me.
"

I loaned out my body work and the guy crashes then tells me “that’s racing.”

"This guy borrows my trailer, crashes in the side and tells me that it wasn’t his fault so why should he pay to fix it!"

"I loaned my bike to this racer and he promptly goes out wins $3500 and totals it out on the cool off lap while doing a wheelie. Now he tells me it’s a risk I took for loaning him my winning bike. I need a new frame and he’s keeping the money."

If you haven’t heard some of these you must be living someplace other than we are. It’s a constant a in our industry. Lately it seems to be reaching new proportions. When the new tires came out from Pirelli this year they were is short supply and many riders were buying them from whoever had them. Unfortunately, several did not pay for them. Still other riders, will on occasion need a few bucks to get home, or pay for newer tires so they can be competitive and so on. The rotten apples make it hard on the honest to goodness racers that need some help.

I guess the big question is: Do we fall into the trap or make an excuse for not loaning parts, cash, or whatever? Not an easy answer but like everything else in life there are two sides to every story. Maybe three, or four. Okay five. Our favorite excuse is “I was just gonna do it.” Then you go on to: “I forgot to pack it, I was in a hurry as I had to work on my bike until the wee hours of the morning and then drive here, but I’ll put it in the trailer as soon as I get home so I won’t forget it next weekend.”

“I know I won three races on those tires you sold me, but I think they were already used. They started to slide on me the next weekend at the National.”

“Those brake pads only lasted for three race weekends, what are you selling these days? Planned obsolescence?”

“These leathers wore out before I could pay for them.” (Raced one weekend, crashed alot).

“That rim was out of round when I borrowed it, the fact that I hit the curbing on pit road could not have bent it.”

“I thought you knew that I was not going to be able to pay you for those tires until the end of the season.”

These are but a few of the excuses we hear, there are no doubt many more.

Let’s look at this from the good intention angle. Your buddy who travels to all the races with you comes over and wants to borrow a lower fairing as his is no longer in compliance with the rules, (shattered his in a million pieces).

Your answer without thinking, “yeah sure.” STOP!!! Rethink that one. Ask yourself: Will he bring it back in one piece, and what if he doesn’t? Can I count on him to replace it if he breaks it or scratches it? A quick assessment: Basically you know that your buddy would loan you anything you need to race if the shoe was on the other foot. You also know he will be good enough to replace a broken part. After all he is a friend.

Another racer comes up and wants to borrow your spare rim. You sort of know the guy but have reservations. You had overheard someone else talking about how he borrows from everyone and never brings anything back. Here you find yourself making all kinds of excuses. You have to be creative since the rim in question is the one you mount your rain tire on and it’s a beautiful day without a chance of rain. He finally goes away with an agitated attitude.

Here we present two scenarios one good and one bad. It’s pretty obvious which one of these guys you want to help out. The “buddy system” if you will, is alive and well in our industry. Last month I touched on the fact that so many of you are coming to the aid of other racers at the track that need help. This is a key to growing our sport and keeping it alive and well in the future. The new kids are looking at all this right from the first day and learning the ways of the pits. Good stuff, “no doubt about it.” (There’s an old one).

Our dilemma now; what to do about the “few bad apples in the bunch” (another old one)? Truth is we sort of have to walk through this one on our tippy toes. (Side step).

Do you as a matter fact tell the poor soul in front of you with his hand out to take a hike. A pat answer would be: “I stopped loaning stuff out after getting burned too many times. No offense.”

The ball’s in your court.. Want to borrow parts from a racer. 1. Make sure you can afford to replace them. 2. Don’t even think about borrowing a bike unless you have access to the kind of money it will take to replace it. 3. Take into account the fact that yours is trash and how much it will cost to fix it, then add how much it will cost to fix a bike that does not belong to you. (Count on losing a friend in the process). 4. If you make a deal to pay for parts, tires, exotic gas or whatever, don’t leave the track before you pay up.

If you don’t..... you know I will hear about it. Now I ask you, is that something you really want me to know about you?

I didn’t think so. Ride safe and remember: support comes from all of us.