Kickaha's Battle of the Buckets

**Kickaha** · 25th September 2006, 19:41

Battle of the Buckets

A pretty good turn out with 45 entries and all credit to El Presidente Dangerous for organising and promoting the event along with El Presidente’s little helpers, a few NI entires with Skunk, Speedpro, SteveK and Mudboy fronting up

SteveK was wandering around looking for another front sprocket as he didn’t think he’d have tall enough gearing and a few guys were fixing a few minor bits and pieces, also met

We roll out for practice and the bike feels good, the tracks a bit damp so I’m not pushing hard and tag onto the back of TonyMac and chase him around for a bit, I’ve fitted wider wheels to the FXR as the stock wheels are a bit narrow for the RS125 slicks and the bike feels more stable, I see Diesel Pig parked at the hairpin and Mike Parker off the track and assume they’ve had a coming together as it turns it Diesel Pig as he came down to the hairpin had his flywheel fall off and pass him and Mike had run over bits of Diesel Pigs disintegrating bike and got a puncture, for some reason the words “gross mechanical incompetence” come to mind, oh yeah the pink fuel cap is a nice touch to

Race1

I’ve been starting the FXR in 2nd as I always thought 1st was a bit low you hit the limiter real fast although I get an ok start it’s not great, I’m stuck behind Dangerous who’s a bit quicker down the straights and slower in the corners, I get a bit of a run down into the hairpin and go around the outside of him but he gets me back before the next left, so on the next lap I go up the inside of him and make the pass stick, we’re coming up on lapped traffic and through the s bends I go around and in between 3 bikes within two corners and run home in 5th not quite being able to stay with TonyMac and James

Race2

I go back to using first and get a better start although I’m still 5th I’m right on the back of a three way battel with TonyMac, Peter and James, James ends up at the back of the que and I pass him on the inside into the hairpin but he soon comes back at me and try as I might I cant peg him back and have a pretty lonely race

Race3 55 minutes + 1 lap

42 bikes take the start, and as we launch TonyMac is squeezing Glen into the curb as he edges past, Glen reaches across and grab the FXR grab rail and uses it to help pull himself back past, down to hairpin and it’s already looking like being a 55 minute sprint race, into the s bends and there’s Glen falling on his arse after trying to go around Darryl Cotton for the lead

After a couple of laps things settle down, TonyMac, Peter and James are hard out swapping places just in front of me and for the first 20 minutes I stick with them, then Peter pulls a gap on James and TonyMac, I’m passing TonyB as I come up to lap him I think I have plenty of room but a bump at the back of the bike and tyre marks on my exhaust would appear to say otherwise and as I take a quick look over my shoulder I see TonyB take to the dirt and stay upright

I’m not far off James and TonyMac and I know James is doing a rider swap with Diesel Pig at the 30 minute mark, I see James pull off and Diesel Pig standing there ready to take over then I’m past, with all the riders and different speeds I’m making between 4-8 passes a lap sometimes I’m making up time and sometimes I’m loosing it depending on where I come up on them, surprisingly quite a few bikes I catch can out accelerate me off the corners and it’s only under brakes or higher corner speed and riding around them which gets me past them

I’ve already lapped Rashika a couple of times when I come up behind her again on the straight so as I go past I reach out and give her a slap on the arse

, I notice Dangerous has done a bike change as he’s already killed his first one (fuck he’s hard on gear)

and I notice Diesel Pig on “hotdog” slowly gaining on me

I’m trying different gears through the infield as in 4th I pulling over redline and 5th is a bit high, I settle on 5th most of the time just to be a bit easier on the motor and try a few different lines, TonyMac has slowly pulled away, it’s only a bike length or two a lap but over 55 minutes it’s added up to a fair bit of distance

10 minutes to go and DC laps me, corner speed is about the same but his bike accelerates so fast I can’t even draft him, I know Diesel Pig has got even closer and I’m hoping I can hold him off, the white flag is out and I still cant hear him but then coming through the s bends I start to go around TygerTung on the club slut and he’s drifting out wide I have to change sides to pass him and loose some momentum and then I can hear “Hotdog” right behind me, over the hump and as I tip in Diesel Pig is along side and past, one corner to go and I’m hard on the gas but he beats me in the run to the line and I finish inches behind him in 6th

Joni counted a total of 17 combined crashes, blow ups, and cross country excursions so we’re not sure how many finished

A bloody top event

Also a great big thanks to, Plug,Mr Sensible and Speedygirl for being flaggies for the day

and no doubt we'll see a few photo's up from SuziQ,Far Queue and new KB member Timvenom who turned up and introduced himself

**TygerTung** · 25th September 2006, 20:35

Well I had a great time, was looking foward to racing and spent $280 on tires, a 2.50-18 bridgestone BT39SS supersoft and a 3.00-18 Dunlop TT100GP for the back, brought some new heavy duty clutch springs for the might CG125 wacked those in and pulled the lever and it didn't come out! I looked down and the lever had snapped off at the crankcase!

So I went and brought another one from cycletreads who gave it to me for free! Big up to don at cycletreads, definatly recomended.

Put that on, and I brought a new twist grip and made up a new throttle cable and put that on when the bloody end pinged off the throttlecable due to lack of skill on my behalf! So I pulled off the head and fished out the crap only to have the bike not run properly aftert that, stayed up until 12.30 trying to fix it with no luck. I then gave up hoping that I would be able to use the club slut.

Got to the bob in the morning, talked to dangerous and he told me it was in rangiora, so I borrowed my mates van and shot out there, picked it up, and came back just in the nick of time for practise, borrowd a clutch lever off spud racer, got it scrutineered and got out for a bit of a practice, bike felt really bad and the track was wet so I took it easy, wasn't running very well either, but I think that was due to it having some sour smelling fuel in the tank.

Mixed up a bit of premix with some bell-ray fully synthetic in it which I think it loved then went out for the first two races coming to grips with the bike. One race I went to slipstream some dude onto the straight as he came past me only to bump into dangerous, luckely it was only our sholders to touch, I don't think he was too impressed though!

The one hour was pretty good, was having a few battles with the young dude from street and sport at the start, but losing after a while due to the terrible handing of the slut, also did the same with my mate daniel who was on a GL145. The bike felt like it was setup for speedyway or somthing with it cornering better to the left than the right. If you came into a corner too fast and gave it any throttle it would start shuddering and sliding like crazy, although I got used to that after a while. Was following this dude on a green bucket really close to watch him run a bit wide and go off the track and of course, I followed him!

On the last lap I saw nigel on his GP100 come flying past me, lean the bike over just a bit too far, scrape a footpeg, slide straight off the side of the track, onto the grass and go for a big tumble, luckely he wasn't hurt though.

Went back into the pits after and felt the tires.... Stone cold! I checked the pressures and they were at 47 psi! No wonder it was so slippery.

Lowered them to 23 for the bears racing with a huge improvment, would still shudder a slide a wee bit if pushing it really hard but not too bad, I was used to it.

I think a good name for the bike would be the widow maker.... It was certainly a dangerous bike to ride, but after CG experience I have a bit of experience with shit handling bikes.

I think it needs new back shocks and some thick fork oil in the front, but otherwise it's pretty good, has plenty of pep, but the reverse gearshift is a pain, took the whole day to get used to it.

Well It was a gread day and cant wait for the next meeting, I might see if I can get the bucket going for this comign weekend for the motorcycling canterbury meet.

**Rashika** · 25th September 2006, 20:39

Originally Posted by Kickaha

Battle of the Buckets
A pretty good turn out with 45 entries and all credit to El Presidente Dangerous for organising and promoting the event along with El Presidente’s little helpers, a few NI entires with Skunk, Speedpro, SteveK and Mudboy fronting up

Bloody AWESOME turnout! 21 prepays so we weren't quite sure what to expect on the day, but was great to see so many people get out there.
Especially good to see the northislanders get their arses down here...but I guess the trophy stays down here this time boys...you'll just have to come back next year huh?!

Originally Posted by Kickaha

I’ve already lapped Rashika a couple of times when I come up behind her again on the straight so as I go past I reach out and give her a slap on the arse

ya little shit

... i was just humming along singing a wee tune to myself trying to stay awake, and to keep the intense pain in my knees at bay...musta been about 2/3 of the way thru and the next thing i know some bloody perve is groping me...suspecting Dangerous's usual tactics, but no it was that kickaha bloke. I thought ..geez I'll get him, so started actually racing again, that kept me going for a couple more laps till the pain kicked in again, cheers K!

Originally Posted by Kickaha

Joni counted a total of 17 combined crashes, blow ups, and cross country excursions so we’re not sure how many finished

A bloody top event

yegads i seriously had doubts about lasting the event...the wise thing might have been to stop for a few seconds and run round the bike a few times to wake the legs up, but no... I just kept going, and started doing leg squats up on the foot pegs on the back straight instead

Musta looked REAL funny to whoever was behind me then i tell ya! But gaddamn I had a ball, just need to sort the bike out so that it fits me a little better and should be sweet.
After doing a practice, 2 races and then the 1 hour on the bucket , I was quite frankly buggered, but still had lots to go so i had a bit of lunch courtesy of Speedygirl .... you ARE the BEST!!!

and decided to get on with the rest of the day

Pre 82
Elsie had her first race and did bloody well!
Practice was cool I stuck in behind the Ducati for a wee bit, then decided bugger that, past her and headed off to find someone else.

First race I seem to recall buggering up the start a little bit, but ended up behind Stanko on his 350 and held onto him for the race. Caught up to a yellow CB350 and just couldn't get past him. Finally Stanko made his move into the hairpin and slipped along past him, not enough for me to do the same so i stuck in behind him....waiting. Next lap I managed to pull exactly the same stunt and blew past him...fkn AWESOME I thought, and headed of to get Stanko again. Managed to catch him but not quite get him at the finish... damn good race and great to have people to chase for once.
2nd race was an exact repeat of the first but managed a better start this time altho still ended up behind Stanko and both of us behind the yellow bike again. He got past and i tried the same move again, succeeded then ballsed it up buy changing down???? instead of up outa the hairpin, so he passed me again. Not only did i do it once, but proceeded to do it again the next lap....think I was exhausted from the days events so decided that was enough on Elsie....she did it great, only the rider blew it...sigh. Just as well really cos I noticed a flat tyre on her a little while later...ah well never mind.

As for the buckets, I was privileged enough to be lent the great no6 from Speedpro for the arvo...OMFKN God, it was AMAZING!
Now I have never riden a 2 stroke bucket before so i had wee practice up and down the road, trying not to run up the arse of Mudboy as he was practicing his stoppies.

So i lined up waiting to head out with the others and then proceeded to wheelie the bloody bike out... fk was all i was thinking at that point, managed to get to the start line ok. Flag dropped and i then managed to wheelie again, not once but bloody twice before it settled down and I think I was almost last as we started, but I soon made up for it and actually started passing people. Did i mention that I have NEVER wheelied a bike before???? Oh well at least i know how it feels now, it wont shock me as much next time

2nd race was even worse, I was totally last at the start, but made up for it and seemed to pass a couple of people each lap, including pipping Thunder at the post on the last lap, sorry dude!
It was just so good to have the instant throttle response of the 2 stroke....I'm in LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEE
Just need to sort out my starts and that would a damn fine bike for me (HINT!), it was simply the best, and it was even comfy! Ah well one day

Big thanks to Speedpro for that, and ta for the hints this morning as well dude. Hope you all had a good trip home, you should just about be off the boat by now.
All in all a damn fine day and it has taken me till now to start to liven up a bit...exhausted doesn't even come close to describing how i was feeling last night.

**TonyB** · 26th September 2006, 06:40

Originally Posted by Kickaha

I’m passing TonyB as I come up to lap him I think I have plenty of room but a bump at the back of the bike and tyre marks on my exhaust would appear to say otherwise and as I take a quick look over my shoulder I see TonyB take to the dirt and stay upright

LOL Nah, it wasn't your fault. Stanko and I were stuck behind some proddy bikes- they were riding the bloody wheels off them and I was sure that at any moment one of them would fall and take us all out. My bike was having clearance issues in right handers so I was being a bit tentative, then just as you came around me I realised the throttle was jammed slightly open and I was being forced into the corner. So I have one of those white knuckle moments- and started freaking out and heading off line. My 'line' took me into your back wheel. For a moment I was sure my race was about to end with me going over the bars as the front end tucked in. Then I thought "I AM NOT FUCKING CRASHING!", so I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and headed for the grass. It's pretty rough out there in that grass!!

Originally Posted by Kickaha

Also a great big thanks to, Plug,Mr Sensible and Speedygirl for being flaggies for the day

and no doubt we'll see a few photo's up from SuzeQ,Far Queue and new KB member Timvenom who turned up and introduced himself

Too bloody right! Thanks heaps!

**steve k** · 26th September 2006, 07:13

Originally Posted by Kickaha

Battle of the Buckets

A pretty good turn out with 45 entries and all credit to El Presidente Dangerous for organising and promoting the event along with El Presidente’s little helpers, a few NI entires with Skunk, Speedpro, SteveK and Mudboy fronting up

I am dam sure AJTURBO was learking around there somewhere?

**F5 Dave** · 26th September 2006, 09:27

So Steve, did the bike at least run sort of ok?

**Rashika** · 26th September 2006, 09:41

Originally Posted by F5 Dave

So Steve, did the bike at least run sort of ok?

for the first lap or 2...
It DID get the prettiest bike award tho

**Joni** · 26th September 2006, 09:50

It was a good day over all... pity the damn wind blew like it did... but hey that did not stop the fun!

BOB turned out a huge field of buckets... it was good to see. The hour race and "b" track combination turned out to be too much for some of the bikes... at one stage they were dropping like flies, my last count was 17 down, with a few laps still to go. However I think its fair to say most people had a good day....

Great to see the Northerners making the effort to come down - thanks guys, it was great to see you again, Skunk, Skunk Control and AJ... was good to meet the rest of you as well.

Big congratulations to Dangerous, Tony Mac together with the rest of people that contributed to make the day a huge success.

Rider of the day? Not a KB'er unfortunately... but DC would take that IMO.
My heart went out to Glen on number 24... I know he was not happy about his bin.
Special mention to MudBoy - Keep going little man

Hopefully next year we can do it again

**Rashika** · 26th September 2006, 09:55

Originally Posted by SteveK

I am dam sure AJTURBO was learking around there somewhere?

yup, he did quite a bit of that learking stuff

I saw him leark past me a couple of times in the 1 hour

**TygerTung** · 26th September 2006, 10:36

I remember one dude passing me on the BOB on a 2 stroke bucket and it was leaned over hard with sparks coming off the expansion chamber.

Got lapped a few times by rashika which is a first, because it's usually me overtaking her!

I have never been overtaken so many times as I did yesterday, I thnk I'll donate a good cheng shin sticky and some slightly better shocks for the back of the slut, would give it a huge improvment.

Anyone coming to the motorcycling canterbury meeting this weekend? I heard they have a bucket class?

I'll tell you what though mate, my legs are killing me, they are in soooo much pain, it hurts heaps when you stand up, hopefully they'll heal up soon.

Great pics though, I even managed to get a bit of decent knee down action on the slut once I sorted the tire pressures, you'd still get both the front and the rear shuddering and sliding if you pushed too hard though.

Great fun

**TonyB** · 26th September 2006, 13:26