20/11/05 No Hair Race Report - Logan - Pukekohe

[Kwaka-Kid]

Well It could not have been a better day for it with the new paintwork from Golden Gun gleaming in the sun, Conditions were right for racing, and I was all set ready to go with only one small problem… There was 10mins till scrutineering and the bike still wasn’t ready. Greg had been up till the small hours of the morning swapping engines just so I had a bike to ride today, and up again early in the morning to load up and make it to pukekohe. But all was okay, thanks to the help of Hamish (Pit bitch for the day), Greg, Bob, and Nod for bringing the fairings I had forgotten.

Ill skip all the frustration of the morning, and skip straight to Practise/Qualifying. I ran out there on the ’87 FZR400 motor in the ’91 FZR400 frame, despite having some technical difficulties with the front suspension (It was a bit on the firm side). Things went okay, I was in the right frame of mind, with the only issue being the firm front end, making Turn 1 and the lefts after the hairpin a little sketchy, aswell as initial braking into the hairpin with the back end lifting so easy, however I qualified in 11^th position of 22, with a lap time of 1:13:xx.

Race 1 came and I was on the third row of the grid, ready for the holeshot… when to my left a bike started creeping the start, I foolishly got distracted with frustration and lost focus of the flag. Obviously I got a poor start and think I went into turn 1 in around 14^th place. Good drive out of Turn 4 meant I got as much as I could out of the old girl to carry me down the backstraight, which saw a position, then into the hairpin another few. I must have sat in 9^th place for the majority of the race, with 3 bikes ahead within range for the short 6 lap race. On the 2^nd to last lap, with a gap pending on the inside coming into the hairpin I was reluctant to pull the brakes in as early as I had been, and flew passed one of the bikes, then braking I rolled just passed another, and finally hitching 1^st gear I went under the 3^rd bike on entry to the hairpin! It couldn’t have worked out better, and flying out of the hairpin hooking up the gearbox I ran as hard as I could, to see the white flag to signal the last lap. Unfortunately for me, but to the credit of Gary on his VFR440, he got me by 0.03 of a second to the finish line, I had tried my best to get the power down early coming onto the front straight, but with worries of the front end sticking it wasn’t enough to stop the power of the 440 coming passed.

Thrilled by the first race, and happy with 7^th and a fastest lap time coming down to 1:11.49 I was ready to do it all over again with hopefully a better start, and that I got! Excepting that both bikes beside me got much the same start I pushed into turn 2 all but not quite tight enough as a bike slipped under me and I think touching my left knee slider. Without the same drive down the back straight as the first race I struggled to hold position, and a few bikes got a fair way out of reach, with only a few ahead of me to collect within the next 5 laps. Into the hairpin again I cought a bike, meanwhile every lap I diced for position with a ZXR400 which nearly every lap came around the outside of me into turn 1. It was a helpless feeling wanting to flow into turn 1 faster but barely being able to keep faith in the front, let alone hang on at the pace I was already doing, so I opted to play the safe card and continue to go a bit slower, but bring the bike back to Greg in one piece, and find another way ahead. So into the hairpin I on the inside I went passed the ZXR400 (now in 9^th place) and with another full lap to go after the current I got enough drive out of the hairpin to flow around the outside of another bike setting me into 8^th. It was already apparent I could not gain anymore places as the rest of the pack had gotten too far ahead, so I maintained 8^th place and made sure nobody would come passed me again on the last lap.

All in all it was an excellent day, with a grin left on my face to prove how happy I was with the results despite the technical difficulties endured throughout the day (I haven’t mentioned the gearing being a touch high, which made gearshifts different)

Thanks personally to Hamish T for all his help, Greg, Bob, Nod, and everybody else who helped make my day. All going well we will have the front forks perfect, the rear suspension improved, and the trick motor with all the fruity bits ready in 3 weeks time for the first round of the Nationals @ Pukekohe Park Raceway (10^th/11^th December, feel free to come down and support!)

Also thanks to our Sponsors:
Henderson Motorcycles,
Pirelli Tyres,
SSSLodge,
www.ezSite.co.nz,
New Zealand Towing ltd,
Golden Gun Panel and Paint,
Glen Eden Pallet Company,
Autostop,

Logan

[Scorpygirl]

Sorry KK

Just PM'd you. Great report as usual and I am glad you enjoyed yourself out there. It was an awesome sunny day for it too.

Hope you get the bike sorted for better performance.

All the best for December!!

[FROSTY:Me]

good onya logo.

[Racey Rider]

Good on ya KK.
So what happened to "ER BOY" Racing?

[NodMan:Me]

Good on ya KK.
So what happened to "ER BOY" Racing?

please please we oldes up here pronounce it eh boy as in wazz up eh boy/bro

once we shave KKs head he will have officially crossed the line and joined the elite circle at NO HAIR...but first he has to learn how to ride eh boy!!!

guess that will justleave the ole fella crashing and burning in the old Eh Boy colours...cheers

[FROSTY:Me]

good to see ya there supporting the young fulla nodman--tell ya wot--you hold him down and ill shave his head

[Firefight]

hey Logan, bloody good write up as always mate !, the smile on your face said it all, it was great to catch up with you, if only for a short time.

F/F

[babyB]

way to go kk .cool wite up again. good to hear u out there .well wishes for dec

[gpercivl]

I found the right hand fork leg has about a 2mm bend in it, causing it to stick at the bottom of the stroke. It's off getting straightened now. Also the 450 cylinders have been re-sleeved and rebored to take out all the nasty dents so hopefully will be up and running this weekend (with Ohlins shock on back).

Hopefully he'll be un-beatable within a short time

[Riff Raff]

tell ya wot--you hold him down and ill shave his head

Cool - I'll help with that too!

[Two Smoker]

Wicked write up logo...

And once again, i dont know how you were doing 1:11's with the forks like that

Good luck to kicking my arse next race

[Kwaka-Kid]

Good luck to kicking my arse next race

Haha, thankyou for the luck! i will need it if i wanna get even close.

You'll not only have to give me luck but a good run down of what you do around these tracks dude! Help a brother out!

[Hambo45]

Mate, you undertell (is that a word) how bad those forks were, you say little give, im surprised you could get them to move at all

Good racing though KK, looking forward to being on the team again, hopefully next time we'll have even more to stories to tell, lets just hope they are good ones.

[justsomeguy]

Bloody well done mate

You and TS

[gpercivl]

How's that for good service? I sent the fork leg off yesterday at lunch time and Wheels & Frames in Cambridge have just called to say it's straightened and ready to go ...looks like we may have the 450 out at Puke on Saturday's test day (just got to put the motor together & the ohlins on the rear).