26/12/05 No Hair Race Report - Logan - Wanganui

**Kwaka-Kid** · 29th December 2005, 06:02

Monday 26^th December 2005
Battle Of The Streets, Round 1, Wanganui

After the long drive down on Christmas day I only got in to where we were staying with enough time to get 4 odd hours sleep… Okay fine, truth is I got in with enough time for around 6 hours sleep but I needed the beer to help calm my nerves so I could sleep! After a pickup coil failing on the old ’87 FZR400 motor we didn’t have a spare and nor much time to do much but bolt on the 3TJ ignition with a 600 pickup as it wouldn’t work with the 1WG loom evidently. We also threw the 600 carbs on as they go with that loom and we thought all would be well, and after a quick blast up the gravel road and back it seemed power was smooth till high revs and felt fairly strong, I was happy enough with it and thought well its just going to have to be like this, and the only option I had to tell how its power/carburetion was was to wait to line it up against another 400 @ Wanganui.

So the scene is set, and I am out there in the first newbies practise and the back broke traction gassing it thru the first right hander of the S’s, Whoa! Lucky it was only minor and it came back in very quickly – without me even putting any input into it, then coming around the next lap did I finally realise that it was because I had crossed the railway lines, which actually didn’t give me any more problems throughout the day.

First Formula 3 practise I got to line up a few of the 400’s as I exited turn 2 onto the short straight and surprise surprise! They easily marched off into the distance! *doh!*. Well after the next practise/qualifying I felt even worse, I struggled to even maintain position to an RG150 down the straights, and I was hit on the left by a passing motard which tore my kneeslider off. It was not going to be a positive day!

First race and I had qualified second to last, 39^th/40 competitors, despite not feeling good about the whole scene I gave the start my best shot, and with a good run into the first few turns I had made my way somewhere in midfield. It was short lived and I slowly lost positions, and nearly had Craig on his GSXR400 get me, a number of times coming passed down the front straight but I wasn’t going to give in and left the brakes till the last minute to keep my place, which saw me with a 33^rd/40 to the finish line.

Second race Looked good with a good launch, however there was a big pileup coming into turn 1, and braking hard to stop in time I soon realised it wasn’t likely to happen so I let go of the brakes and began to turn in a little. Uh-oh! I lodged my front wheel into the rear of a stopped bike but on dropping of the light FZR towards my right I had pulled and now released the clutch lifting her back up and in essnence coming underneath the pileup, however after that first lap due to an accident the race was Red Flagged and we were to start the race again. On the restart I saw the starter twitch the flag a little, and I swear half the field began to launch followed by the dropping of the green flag. Alarm bells rang in my head to quickly launch, and with all thee excitement and frustration to catch up I dropped the clutch a little hard, front wheel lifted into the air, hled nicely, then bogged and came swinging back down to the ground, it threw me forward and my helmet smacked into the fairing blade, wrecking the mechanism on the left side of my helmet, but no worries the race still went on! And with not such a good launch I still gave it my best, which ill admit was not on pace today after the saga so far! A quiet finish of 31^st was a bit better then the last race and any improvement was welcomed in my books, so that set the end of my Wanganui ’05.

Thanks to Shaun Harris for lending me his back protector and a double adaptor, and thanks to those whom brought me down this way and helped out, sorry luck didn’t run our way but with hopefully more sorted on the bike and a nice new set of Pirelli Supercorsas I will be setup for the south island come January!

Thanks heaps to our major sponsors- Henderson Motorcycles and Pirelli Tyres!
Also,
www.ezSite.co.nz,
New Zealand Towing ltd,
Golden Gun Panel and Paint,
The Pallet Company (Glen Eden),
Autostop (New Lynn)

Logan

**wari** · 29th December 2005, 07:08

WE'err proud off ya any-way KK .. :spudwave:

I Was watchin out furr ya .. dunno why I Didnit see any-one ..

**erik** · 29th December 2005, 09:55

Nice report. Good on ya for giving it a go.

**Joni** · 29th December 2005, 09:59

Hey my little friend, I was proud of you, you did really well under the circumstances... I reckon it will start getting a whole lot better from here... up, up and away! :spudguita