Watching Charles Race

[Bill Greenwood]

Is it aviation related? Well, I flew my Bonanza to Pueblo to see my son's motorcyle road race. It is both exciting and terrifying for a parent. His Yamaha 600 will top 150 mph and he has won some, but also had some crashes. The guy in the pit to the right of us crashes and you can't even tell what brand of bike the wreckage is. The guy in the pit to the left goes out to race and doesn't come back, he's off to the hospital. Charles a pretty tough guy, but while it is exciting to watch, but mostly I pray he is ok. He is a law student raciing a used bike bought on Ebay, on a budget. He's not that great a mechanic but plunges in. He tried to put in lighter clutch plates, made a mistake and missed both the Fri, and Sat am practice. Finally he got it working for 8 laps practice and it's race time.
He's nervous, I'm worried, and we don't know if he can get off the start. He starts 4th, and after a few turns theycome by me and he is right on the leader's tail. He stays there for about 2 laps, then passes the leader at he end of the staraight at about 130mph going into the turn.
He's pulling away, the othe rguy may have a faster bike, but Charles is better in the turns(after all he's got Spitfire time), and he begins to open a good margin, going by lapped traffic like they've got a parking brake on.. Baring any unusual event he can win. Then a few laps from the end the clutch gives up and he has to pull off. But he didn't crash which anwered my prayer, and there was no doubt he was the fastest that race. It was a fun day.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:21 pm, edited 4 times in total.

[daveymac82c]

Hey Bill,

tough loss, but good that your son is alright, and it sounds like it was very obvious who the fastest racer was.

Cheers,

David

[ww2John]

...ah...What color paint on that bike...

[Chris Brame]

Tough break, Bill - but when he gets that clutch fixed, look out!

My boss is sponsoring a young BMXer - a very smart, focused 12-year-old guy who is doing very well (even after his father told him he didn't want to see him any more and walked out ). Their accidents are hairy enough to watch - I can only guess how you must feel watching your son; but hey - you're there for him. Good going!

[Bill Greenwood]

It is Sunday and Charles had another pretty good day. For me, having complete two days of racing with no crashes is a winner, even if I didn't see it today. He was in a class with more competition today. A friend helped him with the clutch last night and they got it working, but it was all or none, he could not feather it off the start;so it bogged down and he was in about 15th place going into the first turn. The clutch held and he started to pass guys. In practice, he started with a lap time of 1:39. He kept improving, got down into the 1:32s and finished 5th in the race. He's about a little over a second off the course record, and thinks with a good start he might have even gotten 2nd or 3rd. I am impressed.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Mark Cook]

Hi Bill,
It sounds like your boy has some skills.
I used to race at the club level in both WERA and CCS. I never raced in the 600 class though as it was too sketchy. (too many novices trying to get to the same place in turn one...)
Have your Son concentrate on setting up his suspension, and worry about tweaking the motor later. A good Penske or Ohlins shock, and comparable front-end set up with shave many seconds off his lap times.
Mark
WERA and CCS EX #38

[51fixer]

Law student, ebay and motocross. Hmm, sounds familiar. Lawyer, ebay and 20+ vintage bikes along the wall at the hangar. I see a connection here.
Glad he had fun and made it through ok.
Rich

[Bill Greenwood]

Mark, you are right on about the suspension. Charles has raced for three years, now in the expert class, and he has the suspenison pretty tuned up. I can't recall seeing many guys pass him in a corner. He is doing it on a budget, so a few other guys have new and sponsored bikes, all the new tirews they need, and they are faster on the straights. Charles is fast in the turns and braking going into the corners. His starts are his biggest problem. His years of ski racing may have given him a good feel for lines and arcs and such.

[Django]

Very cool Bill. I wish your son the best of luck.

In my younger days I terrorized the streets with a 900SS/SP Ducati... When I first started riding, I had an '87 Yamaha FZ600. What a great bike for it's time.

[MX304]

Mark, you are right on about the suspension. Charles has raced for three years, now in the expert class, and he has the suspenison pretty tuned up. I can't recall seeing many guys pass him in a corner. He is doing it on a budget, so a few other guys have new and sponsored bikes, all the new tirews they need, and they are faster on the straights. Charles is fast in the turns and braking going into the corners. His starts are his biggest problem. His years of ski racing may have given him a good feel for lines and arcs and such.

Is he running a slipper clutch, or a stock type setup.?

[Mark Cook]

I'm guessing he's running an R6 with stock clutch.
Sounds like he may be slipping the clutch too much during that start?
I raced for almost 10 years and never burned one up though.

I know how it is racing on a budget. You get by with what you can.
I raced 12 weekends one season, and was strapped the following season.
I was smoking fast that year and managed a regional 2nd in the 250cc class.
(the older I get the faster I was......)
Mark

[MX304]

I'm guessing he's running an R6 with stock clutch.
Sounds like he may be slipping the clutch too much during that start?
I raced for almost 10 years and never burned one up though.

I know how it is racing on a budget. You get by with what you can.
I raced 12 weekends one season, and was strapped the following season.
I was smoking fast that year and managed a regional 2nd in the 250cc class.
(the older I get the faster I was......)
Mark

That's what I was thinking, but even slipping it on the start shouldn't smoke it that quick. That's why I thought maybe it was a slipper that was set to slip too much on the over run into a corner. That's why I like my SV650 track day bike. It doesn't make enough power to hurt many parts.

[Mark Cook]

The last bike I raced was an SV. What a great ride. I rode the snot out of it, and never touched the motor. Great handling bike with incredibly forgiving power.
There's a photo of it on my myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/markcook_38

[Bill Greenwood]

His bike, I think is 2 years old, I think it has a slipper clutch. It didn't burn out, he just HAD TO have aluminum plates which are lighter and supposed to rev quicker, ( kind of like a pilot who NEEDS the latest GPS) When he went to install the new plates it wouldn't fit right. I might have taken it to a shop and let someone who knew how install it. Finally a friend discovered one of the steel plates was stuck inside the cover with the oil film, so in effect he was trying to put 10 plates in a space for 9. When he got it going it would not slip right, was pretty much all or none so he bogged down off the start. Once going on Sun he was faster as all but the first or 2nd guy.
Trying to do all this while going to law school and working part time is a load, but he's young and determined. He''d probably like to race Strega at Reno.