My formal mechanics training began at Los Angeles Trade Tech in 1973 under instructors Joe Minton (Motorcyclist, Rider, and American Rider and American Iron magazine columnist and Mikuni corporate tech guy) and Pat Owens (formerly Gene Romero's tuner and later world-renowned Triumph expert). What a wonderful experience! Fellow alumni of LATTC include the 1980s road racer Bruce Hammer (Team Hammer Suzuki), recent president of Motul Dave Wolman, one time factory Honda motocross team manager Dave Arnold, 200-mph clubber/top fuel Harley racer/LSR rider Wayne Pollack, race car fabricator Chuck Rust, and many other bright lights in motorsports.

For the next 20+ years I paid my dues in metro southern california motorcycle shops gaining invaluable concentrated experience in all kinds of motorcycles, doing literally all kinds of work on them. At various times throughout this period I also ran a suspension shop, managed a couple service departments, got Honda factory certified (factory Honda registered tech 1983), and eventually landed a job at corporate Honda in a field support role. I was at corporate Honda for the rollout of the first Honda V4s, the Turbo, the earliest days of the CBX and its cousins the CX500, DOHC 750, 900, and 1100, and GL1100; the days of AHM's superbike racing effort with the 1024cc fours and Spencer and McLaughlin, and the infamous NR500. My group assisted dealers and customers with field issues. CBX cylinder studs. CB750 cam chain guides. Later I took more Honda classes, adding modern courses such as fuel injection, and qualified in fuel systems, V4 engines, electrical troubleshooting, and turbocharging, eventually accumulating over 350 credit hours of OEM factory training, including from Honda, Kawasaki, and Harley-Davidson.

During the remainder of the 1980s I was with Motorcycle Mechanics Institute (MMI) in Phoenix, AZ. As an instructor I helped develop the school's material on carburetors and high performance engines, and was promoted to the institute's full-time curriculum developer, a position in which I was responsible for over 4000 credit hours of instruction, essentially all the powersports material at the school at that time. During this time I started the Motorcycle Project, originally simply a repository of technical articles, but which would later become commercial with the advent of my how-to books and ultimately was expanded to become my current carburetor business.

In the late 1990s I left MMI to work for a well-known speed shop for whom I built H-D clone hotrods, GSXR and ZX11 dragbikes, and did a few one-off customs. During this time I accumulated well over 1000 hours on a Dynojet dyno, built nitrous systems, did a ton of carb rebuilds, and more than a few cylinder bores and valve jobs.

The bike in the background is of course the superlative Ninja H2R, the first year 2015 model. I designed the training for this bike, an awesome privilege. Picture taken in the lobby of the then (1987 through 2016) Kawasaki corporate office in Irvine, California.

In 2005 I joined corporate Kawasaki as their Instructional Designer, a post in which I created and often facilitated hands-on and online courses, webinars, and videos, in addition to conducting numerous seminars for all sorts of technical venues all over the country, on the road some three months out of every year, training both technicians and their supervisors. Prior to leaving Kawasaki in April 2016 after almost 11 years, I was tasked with the supervision and oversight of all dealer technical training. For over 1200 dealers, I designed and implemented technical courses, managed all training resources, including six full-time company training centers and over 50 satellite locations across the US, and supervised twelve instructors. I designed, set up, implemented and managed the company's first-ever nationwide dealer technician recognition program, maintained relationships with partner institutions, met yearly to network with my counterparts at Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, BMW, Harley-Davidson and KTM, and controlled all aspects of Kawasaki training, including scheduling, training materials, certification, marketing, purchasing, managing the company's online training records database, dealing with vendors, providing vehicles, tools and equipment, and overseeing training locations. I wrote, equipped and supported the supercharged Ninja H2 dealer training, as well as for the superlative gyro-equipped 2016 ZX-10R, and much more. Mine was a unique opportunity for which I will always be grateful and about which I will forever have many good memories.

A sampling of my customer's carburetors. I do all kinds of motorcycle carburetors, with a strong focus on the Honda multicyclinder carbs of the 1970s and 1980s. Click on this image to go to a customer gallery.

Upon leaving Kawasaki, I was offered Stu Oltman's job at Motorcycle Consumer News. Talk about a hard act to follow! Though I hated to, I turned it down and suggested a friend and business aquaintance who excelled at that position until MCN closed their doors in late 2019, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute's Kevin Shockency. Today, full time is devoted to my carburetor business, the Motorcycle Project. I rebuild well over 100 carburetor sets each year, take on two to three special engine projects, publish how-to booklets, continue to enjoy relationships with many leaders in the powersports industry, and am privileged to serve yearly on MMI's industry advisory board, meeting with the institute regularly to help keep the nation's 51 years and going strong premier technical school current and relevant.

I am also a rider, naturally. Invited to the Iron Butt its second run, and an inaugural member of the MSTA (originally called the Honda V4 Sport Touring Association and later the Honda Sport Touring Association), I have ridden in most of the western states and for several years rode over 25,000 miles per year, and once did 5,000 miles in just 10 days.

Thank you for looking up my qualifications!
(Picture inside my shop.)