Very cool forum! (sugilite)

[cowpoos]

what O fella....[said in english posh accent]....time for the next installment of this great story of triumph over adversity

[skelstar]

Sugi has been slacking off a bit recently (so have you poos).

[justsomeguy]

Though in my next post in this thread, I will relate a dream I had and it seemed so real, one would think it actually happened

I think it's time for that next post now.

Still waiting....... ????????????????

[sugilite:Me]

1990 FZR1000A Exup.
After podium finishes in the previous Nats in my rookie year I was hoping for some serious sponsorship, unfortunately for me the Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki distributors pulled out that year, bad timing dammit! Yamaha had Paul Paveletich and Chris Haldane, so I dipped out.

I had the racing bug real bad, so sorted out some more finance and went shopping. I rang up a Kawasaki dealer and just asked how much for a new kwaka and the next thing i know I'm was reading I'm riding a Kawasaki in the nats in the next issue of Kiwi Rider!
I actually decided to go for a the FZR1000 and got the bike at dealer cost, so that was at least something.

I did my by then usual trip to my mates in Kerikeri to run it in and on the way back home to Wellies I had this strange dream session! It started with me leaving Turangi heading into the desert road, I picked up a cop further back, so "stretched" him after each corner till I could not see him any more. I was right down in the pit of one of those 3 winding gully sections when I looked up I could see another cop up where the tanks train. I thought "sweet, I'm not even speeding in these twisties, so I just cruised past and checked my mirrors for the next 10 km's. After seemingly being in the clear, I set the cruise control back to about 160 odd. I had just got onto the plateau when a car coming the other way flashed it's lights at me, I thought, uh oh and looked in my mirrors and sure enough about 300 meters back was a cop with lights a flashing ranging up on me. I instantly opened the taps to full and when it got to redline in top, I thought, SHIT, what now? Going for it had been a reflex action and now I had a sure road block waiting for me at Waiuru. About that time I passed what I think was a ZZR600, I just about sucked his fairings off, and I remember thinking, "don't chase me sport".
I came off the plateau and down onto the smaller one, then at the end of that was a left hand sweeper dropping down another layer, well I had a spinicher challenging moment as I went about 30 km's to fast around it, the whole bike was wallowing, slipping and sliding all the way through at over 200 kmh. Just as I was approaching Waiuru and certain doom, I saw a left hand turn off, I had the back end waving around and then I just threw it into the corner and did a good speedway impersonation on the exit, I saw another left hand turn and running on pure intuition I took that, shot up to the end of it and a most unusual site greeted me, it was a bunch of dirt bike guys in an area full of garages! Straight away I spotted these guys with a garage door open ushering me to go inside! Once parked in the safety of the now closed garage they laughingly told me that had been listening to me coming for an age and were astounded that I'd made my way straight to them!
I gas bagged with them about bikes in general. I told em I had a KX250 and they invited me to the big desert storm trail ride the following month. after about 45 minutes I did the usual reverse jacket and multi colored duct tape stripes on helmet and was off again. The lads escorted me through the army camp, we were riding down foot paths and all sorts and low and behold we popped out past Waiuru just beside the museum. And what do I see but a cop with that poor ZZR600 rider giving him a ticket. They both looked at me, the ZZ rrider with a knowing look on his face and the cop with a confused "where the hell did that guy come from" look on his face lol. The cop left me alone and off I went. I woke up just after the dream had finished and I seemed to have tele ported to just before Taihape, go figure!

When I turned up to Desert storm, my saviors came up to me and said, read this article. It was freaky, there was an article that read just like my dream. two speeding motorcyclists chased, one was caught and the other just "disappeared" much to their displeasure and astonishment, something about last seen exceeding 220 kmh, hmmm in my dream it had been redline in top at over 270 kmh! kinda reminds me of the reports I read these days...officers broke off from the chase when the car they were chasing exceed 140 kmh in a 100 zone, big fat bloody Tui add there!

In between running in my bike and desert storm, Richard and I had converted the FZR to a race bike. The bike shop that had supplied the bike gave me the specs sheet for the forks and we duly put in the stated fork oil levels and so on. When I tested the bike at Manfield, I thought the front end was a bit naff, but figured it was just me so pushed on. The next weekend it was desert Storm on my KX250. I had a major crash, I'd been pre jumping these table tops on the course and came round a corner to find a guy who must have found the only mud bog in the desert that day! You could only see his handlebars sticking out the bog, so I stopped my bike, tuned the gas off lay it down (no side stand on motocross bikes) and helped him drag it out. I then got on my bike again and took off. I saw another big table top coming up, so pre jumped the lip on it, pre jumping a lip means you squash your suspension down and then give it a big handful of gas as it unloads and pow you fly up into the air and clear the entire table top, problem was, I'd forgotten to turn on the gas and when I went for the all important big handful, all I got was a little wet fart leading to the MOTHER of all flying W's over the bars while I was a good 4 meters above the ground. I even had time to think "Well Anthony, this is why you get the good safety gear" before my decent to Terra firma proceeded. Damn the rules of gravity I say! CRUNCH went my body. I got up, and my shoulder was real sore and the rest of me was pretty battered as well! I got back on and just took it real slow and easy back to the van.

Moving forward one week and I'm heading out for the 1st practice at Pukekohe for the 1st round of that years nats. I scream down the back straight and grab a big handful of brakes for the hairpin and HUH? my left arm was locked in place, but my whole body kept moving towards the bars, only then it dawned on me I had broken my collar bone from the desert storm crash the weekend before!
Needless to say, I did crap on that weekends racing. Then it was off down south and my collar bone was still quite bad at Ruapuna CHCH where I also had a huge crash (more on that later). By teratonga it started to get better, but I was still having problems with the front end of the bike. I just figured all FZR's were like that and I was just riding like a pussy. I was to proud to ask another FZR rider, just kept on blaming my riding.
I got to Levels, my fave racetrack and I had a huge crash after losing the front end, So another crap round. At the final round at manfield, I was still struggling big time with the front end, The fork seals were leaking a little, so I figured there was no point adding oil to them. So another crap round. I still finished the series well in the top ten, but I was devastated and feeling like I could not ride a bike anymore. I blamed myself all the way.

Now, the class I was racing was called senior production. The bikes had to stay standard, you could change gearing that year, oils and that was it.
There was a lot of cheating going on, and I knew it, but to me, if I cheated and won, I'd get no satisfaction, so no point in my book.
There had been consistent rumors about the guys bike that won the championship that year. Even his own team mate had on the quiet been begging other people to protest his team mates bike!!! Rumors of a OWO1 clutch, gearbox, no exup valve, frame cut and pulled in one degree, many motor mods and the list went on. I thought, na, thats just crazy, no one would get away with that shit.
Now this guy came up to me after the last race of the season had been run at Manfield and I quote said to me "Are you racing next year?" I said "I hope so" He then said "Oh good, the series needs the "little" guys like you to keep it going" Nice. He was so bloody lucky I'm not the person I am now, to this day I regret not going and protesting his bike, he would have been fucked and not got that overseas ride he secured directly off the back of his NZ championship. You see, I found out he was cheating and all the rumors were true. By a funny twist of fate, I sold my bike to my mate in Kerikeri and his friend bought the cheater bike, which promptly had problems. So the guy took it down to the local shop and what do you know, it did not have a exup valve, the frame had been cut and welded and there were still unusual non standard clutch parts, as in OWO1, I guess to match to the freaking 6 speed box that must have been there before it was sold. In my book, CHEATING SUXS

And the crap front end? well after the last race had been run, I found the bike shop had supplied me the bloody wrong model FZR1000's fork specs and I'd been running around with only 2/3 the required fork oil. The leaking oil had escaped the seals due to wicked fork flexing. The whole time I'd been blaming my riding!

I had one more ride on it, the Gladstone hill climb, then held on the tight and winding part of Admirals road, one road south of the cliff hanger hill climb road. Yes Skelstar, the road you made disparaging remarks about, humphh! The other riders laughed when I pulled out the FZR from the van, they told me I'd never get out of 2nd and I was on the wrong machine for that road. They were right on one count, I never did get out of 2nd gear, but wrong on the other as I whopped their butts by over 3 seconds on a 30 second run lol

to be continued...

[sugilite:Me]

All in all the FZR was a good bike, but despite having my funniest dream and best crash ever, I did find it somewhat bland compared to a GSXR1100.

Best Crash EVER! : Some people still talk to me about this one. I'm the only one I know that has managed to crash, or more fall off a bike hit the deck and the bike itself did not hit the ground!!
WTF you might think! Read on I say!
I used to be a demon starter in my early GSXR days until I had two really nasty cold tyre incidents which curbed my enthusiasm somewhat! Tyre warmers were nor around in these days! Anyway, Richard and Steve were my pit crew and they were giving me shit about my starts. I'd been practicing with a 130/70-17 front which was AWESOME under brakes, but slowed the steering down somewhat, so I decided to go with the usual 120/70-17 for the race. I got a less than stellar start and approaching turn one after the 1st lap I decided to make it all up under brakes in that corner, I grabbed a mega handful like I had been in practice and the next thing I know, I'm still in my racing crouch, but um, er, my bike is now beside me and I'm not on it anymore! I landed on my back sliding feet 1st, the friction of the track undid my zips on the arms of my leathers but that was the least of my problems, my now riderless bike was heading straight for a wall at over 200 kmh! why I was still sliding along the track, I clapped my hands on my head as I watched my bike about to be made 4 foot shorter, then the hand of God intervened and a large gust of wind blew my bike so it just glanced of the wall face and headed on it's merry way to the end of the straight where it rolled up and over these piles of gravel that was there to stop any errant drag cars, the bike performed a MONSTER jump and hit this thick wire mesh fence about 8 foot up and it punched it's way half way through the wire and just hung there like a fish caught in a net. it did not even have the decency to hit the ground in sympathy with me. And yes, if course that all happened on pit straight with shit loads of spectators looking on! So there you go, thats how to crash yourself, but not your bike!

After we left the track, I drove Richard nuts by insisting we drive around the local plant shops looking for aloe vera plants to treat my wounds, mainly my left arm which had lost skin from my wrist to my elbow. I duly found some, split a leaf and spread the goo like a salve over my arm. It seals it up and kills infection. I raced the next day in over 30 degree heat and the wound did not even leak! The scab came off in one piece about 2 weeks later and it left no scar. Aloe rocks!

So anyways, there i was, end of season, totally broke, confidence at an all time low. What would I do the following year?

[Hawkeye]

More.... WE NEED MORE...

[skelstar]

Woo hoo I made into a Sugi-story!

I only made remarked disparagingly about all of the friggin dirt on Admirals Rd (and it was raining).

Great story though...love the dream sequence.

[MSTRS:Me]

Just remember, folks, that when the book comes out, you read the draft copy here!!!
Brilliant stories, Sugilite

[dickytoo]

And yes, if course that all happened on pit straight with shit loads of spectators looking on! So there you go, thats how to crash yourself, but not your bike!

But I got to do the "ride of ignominy" - the ride back to the pits past those rapt spectators on the back of the trailer, while you were hiding back in the pits! :slap:

Fun times, indeed.

[dickytoo]

Anthony,

I think you would be remiss if you didn't pass on little pearls of wisdom that we picked up on the way. The first and most important of these for those would be racers is:




DON"T PISS OFF THE SCRUTINEERS!!!

I'll let Anthony explain that one!

[dickytoo]

1990 FZR1000A Exup.


And the crap front end? well after the last race had been run, I found the bike shop had supplied me the bloody wrong model FZR1000's fork specs and I'd been running around with only 2/3 the required fork oil. The leaking oil had escaped the seals due to wicked fork flexing. The whole time I'd been blaming my riding!

l

to be continued...

To be fair on Anthony, the fork oil thing was my fault entirely. You see, in workshop manuals, there's them things they called appendicies where they put all the info on the later models of the bike. Just never figured to look at it, maybe because it was a crappy photocopy and the index and table of contents was crap. Anyway, I looked at the specs on the front of the manual and went from there

[ajturbo]

Thanks for the insight, life and times of a looney racer!!!

[babyB]

way cool .. thata another darn good read... & a perfect accompanment for da mornin cuppa
sugi keep them commin
agrees with MTRS; can i have my copy signed plz

hay Dickytoo.. dam u must have a sence of humour

[dickytoo]

hay Dickytoo.. dam u must have a sence of humour

yeah, we had some fun times! I think anthony had the best of it though because every time he pissed off a scrutineer, I had to fix something! He must enjoyed watching the veins pop in my head

I learned my lesson and put a gag order on him whenever we were in scrutineering.

Don't let anthony forget to tell you about Wanganui and how we nearly missed the entire race because we were asleep in the pits!

[sugilite:Me]

Woo hoo I made into a Sugi-story!

I only made remarked disparagingly about all of the friggin dirt on Admirals Rd (and it was raining).

Watch the video crasherfromwayback posted and get your self a can of harden the fuck up! LOL
Kidding dude, you a hardcore biker you are!

Just remember, folks, that when the book comes out, you read the draft copy here!!!
Brilliant stories, Sugilite

I have no ideas of grandeur on my writing ability!

But I got to do the "ride of ignominy" - the ride back to the pits past those rapt spectators on the back of the trailer, while you were hiding back in the pits! :slap:

Fun times, indeed.

I was riding with you, I was just slung underneath holding onto the axles so no one would see me! with ya all the way pardy!

Anthony,

I think you would be remiss if you didn't pass on little pearls of wisdom that we picked up on the way. The first and most important of these for those would be racers is:

DON"T PISS OFF THE SCRUTINEERS!!!

I'll let Anthony explain that one!

The thing that really peeves me about scrutineers, is they do not appreciate being told how to do their job and what to ignore. Go figure!
(Though even you will agree the bay park one needed a shallow grave to be dug for him!)

To be fair on Anthony, the fork oil thing was my fault entirely. You see, in workshop manuals, there's them things they called appendicies where they put all the info on the later models of the bike. Just never figured to look at it, maybe because it was a crappy photocopy and the index and table of contents was crap. Anyway, I looked at the specs on the front of the manual and went from there

You owe me a ZX10 R ride for that snafu, oh wait.....

yeah, we had some fun times! I think anthony had the best of it though because every time he pissed off a scrutineer, I had to fix something! He must enjoyed watching the veins pop in my head

I learned my lesson and put a gag order on him whenever we were in scrutineering.

Don't let anthony forget to tell you about Wanganui and how we nearly missed the entire race because we were asleep in the pits!

The sleepy time Wangas story is scheduled 2 segments for now when I cover the OWO1 days, or is that doze!

Though since we are airing all the dirty laundry, in the next segment I'll be recounting your design and execution of creating a 500 cc vibrator that would get even the likes of Margret Thatcher off to a roaring orgasm!