Sidecar Racing

[jellywrestler]

yea was even tossing up taking it to the Bazza to iron out any issues before Wangas.. but its so close I doubt i'll organize myself..

we'll see.. just wanna be ready for Wangas

nat points at tri series, get bike up here fly in and out wellys we can get you to the track and back, you'll probably have to be sober driver on the return trip though.........

[Drew]

nat points at tri series,

Bro, you been out of the loop or what?

Chairs will be doing full national points series along with everyone else, if they want a national points series at all.

[Kickaha]

you'll probably have to be sober driver on the return trip though.........

He's not even sober when he's racing, he rides way better when he's pissed

[Fast Eddie]

nat points at tri series, get bike up here fly in and out wellys we can get you to the track and back, you'll probably have to be sober driver on the return trip though.........

For the tri series? havent even looked at dates. Bike is already in the north island..
it would be possible if I dont have to take time off work.. it is extreemly hard to get time off work. They havent even confirmed wangas/xmas leave for me yet and I applied a month or so ago

if they want a national points series at all.

don't you mean 'we'? you have a sidecar too now..

He's not even sober when he's racing, he rides way better when he's pissed

haha.. now I bet they are going to sobriety test me at every race, god damn it

[Kornholio]

Anyone else starting to get excited about the coming season

Yes, but first I gotta figure out to drive these things Puke sounds ideal on the 4th Dave

[Kickaha]

Anyone else starting to get excited about the coming season

Fuck yes, out at Levels this weekend, yeah baby

And then some bro!

We've got a test day next week, to try out our latest mods and a right hand track. We've not ridden a right hand track, so I'm glad we made the front end more complaint.

We're doing at test day on the 4th of october at puke which will be interesting learning a new chair haha

Test days? I think we call them club days down here

[Drew]

Yes, but first I gotta figure out to drive these things Puke sounds ideal on the 4th Dave

Round one of the Nats, worked for me as an introduction to them.

[Drew]

Test days? I think we call them club days down here

It's run by the track. For the purpose of testing race vehicles.

Cars need roll cages, and there's no way to get insurance for your road bike/car/whatever.

[Fast Eddie]

Fuck yes, out at Levels this weekend, yeah baby

yeaa buddy! wonder if phil has bled the agips cooling sys... don't wanna blow the motor!

got a fresh filter and oil for it to change trackside in the morning, harris style

[Danger Dave]

Yes, but first I gotta figure out to drive these things Puke sounds ideal on the 4th Dave

Mint sounds good , i'll get hold of Lovell as well to see if he'll join us.

[Fast Eddie]

Sweet day at levels today, drive up from Dunedin was cruisy, good old picture perfect sunrise in the early morning.

Got to the track and did a quick oil and filter change, and found a coolant leak - which will be why it was steaming and overheating at 'puna.

Looks like one of the metal pipes at the back of the cylinder head, must have some o-rings where it goes into cyl head, was leaking around there. Quick run to the gas station to get some stop-leak.

Chucked the stop leak in, filled up the coolant and got ready for practice, Warwick and the Macdonalds turned up which was nice, 2 LCRs lookin' good.

Prac was good, thing spewed up some coolant over the back wheel which got us a bit sideways coming off the back straight and got a flag out too so we pitted in, only did 2 or 3 laps. Alex was going well as was Warwick.

Back in the pits couldn't see any more leak at idle anyway but it was still dropping coolant from somewhere - figured its out of the overflow tank so we just carried on to race 1, took it easy. Alex went off like a rocket but no transponder so no lap time. Means he had to do it again. I think Wazza spun out on the warm up lap maybe? or was that during practice.. I forget. Phil tapped me a few times like we were losing coolant again, but we finished the race.

Race 2 went a bit quicker, had a bit of fun and Alex did a 1.17 and Warwick a 1.24. Still got a tap or two from Phil though. Last race was good, We had battery problems so couldn't fire up until our 5 min call... which never came in the last race, next thing we see the LCRs out for the warmup lap so we fire it up off the jumper leads, seat screwed back on (painfully slow with 4 long allen screws to mount it. And way we go, start from pit lane. not bad, LCRs a bit too far away from the start but we didnt really lose them too much over the sprint race, I think we did 1.27 flat and Warwick a 1.25.something as fastest in that, alex a bit quicker 1.21 I think for at least one of the laps. we could still see em at least. Got lapped in the first race haha

Good day all n all.. still got to stop the coolant spewing out, but wasn't overheating really so I'm happy, pulls nice! good motor hehe, apart from the coolant going on the tyres

[Kickaha]

King of Levels Rd 4

KOL rd 1 didn’t go so well with not making it past practice due to a gear selection problem with a circlip inside the gearbox coming loose and letting the selector shaft move sideways on the start of lap 5 of practice so the aim was to have that sorted and make the last Timaru round

Wednesday night when we were due to fix it the power was out due to the winds so Thursday night with the power back on it was out to Dave’s place for a night in the shed
He had the catch tray off and oil drained when I got there so I took the sump off to find the circlip and washer in the bottom of it, looking up through the bottom of the engine I could see where it should be but not get it back on

Easiest way was to remove the oil pickup to get more room, once that was out of the way it was accessible with circlip pliers, with the clip back on there seemed to be a bit much sideways play but it was going to have to do for now

Progress was halted for the night by a lack of gasket sealant but with putting the sump and catch tray back on only being a few minute job we left it for the night
Friday night it’s bolted back together and just checking the sump plug when it strips

“Oh bother” I say, luckily enough Dave has a helicoil kit from his days as full time Kawasaki destruction tester and with the sump back off it’s quickly fixed
Buttoned back up, oil in and we run it up on the stand to make sure it’s selecting gears ok, all seems sweet so a quick bolt check to finish off and find a snapped off bolt in the rear cush drive

Another 30 minutes and one more stripped bolt has that problem fixed then it’s loaded and ready to go

Practice
The gear lever still isn’t quite right for me and is too far up my foot so I not changing gears as well as I’d like and although we’ve modified the left kneeler I can’t hit the brake as hard as I want to

Massive oversteer at the hairpin which turns to understeer and back to oversteer despite trying a few different lines we don’t quite get it sorted and find a nice way around there
Best practice time 1.29

Race 1

I turn into the hairpin on the warm up lap not even going that fast and get a small slide which I start to correct then it suddenly snaps into a big slide and we run off the inside onto the grass, slowly pull back onto the track and continue on to grid up

I get an ok launch but Alex gets an even better one and I follow him through T1/T2 and onto the back straight, straight-line speed there doesn’t seem to be anything in it, I miss 4th gear and he pulls a couple of bike lengths and starts edging away
Alex is trying to set a good time on his new bike and has the hammer down, Kai is having problems and is somewhere behind us, I’m trying different lines through different corners treating it as a practice

We’ve finally got the hairpin sorted and not having the oversteer problem as Matt has changed his technique, I’m missing a heap of gears
A few laps into it and I can see I’ll have a chance of lapping Kai bit my forearms and shoulders are getting pretty tired and I’m struggling to turn into the decreasing radius
Alex has got past Kai and we’re pulling them in but they make it over the line 3-4 bike lengths ahead of us

Best lap 1.25

Race 2

Alex lets Kai up onto P1, we get a far better start and I make T1 ahead of Kai, I’m starting to gas it up earlier and a bit harder, gear selection is getting better and I’m using the brakes a bit harder, Alex slows up and I can see him touring right up until we catch him then the gas goes on again
He’s on the inside onto the back straight and we’ve both got it pinned, straight-line speed is the same and we’re side by side but he goes in a bit deeper under brakes and starts pulling away for the win and he does a best lap of 1.17 some 5 seconds faster than he was on the old bike

Best lap 1.24

Race 3

Pretty much a carbon copy of race2 with Alex slowing up a bit to play for a few laps before buggering off for the win
Best lap 1.25

All in all a pretty good day and it’s given us a benchmark to work from, there’s a few things that need changing, gear lever, brake lever and left kneeler although they’ve been changed still need more work and I might even have to do a bit of work on my shoulder and arms
Thanks to CV success, Whitfield factor and Straight and Paint for their support and team manager and sidecar owner Joanne Van der Westhuzien for the opportunity to have a go at riding her LCR and for the pies

[racer40]

First up I am sure looking forward to season, starting with the BSOC at Labour weekend
Secondly I enjoy the reports from Kai & Warwick on the events down South.
Thirdly Danger Dave whos sidecar have you broiught & Have you sold the Windle ?

[swarfie]

King of Levels Rd 4

KOL rd 1 didn’t go so well with not making it past practice due to a gear selection problem with a circlip inside the gearbox coming loose and letting the selector shaft move sideways on the start of lap 5 of practice so the aim was to have that sorted and make the last Timaru round

Wednesday night when we were due to fix it the power was out due to the winds so Thursday night with the power back on it was out to Dave’s place for a night in the shed
He had the catch tray off and oil drained when I got there so I took the sump off to find the circlip and washer in the bottom of it, looking up through the bottom of the engine I could see where it should be but not get it back on

Easiest way was to remove the oil pickup to get more room, once that was out of the way it was accessible with circlip pliers, with the clip back on there seemed to be a bit much sideways play but it was going to have to do for now

Progress was halted for the night by a lack of gasket sealant but with putting the sump and catch tray back on only being a few minute job we left it for the night
Friday night it’s bolted back together and just checking the sump plug when it strips

“Oh bother” I say, luckily enough Dave has a helicoil kit from his days as full time Kawasaki destruction tester and with the sump back off it’s quickly fixed
Buttoned back up, oil in and we run it up on the stand to make sure it’s selecting gears ok, all seems sweet so a quick bolt check to finish off and find a snapped off bolt in the rear cush drive

Another 30 minutes and one more stripped bolt has that problem fixed then it’s loaded and ready to go

Practice
The gear lever still isn’t quite right for me and is too far up my foot so I not changing gears as well as I’d like and although we’ve modified the left kneeler I can’t hit the brake as hard as I want to

Massive oversteer at the hairpin which turns to understeer and back to oversteer despite trying a few different lines we don’t quite get it sorted and find a nice way around there
Best practice time 1.29

Race 1

I turn into the hairpin on the warm up lap not even going that fast and get a small slide which I start to correct then it suddenly snaps into a big slide and we run off the inside onto the grass, slowly pull back onto the track and continue on to grid up

I get an ok launch but Alex gets an even better one and I follow him through T1/T2 and onto the back straight, straight-line speed there doesn’t seem to be anything in it, I miss 4th gear and he pulls a couple of bike lengths and starts edging away
Alex is trying to set a good time on his new bike and has the hammer down, Kai is having problems and is somewhere behind us, I’m trying different lines through different corners treating it as a practice

We’ve finally got the hairpin sorted and not having the oversteer problem as Matt has changed his technique, I’m missing a heap of gears
A few laps into it and I can see I’ll have a chance of lapping Kai bit my forearms and shoulders are getting pretty tired and I’m struggling to turn into the decreasing radius
Alex has got past Kai and we’re pulling them in but they make it over the line 3-4 bike lengths ahead of us

Best lap 1.25

Race 2

Alex lets Kai up onto P1, we get a far better start and I make T1 ahead of Kai, I’m starting to gas it up earlier and a bit harder, gear selection is getting better and I’m using the brakes a bit harder, Alex slows up and I can see him touring right up until we catch him then the gas goes on again
He’s on the inside onto the back straight and we’ve both got it pinned, straight-line speed is the same and we’re side by side but he goes in a bit deeper under brakes and starts pulling away for the win and he does a best lap of 1.17 some 5 seconds faster than he was on the old bike

Best lap 1.24

Race 3

Pretty much a carbon copy of race2 with Alex slowing up a bit to play for a few laps before buggering off for the win
Best lap 1.25

All in all a pretty good day and it’s given us a benchmark to work from, there’s a few things that need changing, gear lever, brake lever and left kneeler although they’ve been changed still need more work and I might even have to do a bit of work on my shoulder and arms
Thanks to CV success, Whitfield factor and Straight and Paint for their support and team manager and sidecar owner Joanne Van der Westhuzien for the opportunity to have a go at riding her LCR and for the pies

Good report Kick, sounds like your starting to get to grips with it.. You coming up for the BS?...riding or swinging? If Graeme Cole cant handle a swing on the Matchless I may need a swinger...ever done the front exit thing before...you'll learn quick Haha

[Kickaha]

Good report Kick, sounds like your starting to get to grips with it.. You coming up for the BS?...riding or swinging? If Graeme Cole cant handle a swing on the Matchless I may need a swinger...ever done the front exit thing before...you'll learn quick Haha

Not sure yet, might be coming for a look even if I aren't riding, waiting to hear back about the possibility of swinging on a Shorty in moderns

I nearly did front exit last year, I thought I was going to exit right over the front