Blue Thunder Race reports. Vic club 06

[Racey Rider]

‘The prize is all the sweeter when the road is hard travelled’ so the saying goes.

After all last years hassles, (seizing my motor at 4 out of 5 race days), the last thing I needed was for this old motor to pack up again, one week out from the start of my main race series. After 4 great runs with it at the track in recent months, I thought I had it sorted. But having run it two weeks prior, I started it up the day before a Taupo race day/Practice, and found, not only a blown head gasket, but possibly blown crankcase seals as well. :crybaby:

Well, enough was enough! This old motor wasn’t worth paying a shop to fix it in a hurry, so it was time to source another one.

A bit of borrowed money, and a talk to my local bike shop owner, procured a crash damaged KR150 with only 350km on the motor. With three days to go before race day, this was fitted into the race bike and teething problems sorted. This left me packing the car at 9pm before heading to Manfield at 5:30am the next morning.

Test day at Manfield dawned fine. I had got another 50km on the motor before coming to the track and as it had been sitting in storage for two years, and babied around on the road by it’s original owner, I looked forward to running it in further and a full day of sorting out jetting and associated bits.

First time out on a dry track, and I immediately noticed, this new motor did not want to pull like my old one. I had trouble getting enough speed to get it up into sixth gear in places were I had always been ‘humming’ in sixth on the old motor. The external gearing is the same as my old setup, so I put this down to maybe running too rich, (a different carb meant I had to start from scratch with jetting), and maybe more time needed to ‘loosen up’ the motor. I got a couple more runs in, changing the odd thing as I went, but was only halfway through my setup check/changes when a car dumped oil all over the track, and the light rain caused track management to close the track for the rest of the day. So starting on race day I was not where I wanted to be as far as motor setup went.

QUALIFYING
Slept in the car at a camp ground for the two nights till Sunday and saved myself $30 over the cabin price. :woohoo: (Could only Dream of sleeping in a cabin with someone snoring in it!) :Pokey:

Got to the track at 7:30am just in time to succor two pit bays for me and Bert who was coming to race a ZXR250 for the first time.
Out on the track for Streetstock qualifying, gave things a couple of laps to warm up, then settled down to see what she could do. Halfway through a good lap I caught up with traffic which stuffed that lap for timing. Slowed right down to allow them to get away and give myself more room to get one good lap in. Got a good lap put down which felt good, ... felt alright, ... but was disgusted with myself to see the qualifying sheet show a BT of 1:41. Last year I had done 1:33’s on the old motor. 1:41 put me 9TH on the grid. Row 3. That Sucked! <_<

As I was also entered in F3, I used this practice to test my other muffler that I normally use. This is a standard KR150 muffler off a ‘B’ model (my race bike is a ‘B’ model), that I had hoped to test on Friday but didn’t get time. In theory it should help the motor breath easier, but I didn’t want to risk using it in Streetstock qualifying as the new ‘A’ model motor and carb may have Detonated. If it showed signs of this in F3 practice I thought I could just stop and still be at the same place at the end of the start grid. The motor went alright with it on, and it may have helped with cutting two seconds, ... or maybe I just rode faster, who can tell.

THE RACES
Lined up on the third grid row of Streetstocks Race one. And right infront of me, two rows ahead is a Young Valentino Rossi on his CBR250 who has just cleaned up the field and taken Pole.
“Great. Thats just what you need when chasing a title” I thought.
Flag drops, ... We’re away!
I get a decent sort of start, and hang with the leaders for half a lap, but slowly see them pulling away. Had a good duel with ‘MotoXXX’ I think it was about mid race, but a few stuffed corners, and he too got away from me by the race end. So I was left fighting with one of the mid pack GP125’s. 7th Place of 13 for me . BT 1:38.

Race two in streetstocks was on a wet track which I knew would suit me better, as I had done a bit of wet riding lately. Got another good start, passing a number of 125’s down to the hairpin. Was right in the lead bunch through the first corner, but lost a spot by leaving the door open on the inside. Someone took the opportunity to duck in tight and push me wider. Was able to keep the main bunch in sight, and even made one pass on Rossi Jr. Had another great battle with ‘MotoXXX’ with us changing postions requently. I entered the final lap ahead of ‘MotoXXX’ but a bad gearshift in Higgins allowed him past down the back straight, and he held me off in the last corner for another win over me. 0.2 of a second. Well done chap. I was 6th.

OTHER HAPPENINGS
The rain was falling quite hard when we went out for race two in F3. Not as many bikes ventured out in it, it seemed. After doing a warmup lap (and a couple peeling off back into the pits) we lined up on the grid ready to brave the elements. But race control pulled the pin, and we all cruised round to exit the track. Right decision,, wrong decision , ... I don’t know. But it was after all a WINTER SERIES, and I for one was there to race no matter what the weather. I understand that it would be unpleasant for the marshals to stand in, but sort your gear out and make it happen. We all come a long way, to then have it cancelled because of rain. If you don’t want to drop your bike, ... don’t go in that race or go slow. But some of us are up for it. And the points should be on offer for those that are ready to except the risks.

NEXT TIME
OK, so I only had to open page one of my excuse book this time. By next race I should have run my motor a bit longer, and have the jetting sorted out. So excuses will probably have to be explained in more depth.:whistle:
I’m sure you can hardly wait!

Thanks to my Sponsors for helping this happen :
2Day.com (http://www.2day.com/) - Web hosting, Domain names, Dedicated servers
Freeparking.co.nz (http://www.freeparking.biz/) - Online solutions You can Use.
Un-named KiwiBiker

Cheers.
Racey.

[vtec]

Dude, I can't believe how much effort you've gone to... Brought a tear to my eye to see what you are putting into chasing this dream of yours.

I thought about it afterwards that I didn't really talk to you much, but there were just so many people to talk to, and with random little tasks to do to my bike aswell. I just never got much of a chance to go over and have a good chat. Next time.

I hope your engine breaks in well, cause I would love to see you at full power. You're a bloody inspiration mate.

[MadDuck]

I am sure that your sponsors are prety damn proud about now.

Look forward to many more write ups

[Two Smoker]

Wicked stuff Racey!!! Glad to see things are going much better this year than last :niceone: All the best for the next round!!!

[Sketchy_Racer]

Mate!

Its great to see you getting into it. It was a shame about your 'new' engine though. It would have been better if you were up at the 1:33s so you could get closer to your goal of the Title.


Big ups !!

[DemonWolf]

Great writeup Racey Rider... keep 'em coming =) Good luck for next round

[Macktheknife]

Well done man, good to see your spirit is still high despite the teething problems, best of luck for next time.

[cowpoos]

oh gwad my eyes are sore after that....good effort though man....and good to catch up with you at the track....see ya next round?

[Racey Rider]

What a day to be racing! 5 degrees it was when we rolled out for the scrub-in and Qualifying runs. :cold: Wet track, slightly rainy, but not too bad.

I was still not happy with the power output of my new motor, so had sorted my old motor again and brought it down to race on. I didn't know if the first run was a scrub in tyers session, or the main Streetstock Qualifying, so went out in it anyway. (they really need to get a better sound system at Manfield).

Got out right behind our mate 'Vtec', and kept up with him well for a few laps, pushing round the outside of him a time or two through corners. But a badly adjusted clutch kept slipping under power, so I didn't get my one chance to make a pass stick while he was still warming up.

Made a quick adjustment to the clutch, and realized we were out again straight away for our qualifying run. This time my cable popped out from the clutch plates lever, leaving me with no clutch for most of my qualify run. I tried to be smooth by blipping the throttle when changing down gears, but was just making such a hash of it it was embarrassing.
When time sheets came out, my BestTime was less than 1 second down on that of 'Vtec'. but qualifying was so close that that 1 second put me in 6th place against 'Vtec's 3th on the start grid.

Race 1. - 15 Laps
I wired in my clutch cable, and headed out to line up for race one. It was still as cold as cold, wet track, but no rain. One of the ZXR250 was right in the wrong place, sitting on the back of the GP125's grid. When being asked to move back, and us streetstocks moving slightly forward, he ended up in my spot, which left me a row back from where I should have been. Never mind,, lets just get on with it!
I got a good start when the flag dropped, only to be passed by a Flying RG within 50 metres! What The ???? Good start Glen!
Lots of traffic in the first corner slows the pack down, but all got around safely, and I settle into following a group hoping that tires will miraculously warm up on such a bitter day. (highest temp for the day was 7 degrees).
As the field separates a bit I find I'm on the tail of three streetstock riders about mid field. Getting a bit more confidence, I set my sights on passing them. Bert and his ZXR250 was the first to feel 'Blue Thunders' wrath with a inside pass through the S's (I think? hard to remember it all). Then there was another Green ZXR 'Truck' to get passed. Those 250's really do honk down the straights compared to us 150's, so out braking them, or speed around the corners is the only option for us. Somehow I got past it and that left me with one KR150 that was catchable. I sometimes talk about this old motor being fast. But while chasing down this other KR rider, I found his speed to be the same as mine down the straights, so it must be that my new motor is slower than normal, not that this old motor is any faster than standard.
Somehow I got past him, (sorry about the lack on detail here, but at the time, I'm not thinking about what to write to you fellas later,, but just making the pass,, staying upright,,, and making my frozen fingers do what they're told!). Pressing on I was able to create a bit of a gap on the following riders, so switched my train of thought to the next task... Lapping Ivan!

Sure enough, about lap 11 I spied young Ivan on his flash GP125,, With full Wets on,,,, doing his best 'look at me... I'm a GP rider!' thing. Half a lap later and I took the opportunity to go round the outside of him in the last sweeper.
See Ya!

Then there was another ZXR250 in front to be had. but by this time I was running out of laps, and I think he may have turned to see me coming, as he did a Rossie and put the hammer down, extending the gap he had on me before the flag.
So 6th place for me in race one.
Sadly as i came back to the pits, I looked at the bikes temp gauge to see it reading high again, which could only mean one thing...
another Blowen head gasket!!!
I think the barrel it's self must be warped on this old motor as it just won't stop blowing gaskets.

Race 2

Luckily I had the other bike with the new motor down with me too so went about the task of swapping over all the race setup bits over onto the 'new motor' bike. Changing wheels over without the normal race stands was a bit of a budget affair. :o (Thanks for holding up the bike while I whipped out wheels Guys.)

Flag drops and we're underway. Another holdup in the hairpin as we idle around in Sunday cruise mode while the leaders take off :bye: This race was shorten to 6 laps. Made a break on some of the guys at the tail of the field and was feeling safe in my position going into the last lap. I looked behind to see a reasonable gap back to a green ZXR250 that I thought was 'Bert'. The thought went through my mind that 'Bert' was never going to catch me in the last lap from that distance, so eased off the pace a little.... no point falling off in the last lap eh. So was surprised to see a Green ZXR250 blow past me down the back straight on the last lap. It wasn't 'Bert' at all!! It was Russel!
If I had KNOWN it was RUSSEL coming,,,,, AHRRR! You idiot Racey!
So by out braking Russel I catch him at the last sweeper. Carrying more speed I go round the outside of him to line up wheel to wheel as we see the checkered flag. Of course I know whats going to happen.... Russel just opens the throats on that four cylinder 250,, and rockets ahead to the finish line, leaving me in 9th place. Ar Crap. *%&^#! 250's!!

So not a bad day on my scale of things. but the competitor in me is still disappointed in my placings. The new motor was 4 seconds a lap slower that the old motor. Lets hope the Training day next weekend can help me claw that back for next round.


Thanks to my Sponsors for helping this happen :
2Day.com (http://www.2day.com/) - Web hosting, Domain names, Dedicated servers
Freeparking.co.nz (http://www.freeparking.biz/) - Online solutions You can Use.
Un-named KiwiBiker

Cheers.
Racey.

[vtec]

Nice, great riding man, yeah you got past me in practice around the outside I think, but my baby's got the legs on the straight.

[Sketchy_Racer]

Nice going racey.

Maybe you could swap the barrels over to see if that stops your headgasket problem? and keep your "good" power engine?

And Vtec.
Your bike has more than just the legs.... its got arms and shoulders too!!

[Two Smoker]

Wicked stuff Racey, sorry i didnt get a chance to pop over and say gidday...

[Bert]

Another great writeup Racey.
Not the best day in the office but points in the bag none the lease.
catch you sat morning, - I've got some ideas that might sort out the race motor problems I'll PM you. Not that i really should be helping out people on higher points:bye: :bye: .
catch ya
Bert

[Ivan]

Good on ya Racey I wasnt doing my best to be look at me I'm a GP rider I just going out there to improve and try get up there with the big boys I am so not confident in the rain. Its probably easier to ride in but I dont seem to do it.


O well good luck with your campaign and trying to win the title thats what mygoal is in 125's use this year now to work with gearing andset my suspension up I now have my jetting sorted dads on to that and tire choice is getting better next year Ill go for the title if not this year if I can improve more

[cowpoos]

The prize is all the sweeter when the road is hard travelled’ so the saying goes.

After all last years hassles, (seizing my motor at 4 out of 5 race days), the last thing I needed was for this old motor to pack up again, one week out from the start of my main race series. After 4 great runs with it at the track in recent months, I thought I had it sorted. But having run it two weeks prior, I started it up the day before a Taupo race day/Practice, and found, not only a blown head gasket, but possibly blown crankcase seals as well. :crybaby:

Well, enough was enough! This old motor wasn’t worth paying a shop to fix it in a hurry, so it was time to source another one.

A bit of borrowed money, and a talk to my local bike shop owner, procured a crash damaged KR150 with only 350km on the motor. With three days to go before race day, this was fitted into the race bike and teething problems sorted. This left me packing the car at 9pm before heading to Manfield at 5:30am the next morning.

Test day at Manfield dawned fine. I had got another 50km on the motor before coming to the track and as it had been sitting in storage for two years, and babied around on the road by it’s original owner, I looked forward to running it in further and a full day of sorting out jetting and associated bits.

First time out on a dry track, and I immediately noticed, this new motor did not want to pull like my old one. I had trouble getting enough speed to get it up into sixth gear in places were I had always been ‘humming’ in sixth on the old motor. The external gearing is the same as my old setup, so I put this down to maybe running too rich, (a different carb meant I had to start from scratch with jetting), and maybe more time needed to ‘loosen up’ the motor. I got a couple more runs in, changing the odd thing as I went, but was only halfway through my setup check/changes when a car dumped oil all over the track, and the light rain caused track management to close the track for the rest of the day. So starting on race day I was not where I wanted to be as far as motor setup went.

QUALIFYING
Slept in the car at a camp ground for the two nights till Sunday and saved myself $30 over the cabin price. :woohoo: (Could only Dream of sleeping in a cabin with someone snoring in it!) :Pokey:

Got to the track at 7:30am just in time to succor two pit bays for me and Bert who was coming to race a ZXR250 for the first time.
Out on the track for Streetstock qualifying, gave things a couple of laps to warm up, then settled down to see what she could do. Halfway through a good lap I caught up with traffic which stuffed that lap for timing. Slowed right down to allow them to get away and give myself more room to get one good lap in. Got a good lap put down which felt good, ... felt alright, ... but was disgusted with myself to see the qualifying sheet show a BT of 1:41. Last year I had done 1:33’s on the old motor. 1:41 put me 9TH on the grid. Row 3. That Sucked! <_<

As I was also entered in F3, I used this practice to test my other muffler that I normally use. This is a standard KR150 muffler off a ‘B’ model (my race bike is a ‘B’ model), that I had hoped to test on Friday but didn’t get time. In theory it should help the motor breath easier, but I didn’t want to risk using it in Streetstock qualifying as the new ‘A’ model motor and carb may have Detonated. If it showed signs of this in F3 practice I thought I could just stop and still be at the same place at the end of the start grid. The motor went alright with it on, and it may have helped with cutting two seconds, ... or maybe I just rode faster, who can tell.

THE RACES
Lined up on the third grid row of Streetstocks Race one. And right infront of me, two rows ahead is a Young Valentino Rossi on his CBR250 who has just cleaned up the field and taken Pole.
“Great. Thats just what you need when chasing a title” I thought.
Flag drops, ... We’re away!
I get a decent sort of start, and hang with the leaders for half a lap, but slowly see them pulling away. Had a good duel with ‘MotoXXX’ I think it was about mid race, but a few stuffed corners, and he too got away from me by the race end. So I was left fighting with one of the mid pack GP125’s. 7th Place of 13 for me . BT 1:38.

Race two in streetstocks was on a wet track which I knew would suit me better, as I had done a bit of wet riding lately. Got another good start, passing a number of 125’s down to the hairpin. Was right in the lead bunch through the first corner, but lost a spot by leaving the door open on the inside. Someone took the opportunity to duck in tight and push me wider. Was able to keep the main bunch in sight, and even made one pass on Rossi Jr. Had another great battle with ‘MotoXXX’ with us changing postions requently. I entered the final lap ahead of ‘MotoXXX’ but a bad gearshift in Higgins allowed him past down the back straight, and he held me off in the last corner for another win over me. 0.2 of a second. Well done chap. I was 6th.

OTHER HAPPENINGS
The rain was falling quite hard when we went out for race two in F3. Not as many bikes ventured out in it, it seemed. After doing a warmup lap (and a couple peeling off back into the pits) we lined up on the grid ready to brave the elements. But race control pulled the pin, and we all cruised round to exit the track. Right decision,, wrong decision , ... I don’t know. But it was after all a WINTER SERIES, and I for one was there to race no matter what the weather. I understand that it would be unpleasant for the marshals to stand in, but sort your gear out and make it happen. We all come a long way, to then have it cancelled because of rain. If you don’t want to drop your bike, ... don’t go in that race or go slow. But some of us are up for it. And the points should be on offer for those that are ready to except the risks.

NEXT TIME
OK, so I only had to open page one of my excuse book this time. By next race I should have run my motor a bit longer, and have the jetting sorted out. So excuses will probably have to be explained in more depth.:whistle:
I’m sure you can hardly wait!

Thanks to my Sponsors for helping this happen :
2Day.com (http://www.2day.com/) - Web hosting, Domain names, Dedicated servers
Freeparking.co.nz (http://www.freeparking.biz/) - Online solutions You can Use.
Un-named KiwiBiker

Cheers.
Racey

easyer to read this wat....lol

[Racey Rider]

O well good luck with your campaign and trying to win the title ...

Thanks. I think my 'The Title' Dream has been blow out water by events so far. So I'll have to refocus, and try to knock RG100 from his 3rd place before the end of the season. Even that won't be an easy task it seems.
:rockon:

Racey

PS. 'CowPoos', you did read post 9 didn't you?

[cowpoos]

What a day to be racing! 5 degrees it was when we rolled out for the scrub-in and Qualifying runs. :cold: Wet track, slightly rainy, but not too bad.

I was still not happy with the power output of my new motor, so had sorted my old motor again and brought it down to race on. I didn't know if the first run was a scrub in tyers session, or the main Streetstock Qualifying, so went out in it anyway. (they really need to get a better sound system at Manfield).

Got out right behind our mate 'Vtec', and kept up with him well for a few laps, pushing round the outside of him a time or two through corners. But a badly adjusted clutch kept slipping under power, so I didn't get my one chance to make a pass stick while he was still warming up.

Made a quick adjustment to the clutch, and realized we were out again straight away for our qualifying run. This time my cable popped out from the clutch plates lever, leaving me with no clutch for most of my qualify run. I tried to be smooth by blipping the throttle when changing down gears, but was just making such a hash of it it was embarrassing.
When time sheets came out, my BestTime was less than 1 second down on that of 'Vtec'. but qualifying was so close that that 1 second put me in 6th place against 'Vtec's 3th on the start grid.

Race 1. - 15 Laps
I wired in my clutch cable, and headed out to line up for race one. It was still as cold as cold, wet track, but no rain. One of the ZXR250 was right in the wrong place, sitting on the back of the GP125's grid. When being asked to move back, and us streetstocks moving slightly forward, he ended up in my spot, which left me a row back from where I should have been. Never mind,, lets just get on with it!
I got a good start when the flag dropped, only to be passed by a Flying RG within 50 metres! What The ???? Good start Glen!
Lots of traffic in the first corner slows the pack down, but all got around safely, and I settle into following a group hoping that tires will miraculously warm up on such a bitter day. (highest temp for the day was 7 degrees).
As the field separates a bit I find I'm on the tail of three streetstock riders about mid field. Getting a bit more confidence, I set my sights on passing them. Bert and his ZXR250 was the first to feel 'Blue Thunders' wrath with a inside pass through the S's (I think? hard to remember it all). Then there was another Green ZXR 'Truck' to get passed. Those 250's really do honk down the straights compared to us 150's, so out braking them, or speed around the corners is the only option for us. Somehow I got past it and that left me with one KR150 that was catchable. I sometimes talk about this old motor being fast. But while chasing down this other KR rider, I found his speed to be the same as mine down the straights, so it must be that my new motor is slower than normal, not that this old motor is any faster than standard.
Somehow I got past him, (sorry about the lack on detail here, but at the time, I'm not thinking about what to write to you fellas later,, but just making the pass,, staying upright,,, and making my frozen fingers do what they're told!). Pressing on I was able to create a bit of a gap on the following riders, so switched my train of thought to the next task... Lapping Ivan!

Sure enough, about lap 11 I spied young Ivan on his flash GP125,, With full Wets on,,,, doing his best 'look at me... I'm a GP rider!' thing. Half a lap later and I took the opportunity to go round the outside of him in the last sweeper.
See Ya!

Then there was another ZXR250 in front to be had. but by this time I was running out of laps, and I think he may have turned to see me coming, as he did a Rossie and put the hammer down, extending the gap he had on me before the flag.
So 6th place for me in race one.
Sadly as i came back to the pits, I looked at the bikes temp gauge to see it reading high again, which could only mean one thing...
another Blowen head gasket!!!
I think the barrel it's self must be warped on this old motor as it just won't stop blowing gaskets.

Race 2

Luckily I had the other bike with the new motor down with me too so went about the task of swapping over all the race setup bits over onto the 'new motor' bike. Changing wheels over without the normal race stands was a bit of a budget affair. :o (Thanks for holding up the bike while I whipped out wheels Guys.)

Flag drops and we're underway. Another holdup in the hairpin as we idle around in Sunday cruise mode while the leaders take off :bye: This race was shorten to 6 laps. Made a break on some of the guys at the tail of the field and was feeling safe in my position going into the last lap. I looked behind to see a reasonable gap back to a green ZXR250 that I thought was 'Bert'. The thought went through my mind that 'Bert' was never going to catch me in the last lap from that distance, so eased off the pace a little.... no point falling off in the last lap eh. So was surprised to see a Green ZXR250 blow past me down the back straight on the last lap. It wasn't 'Bert' at all!! It was Russel!
If I had KNOWN it was RUSSEL coming,,,,, AHRRR! You idiot Racey!
So by out braking Russel I catch him at the last sweeper. Carrying more speed I go round the outside of him to line up wheel to wheel as we see the checkered flag. Of course I know whats going to happen.... Russel just opens the throats on that four cylinder 250,, and rockets ahead to the finish line, leaving me in 9th place. Ar Crap. *%&^#! 250's!!

So not a bad day on my scale of things. but the competitor in me is still disappointed in my placings. The new motor was 4 seconds a lap slower that the old motor. Lets hope the Training day next weekend can help me claw that back for next round.


Thanks to my Sponsors for helping this happen :
2Day.com (http://www.2day.com/) - Web hosting, Domain names, Dedicated servers
Freeparking.co.nz (http://www.freeparking.biz/) - Online solutions You can Use.
Un-named KiwiBiker

Cheers.
Racey

have now...lol....good shit bro

[MOTOXXX]

comon dude. your a head of me now that i crashed.

you can do it!!

[Racey Rider]

The wild weather My wife and I drove through to get to Fielding on Thursday night, did not make for a promising outlook for the Track test day that I was attending on the Friday. But the next day dawned fine and clearing, and turned into an ‘excellent weather’ test day. :sunny:
After buying a few more carb jets, my initial run showed I had at last found the right jetting setup, with a lovely tan colour to the sparkplug.
They let us out on the long circuit to practice up for the race day ahead.
So with the bike running well, and a bit of practice under my tyres, I was keen to be putting in some respectable times, and be closer to the action up front on race day.


RACE DAY
My objective for the day was to move from 5th on the Championship, to 4th.
AJ Chappell was currently in 4th spot, just two points ahead of me. I’m sure I can beat him, now my bike is running better, so it should be a done deal by the end of the day. I tried to put the fact, that there was a couple of gun riders below me that also had plans of hitting the top four out of the equation!

Went out for qualifying and put in a 2:38 which was 4 seconds off the pace I had done the day before. 2:38 put me 7th on the starting grid. No worries... I’ve seen Rossi win from 7th on the grid before... so, Not a problem.

Race 1
I got a reasonable launch from the flag, and join the streetstock/GP125 soup that was the first corner. I don’t recall seeing the front of the field again after that, as they were just Gone! I had a few dices with Tim(#49) and Graeme(#21), but Graeme’s RG150 is fast, and just pulled away from me in the end. Tim made less mistakes than I did and also held his spot. So halfway through the race I was left on my own to cruise around. I did get to put a pass on Vtec though before the race was over.

Ok, so he was standing beside his bike on the grass at the time, but a pass is a pass, :nya: and I made it home infront of him in 7th out of 12 spots. BT 2:32 Vtec 8th, AJ 9th - there’s my two points gained right there!

Race 2
Had a good chance to make a pass stick on Motoxxx(#83) in race two. was right on his tail for a lot of the race. I would occasionally get a better drive out of the hairpin and just pass before Higgins. But that boy is so smooth. I never saw him make a mistake all day! Unfortunatly I did make mistakes. So Motoxxx 6th, Racey 7th, and AJ 8th. Another point up on AJ. BT2:31

Race 3
The last race was my chance to drive home my advantage over AJ Chappell.
Things were going to plan till the last lap, (it was only a 2 lap race). AJ was behind me right through to the new track hairpin. I had struggled with that turn for the last two days, never finding the right groove to make it flow nice. I lost a bit of time there again on the last lap, and AJ caught me. Going into the first apex of the sweeper, there’s a horrible resealed trench cut across the track. The tight line was the only one that ever worked for me there... so I went for it...
Unfortunately AJ was also going for it.... The fact that he had the inside line meant either I got there first making him brake... or he got there first, pushing me wide. Nice guy that I am ... I left the door open for him .... (I didn’t even hear a THANKS......) He pushed me wide over the bumps ... I chickened out and hit the brakes ... and watched my one point lead disappear around the sweeper. :bye: BT2:31

So at the end of the day AJ and I are Tied on Championship points... in 6th spot.
Motoxxx squeaked in above us by 3 points. and Texmo cleaned the field up with three wins, pushing his way to 4th in the Champs.

The New motor ran well all day. Tho I'm feeling a bit like an ‘also ran’ after the high hopes I had had pre season. But it’s good to be riding against strong competition, and I feel like I’m improving all the time.
I hope to buy that new front tyre one day to give me more confidence in the front end.


Hope to see you all next time.

PS. My sponsorship money has all run out, so ... If anybody’s got a spare $ or two :whistle: I’ve still got one side of the bike free for stickers!

Thanks to my Sponsors for helping me get this far :
2Day.com (http://www.2Day.com) - Web hosting, Domain names, Dedicated servers
Freeparking.co.nz (http://www.freeparking.co.nz) - Online solutions You can Use.
Un-named KiwiBiker

:rockon:
Cheers
Racey.

[MattRSK]

Well done Racey. Good to see you out there. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself. I like your approach to racing.

From Matt

[vtec]

Good stuff mate, keep making those mistakes. It's the only way to improve. If you're not making mistakes, then you're too far in your comfort zone, or else you're a legend.

[kiwifruit]

Great reading Alex, see you there next time :blip:

[sugilite]

Great report, and well done on your days racing.:yes:
Thanks for helping me with starting the bikes n stuff!

[babyB]

cool write-up as always Racey good on ya

[Racey Rider]

A reminder to all yous in the 'Dark U.' Left click and highlight if you can't read my Blue.

Weather was looking good at Manfield for round 4 of the Vic club Winter series. I had just spent another test day with this new KR150 motor, and now had it running well - Pulling 1:35’s on the short track, 3 seconds better than my last run in the dry.
(I'm still trying to achieve the 1.33 I did on the RG150 I had in 2003 when I did my first two race days)

Qualifying for Streetstocks went well, and I was able to lay down that 1:35 Best time again. That put me 7th on a grid of 14 starters, with just 2 of the 250 four strokes ahead of me.

Qualifying for Superbike Lites/F3 took a turn for the worst though when two of us got knocked off the track by another biker. There was about 4 of us 150’s riding in the F3 class (F3 = upto 650cc twins/ upto 450cc Four strokes/ upto 250cc two strokes ). So we are out gunned from the start, but just riding for the fun of it. At the end of ‘Denny hulme’ straight, some yellow fourstroke classic bike comes barrelling past us, (well trying to anyway), and then when he’s right level with me, pulled over and Hits me!
Our handle bars and foot pegs lock together for a moment. His bike is heavier than mine, so I get pushed sideways - all out of shape - totally stuff up my corner entry - I can do nothing but get it together, brake hard, run through ‘Higgins’ corner and off the track taking Neil on his 150 off with me! Neil knew it wasn’t my fault, and gave the classic guy the appropriate finger gesture as he somehow made the corner and was gone. Thankyou Neil! We didn’t get your number mate, but maybe an Apology is in order! I can only presume you didn’t think about us 150’s not having to brake so early as you, but there was No excuses for Crashing me off the straight line that I was Holding!!

SS Race 1.
7th Place/second row on the grid sounded alright. I got an ok start and rode a good race, to the best of my ability. I was rapt to see I put down consistent laps of 1:35 for laps 2,3,4,5 and 6. I really don’t remember making any mistakes in that race, so I was really disappointed to find I came 11th place! You’ve got to be joking.... My best ride ever on this bike and I come 11th?
To be fair, 3 of the riders that beat me were on 250’s, and one was on what I suspect is an illegally modified 150. Take them out and I’d be 7th. yes, 7th sounds better.

SS race 2.
18 lap race. Much the same, but placed in 8th as 3 guys DNF’ed

Championship position: I still hold onto 7th place on the table if I calculate correctly due to some guys not finishing all races. With only 4 points between place 5 and me in 7th.

F3 races were just a bit more track time, with one interesting happening.
I was having a good battle with ‘MotorXXX’ on his RG150. We were swapping
positions a few times, good close racing. he went through the ‘S’es in the lead one time and I caught him at the hairpin. I got a better drive out of the hairpin than he and was slowly gaining on him down ‘Denny hulme’ straight. Halfway down we were wheel to wheel, shoulder to shoulder, almost touching elbows. I thought I’d give him some ‘stick’ and was shouting at him GET OUT OF THE WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
Sadly I spent too much time concentrating on shouting, and how close we were, and not enough on the approaching corner...... When I finally realised I had won the drag down the straight, it dawned on me, I won because MotoXXX had hit the brakes for the corner .... and I hadn’t!!!!! Once again I found myself careering off the track at ‘Higgins’, only just pulling the bike up before the tyre wall! Lesson learnt!
This whole episode was captured on video as well. Nothing like letting everyone have a laugh at you.

But had a great day. Bikes very reliable.
See you at the next one: 23rd Sept. Heres hoping for rain so I have a chance to keep
some of those 250’s behind me.

Thanks to my Sponsors:
2Day.com (http://www.2Day.com) - Web hosting, Domain names, Dedicated servers
Freeparking.co.nz (http://www.freeparking.co.nz) - Online solutions You can Use.
Un-named KiwiBiker

Cheers,
Racey.

[Sketchy_Racer]

I suspect is an illegally modified 150.

Good stuff racey!!

Great to see the KR going well and reliably!!

(ps just wonderin whom you think the illiagal 150 is could you PM me ;) )

[sugilite]

Another good race report Racey.
Can I suggest you move to superbike, that way you won't have time to look at another rider yet alone shout at one, just ask loose Bruce hehehe.

Kinda reminds me of the time I raced a slow old go cart against my then girlfriend, I passed her and turned around to give her the finger and laugh at her till I found a spectacular braking method......by crashing straight into a barrier!!! I even managed to cut my leg while wearing leathers! Did not hurt as much as the constant and often repeated laughing hiena impersonation from her! :shutup:

Anyways, another top effort, I love your passion for racing, keep it up! (like you would do anything else!)

[babyB]

hay Racey cool write up again. good on ya sounds cool
lol when dose the dvd get released

[Racey Rider]

Thanks guys.
But HOLD THE PHONE!!! Seems I didn't calculate Russells points correctly, And I am now 6th on the table! Just 4 points behind AJ.

Have PM'ed you RG, and see that you agree with my suspicions.
we'll just have to learn to ride faster.


.... well, me anyway! :scooter:

[MOTOXXX]

yes you made a school boy error on higgins old boy.

i was in tears watching that. lol


I tried taking out my air filter for f3 to see if i could get any more speed out of the bike. it didnt like it as its not tuned for it and had a dead spot up top.

im thinking about geting the bike tuned after vic club, no airbox cover, or air filter and sticking in a bigger main jet.
should be good for a few more hp and race it at boxing day races :)

[MOTOXXX]

yes you made a school boy error on higgins old boy.

i was in tears watching that. lol

i managed to stick with neil and the other dude on the kr for a bit. then i watched the kr drag past neil down the strait, neil has tons more corner speed than i do and they vanished.

I tried taking out my air filter for the last race in f3 to see if i could get any more speed out of the bike. it didnt like it as its not tuned for it and had a dead spot up top.

im thinking about geting the bike tuned after vic club, no airbox cover, or air filter and sticking in a bigger main jet.
should be good for a few more hp and race it at boxing day races :)

[Racey Rider]

Round Five of the Victoria Motorcycle Club’s Super Bike Series started with another test day for me. I had recently brought another cheap fixer-upper KR150a which I had got going with a new piston and rings set. I was interested to see how this ‘refreshed’ motor would compare to my latest ‘race bike’ motor, so brought both bikes down to run againist each other.
I got three sessions in on a dry track to begin with, starting with the ‘race bike’ which is a ‘b’ model KR150 to get me into the groove . Session two had the new ‘a’ model bike running through it’s paces, and I immediately felt this ‘new piston kit’ motor was pulling better than my race motor. I had no-one there to time me, but it just felt I was kicking it up into sixth gear sooner down the straights. One other thing I noticed was I was cornering well and touching the exhaust down through the sweeper as the bike was leant over to make the corner. Later in the day I noticed that the ‘a’ model exhaust was shaped differently to the one I normally race with. This caused it to stick out further, and not give as much ground clearance when cornering.
The third session of the morning I taped a stopwatch to the handle bars to give me an idea of what I was doing with this ‘refreshed’ motor. First lap was warming the tyres. Lap two I started the watch, but after putting in a good lap forgot to hit the ‘stop’ to record the lap. Reset it on lap three ready to put in another good effort for lap four. All this time I’m grinding the exhaust (expansion chamber) on each turn through the sweeper before the front straight. I hit the start button on the stop watch going over the line for lap four and start stringing together an impressive display of how it should be done round Manfield short circuit. (well... nobody was watching so I can say what I like!).
Things were going well till the last sweeper. Going through this corner at approx 100km/h I must have hit a bump which caused that scraping exhaust to dig into the track, lifting the back wheel off the ground. This meant I no longer had traction/ tyre balance, and the bike flew out from underneath me, dumping me heavily on the track. Both bike and I careered along the track for quite a ways, me tumbling uncontrollably before ending up in the off track ‘kitty litter’.
I slowly got to my knees... trying to catch my breath as hitting the track had winded me, cracking a rib in the process. The body armour in my leathers had done it’s job, with a hole in the shoulder of my suit, but my shoulder feeling fine, and my elbow armour partially ripped off. I did have a very sore hand though. I must have wacked the back of it down hard on the track as I was tumbling, and in short time it was getting quite swollen. The bike too had it’s problems, with a bent handle bar, broken brake lever, smashed up muffler, and one bent fork. I had no flarings on it at the time so no damage there.
It would have been good to get ice on my hand straight away... but... well, who brings ice with them?
It would be a good customer service for Track staff to have ice on hand for such happenings you would think.

So my hand was sore, but I felt alright, and wanted to get straight back on the horse again, so took my other bike out in the next session. I couldn’t use my clutch at all with my hand as it was, but was doing alright on a wet track after a rain storm had gone through. Near the end of that session I had a front wheel slide which put pressure on my hand causing some pain in my wrist, so it was time to call it a day.
I had decided I wanted to race the ‘refreshed’ motor if I was able to the next day, but as this was in the crashed bike, and my hand was stuffed, I was unable to change the bent forks over to my spare set. But I removed the offending exhaust, straightened the bar with a few good wollups, put my good flarings and exhaust on and the bike was good to go. The fact that the steering was all cockeyed (pointing left when the bike was going straight) I’d have to live with. Thanks to ‘Kickingzebras’ Dad for binding my hand up with tape. It would be a case of seeing how it felt in the morning!

On race day my fingers wouldn’t move much, but the wrist felt ok. I knew it wouldn’t be the best of days, but entries had been paid... so... lets just go out and circulate... pick up a point or two. Thoughout the day it took me about 2 minutes each time to get my swollen hand carefully into my left glove. Then it was a case of whoever was closest to help get the other glove on (thankyou all). Qualifing went ok considering I couldn’t use the clutch at all and could put limited pressure on the left bar. 2:35 put me 10th of 11 on the start grid (just where you want to be to get the best view).

Race 1 & 2
To get off the start line I had to pull the clutch in with my right hand, then hold it with three fingers on my left. When the rev’s hit the red, I’d have one shot at letting the clutch engage slowly. Either I got it right, or I’d stall... as there was no way I could pull it in again with that hand. Thankfully my starts went ok in both races, and I settled into timing the gear changes up and down nicely with the revs.
I actually enjoyed both the streetstock races as I had put no pressure on myself to perform well, and both times was in a group of 4 or 5 bikes that I was keeping up with well. I did feel extra strain on my right arm though as it was doing twice the work to control the bike with the other arm at only 30%.
In the last lap of the last race I remember thinking I had a chance to catch/pass Tim (KR150) and Russel (ZXR250) who were now right in front of me. I had been pushing it well and was right on Tim’s tail knowing that the last half of the track had corners that I had passed him on before. But right after ‘Higgins’ corner the two of them passed the last GP125 rider, (GP125’s had been given a good 30 headstart before us), which placed him right on my line for the lefthander onto the long track. This stuffed my line, slowing me and allowing my chance of victory over Tim (& maybe Russel) to be over. I pressed on hoping to catchup, but it wasn’t to be. Coming back onto the short track I eased off a bit as my opportunity had gone, and what happens... Paul (last years winner) passes me heading into the last corner. Darn! Where’d he come from? I decided I wasn’t willing for that to be the last account of the day, so got back into ‘do or die’ mode and rode round the outside of him to take the flag before him.

So I was pleased with my result for the day despite being at the wrong end of the field. Having no pressure on myself to perform made my riding so much more enjoyable. I picked up 23 points for the day, only losing 4 points to the guy behind me in the Champs and holding my 6th place overall.
My best times were 2:31 on a bike with a bent fork, no clutch use, and my stuffed hand. Thats the same BT as last time on the long track with my “new” race motor with everything working well.

I’m wondering if that “new” motor I brought with 350km on it, was not run in properly, thus not developing it’s best power? I know what I did to run in this latest ‘refreshed’ motor, so maybe at the end of this season I’ll have to do a piston kit in the other one too, and run it in properly.

Well you’ve done well to read all that.
Thanks to those who helped me.



Thanks to my Sponsors:
2Day.com (http://www.2Day.com) - Web hosting, Domain names, Dedicated servers
Freeparking.co.nz (http://www.freeparking.co.nz) - Online solutions You can Use.
Un-named KiwiBiker

Cheers,
Racey.

[kiwifruit]

great report Alex
would have loved to have been there chasing you!

[sugilite]

Well done Racey Rider! A stirring ride through the odds!

[kickingzebra]

Was a bit gutted to see you crash! Sorry I could get the other one started and joined ya... Damn near killed me trying to kick it over!! LOL forgotten the 2 stroke technique maybe, or just flooded it more likely!!
Cheers for taking Shauns stuff back with you, much appreciated!!
Hope you mend up well, and come back strong at taupo to take it out!

[Racey Rider]

Yer its called a manual choke Mate.:whistle:

[kickingzebra]

Oooh, eerrr... I hang my head in shame!!
Thought never crossed my mind!!

[vtec]

Dramas and excitement. Made for a good read. You're right about it being more fun with the pressure off. But if you're having a good tussle it can be just as fun with the pressure on, but usually I end up out on my lonesome.

[babyB]

another good read Racey. sounds like a mixed day for ya well done.
hope ya not too sore:(

[Racey Rider]

O Blow!
I went to get my hand looked at today as one finger was still sore to bump 10 days latter. Apparently I broke my finger. Now two surgeons have looked at the x-rays and agree, I should get the finger cut open and the bone checked so it heals with less chance of causing arthritis.
Great.
Booked in on Wednesday. 10 day before Taupo race day. :(
Thats sucks! :crybaby:

[Sketchy_Racer]

Man. Thats a bummer man!!

So will that put you out of racing? or will you tough it out?

[Racey Rider]

Have to wait and see if I can get my glove on again.
Then it will be back to clutchless shifting.

You boys wan'a give me half a lap head start?? :whistle:

[MOTOXXX]

meh

clutches are for the weak :banana:

[kickingzebra]

Bro, that sucks!! Still know you'll be giving it a damn good shot at taupo.
Hope it goes smoothly!

[Racey Rider]

Well,, Sadly it's official. 6th place in the champs, of the Vic club Streetstocks is up for grabs, as I won't be able to defend it.:weep:

The surgeons must have been bribed by somebody as they did a major job on my hand yesterday. Slashed, plated and screwed. and I have been!

Thanks to all that were interested in my progress.

Maybe next year huh.

Racey.

[MattRSK]

Well,, Sadly it's official. 6th place in the champs, of the Vic club Streetstocks is up for grabs, as I won't be able to defend it.:weep:

The surgeons must have been bribed by somebody as they did a major job on my hand yesterday. Slashed, plated and screwed. and I have been!

Thanks to all that were interested in my progress.

Maybe next year huh.

Racey.

You will be missed at the last round mate.

[kickingzebra]

Maybe I should have just taken you over to the hosp then! Dude, I feel stink about that!
Next year, bigger and brighter? maybe pacific series?

[Racey Rider]

No don't worry yourself about it KZ. You know I wasn't going anywhere but back out on the track. I still don't know if it was necessary what they have done to my hand, as it was healing nicely. But they were concerned about early arthritis in the joint. So,, I just had to trust that what they saw in the x-rays was more important than how I felt the hand was healing.

The accident could have been worse. I'll be back.

Matt - thanks for your thought.

[Kyle]

Excellent reports, good on ya for showing some of those 250`s how its done, on a 150. Bummer about the hand, but you did the right thing getting it fixed. I think i done something similar to my hand about 8 years ago, never got it seen to, and its caused me grief ever since. Just entered round 6 of the vic club series, first race meeting ever, and reading your reports makes me feel much better (so people do pass on the inside and "close the door" i see, i see, i must remember that, none of that mr nice-guy track-day rider stuff) But seriously, pushed off the track! ..now im more nervous than ever.