Not sure I was even going to make this event as I missed the first round. Mikey and I built a 500 for this year and I still have my 250. I tried to do a trackday in November but the transmission was buggered so no saddle time until race weekend for me.
Saturday practice day: The bike was far from sorted. I kept bottoming the forks out, the motor was overheating, the rear tyre kept slipping out. I was all out of sorts. I'm gonna RACE this thing tomorrow? I kept asking myself. Little by little The Joshua Jet came around. We found out early that the rear tyre was due to scraping the belly pan where the pipe was. I was leveraging the tyre off the ground. Not good. In total, I had 5 trips to the suspension guy and it was getting better. The tuning was waaaaaaaaaaay rich but the motor was still overheating. Dyno jet had a dyno there and we spent a few runs on it and came close with the jetting. At least it was much improved.
We changed the oil and fluids and hoped for the best...
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!!
First race was 250P. Because I scored so well last season, I was gridded 4th, outside, front row.
I had not ridden the bike in 5 months and the last time I rode it for 20 minutes on a trackday my nephew did with it. I should have changed the chain. :slap:
Two board, one board, sidewaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaays, GREEN FLAG AND THEY'RE OFF! We had a thumper on the front row and he was gone! Me and another bike went into turn one and two side by side. I got him in three and set off after the thumper.
I passed the thumper for the lead on the outside of turn 6. I WAS IN THE LEAD!! yeeeehawwww...er...waitaminit...
I got passed underneath in turn 7 then passed again in turn 9. I was in third. Hey waitaminit, I WAS IN THIRD!! yeeehawww.....er...waitaminit... about halfway through the race and as I was gaining on second and planning my pass, the chain stretched (I should have changed the chain), it came off the rear sprocket, wrapped around the counter sprocket, and put a hole in the water pump. Race over.
One race down, one to go.
So, back at the pits, we were hangin' out enjoying snacks and really awesome weather.
I don't know if Tyler was cleaning his red rex or ALL the red rexes.
Charley was putting some finishing touches on the Joshua Jet
And Tyler was cleaning....well, you get the picture
Dagnabber came by on his green rex and thumbed his nose at all the red rexes
I was probably lying about something to Steve and Kimber :laff:
Lenny (mouth open and I don't know why), Mikey and I put our last touches on the Jet.
no comment
Then we put the Jet away for race #8
Because I'm new to the class, I started on the back row in 13th position. There was me and one other person back there. I thought 10th would be good for a first time out and only ridden the bike the first time the day before. Still had suspension issues and still bottomed out the forks. But, what the heck, let's go racing!! :rockon:
We grid
Two board, One board, Sidewaaaaaaaaaaaaaays, GREEN FLAG AND THEY'RE OFF!!!
Holy Kaw did I get a good start. Best start of my life! I was flying past bikes. I remember thinking, "what's wrong with these guys". We come out of turn one and I'm in third place. I'M IN THIRD PLACE!!! yeehaaaaw!!!
I hang out with one of the other racers and try to go to school on him. We started getting passed by the super dino folks and I said to heck with this and just put my head down. I was all alone in third place.
I was trying to take it easy and watch the temp gauge. So far so good. The first two guys were gone and there was no way I was gonna catch them. I was way ahead of fourth so I had a podium locked up on the Jet's maiden voyage. I was very happy.
Until... :gooff
The bike overheated bad eventhough I was trying very hard to nurse it home. Fluids were spewing out, the motor was cutting out, and I found myself pulling off the track and limping back to the pits.
The motor is in the shop getting the head decked and the cylinder matched. New head gaskets on the way and with any luck, it will be ready by next Wednesday for drag racing at Sears. I still need to work on my launches.
All in all it was a great weekend with lots of friends and fun. I did really well for not riding the 250 in a long time and I did even better on the 500. Btw, I was STILL bottoming the forks out during the 500 race. Can't wait to get it sorted. We'll give 'em hell then. :thumbs:
Thanks again for those who came and I look forward to seeing you at the next race, May 24-25 back at Sears (Infineon).
Thanks goes out to Mikey for building the 500 with me. We're almost there.
Thank you for reading my report.
Chuck
AFM #909
Saturday practice day: The bike was far from sorted. I kept bottoming the forks out, the motor was overheating, the rear tyre kept slipping out. I was all out of sorts. I'm gonna RACE this thing tomorrow? I kept asking myself. Little by little The Joshua Jet came around. We found out early that the rear tyre was due to scraping the belly pan where the pipe was. I was leveraging the tyre off the ground. Not good. In total, I had 5 trips to the suspension guy and it was getting better. The tuning was waaaaaaaaaaay rich but the motor was still overheating. Dyno jet had a dyno there and we spent a few runs on it and came close with the jetting. At least it was much improved.
We changed the oil and fluids and hoped for the best...
SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!!
First race was 250P. Because I scored so well last season, I was gridded 4th, outside, front row.
I had not ridden the bike in 5 months and the last time I rode it for 20 minutes on a trackday my nephew did with it. I should have changed the chain. :slap:
Two board, one board, sidewaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaays, GREEN FLAG AND THEY'RE OFF! We had a thumper on the front row and he was gone! Me and another bike went into turn one and two side by side. I got him in three and set off after the thumper.
I passed the thumper for the lead on the outside of turn 6. I WAS IN THE LEAD!! yeeeehawwww...er...waitaminit...
I got passed underneath in turn 7 then passed again in turn 9. I was in third. Hey waitaminit, I WAS IN THIRD!! yeeehawww.....er...waitaminit... about halfway through the race and as I was gaining on second and planning my pass, the chain stretched (I should have changed the chain), it came off the rear sprocket, wrapped around the counter sprocket, and put a hole in the water pump. Race over.
One race down, one to go.
So, back at the pits, we were hangin' out enjoying snacks and really awesome weather.
I don't know if Tyler was cleaning his red rex or ALL the red rexes.
Charley was putting some finishing touches on the Joshua Jet
And Tyler was cleaning....well, you get the picture
Dagnabber came by on his green rex and thumbed his nose at all the red rexes
I was probably lying about something to Steve and Kimber :laff:
Lenny (mouth open and I don't know why), Mikey and I put our last touches on the Jet.
no comment
Then we put the Jet away for race #8
Because I'm new to the class, I started on the back row in 13th position. There was me and one other person back there. I thought 10th would be good for a first time out and only ridden the bike the first time the day before. Still had suspension issues and still bottomed out the forks. But, what the heck, let's go racing!! :rockon:
We grid
Two board, One board, Sidewaaaaaaaaaaaaaays, GREEN FLAG AND THEY'RE OFF!!!
Holy Kaw did I get a good start. Best start of my life! I was flying past bikes. I remember thinking, "what's wrong with these guys". We come out of turn one and I'm in third place. I'M IN THIRD PLACE!!! yeehaaaaw!!!
I hang out with one of the other racers and try to go to school on him. We started getting passed by the super dino folks and I said to heck with this and just put my head down. I was all alone in third place.
I was trying to take it easy and watch the temp gauge. So far so good. The first two guys were gone and there was no way I was gonna catch them. I was way ahead of fourth so I had a podium locked up on the Jet's maiden voyage. I was very happy.
Until... :gooff
The bike overheated bad eventhough I was trying very hard to nurse it home. Fluids were spewing out, the motor was cutting out, and I found myself pulling off the track and limping back to the pits.
The motor is in the shop getting the head decked and the cylinder matched. New head gaskets on the way and with any luck, it will be ready by next Wednesday for drag racing at Sears. I still need to work on my launches.
All in all it was a great weekend with lots of friends and fun. I did really well for not riding the 250 in a long time and I did even better on the 500. Btw, I was STILL bottoming the forks out during the 500 race. Can't wait to get it sorted. We'll give 'em hell then. :thumbs:
Thanks again for those who came and I look forward to seeing you at the next race, May 24-25 back at Sears (Infineon).
Thanks goes out to Mikey for building the 500 with me. We're almost there.
Thank you for reading my report.
Chuck
AFM #909