| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
X1Glider, TWS on 6/15? Unfortunately no. I'm relegating myself to OHR for now. I still don't have a belly pan anyway. For track practice on non race days they let me get away with that, but on a race day my M2 would have to actually pass strict tech inspection, and it lacks the required 3 qt capacity belly pan. Have you fitted a pan to your X1? You coming to Oak Hill Raceway in July (7/6-7/7)? I am thinking of renting the track on the 4th to get in some more track time. | ||
| X1glider |
Can anyone else hear the whip cracking in Kilgore?  Can't get away, huh? No belly pan yet, but I'm thinking of integrating a turkey basting pan with the stock chin fairing somehow. I still need to drill holes for safety wiring too. Guess I'll put some new fasteners on my list of things to buy. I think we need to generate some more Buell interest in TX racing. What class will we be in, BTW? Heavyweight Sportsman? Do you think Oak Hill will be open and somewhat empty on the 4th? As far as paying goes, how do they do it? 50 bucks for 1/2 hour sessions or all day pay? Gimme details, details, details and I'll let you know if I can do it. Otherwise I'll be there that weekend for races anyway. Is it a dry county up there? | ||
| Blake |
The only safety wire you will need is for the oil filter (use a hose clamp), the tranny drain plug (I'm trying to get away with a bead of high temp RTV) and the oil fill cap (a wired cover to prevent it from popping out should the seat come off). I've got the threaded oil cap and simply use a hose clamp and wire it to the sub frame. I have a turkey pan too. It's teh largest that I could find and it's not anywhere big enough to fit around the header and rear shock/swingarm lever, especially when considering the shock/lever motion. There used to be a company making/selling so called "soft belly pans". They were basically a piece of plastic lined with a big diaper. The diaper was able to hold a substantial volume of oil/fluids. If I could find one of those, I think tech would let my bike pass. Oak Hill Raceway is $50 for an all day use of the track for us CMRA members. You can't beat it. The two times I've participated in a rental, I put right near 150 miles on the bike lapping the track. I was worn out both times. Rusk county Henderson) is dry yes, but Gregg county (Kilogre) is wet. Stay in Kilgore (recommend Best Western) instead of Henderson if you want beer with your burritos. The track is 15 minutes from Kilgore and is out in the boonies. Nothing but oil wells and cow pasture near the track. If you decide to race, I'd be happy to help you in the pits. A Buell qualifies as a sportster and so can race in the Middleweight GT classes on Saturday. I think it qualifies in the middleweight sportsman classes too. Of course you can always jump up a class if you like. There are a bunch of classes we can race though. I'm not sure which without digging through the rules. There is a twins class and of course superstock too I think. Check out the CMRA message board (mboard link) at the CMRA site at http://www.cmraracing.com . The CMRA site also has a link to the rules on the "racers" page. It is at http://www.cmraracing.com/pdf/02FUSA_RoadRaceRules.pdf | ||
| Dust_Storm |
Blake how "open" is Oak Hills? Arroyo Secco here allows motorcycles on the track only once per month, meaning track time is actually race time (doesn't build for good practice, ya know..) Me think s me needs to move if this hobby progresses any more. X1Glider - Have fun at TWS! Be ready though, wow that track is flat and fast. Last time i was there people were being spit off left and right. Keep your eyes peeled, and have fun! BRING WATER! (and an umbrella - girls optional)   [Ds] | ||
| Blake |
Except for race weekends you can pretty much rent the track anytime you want. The track also supports cart racing, but they are not as active as the CMRA guys. There's a link to the OHR track page on the CMRA site. | ||
| Blake |
X1G, We can even race lightweight Supersport! Even with my Nallinized engine! The LWSS Class Rules include the folowing...
Right or wrong, I bet they accept a Buell as a "Sportster". So the summary of classes a Buell could enter, depending on level of modification, are as follows... CCS/CMRA Classes Lightweight Supersport Middleweight Supersport Lightwieght Superbike Middleweight Superbike Lightweight Grand Prix Middleweight Grand Prix Middleweight Sportsman Heavyweight Sportsman GT Lights GTU Supertwins Formula 40 (if you are 40 or older) All have both amatuer and expert divisions. Are you planning on racing in July at OHR? | ||
| X1glider |
Lightweight supersport says "HD" sportsters. The rules seem absolute to me. Middle weight supersport allows 2 cyl, air cooled, unlimited cc. So does middleweight superbike. Heavyweight sportsman was what I was thinking. What kind of other bikes would I be up against? The reqs in that class are: 2 stroke, unlimited cc 2 cyl, air cooled, unlimited cc 2 cyl, liq cooled, 3 valves, unlimited cc 2 cyl, liq cooled, 4 valve, non desmo, <=800cc 3 cyl, non fi, <=1200cc 4 cyl, air cooled, <=1200cc 4 cyl, liq cooled, 1990-2 year, <=650cc 4 cyl, liq cooled, pre'90 year, <=860 cc All air cooled, 2 valve unlimited cc Note: Ducati 748 series excluded from this class Obviously, the way to do this is to write down all the different bikes you'll be up against and enter the class with the slowest other bikes. Unfortunately my sportbike knowledge is lacking in this area. | ||
| X1glider |
I'd definitely like to be on the bike in OHR. Is there camping there? The pan is the issue still. I looked at the bike a couple nights ago and was thinking "nah" a turkey pan won't fit around all that. 2 maybe. There's just so much stuff going on under our bikes. Perhaps I should call Hals or some other place that races Buells to see if I can get one from them. Even a used one. And a fairing too. I'd like to remove the headlight instead of taping it up. I'd like to remove everything I don't need. Let's talk rearsets now. The crossroads seems to move things up 2" and back 2". Is this enough? The ones Buell sells for the S1 moves them up and back 4" and 3" respectively. Anyone know if the xroads bars will clear an x1 tank? | ||
| X1glider |
Blake, if I can get off work on July 5, we should get together that 4 day weekend then to do a thorough prepping of the bikes and a full day of practice. 2 heads will be better than 1 in getting ready for the race. You haven't specified if you just wanted to help me or race as well. Both? | ||
| Blake |
In addition to finding the class where a Buell will be most competitive, we might also want to find the class with the least participation. I'd say that if we qualify for middleweigt sportsman we would be more competitive than in heavyweight sportsman. I remove my headlight. It only takes a few minutes. OHR has a large camping area that is basically a mowed field, but no showers or individual water hookups. It will definitely be a good idea to show up a day early to snag the best paddock spot. I'd be happy to impart what limited knowledge of the track I have. For a great description and some referece times and speeds for Oak Hill Raceway as well as some great tire testing information, DEFINITELY check out the RRW OHR racing tire test article at... http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/issues/jan00/tiretest.htm I won't be prepared to race, so my offer is to act os your pit gopher (crew chief?  ). It will help me aclimate to raceday procedures. I'll ask the guys over on the CMRA board if a Buell qualifies as a "Harley-Davidson Sportster" in the CCS rules. They make no mention of "Buell" anywhere, and the rules are engine type driven, so I'm optimistic that we could race in the classes that permit "Harley-Davidson Sportsters of unlimited displacement" as is specified for the Lightweight Supersport, Lightweight Superbike, and Middleweight Sportsman classes. The CMRA site should have race results posted for the various classes, so we should be able to ascertain which are less populated. Some classes are combined in a wave type start, with the smaller class starting behind the larger. I think I have the schedule from the last race weekend around here somewhere. If I find it I'll post a copy. I think the GT class sprints are run on Saturday after the mini (80cc two stroke and smaller) endurance race is complete, and the rest of the Buell applicable classes are all run on Sunday. As far as a number plate, I'll probably let go of the $50 required for the Buell piece. It's an S1 bikini fairing extended downwards to also cover the area formerly taken by the headlight. Either that or simply mount a piece of 10" x 12" flexible plastic. That would be too easy. Eventually I would like a sharkskinz style tail section. The belly pan issue can probably be satisfied with a creative application of a turkey pan. Or maybe we could bribe BHR, the sheet metal master, into pounding out some custom pans. This is getting me stoked for racing. Blake PS: Remember to bring your yellow shirt! | ||
| X1glider |
Ripped off from the CMRA board: TWS 8hr Endurance Report -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CMRA/ CCS 8 hr. Endurance at Texas World Speedway Round 4 of 8, Texas World Speedway, Jun 15, 2002 Back by popular demand, the CMRA held its first 8-hour endurance race since 1999. Northwest Honda once again proved its mastery of endurance racing by pulling off a solid win despite a formidable attack by Madd Camp's roosting GSXR600 ridden by renowned fast guys John Haner, Shannon Ball, Keith Holleman, and Dale Love. In third place overall was HAS racing, a YZFR6 piloted by David Sanders, Heath Small, Marc Gifford, and Brett Champagne. Rounding out the top 5 were No Homeless and House of Fish. Temperatures in the mid 90's and high humidity gave partly cloudy skies and wind gusts a warm welcome. The race went relatively smoothly, albeit with two red flags, one of them resulting in an ambulance trip and thankfully only a broken collarbone. The green flag dropped one minute early at 10:59am, releasing 45 bikes into TWS's 2.9 mile sun-drenched racetrack. At the get go, Troy Green rocketed away from the field, setting an awesome gap aboard One Way Racing's GSXR1000. The pack of 7 bikes that followed was led by Madd Camp's John Haner, but was stalked and challenged by Northwest Honda's Matt Maschmann, along with other challengers including Silver Bullet, HAS Racing, and House of Fish. Lap times in the 1:49's were not uncommon- a fairly quick pace for an 8-hour. The first red flag came at 11:38, with Shogun Motion's bike down and a possibly injured rider and oiled track. Too early to do anything with tires, most teams topped off their tanks and threw on a fresh rider. The re-start gave Haner a chance to establish a sizeable lead, one he would maintain for 26 laps. There were some victims, however, as those in the following group jockeyed for position. On lap 23, amateur fast guy Michael Sanchez low sided the Cyclewerkz GSXR600 in turn 2. He was okay, but the bike took a beating and forced an early retirement. Northwest Honda's Rusty Allen got into a heated battle with Robinson Partner's Greg Abbott, and ran off the track at turn 3, but managed a quick u-turn and re-entry. At the first hour, Madd Camp was in the lead, followed closely by Northwest Honda, Robinson Partners, Big Air, and One Way racing. At the end of the second hour, the true nature of endurance racing showed its face. While quite a few bikes succumbed to either mechanicals or pilot error, steady riding was handsomely rewarded. The Village Idiots showed it by taking the lead- at least on paper. No Homeless managed to sneak into second, past Madd Camp, Robinson Partners, and Northwest Honda, who would find themselves in no worse position for the remainder of the race. However, with nine bikes on the lead lap, and many teams using different pitting strategies, these positions were sure to change. Silver Bullet lost time when their chain broke, forcing them to push their CBR600 all the way from the horseshoe back to the pits. Throughout the third hour, the dust settled, and any bikes that were left unscathed continued to steadily crank out laps. Some exemplary riding by Desert Rat put them in third, ahead of No Homeless and House of Fish in fifth. At the halfway mark, tire changes began to even things out. While Northwest Honda and Madd Camp had changed tires earlier, teams following a one-tire change strategy did their scheduled stops and consequently lost their positions on the throne. The infamous Village Idiots relinquished their lead to Northwest Honda, who decided to keep the lead for the remainder of the race. Madd Camp was mysteriously relegated to 9th place, perhaps due to their 3-minute tire swap, but that would soon change. Needless to say, in endurance racing when things are going well, something is bound to go wrong. At 5:50pm, Robinson Partner's Tony Moore went down in turn four and was lying on the track. Corner workers raised the second red flag for the day. With the rider stabilized and off to the hospital, the regridding began, and was almost released before Northwest Honda's John Branch barely made it to his position on pole. He had crashed on the warm-up lap and had to get his brake pedal straightened out. "I knew Madd Camp would have Haner trying to run us down, so we put new tires on for the restart, probably a BIG mistake!" Said Northwest Honda's Ronnie Lunsford, who attributed the incident (mostly) to a set of barely warm tires. And so began a 50-minute sprint for the finish. There were still accounts to be settled, and the first nine places were fundamentally up for grabs. The competition was fierce, and it was difficult to determine who was winning, because some bikes were ahead of the race leaders, although on paper they were a lap or more down. Madd Camp was in front, followed by Northwest Honda, House of Fish, Big Air, and HAS Racing. HAS Racing was charging very hard and in the end settled at a steady pace behind Madd Camp. Northwest Honda gradually lost a couple of positions on the track, but still had the advantage of being a lap ahead. No Homeless's "borrowed gun" Ty Stranger-Thorsen was doing his best changing positions with House of Fish, albeit with a bike that had severe wobbles and an expired throttle position sensor. Neither of them, however, was a threat to the first three teams, who ended up being Northwest Honda, Madd Camp, and HAS racing. "It's too bad the race was not 20 minutes longer," remarked John Haner. In the end, it was a grueling day for all involved, although generally most agreed that it was not as long and harsh a race as expected. Many thanks go to the CMRA and corner working staff, which labored for the entire 8 hours (and then some) to help this race run smoothly. |
