Vintage Days- Hard Lessons Learned

NQ1965

NQ1965

PR Elite
Well here's my list of 2014's screw ups, snafu's, and painful mistakes.
Fortunately this year was a little better for me and didn't have any majors, but still some worth mention.

  • It's an absolute must to have all the wrenching done and bikes ready before the weekend arrives. Having to race back home each night and wrenching for 2-3 hours to be ready just plain sucks.
  • Pre-registering is a must. I won't make this mistake again. Just too costly.
  • Based on my Hare Scramble results for the last 3 years I made a last minute decision to switch from my usual "0 - 200cc B" class, to the "40+B" class. This was probably the best riding I have done on this course and felt really good when completed and and expected a top finish. I ended up with a 6th place? But my overall finish time would have put me in 1st place back in the "0-200cc" class. Go Figure! Next Year....... Back to 0-200cc
  • Stop pre-judging and sizing up my competition while on the starting gate! I'm guilty of repeating this mistake over and over. You just never know how another person is going to race until it's over. Getting passed (schooled) by the elderly gentleman riding the Harley Davidson MX250 was a little hard on my ego.
  • Until Jack Babet puts on another 30 or 40 pounds, stay out of his roost. That boy is very aggressive on the throttle and doesn't have enough butt to make that rear tire stay down and hook up. During practice, his furiously spinning knobby roost was like getting hit by a gatling gun and I have the bruises to show it. Good Riding Jack!
  • Not my mishap but had to watch Dano762 crash hard twice due to pinching front brake cable. The cause was found and we all learned from that one. Just tough to watch it happen.
  • Bike Prep is Critical.... Early Sunday morning we met some good guys at McDonalds in Mt Vernon, who came from Cambridge, Ohio to race on Sunday. Just returning to Mid Ohio after a few years break from vintage racing. He shows up next to me for our 1st moto of E3 40+ B, and his left foot peg broke during practice. He suffered through moto 1, then rigged up a substitute for moto 2. He was determined to race, but the disappointment was in his eyes. He's a Vet Racer and just wanted to be on the line again. My hats off to him for his racing spirit!
 
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I'll just say that I'm a believer in the argument that they make a difference and are worth the cost.

I can't really tell you for sure rather or not I am set up correctly on shock set up? All I can tell you is that I originally set them up stiff from the beginning, and haven't changed yet. I do think about what is happenning back there when I ride, but the bike handles so well now that I believe they are doing everything they should be doing.

With 4" travel there, it's almost like you have to make a choice. Go soft enough to absorb the choppy bumps, but risk bottoming landing jumps, "or" set up stiff to skim the tops of the choppy stuff and set up for harsh jump landings.

The best that I can describe it is this way:
A) On the north end of the track heading toward the observation mound/hill we had a long right hand sweeping turn that developed a lot of choppy stuff, but it was a very high speed section. I had total confidance leaning over hard and racing through wide open in 3rd and 4th gear steering directly into the choppies heading to a right hand turn. Ass off the seat part of the way, of course.

B) I never felt as though the shocks were loading up and bottoming...ever!
C) Flat turns with no grooves or lines to follow were never an issue. Just lean it and gas it. Many times I felt like a flat tracker attacking some turns. Total confidance.

C) It also felt like the shocks absorbed big impacts from landing jumps very well. Never a harsh hit, never a bottom out, and never a nasty unpredictable rebound.

The bike felt like a slot car or riding a rail.
I built the bike to race, and so every time I'm pushing the bikes limits and it's "Go or Bust". And so far they're taking the beating really well.
 
Mike,

The front brake locking because my cable got behind the front number plate and pinched so the brake was applied was my hard lession. My shoulder is still reminding me that I mistreated it. I didn't know why I went down the first time so when I got going again and my front wheel touched the ground again, I earned a second journey to the ground.

In the picture below the cable is still infront of the number plate and I am fat and happy. OK fatter than happy but still not hurting and was only 5 turns from a pain free Monday.

Talking with John (Vet261) after it happened and he said you probably don't have a number plate with the plastic extension and that extension is designed to prevent this from happening.

Now I know, I won't make that mistake again and would recommend taking another look at your front plates. My KX had an old after market oval number plate when I bought it and I never gave it a second thought.

I am beginning to think that most racing lessons learned are hard lessons.


Mid Ohio 2104.jpg78_frt.jpg79_80_front.jpg
 
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Didn't Pitracer member Original44 have the same thing happen to him on his freshly restored-for-race 74 YZ250 a couple years back?
Seems I recall he ended up in the hospital didn't he?
 
Mike,
I was looking at another MX250 with Works shocks on it and the chain was rubbing the spring. Does it on your bike?

Kevin
 
Kevin,
I took another closer look at this and I do have a little bit of rubbing. It has the paint worn off on 1 small spot. Not sure what to do about it. No doubt it would be worse if I were running an O-ringer.
 
That's what this guy had on his. A small spot of paint rubbed off the spring. He had a YZ rear wheel on it. Rubbing was probably the wrong word, more like the chain was touching the spring occasionally under extremes. It would take a hundred years to rub thru, I don't think it's a big problem, at least it's not enough of a problem to steer me away from getting a set for the 360. The frames and swing arms are the same so I figure the chain's going to touch on mine, too, and I have an O-ring chain on it.

I have emulators in the forks on mine and highly recommend them. They'd sure compliment your shocks.

KRH
 
The old bikes were designed with the shock bodies mounted to the swingarm ; chain clearance was not a problem . When everybody started running their shocks " upside down " the rub occurred . On some bikes the shock mounts have enough slop that a shim/washer can be used to " cheat " the shock away from the chain a bit , enough to lessen chain rub or stop it completely . On a couple of bikes I've had , I ground the center sleeve of the shock bushings to allow for shims to be used . Wanna do that to your new Works shocks ? =)

Emulators - YES ! Gives way more adjustability and allows forks to be tuned to take big hits without blurring your vision over choppy accel./braking bumps .
 
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