I am a total neophyte when it comes to blogs. I'm not sure exactly what to do, so I ask your indulgence while I muddle my way though all of this. You comments are always welcome... HOWEVER... I retain the option to delete anything that I feel is hateful, racist or in any way posted for the express intent to hurt anyone, especially me. Those of you knowledgeable with the history of the Delphi NTB Forum will understand exactly what I mean.
The notion of providing a little history about myself just popped into my head, so here's a not-so brief resume:
My name for those of you who don't know is Michael Selman. I go by Mike. I was born in Detroit in 1956, the youngest of three children of Isadore and Belle Selman. My father, who passed in 1960 was an Air Force vet and served as a meteorologist. It was his final say-so before the air groups flew their missions. He also ran a successful automotive & residential paint manufacturing plant here in Detroit before his death. My mother Belle (Bella) was a Romanian immigrant and holocaust survivor. She sadly passed in 1997, but not before running my father's company, selling it and starting her own engineering company and raising three successful children. My brother and I worked for her in her final years at the engineering company she founded. It was her who inspired me to start my own company which bares her name; Bella. As a child, she and her brother rode motorcycles. She told me once she fell off an NSU which left her with a small scar on her chin. She never liked the idea of me riding motorcycles, but she never forbid to ride either.
My mother bought my brother and I mini bikes when we were maybe 10-12 years old. We terrorized the neighborhood on those things. The love for all things on wheels and self-propelled began early for me. My first real motorcycle was a 60s Montgomery Wards Binelli 175 street bike. I wrecked the thing riding off-road on the land where the Pontiac Silverdome is now located. In highschool, I had a 71 Norton Commando which I built-up as a little street hotrod. Bobbed the rear fender and installed the same aluminum tail light I sell today for the NTB. Added Mikuni carbs, K&N filters, Boyer ignition, S&W shocks, Tommaselli controls, Dunstall mufflers. Now you understand why I do the things I do to the NTB. I sold the Norton in the mid-80s to buy my first Harley. I've regreted that day ever since, even though I loved the Harley and still own one today.
After college I worked several years in the consumer electronics industry. One position I held and enjoyed immensely was National Sales Trainer for Harman/Kardon-JBL of Woodbury, NY. You audiophiles out there will recognize the name as a leader in the industry. To this day, I'm rather an audiophile myself and even build a rather sophisticated recording studio and home theater in my home.
While working for h/k-JBL, I was also racing sportscars in the SCCA (then) Division 5. h/k-JBL sponsored my car, a 1986 Mustang GT in the Showroom Stock GT class. I also worked as a tech scrutineer at the Formula 1 races held in Detroit from 1981 to 1987. It was at these races I met several influential people in the professional motorsports community that ultimately led me to leave the consumer electronics industry and focus on a career in auto racing.
My first full-time gig in racing was as the marketing manager for a Detroit-based engine component manufacturer. I won't name their name, as the owner was a total prick and racist. The job only lasted a year before the pressure to leave became too great. It was my first taste of racist hate, and unfortunately not my last. It really put my mother's holocaust experiences into perspective for me. But from this bad experience, came a good outcome. I drove down the street to their competitor; Roush Racing and went to work for them. I also used my ties with h/k-JBL to work a sponsorship deal, which set the tone for my future racing endeavors.
Open-wheel racing is my true passion. In the late 80s I met a local CART Champcar owner, and went to work for him as Team Manager. I didn't know squat! But (at that time) CART was very much like a family with teams helping-out other teams... loaning parts... sharing set-ups... and some very knowledgeable and generous people took me under their wing and gave me the education I so dearly needed. The team I ran was a back-runner, run on a shoestring budget. The owner was as passionate about open-wheel racing as me (possibly more-so), and we had a hoot fielding a Cosworth-Lola against the Chevy-powered teams. I could fill a dozen blogs with war stories... but not now. After the funding ran out and the team folded, I bounced around from team-to-team. The last team I worked for fielded an Indy Lites car. I served as an engineer for a young Mexican driver who had backing from Corona beer. I recall coming home from a race with about 40 cases of beer in the back of my car. Best damn job perk I've ever had. I also worked for Lola Cars as a software developer, Knight-Ridder as a media consultant and finally for a race transporter/trailer manufacturer as their sales rep. It was all a ton of fun while it lasted. But racing is a young man's game. As I got older, my knees got weaker, my back got sorer and it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to drag my fat ass around the tracks like I once did. 9/11 pretty much killed-off my racing activities, as the trailer company I worked for was bought-out and they no longer build race transporters. And traveling became a nightmare for me.
So here I am in early 2002 wondering what I'm going to do with myself. I had bought my first new Triumph Bonneville in April of 2001 and had already started customizing it. I was active on the Delphi New Bonneville Forum and some members had asked me to help them purchase some of the parts I had installed on my bike. So starting my own on-line mail order shop was no great stretch of the imagination. Officially on March 4th, 2002, BellaCorse was launched. Bella; my mother's name, and also meaning beautiful... and Corse (pronounced Cor-sa), which means racing. Oh yeah, and the RaceDweeb moniker; while working in CART, I was honored by my peers for my contributions to the sport as a "DAG" (data acquisition guy or geek). I joked, that this acknowledgement has elevated me from Data Geek to Race Dweeb status. The name stuck.
Fast forward to the late summer, 2005 and I'm extremely proud to say that BellaCorse has grown exponentially over the last few years. I've expanded my product range from a set of fork gaiters (BCC-001) and an 18-tooth sprocket (BCE-001) to now offering almost 200 parts & accessories for the Hinckley twins. The popularity of the Bonneville range has not diminished, so the future looks quite bright for BellaCorse.
I thank you for indulging me as I rambled-on in this opening blog. I hope to bring you interesting insights and stories that you may or may not find interesting and/or relevant. Your comments are welcomed. Thank you for visiting.
posted by RaceDweeb @ 1:06 PM
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