quickbuck
15th January 2012, 20:31
Hi All, as always I will start with the days leading up to Race Day.
On Tuesday night (Jan10) I got caught in a torrential down pour on the little Ninja on my way to work. When I finished work in the early hours of the morning the bike was a little tricky to start..... Not to worry, it was the last trip before turning it to race trim for the weekend.
As the battery had taken a hammering trying to start the bike, I decided it would be prudent to put it on charge.
I also checked the exhaust for water, oil for water, and cleaned the air filter. I even put in fresh fuel, just in case.
On Friday I installed my freshly charged battery and hit the start button. Rather than the sound of a 250 twin purring into life I was greeted with something that sounded more like a shingle crusher!
Panic struck, and I feared I had done something really bad, like bend a valve, or broke a crank!
After a little investigation I discovered the idler gear from the starter motor to the starter clutch had dislodged itself, and tore a few teeth off the starter clutch. I wasn't sure if I could find all the bits, and get my bike to run. As the question that went through my mind was why did this happen? Was it a bent valve? Bent conrod? Broken crank? So I put the call out to borrow a bike. Alex Hockley said his Hyosung was sitting doing nothing and I could borrow it.
That was an awesome offer, as Alex is the current PMCC ProLite champion. It would mean me making a little road trip though.
I decided to pull my engine as far apart as possible to retrieve all the bits on Saturday, and see how it went. I managed to find all the broken teeth, and casting, and removed the idler gear. I then headed into City Honda to get some vital fluids for the bike, and 2 new spark plugs. The plugs in there were probably a couple of years old now. While there I got a shoulder to cry on from Chrissie, and some words of encouragement. I left there with an attitude that I can do it!
I filled the bike with oil, coolant, fitted my race tyres, and put the 15 tooth sprocket on for an experiment.
I got up nice and early on Sunday to go racing. After the normal routine of heading to Feilding, and getting fuel I arrived at the track and set myself up in the stables. I had all the toys for this round. I fitted my HD camera to my helmet, and taped Neil Chappell’s GPS Lap timer to my speedo. We were called up to practice and I turned the camera and the GPS on. I then proceeded to start the bike by way of push. No go.... after a lap of the pits, I thought it be best if I turn the bike on!!! Hell, this no starter thing is really putting me off my game! Time to focus!
Qualifying:
I headed out with caution. There was oil in turn one, six, and the exit of seven if you went high.... There was water all over the track, and we had 4 flying laps to take it all in and put in a time. I went for it quite early, and managed a 1:39.266. This put me 3rd on the grid behind 2 teenagers on Street Stocks (Dave Neil on 43, and Rogan Chandler on 34). Dave’s Pole time was 1:39.023. Not too bad considering it was his first race! Beside me in 4th was Billy Billington on his CBR250 MiniLite bike. So all 3 classes were on the front row.
Over the break it dried up, and this was helped by the wind!
Race 1:
Got there nice and early, as I wanted to ensure I remembered to turn everything on, and get my mind focused on the race. Sometimes it is easiest to put the helmet on and disappear into your own world. We were released out onto the track, and I used the warm up lap to ride over the cement dust over the oil to see if it was slippery. I then made my way to the grid to line up on position 3. I lines up on position 2, and waited...... Then Chandler showed me a wheel. Goodness me, once again I am asleep! I should be on 3! I quickly moved across as the Starters were writing a 20 second penalty on the black board...
Anyhow, all the lights came up, and David was creeping over the line... That constitutes a Jumped start, and he got a 20 second penalty for it. Once the lights went out we were off! Billy's CBR went screaming into turn one and I out braked everybody else to take the thin line available to be in second over all (First ProLite). I continued to focus ahead of me knowing Chandler must be behind me somewhere, but didn't even bother to look. I just kept going forward. Eventually Chandler passed me after picking up some of my late breaking points and got passed. Here is another teenager who is learning like a sponge! I was the first ProLite home, but was very surprised to see Jamie Fell on the ex Pete Sales VT250 only 1.5 seconds behind me. He also managed a faster lap than my 1:32.645. He mentioned he had found 3 seconds, and was loving Dunlop (Turn 7). I smiled and nodded knowingly, as I had a lesson from Neil Chappell after he viewed the footage from my last round at Manfeild. I was loving Dunlop too.... and the tyres themselves were proving predictable when I pushed them.
Race 2:
This time I lined up on position 3. The lights went out, and found myself in a real battle to turn 1. At that point I thought the 15 tooth sprocket was really giving me grief getting off the line... But then again, it could be the fact all the riders around me were half my weight ;-)
Into turn 1 I stole the corner again. I tried to keep with David Neil, but he had a little too much pace for me. Not to worry, I was still the 1st ProLite. I then found Rogan wanted to get past me. I let him go without any challenge, as there is no point getting tangled up with a bike that is fighting for different points. I was also hoping to use him for a draft, and make use of the extra top speed I had with the taller gearing. Unfortunately Rogan was too small, and got blown all across the track on the back straight. I wasn't going to follow him just for the draft. He left me behind though, and set off after David. Unfortunately for Rogan, David had got too far up the track. After 5 laps I finished 1st ProLite, and managed a 1:32.982. Yup, getting slower.
I contemplated putting on the 14 tooth sprocket to see what I could do, but decided the conditions weren't the best to attack my PB of 1:31.488. My other half (Coral) turned up to see how I was going, so filled her in on the going on's of the day.
Race 3:
With my number 1 fan in the stands I wanted to put on a good show. As the lights went out we all went for turn 1. David and Rogan had picked up some tips during the day and managed to get into turn 1 in front of me. They continued to battle in front of me for the entire 7 laps, and I just sat there lapping in the high 1:32's and low 1:33's until the end of the race. I had made some major errors during the race, but appeared to get away with them. My best lap was a 1:32.760.
So I guess a 1:32 was the best I could get with the compromised corners, and the 15 tooth sprocket. At the end of the day I got to ride my own bike, and walked away with 75 championship points. The first round win in the PMCC, and the first time I have won 3 races from 3 starts.
Next round is at Taupo, so that will be interesting.
Thanks go to:
City Honda: Friendly service with a mile.
Dunlop: The new tyres are still working very well
Neil Chappell: The coaching for Turn 7 was awesome, and so is the GPS Lap Timer (and the transponder saved me a few $)
Celtic Leathers: Still look great.
RNZAF: The paint work is still shiny
Race Fairings: The best replica Ninja 250R fairings out there.
And my partner Coral for all the support on the home front.
The mark of a Champion is how he deals with setbacks and grows from them - Aaron Carr 2012.
On Tuesday night (Jan10) I got caught in a torrential down pour on the little Ninja on my way to work. When I finished work in the early hours of the morning the bike was a little tricky to start..... Not to worry, it was the last trip before turning it to race trim for the weekend.
As the battery had taken a hammering trying to start the bike, I decided it would be prudent to put it on charge.
I also checked the exhaust for water, oil for water, and cleaned the air filter. I even put in fresh fuel, just in case.
On Friday I installed my freshly charged battery and hit the start button. Rather than the sound of a 250 twin purring into life I was greeted with something that sounded more like a shingle crusher!
Panic struck, and I feared I had done something really bad, like bend a valve, or broke a crank!
After a little investigation I discovered the idler gear from the starter motor to the starter clutch had dislodged itself, and tore a few teeth off the starter clutch. I wasn't sure if I could find all the bits, and get my bike to run. As the question that went through my mind was why did this happen? Was it a bent valve? Bent conrod? Broken crank? So I put the call out to borrow a bike. Alex Hockley said his Hyosung was sitting doing nothing and I could borrow it.
That was an awesome offer, as Alex is the current PMCC ProLite champion. It would mean me making a little road trip though.
I decided to pull my engine as far apart as possible to retrieve all the bits on Saturday, and see how it went. I managed to find all the broken teeth, and casting, and removed the idler gear. I then headed into City Honda to get some vital fluids for the bike, and 2 new spark plugs. The plugs in there were probably a couple of years old now. While there I got a shoulder to cry on from Chrissie, and some words of encouragement. I left there with an attitude that I can do it!
I filled the bike with oil, coolant, fitted my race tyres, and put the 15 tooth sprocket on for an experiment.
I got up nice and early on Sunday to go racing. After the normal routine of heading to Feilding, and getting fuel I arrived at the track and set myself up in the stables. I had all the toys for this round. I fitted my HD camera to my helmet, and taped Neil Chappell’s GPS Lap timer to my speedo. We were called up to practice and I turned the camera and the GPS on. I then proceeded to start the bike by way of push. No go.... after a lap of the pits, I thought it be best if I turn the bike on!!! Hell, this no starter thing is really putting me off my game! Time to focus!
Qualifying:
I headed out with caution. There was oil in turn one, six, and the exit of seven if you went high.... There was water all over the track, and we had 4 flying laps to take it all in and put in a time. I went for it quite early, and managed a 1:39.266. This put me 3rd on the grid behind 2 teenagers on Street Stocks (Dave Neil on 43, and Rogan Chandler on 34). Dave’s Pole time was 1:39.023. Not too bad considering it was his first race! Beside me in 4th was Billy Billington on his CBR250 MiniLite bike. So all 3 classes were on the front row.
Over the break it dried up, and this was helped by the wind!
Race 1:
Got there nice and early, as I wanted to ensure I remembered to turn everything on, and get my mind focused on the race. Sometimes it is easiest to put the helmet on and disappear into your own world. We were released out onto the track, and I used the warm up lap to ride over the cement dust over the oil to see if it was slippery. I then made my way to the grid to line up on position 3. I lines up on position 2, and waited...... Then Chandler showed me a wheel. Goodness me, once again I am asleep! I should be on 3! I quickly moved across as the Starters were writing a 20 second penalty on the black board...
Anyhow, all the lights came up, and David was creeping over the line... That constitutes a Jumped start, and he got a 20 second penalty for it. Once the lights went out we were off! Billy's CBR went screaming into turn one and I out braked everybody else to take the thin line available to be in second over all (First ProLite). I continued to focus ahead of me knowing Chandler must be behind me somewhere, but didn't even bother to look. I just kept going forward. Eventually Chandler passed me after picking up some of my late breaking points and got passed. Here is another teenager who is learning like a sponge! I was the first ProLite home, but was very surprised to see Jamie Fell on the ex Pete Sales VT250 only 1.5 seconds behind me. He also managed a faster lap than my 1:32.645. He mentioned he had found 3 seconds, and was loving Dunlop (Turn 7). I smiled and nodded knowingly, as I had a lesson from Neil Chappell after he viewed the footage from my last round at Manfeild. I was loving Dunlop too.... and the tyres themselves were proving predictable when I pushed them.
Race 2:
This time I lined up on position 3. The lights went out, and found myself in a real battle to turn 1. At that point I thought the 15 tooth sprocket was really giving me grief getting off the line... But then again, it could be the fact all the riders around me were half my weight ;-)
Into turn 1 I stole the corner again. I tried to keep with David Neil, but he had a little too much pace for me. Not to worry, I was still the 1st ProLite. I then found Rogan wanted to get past me. I let him go without any challenge, as there is no point getting tangled up with a bike that is fighting for different points. I was also hoping to use him for a draft, and make use of the extra top speed I had with the taller gearing. Unfortunately Rogan was too small, and got blown all across the track on the back straight. I wasn't going to follow him just for the draft. He left me behind though, and set off after David. Unfortunately for Rogan, David had got too far up the track. After 5 laps I finished 1st ProLite, and managed a 1:32.982. Yup, getting slower.
I contemplated putting on the 14 tooth sprocket to see what I could do, but decided the conditions weren't the best to attack my PB of 1:31.488. My other half (Coral) turned up to see how I was going, so filled her in on the going on's of the day.
Race 3:
With my number 1 fan in the stands I wanted to put on a good show. As the lights went out we all went for turn 1. David and Rogan had picked up some tips during the day and managed to get into turn 1 in front of me. They continued to battle in front of me for the entire 7 laps, and I just sat there lapping in the high 1:32's and low 1:33's until the end of the race. I had made some major errors during the race, but appeared to get away with them. My best lap was a 1:32.760.
So I guess a 1:32 was the best I could get with the compromised corners, and the 15 tooth sprocket. At the end of the day I got to ride my own bike, and walked away with 75 championship points. The first round win in the PMCC, and the first time I have won 3 races from 3 starts.
Next round is at Taupo, so that will be interesting.
Thanks go to:
City Honda: Friendly service with a mile.
Dunlop: The new tyres are still working very well
Neil Chappell: The coaching for Turn 7 was awesome, and so is the GPS Lap Timer (and the transponder saved me a few $)
Celtic Leathers: Still look great.
RNZAF: The paint work is still shiny
Race Fairings: The best replica Ninja 250R fairings out there.
And my partner Coral for all the support on the home front.
The mark of a Champion is how he deals with setbacks and grows from them - Aaron Carr 2012.