First Flat track race

My first flat track race went well. I had two goals: not to crash and not get lapped. In the first heat I did ok, I didn't crash or get lapped, but I finished 5th out of six riders. Between the races, I talked to one of my competitors. I thought I was racing 15-16 year olds, but no, these kids are more like 12. But they have been doing this sort of racing since they were about 7, so they have 5 years of experience on me, and they are fast. In the final main race, I finished 4th, only because two other riders crashed, but that's part of racing. I did however get lapped by two riders. It was lots of fun and I have much to learn. Bike and tires worked great, so things are looking good for the future. Next race weekend is Dec. 13th, so I'll hope to do better then. Cody is really starting to get the hang of it and was even "backing it in" at the corners. Some day, he may very well be one of these fast kids I'm racing against.

Going Flat Track Racing!

It's been awhile since my last installment, but I now have something to report. At the beginning of October, my friend Jason was wondering what type of racing he could get his kid into. Cody is 6, so I told Jason that I had heard there was flat track racing over in Puyallup, about 10 miles away. So we went and checked it out, thought it would be fun for Cody and went about getting him set up. He rides a KTM Pro Jr., a liquid cooled 50cc dirt bike, that we put some Pirelli scooter tires on, and he was ready to go.

He was doing so well, and it looked like so much fun, that I decided to spend some money and try and give this a shot. There aren't too many dirt bikes that I can touch the ground on, and seeing as I have no idea what I am doing, I decided to find a used CRF150R and race with some very fast 15-16 year olds. Ok, not everyone in this class is a teenager, but 90% are. I found the bike on craiglist in Portland while my friend Matt was in town from Fairbanks. I asked him if he was up for a road trip and he was game. We drove down there, bought the bike and returned.

But it still wasn't ready, as knobbie tires don't work well on the clay track. Plus, I also want to use this bike for some supermoto next summer, so I needed new rims and tires. I couldn't find any deals on Ebay, so I just decided to get some new rims. I did, however find a great deal on some tires on Ebay, so that helped the budget. I also bought a tire changing stand from Harbor Freight tools that works great, and Matt helped out with a race stand, thanks again Matt. Today was spent getting the new tires mounted on the new rims and then onto the bike. It all went well and turned out pretty good.

Tomorrow will be the first day on the track. Ok, not the very first time, as for fun a few weeks back I took my little TTR90 out there, but that was for fun. I did learn on the TTR90 that this is not as easy as some of the people out there make it look. Tomorrow, we'll get to see how I do. I'm not expecting much, as the "kids" I'm racing against have been doing this since they were, well, kids. And they are very good. I'm hoping to not get lapped by them too many times, but it should be fun. The bike itself is a fun, fast little bike and I'm hoping one of the young guns out there will take pity on me and give me some pointers, but I won't hold my breath. See you at the races.

08/08/08 Track day

Friday was another good day at the track. The weather wasn't great, but it didn't rain, mostly overcast until the afternoon when the sun finally came out. I met Will and we got everything set up and ready for the day.

All in all, things went pretty well for me. I was finally able to run consistent lap times that were quick for me, consistent 1:44's. Usually running a 1:44 made me feel out of control, but today I felt like I was always in control and not pushing to my limit. It might be the fact that the new steering stabilizer is on the bike, which helps out with some of the high speed wobbles I use to get in certain sections of the track. I was happy with the day, and the Michelin tires worked well.

Will had two bikes with him, the GSXR600 and the new to him, SV650. He ran the GSXR in the morning, then switched to the SV. Unfortunately, he also had a bad mishap going into turn two on the SV. It was a high speed crash, but luckily he didn't get hurt bad, maybe a bruised finger. The bike did not fair as well, but the damage is replaceable with no major issues, except maybe the tank which seems to have a hole in it.

And even though Will wasn't sure exactly what happened, he was still in pretty good spirits at the end of the day.

I only had one problem with the Honda. I lost two screws off the front fender, and as I was going out for another session, I heard a banging noise. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, then I noticed the fender kind of hanging off to one side. I was able to pull back into the pits before going out and put two more screws in it with some extras I had just in case, and only lost out on maybe two laps. Not sure when the next track day will be, as the funds for this hobby are getting a bit thin, but I do hope to get at least one more day in, maybe down in Portland.

Portland Track day 6/30/08

Kyle and I headed down to Portland on Sunday night. We loaded up the truck and trailer and were ready to go. Upon loading, the bikes didn't fit all that great, but with a few more hooks drilled into the floor of the trailer, next time it will work much better.

We were hoping to be able to camp inside the grounds, and we got lucky, the gate was open. So we used my saying that has worked before...."It's easier to beg forgiveness, than it is to ask permission." The woman who lives on the grounds finally found us and talked our ears off, but let us stay inside, telling us we'd be locked in. Fine with us, we weren't going anywhere.

Before we called it a night for some sleep, we got to watch and hear a nice thunder and lightning storm, but only a few drops of rain fell. We hoped that the next day would be dry, and the sky was telling us we'd be ok.

Woke up and got things packed up to move to the pit area, just in time to not get doused by the sprinklers. Unloaded everything in the pits and we were ready to go, after a quick trip to get coffee. But more surprises were in store. Portland area resident and a guy most motorcycle enthusiasts know, Michael Czysz, who is creating a from scratch racing motorcycle, was on hand.

He didn't have his bike, C1, on hand, but was riding a Ducati on the track. You can check out his motorcycle project here: http://www.motoczysz.com/main.php?area=home And the track was awesome. They repaved it this year and it is smooth and fast, not one bump anywhere. Kyle was doing some great laps, and I improved my lap times from last year. It was hot, 85 degrees, but wiping some sweat off our faces with towels still didn't wipe the smiles off. We had a blast and Kyle will be back on the Portland track next week. I'll have to wait a bit, but I for sure want to ride this track again, as there is no track around here that has a racing surface like Portland, it's the best. And all the modifications I made to the bike worked perfectly with not one problem.

Changes for the track bike

I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I now have something new.

Yes, it's the same old '04 CBR, but with new race bodywork and new paint. Figured I'd better go with some sort of color that would stand out while I was running mid-pack with a bunch of other bikes, since I doubt I'll ever be the leader. A steering damper and a few other items are on the list to be installed next.

Flat black and orange doesn't look too bad. See you on the track!