JD Beach is one of the most talented and versatile motorcycle racers in the U.S. The 2015 and 2018 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion spent the past five years competing, and winning races, for Estenson Racing in the Progressive American Flat Track Championship. This past summer, Beach filled in for the injured Cameron Petersen aboard his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1 Superbike. In three MotoAmerica rounds and seven races, Jiggy Dog notched four top-five finishes, three podiums, and he won the final Superbike race of the 2023 season at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
And now, Beach is a free agent. He was recently asked by Tytlers Cycle Racing team owner Michael Kiley to test the team’s BMW M 1000 RR Superbikes during a track day held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. We checked in with Beach to get his thoughts on riding a BMW Superbike and what his prospects are for racing in the 2024 MotoAmerica Championship.
Q:
You went down to Homestead. Was it PJ’s bike that you rode, or was it Cameron’s?
Beach:
They actually had two bikes there. They had some stuff they wanted to test that they were planning on doing at the end of this season, but with Cameron (Beaubier) getting hurt and then PJ (Jacobsen) going to Rahal (Ducati Moto), they didn’t have a guy to do it. So, they called me. They had both bikes down there for me to test.
Q:
I saw that (PJ Jacobsen’s crew chief) Scott Jensen was there. Didn’t you also work with Scott when you raced for RoadRace Factory/Red Bull Yamaha?
Beach:
I did. I worked with Scott for two seasons.
Q:
PJ and Cameron are close to your size. Did you do anything to either bike before you got on, in terms of moving the position of the rearsets or the handlebars or anything like that?
Beach:
We moved the bars and stuff a little bit, just so it fit me some. The pegs and stuff, we had to move some, but nothing major. Really, the stuff that we moved was just so I’d feel okay on the bike doing laps.
Q:
You’ve ridden so many race bikes, whether it’s road racing or flat track or whatever. I never know how you would even be able to do this, but since you rode the R1 this past season and won races on it, what’s your impression of the BMW? The Yamaha and the BMW are both inline fours. Do they feel similar in any way? Did the BMW feel at all like an R1?
Beach:
No, it didn’t, actually. It felt quite a bit different. Just the way the power builds and stuff. The bikes don’t really feel the same. The chassis and stuff feel like they’re not, I wouldn’t say they’re too close. So, it was definitely a big step between the two.
Q:
I think one of the first things Cameron said about the BMW, and what most people say about the bike, is that it’s so fast. It’s got so much power. Did you get that impression, as well?
Beach:
That’s kind of hard to say, just because, the last month, I’ve been instructing at American Supercamp and I’ve been riding a TT-R125, so any bike I get on is going to feel fast. But, I think when you get on any Superbike, they’re all fast.
Q:
Plus, have you been riding your Yamaha YZF-R6 practice bike much lately?
Beach:
Yes, I have.
Q:
So that’s going to be a big difference, not only with a TT-R125 but an R6.
Beach:
The BMW definitely is fast, that’s for sure. It doesn’t lack power.
Q:
One of the things I’ve heard before, one of the characteristics of the bike–and I’ve heard Cameron mention it, too–is that the front-end feels a little different. The handling of the bike is a little bit different than what he had been used to. Did you feel like you could get it to turn OK? Were there any issues there?
Beach:
When I rode it, it was at a track day, so I wasn’t going as fast as I would have liked. But, at the pace I was going, it wasn’t too hard to turn. With every bike, there are positives and negatives. I think it was a little harder to turn, but not too bad. I think also, what I’ve told some guys is, I haven’t been road racing a lot during the past four years. So, when I get on a bike, I don’t have a preconceived idea of what the bike should do. So, especially compared with what Cameron had been riding–the Moto2 bikes—they turn good. So, when you get on a Superbike that, for one, hasn’t been developed as much as the Attack bike, and then, two, the characteristic of it isn’t to turn as well, because that’s what most of the guys struggle with, it is going to be a little harder to turn.
Q:
Do you have any idea how many laps you did?
Beach:
I did a lot. I bet I probably did at least 80 laps. Maybe more.
Q:
That’s pretty good for a track day. Sometimes, when you guys are at track days, you can go out on the track between sessions or something when nobody else is out there. Were you able to do that?
Beach:
No. It was just during when we were supposed to be out on track. We went out seven or eight times, I think. Each time we went out, it was for 20 minutes at a time. So, we got a lot of laps. We only had one session that got red-flagged, so we got a lot of time.
Q:
Did they do many chassis adjustments to the bike? Did you ask them to change anything, whether it was the ride height or fork preload or anything like that?
Beach:
We did change some stuff, just because they wanted to see what the bike did when they changed stuff since I was on the bike. There was some stuff that they wanted to test, like a (rear shock) linkage and a few other things. So, we did change the suspension some, just so it would feel good for me, and I could push some to get a good feeling for the stuff that they were wanting to test.
Q:
You did some work when you were there.
Beach:
Yeah.
Q:
Considering the tests you’ve done in the past on Superbikes, was this test similar to that? Did you do more laps than normal, or about the same as you’ve done when you’re trying to test something in the past? Did it feel like a normal test for you?
Beach:
Yeah. It felt pretty normal to me. I did probably about the same amount of laps as I would if I was on a team. That’s kind of what I enjoyed, too, is being able to give feedback and try to make the bike better. So, I do enjoy doing it. It’s kind of cool right now, too, because I don’t have a deal for next season with the Estenson team. We parted ways, you could say. This is the first time in my pro career that I’m not locked into a brand. Two or three weeks ago, I got to ride–I only did probably six or seven laps–but I got to ride the Vance & Hines King Of The Baggers bike. Then, I got to go ride the Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW Superbike. So, it’s kind of cool being able to get some seat time on different bikes.
Q:
I heard something about you with Baggers, but I didn’t know you actually rode one. Did you ride Hayden Gillim’s bike?
Beach:
Yeah, I rode Hayden’s bike. It wasn’t even like an official test or anything. Hayden was doing a test at the Corvette museum, but it was during a track day. So, I went down with Hayden just to ride my R6. At the end of the day, since they had all their stuff there, they asked me if I wanted to spin some laps on it.
Q:
What did you think? Did it feel weird? What was that like?
Beach:
It felt really weird, at first. It was different than what I expected it to be, but the bike worked really well. It was fun to ride, but it’s a handful to ride, too. Even before I rode it, I had a lot of respect for the guys who do race those things just because, as a racer, I know just watching them, just watching the bike move around and stuff, I know it’s probably hard to ride and plus how big they are and stuff. And after I rode it, the respect I have for them is just even more. To know what it’s like to ride one and then to watch those guys, the way they battle and pass. It’s even more impressive, for sure.
Q:
I’ve heard this from talking with Kyle Wyman. They’re crazy fast off the line. Those things accelerate faster than some Stock 1000 bikes. Did you get the impression that those KOTB bikes are really, really quick just when you twist the throttle?
Beach:
Yeah, they have a lot of torque, for sure. I never really took off from a stop because, every time I stopped and I would take off, it was in the pits. So, I never really took off fast like that. But on the track, in some of the slower turns, when you get on the gas, it gets going quick.
Q:
I have to ask you this. This is just from what I’ve observed when anybody starts off on those bikes. Probably even Hayden a little bit. With your size, did somebody have to help you with the bike when you were leaving the pits?
Beach:
The first time I went to take off on the bike, they had it on the rear stand and I climbed up on it. I put my right foot down for them to take it off the stand, and then I realized when I had my right foot down on the ground, I couldn’t touch the shifter with my left foot. So, Hayden had to run over and put the bike in gear for me.
Q:
Are you completely done with your contract with Estenson Racing? You’re not obligated to them at all at this point? It’s not even the end of the calendar year.
Beach:
I’d have to look at exactly when it’s up, but they’ve already made their plans for next season, and I’m not included in those. So, I’m not really obligated to be riding the bikes or whatever.
Q:
When you raced with us in MotoAmerica this past year, we knew you had aspirations and wanted to get back into our series full-time. I thought you might have still had an option to race with Estenson next year. I didn’t realize that was the situation. So, you are truly a free agent right now and open to offers. Road racing. What about flat track at all with another team? Whatever works, or how are you feeling about this?
Beach:
I think at this point, I would like to go road racing. I’ve got a few things in the works that seem like they’re going to be good. I’ve talked to a couple dirt track teams, but just with the way that’s going right now, I just don’t know. I think road racing is the best spot for me to be at right now.
Q:
When you did this ride on the BMW, did you feel nervous at all? Whether somebody said this or didn’t, did you feel at all like it was a tryout?
Beach:
No. I feel like, now, especially with the way I rode the Attack bike and stuff, I felt like that was kind of the tryout a little bit, just because I hadn’t road raced in so long. But I feel like I got on that thing, and I did okay and I proved myself. I’ve got faith in myself that I can still be at the front on a road race bike. So, I don’t really have pressure just because if they decide that they want me to be on the team or whatever, I feel like, when it comes down to race time, I can be at the front.
Q:
Regarding road racing in itself, are you limiting yourself to just a Superbike ride? Is Supersport or possibly another MotoAmerica class something you’d consider?
Beach:
Yeah. It is, for sure. As long as I can be on a bike that I can win on. That’s the biggest thing for me. I just want to be on a bike that I can win on and be with a team that wants me. So, of course, I want to be on the big bike and be in the Superbike class, but sometimes, you don’t really get picked.
Q:
This past season, you competed in three rounds and seven races. So, it wasn’t even close to a full season. However, in some ways–and this is not to criticize or say anything negative about your career–you had one of your best seasons ever, certainly in Superbike. Would you agree with that?
Beach:
Yeah. That was the one thing that was crazy to me. I’ve won the Supersport title in the past, so I wouldn’t say it was my best year overall, but I would say it was my best season on a Superbike. It’s kind of hard to say it wasn’t my best year. I thought about that a lot. I think it kind of came down to, not that I took that 2018 Supersport Championship season for granted, but I think, when you have something taken away and you haven’t finished what you started, you kind of realize more what you actually had. I wouldn’t say that I tried harder in those six Superbike races last season or that I cared more, but I had a different feeling and maybe a different drive. I think, also, just being older, as well. I’ve got more of a perspective on life and really realized how lucky I am to get to race motorcycles. So, I think, overall, that perspective has helped me a lot with my racing. There are definitely days, if you go back to COTA when it was just blazing hot, just miserable. You could either feel bad for yourself and hate being there, or you could just enjoy it. It’s brutal, but you’re getting to race a motorcycle for a living and doing what you love. So, it’s hard, but if you look at the big picture of it, we’re all so lucky to get to do what we do.
Q:
If I were to script it out or write a story about what JD Beach did last season in Superbike, I couldn’t have written it better than what you did. Pretty much every time you got on the bike, you got better and better results. It ultimately resulted in you winning the final Superbike race of the season. It was a great progression. Did you intend to do that, or did it just happen to work out that way?
Beach:
My goal and what I wanted to do was every time I got on the bike, was to get better. For me, when I did that first race, if I would have gotten 10th, OK, I got 10th. For the next one, let’s try and get ninth. So, really that was my goal going into the whole thing, was every time I got on a bike, to get better results than the previous time. But, luckily, I got on the bike and I was quick right away. But, I still had that mindset of not trying to do too much too quickly, and just focus on getting better every time I got on the bike.
Q:
It really played out that way. There were a couple of little hiccups, but overall, when you look at your development curve in those three rounds and seven races, it was mostly always trending up. You did build it to a storybook finish and, obviously it’s serving you well now, where people understand what you did and that you’ve still got it, which is pretty incredible stuff.
Beach:
Thank you. Yes, I’m hopeful that what I did this past season in Superbike will result in me racing again full-time in MotoAmerica this coming season.
Q:
Good luck, JD, and thank you for talking with me.
Beach:
You’re welcome, Sean. Thank you for checking in on me.
