Greymouth street race
We packed up the bikes and headed over to Greymouth on the Saturday before the event, not being content with one days racing the bucket guys had hired the Kart track to get an afternoons racing in before the big event and do some fine tuning, with Darryl sorting his jetting out and myself having to fix a gear linkage that fell apart and having some clutch problems that couldn’t be cured
While at the track I got a phone call from a Lynda Blair who frequents these forums who had a bit of a problem with her Ducati in Havelock, wanting me to contact some friends of hers racing at Greymouth to see if they could pick her bike up on the way home dunno about those dodgy Italian bikes they’re always breaking down
Neil (Diesel Pig) was a bit distraught at how easy he was being cleaned up at the kart track but decided tomorrow was another day and his bike might be more suited to the streets and after we’d finished at the Kart track we all headed off the scrutineering where everyone passed with no problems
At 6.30am when we got up to head to the track it was overcast but no rain as soon as we arrived at the track to set it up it poured down but was all over in 5 minutes, this was pretty much how the day went with intermittent showers all day
After the first practices we were surprised at the amount of grip on the wet track even on the buckets with slicks and then it was on to the racing
1st race I was in was BEARs on the Ducati 400 and as we gridded up it started pissing down the Ducati (hereafter referred to as the dodgy pile of Italian shyte) was running like crap as it ingested a bit of water through the crappy unifilters off the line and the usual first corner scramble and I push past a couple of bikes and the dodgy pile of Italian shyte is running like a dog, and a very sick dog at that I manage to pass a couple of slower bikes but finish well down the field
1st Bucket race and I’m just about last into the 1st corner due to the clutch making it very hard to get off line and it takes all my time to pull back Diesel Pig, Brent ,Leon and a couple of others and manage to finish 3rd,still being a bit cautious due to the wet track and running slicks but starting to push a bit harder
2nd BEARs race and I just about rear end Adrian on another dodgy pile of Italian shyte that also decided it doesn’t like the rain after passing both Lew and Sandra it was a pretty lonely race with the bike alternating between 1 and 2 cylinders and being lapped by John Hepburn on the Aprilla just before the end
2nd Bucket race and I get a marginally better start and get amongst the top half of the field,Leigh on his stock RX125 cuts me off into the second corner and I do the same to him on the third, another lap later and I’m pulling out and passing Diesel pig and a lap after that Brent to get a 3rd place
We also had the sidecars there to do three 10minute demos and both Diesel Pig and myself were swinging on outfits went out for a few laps each time and had a bit of fun with them slipping and sliding as we exited the corners, so much so that Bill and Paul managed to spin there outfit coming onto the back straight, awesome fun, Diesel Pig was also told off by his Mum on the start line as he’s recovering from a broken collarbone and we neglected to tell her he was going out on a sidecar
Lunch over and the rain starts again and I grid up for F2 by mistake on the dodgy pile of Italian shyte and go out and start the race, after emptying the float bowls and getting shot of the water it’s running good but after two laps it’s packed up again so I pull back into the pits and park it up for the day
Diesel Pig decides after lunch that the weathers improved enough to drag out his period 82 bike CBX550 (Black Betty) but after a few laps pulls in with a nasty sounding noise and what sounds like a stuffed big end.
In the meantime Leigh has been told off by the stewards for pulling wheelies on his bucket by bouncing it over humps in the road and off kerbs, as Diesel Pig put it being a bucket they had a good argument that it wasn’t from being under acceleration
In the next race pushing harder then ever before into the first corner to make up for my traditional bad start I lose the back end it and just miss taking out the back ½ of the bucket field, with the bike fishtailing from side to side I just miss the back of Justin’s GP100 and slide across the track in front of Leigh and Leon who are wondering what the hell I’m doing, somehow managing to stay on the bike more from good luck than skill I rejoin the race dead last and manage to work my way back up to 5th by race end
The next couple of races are pretty uneventful and Diesel Pig is starting to get the better of me now his glasses aren’t fogging up with just beating me to the line in one of them and clearing out in the others, in one of them as I can’t pull him back in I settle for slowing down and playing with Brent with both of us passing each other back and forth and just leaving myself enough time to beat him to the line
All said and done despite the weather and the fact that after racing all day in the rain that the rain soaking through my leathers had dyed my legs a bright orange, an awesome event, and plenty of good racing, running two bikes in three classes, I could have done a total of 17 races for a $60 entry fee or if on the bucket alone still get 6 races in, it’s probably the best value for money event that I attend and the organisers deserve a considerable amount of credit for making it happen
Originally Posted by scracha
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.hahaha.(the ONLY corner i bet them too!!) 
love the buckets !! and hope to get back into it! but first the turbo has to get back on the road! :spudwhat:
instead I was riding in a 20+ degree day and having a cool beer thinking of what a shit day it mus be on the coast...... sorry man, next meet aye 
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