A Privateer's Life - Jake Gagne

Sometimes it's hard to remember how hard, how very hard, it is to make a living as a professional motorcycle road racer. And then you get a glimpse, just a peek behind the curtain, and you realize how close it is to not racing at all for some riders.

American Honda Racing is supporting Team Genuine Broaster Chicken, with team manager Danny Walker and rider Jake Gagne, in the Motul Superbike class in MotoAmerica competition in 2017. Honda says it is kicking in bikes and technical support. That's enough to give you something to race. But scraping together the rest of the program ...

This is an image of the team's bike at the Circuit Of The Americas pre-season test. Two things caught my eye as I walked past. The first was the swingarm, a massive aluminum alloy sculpture, beautiful, something from a MotoGP machine of not too long ago. It is completely stock.

The second was the rear stand. Yep, it's the $39.99 Pittsburgh low profile motorcycle spool stand from Harbor Freight. Sometimes making it to the grid means the team cuts costs wherever it can, and if that means buying rear stands from Harbor Freight, then you buy rear stands from Harbor Freight.

The rider makes compromises and cuts corners, too. Note the tearing Alpinestars undersuit worn by Gagne as he watches the team fettle the new CBR1000RR.

Gagne's proven himself. He's an AMA/DMG Daytona SportBike Champion, a MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion, even a Red Bull AMA Rookies Cup champion. He's paid his dues, but even a rider with the credentials he brings to the table still scrapes and struggles to get to the grid.

It was deeply satisfying to see Gagne finish third of the Superbikes in Race Two at COTA. Here's hoping that all the struggles, all the sacrifice, pays off. Nothing but respect for the private teams, and especially the privateer racers.