Well, I now know what it feels like to lead! :D I also know what crashing feels like. :o I did quite a bit of agricultural work this weekend for the staff at Jennings GP. ;D First, had a big high side coming out of turn 11, held onto the handlebars, landed on the tail section, smacked both feet on the ground (spraining my left ankle pretty good) and hit my left shin real hard on I think the peg (got a 6 inch lump on it...lol), but managed to somehow stay on two wheels. Actually rode a few more laps and put in my first 1:25 the last lap. Then in my first race, got together with Scuba Steve into turn 3 (the esses) and had to go straight across that whole section...so grass, track, grass, track (almost hit Steve again as he came by...whew, just missed him), and then through the grass and into the trees. Got about three rows deep into them before I finally hit one with the right front of the bike. Thought I was in big trouble, but when I looked, all levers, etc were there so I pushed it back out of them and got back into the race. After making sure the tires were clean and everything worked, I managed to get back by 6 riders and finished 12th. Second race (after a bunch of scrambling and fixing bodywork and rigging my gas tank on) got a great holeshot and had a 5 or 6 bike length lead for about 2-1/2 laps. Then I started having some big rear wheel slides in the middle of the corners, even before I picked up the throttle. I just figured my tires were going away, so I kept pushing. Finally, on lap three, I had a huge slide in turn 7 that allowed Michael Mills to go past and I followed him, trying to make it back up. Had a ridiculous slide all the way through the kink (turn 12)...slid all the way to the braking markers for turn 13 while wide open :o, put it through 13-14 okay and got a great run up the front straight, and just as I caught Mills going into one, I turned it in and right at the apex the reat tire let go again, this time even worse. I guess the motor let out a big puff of smoke as I went in and dumped oil on the rear tire. I saved it and went straight into the grass, up the big embankment, and over the hill, flipping off the bike and coming to a stop on a ledge about 5-6 feet down the other side of the hill. I hear that everybody was quiet, even the announcer, until I got my bearings and popped back up over the hill. Bike isn't too bad, but not sure what happened internally to it. Probably start looking at it Wednesday night. But hey...I got to lead some races and had some great battles with Scuba Steve, Michael Mills, and another rider named Matt?!!! That was a BLAST! Oh yeah, what sucks the worst, is that the guy that won what would've been my last race...AM Supertwins, won by like 30 seconds turning 1:29 laps. I was in the 1:24's all day Sunday. :( Oh well...had fun anyways, and I'm just a little beat up, battered, and bruised.
You're having some crappy luck man, but it sure makes for some good stories. ;)
Dare I ask....
How is the wife handling this?
Dawn :)
;D I guess it's better than having no luck at all ???
:P
QuoteDare I ask....
How is the wife handling this?
Dawn :)
Taking it just fine. Surprised me too. I crashed basically right in front of her. She took some shots of me sitting up on top of the hill after i crashed and coming in on the crash truck...lol. She was fine once she saw me come back over the hill, as was everybody else watching (basically everybody there saw it...lol). She was a little more worried when I didn't come around after hitting the trees cuz she didn't know what had happened...lol. I'm a lucky guy! She's pretty great. ;) If somebody wants to post the pic of me sitting on the hill next to my big rut in the side of the hill, I'll email it to ya. Can't put it on my site from work.
GOOD thing you're ok! and in good spirits,...
also good that you're in a position to come back and RE-assert yourself....
sounds like you're on pace to put a real "hurtin" on em.....
glad youre ok....
Quote If somebody wants to post the pic of me sitting on the hill next to my big rut in the side of the hill, I'll email it to ya. Can't put it on my site from work.
I'll post it if you want.
kyounger@shelterinsurance.com
Thanks Chef. I tried hanging off like you, but I bruised my inner thighs trying to hold on...lol. I'm all excited cuz I wore my left knee puck all the way down to nothing...lol. Right one's coming too. Just finally getting off the bike on the right side too.
MD, good seeing ya out there. Ill be questioning your sanity if you spend big bucks to rebuild the motor again though. somethings not right with that thing or its just not up to race abuse. I learned a tough lesson when starting on dirt bikes when i was about 14. had a paper route and got my 1st 1982yz 125 with some help from grandpa. the thing locked up low ends every 10 hours or so. some older guys (19-22 year olds at that time...) told me to get rid of the bike, bad model. i wouldnt lissen. 3 more low ends later i finally sold it. had an RM 125 and kx 125 that i raced ALL YEAR with 1 piston change.. thats it... no problems at all. same with the F4 i race now. 22,000 miles.. nearly no leak when tested.. 101 hp on race gas.
its a cool bike and cool to race but unless you have some unlimited funds, or the guy whos building the motor will warrany the work.. your in for some tough times ahead.
Very impressive riding. i was very skeptical when you had expectations of 1:25 lap times your 2nd time at that track. it took me 6 or seven track days to get those times.
Good luck,..see ya out there.. sometime..
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.fireblades.org%2Ftigerblade%2Fimages%2Fhilltop.jpg&hash=606d41840148378107254585166ac36b62dbbfad)
I gotta see what's wrong with it before I make any rash decisions...lol. It hopefully is something minor since it was still making power when it went bad. I'm hoping for the best. If it's destroyed again, I may just have to buy a 600 and come after ya later this year! ;D
Thanks Kris. By the way, I had a GREAT view of the race from there! ;D
QuoteThanks Chef. I tried hanging off like you, but I bruised my inner thighs trying to hold on...lol. I'm all excited cuz I wore my left knee puck all the way down to nothing...lol. Right one's coming too. Just finally getting off the bike on the right side too.
:) ::) ;D 8)
holy crap Mighty, you ever think about maybe joining
the rodeo? ;D sounds like it could have been alot
worse, however. hey, next time when the rear tire
starts to tell you "no" listen darn-it >:( ;D
You win some, you crash some....but you gotta love
it right?
glad you are ok,
Benji.
Thanks Benji....I just couldn't pull off while running second...lol. I knew the tires were getting pretty well shagged, but I figured I could hold on for three more laps. Turned out that they were shagged, but that wasn't why they were sliding...lol. If it had been sliding in the right handers too, I probably would've thought differently, but that place is just so hard on the left side...oh well. Now I gotta keep my fingers crossed on this motor deal... :-/
well good luck with all else and once again, glad to hear that (you) are o.k.
shagged er rotten didn't ya?
Benji.
I justed wanted to show you the wildlife bryan i figured i would send you to the trees. ;D I had a good view of the hillclimbing competition you entered i think you made it up there in a record climb ;D I was like damn where the hell does he think hes going back to west palm or something!!! Anyways had a blast see you at moroso. You got me back in the 2nd race though you had to stand it up in 5 and 6 and i was on the outside sent me off the track but i didnt make it to the trees. In my superbike race i lowsided in 8 and still ended up finishing 3rd. Luckily the bike slid on my leg and only had a lil scrath on the tail and ground the peg a lil
Hey Ducky, For a Piece of wood? Do yourself a favor back it down a notch and finish!
I have the wood pieces, I want the big metal one! Steve, did you see that 125 come across in front of me when I had to stand it up? Me and Mills both thought we were gonna hit her and both go down. I didn't realize you were out there too until you told me later. I think I missed her by like an inch or so...lol. She came over and apologized later for using so much track when she knew we were coming. I told her it wasn't her fault at all, just a racing thing. That was SOOOOOO much fun this weekend!
Hey Benji...after looking at the rear tire on my bike (which was brand new to start the weekend) after 6 practice sessions and 2 races, all my dreams of getting two weekends out of a set of tires are gone...lol. I probably wouldn't even have made it through the Supertwins race had I not crashed. :D
Alright, I got to put in my two cents now. Oh, I aint got any sence. You guy came ready to make me work. That was the most fun I had racing this year. Dont feel to bad steve I ran a 1:23.01, 1:23.03, 1:23.05, and 1:23.02 the last 4 lap of the GP race. I was wandering were Byran went. I didn't know we wanted to enter a jump contest. The slower riders were really getting in the way, but man was in cool being 4 wide in the back on the second lap. Two bad for Matt in the superbike race. Steve, I think Rons looking for some payback at Moroso.
Mills 416
Hey Mills! Welcome to the board! ;D That was the most fun I've ever had on a bike. Not counting the trees...lol. Even the hillclimb wasn't too bad. I did 1-1/2 flips off the top of the bike...lol. I figured I'd get back to the pits and get scored like a gymnast, but all I got was the wife taking pics of the crash truck..lol. I'm hoping I'll be ready for Moroso, should be. I sent you an email a little bit ago. I check ducatimania@aol.com a lot more often, so catch me back there. Later.
For sure 4 wide was awesome!!! I figured he will be looking for me at moroso. I was next to matt when he fell said to my self that sucks then 3 turns later i was on my butt also. I was trying to get a good run on you mike going to 9. But its all good still finished 3rd. Had fun watching ron behind me in the supersport race i was just making sure he wasnt gaining on me. we ran 24s pretty much the whole race. I was taking it a lil easy thru 8 though just didnt need to make any mistakes. Cant wait for moroso Hopefully i will be able to hang down there since ive never been.
I dont know if you know this but John and Alex weren't going any faster. Ron wont ride at Moroso anymore seems he is protesting the track. He just doesn't like it. It's was alot better before the new chicanes, but it's only 70 miles from the house and racing is racing. Werner Lurtz is fast at Moroso but he may have White plates now.
It doesnt bother me who races just as long as im having fun ill be gunning to keep up with you again!!!! I think the track was quite slick later in the day or maybe that was oil from a duc!!!! :o
What was it turn 9 maybe??? :o, you see my slide in the kinck I think its turn 3? in the GT race, OH YA you kicked my *ss in that race.
Cheap shot Steve...lol. I only put down enough oil to knock myself off line. I learned a lot about sliding the bike this weekend. You guys followed me quite a bit, and I'm sure you saw this thing protesting the torque off the corners...lol. :o I think you'll be fine at Moroso Steve. I only have about 18 laps there myself. 2-1/2 practice sessions then pop. Mike...I thought we were as fast as Alex and Linder...I had my watch on them later in the day. Linder is a super nice guy too...gave me a few tips. I think we're gonna have a LOT of fun the rest of this year. No more snoozers like Homestead. Daytona is gonna be quite a shootout for the ROC!!! See ya'll later.
:D Mike thats right i didnt get to see your slide in 3. I got lucky in that race was able to get some room between us!! Im sure moroso is going to be a good battle!! By the way where are you guys staying there?
mighty, i gave up on trying to get all i can out of the rear. as soon as it starts to slide, it's done, period.
when the front slides, thats when i know i'm really moven...but the rear, asking for trouble. my very first
race weekend last sep. my cousin threw some take-offs on my bike to get me started...i just thought that all that sliding around was normal....until i put
new tires on...night and day. so now, if i got the cake, the bikes got the rubber you dig?
sounds like you guys are having a pretty wild time
down there. the Midwest AM's have a competitive
field as well...hope we all stay healthy and maybe meet down @ ROC.
take care be safe have fun,
benji aka lil thorny
thrizzle izzle outie 5 ;D
I think Daytona will be a blast for all of us. We might have one of the most exciting races to watch the whole week there. Quite a few people came by and told me how much fun it was to watch me, Mike, Steve, and Matt this past weekend. The only reason the whole world saw me go over the hill is because our race was so exciting that everybody was at the fence watching. I had thoughts of making my tires stretch for two weekends by going new Sunday for races, then practice the next race weekend and races, then practice the following weekend before new for the races again. Now I just hope to make it through 1 weekend with 'em. ;D The faster I go, the more expensive this gets...lol. Steve, we stayed at the Seminole Country Inn in Indiantown last time, it was pretty cool. Little old restored place with all hardwood floors, etc. Or you can go into West Palm and there's a bunch of places. Either way, they're all about 15 minutes from the track. Mike, where do ya'll stay?
The great thing about Moroso and Homestead is I live right in the middle of them. I'm 70 miles from Moroso so I'll be staying in my bed sleeping with my Dog. OH YA, I just sent my heads to get worked on after this weekend retainer failure. Steve how are you on the brakes? You dont have to use them at Jennings. >:(
Im pretty good on the brakes. Im usually a late braker because of my motocross background. ;Dmust be nice to be only 70 miles away. I live in Tampa and any track is a 3 1/2 hour drive!! Glad to see you sent out your heads.
Dont worry I'll be there. Let me know when your comin, I live on the way in. I'm in Weston which is the first sign of civilization after you cross the ally.
We are heading down saturday morning i think. I will let you know foor sure when it gets closer.
I think I'm coming to Moroso Sunday morning or late Saturday to get a good pit. I don't plan on riding the track day on Saturday. Do either of you? Steve, put on new brake pads for Moroso and Homestead..lol. Both tracks have some really heavy braking areas. Especially the two chicanes at Moroso. ;)
Im just going to run the sunday practice. Thanks for the advice! i planned on it anyway still riding on the stock ones!!! ;D Do you know if we can get a pit on saturday or do we have to wait till sunday???
Quote Im just going to run the sunday practice. Thanks for the advice! i planned on it anyway still riding on the stock ones!!! ;D Do you know if we can get a pit on saturday or do we have to wait till sunday???
you can get a pit on sat. VERY limited power outlets. they go real fast.
Thanks Greg. When are you guys heading down?
I'm bringing a generator, just to be safe. W egot there Saturday morning last time (would be Sunday this time) and lucked out and found some power. Just be sure to bring a long cord and a 3-way to plug into.