Kurt'sSV
Mon 11/20/06, 12:49PM
Willow Springs Motorcycle Club, Round 11, November 2006
For a guy who got his ass kicked this month, I sure did have fun out there. No crashing this time!
There was some awesome riding going on in the 550 Superbike race. None of it done by me, though. The top three finishers all ran in the 1:29's. Jay Pilster ran the fastest lap of the race on his 125gp bike at a 1:29.5. He was DQ'ed though because this was a production class and he was on a GP bike. He knew that going in, though. But Jay says he's gone more than a second faster than that when his motor is fresh. I think he uses this guy as his brake marker:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/KWhittngton/buddy_christ.jpg
Brant Wiwi's 1:29.55 is now the lap record for 550SBK, and he did this on a borrowed SV. I would like to see Wiwi and Kurt Spencer go at it on the Big Track. With weather conditions like we had this month, I bet they'd force each other into running 1:27's.
Chris Rogers also turned a 1:29. He's come a long way this year. Last year when he was a math teacher he was all slow. Now he's part owner of West Coast GP Cycles and now he's super fast.
For the most part 550SBK was kind of dull for me because I raced on my own (I guess Andy Palmer was pretty close behind me, though), but the last lap was more exciting. Out of no where going into turn three I got passed by both Eric Angel and Ryan Sturz on their antique Yamaha FZR 400's. These bikes weigh less than an SV, but not a whole lot less. They have a lower center of gravity, making them corner better, but they put out about as much horse power as your left testicle. They both turned laps in the 1:31's. When the two of them went by me the first thing I thought was "oh shit." Then I thought it's time to wake up and if I can hang with them coming out of turn five, I can get them in the fast stuff.
I did. Coming out of nine I got a good enough drive that I would easily go blasting past them on the front straight. Sturz was in front to my left. Angel was a little behind Sturz to my right, so I was going to split them. As I started passing Angel he began swinging over to get in Sturz's draft. Again I thought "oh shit, don't move over Eric because here I come." I clobbered Angels bike, mostly with my right elbow. It didn't mess me up too much, but it knocked him to the side pretty good. I was glad to see that he didn't crash.
I crossed the line in 4th. Because Pilster was DQ'ed I was gifted 3rd place.
F-Twins Lightweight was all over before I even got to turn one. I had problems up shifting the bike and was all the way back in 6th for the first turn. The fast guys got away, but I spent the rest of the race battling with Kevin Jump. It was a lot of fun. We went back and forth several times. In the end I got balked huge by a lapper on the last lap and that was that. I finished back in 5th. I did break into the 1:30's though. I made a geometry change after the first race and that helped a lot.
Thanks to my sponsors: SoCalSVRiders.org, Michelin, LP, West Coast GP Cycles and class sponsors Little Big Racing and VP Fuels.
For next year I'll have a new sponsor in Suomy helmets. While I don't miss the silly flowers of my old Suomy, I do miss how it fits. I'll be glad to be wearing one of those again.
And, my write-up of the F1 race is posted on Roadracingworld.com (http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=27642) :D
For a guy who got his ass kicked this month, I sure did have fun out there. No crashing this time!
There was some awesome riding going on in the 550 Superbike race. None of it done by me, though. The top three finishers all ran in the 1:29's. Jay Pilster ran the fastest lap of the race on his 125gp bike at a 1:29.5. He was DQ'ed though because this was a production class and he was on a GP bike. He knew that going in, though. But Jay says he's gone more than a second faster than that when his motor is fresh. I think he uses this guy as his brake marker:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/KWhittngton/buddy_christ.jpg
Brant Wiwi's 1:29.55 is now the lap record for 550SBK, and he did this on a borrowed SV. I would like to see Wiwi and Kurt Spencer go at it on the Big Track. With weather conditions like we had this month, I bet they'd force each other into running 1:27's.
Chris Rogers also turned a 1:29. He's come a long way this year. Last year when he was a math teacher he was all slow. Now he's part owner of West Coast GP Cycles and now he's super fast.
For the most part 550SBK was kind of dull for me because I raced on my own (I guess Andy Palmer was pretty close behind me, though), but the last lap was more exciting. Out of no where going into turn three I got passed by both Eric Angel and Ryan Sturz on their antique Yamaha FZR 400's. These bikes weigh less than an SV, but not a whole lot less. They have a lower center of gravity, making them corner better, but they put out about as much horse power as your left testicle. They both turned laps in the 1:31's. When the two of them went by me the first thing I thought was "oh shit." Then I thought it's time to wake up and if I can hang with them coming out of turn five, I can get them in the fast stuff.
I did. Coming out of nine I got a good enough drive that I would easily go blasting past them on the front straight. Sturz was in front to my left. Angel was a little behind Sturz to my right, so I was going to split them. As I started passing Angel he began swinging over to get in Sturz's draft. Again I thought "oh shit, don't move over Eric because here I come." I clobbered Angels bike, mostly with my right elbow. It didn't mess me up too much, but it knocked him to the side pretty good. I was glad to see that he didn't crash.
I crossed the line in 4th. Because Pilster was DQ'ed I was gifted 3rd place.
F-Twins Lightweight was all over before I even got to turn one. I had problems up shifting the bike and was all the way back in 6th for the first turn. The fast guys got away, but I spent the rest of the race battling with Kevin Jump. It was a lot of fun. We went back and forth several times. In the end I got balked huge by a lapper on the last lap and that was that. I finished back in 5th. I did break into the 1:30's though. I made a geometry change after the first race and that helped a lot.
Thanks to my sponsors: SoCalSVRiders.org, Michelin, LP, West Coast GP Cycles and class sponsors Little Big Racing and VP Fuels.
For next year I'll have a new sponsor in Suomy helmets. While I don't miss the silly flowers of my old Suomy, I do miss how it fits. I'll be glad to be wearing one of those again.
And, my write-up of the F1 race is posted on Roadracingworld.com (http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=27642) :D