Hector on Factory and Mad Mike in Avintia at PI

Have seen some stories doing the rounds that Hector will again be riding the factory Ducati at Phillip Island with Mad Mike remaining in place as Hector's replacement at Avintia.

Rumours indicate that Ianonne has some fences to mend ...............

it's 90% confirmed

MCNews reporting that Jones is confirmed for PI - Mike Jones reflects on Motegi | Will race at P.I. | MCNews.com.au

Glad to see Mike getting another chance to ride. Great news.

I wonder if Iannone will even be back before the end of the season.

Good on Mike, he did well to keep it upright and not throw it down the road. Really looking forward to seeing him at PI, home track he is familiar with and home crowd to egg him on I think he will really dig deep to put on a good show.

I'm really not familiar with him. Why is he called Mad Mike (which is very appropriate to ride for maniac methinks)??

Motokitty said:

I'm really not familiar with him. Why is he called Mad Mike (which is very appropriate to ride for maniac methinks)??

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No idea really, his dad lives not far from my place and runs his his 'XXX Rated Race Suspension' out of his home garage. A few friends have been there and raved about his work and prices. I'm actually going to be taking my bike there to get him to rebuild my fork cartridges and upgrade springs. I'll will have to ask him.

Motokitty said:

I'm really not familiar with him. Why is he called Mad Mike (which is very appropriate to ride for maniac methinks)??

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No reason at all, it is more just an Aussie thing where we often throw a moniker in front of a name but where the monitor matches (much like we also use Dangerous Dave, Slow Steve, Lucky Larry etc).

Is more just a fun thing

Gaz said:

No reason at all, it is more just an Aussie thing where we often throw a moniker in front of a name but where the monitor matches (much like we also use Dangerous Dave, Slow Steve, Lucky Larry etc).

Is more just a fun thing

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It's true, I got Arsehole Andrew given to me as a child.

AJV80 said:

It's true, I got Arsehole Andrew given to me as a child.

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To the wife I am 'getitupgaz' but I reckon she is taking the piss for some bloody reason.

AJV80 said:

No idea really, his dad lives not far from my place and runs his his 'XXX Rated Race Suspension' out of his home garage. A few friends have been there and raved about his work and prices. I'm actually going to be taking my bike there to get him to rebuild my fork cartridges and upgrade springs. I'll will have to ask him.

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A recommendation. Try it yourself. You only need a few tools and a bench vice with suitable jaws. Then, when you .... it up (been there, ....... new bushes wouldn't sit properly) you can take the already dismantled bits to the experts.

Dr No said:

A recommendation. Try it yourself. You only need a few tools and a bench vice with suitable jaws. Then, when you .... it up (been there, ....... new bushes wouldn't sit properly) you can take the already dismantled bits to the experts.

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Ive got a bench vice with some rubber gripper covers good for smaller pipes, what do you normally use for fork tubes? Might be an idea actually to rip them out myself and have a crack, probably save me some coin too.

I needed his advice and maybe some recommndations on spring rates and what not too. My stock K9 springs are on the light side from the factory and i already have a put more preload into them. Ive got about 5 turns of preload above stock and i think at 8 turns it maxes out. I don't want to keep winding it up, bit worried it will be too hard mid corner. I don't really know much about suspension. i feel i can brake deeper and harder but when i do, it pitches forward too much and gets all squarely on the rear and I'm not game to tip it in because it feels to floaty.

AJV80 said:

Ive got a bench vice with some rubber gripper covers good for smaller pipes, what do you normally use for fork tubes? Might be an idea actually to rip them out myself and have a crack, probably save me some coin too.

I needed his advice and maybe some recommndations on spring rates and what not too. My stock K9 springs are on the light side from the factory and i already have a put more preload into them. Ive got about 5 turns of preload above stock and i think at 8 turns it maxes out. I don't want to keep winding it up, bit worried it will be too hard mid corner. I don't really know much about suspension. i feel i can brake deeper and harder but when i do, it pitches forward too much and gets all squarely on the rear and I'm not game to tip it in because it feels to floaty.

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Depending how big the jaws are...I made up a pair of v-blocks from wood scrap to hold my forks.
Just be aware that it's a messy business (oil) and that springs can be dangerous .......s.
An impact driver is usually needed to bust the nut (fnarr) at the bottom of the forkleg, but aside from that, not much is needed, I never went to the extent of a syringe etc for fork oil, just a dipstick (fnarr) wire to check levels when refilling.
Sounds like you need a little stiffer (fnarr) springs. Dunno what sag and travel your forks are...but at least you can have a go dismantling before getting some recommended to you.
The other embuggerence is once the forks are out, it's a swine to move your bike, no probs if you have a proper bench or a big garage.

Dr No said:

Depending how big the jaws are...I made up a pair of v-blocks from wood scrap to hold my forks.
Just be aware that it's a messy business (oil) and that springs can be dangerous .......s.
An impact driver is usually needed to bust the nut (fnarr) at the bottom of the forkleg, but aside from that, not much is needed, I never went to the extent of a syringe etc for fork oil, just a dipstick (fnarr) wire to check levels when refilling.
Sounds like you need a little stiffer (fnarr) springs. Dunno what sag and travel your forks are...but at least you can have a go dismantling before getting some recommended to you.
The other embuggerence is once the forks are out, it's a swine to move your bike, no probs if you have a proper bench or a big garage.

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The tools and garage space is no problem, may have to go and pick up one of those front wheel paddock stands that holds the bike up from the bottom of the head stem.

A mate got his two R1 fork cartridges rebuilt and with new springs fitted, rear rebuilt with new spring all fitted for about $800. Sounded shitloads cheaper than 3+k worth of Wilburs or Ohlins gear. I'll go over and see him and see what he charges and how much doing some of it myself will save me to see if its worth the hassle.

Motokitty said:

I'm really not familiar with him. Why is he called Mad Mike (which is very appropriate to ride for maniac methinks)??

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I actually caught up with Mikes dad Chris today when he tuned up my suspension and asked him that question just for you whilst we talked about bikes and racing stuff. He was a really nice bloke, he spent about 2 hours with me dialling in my bikes suspension all for the grand total of $50 (I offered him more but he wouldn't have a bar of it). Even after he had finished my bike he continued to chat and told me quite a lot about suspension and strategies they used in the Aussie racing as well as Mikes experience with the Avatina team. All the time complaining about how his phone was ringing every 10 minutes with people calling him about Mike, which I could tell he was very proud of as you'd imagine.

He explained that when Mike and his brother where young kids they loved MotoX a lot and watched all of the Crusty Demons of dirt videos. Apparently the freestyle rider Mad Mike Jones in the Crusty Demons pulled off a stunt in one of the videos in a pickup truck, a jump or something that ends up with him rolling the truck over. After he rolled it he said to the camera checking on him in the cabin "I rolled her over bro".

When the Aussie Mike Jones was a young 9 year old kid he had a two seat buggy with a roll cage on it that he was thrashing around in a paddock near Wacol. He hit some bumps at speed and got it all out of shape and ended up rolling it. His Dad worried of course came running over in a panic to check on him and see if he was OK. Mike was fine and still strapped into the seat with the harness. The young kid then said to his dad "I rolled her over bro" like the Mad Mike Jones in the video and the name stuck.

Great job on the suspension, it changes direction now faster than my wife changes her mind. When talking to him initially I explained that i thought it needed stiffer springs but he thought he would be able to fix a lot of my issues with some adjustments to sharpen and stiffen the bike up. He works from home and really only does race bikes but was happy to help me out. He only charges $180 to replace front springs anyway which i found so cheap my jaw dropped but he didn't want me to spend too much money on it, what an absolute champ! He texted me when i got home to see what i thought, for $50 that is by far probably the best value for money improvement I have and probably ever will experience on car or bike. Very happy, feels like a new bike!