Maidstone Yamaha winter fun day (17 July)

[Dutchee]

Just do what I did when Henk broke his back - chuck a mattress in the back of the van. That way if the pain got too much, I could have a lie down and leave the pain annoying everyone else. Oops, that's wrong.

Not sure if he ever used it, but it meant I could play on the dirtbike all day and not feel overly guilty.

Just a thought. (so, has anyone got a mattress they can drag along if Hels can't find a lift?) How much would a taxi be from there to home? You could go along with Koba, catch a cab home, let me know how much and I'll send you some funds to cover it.

[Henk]

Pretty sure I used it a couple of times, was a bit surreal being clerk of the course at a national Enduro three weeks after breaking my back.

[quallman1234]

[hmurphy]

I enjoyed my front row seat to this crash. Good camera work Kyle. Glad you aren't injured Rich, bugger about the handlebar though. Next club meet I'll whinge less and ride more I think.

[richban]

Funny Shit. Thanks Kyle.

[Trudes]

Good times.
The weather finally cleared which was good, and when many bikes have issues with the damp, Rangi ran better in the wet and started doing strange things once it cleared. Either way I still had fun mucking about, had a few things I wanted to work on and I was feeling a bit more comfortable for it. My starts need some work I feel, they were gash.
Thanks for organising the day Fishy. Cheers to those who gave me a push, think I need to change spark plug again.
Good riding folks, not too many crashes which was good.

[F5 Dave]

yeah my H used to chew through plugs as the tired old ignition couldn't cope.

Decided to pull the plug, it didn't look like a dry line was going to happen. Drove 2 k & the roads were dry as & another k & the sun was out. But it looked like those hills were wet & that was what was feeding the track with water.

I got home, parked teh 50 in teh sun to dry it off & got stuck into porting the 100. Maybe next time it will be dry & I'll have it going.


Nice pics Kyle. That must have felt weird Rich, bike just kind of folding underneath you while you kind of left in mid air?

[Clivoris]

Funny Shit. Thanks Kyle.

Maate. I crashed there twice and I don't get any pictures.
Quick report: I had a bit of a mare out there. Intended to ride the new CBR in A- grade but decided that learning a new bike on a slippery track in A grade wasn't going to be smart. B grade was the smart choice. Except we only had one bike and GirrlRacer was looking way more comfy on the CBR, in B than me, . Koba came to the rescue with the loan of the "Pure Sport" EN 125. Thanks mate. This meant GirrlRacer could maintain her learning curve and I could get started on mine in B grade as well. I do not like the wet on proddy tyres so I was very cautious in race 3, pulling off early so not to get in the way of faster riders about to lap. Second time out I threw it away on the top corner. As far as I can tell I simply exceeded the available traction and lost the front end. Oh well, the bike was ok and I dropped the tyre pressures down from 35 psi to 20. That might help I thought, but it didn't as I did the same thing the next time out. I was over it by this point and packed up for the day. Heaps of thanks to the Kart Club and Fishy for putting this together. Anyone got some cheap wets and rims for sale? Thanks for getting me out on the track Malcolm.

[F5 Dave]

Hey good to see you out there. Hopefully we may get a dry day for ya next time.

[Kendog]

I had a great day again, especially given the wet conditions.

Took it very easy the first couple of times on the track, making sure not to crash and seeing how the others were going.

First points race got to the lead by corner two and held on for the win

Second points race I paid way too much attention to the person jumping the start next to me. For some reason I thought the race would not be started Recovered to come in fourth.

Third race, five riders all within 5 points able to take the days B grade title. I was fourth on the grid and got a good drive but was slowed a little by bikes in front, lost momentum and got swamped on the second corner (almost crashing in the process). Came out of the corner in 10th place Finished 8th in the end, 4th equal overall for the day.

I need to work on the mental side, being switched on fully for each race is a struggle for me.

Thanks to all those that made the day possible. Surely next time we can have a sunny one.

[richban]

Nice pics Kyle. That must have felt weird Rich, bike just kind of folding underneath you while you kind of left in mid air?

Yeh I am just another victim of them cold Bridgstones Dave. And trying to out break Valentino opps I mean Fishie, is always tricky. It went really quick no real chance to stop it. I would have t boned straight into fish at one point if I hadn't grabbed that much break. I should have just tipped it in. might have made it. Not.

Was a mixed day really for me but with strong win in the middle and some rather close racing to hold onto a second and a third. Also enjoyed the fancy slide out of the bottom corner. That would have been a good photo. The bike was liking the cooler weather and running like a dream. Lets order up some sunshine for the next one.

Thanks again to Fish and Nigel for working so hard for us all. The new engine is finally all fixed and ready for testing again. Will be in for the next round. Yeee ha

[Moooools]

I had a great day again, especially given the wet conditions.


Second points race I paid way too much attention to the person jumping the start next to me. For some reason I thought the race would not be started Recovered to come in fourth.

Yeah blame my dad for that. He didn't even know that the lights were there. and just figured when the red flag walked off the track it was time to start.

[koba]

The bike was liking the cooler weather and running like a dream.

Innit a shame that tyres work better in the hot summer but engines love the cool winter air. Maybe a heated track for winter racing could solve that?

[koba]

My quick report:

I was stoked on my first race win!

As far as I see it I came first in the A Minus Grade in race 1.

Fi5ie, Rich and AndrewA are all so much faster (and on wets) so I'm not counting them in my version of events. They can be the A+ grade.

'Twas a great buzz to finally be up to pace enough to tangle with other riders rather than being stuck in limbo between A and B grade pace.

[GirrlRacer]

Quick Report:
Started the day by kicking my dad in to A grade so I could race our new CBR in B grade Turns out he just ended up back in B grade on Malcolm's bike.

I was Having a blast with the other people at the back of B grade and Clivoris even gave the option to run him over twice.....I kindly just slamed on the brakes and went around. Begining to think that crashing in the same corner in the same day is in the genetics.....

My starts and techniques where getting better and my speed is Gradually coming.

Thanks to the Kart Club, Fishy and Maidstone Yamaha for a awsome day