Pukekohe, wow!, racing

[duncan_bayne]

That was absolutely bloody brilliant! Some random observations ...

• The first corner after the straight is bumpy - can be entered flat out on the NSR150RR, but comes down to bollocks ... hence I always backed off a touch. Light touch on the bars & weight off the seat & on the pegs seemed to settle her down. No idea why.
• Pukekohe is a fast track. The NSR ran out of steam about half way down the back straight ... but I actually made up a fair bit of time on the brakes into the hairpin ... until the faster bikes saw the apex & vanished.
• Two-strokes (even small ones) are great for brain-in-a-bucket hooning, especially if you're unfamiliar with the road or track - fast turning, hard braking, easy gear changes (no engine braking to speak of), survivable top speed in the case of the 150s ... I miss my GSXR600, but in hindsight I'm glad my first time on the track was on the NSR.

So, I've answered the question I went along to Pukekohe to answer - do I enjoy being on the track - so now the question is, what class to race in?

I caught up with one of the guys on the post-classics (Marvin? I'm lousy with names, there's a reason I have a PDA) & they seem pretty cool, but I like bikes that are nimble ... maybe an RD350? I used to ride one of them on the road, great fun but as reliable as a politician.

So maybe something like an RS125 (damn that thing was fast) ... but I weigh ~ 80kg and stand 5'11", so that might be like the horse riding the jockey ... and as much as I'd love a 250, the budget wouldn't stretch to racing one of those (bike purchase + consumables).

As far as racing the NSR ... I was starting to have cornering-clearance issues on the last few laps, pegs & boot touching). If I was going to race it (& from what I've heard, the class for them - used to be called StreetStock, now accepts 250cc four-strokes as well - is only held at Manfield now) I'd have to fit some rear-sets.

Hmmm ... decisions, decisions ... and the great thing is, there's really no wrong answer

[Motoracer]

Hey dude, Saw you on the track.. Good on you for giving it a go. I was the dude on the blue R6 wearing jeans for 2 sessions and white and orange spidi leathers in the middle session. Came reasonably close to a high side just after I passed you on the left hander after the hairpin on the last session.

The first corner after the straight is bumpy - can be entered flat out on the NSR150RR, but comes down to bollocks ... hence I always backed off a touch. Light touch on the bars & weight off the seat & on the pegs seemed to settle her down. No idea why.

It lowers the center of gravity for one and your own knees act like a 2nd pair of suspension when you are not sitting down, which helps you go through the bumps better.

So maybe something like an RS125 (damn that thing was fast) ... but I weigh ~ 80kg and stand 5'11", so that might be like the horse riding the jockey ... and as much as I'd love a 250, the budget wouldn't stretch to racing one of those (bike purchase + consumables).

You can still fit if you are fit yourself and flexible. They are a bit of work though. Expect to spend a few hours of maintainace for ever hour of track time you do on it. It depends how anal you want to be but you still have a lot of fiddling with the bike to do. Great for some but a pain for others.

As far as racing the NSR ... I was starting to have cornering-clearance issues on the last few laps, pegs & boot touching). If I was going to race it (& from what I've heard, the class for them - used to be called StreetStock, now accepts 250cc four-strokes as well - is only held at Manfield now) I'd have to fit some rear-sets.

Street stock 250 is great. My advise to anyone who want to start racing but don't want to jump in F3 straight away. It doesn't have that many enteries ATM but with a bit of help, it has the potential to be a brilliant beginers class.

[Racey Rider]

Good stuff.

just to help you with your decisions, your not allowed to change things like rearsets if entering Streetstocks.

[hurricane_r]

good to see u and ur beast in action, i know wat u mean about the bump, i feel it alot on my 250, but its ok and means ur going fast when u feel it strong,
on a 150 and no steering dampner thingy u would feel it mega, peace

[CastorPollux]

I was out at Puke yesterday aswell. Never been there before - spectating or participating so I was a wee bit nervous to say the least.
When my bro and I rocked up the bikes were just heading out on the track and he didn't waste any time getting his TZR out there. I waited for the next round, after watching more experienced riders on their bigger bikes I really had to syke myself up.
When I did finally get out onto the track I went quite slow the first time round, as I was told, to get a feel for the corners. I was buzzing when I came in. We had to make a few adjustments to the Hornet (the arse was all over the show) but nothing major.
Second time out was better, the bike felt a bit more stable and I felt comfortable enough to go faster. There were a few times I felt that I was holding up the other riders, especially in the corners but I was too busy concentrating and having fun to give a shit - I was the slow-poke rider with dreadlocks.
Third time out I was on my bro's bike and he was on mine. His bike, being a two-stroke has so much more pick-up than mine I popped my first wheelie coming out of the hair-pin, nearly arsing off in the process.
It was fun!
I felt more comfortable on his bike for some reason. Could it be because his is designed for the track and mine is not? I assume so.
Either way I had the time of my life yesterday. I will definately be coming out to another track day soon.

Oh and for the record (my record) my top speed came on the TZR - 154km, and fastest lap time was 1.46 mins. Pretty good for a first timer I think.

[Sketchy_Racer]

250 four strokes ( the likes of the CBR and ZXR etc ) in streetstock "150" is like the SV650s versus the 400s.

SO riding a 250 IL4 and winning, is winning cause money and machinery!! IMO

From my experience and others also, they are a good 2 seconds a lap quicker than the 150s. I believe that two smoker could agree with that ??He made the same statment a while ago

Race the 150 !!! they are awesome. Oh and just hang off more to stop the pegs scraping!!

[vtec]

Hey RG, the 400's are actually close to the SV650, if the SV650 is standard. The difference between the 650's and 400's are so noticeable, because the 650's at VMCC have had a lot of dosh spent on them. On Puke, both the 400's and the 650's are doing about 1.07's. Although the 650's should be a little quicker.

I agree, you've got pretty much the perfect bike to start racing. Nobody else is racing the NSR150, but I'd love to see how well they go against the other streetstockers. With regard to clearance issues, you have to get your arse off the seat, and be hanging on by your leg if you get clearance issues. The only problem with this is that on the highspeed corners on Puke, it increases your wind resistance too much which slows you down. There are plenty of techniques to avoid ground clearance issues, although I don't know how bad it is on the NSR. I do know the clearance is pretty lame on the CBR250.

I saw your NSR150 out there, and it was definitely going well. I had my CBR600 out there for the first time, and was getting over 275kph down the back straight. I'm hoping that I was getting close to 1.05's in the last session, but that's just an estimate going by how much better I was feeling on the bike and how much faster I was than the second session when I managed timed 1.07's.

Here's a couple of targets for you. I know the CBR250 is capable of 1.14, I've only managed low 1.15's on it though. I know the RG150 is capable of 1.20's or maybe faster, because I heard the RG in question was past it's best. Pukekohe is a track that separates bikes with power differences, on this track handling and lightness and throwability and brakes can't make up enough to cover the differences that power shows down the straights.

[Sketchy_Racer]

Haha. Damn. my trolling didn't catch ya like i was hoping.

But i guess you could say the same about the 250 VS 150.

the 250 you pay more, so get a better bike.

I took mikey's 600 for a spin on sunday. 600s are awesome!! SO cant wait to get to the track and really give one the go go juice!!

I envy you 600 soooo much!! lucky fella!

[geoffm]

Hey RG, the 400's are actually close to the SV650, if the SV650 is standard. The difference between the 650's and 400's are so noticeable, because the 650's at VMCC have had a lot of dosh spent on them. On Puke, both the 400's and the 650's are doing about 1.07's. Although the 650's should be a little quicker.

Stock SV650 is around 65 hap, and a good exhaust and rejet will see 72hp, with stock reliability. A stock FZR400 is 53-57hp. Add $2000 33mm FCR carbs, exhaust, jetting, Megacycle fast road cams (so you can use the stock springs) and mild head work, and you get a 75hp grenade.
SVs are cleaning up in the US Lightweight class, where the FZRs used to dominate. You can see why.
Geoff

[Motoracer]

Hayden Fitzerald was doing 1:03 around Puke at the Nationals on a SV650, for the record...

[Toast]

Hayden Fitzerald was doing 1:03 around Puke at the Nationals on a SV650, for the record...

Not sure if it's true but I heard someone mention $20k dropped on the engine...?

[Motoracer]

Not sure if it's true but I heard someone mention $20k dropped on the engine...?

Sounds about right... Still a remarkable feat though... I wonder if Sam Smith would have gotten a time any quicker than that..

[Toast]

Sounds about right... Still a remarkable feat though... I wonder if Sam Smith would have gotten a time any quicker than that..

Do they handle shite or something? I'm guessing that a bike like that would be putting out similar power to yours, and the lap time is about the same or maybe slower than the R6?

I bet it sounds the shiz though.

[vtec]

Hmm, I wonder if it's possible to get an SV650 to put out over 100hp at the wheel? I suppose it should be if Ducati can make their Vtwins competitive in superbike, they would have to be putting out close to 200hp out of them. So the SV650 with some serious work might be able to put out over 100 wheel hp, still less than most 600cc four cylinders.

[Motoracer]

Do they handle shite or something? I'm guessing that a bike like that would be putting out similar power to yours, and the lap time is about the same or maybe slower than the R6?

I bet it sounds the shiz though.

Best riders in NZ out there on my bike can do 59-60s. This is impossible, even on the Fitzerald SV650 (Unless Rossi comes over to prove me wrong??).

Its not as fast my R6 even with all that money spent on it. I'm guessing heavier too?? Not sure..