I have an '87 GSX-R750, running the USD front end from a '93 GSXR. This bike was setup for the AFM's Super Dinosaur class. Since WERA West is new for '04, I'm trying to sort through the rulebook and figure out what class my bike would be legal for in case I wanted to join the Vintage fun during one of these WERA West rounds. Under WERA Vintage rules, would the '93 USD front end make my 750 illegal for V6, and legal for V7 only? My '87 750 also appears to be legal for the Thunderbike class in CCS....browsing through three different rulebooks is really making my head hurt.
your bike is legal for both classes so get out and enjoy. A couple of us V6,7 guys are thinking about making a west coast race. Which one would you recommend? Good luck and we'll see you out there, Eboz
I've only raced at two of the tracks on the WERA West schedule, Buttonwillow and Las Vegas. But the only time I rode at Vegas was counterclockwise during an experimental AFM event, everybody else runs it clockwise. I did like Vegas though as it's a fun track (I hear it's even more fun clockwise). I've never been to Fontana or Arizona Motorsports Park. My favorite circuit on the WERA West schedule would be Buttonwillow, it is an extremely technical and challenging track. I dunno what layout WERA West will use, but the AFM uses config #13: http://www.buttonwillowraceway.com/race_13.htm I'm still clueless at Buttonwillow but I love the place due to the technical nature and huge corner variety, even if I'm slow. Plus the corners have names instead of numbers, gives'em soul. Sunrise looks simple enough on paper yet I still find it tricky for some reason. You brake hard for this one since you're coming off the longest straight on the track. The Off-Ramp is scary due to a bump entering it (easy to tuck the front because you're braking hard while turning the bike), and off-camber exiting (lots of highsides here as people try to get good drive for the short straight before Cotton Corners). I truly suck at the Off-Ramp. Cotton Corners is a wicked-cool Right-Left-Right section. You may drag hard parts in the Left as it's in a little dip and you're really leaning the bike here. Grapevine and Club Corner are fairly straightforward righties, except that before the Bus Stop you will encounter a bump fittingly nicknamed the Wheelie Bump. Even moderate-powered bikes will hoist an unintentional wheelie here, but you gotta get it under control quick. Funny to watch people climbing up on the tank trying to keep the front end down. The Bus Stop scares the crap out of me because it's a sharp left kink in an otherwise very high-speed section. You need to get good drive on the exit because of a long WFO section afterwards through Riverside. Riverside is like a NASCAR banked turn, you're WFO and still wishing you could go faster. Very fun banked sweeper with big speed. The left kink leading to Lost Hills is simple enough, but Lost Hills is not. In fact it can be downright terrifying. The track goes up a small hill, then drops away to a blind right-hander. It will take you awhile to find a good turn-in point for this one. At least if you blow the corner there is flat dirt so you can run off and hopefully get back on (don't ask me why I know that). The Sweeper is my favorite corner at Buttonwillow. It seems to last forever, with huge lean, then it funnels down to a line about 6 inches wide entering the Esses. Charging in there three bikes wide with everyone jockeying for that narrow exit line is quite a thrill. Who's going to back down? Will it be you? As you exit the Sweeper you hit some sharp Esses with HUGE raised curbing. You don't want to hit this curbing. Pretty much a one-bike line through the Esses, you would need to seriously saw somebody's front end off or stuff them like a Thanksgiving turkey to pass them here. No racer will do that, would they? A short straight follows the Esses, then what I consider the track's trickiest corner, a sharp leftie called Sunset (also called Turn 47 for some reason). I'd say there are more people running off the track here than anywhere at Buttonwillow, you approach it at high speed and the exit is simply tighter than you think.
