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My First Race was. . .

Discussion in 'General' started by Shyster d'Oil, Mar 26, 2007.

  1. Robert

    Robert Flies all green 'n buzzin

    Rodger ended his racing career on my favourite corner. Jackie Stewart once called it the most difficult turn in racing.

    It is a 4th or 5th gear, double apex, off-camber blind left hander. The entry is cresting a hill so you have to get your knee down before you can see where you're headed. After the first apex, the middle 1/3 is way off camber. Just as you drift out towards the edge and start to think "oh sh!t," the cambers changes to positive and slings you back in to the second apex.

    On an SV you can downshift, roll off slightly and then take it WFO, no braking needed. Nail it right and I swear it's as good as great sex. :)

    Mess it up and... well, Mr. Doyle had lots of time to think as he tumbled because the run-off slopes downhill for over 100 metres. I've seen plenty of bikes flip for ages (and disappear over the armco tire barrier). I once saw a photo of a bike wedged up in a tree there..



    Not that you asked me!
     
  2. Kev59

    Kev59 Well-Known Member

    First race

    Talledega '92 Ninja 250. Ran into Aaron Yates on his RZ350.
     
  3. Knarf Legna

    Knarf Legna I am not Gary Hoover

    Seaford, DE, 1973, Honda CR250 Elsinore.
     
  4. Sept 2003 FASTRAX 3 Hour Endurance race at Nelson. First wera race april 2004 at Beaver Run
     
  5. SloKidd

    SloKidd Well-Known Member

    Sep 2005, Nelson Ledges, 97 TZ250
     
  6. Paige

    Paige BBS FF Champ

    Never raced, but have memories of watching my Dad race at Road Atlanta in 78 or 79. He used to pit under the trees where the tower is now. I don't know if the tower was there back then or not, I just know we would sit in the shade under the trees between races.
     
  7. lizard84

    lizard84 My “fuck it” list is lengthy

    Nelson Ledges 1988, If I remember correctly, The Late Bob Stanley & I took school together from no less then current Wera school instructors Tommy D & Jeff James when they did the schools together, Bob's son Todd had taken school a week or so before at Summit.

    Todd & I were on the same bikes so we had a blast racing with each other, damn the rest of the field. I went to Grattan the next week to get my second race in so I could race the Cycle Jam at Pocono just a while after. Todd has a photo of us from that race, you could have thrown a blanket over us and you can see our ear to ear grins through our clear shields.

    I entered 3 races at Grattan, wrecked in the bowl in the middle race (I thought dragging stock pipes was so cool I decided to level the rear wheel off the ground) Broke a stock steel bar but Grattan had a arc welder on site and no less then RD Jim Sublet welded the bar for me and got me back out for my last race.

    Good times:up:
     
  8. Shyster d'Oil

    Shyster d'Oil Gerard Frommage

    You nailed it, Robert, but lest anyone think that the complexity of Turn 2 got me: I never did and never will get that turn. I merely made a very dumb unforced error while at a fast cruise pace - no way will I run 10/10ths at a place like Mosport.

    And it was not the pain or terror of crashing that had me quitting, but the frustration of crashing out in third. Years of frustration actually, but I won't go into that now. They actually had a podium in front of thousands of spectators. . . I crashed a mere 1.7 miles from a podium spot. The memory still causes synapses to misfire in anger and frustration. I could write quite a bit about this, but it is for the "Quitting Thread", not here.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2007
  9. JamesC459

    JamesC459 Well-Known Member

    My first race was in 93 at Shannonville Fabi circuit raceing sidecar with the SRA.My Dad was the driver and was the monkey.I drove up from Ft.Myers FL to NH to meet up with the group and then drive 8 hrs to the track.Spent two of the most intense days I've ever had there.What a complete and crazy rush.If you get an opportunity to ride a sidecar do it.We finished 6th that week on a chassis built in 1973 that had a stock gs 1000 two valve motor.That very dad I decided to move back to NH to race full time.We bought a newer rig the next season (bittn by THE BUG)two years later and in debt to my balls,I quit racing sidecars.
    I moved back to Ft.Myers and was working in a bike shop with some buddies from school.I bought a 90 fzr 600 with 40k miles on it and beat the piss out of it.The junkpile dropped a valve against the limiter(ain't that how Yates and them is backin'it in?)two days before penguin roadracing school in Daytona, Oct97.I rented one of the fleet EX's for the days and put in 211 miles that day.I knew that I wanted to race again.But,without any money to rebuild the Fzr I did the only smart and logical thing I could think of.I bought a brand shiney new 97 GSXR600:)The next race on the CCs calendar was the final event at homestead DEC 97.I
    showed up at a new track in monsoon conditions on a street bike all stock down the D204 original tires,tape on the lights,the whole deal,started on the 16th row am mwss finished 14th.I felt pretty confident going into mwsb later that day.The best part is that I was dicing with the guys that finished 7-9 when I outbraked my self and my brand new bike end over end into the gravel trap before the back straight on the last lap(I was gonna beat em)That bike was a cosmetic total 4 days before the first payment was due.
    I didnt know that the guys at work had a pool going at to weather or not I was gonna huck it down the road.That event was also John-O Bowman's first AM race weekend.(RIP JAMIE)
     
  10. gixxernaut

    gixxernaut Hold my beer & watch this

    I like to think of what I'm doing as racing, but most folks probably just call it "clogging up the corners" as they blister by. Finished 5th of 6 in HWT SS at Tally back in February though! :up:

    Of course one guy crashed out... :D
     
  11. SOFG

    SOFG Well-Known Member

    I'm right there with you. '73, N. Judson IN, Honda CR125 Elsinore. Some said it was the worst track they ever rode. I was out of school before most of these guys were born. Road racing, next year if all goes well this year.
     
  12. cBJr

    cBJr Well-Known Member

    <this is where a certain short guy comes in to tell you how you remember it wrong, and it was actually Yates who torpedo'd you.>

    :D
     
  13. cBJr

    cBJr Well-Known Member

    That's got to be tiring. :wow:
     
  14. Yamaha Fan

    Yamaha Fan Well-Known Member

    The Model before the RD's was the DS7 (250) and the R5 (350) they were basically the same as the RD's with the exception of being piston port, 5 speeds with drum brakes.
     
  15. Yamaha Fan

    Yamaha Fan Well-Known Member

    First race

    First race 1975, Bottechia full campi road bike. Sprint race in down town Orlando, 22 riders, won the race. Decided to try out the bicycle on our dyno at school, put out 2.7 hp @ 58mph while pedaling my ass off.

    First MX race, 1976 Orlando Sports stadium, 1974 Maico AW125 lost the crank while in about 10th. I think there were about 40 riders it was like riding in a sand blaster...

    First Road Race 1977, FGPRA 4 hour endurance race at PBIR (now Moroso) on a KZ650 in the 750 class. I discovered on about the 3rd lap that the balance weights fell off the front wheel on the way to the track. Coming under the pedestrian walk on the front straight traffic had opened up so I was keeping it pegged, it started to vibrate as I watched the speedo going by 110… then the head shake started :wow: It felt like it was lock to lock.. Our scorer was sitting in the stands and he swears he could see air under the front tire… I am sure that the smell emanating from my leathers for a few laps kept quite a few riders from passing me :Puke:. We finished second in class behind a very fast Yamaha XS750 (yes an XS750 triple) built by Atlanta Yamaha factory service center (Hasty Horn?) It was rumored to have XS1100 pistons making it an 850. We were so elated to finish on the podium we did not care… :beer:

    I had a similar experience to John being lapped in my first race. It was a pair of red Guzzi 1000’s If I remember they were ridden by John long/Henry degouw, and Ted Henter/(maybe) Will Harding on the other. They caught me in the left hander at the end of the back straight/drag strip. I could hear them gearing down for what seemed like a quarter mile, it just kept getting louder and louder I could feel them rumbling… I was praying they would pass me before the corner. I knew enough to hold a steady line and left room on the inside, they split me. I swear I could have cut off the kill switch they were so close. Quit road racing to work on MX bikes in 1980.

    Started back in 2000 with the WERA Vintage group, Built an F-RD bike that has morphed into a full on F-500 bike. Currently working on an RD250 based bike and a TZ350 hopefully can get out to a few more events this year :up:
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2007
  16. Knarf Legna

    Knarf Legna I am not Gary Hoover

    125 was a cool bike, revved to the moon. The 250 turned like a 10 foot long 2x6. :D
     
  17. Just Bob

    Just Bob Well-Known Member

    My first race is this Saturday, round one of the Honda Plaza Cycle Masters of the Mountains (MOM) series at Miller Motorsports Park.

    I'm 57...Better late than never.
     
  18. RB

    RB Well-Known Member

    Red Hill Hare Scrambles out near Dallas GA. Ace 100. 3rd place.
     
  19. Robin172

    Robin172 Well-Known Member

    July 1975, Cadwell Park:
     

    Attached Files:

  20. 05raven r1

    05raven r1 Well-Known Member

    Feb 2006 TGPR 04 R6--meatgrinder class. I was slow but finished the race:up:

    for those who where there we where the clowns that spent the snow filled night in a tent:down: To say the least it was an experience
     

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