Northridge : ’95 a Tough Course for Motorcycle Mom

If motorcycle racer Susan Zobler’s life this past year were a racetrack, it would be one that was filled with hair-raising turns, oil slicks and narrowly averted collisions.

“It was probably the most difficult year of my entire life,” said Zobler, who this year struggled with financial problems, got into a legal battle with her ex-husband and broke up with her boyfriend over her racing career.

Back in January, The Times chronicled the Northridge resident’s transformation from a retail executive and mom to a competitor in the exciting and dangerous world of motorcycle racing. Zobler, who says she is in her late 30s, is one of only half a dozen women racing at the national level.

In October 1994, she quit her job as manager of the Bullock’s in Thousand Oaks and by January was hoping to get the needed sponsors to race full time. But reality has set in, and now she is not sure if she’ll ever achieve that goal.

To pay bills, she worked as a saleswoman for a Beverly Hills skin-care salon and as account manager at a Kinko’s copy shop in Northridge. She said she is undecided about whether to try to become a professional racer or to pursue a career that appears promising with the copying company.

Meanwhile, she’s made some progress in her racing career. In January, Zobler finished in the middle of the pack in competitions at the Willow Springs International Raceway near Lancaster. In a July race, she came in third out of a field of nine, earning her first trophy.

She also won a regional race in June in Las Vegas for the most powerful class of motorcycles and the Southwest Region Formula 1 Class Championship, not for being the fastest racer, but for racking up the most points in the series by competing in every race and racing relatively well in each race.

“Things are finally starting to come together,” she said.