NQ1965
PR Elite
I'm not typically a compulsive truth teller, and can be quite reserved at times, but some of the recent posts on here compel me to come clean on this one.
With Pit's (as I referred to it) "heartfelt confessions of a motorcycle racer" about his Millville Regional experience, and then Sharcs' loose hose clamp confession leading to a seize of a perfectly fine motor, it's a reminder that were all human, make mistakes, and sometimes make some pretty good stories. Unfortunately these are sometimes hard lessons learned.
Preparing for Vintage days was a bit chaotic for me. After the AHRMA race in late June, I was having truck troubles with my old Ford (Flossy). I was trying to exercise most every day to stay conditioned for the heat (while trying to nurse out knee, leg and toe injuries sustained on July 4, riding crash). Working every weekday, keeping up with the lawn, spending as much time with the granddaughter as I could, and prepping two bikes for July 22-24 races.
The KDX didn't require a whole lot of work so that helped. The YZ250 gave me some periodic hard starts in Athens so I resolved to fix that. I ordered parts to replace my crank seals, and planned on thorough inspections of my ignition and carb. Parts were slow in coming, including waiting on a rotor puller. As Vintage days approached, I was scrambling to get this work all done and I did. The Sunday before the races I had a good testing day at Briarcliff, had some good runs, made a few adjustments......She's set! Spent two evenings that week finishing up the KDX, and then gather up of gear and all the other crap you need for race day.
Now....We move to Sunday, July 24 Post Vintage racing. First practice goes well. YZ250 running great.
First race (#7) EV3 201cc-open B/C.............................I get a weak start, but finished 4th overall out of 7 of us.
get back to pits to get ready for race #10....bikes overheating a little. (after all it was hot out).
Race #10, 40+ open B..........I get a much better start, I'm in third, slip back into 4th but aggressively chasing the KDX400 that passed me. I'm hot on his rear wheel and he's fading, to the final lap. I crest the small single jump directly before the tree turn, and my bike dies mid air, I pull off and she's panting like a steam locomotive. BADLY OVERHEATING and my cylinder base gasket is blown out.
Several days pass and I'm praying that I didn't screw something up that caused this....What do I find last night?
* * * * * My water pump hoses were backwards !
I get a decent start for once.
The KDX400 gets around Beenridin and me.
I'm giving it my all to keep him within striking distance.
(this photo is out of order, but you can see how close we kept him)
Heartbreak!
I am a pretty fair mechanic, but being rushed always leads to mistakes for me.
With Pit's (as I referred to it) "heartfelt confessions of a motorcycle racer" about his Millville Regional experience, and then Sharcs' loose hose clamp confession leading to a seize of a perfectly fine motor, it's a reminder that were all human, make mistakes, and sometimes make some pretty good stories. Unfortunately these are sometimes hard lessons learned.
Preparing for Vintage days was a bit chaotic for me. After the AHRMA race in late June, I was having truck troubles with my old Ford (Flossy). I was trying to exercise most every day to stay conditioned for the heat (while trying to nurse out knee, leg and toe injuries sustained on July 4, riding crash). Working every weekday, keeping up with the lawn, spending as much time with the granddaughter as I could, and prepping two bikes for July 22-24 races.
The KDX didn't require a whole lot of work so that helped. The YZ250 gave me some periodic hard starts in Athens so I resolved to fix that. I ordered parts to replace my crank seals, and planned on thorough inspections of my ignition and carb. Parts were slow in coming, including waiting on a rotor puller. As Vintage days approached, I was scrambling to get this work all done and I did. The Sunday before the races I had a good testing day at Briarcliff, had some good runs, made a few adjustments......She's set! Spent two evenings that week finishing up the KDX, and then gather up of gear and all the other crap you need for race day.
Now....We move to Sunday, July 24 Post Vintage racing. First practice goes well. YZ250 running great.
First race (#7) EV3 201cc-open B/C.............................I get a weak start, but finished 4th overall out of 7 of us.
get back to pits to get ready for race #10....bikes overheating a little. (after all it was hot out).
Race #10, 40+ open B..........I get a much better start, I'm in third, slip back into 4th but aggressively chasing the KDX400 that passed me. I'm hot on his rear wheel and he's fading, to the final lap. I crest the small single jump directly before the tree turn, and my bike dies mid air, I pull off and she's panting like a steam locomotive. BADLY OVERHEATING and my cylinder base gasket is blown out.
Several days pass and I'm praying that I didn't screw something up that caused this....What do I find last night?
* * * * * My water pump hoses were backwards !
I get a decent start for once.
The KDX400 gets around Beenridin and me.
I'm giving it my all to keep him within striking distance.
(this photo is out of order, but you can see how close we kept him)
Heartbreak!
I am a pretty fair mechanic, but being rushed always leads to mistakes for me.
