Ruminating, cogitating and generally grinding gears...

**slowpoke** · 9th September 2009, 20:48

OK I'm kinda writing/thinking aloud here so my apologies for this written sedative.

Imagine you are a late starting (in every sense), wrong side of 40, middle of the club pack F1 racer. You work a fixed roster that means you usually miss half the club and Nationals races every year with work commitments. You have never raced "Darnsarf" but would like to jump the creek and experience what are said to be the best tracks in the country....but the ferry makes it fuggin' expensive to attend just a single club race meeting.

The Nat's program is released and wonder of all wonders you can actually make 4 of the 5 rounds to race in the hopefully scheduled ......if you treat the speed "limits" as "guidelines" and do a mad dash back to work after one round in particular. So you have the opportunity to attend 2 x practice days and 2 race meetings at Teretonga and Ruapuna for the price of 1 ferry ticket, accommodation and LOTS of takeaway food.

Your bike is an '06 "full fat" Superbike not the "light" versions (Open Stock Production) that are flavour of the month.

Things to think about:

How long will "full fat" superbikes be raced in NZ?

It's become obvious your bike is not making "full fat" power.Do you repair it or replace it or just ignore it? Do you just say "fuck it" and enter clubman's as is? (assume it's making 150-ish hp instead of the quoted 180-ish hp)

Or do you investigate/repair it, and do the other competitors the favour of throwing yourself on the grenade, and coming last in nat's Superbike? (you may never get an opportunity to enter 4 out of 5 rounds again, you old bastard)

Do you repair it, with the real possibility you then won't be able to afford to go Darnsarf?

Do you sell it minus the top o' the woz suspension and get Dr Bob to work his magic fitting it to the K7 GSXR1000 road bike your missus expressly forbid you from EVER racing, spend more on racerising it, and enter Open Stock Production? Oh yeah, and come home to an empty house with a pile of burnt furniture on the front lawn.....

Do you sit at home, save the money, and wait for the TV coverage that never comes?

Decisions fuggin' decisions......if you stick your head close to the screen you'll be able to hear the gears grinding in my head....

**t3mp0r4ry nzr** · 9th September 2009, 21:00

my 2c of advice (remember that you get what you pay for!): stop over thinking and do it, as the bike is at the mo, superbike class, as many rounds as you can, because you can, while you can.

**Marknz** · 9th September 2009, 21:04

Originally Posted by t3mp0r4ry nzr

my 2c of advice (remember that you get what you pay for!): stop over thinking and do it, as the bike is at the mo, superbike class, as many rounds as you can, because you can, while you can.

what he said... seize the day

**Tony.OK** · 9th September 2009, 21:26

Get that starter motor fitted and go for it bro, the bikes still plenty fast, its the useless old coont twisting the throttle thats the problem, replace him and it'll be just sweet................hahaahahaaaaaaaa!

Sorry me ole mate couldn't resist

Seriously you'll have more fun on the 1000rr mate, it'll cost ya plenty just to convert the gixxer and you'll prob not enjoy it because of that, have you not noticed me bein a miserable prick lately?

Or................................sweet talk the Missus, sell em both and buy Ed's entire kit, and let me ride it for ya

**Wingnut** · 10th September 2009, 06:38

I know a guy who has just been given a life expectancy of 1.5 weeks. It has put alot of things into perspective for me. One is to spend alot more quality time with my kids and the second, is to get out there and do the things I love to do. Because before you know it, the opportunity has gone and its all to late. Get out there Mr Poke, if you come last, well does it really matter, especially if your enjoying the whole experience?

**codgyoleracer** · 10th September 2009, 08:36

To the Ginga Poker
1) If its for the experience & the track time then the bike spec dont really matter. You know how your ride goes/stops & corners at the moment & if you are down there learning tracks etc - then having a bit of confidence in your bike & how it reacts can come in handy when you end up in a tight situation.
2) If you want to finish mid-pack or toward the pointy end, the K7 aint even gonna cut it.........
3) Budget wise - come race F3 with me, Rob a bank, or make an investment in the VISA or Matercard corporation
4) Believe me participating in the NZ nationals is worth the effort & its a great race paddock to be a part of, dont listen to the nay sayers. Being part of it will lift your game & give you a crisper view of the racing scene.
See ya at Ruapuna !
Glen

**k14** · 10th September 2009, 09:07

I hear ya when it comes to shift work. I have to take 3 weeks of annual so I can race in the south island rounds. If I had a 9-5 job it would be maybe 4 days total! But totally worth it.

Get ya a into g and come along. Don't enter clubmans, you will do much better and be more satisified in F1 with the big boys. We need to get the main class numbers up and if some of the other clubmans guys see you entering F1 then they might do so too.

**sinfull** · 10th September 2009, 09:12

From one wrong side of 40 to another, Just fuckin DoooooEEEEEEt ! Oh and how bigs ya van ? hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehe heeee

**CHOPPA** · 10th September 2009, 09:31

Sell it, put the suspension into the k7 and run production class. If you build the honda up to 200hp your still gonna have to run superbike class and it may not even improve your position. Just race regardless, you will still prob get top 10 in superbike even if you only do 1 round lol If more people had that attitude there wouldnt be a prob cause there wouldnt be such a massive gap between the fast guys and the rest of us as there would be more guys to fill in the gaps!

There should be a rule for the superbike 'light' class that you can race bikes like yours providing there say 4 years old or something. Think of all the old superbikes out there that could race that class then.... To late now thou...

**scrivy** · 10th September 2009, 10:09

Pffftttt.... sell it, go race a sidecar....... (Have I mentioned that before....

Heaps cheaper!)

Nah, go do the nats in F1. Who gives a flying F@ck where ya come. Better to be out there doing it and loving it, than someone sitting on the sideline saying they should be out there - or whats worse, sitting on the sideline saying I could do better than that fella!!

Just do it!! Fellow KBers will help you with accommodation etc. You might be able to share a van/trailer. Do what Chris Lawrance did for years when he went South - eat packets of biscuits!!! Saved him hundreds!!

**Sparky Bills** · 10th September 2009, 11:28

Ride the bike mate. As people have said, learning a new track is hard enough without having to learn the bike aswell.
If you would like you could take my bike out during lunch break to see what you think of riding a 600. Would be a good comparrison.

I have been thinking the last couple weeks about doing some rounds.
As the bike sits at the moment its legal for Production cup. So its very tempting.
Perhaps we could share the travel costs etc...?

Tenting and eating lots of junkfood just sounds too fun to miss out on!
Ill have to go get a big fat loan, but my currant life circumstances have changed slightly the last couple weeks and now only have myself to worry about.

**slowpoke** · 10th September 2009, 11:42

Originally Posted by Wingnut

Get out there Mr Poke, if you come last, well does it really matter, especially if your enjoying the whole experience?

I prolly didn't say that quite right. I'm not so much worried about comin' last as having no-one to race with. It's a fuggin' long lonely race just churnin' out laps by ya self.

Originally Posted by Tony.OK

Get that starter motor fitted and go for it bro, the bikes still plenty fast, its the useless old coont twisting the throttle thats the problem, replace him and it'll be just sweet................hahaahahaaaaaaaa!

Sorry me ole mate couldn't resist

Seriously you'll have more fun on the 1000rr mate, it'll cost ya plenty just to convert the gixxer and you'll prob not enjoy it because of that, have you not noticed me bein a miserable prick lately?

Or................................sweet talk the Missus, sell em both and buy Ed's entire kit, and let me ride it for ya

I managed to pick up all the starter clutch, starter motor/associated gubbins, AND a rear disc for my spare rear rim, for the princely sum of $60USD (dontcha just luv that interwebamajig?) so it's all there, I think, ready to be fitted when I can find a spare moment. Work has ixnayed any more meetings between VMCC Rd 5 and round 1 of the Nats so I've got a bit of time to do a top end service on the bike and get the starter issue sorted and I'll have a better idea of exactly where I stand after that.

Oh yeah, I spoke to Ed about his rig, he was gonna do me a good deal until I mentioned it was a pressie for you.....at which point he said it was no longer for sale, go figure.

Originally Posted by codgyoleracer

To the Ginga Poker
1) If its for the experience & the track time then the bike spec dont really matter. You know how your ride goes/stops & corners at the moment & if you are down there learning trackes etc - then having a bit of condidence in your bike & how it reacts can come in handy when you end up in a tight situation.
2) If you want to finish mid-pack or toward the pointy end, the K7 aint even gonna cut it.........
3) Budget wise - come race F3 with me, Rob a bank, or make an investment in the VISA or Matercard corporation
4) Believe me participating in the NZ nationals is worth the effort & its a great race paddock to be a part of, dont listen to the nay sayers. Being part of it will lift your game & give you a crisper view of the racing scene.
See ya at Ruapuna !
Glen

I luv the F3 class, and I've got a coupla ideas for an interesting ride (note: I said "interesting", not "fast" OK?)....when did you say you were retiring you ol' bugger?

Originally Posted by sinfull

From one wrong side of 40 to another, Just fuckin DoooooEEEEEEt ! Oh and how bigs ya van ? hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehehehehe heeee

Hey Bill, Glen, how's about a "40+ Cup"? (frantic calculations: Stroudy and Glen on GN250's, Bill on his trumpy.....nup, I'm still screwed, fuckit!)

**sinfull** · 10th September 2009, 11:55

Originally Posted by slowpoke

Hey Bill, Glen, how's about a "40+ Cup"? (frantic calculations: Stroudy and Glen on GN250's, Bill on his trumpy.....nup, I'm still screwed, fuckit!)

Fuck, i read the first bit and thought faaaark you only want me in there amoungst that lot so you don't come last lol Aint there an over 45 race coming up in round 6 ?

**slowpoke** · 10th September 2009, 13:02

Originally Posted by CHOPPA

Sell it, put the suspension into the k7 and run production class. If you build the honda up to 200hp your still gonna have to run superbike class and it may not even improve your position. Just race regardless, you will still prob get top 10 in superbike even if you only do 1 round lol If more people had that attitude there wouldnt be a prob cause there wouldnt be such a massive gap between the fast guys and the rest of us as there would be more guys to fill in the gaps!

Massive gap between "us and the fast guys"? You ARE one of the fast guys....and therefore part of my problem, lol!

Nah, the 'blade was never in the same league as those durty gixxers hp-wise, so I'm not expecting to get that sort of grunt, but it just niggles that for supposedly being full of a glass and a half of HRC goodness that it is only delivering stock-ish type hp.

Originally Posted by scrivy

Do what Chris Lawrance did for years when he went South - eat packets of biscuits!!! Saved him hundreds!!

Hmmm, I wonder if Griffin's would be interested in a sponsorship deal.....

Originally Posted by Sparky Bills

Ride the bike mate. As people have said, learning a new track is hard enough without having to learn the bike aswell.
If you would like you could take my bike out during lunch break to see what you think of riding a 600. Would be a good comparrison.

I wouldn't mind a crack on a 6 hundy, but I wanna race a big banger while I still can. Working away 3 weeks outta 6 my opportunities are pretty limited.

**k14** · 10th September 2009, 16:41

Originally Posted by slowpoke

I wouldn't mind a crack on a 6 hundy, but I wanna race a big banger while I still can. Working away 3 weeks outta 6 my opportunities are pretty limited.

Are you not able to take annual leave or leave without pay for an extra week or two?