The Chronicles of Sled

Part 1.

Right this is going to be a long story so get yourself a cuppa or a shot glass and make yourselves comfortable.

A few of you know the story of how my getting to this meeting came about but for those who don’t is was down to the generosity of many people on this site who all put in to help me get there. I’ll go into details later but I’ll just say that I’ve been humbled by the whole experience and will remember the kind spirit shown and carry it with me for a long time.

So anyway after the obligatory running late interisland ferry sailing which was quite smooth we grabbed a feed at Picton and hit the road. F5Dave wanted to get to Christchurch in time to visit one the bikeshops but regular stops due to road works meant we couldn’t quite make it in time. So after finding our lodgings at Tony Maclaughlan’s place we sampled the local Shark n Tattie, told our various war stories and lamented the politics of modern motorcycle racing over a couple of ales.

After a reasonably good night sleep for a pre race night I woke to a warm (for June), sunny, norwester Canturbury day, great!
I knew it wouldn’t last based on all the talk about the weather but I was just keen to have a good crack at this place in the dry. So after F5Dave refreshed his memory of Christchurch’s geography we arrived at the much vaunted Powerbuilt raceway at Ruapuna Park.

We quickly find the rest of the Welly crew who’ve obviously gotten to the track fairly early and secured a good spot with a strip of concrete to park the bikes on and the Ezy Ups in place, all very professional looking might I add
So we go and get in the queue for sign in and stand there for ten minutes only to be told that I couldn’t until the day licences arrived. So I wait and they finally turn up and after a few little issues to take care of after scrutineering I’m all ready to go.

I take the time to go up to the pit exit gate and watch some of the training sessions being held for the youngsters. I knew the track was big by Wellington standards but I wasn’t quite prepared for the length of the straight and the distance you actually get away from the pits, Fi5hy and I had a few laughs about taking something to set up a bivvy just in case. We also scoped some of the faster kid’s lines and figured out pretty early on that the throttle stop would not see the light of day much at this track.

Tony had told me who the riders to watch were in the buckets and we had an idea that some of the FXR’s and all of the CBR’s were fast machines and set up well for this track so we were under no illusions about how competitive we would be with our “car park racers” but only getting out there would tell the true story.

So first practice is up and after negotiating the slippery dragstrip staging area the rubber finally meets the track. Bayden, Fi5hy and I set off together and manage to stay pretty close for the whole session which only seemed like four laps.
With the back straight being as long as it is doesn’t take long to see that there are some very fast bikes and it’s all a matter of survival on our heavy, slow revving machines. Though F5Daves borrowed KV100 is clearly the fastest bike out there (but more on that later)
So we all lacked some top speed but the infield section is a different story for us as we can make up some time through the more technical sections of the track, despite being pretty much flat out though most of those too.

After what seems like five minutes after practice finishes it’s time for the first six lap race. Now in true bucket fashion there’s no provision for grid positions to be sorted pre race so it’s first up, best dressed, I pull up to the third row as I want to learn some of the overtaking spots and being overtaken spots. I make a reasonable start and head down to pothole in the middle of the pack, everybody slows up slightly to bottleneck through the turn and we’re full throttle again down to the hairpin. I make a few spots first time through and look ahead to see Buddha#81 and Andy Maclaughlan not too far ahead of me on the track. I must have had a couple of good clean laps because I manage to catch up and put a drafting pass on Buddha. I get another good run through the infield until I get to the left hander off the connection road where I catch a slower rider and sit up briefly. I pass the rider and get around the final turn only to be repassed by Buddha and Andy early on down the straight. Damn, it’s all about track knowledge at this stage and I’m still on chapter one!
I get held up again through the infield and fall into the clutches of Bayden who is going well, despite being a team mate I didn’t want him to be in front because is bike becomes very wide and if it’s working well he’s very hard to beat. I manage to get back past Bayden and put in some good laps to try and catch Buddha again. He’s some way off in the distance and getting closer so on the last lap I decide to try really hard to catch him, unfortunately a little too hard as I over rev the engine just before the first infield right hander bending an inlet valve

I manage to get to the finish line running one cylinder only just behind Fi5hy and Bayden but the motor might as well be toasted for the weekend. I push my bike across the infield and true to his word Bayden comes and picks me up for a tow.

This is about the time that Saturday changed for everyone, I was doing some exploratory surgery on the ‘sled in some vain hope it was foreign object ingestion or something other than a terminal problem when the weather finally turned. After a quick disposal of the now kite like Ezy Ups we decided we would try to transplant the engine from Skunks bike into mine, which was quite an undertaking in the impending conditions.

At this stage I must pay homage to all my Norf Welly Massif team mates who despite having their own bikes to ride in the main event and the adverse conditions pitched in with gusto and made a huge effort to swap the engines. You guys have already done so much to help me get there and you all helped with such enthusiasm to get me running I’m truly honoured to know such a great bunch of people!

Our plan was coming together but we were running out of time, Mike Stein (sp)approaches me and asks who’s riding the bike we’re working on and say’s something about it not being ready in time, to which being a typical stubborn Sullivan I take a defensive stance, he counters that he has an FXR I can ride all it needs is gas and I’ve come a long way to miss out and not ride. His kind offer crushes my stubborn pride and I gladly accept.