Javelin Broderick: Not Your Typical Teen

by Galfer USA on February 20, 2012

The typical 16-year-old guy has no idea what he wants to do for a living, but he knows every cheat code in the latest video games. Javelin Broderick is anything but typical. He is poised to make his pro roadracing debut in 2012 and has already been a successful roadracer for the past three years.

Broderick, who recently moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, with his family, started riding motocross when he was eight. He progressed through the classes, but he decided to try roadracing…just for fun, Broderick says. He took a Kawasaki Ninja 250 to a few track days, then entered some mini races.

When Broderick heard about the Red Bull Rookies Cup, he got a 125 GP bike and started practicing. Instead of the Rookies Cup, though, Broderick wound up getting another bike—a Suzuki SV650—so he could race WERA West.

The 2009 season was his roadracing debut, but Broderick managed to snag two championships, anyway. With so much potential, it wasn’t long before Broderick moved up to the 600cc classes.

For 2012, Broderick will be racing a Yamaha YZF-R6 in the AMA Pro SuperSport class. He plans to enter his Galfer brakes-equipped R6 in every round.

“Obviously it’s a huge step up. I’m setting my goals realistically going into it. I’m hoping for top tens by the end of the season. I’m excited to do it but I know it will be difficult to get up to the front,” Broderick says.

Up until now, getting up to the front hasn’t been difficult at all for Broderick. After he moved up to the 600cc ranks, he snagged the B Superbike Expert championship in WERA West, racing against older—and much more experienced—racers.

Of all his wins to date, one stands out as the most memorable for Broderick. “I’d say, at this point, it would be my 600cc win at Las Vegas because it was such a big step up for me. I’d always ranked close to the front but had never won. Getting my first 600 win off my chest was big deal for me,” he says.

When he’s not racing, Broderick spends a lot of his time with schoolwork. Otherwise, he likes snowboarding and, yes, playing video games. Okay, so maybe Broderick is a typical 16-year-old, but with a lot of talent and determination.

As Broderick prepares for the 2012 AMA Pro SuperSport season opener at Daytona, he notes that he has gotten to this point with the support of his family. “My family is fully behind me,” he says. “My dad has been behind me in any kind of racing I’ve ever done, and so has my mom, even though she was freaked out the first time she saw me going 120mph in the draft. They’ll all be at Daytona cheering me on.”

Galfer USA will be there cheering Broderick on, too. We can’t wait to see what happens in his pro racing debut. We’re sure it will be anything but typical.

Follow Javelin Broderick on Facebook

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David Zylberberg: Schooling the Competition

by Galfer USA on February 13, 2012

In just seven years, David Zylberberg went from being a street rider to being both a roadracer and an instructor. His passion for racing, he says, was born of necessity.

Zylberberg, who lives in Rockaway, New Jersey, bought a motorcycle during college because he couldn’t afford a car. Ten years later, when he saw a YZF1000 for sale, he got so nostalgic for his riding days that he bought it.

As it turned out, college was long over, but getting schooled wasn’t. Zylberberg hooked up with a group of older gentlemen who rode, and every Sunday they took to the twisties of upstate New York.

“These guys had sport touring bikes, not sportbikes like I had, and I couldn’t keep up with these guys no matter what,” Zylberberg recalls. “After riding with them for a month or two, I asked if they’d just been riding a long time or if they took a school. They recommended I take a sportbike class that came through the area.”

Zylberberg did just that, but he didn’t return to street riding as anticipated. He started a new job in 2004, and getting vacation time for riding trips was a challenge. Instead, a friend suggested that Zylberberg try a track day. Since track days are held on weekends, he wouldn’t need to take vacation time.

“I wasn’t that interested in racing and just wanted to ride. But if I wanted to ride, that was the only way. And then I got hooked. Now, all year, all I’m thinking about is how I can race more, improve my riding and have the perfect season,” Zylberberg says.

These days, Zylberberg races CCS and ASRA, and he plans to run select ASRA Pro races in 2011. He’s anticipating a good season following two very successful years of racing. Zylberberg won two ASRA championships on his Suzuki SV650 in 2010. In 2011, he earned four championships and was always on the podium. He still has the SV, but has added a Ducati Supersport to his stable.

With such an impressive record, it’s no surprise that the one-time student is now the teacher. Zylberberg is an instructor to Team ProMotion and the head instructor for CCS’s racer school at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Zylberberg enjoys recalling one race that didn’t go so well: the first time his wife came to the track, he crashed in his first race of the day and fractured his hand. He teased his wife, saying she was unlucky. Now though, he calls her his good luck charm, saying, “I only win expert races when she’s at the track with me.”

Look for Zylberberg on his MDM Racing Suzuki and Ducati this season, teaching the rest of the competition how it should be done.

Class dismissed.

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Jacob Brown: Racetracks and Tattoos

by Galfer USA on January 23, 2012

Jacob Brown says he’s easy to spot at the racetrack: just look for the guy with a scowl on his hoodie-obscured face. Appearances, Brown assures, aren’t what they seem. He roadraces because it’s fun, and he’s one of the most approachable guys in the paddock.

Brown, who lives in Olympia, Washington, is in his fourth year of roadracing. He takes his 2008 R6 to WERA West and OMRRA events, and this year he’ll add AMA SuperSport to his resume.

Like many racers, Brown decided to do a track day for fun, but was immediately hooked. He sold his street bikes and started participating in track days. The need to compete, though, soon took hold.

“I was just doing track days, but a buddy said he was getting his novice license to go race,” Brown explains. “I said, ‘Well, I’m as fast as you. I want to do it, too.’”

That attitude is what has helped turn Brown into one of the top five 600 riders in OMRRA. He won a handful of races during his novice year, and he took third in the championship despite running only a partial season. Brown also likes taking his 600 out in the classes dominated by 1000cc motorcycles. “Formula Ultra is the built 1000s. A handful of us go out there and try to race against the 1000s. It’s some of the most fun I’ve had in racing,” Brown says.

Surprisingly, it’s not the wins but the crashes that stand out in Brown’s memory. He says, “I tend to focus on the stuff that scares me! I’ve had a couple of bizarre wrecks. I broke my ankle in one, and in another I highsided in turn one at Portland. I try to use those to remind myself not to do stupid stuff when I’m racing.”

Outside of racing, Brown prefers quieter hobbies, like golf, going to the beach, and riding quads. His one obsession outside of racing is evident if you ever get a peek of Brown without his requisite hoodie. “I’m addicted to tattoos,” Brown says. “I have two full sleeves on my arms, one of my lower legs is covered, my side, my chest. I’ve probably spent as much money on tattoos as I have on my race bike.”

Brown races under the Five-0 Racing banner. The team was his brainchild and includes riders Dave Hall, Chase Major and Krystyna Kubran. The team, Brown says, “was mainly me needing a reason to start a website and have stickers! Chase and Dave and I all started racing about the same time. They didn’t have much say in being on my team!”

If you ever run into Brown and the Five-0 Racing crew at the track, don’t be shy. “I’m actually a nice guy and it’s okay to come say hi,” Brown assures. “I’m not some angry, psycho tattooed freak. Come by the pit and say hello.”

http://www.five-0racing.com

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Patrick Barker: JGRMX Tuner

by Galfer USA on January 19, 2012

A lot of motorcycle mechanics work day in and day out at a shop, dreaming about snagging a coveted job as a professional racing tuner. For Patrick Barker, that dream came true when he landed a job as the tuner for JGRMX. The top-tier team has been a competitive force since its debut in 2008, and Barker has been along for the entire ride.

On any given race weekend, Barker has just one thing to think about: making James Stewart’s Yamaha YZ450F go faster and stop better than every other motorcycle out there.

Barker, along with the JGRMX team, is based in Huntersville, North Carolina. Before the team started in the fall of 2007, Barker was a mechanic at a local motorcycle dealership. “The only job I ever had before working on this team was at the dealership,” Barker says. “I was friends with the owner and raced for the dealership. I started there at 15 and worked the parts counter until I was old enough to go to the back and start building bikes.”

When Barker heard that a new motocross and Supercross team was hiring, he put in his application and got the job. Now, his life is a whirlwind of traveling, tuning and testing. “For West Coast rounds we fly out Thursday morning and meet the truck at the hotel or stadium parking lot around lunch. We’ll tear down the bike: disassemble everything, clean it, and service it. So Thursday and Friday is tear down, service and rebuild. Saturday morning is sound testing and tech inspection, then we have the track walk around 11, and start into practices from there and on to the night show. I hop on a plane Sunday morning and come home to do it all over again,” he says.

Even Barker’s time at the shop–from Monday through Wednesday–is busy with working on parts he brings home from the races, building test parts to send to Stewart, and finding ways to improve after each race.

One of those ways to improve was to switch to Galfer brakes for the 2012 season. Both Stewart and Davi Millsaps, the other JGRMX rider, tested a wide range of brakes. “Both guys picked Galfer as the best. None of the other companies were even close,” Barker says. “It’s great having so many brake pad options. We’ve never had that before and it adds tunability. We can change pads depending on the track conditions. Having strong brakes, as fast as these guys are going, is obviously really important. They are always either on the gas or on the brakes.”

When it comes to putting on his own brakes to stop and have fun, Barker enjoys mountain biking. But, he adds, “I just like to chill out a bit since we work so much. I live near a lake, so we go out and ride jet skis and go wake boarding. When it gets cold here we go snowboarding.”

Barker jokes that even though he started riding and racing motorcycles at the age of five, he only gets to ride about once a year now. Still, he enjoys working his dream job and getting to be an integral part of a championship effort. Keep up with JGRMX online at jgrmx.com.

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Jay Kannaiyan, World Traveler

by Galfer USA on January 16, 2012

Halfway through his four-year trip around the world on a motorcycle, Jay Kannaiyan has already experienced more than most do in a lifetime.

Jay Kannaiyan considers himself a citizen of the world. A native of India, he grew up in Zambia, Africa, before attending college in the United States. Now, he is nearly halfway through a motorcycle world tour. He has ridden his Galfer-equipped Suzuki DR650 more than 43,000 miles already, riding through the U.S., Central America, South America, and Africa.

Kannaiyan began his trip in March of 2010, and by the time he reaches his home country of India at the end of 2013, he will have traveled down through Africa, then back up the continent’s coast to tour the Middle East.

“I spent most of my education in a boarding school, so I’ve grown fond of the idea that home is wherever I currently am,” Kannaiyan says. Sometimes, in remote locations, that means camping in a tent. Often, though, Kannaiyan gets to experience true hospitality by staying with local families that he finds on CouchSurfing.org.

“I have used this for nearly half my lodging, and it has helped me stay under budget. It’s also a great way to get to know local people and their cultures,” Kannaiyan says. “All other times, I find the cheapest hotel that has safe parking for the bike, which can range from $3 a night in Bolivia to $20 in Brazil.”

Of all the places he has visited so far, Kannaiyan says Bolivia is his favorite, “mainly because of how dramatically the landscape changes there, from the flat, hot savannahs in the east to 16,000-foot mountain passes in the Andes in the west. Also, there’s an appeal in that it’s probably the least developed country in South America, so it feels quite far removed from modern life. The people are welcoming and warm and I also enjoyed the hearty food that peasants readily shared with me.”

Kannaiyan admits that picking a favorite country or memory isn’t easy. The highlights of his trip so far have included wonders such as Mayan Ruins in Guatemala, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, and the pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Even with so many highlights in the first half of his tour, Kannaiyan promises that there is plenty more to be excited about during the final two years.

“I’m especially looking forward to Angola since it’s only recently become peaceful enough for travelers and it hasn’t been explored much yet,” he says. “Then, I’m looking forward to crossing from Cameroon, through Chad and Niger into Mali. This route goes through some very remote areas of jungle and Sahel. And then I’m quite excited about crossing the whole of Iran from Turkey to Pakistan and, of course, entering India by motorcycle.”

But, Kannaiyan assures, sometimes the adventure goes a little awry. He rebuilt the motor of his Suzuki prior to the trip, but forgot to tighten one screw. That set off a chain reaction, and he had to install a new motor just three weeks into the trip.

“Then in Bolivia,” Kannaiyan continues, “I got stuck on a sandy berm that required lots of clutch-slipping to get me free, and that resulted in a ruined clutch disc in the middle of nowhere. I hobbled to a mission where I could place a call to my mechanic friend in Chicago, and he advised me to cut a coffee can into a ring and put that into the clutch, which I managed to do, and get myself back to the capital city and find a proper clutch disc.”

A little effort is worth the reward for Kannaiyan. He says the timing was right for him to tour the world on his motorcycle, and he didn’t want to have any regrets. Keep up with his adventures on his website, www.jamminglobal.com. All of us at Galfer wish Kannaiyan safe travels!

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Brakes a Top Priority – Andy Lacayo

by Galfer USA on January 12, 2012

Andy Lacayo has been bringing his motorcycles in to Galfer R&D for the last five years. He’s a great friend to the company and super guy all around. Here’s what he has to say about braking and specifically, why he chooses to upgrade to Galfer braking systems right away on his motorcycles.

“I was fortunate enough to own two bikes that were in their first production years, the Yamaha Super Tenere and the Honda CBR250R. Both extremely different motorcycles for two different purposes.  I take breaking very seriously so first place I took these two bikes was to Galfer for brake line upgrades. Galfer installed steel braided lines on both bikes. The Honda having simpler braking system and the Yamaha a little more complex, the result was the same. I found that with the stock rubber lines both motorcycles had a soft almost delayed response when braking. With the steel braided lines both bikes had a significant improvement in feel and responsiveness. The Yamaha in particular has ABS and with the steel lines I have much better feel and control over when the ABS system engages. I’ve also had the privilege of visiting Galfer’s facilities and meeting the staff. With the level of professionalism and expertise of Galfer’s staff and the performance of Galfer’s steel lines, they will always be a necessary component in all my motorcycles.”
–Andy

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Galfer Wave Rotors for BMW Applications

by Galfer USA on January 11, 2012

Front Rotors available with hardware

The Galfer front Wave® Rotors, available for most of our BMW motorcycle applications, are now a bolt-on assembly complete with pre-pressed hardware. No more calling around, searching for those pesky washers. We have fine tuned our BMW rotors, DF702W and DF707W, with the necessary hardware all you need is your OEM bolts for a proper install.

Front Wave® Rotor Part Numbers:

  • DF702W
  • DF707W

Contact:
GALFER USA
Phone: 805-988-2900
Toll Free: 1800-685-6633
Fax: 805-988-2948
tech@galferusa.com

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Anaheim One Results – James Stewart and Davi Millsaps – Team JGRMX

by Galfer USA on January 9, 2012


photo courtesy motogeo.com

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (January 8, 2012) – A sold-out crowd of 45,050 was on hand at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. for the opening round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series.  The entire event, over three hours, was broadcast live on SPEED.  New for 2012, FUEL TV will air a re-cap show each Sunday at 8:00 p.m. (EST) after each SPEED telecast, beginning tonight.

James Stewart set the fastest lap in qualifying, and he and Davi Millsaps easily transferred to the main event from their respective heat races with Stewart winning his.  In the main event Stewart started inside the top-10 with Millsaps 11th.  By the third lap Stewart was in fourth and just before the halfway mark he had moved into a podium position in third with the second place rider just in front of him.  On lap 16 Stewart crashed partially tearing his radiator shroud off of his motorcycle.  He remounted, was able to pull the dangling shroud from his bike and salvage a sixth place finish.  Millsaps fell on lap 18 relegating him to 16th for the night.

For the third year, Toyota and JGRMX collaborated to create a Jumbotron and television commercial.  This year an old verses new theme was employed and iconic racing legend Mark “The Bomber” Barnett guest starred with Stewart, Millsaps, Coach Gibbs, and Coy Gibbs to create the spot.  The clip as aired can be seen here:

The team posted a YouTube video of behind the scenes footage during the filming that can be viewed here:

The next event for the JGRMX/Toyota/Yamaha Team will be Jan. 14 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz.  SPEED will broadcast the action from Phoenix live starting at 9:30 p.m. (EST).

Contact: David Evans
JGRMX/Toyota/Yamaha Team Media Relations
(704) 363-0923
devans@jgrmx.com

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Galfer Braking Systems Announce Partnership Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX Riders James Stewart and Davi Millsaps

by Galfer USA on December 23, 2011

Press Release

Friday, December 23, 2011, Oxnard California

Galfer Braking Systems is proud to announce their partnership with team Toyota/Yamaha/ JGRMX riders James Stewart and Davi Millsaps for the upcoming racing season of 2012.

Both riders will be competing with Galfer T-sunami wave® rotors and Galfer brake pads on their machines.

Galfer’s US manager Alessandro Milesi was quoted saying: “Working with such a talented team of individuals and riders such as the  JGR crew it’s an exciting opportunity for Galfer, its nice to see our products delivered the quality and braking performance that the team was looking for on their championship quest for 2012″.

Team manager Jeremy Albrecht was quoted saying “Galfer’s approach to quality and outstanding performance has been impressive thus far, our riders have tested several different products during the off season and  have found Galfer’s T-sunami rotors to be the best”.

The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship kicks off January 7th at Anaheim Stadium. A complete schedule for the 2012 season can be found at www.supercrossonline.com.

Galfer Braking Systems is a manufacturer of braking components for Road Racing and SX /MX racing, to learn more about Galfer Braking Systems please visit www.galferusa.com or www.galfer.es.

Thanks,
Sandro Milesi
Galfer Braking Systems America’s Division.

www.galferusa.com
Ph: 805-988-2900
Fax: 805-9882948
Cell: 805-2077942
Skype: Galferbrakes

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Thomas Fauver Race Report: November/December 2011

by Galfer USA on December 21, 2011

EVENTS ATTENDED:
Texas Lone Star State Championship: 25+ Vet Class, 7th Place overall/ 30+ Vet Class, 5th Place overall/ 40+ Vet Class: 5th Place overall. EVO Vet Championship: Houston, TX:  40+ Vet Class 2nd Place overall.

SUMMARY
Man I hate winter even in Texas. The last few races were really chilly, and it finally rained some. I know 35 degrees is warm for the northern boys, but it is downright cold for us southern boys BURRRRRRR! I still had a blast, and continued my mission for [Galfer]. Do you guys make thermal underwear by chance?

I actually had the EVO series Championship in my hand, but it was so cold, that I just miserable. My concentration was off and lost my wits on the start of the last race when it started raining. It was so close in points, but I let my nemesis get in front of me, and that’s all she wrote!

The Lone Star Series was tough, I rode three classes. It can be a real challenge, as I line up with ex-pros from the late 70’s early 80’s. They may not have been big names then, but those old farts are still really fast. Seems natural talent outweighs a beer belly.

UPCOMING EVENTS PLANNED:
Tyler, TX- Texas Lone Star Series
Houston, TX-EVO Vet Championship

–Thomas Fauver

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