The Big Four Oh

See this guy here in the picture? That's Gary Orr and yesterday he turned the ripe old age of 40! You read that correctly. If you've been a Brattin Motors and now SDBMWMC customer for a number of years you might remember the awkward, pony tail sporting, pseudo-grunge rocker that used to manage your bike's service appointments. Well that skinny kid with the earrings and Frank Zappa hair-do has grown up and jumped headlong into a new and exciting world of the early-to-mid-40-something! Decisions like: "What bar to hit up this Friday?" or: "Will Heather dig these boots or should I go with Sketchers?" Have been replaced with: "What flavor Metamucil best defines me as a person?" and "Icy Hot patch or cream?"

But don't let the gray hair and large button cell phone fool you. Age hasn't slowed this guy down one iota. His latest age defying uber-stunt? Gary is going road racing. We've race prepared a cherry R1200S, scored some tire warmers on ebay and washed the bug stains off the pop-up. Our fearless leader is making his triumphant return to club racing at Willow Springs this fall. 40+ class consider yourselves warned. From the producers of such esteemed films as "How NOT to Ride an F650GS Across Alaska" and "Breaking Your Ankle for Dummies" comes 2009's signature blockbuster..."Hope He Doesn't wad the Demo Bike."

So you're wondering: "What kind of prep goes into an endeavor like this?" It was fairly simple actually. We had his leathers tailored (Bret Farve thinks Gary's waist line has a hard time making up it's mind!), threw a set of Michelin Pilot Power Race compound tires on the demo bike (good one owner, available for sale this December!) and had Joe Bowman (resident club racer guru) create an all inclusive list of new and innovative ways NOT to end up in the hospital while remaining competitive.

So with that I'll close by asking all of you, our faithful followers, to wish our fearless leader the best of luck in his upcoming race season. And always remember: It's not about doing better...It's about sucking less.

Thanks for reading,
-Sean DeAngelis