Hey XJ, thanks for the welcome. Is it still g'day in NZ? You are what, about 40 hours ahead of Calif time?
The "rolling rule" is working out great so far, it's a new rule for '04. Last year there was one race where only one bike showed up for Super Dino (he won, what a shock), so at least we fixed that problem. I think we may get 8-10 at the next race if everybody who registered actually shows up to race.
The trouble with these old geezerbikes is they tend to break down a lot! At the first race back in March we lost two Kawis before the race even started, an old '74 KZ1000 (with GSXR front end and massive braced swingarm), and a '72 H2R triple (750cc two stroke factory racer....weighs 280 lbs and has 110 hp at the back wheel) both had bike problems and didn't make the race start. A couple months ago the GS1100 I mentioned couldn't bump start his bike after a red flag (total loss ignition with high compression, he uses a portable starter to fire it up before riding) so he was out. In that same race the cowling bracket broke on the '85 GSXR750 while he had a big lead. His bodywork starting coming off so he was black flagged, he came in for a quick patch-up with duct tape and finished 3rd. The phrase "that's racing" often comes into play, who knows what will happen at the track?
Our club has specific 400 classes too, 450 Production and 450 Superbike, so the FZR400s have plenty of places to play. We also have a very popular new class for '04 called Formula IV...it pits all kinds of wild bikes against each other: 650 Twins, 450 four-cylinders, Unlimited Singles, and 250cc two-stroke streetbikes. Since it's a Formula class, about the only rule is that it has two wheels and a throttle. Anything goes! There are usually 60-70 bikes on the grid for that class! It's a hit too, I think so far we've had a 650 winner, 450 winner, and Single winner. I don't think a 250 has won yet but the fast 250 guys are definitely running near the front.
Each one of those modified bikes has their own class to run too (250 Superbike, 650 Twins, Formula Singles, and 450 Superbike).
Not everybody can afford to run out and drop $10,000 USD on a new GSXR1000, spend another couple thousand prepping it for the track, then go out and race it, so it's great fun to have all these classes for the sub-200 horsepower bikes.
The VFR400/RVF400 racers are expecially impressive, there's a group of them who have been importing these Hondas (which were never sold in the U.S.) for racing, the last couple of seasons they have been doing extensive R&D trying to wring as much power as possible. Some of those guys are FAST, way faster than me and my '87 750. But they have bored'em up to 450cc, with ported heads, flatslide carbs, titanium rods and such, they are making around 80 hp at the wheel! My 750 probably has only a few more hp than that (I'm guessing 90 hp since I have stock CV carbs, stock cams and no headwork), and no way will an ancient 750 like mine handle as well as those nimble 400s.
We have some weird rules in my racing club though. Our "Production" classes require use of the stock exhaust can. But ported heads, aftermarket cams, high-compression pistons and 1mm overbores are legal! This really freaks out racers from other clubs who pop in to race with us from time to time, our rulebook is very different than most U.S. club racing orgs. Why, I have no idea. There's a push to possibly allow aftermarket exhausts in Production for '05, we'll see how that goes. In the meantime there will be lots of racers spending $3k-$4k to have their engine hot-rodded, then sticking it back in the bike with a stock exhaust can. Absolutely crazy.
Do you guys have any web pages showing your racing exploits?
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Originally Posted by Super Dino
and whiling away our days whittling and weaving......
Yahoo!
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