Tech Spotlight: Eddy Mallea

Tech Spotlight: Eduardo Mallea
Motorcycle Technician and Suspension Specialist

 

I am 25 years old and have been riding and working on motorcycles for as long as I can remember.

After finishing Motorcycle Technical school at the age of 19, I immediately went to work at WMR. I interviewed with Bob and Joe, the owners, about a year before graduating. They saw something in me that they liked, so a spot was saved for me the second I graduated. I moved all the way from Maryland to Stuart, Florida. This is where I now live, and I am in the process of buying my first home here.

 

I credit my father for getting me interested in motorcycles. He introduced me to riding at a very young age. I got my first bike at age 6, it was an old 125cc four-stroke Chinese pit bike, and I rode it like crazy. It was not the most dependable bike, so I had to learn how to keep it running. After that, I had a bunch of different bikes. Eventually, I got my first two-stroke, a CR85, and I fell in love with that bike. Even though I ride four strokes now, the two strokes still hold a special place in my heart.

My favorite thing to do is work on Racing Suspension, we are an authorized WP Suspension service center, and I head up that department. We work on all suspension brands, so don't think it's only WP, but the WP components are very advanced. We have an amazing suspension cell with a fork and shock Dyno and all the tools I need to dig into suspension setups. Just recently, one of the riders I do suspension for on the Invictus Speed Crew team finished 10th in the 250 class at St Louis SX. It is awesome to build suspension for a rider at that level of our sport. We do suspension for many other fast guys, but a top ten in SX is a great feeling. The good part is that I know we have many improvements we can make to stay running upfront. I enjoy spending time on the suspension Dyno to see precisely how my adjustments are performing; we even have Data acquisition equipment that we use during testing. The sky is the limit, and I never want to stop learning and becoming better at suspension tuning. I believe we are building the best suspension shop in the South East, and we continue to improve every day.

 

I love to ride motorcycles in general, Street, Enduro, Hare scrambles, Adventure, and Motocross. Being on a motorcycle is a feeling that's hard to substitute, even though I'm very passionate about soccer. I still ride with the guys at the shop on my CRF250 but plan on getting a KTM as soon as I can. After working on the Austrian bikes for the last few years, it's easy to see that they are a serious and focused brand.

 

Aside from motorcycles, I enjoy art, creating, and designing. A lot of my patience comes from that part of my life, say at the beginning you might have a blank page, but using your know-how and vision, that blank canvas step by step will become something.

Please stop by the Suspension Department next time you are in the shop or say hello at the FTR races where we set up to help riders set up their suspension. You may even see me at Supercross with the Invictus Speed Crew. I am always happy to help you set up your suspension or provide any help with motorcycle-related questions.