What can I say, 5 more days until I get on track to start my 2007 season (at Daytona Intl. Speedway). Today will be the last day of the IMS show here in Atlanta and there is a really great fan base down here of loyal BMW mc owners! There is alot on my mind but I do not have alot to say. Just quiet focus and running laps in my mind of what needs to accomplished to run up front next week.

My bikes have never been better thanks to BMW Motorcycles of Atlant's service dept! Zach, as I have mentioned many times before, is and will always define what awesome/amazing skill he has as a tech/mechanic! I may not race the K1200R Power cup bike to concentrate on the R1200S. We will see. I will shake down the K1200R on thursday in practice. Qualifying for the National ASRA Pro Series Thunderbike race will be fun and the race will be crazy competitive! I cannnot wait! We are still proving you cannot judge a book by it's cover, as there are still some disbeleivers, lol.

We have a great race trailer and truck for this season. Awesome crew. Behind every great rider is agreat sponsor naturally. BMW Motorcycles are for sure on their way to an awsome performance line coming in the next few years! I am stoked to be a part of it and running up front to add the credibility to the brand!

Cheers,

N8!

Hey guys! Just got in literally from 12 hour drive bak from Miami (Homestead Speedway). I entered 2 races this past weekend for some seat time and to laern the new track before MotoST goes there in April. For my first time Im ok with two 3rd place finishes... Led the whole race in Supertwins and on the final lap, lapped traffic was 3 wide in front of me, I came barreling off the front straight top of 5th gear cranked over and just no where to go while hard on the binders. Almost ran off while trying not to rear ened the lapped riders. That allowed the 2nd an 3rd guys to slip by. I reeled them back in to within 4 bike lengths, until more lapped traffic a few turns from the finish line had me lose touch for a possible draft to the finish. lol The second race I held onto 2nd for much of the race, then I went back to test mode and tried some new lines, and brake markers, ended up 3rd again.
On the way home, at around 4 a.m. in the Atlanta area, I was rounding a bend on the highway and ther were headlights coming right at Chris and I. With a little patience we were able to avoid this worng way driver down I-75. The trailer and truck were all over. Just heard on the news, that worng way driver just killed one person moments after our paths crossed.

Regardless, the real win was the amount of people in and outside of our pit garage!!! Amazing is what people were saying about the R1200S in action.
Special Thank of BMW Motorcycles of Miami and 441 BMW of Ft. Lauderdale! The group ride you both created on such short notice was great! Huge thank you also to Chris Clary, fellow BMW rider that came down to help me and none of this would have been possible! I will not ride a bike I worked on! lol

N8! Kern

Getting all kinds of giddy thinking about the firs actual race of the season this weekend! Now the 2 races on Sunday are not official points races towards any championhsip, they are to me practice, testing set ups, and learning a new track!

We are racing Homestead again this season for an official race in MotoST, I want to learn this track before it really counts! I will be gridded (starting ) pretty far back in the field. I dont care, im going to the front. I have Saturday to get a good feeling of the track and layout. It looks like no official mechanic support this weekend... but Chris Clary is an amazingly dedicated BMW rider that is making the 12 hour trek with me!

Zach of the Ducshop in Marrieta gave me a way better than stock motor R1200S to try. With the custom map and race fuel, we developed 7 more HP with out touching the motor. The airfilter we have found is the most restrictive part of the bike. Without it or a less restrcitive filter the bike dynoed at a whopping 122 hp at the wheel instead of 118!

We are getting there, BMW of Atlanta is just getting the bikes ready today. They will put two great looking running R1200S's on the trailer this evening! Sticky Business www.stickybusiness.net is the official sponsor for our image through graphics and vinyl. Just wait and see what has been done for our official BMWXPLOR.com race trailer! This weekend low key, truck, 2 bikes on an open aluminum small trailer, and an easy up, lol. Under the radar and mor GO than SHOW!

SO, time to get more focused and think about alot of key decisions passing and working my way to the front in the 7 lap sprints!!!

Cheers,

N8!

Back from Jennings finally. Almost wadded up the truck and trailer trying to stay awake... lol
I have NEVER had an incident trailering/driving my race equipment around for 5 seasons. last season I drove 39k race weekend miles alone, not including the 20k personal.

So my day started at 4:30am. Was in bed before the Superbowl was even over, lol. COuld not sleep to well, I have not for almost a year now, crazy. As my alarm sounded I just slwoly started my day and loading everything I laid out the night before. I knew it owuld be cold down there in jennings, Fl. and a high of only 52 today actually. I rolled into the track around 10:30am. said hello to the track manager Paul and owner of the facility, as they are always very welcoming of me and the BMW. Once back at the truck I took out my gear bag and threw it in the back of the truck bed and proceeded to take my boots off and roll up my coat into a pillow and sleep in the back seat. For only an hour I could shut my eyes. I sat up and looked out the back window in a panic for some reason, just to find 5 guys standing around the BMW R1200S I was to practice on today still on the trailer.

I then noticed a very familiar site through the group. A lone R1100S BMW motorcycle was directly across from me. Knowing I was alone, which really is not the safest way to go practicing/racing/at the track period when riding, so was this other BMW rider. With his R1100S side bags off the bike, lenses all taped up on the bike, and a foldout lawn chair, lol, he was ready for business with his heated grips on! LOL As I sat there watching this fellow BMW rider freeze his cojones off, I just slipped on my boots and staggered out of the trcuk and over to min in the 40 degree morning. "Dude nice bike.." I think I said stupidly, lol. The rider sticks out his hand and says "Jim Moore", I greabbed his hand and said "Nate, nice to meet you"
Jim went on to say "Nate Kern..?!" I just said laughing "Nope just Nate!"
We went to go sit in the truck and out of the cold. It was a really cool to see another BMW rider come out of his shell and to get the ackowledgement/recognition of our efforts over the past 2 seasons.

SO i finally suited up and go ton track around like 1:15. Quickly the tires did what I expected... slipped, slid, and spun everywhere. I accounted for tire pressure to decrease through rapidly losing heat from the warmers. So I just rode the 20 minutes like Cinderella on ice and spooked more people than I thought, lol. Had 3 guys come up tp me after that first practice and were all fraking out about how I kept it on two wheels.... it was not that bad! :)

SO I rode the second 20 minutes and pitted in after 3 laps and had a fiend form my old Hooter's Suzuki team come and set my pressures on hot pit. As I rolled out, the sun came out and we were on pace of a 70+ degree day sliding and spinning, had a blast actually! Then came the last session. There were a few guys down from Canada practicing, which I thought was cool until they let it get the best of them a BMW WAS PASSING THEIR CANADIAN NATIONAL 600 SS R6's.... This cannot be, their body language and shaking of their helmets in disgust as the motor by me, just to get out braked deep and pulled on off the corner's by the seemingly overweight, long, underpowered R1200S I was on, they thought...

So I ended the session early to get ready to go out and show Jim Moore around on his R1200S in the Novice/Intermediate group. Jim rode really well and learned quickly!

AS I was leaving, the animoscity did not stop there. A couple of guys were BS'ing in the can "What he just shows up on the Bimmer, rides 3 sessions, taers it up and leaves..." LOL I was just laughing, um, in my own little office overhearing them!

Now I am really wooped, again had a really hard time staying awake driving back. Thank goodness for otehr people horns and those rumble thingees on both median and shoulder that make noise when you drift 3 lanes!

N8!

So the Bears are losing, no big deal... I would have liked to see the underdog win as we love seeing the so called underdog BMW win too! The Eagles are not in the big show so Im not to ineterested. Partly ue to me getting ready to practice tomorrow in Jennings. With only a forecasted high of 56, I will no ride unitl a little after 1pm.

What I think really stinks is I have now goe from 2 people helping and going down tomorrow to just me. Not the best of situations. Driving 4 hours, unloading the bike, getting ready, riding, getting out of gear, loading bike, and driving back 4 hours... lol, This was the norm for my first 3 seasons of racing, but I was just going by the verbal commitment from my guys here in Atlanta.

I have not been on a bike since Ca. a month ago. Need some seat time before Homestead's CCS races next weekend. I will be racing 2 races This upcoming Sunday as some off season races to get ready for Daytona's season opener March 2-4th.


Okay, turning in now. Night!

N8!