King Of Ruapuna R2 report

[Kickaha]

As I had to help load up the sidecar we had been lent I was up about 6.30 for a shower and something to eat,loaded up the Dodgy pile of Italian Shyte(Ducati 400) shot off to the atm and headed around to Colins

On arrival I found he'd already loaded boht outfits and was just packing the last of the gear so I headed off to the track and signed in,got my gear scrutineered and then unloaded the dodgy pile of Italian shyte and got that scrutineered as well

Colin turned up and we unloaded the outfits and got a pit shed to set up in
with the rest of the guys arriving we had a field of 6 sidecars,Diesel Pig finally managed to drag himself out of bed and show up along with his bucket to run in lightweight as well as having his first race meeting as a sidecar rider

Clubmans were first up with some rejetting on the dodgy pile of Italian shyte I pulled out of the pits and on the first lap it was running better than before but as I started on my second I felt a vibration from the rear of the bike and pulled off at the hairpin,glancing down at the rear of the bike I see the sprocket carrier has moved over and is chewing into the swingarm,it looks like the bearing has collapsed allowing the sprocket carrier to move over top of the spacer and do a bit of damage so it was a push back to the pits and park it up.

First Sidecar practice and Diesel pig has learnt a bit from yesterdays practice and has smoothed his riding up considerably,gassing it up a bit earlier out of the corners and driving through them and not upsetting the outfit so much by moving around,Russels outfit dies in practice with a fuel pump failure so we're down to 5

Race 1 and we're 4th in the first corner only to be passed into the hairpin by another pair on newcomers John/Laurie on their long ZZR1100 outfit after 2 laps the're not pulling away and I'm hoping we can close the gap as Diesel pig gets more used to the outfit,Gary/Pete on their R1 outfit have buggered off into the distance and Colin/Gloria and Bill/Paul are running nose to tail and swapping places,on lap 3 we start slowing and pull into the pits Diesel pigs shoulder is causing him to much pain due to still getting over a broken collarbone and he doesn't have enough strength in it to manage racepace for to many laps.

Race 2 and we swap places,with me doing the riding and Diesel Pig seeing if he can cope with swinging instead,I'm fulling experienced at riding these things with a total of 8 laps riding on 3 different outfits about a year ago and haven't ever ridden one in a race

The light go out and we're off,I hammer it as fast as I dare and make the first corner in 4th hard behind Russell/Wade,John/Laurie pass us on the next straight but as we hit the hairpin we're still with the bunch,I spend the next few laps getting to know the outfit and running right behind Russel who is out with novice swinger and 125 rider Wade Van der Orden,I'm getting close enough out of the sweeper I reckon I could give Wade a nudge with the fairing but with the long pull throttle I cant gas it up fast enough to outdrive them onto the straight and Russell with a bit more experience is faster off the end leaving me from the hairpin to the sweeper to pull him back in again,this goes on for a few laps and closing right up again on the last lap I get on the gas earlier but he beats us over the line by a couple of metres.

We pull back into the pits and Diesel pig throws his gloves at me and berates me for being so rough(manuboy has video evidence of this),kerb hopping and just about taking out a parked bike with the chair on the way through the pits(forgot how far the chair sticks out) and causing him to have a harder job on the side than he should,unfortunately due to a couple of crashes holding things up the day was shortened and being last on the program we missed out on our usual 3rd race,as with a bit more track time I'm sure I could be smoother and faster

All in all a great day and excellent experience getting to try the other side of the outfit after 3 years on the side, and we've now been offered the outfit to race in the NZGP,there may be some argument about who'll be riding it but I think I can beat Diesel Pig in a fight so I'm sure he'll see it my way

[Posh Tourer :P]

Good write up Kickaha Not sure I'd want to be on either side of a side-car in a race but it could be a buzz occasionally I suppose...

[Two Smoker]

Awesome write up Kickaha, what kind of set up did your outfit have??? Sounds like you had a blast.... do you think you will be doing more riding and less swinging now???

[Her_C4]

Excellent write up Kickaha - In reading your post, I thought I was there...

Sounds like fun - let us know who wins the fight to ride next time...

[Kickaha]

Awesome write up Kickaha, what kind of set up did your outfit have??? Sounds like you had a blast.... do you think you will be doing more riding and less swinging now???

I don't know how old it is,But it runs a Hybrid GPZ900,ZX10 motor,it's got some good gear on it JFZ brakes, Halliday lightweight alloy wheels,bodyworks a bit ugly but thats going to get replaced some time in the future,it does have a 1/2 turn throttle which I'll be seeing if I can replace with a 1/4 turn though as it takes to much to wind it right around which makes it harder to ride

they're unlike anything else you've ever been on to ride,they require a lot more physical effort to steer and move around a lot which is a bit unsettling to get used to

HerB4
I went around and saw Diesel Pig today and I will be riding it next time and I didn't have to beat him up either,although he did comment that my erratic riding did scare him,guess he'll get used to it

[Motu]

I'd like a go on a race outfit - but I'm too agressive and ride speedway style - big slides and much work on the bars in right handers...it's fun doing that,but not fast.Fun is better.

[diesel pig]

Motu you are right on that your style would not work as John the other newbe is a exspeedway outfit rider and had to change his style to ride his outfit

[LB]

Thanks for the write-up Kickaha. I didn't realise that Brian Bernard would be down there (photos on the other thread) - was he and his team getting some practice in for the Nationals at the beginning of Dec?

[manuboy]

yeah.... a few highlights that day i thought... the glove throwing episode was superb (mainly cos i managed to capture it, which can't be said for anything else that day).

Talking to the bloke who was 67 years old, owned 5 sidecar rigs and looking (and sounding) like he'd never stop racing - they should stop giving politicians MBE's and stuff and give them to blokes like that.

watching r1's and gixxr's pull 2nd gear 150km/h powerstands out of the front straight entry, blimme those things are vicous - too bad that like all i4's they just sound like agitated wasps, even with aftermarkets , Mr Fentons TLR had the bike with the right sound!

Actually i thought the sidecars were the best to watch, with a few more in the field and some more riding it should be awesome!

Will be borrowing that camera and learning how to use it Kickaha!

[vifferman]

Great write-up, Kick!
Helpful hint from the Acronym Emperor: Referring to "The Dodgy Pile of Italian Shyte(Ducati 400)" as DPIS after the first instance, or even coining a name for it, would save you some typing.

[Kickaha]

Thanks for the write-up Kickaha. I didn't realise that Brian Bernard would be down there (photos on the other thread) - was he and his team getting some practice in for the Nationals at the beginning of Dec?

Yeah Him and Karl Morgan and a few others,Brian was beaten in both races I watched by John Lowther on his 04 R1,Dominic Jones crashed out twice loosing the front end and Rod Hawes had a big highside on his TZ250 which has left him battered and bruised but not broken