Track Stories 08

[lecroy]

More snow came our way.

We got the flag bike in primer. It looks pretty sad. Started to work on the new wiring harness. Poor old bike.

Been looking at used bikes. Want to drop some weight and get something a tad longer and lower. There have been a few that looked pretty good. Last one I looked at was an old pro-mod that that was built by pup. No plans to sell the flag bike. It's been a great bike to learn on and I am still having a ball with it.

Getting ready to rebuild the motor in my stock GS. I plan to put some of my old race parts into it and take the virgin parts out and save them for cores. It should be bullet proof. She 's getting pretty tired and has needed to come apart for a few years now. Just waiting to get most of the prep work done before I yank it.

I finally sent my big box of transmission parts off. They are sorting thru the junk and will toss out the parts that are beyond saving. The good news is they think there are enough parts to get a good one out of it. They need to supply one gear and hard weld up a few of the others. Plan to just do a nice race cut and put some good bearings in it. Nothing fancy for a 12 second street bike.


Anyone made a pass yet this year? Any good news you can pass around to help these last few winter months pass by quicker?

 

[Baatfam]

Well gang....I'm seriously thinkin' about taking this season off....
If not all of it, at least cutting way back...maybe to just a few weekends.

It's not the money, although we are trying to kill all our debt....
It's mostly about the time. The last few years, we've been gone almost every weekend all summer and when not racing, I'm working on the bike.
Frankly, we've let some stuff go around here.

(I might also add, that now that our daughter has moved out, I don't mind being home so much on the weekends:-D)

It would also give me chance to finish up my street bike and make some changes to the drag bike.

It's still under discussion, mostly between me and myself, as the wife is fine either way....
But....it sure makes sense right now.

Bob T.

 

[RacingJake]

Our track open today and I think it got around 75 degrees. I hope that helps you out Mark :-$

Today was just test and tune so I just made about 9 runs without the wheelie bar. Best was a 6.48 at 113.92 mph with a 60ft of 1.68. Thats my all time best without bars and no NOS.

My goal was to just make shake down passes and see if the extended swingarm stay together..... It did \\/ so now I'm going to bolt the bars back on and really see what she can do.

The son of a friend of mine kept wanting to race me so we line up a few time's. He kept saying he could beat me while his brother kept telling him I was on a 5 second bike. It was was funny, I told him to come out next Friday..... my bar's will be on. He's a nice kid so I got to break him in right :lol:

 

[rosco15]

It's 26 deg. and snowed here this morning. It's gonna be a while yet in Ohio.

 

[GSJimbo]

Its just 15 degrees here in Michigan and I'm still dreaming!!!!!!!!

 

[RacingJake]

I thought you guys use snow chains on your bike's during winter :-k

.:lol: :lol:

 

[lecroy]

Bob, I know what you mean. By the end of the season I am ready for a break. Maybe come to one of our all bike meets at Martin this year. It's a blast and you get to see a lot of bikes. Bring your camera.

Supposed to me in the 40's in the next few days!! Rain should take away the snow.

I thought you guys use snow chains on your bike's during winter :-k

.:lol:

We put sheet metel screws from the inside of the tires pointing out then line the inside with duct tape so we don't pop the tubes. :grin:

Gimbo where abouts are you?

Dug thru the piles at the shop yesterday and came up with a bell for motor two. I need to get it on the lathe today and start making a new starter cover for it.

Slowly sorting the piles and I can at least walk around in my basement again. (Ryan, see you didn't bid on those crazy cases) Dug out some rockers that were custome made. There are different sets, some finished, others in various states of machining. They have a longer pad and appear machined from a solid block. Dug in all my old catalogs and on the net found:

http://www.fastbygast.com/Hardweld rockers.asp

He just started to sell these, but I bet mine are 15 or more years old. Must be a story.

 

[GSJimbo]

I'm east of Flint off I-69............. going to try to make it to Martin this year, think I got all the bugs out of my bike, I hope.....

 

[lecroy]

I'm east of Flint off I-69............. going to try to make it to Martin this year, think I got all the bugs out of my bike, I hope.....

I was born in Flint. Still have relatives in the area.

That would be great! Always good to see some new faces. We have a group that come from out near Ubly (sp?) a few times a year. Track is real nice if you have never been there. Traction on race days is not much of a problem. Everyone that works there is very freindly and helpful.

 

[rosco15]

I'm east of Flint off I-69............. going to try to make it to Martin this year, think I got all the bugs out of my bike, I hope.....

How fast did you run last year?

 

[GSJimbo]

Ubly is no longer, last year was the last, Its closed for good, I go to Lapeer Dragway or Mid Michigan Motorplex .best time last year was 9.80 135

 

[lecroy]

Too bad about Ubly. What was the reason? Looks like they still own the Keliva track and plan to run it this year.

I used to run at Mid Michigan Motorplex, aka Central Michigan Dragway, aka Stanton when I was younger. We went to a big bike race maybe four years ago. They had a great turnout. I was amazed how much it had changed. The tower and stands are real nice now. Same old bathrooms though. LOL

I dug through my pics and found these of the bikes from Ubly. Maybe you know them.

 

[rosco15]

I was hoping to get the trailer out for some prep work and then the weather hit.

We've got between 10"-12" of snow since yesterday and 10"-14" more is supposed to arrive by tonight. Winter is not ready to let us go.

 

[lecroy]

YABTDB

Stay tuned....

 

[lecroy]

Yet Another Big Tire Drag Bike project has started. I picked up a used bike over the weekend to keep me out of trouble. It arrived last night after its 1000 mile trip.

I tore it all apart today to have a look. So far.....

I have never seen someone take a small fender, glue it inside of a big fender. The small fender was used to mount the larger fender to the forks. Its a work of art.

Rule of thumb on fuel tanks. If you want one to leak, drill a large hole in it. Yes, it really works.

The normal rule of thumb when it comes to slicks is that the tire must be +/- 1" within the rim size. Most people put a 10" tire on a 9" rim, 13 on a 12, etc.

If you can't afford to buy 4 of the same bolts with the same threads, you should not consider building a fast motorcycle. Take the pop cans in, buy the right bolts before you cross thread everything.

Concrete screws are for concrete. Dont cross thread them into a thread hole just because you have some laying around.

Using hose clamps to mount the engine mounts to the frame is not a good idea. Learn to weld.

If your going to try and fit a different motor into a chassis than what it was built for, take the time to do things right. If a company like Koenig has built a custom offset plate for your chassis, don't just assume you can do a better job than the masters.

 

[rapidray]

OK Mark, lets see some PICTURES of this Bass turd child! Ray.

 

[lecroy]

Soon.... I am off to the shop to start stripping the steel and aluminum. Lets see what these welds really look like!

 

[Kris V]

Nice lookin "ZX" there in the back. We lost a track last year also,LACR. It wasn`t the best but it was a track that had been there awhile. I am surprised that I have not seen this thread being a dragracer myself8-[

 

[Kris V]

Using hose clamps to mount the engine mounts to the frame is not a good idea. Learn to weld.

What...no zip ties holding the battery box in?:shock: WOW sounds like a GHETTO bike. You see a lot of that on the westcoast also.

 

[lecroy]

Glad you could join us. We have had this thread going for a few years now.

Sand blasting is done. Start hand sanding after lunch. On the plus side, no cracks. Also it has a serial number so I can give them a call and find out who it was sold to and when it was built.