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Post by will on Jun 15, 2010 19:06:20 GMT -5
I haven't been on a track for about eighteen months, and just signed on as one of the riders on and endurance racing team. I sure hope the other guys know how much ground they are going to have to make up after my shifts.
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Post by john on Jun 15, 2010 19:59:13 GMT -5
well, it will give you track time.
Have fun. Ride 95%. Let others crash around you.
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Post by will on Jun 15, 2010 20:16:11 GMT -5
It's going to be a complete blast. We'll be riding my SV650, so we probably won't have to change tires at all. Four hours of SV doesn't destroy rubber like four hours of a liter bike. I just hope the minimum number of teams sign up, otherwise no endurance race for me.
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Post by baldrick on Jun 16, 2010 9:53:07 GMT -5
Hope you get to race! Just don't make me pick your sorry ass out of the weeds, O.K.? ;D
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Post by will on Jun 16, 2010 12:09:38 GMT -5
I'll be sure to fall off in somebody else's corner.
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Post by baldrick on Jun 16, 2010 13:55:59 GMT -5
Excellent! ;D
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Post by will on Jul 7, 2010 16:33:42 GMT -5
Minimum number signed up, and I think there might only be three of us in the lightweight class. Meaning you start, you podium! I'm thinking seriously about doing one spring on Sunday, since it would be a shame to waste all the practice.
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Post by jeromeoneil on Jul 7, 2010 18:23:42 GMT -5
Minimum number signed up, and I think there might only be three of us in the lightweight class. Meaning you start, you podium! I'm thinking seriously about doing one spring on Sunday, since it would be a shame to waste all the practice. I think it would be more accurate to say you finish, you podium. But the good news is you can push it across the line, and still spray the champaign.
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Post by will on Jul 8, 2010 9:04:07 GMT -5
A couple years ago, there were three bikes in a class. I don't remember which one, but one was a Buell. It managed 45 laps in six hours and placed third. The bike which took second in the class didn't even get on the track until something like halfway through. Typically, the rest of the grid is 650 twins, so I doubt if it will be so easy for us. It's usually a 600 which goes the farthest in a club endurance race because it won't destroy tires quite as fast as a liter bike. The 650s are often right there because they don't destroy tires and don't burn quite as much fuel, meaning they are often able to change riders and refuel very quickly. This one will be four hours, so a smaller bike won't be as much of an advantage, but it adds up. I can't race in October, but the rest of the team probably will. It's common for different teams to show up at different rounds, and consistency makes a high overall season placement more likely. One of the slowest guys in the club was second or third in the endurance series a few years ago, mostly because he showed up at each round. An average rider on a bicycle is faster than he is on his motorcycle, so it shows what consistency can do for you. Besides, it's fun.
And, we will probably be avoiding spraying anything, and since champagne is expensive, we will probably have cheap beer.
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Post by will on Jul 19, 2010 12:18:04 GMT -5
As it turned out, we had the potential to win. I say potential, because we had the ability, but the bike blew a freeze plug with predictable results. It looks worse than it is, but we didn't get very far. So it goes.
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Post by jeromeoneil on Jul 20, 2010 19:22:59 GMT -5
So you didn't podium?
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Post by will on Jul 21, 2010 12:10:31 GMT -5
Nope. I gave the corner workers something to think about, though. I guess sliding through T2 on a steamy oil slick was more exciting to watch than to do. More than half the bikes entered were SV650s, so making a big mess after only about a half hour meant we were fourth or fifth in class. The overall top three were all on SV650s. They were the only bikes left running at the end. Beats me what got in the air, but the attrition was not due to crashes. We blew a freeze plug, one bike developed a head gasket leak, another threw it's chain spectacularly, another had electrical problems before we blew up - all kinds of oddball things, and not the kind of problem you normally have with a track bike. Go figure.
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Post by baldrick on Jul 21, 2010 14:04:24 GMT -5
As one of the corner workers who had clean up after him, the freeze plug blowing out on the SV was a bit more than "exciting". We spent about 40 minutes frantically getting the emulsion of oil and water cleaned off the racing line of the track, but then the rest of the endurance race was a snooze fest, with the last hour consisting of watching only three bikes circulate the 2.5 (about) mile track. Oh, well. So it goes, eh?
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