Hawke's Bay weekend rides

**Morepower** · 20th May 2009, 18:10

Originally Posted by crazyhorse

Dropped it in my own back yard - broken indicator and gear lever - buggar!!! oh well, at least it didn't go for a skate down the road.... All good

We will get some knobblys on that for you while you are away

Then you will be safe on your own lawn... may slow you down a bit on the road though ... that would be a shame

**Morepower** · 20th May 2009, 18:12

Originally Posted by Gixxer 4 ever

..............

Happy Birthday you old bugger

**Gixxer 4 ever** · 20th May 2009, 18:29

Originally Posted by Morepower

Happy Birthday you old bugger

Thank you Dave.

Bloody Warrick

**Gixxer 4 ever** · 20th May 2009, 18:31

So we start the last campaign for the RG for a while. Gary Pywell is going to run the RG for the winter season for us this year. Or till it stops going and ends it’s life.
Gary has ridden Road bikes for years but has been off them for the last 2 years. He has never ridden an RG150 or raced on the track in his life. So we had no expectations of what was going to happen other than we were going to enjoy the last winter at the track for while.

So the bike was made ready and a few engine bits and tyres were replaced for the winter season.
The alarm went off at the usual 5.20am to remind me to get up. The bacon and eggs and things got cooked and the food was loaded in to the van as we have done for 18 months now. No Mary Mooo or Martin as they had other things planned so Patrick and I headed to Taupo for round one of the Vic winter series. We arrived at 8.15am to find Gary had picked a place for us to pit. Eastern end of the pit sheds. Bike out of the old van and set up the pit. Fuel in and off to briefing. The day was cold but the weather looked like it should lift. The track was wet. We went back to the pit after rider briefing and got things sorted. All ready to go. We were last off the ranks today so had plenty of time to sort things for the day. Gary is riding in Patrick’s leathers etc so some time was used up sorting out what was needed. The count down began for us and the rain came in. The bike was started and run. Going well by the sound of it and out went Gary to ride a wet track on a bike he had never ridden before. A field of 25 or so bikes went out and started to mix it up for qualifying.

Gary looked very nervous and had a small moment in the wet but he came in all smiles but did comment on the state of the track. Lucky I had done some scrub in on the new tyre on the road a few weeks before the qualifying.

Gary qualified 4th. About 6.5 seconds off the pace of Russell Forrest. A very good start considering everything. We pulled the plug and noted a very lean engine. A bit scary because this is the very problem we had last time this bike was out and we have spent a bit of time trying to fix it. We made some changes and gave the bike a run up the car park and it seemed ok but it didn’t help the nerves of the rider or the team. I started the bike 10 minutes before the time call for us and found the kick starter return spring had let go and the starter kept dropping back on the ratchet. A quick chat and we decided to cable tie it forward. We really don’t need this now I thought.

Up went the call for street stock. Last race before the lunch break. A pat on the back and Gary was off. He was very nervous and had some butterflies but was keen to get on with it. All the bikes assembled on the dummy grid. We went to pit wall to watch and talk bull shit as usual but noted ambulances on the track. Two of em. I saw a bike appear in our pit tent and had a heart attack. Why was Gary back at the pits. I ran over hoping it was something we could fix. It’s ok he said we are after lunch. The recovery of the bikes and riders is going to take a while from the previous race. I felt the relief come over me. We put the bike on the stand and had a feed. Well some of us did. We watch the ambulance transfer a rider and we all felt grief for him/her. Hope they are ok. Gary’s nerves were getting the better of him and he needed to get on the track. Another rider briefing was held after lunch and then the call went up for us. Out again and round to the grid. We all stood along pit wall and gave Gary the thumbs up. No reply. The track was almost dry but not completely dry.

The 125s were gone. The 250s were mixed in with the 150 and out went the lights. Gary was off and had a blinder of a start. He made a few places by the time he got to the end of pit straight. He settled in to the traffic and followed the bikes at a good pace. I found it hard to decide what position he was in due to the 250s. On the third lap I noted the bike was pitching out of corners two, three and four. I had never seen that before and wondered if the rear shock had let go. Gary was in clear air by the fourth and final lap. He was riding well and looking a lot more relaxed but the behaviour of the bike had us a bit worried. Around for the last time and the checkered flag was out. Gary was still under full race speed as he got to the end of pit straight. Turns out he didn’t see the flag. Came around and backed the bike in to the pit. We went to work measuring tyre pressures and things. Gary had a massive smile and was loving it. We had some bike running issues to look at but the aim was to keep the bike shiny side up to finish the first race. Gary did this and in doing so ran Second in his class. Unbelievable. Well done Gary. What a great result. Second to Malcolm Nabbs. You had a great race Malcolm and beat Gary by 2.303 seconds.

We took all the stats and info from the bike and made no changes to it for race two. Fingers crossed. The day was warming up and the track was dry. Out to the Dummy grid and around to the start. The 125s were off followed by the 250s and then the 150s. Not such a good start this time and Gary dropped back to fifth. He made up two places in the first two laps and then chased Ryan down. They dueled for the second place for sometime and Gary managed to pass him on the fourth lap. Gary had settled the bike down by now and the pitching we saw in the first race had stopped. Gary had free air as he set about chasing Malcolm. We all stood along pit wall and commented on how Gary had relaxed and just how comfortable he looked. It could have been Patrick on the bike. His speed was good and even. By the last lap Gary had made up a lot of ground on Malcolm and it looked like he could have got him if the race went for another two laps but Malcolm crossed the line 4.11 second ahead of Gary. Again well done Malcolm and I recon you two are going to have a fantastic season.

I note Gary had the fastest lap time for his class in both races. This is going to be fun. Lets hope the old bike can take some more before it expires.

Thanks for the support from all who came along and a big thanks to FiveStar for continuing your support of our little team. And to all the Hawke’s Bay support team who appeared as the day warmed up. You guys make it a great place to be. Thanks heaps and lets see what happens on the 20th and 21st June for round Two.

**BigG** · 20th May 2009, 21:26

Good write up Steve

**speights_bud** · 21st May 2009, 17:59

happy birthday rob!!

**BigG** · 21st May 2009, 19:28

Originally Posted by speights_bud

happy birthday rob!!

That was last week wasnt it. Rob hangs out on Facebook now seen as he's not riding yet, he got him a nice little R6 to race on Face Book

**robertydog** · 21st May 2009, 19:38

Originally Posted by speights_bud

happy birthday rob!!

Originally Posted by BigG

That was last week wasnt it. Rob hangs out on Facebook now seen as he's not riding yet, he got him a nice little R6 to race on Face Book

Yea cheers for that. Apart from having a cold ive had a pretty cruisy day.

**robertydog** · 21st May 2009, 19:39

Originally Posted by BigG

Rob hangs out on Facebook now seen as he's not riding yet, he got him a nice little R6 to race on Face Book

Ive moved up to the R1 BigG. So im really gonna kick your bum now.

**Dooly** · 21st May 2009, 19:46

Happy 50th Dog.

**RØKSTA** · 21st May 2009, 19:51

Originally Posted by Wasp27

Hi Robert, yes the Gixxer has pride of place in my shed....it certainly has taken my riding pleasure to another level. I'm pleased I listened to the advise of a good friend and quickly became a convert......

. Hows everything going with you...... more importantly, hows Dads health these days....hope all's well. Funnily enough we were just talking about you the other day and Donna mentioned she must try and get hold of your Mum and ask her something about her Mosaic tiling. Please pass on our regards to both of them. Are you still involved with America's Cup racing? nice to hear from you again Robert....please call in next time your down this way....would love to catch up. cheers for now Warrick & Donna

Hey Warrick, Glad to hear the bikes still pride of place with you! So glad it went to you guys! Everything up this way is good mate, Dads health is good, just keeping active and fit which keeps us all young. Please do get Donna in touch if you want as me Mums always mucking around with Tiling/Mosaics etc. Like most people am out of work, anyone on the boards here got anything ha ha!? Hopefully things will pick up in summer we can only hope but do travel abit around the island so if I am passing for sure I will call in, likewise to you guys if you are on a ride this far north, you know who to call! CYA