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Vintage race report with AHRMA at RRR

Discussion in 'Race Reports' started by RZ Racer, Feb 26, 2015.

  1. RZ Racer

    RZ Racer It passed tech LAST time!

    This was my 3rd race with AHRMA and I made a bigger effort to get out and socialize, instead of just focusing on my racing. Got to meet Ricky Pearson and Courtney Alleart, both of whom I raced against last year but never met. Also Met Mike Lipscombe (sp?)... all 3 are really stand up guys with BEAUTIFUL machinery!

    As expected, Sat am was brutally cold, but you could tell it was warming up fast, so I elected to sit 1st practice out. 2nd session came and I stayed out for the full session, getting into a good dice with a Thruxton (#990) for several laps. He had motor, but I had local track knowledge and was able to pass him back in 3 or 5 almost every lap. FUN!! After the practice, I was rejetting back down to "normal" main jets when I saw the new intake manifolds I had bought over the winter and never installed, so decided to take an extra few minutes to install them. (foreshadowing)

    I had my horn in the car, so offered up my services for the National Anthem to Cindy. It went well, with few cracks or slips. (it went even better on Sunday!) No matter how many times I've played that song, theres always a certain amount of stage fright that goes along with it. (much like the feeling I get right before 1st call on a race)

    My 1st race was race 9 (F-500) and I was a little nervous because I had seen the Mr Roper was signed up for it and he is hands down, one of the fastest homo-sapiens on the planet! I knew that the bike he had intended to ride was broken and saw him pulling up on a ds7. (great...now if I beat him it will be because he was on a ds7 and if I get beat it will be: "you got beat by Roper on a DS&?!?" :lol: No pressure....) :roll: I got a great start, but was squeezed out by a fast 4 stroke that motoring me into t1. Luckily, he moved over a smidge just before the pavement on the R ran out, otherwise I would have been in the grass! He broke a little early, which allowed me to slip on by into the lead. Next lap and a half was uneventful until exiting t9 on lap 2, my bike got loud and lost power. I looked down after getting over to the wall and saw one of my carbs had popped out of the manifold. I pulled off the track and asked someone at tech for a slottted screwdriver and re-installed the carb, thinking I could still get some points and possibly even catch a couple of the slower riders (I heard the leaders going by just as I was bumping the bike off. It was a good plan, but halfway around my 1st lap back on the track, the carb popped out again. Enough is enough and I retired gracefully back to my pits. Roper DNF'd too. Tough luck for both of us!

    My second race was race 10 (Formula Vintage) so I only had 15 mins to effect repairs. I dove into swapping the manifolds back while my wife and son refuled the bike and oiled the chain. I got everything buttoned up just as they were calling 2nd call, so it all worked out perfect! I got another great start, but Courts 100hp monster kawi would not be denied and he led into T1. I was really worried about Keith Powell on his wicked fast RZ, so made a somewhat aggressive move around Court on the outside of t2, hoping to keep him (as well as a few of the faster bikes from the class gridded ahead of us) in between us. As I exited t2, I heard my motor tach up way too fast and realized that my clutch was slipping pretty badly. I fiddled with the adjuster and initially moved it the wrong way...doh! I finally got the adjuster screwed all the way in on my 1st trip down the front straight and was pleased NOT to see Mr Alleart or Powell! :cool: I kept my head down and pushed as hard as possible, but the clutch never stopped slipping, so I was being very delicate with the throttle, trying to get it to hook up. On the positive side, it never really got worse either, so I just kept at it. when the white flag came out, I broke one of my biggest rules and took a look back. No one there! I didn't back off much, but I did back off a little, thinking that I might still be able to race tomorrow with this clutch if I didn't kill it. Heading out of t6/7, I saw a fender on my right and thought it was one of the faster bikes from the other class....WRONG! Right on by goes Keith and even though I pinned it through t9 and almost hit his back wheel on exit, there was no denying the superior speed of his rz.

    Back in the pits, Mike Lipscombe was kind enough to sell me a clutch pack off of one of his spare motors, so I was back in business!! Awards ceremony and dinner kept me from finishing entirely, but I knew I had plenty of time in the morning to get it done.

    Sunday, I decided to pull the clutch back off and deglaze the metals. It meant missing 1st practice, but I didn't care. I needed that clutch working perfect! I'm glad I did, because when I took to the track for round 2, the clutch was like new! :D I spent most of the round showing Ricky P my lines. He was a fast learner and was visibly faster by the end of the session than he was at the beginning. Towards the end, I put my head down and put in 2 flyers. Everything felt great!

    Had to wait all day again for race 9 but I spent the time wisely, watching a lot of racing. Ricky P and Mike L had a FANTASTICK battle in F250, but I only got to watch the 1st 4 laps because I had to get ready. (mike won...BARELY!)
    In F-500, I didn't have the clutch adjusted properly (it hooked up TOO well!) and bogged a little, but recovered nicely and was 2nd going into t1. (behind the same quick starter from yesterday...can't remember his name, but REALLY fast bike!) I went around the outside of t3 and took over the lead. Next lap, I heard a familiar booming sound of a 4 stroke single behind me and (correctly) assumed it was the leader of the thumper class (Harry Vanderlinden) that was gridded behind us. Next lap, he came by on the run up to t9. I followed him through t9 but was too close to get an effective draft, so had to immediately pull out. when I did, my bike went backwards, showing that I didn't have as much motor as he did. I slipped back into his draft though and by the time we hit T1, was close enough to out brake him and resume the lead. This confirmed that he had motor on me, but not much(probably 5 hp or so) What I SHOULD have done was go into "tactical mode" and follow him for a few laps, studying his lines and figuring out how close I needed to be to pull off the draft pass before the line, but instead, I went into "I will lead every lap" mode and whenever he managed to pass me or even just get a wheel on me, I took it back. I gave it everything I had on the while flag lap, but sure enough, 1/2 way between t9 and the stripe he pulled out of my draft and took the win. I may have lost the overall battle, but I still got 1st place points and had a BLAST dicing with Harry!! :mrgreen:

    I took a second to congratulate Harry on the excellent riding and then gassed up the bike for my last race. I again bogged slightly (forgot to adjust the clutch) but still got a fairly decent start. Court was again the leader into t1 and this time carried a lot more speed, so I had no choice but to follow. He launched off of T2 hard enough to make me wonder if I could make it all back up in T3, but I was fired up from my previous race and knew my tires were fully warm, so pinned it and made the move around the outside, taking over the lead. I was eager not to make the same mistake as yesterday, so raelly put my race face on and pushed for the best possible laptimes. Sadly, it wasn't enough and around lap 5, Keith went by on the front straight. I tucked into his draft and saw that he wasn't really getting away (i think I was geared a little tall and he was geared a little short because his accell was WAY better than mine, but he really didn't pull away once I was in his draft.) When we hit T1, I pulled out of the draft to take advantage if he braked earlier than me. He did, and I went zipping back into the lead. Now i was REALLY pumped and put in my fastest laps of the race trying to keep him behind me. I got a lucky break with a lapper on the penultimate lap and began to think I just might have a chance...... I screwed up my courage and kept it pinned through T9 and as soon as I had the turn made, I took my l hand off and "slipstreamed" it, but it was to no avail. 100yds before the stripe, he shot by and took the win.

    All in all, a great weekend!!! Bummer about the dnf, but it was my own fault for racing on a new part without practicing on it first. (yes, even a simple intake manifold should be tested first!!!!) The weather was PERFECT and I got to connect a lot of faces and names with bikes and bike #'s. unfortunately, work is going to conflict with NOLA, but i will definitely be back for some more AHRMA fun before the year is out! I had my gopro running for all 4 races if you want to watch.
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClEEar ... rng/videos

    HUGE thank you to Mike Lipscombe for the clutch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Without it, i would have been headed back to Raleigh Sat night. I know this kind of stuff happens all of the time, but when you're the recipient, it feels "extra" special!! I would also like to thank the Garlands at Vintage Specialties, Doug at Moto Carrera, Buff at THR, Continental Race Tires and my AMAZING wife, Eileen. I couldn't do it without all of your support!
     
  2. ringdingding

    ringdingding TWO-STROKE MILITIA

  3. slower than u

    slower than u Well-Known Member

  4. cajun636

    cajun636 Honda Junkie.

    Excellent write up!
     
  5. bogganman

    bogganman Well-Known Member

    Mark,I didn't want to tell you at the track, but my year-old bridgestones were chattering so badly I didn't think I could stay with you! And yes,I had a new set in the truck(duh).Great ride. :beer: Unfortunately my gopro crapped out on both our races. I think I need a new battery. It's so ironic that now you're on an rd400, and I'm on the rz.......
     
  6. john westcott

    john westcott Well-Known Member

    No video.
     
  7. RZ Racer

    RZ Racer It passed tech LAST time!

    Don't know why the link went bad. Try this:
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClEEaruf1SpEJc-YNk_Lrng/videos

    Keith-

    I can feel your pain! Nothing worse than having to deal with chatter...Especially at RRR!! It erodes your confidence and makes you feel like you're about to crash every time you lean the bike over. As you saw firsthand, I was having no such issues!:D Mostly fresh (5th weekend on them) Continentals and a well sorted (Thank you Traxxion Dynamics!) suspension had my bike on rails all weekend long. Hats off to you for bringing the chatterbox home to 3 wins! :beer: (just like I had no real chance against you, you had no real chance against the tz, but nice effort!)
     

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