HH: You are out to break the current world record for women’s motorcycle jump distance. Your first scheduled attempt has been cancelled due to injury. What happened and what’s your game plan now?

Kimmy: In late May of 2007 I took a job working for Marathon Racing, a corporation owned by Steve Fossett. I was helping to build his land speed record jet car. An opportunity I could not pass up. Steve Fossett disappeared on September 3^rd, 2007 while flying Baron Hilton’s Bellanca Citabria at his Flying M ranch in Yerington, Nevada. My boss asked me if I would participate in the search for Steve Fossett on September 7^th by dirt bike. I told him I’d love to so I drove my truck to Baron Hilton’s ranch with both of my CR500s in the back and a friend of mine the next day. We arrived at the long dirt road leading to the ranch at night, it was dark and while driving down the road over a small rise I noticed some dogs or coyotes in the road, I swerved to try and avoid them but the truck hit some thick gravel and flipped over immediately. I ended up with fractured orbital socket, two destroyed bikes and a totaled truck. At this point I was faced with fixing both bikes and replacing my truck after I healed from my head injury. As soon as I got better I began working on motorcycles again for customers and slowly rebuilding my jump bikes. Three months went by and in early December I took a trip to Baja for a much needed vacation. A friend of mine and I decided to load both of our BMW R100GSs in his truck and drive the truck to Las Vegas to avoid having to ride back to Reno in a snowstorm. We rode to Baja from there and had a great trip, no problems at all. We returned to Reno and were unloading my bike out of the truck when my friend slipped and accidentally dropped my 500-pound R100GS Paris Dakar on my left knee. I’m going to get surgery soon to repair it. My knee is pretty bad, so now again I’ll have to postpone jumping the bike.

I guess my game plan at this point is to heal from this serious knee injury as much as possible in the next few months and begin practicing again when I feel better. I’m not going to let these past events stop me though. Jumping the bike for the new world’s record is a dream of mine, I know I can do it. Money is tight for me now too with all of this so I’m going to try and work on getting more sponsors to help me.

 HH: You specialize in BMW motorcycle service, with an advanced level of BMW certified training. Why did you gravitate towards BMW? And, how tuff has it been to exist among the BMW service your local dealership’s offer?

Kimmy: I gravitated to BMW honestly because the pay far exceeds that of all other major motorcycle manufacturers. BMWs are a lot different than all other types of motorcycles. They are far more sophisticated than most other bikes. A lot of BMW automobile engineering goes into the bikes. I like this because I had the opportunity to learn about complex electrical and computer systems, increasing my knowledge of electricity vastly. I remember when I was just an apprentice for Jennifer Broome, the owner and lead technician of Werkstatt Motorcycle Racing and Repair in San Francisco, Ca., saying to me one day, “Kim there are good mechanics and there are great mechanics. Great mechanics understand electricity and can diagnose and fix any electrical problems. Most mechanics don’t understand electricity all the way.” I really took that statement to heart and made an effort to really understand it. Jennifer was a great teacher, and from Germany. She told me that while I was trying to replace a diode board for the first time on an old BMW among other electrical nightmares. She opened the door for me to learn BMWs from the very start. I loved sport bikes at the time and was planning to race them. I found BMWs not very interesting then because of that. Now that I have owned an R100GSPD for 7 years I can tell you if I could only have one bike it’d be that one! 

Existing among the local BMW dealership has not been an issue at all. I worked for the local BMW dealer here in Reno for almost three years and got to know a lot of the BMW riders in the area. When I began to spread the word that I was working on BMWs independently I had no problem finding work. I also work on most other kinds of bikes and I get a lot of work that way too. The BMW dealership is very expensive and I charge less than them, the customers already know me as a reputable technician so they are happy to give me their motorcycles to work on for less. “Same technician as they had before for much less” they always say with a smile on their faces. Many motorcycle owners like that can have more of a personal relationship with their mechanic too, I have found. Often I’m asked if it’s ok for them to hangout and watch me work so that they can learn about their motorcycles. I love to teach people how to do basic repairs and help them understand how their bikes work. I primarily tend to work on GSs so I feel it’s important for the riders of these bikes in particular to know what to do in case they have an accident or mechanical failure out in the middle of nowhere.   

My existence as a competing BMW tech with the dealer really just isn’t issue for a few other reasons as well. I have found work doing other motorcycle related jobs and working on Steve Fossett’s jet car. I am very focused on my jump attempt, so I praise the chance to do any work-related that has also helped me to find a few sponsors willing to help me out along the way. I figure once I get my name out there, hopefully I’ll get bigger sponsors willing to help me out with some of my expenses in exchange for advertising. Anyone? Ha ha, I sure could use some help with everything related to my jump at this point given my recent injuries, damage to my bikes/truck, and the loss of my job working for Steve Fossett.

 

HH: You also fabricate. How did you get into that, and how did you end up working for a very high-profile person, who tragically, has made headline-grabbing news?

Kimmy:  I’ve learned a lot of fabrication though the years as a motorcycle technician. Working in a few different motorcycle shops through the years was an excellent way for me to meet some really talented mechanics who were willing to teach me their secrets and show me how do some fabrication here and there. I always jumped at the chance to be able to create and/or design my own custom motorcycle parts and modify a customer’s bike. Just doing repairs and maintenance can get pretty redundant and boring after a few years. The world is small and soon I gained a great reputation as a BMW motorcycle technician after a few years in the industry. That combined with knowing the right people made it possible for me to get the opportunity to work for Steve Fossett on his land speed record car. A good friend of mine is a very reputable Jet airplane technician named Paul Robinson. Paul volunteered his free time and bright ideas to help improve and build the jet car temporarily. He introduced me to Eric Ahlstrom who is head of the jet car project and also the primary engineer for it’s many improvements.  Eric thought I was smart and very capable to help out. Eric used to race motorcycles and work on them in the 80’s. He saw value in my experience with motorcycle repair and my current pursuit to set the new women’s world record for longest ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jump. Eric liked the fact that I was pursuing a new world record on a fast, motorized vehicle and my attitude towards it.

 

With similar life threatening risks involved, my mindset towards building my jump bike just right for optimal performance and safety is the same mindset Eric had towards redesigning the land speed car. Eric liked the fact that I am not willing to give up on my dream and do whatever it takes to accomplish it. He also admired my “Nothing’s impossible” attitude. He hired me right away after I made the decision to pursue work with Marathon Racing. Eric actually taught me a lot of things about fabrication and engineering along with Leigh Golden our master jet technician and shop foreman.  Regardless of Steve Fossett’s terrible mishaps (and mine) I still feel very lucky to have had such a great and rare opportunity to help build the land speed car. I am very grateful to have had the chance to meet so many intelligent and interesting people who were members of Steve Fossett’s land speed record team. Because of this opportunity my knowledge and fabrication skills have been greatly increased. Many thanks to all of the members of the team!

 

HH: Fossett’s disappearance obviously has a profound effect on you. Inquiring minds want to know, how are you dealing? What’s next?

Kimmy: This is a very hard question for me to answer right now. The details concerning Fossett’s disappearance are odd and in my opinion disturbing too. As time passes it seems like more strange and horrible things keep happening surrounding this. I can definitely say I’m not too comfortable with discussing this subject in great detail at this time.  

I guess all I really have to say about this is that it has profoundly affected me because I was asked to look for Steve Fossett on my days off by my boss, Eric Ahlstrom. I went to help search for Steve Fossett on my own expense and free time because I respected the man very much and felt like I could really help since I was planning to cover tons of ground on my dirt bikes faster than search parties on foot could. I lost everything in a freak accident and because Steve went missing and the land speed car was almost finished I lost my job too. I just wish I knew what happened to Steve Fossett and wish I or someone else could’ve found him. I’m thankful and feel very lucky based on the damage to the truck to have come out of this alive.

One of these days I’d like to really elaborate on this subject but until then because of the legalities surrounding the subject I’ll have to remain silent on the details.

 

HH: With the world record distance jump attempt still in the works, how are you preparing yourself for the day: physically, mentally and financially?

Kimmy: Physically I am working out most mornings. I have been working on bikes non-stop too for the last couple of months to pay the bills, that’s a workout in it’s self. I am a single mother of a big, strong, energetic two and a half year old boy too! My X-husband and I share 50/50 custody, so half of every week I’m running around chasing and playing with him!  

Mentally I am doing much better now than the first few weeks after my accident. I have healed up for the most part except for under my left eye, which still bothers me a bit. I have been riding as much as possible in my days off which don’t really exist, but I have made time. Riding is more like an attitude adjustment for me than a thrill or sport. Makes me remember my favorite outlook on life; ”It’s not a bad life”, I always say, if I forget all I have to do is go for a ride. I have been through worse accidents in my life before. I know I can get through anything. This accident was more emotionally taxing on me than physically. My recent knee injury shouldn’t be too bad of a setback either… I hope. In August, year 2000 I was hit by a drunk driver on the freeway. I was on my new Triumph TT600, during rush hour traffic in the bay area. After the drunk driver hit me I was thrown from my bike and hit three more cars then was finally stopped by the center divide-a foot away from the fast lane of on-coming traffic! I broke over 20 bones on my right side, crushed my right hand and wrist. Crushed my right foot and broke my shoulder blade. I was told I wouldn’t be able to use my hand again for anything like riding or wrenching. They almost cut off my right foot too. I made a miraculous recovery and turned around and bought the biggest dirt-bike avalible-XR650R Honda. I moved to Reno, Nevada and took a job offer at Sierra BMW. I was learning to ride much better in the dirt and after a second hand, wrist and shoulder surgery six months later. I was back to wrenching on bikes and riding even better than before! I don’t know, I think if you really truly want something in life you can have it! Strange how that sort of thing works out-makes miracles happen!  

Financially I have been working on motorcycles in a small shop by myself. It’s been raining motorcycle services on me too. I can’t finish one bike before the next comes. Unfortunately it’s tough to work a forty-hour week because of taking care of my son half the week but I’m paying the bills. I really need more time to be able to fix the jump bikes; it’s been really tough trying to keep on schedule. I need money to fix them plus I need to buy a new truck still as well. Until my life gets back on track I’ll have to postpone the jump attempt of course.

 

HH: Given you have been blessed with great tenacity, do you have any words of encouragement you’d like to share with other female riders who might face great odds or obstacles.

Kimmy: “Better to know nothing than to half know many things” (Friedrich Nietzsche) this quote has always stuck in my mind since I read it as a young teenager. To me this statement meant that you’ve got to pick one thing in life and learn everything you can about it, study hard, work harder and eventually know more about it than most other people. Then you gain the respect needed to become a known professional. This way you’ll always have work if you consider this way of thinking career wise. Never give up half way, if you got that far you can’t stop and waste all the time you spent. This is how it was for me being a female mechanic. I almost gave up half way into it but decided that I only live once and I cannot give up my dreams! I knew it would all pay out in the end. Men ridiculed me along the way and some even decided to take their bike somewhere else so that a man could work on it instead of me. I knew those guys were just losing out on a good service/repair so I tried to remain positive by laughing back at them, hoping the shop losing a customer wouldn’t cause them to consider firing me. I was angry and sad but my anger gave me the strength to keep at it so I could prove myself. Eventually people respected me very much and I was able to go anywhere and get a job. Women make excellent mechanics for so many reasons! We have slim fingers and are capable of extracting screws, etc. out of tight places most men can’t get their fingers! We are meticulous and perfectionists-especially when we are always working to override an old conservative stereotype! Ha, ha, ha…and of course I believe more people trust women for different things than men! Which works well being a mechanic. I love to feel so independent in life! It’s so nice to know that I don’t have to worry about a car problem or bike breaking down! I love that I don’t have to rely on a man to be there to save me! Women can do anything a man can and I’m glad the stereotypes placed on us are slowly diminishing! 

 

Thank you Kimmy for sharing your world!

We are rooting for you!