haha.. road testing sidecars doesn't seem to go well often..
..they also end up backwards in trees
The first piece of advice I got from Charly Dolph, (80's sidecar builder & top passenger) while we were building our first outfit in '87 was, "never ride this on the street, I have had more mates killed testing sidecars on the road, than racing" I never forgot that.
Yeah two speedway guys found that out the hard way
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/620...-in-bike-crash
Heads up! King of Levels round 2 is this upcoming weekend (Aug 11th)
If anyone wants to have a couple laps on a sidecar come over and see us during the day (before lunch break) Just walk up and say g'day we are all friendly and keen to get people into it. - I am the number 35 outfit
I'll take you for a few laps at lunch and the other guys will prob be keen too. Its fun if you haven't tried it you should at least give it one go.
Also, I'm going to be in Timaru the friday before (10th Aug) just for some testing laps, so if you live in timaru or are there, pop into the track around 12pm-3pm and happy to give you a few laps as well, probably better on the friday as more time to stuff around. again number 35 sidecar if your not sure where to head.
You will need leathers/helmet/gloves.
Cheers!
PM me for any more details or info eh. happy to help out
Change of plan, we probably won't be at the track this friday - I didn't realise timaru costs 50 dollars per hour to test on..
compared to chch which is 50 for half a day. bout 12-4.30 5 is usually my half day spent there.
Anyway, come along to the races on saturday. might be some cookies and cake floating around toono promises though
World champs on this weekend and the first all female crew competing at it
Photo and article by Big Wally http://www.wallysracephotos.com/
Originally Posted by Big Wally
cool
one on the left looks alright eh.
Good weekend at King of Levels today.
took 3 girls for a couple 'have a go laps' not a single lad..
you're all soft!
Day was mint, we were at the gate nice and early, about quarter to 8. Put the slicks back on the bike and said hello to the other lads.. 4 sidecars today, up 1 from the usual turnout
Bike fired up sweet, warmed it up and checked a couple thing. Pretty much running it exactly how we bought it but playing around a little with tyre pressures to find some grip.
Since our first season as a team, swinger fresh into the sport, 1st race in the dry today for us and only 2nd race in total. We had a goal for the rest of this season to get down to the mid 1.20's around Levels. New bike, new team, and thats about what this bike was doing with its old owner apart from the odd good day.
Practice was new, first time in the dry so it was alot faster than last time, Swinger forgot what he was supposed to do briefly and the bike was a mess. Set a qualifying time of 1.28.00. Were kind of pleased with that since he was barely on the thing.
First race was good, this bike launches pretty well, so we shot to 2nd and almost went for 1st but figured we would just be getting in the way. Sat in 2nd for a good few laps but having big problems with the gear shifting and got neutrals alot which saw us drop to 3rd.. back into 2nd for a brief stint then more missed shifts and cursing to the heavens. finished 3rd. Best time of 1.27.3.. again pretty happy with that as the bike we were dicing with told us we looked bloody sketchy and was waiting for the swinger to drop off or something interesting to happen!
Second race all good, we decided to launch for it and hopped to 1st, first couple corners ok, onto the main straigh, pop into false neutral, 3 attempts to get it into the next gear and finally (bit hard on gear lol) slammed it in. Dropped to last I think by then, Couple good laps, I think we got back to 3rd, starting picking up the pace with the swinger getting into the swing of things and getting used to the sudden jump in pace from our wet outings.
I think the 3rd or 4th lap saw us cock up turn 2 (back in 3rd by then) and head for the tyre wall, came very close but somehow managed to keep bike under control and pop back out in track.. well last by now. Sore foot from the shit gear shifter and tired from hitting so many disappointing neutrals. Engine had been well abused.
Best lap time of 1.26.3 getting close to the 1.25 we wanted.. and since we are so close we reset the goal to closer to 1.20.. lets say low 1.20's if we can. Still a bit untidy and pleeenty of experience and practice to go!
Last race meh, both getting tired, 7 laps of missed shifts wasn't looking that exciting but once the bike fired up I was keen to go.. quick warm up lap and ready for launch. Stall.. had it in 2nd or 3rd.. heaaaps of clutch to get it going and by then we are like a 1/4 lap down and a couple missed shifts and thats half a lap behind.. left it in 5th gear and just cruised, swinger liked thisdunno what lap times were, will look on mylaps later to see..
bonus of pissing around by ourselves in last race was I got to just concentrate on the back straight, so floor it and just don't let go until I passed the 100m marker then brake hard and point it in.. I was having trouble with braking too early and got a bit of a feeel for it in that last race, might knock a couple more millisecond off the lap times just that alone.
Mint day all round, up in chch next week for some prac laps of ruapuna and to start painting the bike in its Agip colors
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." John Ono Lennon.
"If you have never stared off into the distance then your life is a shame." Counting Crows
"The girls were in tight dresses, just like sweets in cellophane" Joe Jackson
We always need more swingers ready to race. So sign your name and number up to the list so we can call on you!
Heres a clip of what to expect..
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