Year Index at a glance
For 1997 Team Charm will be getting more serious about campaigning in the lightweight classes in the Mid Atlantic region. Rich plans on defending his '96 CCS regional Sportsman title in the newly re-organized sportsman class. Stephen is joining Rich in the lightweight ranks for next year & plans of competing in his first complete regional sprint season, with his eyes on a title, since 1992.
The team should be making a grand re-appearance at the track this coming year as plans include but are not limited to:
aka the "stump" trailer 
into the new & anticipated "Turtle Trailer" Stephen has sold the Team Charm endurance bike & is currently putting together a Supertiwn EX500. Steve, benefiting from Rich's 7 years of racing EX500's, plans on some what radical departure from what is normally done in modified production based racing. Most racers plan on making the most amount of power possible with little thought given to the aero dynamics of the bike. Stephen is setting out to build the slipperiest EX500 in the region. "Basically my plans are to build the EX500 that beats Rich's in a straight line, head to head" sez a boastful Stephen.
Currently the motorcycle is being stripped & prepared for the frame welding. Watch this spot for photos of the project as it develops.
Rich is doing his best of convince his boss, the lovely & talented Mrs Sturges, that he really NEEDS as TL1000 for next year. If he is unsuccessful in this endeavor he will undoubtedly be racing his trusty EX500, no in its 7th year of development.
This year Team Charm made its appearance at the notorious southeastern winter CCS race held near Savannah, GA despite the historical inclement weather associated with the event. Last year Rich & Leslie drove down for the infamous freeze-out without Stephen. This year Stephen drove the nine some odd hours alone to compete with the team's stock EX500 (stock pipes, stock carb jets, stock wheels, stock shock, stock frame) to get points, and because that idiot Brian Summers put the idea in Stephen's head. As Stephen Reports;
"I left work at 3:30 on Friday to drive down to the track I named my dog after. I was driving by myself so I wanted to make sure that I did most of my driving before the wee hours of the morning when the sleep deprived demons come out. I had check out a number of books on tape for the trip prior to leaving to keep my self entertained on the trip. I spent the trip listening to Albatross the story about a ship sinking and the plight of the five survivors stuck in a raft. Just when you think your life it tough, listen to a book like that and you'll feel just fine. Anyway I drove till about 11:15 & then pulled over to sleep for about a hour at a rest stop. Upon waking I drove the last hour to the track. It wasn't till I got to the GA boarder that I realized that the last time I went to Roebling was in 1993. I had forgotten how, specifically, to get to the track. I spent about a 45 minutes tooling around the greater Effingham county area till I found the track. I pulled in at the gate at 3:15 am and promptly went to bed. Waking up at 6:50 am I was greeted with the phenomenon known as rush hour traffic at the Roebling gates. I was amazing how many people where trying to get into the track I managed to find a pit way down in the grassy area by turn one. After registering for GT3 and lightweight sportsman I took my bike thru tech, only to get dis-sed on account of my puny numbers. I pushed the bike back to my pit with a stop at the hose to put water in the cooling system. Once in the pits I fired up the engine only to discover the fuel hose was leaking due to a small tear in the line. After replacing the offending section of hose I discovered that the vacuum petcock gasket was also leaking. Disassembly, cleaning and re-assembly would not squelch the leak entirely. The resulting leak was very minor and only manifested itself in a fine mist that was coupled with the vacuum pulses that came up from the manifold hose. I decided that it was an acceptable safety risk as long as I kept a eye one it. After re-taping my numbers to the satisfaction of the tech guy (he really wanted me to buy numbers) he grudgingly gave me a tech sticker. I made my second practice (missed the first one jacking with the fuel system) and went out on the newly re-paved surface for the first time since a rainy six hour endurance race that I did with Sam Fleming in October of 1993. Superlatives cannot describe the new track surface. There is not a single bump on the track. Traction is incredible. I was dragging my knee by the fourth corner of the first lap. It felt like I was on a jet ski and just rounded a point of land turning into a glass topped bay that had no waves on the surface. Gliding thru the turns with no indication of the tire / track interface I felt as if I was in racer's heaven. I was really glad I did not go to the trouble to put the fox shock on prior to the weekend. Without any bumps the suspension hardly moved, and everything could be controlled with the throttle, body position, and just being smooth. Needless to say I had to reset all my riding perimeters from Summit Point. I did about six laps practice and that was it. I got off the bike and walked over to Joe Wooten & babbled on like an idiot for about 10 minutes about the track---shocked at just how fast you could go on it and that you can take any line you want.
The weather was perfect. Dry, about mid-seventies, and sunny. I had brought all my cold weather stuff and was glad that I remembered shorts, but I forgot sun block and got a sun burn. Rich, you mess up…
My first race of the day was GT3. It was also the first race after lunch. I was gridded last, which was good because the bike I was riding had no power at all. There were about 30 or so on the grid & when the flag dropped we all nailed it to turn one. This was the first time that I have ever been on a grid where the experts and the novices are combined. Personally I don't care what color someone's plates are in front of me as long as they go fast. Well, being last I had to deal with a lot of traffic for the first few turns till I worked my way up mid-pack or so. I really think this is a big mistake on the part of CCS. Some of those novices in front of me were really going slow. There were some really hairy passes in one, two, and three. Its true that sportsman is not as competitive as some of the other classes and its true that at Savannah the new surface means you can take any line you want and you'll have fine traction, but at Summit combining experts & novices is not going to work because there is one line going thru some of the turns and with that kind of traffic someone is going to get hurt. This is going to be a real safety issue.
Anyway I work my way up to mid pack or so and settled into a nice race with two guys on hawks. They had so much power on me that I could not stay in their draft coming out of nine despite getting a better drive and running my front wheel up about a foot behind their real wheel. I was making much time on them in three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine, only to have them motor me on the straight. Still I managed to pass them several times and work traffic. It was a lot of fun actually, as the bike had no power and everything was about conversation of speed. Coming out of one the throttle would get opened and stay opened all the way to four. Turn three was a blast, the speed the bike could build before getting to it was just about enough to make it interesting, and now that the turn has no bumps you can rail thru it at a mind warping speed. Likewise turn nine was a real joy because my drive out of eight was just about enough to keep the throttle hand itchy to back off a little. To keep speed in nine I had to hang off while keeping my knee tucked in next to the bike, and my head totally under the bubble, my body flat against the tank. Depending on my drive out of eight I would either pop my knee out or just back off the throttle a little to help settle the bike into the fifth gear sweeper. I could really feel the chassis winding up hard. At the exit of nine where the bump used to be there is a area where the track goes slightly less positive camber than the rest of the turn. As I would reach this point the bike would unwind--the suspension extending slightly and the frame unloading a little, giving the impression that she was getting loose. Of course I could exit to the inside of this area, taking a tighter line, but that would mean the either the knee would have to come out or the throttle would have to be closed a little. Both of these would spoil what little drive I could get down the straight. The difference could be measured in about a 200 foot variance in where I would shift into top gear. It was neat. I did not get any times on myself, but the race winner was doing '23's. I got the black flag about half way. The first thought in my mind was that the fuel leak had gotten worst and I was either on fire or hosing my rear tire down with fuel. I sat up, put my hand & leg out, and eased over to the right-hand side of the track, running off into the grass about 300 feet prior to the turn one cornerworker station and headed over to them. They told me I was blacked flagged because my number plate was flapping around, and I needed to secure it…. Fortunately one of the corner workers had a pair of pliers and ripped the plate off my bike and I was able to re-enter the race. Personally I would have preferred to get a meatball flag, but I guess they did what they did. In re-entering I re-gained the race one lap down, but with the same guys that I was dicing with prior to getting the flag. It was kinda funny, and we were right back at it. I was able to hang with them for a while, but as we got into some bad traffic they opened up a lead and I could not make it up. They ended up finishing 13th and I was 19th out of the 30 or so starters. Talking to them after the race I found our that their hawks had cams, pipes, jet kits and 364's. On the other hand I was on a totally stock EX500 with three and a half year old K591's that had about 30 hours of various track time on them. I felt good about keeping company with them for the time I did. I was happy about my racing for the first time since 1994.
My second race of the day was lightweight sportsman. It had 16 entrants. I was again gridded in the back. Again the grid was combined. I almost didn't make the race as when I went to start the bike the motor would not turn over. The solenoid was firing, but the motor was not turning over. Then the power would go dead just as I hit the starter button. After a second or two the power would come back on and it would do the same thing. In a panic I connected the car's battery with jumper cable directly to the starter motor and the bike fired. I assumed I was having either a charging problem or an intermittent open somewhere in the 12vdc system. I warmed the bike up and rode over the hot pit and parked it power on engine off. I asked Joe Wooten to give me a push so I would not have to use battery power to run the starter. He obliged and I made my warm up lap fine. Again the start and first lap was a little scary due to the combine grids. The breakaway pack at the front, about eight bikes, were just out of my reach for the race. Was running harder thru the infield to make up time, but my drive in nine was getting spoiled, as my top gear up shift point was pushed about 200 feet down track pratically to the brake cones. I'm not sure what the problem was, but for sure I was getting some front end chatter in eight that was spoiling my drive. In turn three I got a huge front end push that walked me to the track edge. It seemed like all weekend the traction was fantastic, but when the grip did yield it would let go BIG. This is not just my observation, because clearly my tires were toast and my opinion was thus biased, but it was also the opinion of some others at the track. People were highsiding everywhere, not many lowsides. Anyway I was making time up on the lead group, but the bike was getting loose and I decided to not be a hero that day and settle for my spot. Frank Woit was kind enough to time me and I was doing mid to low '29's. I know that earlier in the day I was going faster in GT3, perhaps high '28's. The race winning time was in the '25's, and I used to do those times in 1992, the last time I race sportsman at Savannah. I think my new bike will be competitive at this track, and I cannot wait to bring it down there. I ended up in 10th place feeling like I could have done better, but happy I didn't crash.
Sunday I was going to race in heavyweight as there were no Duc's at the track on Saturday, but when I woke up Sunday morning I saw a bunch of them in the pits and decided to drive home early. I helped Dave Yaakov with his monster 145hp on Battley's Dyno YZF750/FZR1000 hybrid in the morning, changing ride height as he was eating slicks at a huge rate. Half a inch of ride height change gave him about 1.5 seconds. It was funny watching that bike on the straight. Man, it is fast!! After that I help Cindy Bonner who as it turned out spun a rod bearing when she crashed and her engine ran on its side for a while. Yet another walking testimony for the use of dead man switches. Kenny Abbott had just rebuilt the engine. What a waste. I gave Lance Yeagar and is RS125 a ride home. I tried to keep the bike, but he took it anyway. Bummer for me.
For the second CCS event of the Mid Atlantic region Stephen, Rich, & Brian Summers drove to the newly repaved Georgian track, Roebling Road. Stephen was driving down I95 for the second time in so many months to go racing, the others along after listening to Steve rant & rave about the conditions of the pavement. Rich dragged the 1996 championship EX out of the shed and slipped in a stock motor, checked thing over and was ready to go. Brian just got his RGV250 ready a few weeks ago, his two continent search for parts over, and broke in fairly well.
Stephen was starting from scratch and spend several weeks prior to the event working till all hours putting together his project EX500. The last couple of days prior to the race weekend were marred by what appeared to be a problem with the transmission of the stock motor that Steve had put in his custom "Harris Framed" chassis. As it turned out the problem was much ado over nothing and Steve had his bike tech ready Wednesday night. The team left Northern Virginia early Thursday afternoon. The trip down went well despite initial concerns that the Steve's mini van might experience some sort of mechanical failure on the way down due to the heavy load of three bikes, and a lot of stuff. For those of you who recall this same mini van stranded Steve in the wilds of South Carolina for two days when the team was driving up from a six hour endurance race that was being run at the same track. Costing over $1200.00 to repair at the time the vehicle has had a dubious reputation since that time. Fortunately the time driving down was pass well as Steve had a laptop computer with him and everybody got a chance to play Duke Nukem 3D. Also the team took bets as to when Steve's rear mounted radiator would cause his bike to over heat as both Rich & Brian felt not enough air was directed to it. The bike did not have a temp gauge, but at least the overflow was pointed at the rider's helmet.
Friday dawned clear and warm and the three some headed to the track with grand expectations. Upon arrival the only rush hour in Faulkville, the one to get into the track, was in full regalia. The team gained access to the track & found a pit next to Devin Battley & Joe Wooten.
Surpassingly this was the first time that we had ever been to a track were there was no review of either rider qualifications, nor machine preparedness. Not only did nobody see if we had valid racing licenses, but it was announced at the rider's meeting that there was NO TECH…. As luck would have it, the event was not ruined by an ill prepared machine or unlicensed racer, but the folks putting on the practice day, but these things should not be left to luck alone.
The Friday morning practice was a bit dismal for group as the first couple of rounds were either missed outright or cut short due to starting problems with the EX's (low battery voltage, fouled plugs, leaking floats, dirt pits that are no fun to push start on) and electrical gremlins. As Steve puts it;
"The EX had fouled plugs and an overly rich mixture from the 36mm Lectron power jet carbs. These carbs have no main jet, no slow speed or idle circuit and only two adjustments are possible. First the metering rod (what a needle is on a CV carb) is threaded into the slide (instead of e-clipped as on the kehins for example), and second the powerjet on top of the carb. Both can be adjusted with the carbs on the bike, fuel in the bowls. Both have a infinite range of adjustability. Both are unlike anything I've worked with before. Starting with a unknown base line, an unknown unit of measure (is one turn of the rod a big change or a little change?) I made a guess at where jetting needed to go based on plug appearance, throttle response off the turn, header color (new pipes are great for this), exhaust smoke, and common sense. There was clearly a difference in what the two cylinders were doing as the pipes were showing different heat of exhaust, the bike was surging at partial throttle, the plugs looked like #2 was richer than #1, and the over all power was down. During practice on Friday I leaned the cylinders in progressive steps to obtain what I was looking for. I did get some tips from Phil Flack who used to use Lectrons on TZ750's (BTW he is a real nice guy). He basically told me not to mess with the power jet. With a #10 power jet and the EX500 puny intake flow compared to a Formula two stroke the power jets appear to not even be used. The external fuel delivery lines to the top mounted power jet were observed to be free of fuel running WFO down the straight. Once I gets around to building the big motor for the bike the system may end up being disabled as a fuel delivery and used as a water injector by using larger jets. This will have to wait for more time to mess with, as I'm still dealing with the suspension.
While my "Harris Framed EX" was clearly quite stiff, the rear shock was way too stiff. The Fox shock that was installed was originally made for a GSXR750 and had a spring that was 7.25 in by #500. What was needed was about a 7.25 by #300. After making a few calls to see if one could be obtained at that track it became clear that I was would just have to make do with what he had. Cranking up the damping rates to match the spring helped a little, but on Friday the bike had a serious front end chatter problem in all of the off throttle turns. Of course the obvious answer to this is not to get off the throttle, but this is not possible for all turns all the time. Also the bike demonstrated a weave at the apex that was consistent with a miss-aligned chassis or a under rebound damped machine. With the spring so far out it was impossible for me, the suspensionally challenged, to determine which way to go for this chassis triage. In the end I took a little pre-load was taken out of the front end, the ride height was raised in the back about a ¼ at the shock linkage, and the tapered head bearing tightened as they had finally fully seated.
At the end of the Friday practice I finally got about 10 continuous laps of practice. The good news was that the bike was not spitting coolant, but that it had front end problem was unsettling. However during those laps I was off the pace (doing '27's) and short shifting as I did not have a tach. The cure for that was to rev it till the limiter kicked in, but I gear so short that I was getting up on the straight in top gear. The motor has some much midrange that it is difficult to determine where in the rpm range I am. Clearly I need a tach and temp gauge.
On Saturday morning it was raining. I love the rain, and especially at Roebling. In 1993 I had the best on track performance of my life at Roebling Road, and frankly I would rather race at the track in the rain than the dry any day of the week. This time I had enough money to actually buy rain tires, to in the AM things were looking pretty good for me. After standing on line a the tire's guy's waiting to get a set of tires (I bought the last set of rains from Trackside Racers Supply for $210) I made my last practice thanks to the hard work of Rich, who was busy getting drunk, but more on that later. In that wet practice it all came back to me why I like the rain so much. Most racers dislike the rain, but I feel very at ease with it. To me racing in the rain is just like in the dry except every thing happens at a lower energy value. The slides are easier physically to control, the forces of braking are less on my arms, things happen slower so my mind can process the information better. I was really looking forward to racing in the rain. But as luck would have it, my first race, GT3, was run on a drying track. I was still a little worried about the bike over heating on the grid, so after my warm up lap I shut the engine off once I got to my spot on the last row of the grid. Turn out that we were held up for a minute while a VF500 was push off the track with a ill running motor. When the one minute board went up I hit the starter button and the engine did not light off. Rather than screw up the start by distracting the starter by tring to push start my bike & just sat there, comfortable in the knowledge that since I was one the last row of the grid I would not be posing a risk by not going when the flag dropped. After the flag I got off my bike & pushed started, & set off after the field into one. I noticed that the bike that had pulled off was 911x. Personally I think its funny that two 911's missed the start.
I started passing folkes at the exit of turn two on that lap. The track was damp, but it was drying out quickly. Most of the problems that I had the day before seemed to have gone, perhaps due to the different tires and or the lower speeds. Everything was going good & I was passing people like crazy. The leaders were way up ahead, and I think they were turning faster lap times, but I was having a ball.
The DOT rain tires worked great until about ½ thru the race when I got a big slide in six & came into pit lane to check out the tire. The rear was chewed up real bad. If I had gone back out the tire would have been wasted in that mainly dry conditions, so I had to think about keeping it in case it rained for the lightweight sportsman race later in the day. The good news was the the bike still did not over heat, so I was hopeful that it would last 8 laps at speed.
Later in the day if became clear that the afternoon races would be run on a dry track. Rich again scrambled to help be mount the slicks & get the bike ready. I put one more turn leaner on the metering rod, installed D9EA plugs and topped off the fuel tank. Everything was in order for the second race of the day. The race was going to be run in the dry, so I my plan was to go as fast as I could & hope to learn something. This time I did not shut the engine off after the warm up lap. I waited as long as possible before going out for the warm up lap, and tried not to get the engine too hot. I was on the second row grid next to that other 911x. We shook hands, and I'm sure the CCS grid personal wished we were at the back. When I the flag went green I was listening to the other 911's motor rev. Ite was a VF500 with some trick stuff on it. It had high pitch wail to it that was charming to listen to. It seemed as slow motion as the flag shimmered in the starter's hands. I nail it, shifting by feel as the bike did not have a tach. Oddly I was second going into T1, and follow Frank Stroman for most of the first lap. I could keep in touch with him in the turns, but he had huge power and opened up a considerable lead every time the business came to pulling the throttle cables. Finally in seven an RZ got around me and pulled a few seconds lead. I settled into a few laps of watching him & working on a plan to get around him. I was gaining on him when the other 911 motored me on the straight. I out broke him going into one without much trouble, but his bike was fast! After the ½ flag we were going down the striaght when the VF500 again passed me by pit out. Again I was able to out brake him, but just as I few by him, Brain Summers on the RGV250 out broke me at the same instant my vision was blurred with engine coolant spewing out of the overflow onto my visor. I put my hand up as I was worried the dude on the VF was going to crash on my water spew. I ran the rest of that lap at a reduced pace to let the engine cool. I really needed to finish to get the points, and I did not want to break the motor or run a chance of crashing in my own water, so the only thing to do was let them go after the RZ. It was hard to watch them take off after, but it was all I could do. I became very aware of what was going on behind me, as I wanted to make sure I would stay in fifth. I figured that I could chug the engine & if some one game along hopefully I would have enough coolant to put together a fast last ½ lap to secure fifth. As it happen the only bike to come was Lance Yeager, the lead 125 from the 125 race that was being run at the same time. I was not racing him, so I let him by. On the last lap I drilled it coming out of nine and passed him back anyway. He looked at me funny, like "why are you picking it up now?" sort of thing, but it felt good.
It was nice to get some wood for the first time since 1993. It was also nice to get the bike as dialed in as best possible. Most of my ideas proved to work, although the rear mounted radiator will need more ducting to get enough air to it. On the way home my laptop broke, so we didn't get around to typing up a race report till this week.
To be done; fix the ducting to get more air to the rad, get a temp gauge & tach, get a real spring, get the suspension dialed in.
AHRMA's Vintage / Sound of Singles / Battle of Twins / Sound of Thunder national parade came to Summit Point this past weekend. Summit's turns 3 thur four had been repaved. The event was also to be a MARRC Road Racing School weekend that would have both Rich & Steve up at that track helping out with the new racers school. Since they had to be at the track with bikes anyway both Rich & Steve bit the cost bullet & pre-entered races on Saturday & Sunday. Additionally Team Charm was to be selling off two of its fleet of EX500. The recipients of the two bikes, students taking the school, were to take delivery at the track.
The three weeks prior the event were quite hectic as the red stock EX (formally owned by Vera Osidach) that Steve raced in February at Roebling Road was partially dissembled at Rich's house for parts that Rich needed for the April 12th CCS event. Rich busied himself putting the stocker back into race ready shape in addition to repairing the broken water pump in the stock motor what was in his '96 championship chassis. Both of these bikes were to be sold, but at the last minute the buyer of the '96 championship chassis with the stock engine bought another bike for less, and the buyer of the red bike (who had placed a deposit on it) decided to not take delivery until a few "bugs" were worked out. More on the bugs later, but suffice to say that careful readers of the race report from the February CCS event will already know what the problem was…
AHRMA series is not on Team Charms normal schedule as it conflicts with the MARRC, CCS & WERA events the team competes in, but the opportunity to race against the national series competitors at our home track could not be passed up. Summit Point is one of the few tracks in the county that places a premium on local knowledge and both Rich & Steve have a lot of experience at Summit. Fortified with the knowledge that his recently dyno jet dyno'd EX500 was making 56 peak hp (with over 50 hp from 7.8krpm all the way to 11k rpm!!!) with no other modifications save for the Lectron Carbs & Muzzy pipe Steve really felt that he had a good chance of doing well in the race. As Steve tells it;
"Well I dyno'd my EX on 4/19/97 at Fast Lane Cycles. The motor is completely stock internally, with about 900 street miles on it prior to me trading some FZR600 stuff for it. It has a Muzzy pipe and a pair of 36mm Lectron power jet carbs as you all know by now. Plugs were NGK D9EA's. Power jet was #10. Metering rod was FBG2 apprx 12 turns in. When we first ran in the motor to warm up the bike the #1 header pipe was glowing an angry red, with the header pipe temp about 460 degrees!! We shut it down and richened up the #1 metering rod two turns, the temp of the header pipe dropped down to about 271 degrees. These temps I quoted were measured at the surface of the pipe (with a infared surface temp gauge made for furnace repair work) At that point we did the runs thru the gear box & the fourth gear roll on's.
Corrected HP peak was only 56 at 9.9k rpm. Corrected toque peak was 38 ft lbs at 7.8k rpm. The fourth gear roll on was just about perfect with the motor shooting up to peak hp right away, confirming what I had noticed by the seat of the pants that the throttle response was great. While peak power is only 56, the powerband is wonderfull, over 50 hp from 7.8k rpm all the way to 11k. Big dip is at 5.9k where hp is about 25 and torque is about 24. I think there are a few more ponies to be had from with messing with the power jet & fine tuning the needle.
The weird thing about the Lectrons is that the metering rod can be shaved with a flat file to customize the enrichment profile. This would be analogous to being able to chuck your Kehin or Mikuni needles up in a jeweler's lathe & change the taper. Of course its a one way change, but new rods only cost $18 if you shave off too much....:-) The more I play with these things the more I like them. For example there is enough room on the casting of the venturi to bore them out about 1.5 mm on each side, so I may punch them out to 39 mm if I make a big motor, assuming I'm not riding like an idiot savant. BTW Rich's 37mm CR looked like they could also be bored out a .5 mm or so on each side.
Anyway while the motor was solid, the cooling system was not. The over heating problems of Savannah were minor, but would be major at Summit Point where throttle usage & speeds are such that over heating is more likely. For the Summit Point event I decided to mount the radiator in front of the engine as the ducting work was not finished to insure enough air flow for the under the seat mounting. Oddly the radiator, when turned on its side, is still narrower than the frame rails of the down tubes. There was not enough time to get the upper fairing done, and a tach was still on back order so it was off to the races with the setup that I had.
Saturday morning I discovered that the throttle response which had been so good at Savannah & on the dyno was terrible. In an attempt to index the rods I had backed them out of the slides & tried to measure their height relative to the slide cut away. I was unsuccessful in my endeavor. I spent most of my Saturday morning practice trying to get the rods right while progressively richening the power jet. The bike felt too rich on the rods, gurgling when the power was first squeezed to the pavement, then to clear & pull clean once the slide lifted more. However the plugs, D9EA's, were showing no color. They were clean white on the porcine, free even of lead deposits from the 100LL AvGas that normally spatters lead on the electrode. Even more baffling the pipe was showing sooty black at the exit of the muffler. Confounded I went with richer on the rods at first, only for the problem to get worse, and the plugs still showed no color. Believing that I went the wrong way mid range I leaned the rods one turn from their first setting of the morning and the bike seemed a little better. Based on this I figured the mid range needed more lean, validating what I intuitively thought riding in first thing in the morning. All the while I kept going progressively richer on the power jet first from 10's to 15's then to 20's for the race. I got the last adjustment done about 5 minutes before the warm up lap of my race. When I started the bike it was gurgling & coughing on the throttle blip. I had gone ¾ of a turn leaner from where I rode it during my last practice. Convinced I screwed myself I cranked the idle up so the engine was idling at about 4k, above the flat spot I hoped. The five minute board was up, and off I went. The only suspension change I made was three clicks more rebound. Don't ask me why, it seemed like the thing to do in my idiot savant suspension method. During the warm up lap the bike seemed OK, but still with a hesitation. Green flag drops & I'm first into one for the BOT formula 3 race. I lead for about a lap & a half before Mike Tibereo & an unknown rider got around me. I put my head down to catch Mike, but he seemed to just stayed about 3-4 second ahead of me till the checkered flag. I ended up third. In the afternoon I helped out with the RRS after it rained. During the mock race Chris Pyles & I had a few nice turns between the students. His John Lassak 125 clean out motored me….
Sunday I entered BOT Formula 3 & Formula 2. During the morning I found two electrical problems that I think were part of my problems during the previous day. The ground wire for the solenoid was fatigued from vibration (solid engine mounts provide stiffness at a price) as was the main power lead to the tethered dead man switch. The carburation changes were limited to a ¾ a turn richer on the rods, & the #20 power jets. I ran out of 100LL so I used 115 CAM2, the only leaded fuel for sale at the track. The bike was much improved. Throttle response was getting to what I had at Savannah, the plugs were showing a light tan and the pipe tip color was that gray-tanish color that I always look for. I could tell the carburation was right as the up-shifts were so crisp. The air temp was also about 8-10 degrees lower. It was a joy to ride.
The first race was the BOT Formula 3. Green flag drops & I am first into one. Unbeknownst to me, my teamate Rich is second right behind me. Coming out of two we lead the pack till Mike Tibereo got around Rich and set his sights on me. I led till about the ½ mark of the race. Each lap I would hear Mike coming up behind me going into five, only to have the sound of his bike die away after the carousel. He passed me on the outside going into ten, and I promptly motored him on the straight. Going into five we came upon a laper, I went to the inside, while Mike went to the outside. He was set up better for the carousel, and pulled about 1.5 seconds on me. Going down the straight I caught back up to him, but could not make the pass. On that lap I saw what he was doing in four tried to adapt his line on the new pavement. By this time we were thick in the lapers, and he was making better work of them. On the last lap I was perhaps 3 seconds behind him and took the checkered in second. It was a great race.
The second race of the day was BOT Formula 2. This class had some faster bikes in it. I was not the first into turn one… I followed a group of about six bikes that contained one start jumper and one person miss gridded. I passed fellow MARRC RRS instructor David Fine on this 1000cc Moto Guzzi coming out of two & he passed me back out of three & I pass him out of five. Put the kettle on the stove from five thru ten as I knew David would have power on me for the straight. Ahead was Mike Tibereo. He was a perhaps five seconds ahead of me & I reeled him in with a string of '31's, not bad for the track conditions as it slightly rained the day & night before. I passed Mike on the straight (I love power). After about ½ a lap my right hand was tingling & cramping badly. I concentrated on letting go of the clip on, holding the throttle open on the straights with the flat of my hand. I started to slow, Mike passed me & picked up his pace believing I was on his tail while I was just trying to hang on to the bike with a dysfunction hand. I finished behind Mike, barley able to read his leathers. I discovered after the race that my sweatshirt I put on under my leathers to hold off the chill was bunched up under my arm & perhaps it restricted the circulation, or perhaps the vibrations of the solid mounted engine were a bit much. I crossed the line fifth, but I was told Mike was disqualified for jumping the start which means I would inherit fourth. I would have preferred to have done so by beating him…
A number of exciting and unrelated events during the weeks prior to the 3rd CCS Mid-Atlantic regional race had various impacts on the race itself. The cause and effects are as follows:
After a short roadside repair of the fuel line, the 18 year old Winabago proved its worth in comfort and towing capacity, at the expense of mileage and speed. Rolling into the track early Friday morning was almost easy in this behemoth since you can just climb directly into bed. Friday was a track-sponsored practice day, and for $75 each Rich and Brian got in 50 laps. The red bike is not far from its stock form, the only changes since it left the showroom floor 10 years ago being a pipe, jet kit, Gold Valve cartridge emulators in the front forks, and new K-591 tires.
Red ran just fine, and the stock rear shock was only a hindrance if the rider himself initiated an unsettling motion. With a glass-smooth surface Roebling offers the rider a gliding feeling, but if you are abrupt in your body movement then the stock shock will undulate for the next three turns. Smooth riding is a must! The engine ran strong all day, despite its age and checkered past. Rich steadily worked his times down, having been absent from any real racing at Roebling since March of 1992, and eventually was turning low 1:25 laps. The perfect weather and a working motorcycle made it easy to enjoy the practice day. Brian got down to 19's on his RGV250, although he suspects that his best laps were missed by our timer. This should have put him in the hunt for the Sportsman win, against a trio of 597cc EX500s.
After a restful night in the land yacht, we awake to a steady rain that varied between annoying and violent. We both skipped practice and Brian skipped the 30 minute GT3 race, but Rich suited up and tried a few laps. The bike was stumbling at the low throttle settings required on the wet track, so Rich pulled in. We both waited for the last race of the day, Sportsman, with an anxious eye on the weather.
Eventually the track dried, although the clouds continued to threaten our race. At the green flag Rich nearly stalled the engine in his worse start in seven years. Dead last into turn one, he eventually got past two large groups of bikes and then started picking off riders one at a time. On lap 5 Rich moved into 6th place and finished there. That particular pass was made to the inside of an unknown rider who ran wide in turn 8 and crashed in the sand. Rich couldn't help but gawk as the bike cartwheeled ten feet in the air, narrowly missing the rolling rider. Although Rich admitted that his turn one and turn nine speeds were slower than Friday's practice, he stilled turned 1:25 laps, showing that he had finally developed a decent line through turns 5 through 8.
Brian's race was not as fortuitous; he was within several bike lengths of the lead bike (Frank Stroman) for the first three laps but was forced to retire when his bike overheated. This was probably due to a base gasket leak.
Since the last CCS event at Savannah Rich built a new bike, doing 90% of the assembly in the four days prior to the CCS races. Steve had his first tentative race outing after his life altering experience with a chainsaw. The results were: GT3- Steve 6th, Rich DNF; Lightweight Sportsman- Steve 4th, Rich 3rd. The latest flavor of EX500 that Rich built was put together with the ZX swingarm, F3 wheels, 38mm Lectron carbs, freshened up "A" motor, and some busted up plastic. Steve, who had the flu in the week prior to the event, is still recovering from his chainsaw accident that has left him with reduced range of motion & substantially less strength in his right leg. The Friday preceding the CCS event was the MARRC practice day that had Steve, Rich & Brian Summers doing tech inspection for the Club in additions to MARRC RRS duties. Friday morning dawned rainy but warm. The wet morning practice sessions were unremarkable save for the sounds of a 125 rider spinning his rain tire shod TZ125 all the way down the front straight like a 1100. Saturdays weather was about as perfect as you could ask for.
Steve's weekend went thusly;
"Five weeks prior to this CCS event I was at Rich's helping him prune a tree when I fucked up & cut down to my right femur with chain saw while up in one of his fine trees. As Rich described it the resulting wound was about big enough to put a beer bottle in. The femoral artery was not breached, main motor nerve conduit was undamaged. There is some permeate topical nerve damage to the leg. You'll be able to smear sterno on my leg & light it on fire without me flinching. It appears, Brian DePalma took significant artistic liberties in "Scarface" during the chain saw scene. There is just not that much blood sprayed when the chain saw bar digs into a limb...
Bullshit humor aside, I will tell you in all humbleness that it was the scariest moment in my life. I was a throttle blip or another five pounds of pressure away from a BAD SCENE. I really thought I had cut my leg off, the dark veil close at hand...
The week prior to the CCS event I was sick. Some flu-like thing had been going around the office which I got and it really kicked my ass. I was so tired I didn't even have time to change the oil or clean the tattle tale oil filter that I mounted on the engine. Basically I just loaded the bike up on the trailer with and drove to the track. I didn't bring any spares. I barley got all the RRS documents printed in time, which proved to be a problem later on during the weekend, but I made it out to the track Thursday evening & spend the night in Brian's motor home. I was not sure I would be able to race as my leg was still healing. The doctors would have had me on crutches still & with being sick I really did not feel like racing. I knew I would not be able to do any practice Friday morning as I had to do Tech inspection for he club. As it turned out this was not a bad thing as it rained & I had no desire to go out on a wet Summit for my first time back in the saddle with a injury. Finally in the afternoon I got out for a few laps. It was a little difficult in all the right handers as I could not put any weight on my right leg. Hanging off was not an option on the right side. The track was a little slick, so basically it was just a chance to see how the bike was working and how the leg would work. The bike appeared to be working perfectly. Throttle response when just lifting the bike off the turn was perfect. The suspension seemed to be working great.
I talked Rich into taking my bike out for a practice round to get his observations. He seemed think the suspension was working great, and also stated that the bike had the best mid-range of any EX500 he has ever ridden. All afternoon the top end seemed a little doggy, so in the last set I disabled the powerjets as a comparison to see how the motor would pull up top. Rich and I ran out on the track together so I could use his bike as a benchmark. Clearly my bike was pulled better off the turns, but his bike would have five to ten mph on me at the end of the straight. Rich was running the 38mm Lectrons with the 1mm ZX11 pistons, megacycle cams, bigger intake valves, & mild porting. My motor is internally stock with 36mm Lectrons. The bike seemed to pull better up top with the powerjets disabled. This is kind of weird as previously I kept going up in power jet size from 10 to 15 to 20 with what I thought was increases in top power. Clearly I need to get to the dyno to really find out what is going on, but the bike was stomping coming off the turns, so I was not complaining.
I managed to pass Rich for keeps in practice because his throttle response was off as he has not gotten his metering rod dialed in. My body clearly was off the pace. The leg just could not transmit a lot of power. Still I felt good enough that I was of the opinion that it would be reasonably safe for me to enter races the next day.
Saturday I entered GT3 & Ltwt Sptsmn. Because lightweight is now combined I had to sit on line at registration for the first time since 1992 to get a good grid. True I could have pre-registered, but I didn't think my leg would be working. I missed most of my practice Saturday morning as we were short staffed for the Road Racing School & I had to fill in at the skid pad. The track was in good condition despite all the rain on Friday. The first race was GT3 right after lunch. I was gridded on the 3rd row of the combine expert & novice race. Personally I think combining the races sucks, but combining the grids is really stupid. There was several novices on slower bikes in front of me. The start was a little hairy because I knew my bike was going to be one of the first off the line. Its a fine line of distinction between egotism & knowing what you are good at. I am good at starts, and the bike is good at starts, so I know were I stand in regards this line. It wasn't a perfect start, but I was in 2nd behind some novice on a FZR400 going into one. The novice had a fast bike, but he was all over the track, his bike weaving & he was taking weird lines. He kept looking back at me. I think he was flipping out that he was leading a race. I passed him coming out of nine, and drilled turn ten getting up on the straight to put some distance between me and him.
The next lap was unremarkable except for the fact that Brian Summers came around me coming out of nine on his RGV250. He pulled about two seconds on me down the straight. I was able to hang with him for the next lap or so. After this he really put he kettle on the stove and started to pull away. I couldn't catch him. Ben Water's passed me was on a FZR400. His bike was fast and he was riding pretty well. He ran down Brian then crashed. At this point we hit lappers and things started to get bad for me. I couldn't really use my right leg, or hang off on the right side correctly. I was dragging the right peg in one, six and nine. If I drilled the entry just right I could be on the throttle without having to make any corrections. The traffic & my poor skills kept this from happening. I started to slow. The leg hurt. Finally the ½-way flag came out. I wanted the race to end. I kept looking over my shoulder. Nolan went by on a FZR400. I couldn't do a thing about it. Chris Eklund went by, also on a FZR400. I couldn't do a thing about it. The bike was running great, but I wasn't. Another 400 went by. Finally Richard-what's-his-name went by on a ex-Brian Summers Hawk. I passed him back. He re-passed when I nearly ran into a novice lapper that almost stopped going into five. That guy will never know how close he came to getting taken out. I was too tired at that point to care. Finally the checked came out. I was 6th. Rich had to lift my leg off the bike when I got back into the pits. I took 600mg of ibuprofen.
Lightweight Sportsman, also a combined race, had me gridded on the front row. I lead into one, unbeknownst to me Rich was number two behind me. Going into five Philip Knecht, out of retirement, on an atomic RZ350 passed me. He was moving. Brian Summers got around me going down the straight. The next few laps were unremarkable. At about the ½ point Rich came around me on the straight. His bike was moving fast. I tried to catch him, but couldn't. Zirk on his VF500 tried to out brake me going into one and screwed up. I passed him coming out and put the hammer down. I got into a great race with Mike Tiberio. We passed each other about two times. I made it for keeps on the second to last lap when a lapper spoiled his drive out of ten. I took the checkered in fourth. If my leg was stronger I think I could have chased down Rich, but I happy just to be walking. I'll change the oil, put a fairing on, install a tach and bleed the brakes for Road Atlanta next weekend."
Rich ran the same races, but with many new toys on the latest EX500 he had several problems. Here's his account of the weekend:
"I started my next EX six days before the weekend. A friend at work, Don Koloff has a mill and a lathe so we spent an afternoon at his house modifying the Ninja 600R swingarm and the sprocket carrier for the F3 rear wheel. Another half day was spent cutting and grinding the frame, and a day assembling the motor, rebuilding the forks and putting it all together. Late nights every day after work got the fuel, cooling, electrical and braking systems complete by Thursday night, but at the expense of marital bliss.
I rolled into the track Friday morning tired and with a bike that had yet to be started. I had grabbed a variety of fairings that I had laying around hoping to get something to fit. I also had a stock EX500 ready to race, just in case. By the time the rain stopped on Friday I was ready to attempt a start, and the bike fired up immediately. Throttle response seemed poor but I went out for a few laps to get a baseline.
The engine was knocking like crazy on part throttle, and it was painful getting around a full lap to return to the pits. I guessed that it was too lean and ran the metering rods way up, two full turns. One problem we have (well, had) with these Lectron carbs is that I had no idea how much to adjust things. Is one turn a big adjustment or a little one?
Anyway, I thought things were a little better so I continued to play around in the 'rich' area for Friday and Saturday. I also started to get the all-new F3 front end dialed in, and the rear settings too. By race time on Saturday we still had poor midrange but at least it was ride-able and the had good WFO response. I headed out for the 20 lap GT3 and the bike dropped a cylinder on the warm-up lap! I started the race late hoping it would clear but no luck- I pulled in and we looked at some parts, messed with some wires and I went back out three laps down. Apparently the Pope had intervened so the bike was running on both cylinders but of course still with poor mid-range. It was tough to pass with the bike bucking around mid-turn, due to the stuttering engine. I ran about ten laps when problem two reared its ugly head.
At just about the fastest portion of the front straight the right side fairing, which we had apparently cracked during our frantic pit stop, broke in half and jammed up against the brake lever, locking the front wheel momentarily! I knocked the new air brakes away, and ran off the escape road past turn one. I ripped off the remaining pieces and headed back out to race, but the bike was back to one cylinder again. I quit.
Turns out the fairing had ripped off the coil lead. We added a charging system to the bike, screwed with the jetting some more and ran Lightweight Sportsman. The part-throttle stumbles were still there but I was learning how to ride around this and Steve, Tiberio, Zirk and I had a pretty good dice for the first 5 laps. Once I got past Zirk, Tiberio, and finally Steve I put my head down and tried to catch the RZ in second place but ran out of time. I went home not unhappy, since I really like the new suspension and 3rd place on a totally new bike isn't too bad.
Sunday morning I returned to the track to practice, and without the fear of totally screwing up just before a race I did what I should have done Friday afternoon; tried a setting leaner than the as-delivered baseline. That was the ticket, and with two practice sets we had the bike close to spot on. I tuned 1:29s in the second set, and I know I can drop two seconds off that with some improvement on my speeds in turns 3 and 4. Watch out, Brian, I'm coming after that two stroke!!"
Steve and Brian made the trip to Georgia's second finest motorsports venue without Rich. While Brain broke his transmission Steven managed to take a fourth place in Lt Wt Spstsmn. Coming into the even Steve was fourth in the points chase behind Frank Storman in first, Brian Summers in second, and David Waston in third.
As Steve retells it;
"I've never actually made it to Road Atlanta in my time as a racer. This was the first time I ever had a chance to check out the place. Of course I've seen lots of video tape footage taken from on bike cams, and listened to a number of people take about the track, and knew that I normally pick up new track fast, or last least I did in 1991, the last time I raced at a "new" track.
Arriving at the track on Thursday for the $10-0 practice day I was impressed by the view of the track from the pits. It appears to have even more elevation changes than Bridgehampton or Mid-Ohio, two tracks I like very much. My first practice (the first practice of the day) was a study in trying to follow Brian. He took off (going a slow pace) and I could not catch up as I did not know the track. After about five laps I noticed Brian sitting on the inside of seven with a broken bike. It turned out to be a busted transmission. His weekend was done. After I got back to the pits I waited around for the crash truck to bring Brain back. About 35 minutes went by & he had not showed up. I walked down to pit lane to ask Roger E where Brian was. He stated that they did not have a crash truck & that I would have to get one. After paying $100.00 for three practice sets I felt that it was unacceptable that 1) they did not have a crash truck, and 2) there was not announcement that Brian needed a pick up truck. I went back to my pits & was able to find a truck (thanks to the vender pitted next to us, that was a really nice of you let me borrow your truck) to go and get Brian. By the time I got back to the pit lane to be allowed to get him the "official" truck had shown up & was dispatched to get Brian. As it turned out they have told Brian that there was no crash truck. Still for the amount of money the practice costs it would have been nice have a truck or an announcement to the same effect.
The remainder of Thursday practice was unremarkable. We headed back to the hotel & sat around drinking beer. Friday morning I skipped my first practice. The schedule had my group to practice first & I just didn't feel like getting up that early. b Besides I was not sure that my leg, which had a six week old chain saw wound, would last the entire GT3 as it was. The day was hot. My bike was running like a champ, the only changes that I made was to fit a 5/17 rear rim with a hard compound 165 slick that had about 8 laps on it. The new rear tire raised my lap times about 2 seconds. I credited my the increase in time to the slightly higher gearing that resulted from the slightly lager diameter rear tire. I planned to combat this by picking up my entry speeds to compensate for the higher ratio. In the GT3 I was gridded in the second row of the second wave. I got a pretty good start in GT3, managing to be about 3 or 4 of into T1 of the second wave group. Almost right away I began to run up behind slower folks from wave one. Most of the race was spent with me just dealing with my fatigue. My leg was a little tender, and I really got tired. By the time the 1/2 flag came out I was ready to pull in. happily they screwed up with the 1/2 flag & I got the white flag about a lap later. I was beginning to feel a good deal more comfortable with the track.
The leightweight Sportsman race was in the afternoon. I was gridded in the back. Normally I get great starts. This time I was admiring the V4 Honda next to me when I noticed that the rider started reving his engine & nailed it. I looked up to see the green flag waving in the breeze. I was second to last going into T1. The next few turns were a little hairy I was really putting the kettle on the stove to catch up to the leaders. I passed a number of people thu the esses. By the time I came around to the pits after lap one I was in fourth behind a Rz350. The rider on the RZ was pretty good. He also had a fair amount of power. He was putting about a 1/2 second a lap on me. I just couldn't make up the difference. I ended up fourth in the race over all. One things that suprised me was just how much a
In mid-July Team Charm return to Mid-Ohio for the first time since 1991, to compete in the AHRMA Battle of the Twins (BOT) sprints with our evolving EX500s. With 15 turns and a variety of speeds, hills and pavement patches the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a challenging track and difficult to perfect with limited practice and short sprint races. Both Steve and Rich were improving their riding throughout the weekend and both were turning sub-1:50 laps by Sunday's race. Although out of the top five, both riders had a great time, with Rich beating Steve on Saturday and Steve returning the favor on Sunday.
A mid-day departure on Friday had our heroes setup, fed, and asleep at the track by 10:30 that evening. On one hand it is unfortunate that they could not take advantage of the practice day offered on Friday, but on the other hand that additional practice would have surely exhausted the tires and there were, quite surprisingly, no tire vendors at the track. So it was Saturday morning practice that found the two out on the track, trying to figure out whether they should turn right or left, and trying to remember if the entry speed to turn ten should be 40 or 60mph. Steve's bike ran beautifully, and Rich's bike was getting better and better as the jetting was fine-tuned. Racing lines were taking shape in the mind although both riders lacked accurate braking markers and entry speeds. But that was it for practice, and the BOT F3 race was up before lunch: suit up, suck up, and put on your race-face!
With the bigger F1 bikes sharing the track with the F3 racers it was a 2nd wave start for the 650cc and under twins. Both Steve and Rich got decent starts, and after the hair-ball shuffle of turn one it was Steve in 6th with Rich right behind. Shortly thereafter a Harley rider came smoking past, riding the wheels off his under powered machine. The Team Charm train caught and passed some of the slower F1 riders, but the order within the F3 race remained the same and Steve was distancing himself from Rich with every lap. Steve was struggling with front end slides and Rich was having ground clearance problems with the footpegs grinding horribly. By the seventh lap Rich was a good three seconds behind and their 1:51 and slower lap times allowed the fastest trio of the F1 riders to lap Rich, then Steve on what would thus be their last lap.
Steve subconsciously decided to follow the faster riders, and got into turn 13 rather hot, pushing his aging front slick right of the track. He bounced through the gravel trap and eventually re-entered the track, but Rich had driven by, waving, while Steve was screwing around off-track. Thanks, Steve!
Steve had entered a second race on Saturday, F2 (up to 750cc twins) and while he patiently waited for his second chance to race Rich drank all the beer. Steve's excellent start was thwarted by an early red flag, and the race was restarted after a brief cleanup. Steve again got a great start, hammering into the elbow-room-only turn one in something like 5th place. It is noteworthy that in the ultra-fast unlimited twins race occurring simultaneously, a Britten was leading the pack.
Rich was busy snapping photos so times and position status was not recorded for Steve, but all was for naught as Steve left the track early, this time with the gas tank in his hands! Apparently the mounting bolt had stripped out and the tank would not stay in place. Steve was even further disappointed upon inspecting the cooler.
Camping in Hotel Plymouth again Saturday night proved to be quiet as well as cheap. Both riders awoke refreshed and ready for racing. Well, coffee first, then racing. Practice went well and BOT F3 was again run before lunch. Rich had installed shorter footpegs, which helped, and Steve put fuel in, then re-bolted the gas tank back onto his bike.
Turn one was as crowded as ever with the start of the race, and it was half a lap before the order had Steve in 5th and Rich in 6th. The pace was quickening, however, and our maniacal Harley rider worked past both of the Team Charm riders. Rich was finally getting the rhythm of the track, and on the 5th lap he got past Harley man and then powered past Steve, who had dispensed with Harley on lap three. Rich put his head down and turned a 1:47.7, his best lap of the weekend. Steve followed but was loosing ground and turning 1:48s. Rich was putting about a second a lap on Steve. Steve had resigned himself to the insufferable fate of listening to Rich all the way home when on the 7th lap the two came across backmarkers from the F1 race. David Fine, who was nursing injuries sustained in a Friday practice crash, and an unnamed TL1000 rider were having a sedate race. Our Harley mounted nemesis managed to make good a pass on the two F1 bikes, while Rich was stymied at his every attempt to pass. While Rich was being hung up Steve reeled in the three bikes. On the white flag lap Rich bumped Dave going into turn 1, but could not make good the pass. Steve drilled up behind Rich going into the keyhole, turns 2-4. At the exit Rich's drive was spoiled by Dave, while Steve was able to pull onto the back straight and pass both bikes. No sooner had Steve passed both when Dave, on a 90hp, 390lbs Moto Guzzi, came booming by on the long back straight. Rich also motored Steve, but Steve solidly out braked him going to turn 5. Steve came up behind Dave going into the left hand turn 11 with intentions to pass on the outside on the entry, when Dave took a slight jog to the left. Steve, who was committed to the pass, brushed Dave's shoulder and made the pass. Ahead the Harley rider was still being held up by the TL1000. The two were less than one second ahead at the checkered flag. Final results were Rich 7th, Steve 6th. Steve had pulled out of his last race so the two could get a early charge on the eight hour drive home.
All-in-all a very fun and successful trip. Special thanks to Wendy Karppi for taking our times, and to the Duck Pond Duo for loaning tools and beer as needed. Next week, Summit Point!
July 19th was a banner day for Team Charm; Rich secured a top-five finish in the 22 lap Lightweight GP race, and it was Team Charm First and Second in the eight-lap Lightweight Sportsman battle. Perfect weather, a full cooler of beer, and enthusiastic fans rounded off the weekend.
After the hectic but pleasant trip to Mid-Ohio the week before the twin EX500s had not even been unloaded from the trailer. They were ready for battle as they sat, and Steve had to merely re-connect the trailer to the van. In fact neither Rich nor Steve so much as lifted the gas tank from the two bikes all weekend. As this was a CCS race weekend there was a MARRC roadracing school on Saturday and Steve headed out to Summit Point early Friday evening to take care of school registration. Rich arrived at the track in the 27' Winibago, via the complicated scenario outlined below:
Brian, having completely lunched the transmission of his RGV250 at Road Atlanta, was still frantically trying to get the bike back together. An exhaustive search for a domestic supply of parts yielded nothing but phone bills, so parts were shipped overnight from Japan. They arrived at the shop, in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday afternoon. Brian drove his pickup to Charlottesville, helped his tuner assemble the bike and returned to Summit Point by 0430 Saturday morning. This left Rich to pickup the Summers' Mobile House of Debauchery. His lumbering 60-mile trip to the track was slowed by a disintegrating rear tire, but at 35mph the behemoth seemed roadworthy.
Saturday morning's practice revealed that Summit's ancient surface had yet another patchwork fix; turns 3, 4, and 5 had sealer applied over this spring's new asphalt and last month's concrete patches. Although the sealer did prove to provide good traction in the dry condition it did force riders to re-calibrate their riding and test the new surface during the two practice sessions.
Rich had an uneventful first practice, and installed a second brake rotor to the bike before the second practice. This resulted in reduced brake lever pressure and fixed the problem Rich had been having with forearm cramps. The twin 320mm brake disks also gave phenomenal braking power on the 350 pound bike, and as soon as Rich learns to use it effectively he should be able to loft the rear wheel of the bike at will, or better yet stay on the gas just a little bit longer before braking. The second practice was also uneventful for Rich.
Steve had donated his morning to the roadracing school to work the skid pad. This meant that he would miss both practice sets, leaving him to start racing with unscrubed tires, a new brake pads, on a track whose two most important turns were totally different than the last time he rode at the track. Brian likely wishes that he had taught the school that morning; his late night antics were not productive as the bike would not shift properly and Brian was forced to abandon the weekend after practice.
All this brings us (finally) to the start of Lightweight GP, a mini-endurance set for 30 minutes. Rich had pre-registered the event and launched his EX from the second row of 51 bikes, easily taking the lead into turn 1. Unbeknownst to Rich, Steve was in second behind Rich going into turn one. For two laps Rich kept his head down and refused to look back, knowing full well that his 'six' was full of buzzing, roaring, and thumping engines. At the start of lap three Rich, still grappling with the new brake setup, locked the front wheel and nearly toppled, but recovered to toss the bike into turn one. In the excitement, however, he neglected to downshift and his drive out of turn 1 was ruined. This make the inevitable easy; Chris Pyles came buzzing by on his RS125. Chris had made his pass of Steve on the lap prior. One lap later Ben Walters, who almost high sided when he passed Steve, passed Rich on his exotic 400 and soon the leaders were into lapped riders. With a steady rhythm of slicing through traffic at a 1:29 pace, Rich seemed settled into third place. rich-ex.jpg. Steve in the mean time was having a hard time with some traffic
& spent the last half of the 30 minute race catching back up to Rich. But well past the half-way point an FZR slipped by and disappeared in the distance. With five laps to go Steve pulled by and that was all Rich could take. He notched up the pace and re-passed, finishing the race in fourth. Steve, who mounted a counter assault, prompt ran out of gas on the last lap with Rich still in his sights. It was a frustrating race for Steve.
After the excruciating wait for the last race of the day, Lightweight Sportsman, Rich again got the holeshot and headed for Turn 1 unabated. Steve had other plans for the eight lap race, though, and easily passed on the brakes, taking the lead of the 22 bike field. Through the infield they flew, our own personal fans cheering wildly. At two laps it was still Steve-Rich, and a quick look back showed that no one else was close. 
When the half-way flags flew Rich was a little confused, wondering why Steve was still leading and if fact perhaps pulling away at about ½ a second a lap
. Once the two began to hit traffic the lap times raised, which had been in the mid-1:27s for Rich, a tad faster for Steve, a personal best for each of the riders on EX500's. Rich quickened the pace, relative to Steve in traffic, sliding tires and scraping the footpegs to catch up. In a grand demonstration of what 17% more power will do Rich drafted past on lap 6 going down the front straight. Steve retaliated with a quick lesson in late braking going into turn one. On the second to last lap Steve attempted to put as many lappers between himself & Rich, knowing full well that that Rich's 65hp would be a problem on the final dash to the checkered flag. Heading into the last lap Rich was still several bike lengths behind. Lapped traffic had been kind between Turns 5 & 6. Steve setup a pick, slipping a slower rider between the two leaders. Rich refused to be denied, passing around the outside of seven and charging hard through eight and nine.
Rich had planned to be in front by this point but it was obvious now that only a perfect drive out of turn ten would have him first to the finish. Relying on his 65hp to Steve's 56hp, he executed his plan well, driving hard out of the last turn while Steve bobbled the entry enough to make it easy. It was Team Charm one-two, but most importantly it was Rich-Steve at the line.
After the race Steve discovered that he finally holed the FZR1000 radiator as the front tire was rubbing against it under hard braking induced suspension compression. The Dunlap kr107 didn't do this but the profile of the michelin is slightly higher relative to the rim. Pulled into the pits with water dripping from the radiator after the race..:-O Dodged a bullet on that one.
With his second place finish Steve move into second place in the Mid Atlantic CCS points chase behind Frank Stroman. Frank has 175 points, Steve has 163. In third place is David Watson with 160. Rich is deep with less than a 100, the result of missing two races this year. Next race on the agenda is Road Atlanta Aug 15, followed by Pocono on Aug 28. Pocono is double points as is the October 4th Summit Point event. Should Frank not come north for the two double point events, and Steve ride carefully, Team Charm may yet retain the Mid Atlantic Lightweight Sportsman Championship.
A special thanks to Glen M. Ouye for taking the above pictures while he was corner working that weekend.
This was Steve's first visit to the challenging speedway course. Steve adapted to the track well but Rich continued to struggle; in four years at Pocono he had never cracked a top-five finish. GT3 was first on the schedule but during the warm-up lap Rich's bike sputtered, then died on the back straight. As the other racers took their grid position Rich fiddled with the gas line; he started the race at the back of the pack, from pit lane, and charged ahead. Within a half lap he was up into the lead group, but the rush of the late start took its toll; he ran off the track and bounced through the grassy fields. Happy to have avoided disaster, he calmed himself and cruised to a mid-pack finish, with the bike still sputtering on the straights. Post race inspection revealed a problem that was not easily solved... rust in the gas tank was clogging the fuel filter. Some fabricated petcock tubes and a thorough tank flushing had the problem licked, for the moment. Steve got his normal excellent start, and was 5th going into turn one. He managed to dispatch three riders in the infield prior to the back straight. While most riders were struggling with the two extremely slow first gear turns in the back section, Steve's bike was perfectly set up for them. The gearing was perfect, and the throttle response of the Lectron carbs was such the torque arrived in exact amounts the rear tire could handle. With only 55hp on tap the rpms would pick up with a very predictable and controllable delivery that yielded casual power-slides out of turns that other competitors where afraid to dive into. The result was Steve had fearless entry into these turns. On many occasions Steve would be able to dive under nimble 125 GP bikes going into these turns knowing that his bike would be able to pick itself up on power in a very controllable fashion. On lap two Rolando Quintero passed Steve under a waiving yellow going into the turn coming off of the NASCAR oval; a dangerous move with a down rider, ambulance, and safety workers just off the racing line. After the race Steve mentioned the pass to the officials, the only time in his racing career that he has ever complained about a pass; they chose to ignore the issue. The remainder of the race was relatively uneventful with a few dices with one of the national 883 guys. Steve finished a distant third to Mike Himmelsback and Rolando Quintero, both on RS125 GP bikes.
In Lightweight Sportsman the duo drilled the start, but were beat to the first turn by that fast Harley 883 national guy. Four about three laps Steve planned his pass around the Harley; the 883 rider had power and top speed on Steve, but Steve was able to dive into the turns better. Steve finally put together a plan for assault when his bike started to run intermittently on one cylinder. Unbeknownst to Steve his bike had stopped charging the battery. With a weakened spark the bike was losing power rapidly. Rich had been struggling to keep the front pace but was just coming to grips with the back infield section when Steve's bike sputtered. The two nearly collided and that threw off Rich's drive. That allowed a Thumper Brothers rider on a single to pass both, and then Rich went by Steve's misfiring EX500. Steve & Rich pass each other a few times on the final lap, with Steve gaining a final advantage prior to the last dash to the checkered flag on the front straight. Steve bike by this time was barley pulling RPM. Although Rich's poor finishes early in the year had him out of the points chase, he had vowed to beat Steve to the checkered whenever he could. What the Team hadn't counted on was the Harley and the Thumper taking the win ahead of them. With little bragging rights at stake for less than a win, Rich opted to not power past Steve's sputtering bike to the finish line, putting Steve in 3rd, Rich in 4th. The extra few points for Steve would prove to be important.
Perfect racing conditions on Sunday, September 7th, allowed Rich Sturges to post a personal best lap time of 1:26.4 while winning the Clubman race at Summit Point Raceway. In Lightweight Twins Rich and Brian Summers had an exciting 8-lap battle for the lead, which Brian won by less than a bike length.
Although Rich had previously decided to skip this WERA event, the bike was still loaded in the truck from last week's Pocono outing and predictions of perfect weather were too enticing. Steve on the other hand was enjoying a fine weeks vacation power boating in eastern Long Island Sound. Saturday morning Rich renew his license, signed up for three lightweight races and setup pit with Brian Summers. The first practice went smoothly but an unexpected rain shower delayed things and the second practice set was far slower than a full speed prelude to the late afternoon race. While the riders waited patiently for their 20 lap mini-endurance, last race of the day, the weather returned to the sunny delight that had been promised.
The field showed 44 bikes on the grid and Rich had to start from the back of the second wave. His assault started with an excellent launch and was into the tail of the first wave headed into turn three when the EX sputtered, then died. Hand up to avoid getting run over by those he'd just passed, Rich thought back to the only thing that had been done to the bike since morning practice; the fuel petcock had been turned from 'main' to 'reserve'. Flicking this back to 'main' had him going again, but he was by then near the back of the entire field.
Determined, maybe even a little angry, he quickly worked back up to the top ten, dicing for several laps with 125 rider Mark Andy. The EX was able to power past the diminutive GP bike down the straight, but Mark was able to sail through the infield and eventually disappeared in a sea of lapped traffic. Rich pressed forward, passing dozens of backmarkers per lap, until lap eighteen when Mark's leathers were once again in sight. Driving hard out of turn nine Rich was closing the gap, certain of his ability to overtake until the EX sputtered. Flicking the petcock to 'reserve' proved just a futile as it was at the beginning of the race, and the bike soon died; a quart of gas still in the tank but none in the carbs. Watching the remaining two laps from the turn one cornerstation, Rich thought about the $95 that Mark won for his fifth place finish. Brian took his RGV250 to a solid third place for a $170 purse.
The clogged petcock was cleaned out and more fuel was added before heading out for Sunday morning practice. The day showed excellent promise as both the weather and the track were warming quickly. In the second practice sets both Rich and Brian were turning 1:27 - 1:28 lap times. Clubman was up after lunch, and the weather was indeed perfect; warm and sunny enough for good traction yet cool enough that the engines could find plenty of oxygen. The 125 GP race was run simultaneously and the eight GP racers were given a five second headstart before the Clubman bikes took off. Rich was the second bike into turn one and the first rider into turn three. From that point it was man again track; Rich had his head down and the never looked back. Picking off all but one of the 125s, Rich used the clear track to set a string of 1:26 laps, the lowest being his new personal best of 1:26.4. Unfortunately the race was shortened to six laps when Mark Andy's brake rotor exploded, but that's another story. Brian took second after a slow start; his two stroke had developed a intermittent stumble.
Brian's bike stumbled only once in their second race, however, and Rich and Brian battled it out for the whole Lightweight Twins race, turning 26s and 27s from start to finish. Never separated by more than two bike lengths, Brian held the advantage in turns 5-6-7-8 but Rich could recover in 2-3 and 10, and down the final section of the front straight. Swapping the lead three times, it was Brian-Rich at the checkered, with both riders feeling like a winner after such a satisfying weekend.
PS- Mark's story went like this: The brake disk on Mark's RS125 exploded going into turn one. He survived the long ride through gravel and field to the skid pad, then decided to rejoin the race and cruise for last-place points. Unfortunately the disk pieces had punctured his radiator, and his wet tire tossed him as soon as he hit the paint in turn three, breaking his left wrist. Bummer
A special thanks to Glen M. Ouye for taking the above pictures while he was corner working that weekend.
A check of the point standings showed Steve to be in second place, so while Rich was dipping his gas tank in acid, Steve and his dog, Savannah, drove to Road Atlanta for the GT3 and Sportsman races.
Before Steve left, the Team spent Friday morning on the dyno at Rick Begg's Fast Lane Cycles. New carb settings had Steve's stock motor making a solid 55hp. Arriving late Friday night at the track, Steve pitted with David Watson & Lance Yeager of All Out Racing. David Watson was Steve's main competitor in the points chase, and it was nice for the two racers to hang out in the pits together. The recently fitted Michelin tires were a significant improvement over the Dunlop slicks, curing a front chatter problem that had plagued Steve the last time he was at Road Atlanta.
Steve quickly got up to speed in practice, but the GT3 race went poorly and began with Steve getting a slow start from the second wave. Just as he got up to speed and started working his way up the field, the race was red flagged due to a two-bike crash in turn six. Coming into the uphill left hander the exit of the turn was obscured in smoke just as the waving yellow was coming out. Clearing through the smoke at 80mph Steve had to leverage his motorcycle hard side to side to avoid scattered debris from a Ducati 750 that was smashed into three pieces! It was the most-destroyed bike Steve had seen at the races, as well as the worst he had seen in four years of working at a motorcycle dealer. Every single component of the $14,000 bike was smashed. The rider was injured but not seriously.
After the sobering incident safety was on the mind for the start of the Lightweight Sportsman race. This time Steve was first going into turn one after a stellar start. Going up the hill into turn two a wild-riding RZ350 pilot came around Steve on the outside. Frank Stroman went by on the brakes going into turn seven, running wide, and spoiling Steve's entry. It was a fair pass that had Steve wondering if Frank would make the turn. Going down the back straight Frank and the RZ pilot pulled out, and a third bike went by. The group of three stared putting about 1-1.5 seconds per lap on Steve until the RZ pilot brought out the yellow flag with a crash going under the bridge. Steve settled into cruise and finished a distant 3rd, but more importantly with David Watson somewhere behind him.
Sometimes things just 'click' for a sports competitor, and for Rich Sturges that happened on this last race weekend of the 1997 CCS season. Early Saturday he clawed his way back up to 2nd place in the ½ hour GT3 race, followed later on by a run-away win in Lightweight Sportsman. On Sunday he challenged the Unlimited Twins riders, earning the runner-up position and posting a new personal best lap time of 1:25.3 around the two mile circuit.
Stephen Harris had an excellent ride despite an overheating bike, dropping back in the late stages of GT3. In Lightweight Sportsman his second place finish was just enough to earn the Regional Championship, keeping that title within Team Charm for the second year running.
Perfect weather, dozens of supporting friends and family, and a barbecue feast fit for a king accented a fantastic weekend of racing. Ma & Pa Sturges made the long drive down from New York on Friday to meet up with Dave, Jill, Emily and James to establish "Sturges World" in the clearing outside of Turn 3. Rich, scrambling to recover from extended business travel, drove out Saturday morning in time to register and join Steve and Brian Summers in yet another fully equipped pit. New tires were fitted to Steve and Rich's EX500s, both opting for Dunlop slicks.
After the first practice session the consensus was that both bikes were running well but the track was still slick in Turns 3 and 4. Both bikes were benefiting from dyno time and the tuning expertise of Fast Lane Cycles, with Steve's stock motor pulling a solid 55hp and Rich's putting out 65hp. Delays in the schedule pushed the final practice set until after lunch, which meant that the 30 minute GT3 race would follow immediately after practice. Steve opted to sit out the practice (his bike would have needed to be refueled before the race) but Rich took the opportunity to get his bike and his mind up to speed. After last month's fuel shortage Rich was sure to fill the tank. At the green flag Steve got his expected excellent start, and lead 
the race for the first three laps. Rich, in the meantime, launched poorly and then balked twice in the first lap, putting himself in eight place. Three mediocre laps behind a pair of FZRs didn't do his cause any good at all, and by the time Rich was clear of the two 400s he was out of touch with the leaders. Head down and throttle cables stretched, he charged ahead in search of the point. Traffic was nearly intolerable, with packs of slower riders encountered on a regular basis during the 22 lap race. On the third lap the eventual happened, Brian #132 & Scooter #8 who had been shadowing Steve went by him 
on the straight taking the lead. Steve keep them in sight for a few laps, working his bikes lack of horsepower as best he could. Twice Rich envisioned himself being driven off the edge of the track only to somehow squeeze by the backmarkers. One by one Rich found and passed the front runners, walking around Scooter, Brian and Steve 
as their bikes ran worse and worse. No sooner did rich go by than Steve's bike puked up a mouthful of engine coolant & started to overheat. Ben Water quickly dispatched Steve as did a half a dozen or so other riders as Steve limped his bike around wanting to finsih to get points in the purse paying class. Near the half-way mark a slow-starting Ben Walters, on his CBR400RR slipped by Rich on the brakes for Turn 5. With two laps left Ben and Rich overtook Nolan Ballew for the first and second positions, and that's where they finished the battle. It wasn't until the post-race interview that Rich learned he had finished 
so well.
Returning to the pits Rich was very pleased with the way the engine was running, although he did have a list of handling problems that needed to be addressed. The bike was sliding all over the track, but after learning that he had knock nearly two full seconds of his previous times Rich was ecstatic, and quite understanding of the bikes apparent change in handling. Times were consistently in the 1:26 range, despite traffic, and the best lap was a 1:25.5! Suspension settings that proved effective at 1:27 are not optimal at this new-found speed.
Steve on the other hand was happy to finish without breaking his overheating engine.
Adjustments were made, secret settings recorded, and the long wait for race #9 began. A quick warm-up lap brought tires and engine up to temp, and then Steve, Brian and Rich all gridded near the front of the pack. Rich used superior power to momentarily past Steve before going into one at the start, but Steve soundly out-braked him and lead 
the Team Charm duo down to the infield where our own personal cheering section was waiting. With a fearless first lap Steve pulled enough distance 
on Rich that he could not draft past, and once the pair were back to Turn #1 Steve left Rich unable to find a way past in any of the ten turns. But coming out onto the straight Rich was close behind and able to drive past coming onto the straight. From there it was head down, afterburners on, and knee on the tarmac 
for seven more laps Lapped traffic was much lighter in this nine lap sprint race, and a comfortable lead left more room for polite passing. Towards the end of the race Brain managed to slip by Steve and for a moment it looked as if it was to stick until Brian's throttle control module experienced a software driver glitch. Apparently Brian had been having trouble with it all weekend. Steve took second which gave him enough points to secure the 1997 CCS Mid Atlantic Lightweight Sportsman Regional Championship. Rich took a convincing win over Steve, and although lap times were not captured they were surely in the 1:26s.
Saturday night the pit adjured to "Sturges World" for dinner. Ma Sturges, a woman's who's beauty is second only to her ability to prepare more food than can be eaten by a small state, made an incredible spread of food. Glorious steaks, buckets of vegetables, Brian's burgers with the ancient Chinese secret sauce, hundreds of cookies and no less then four home-made pies greeted any visitor to Sturges World. Steve's single keg was no match for the ten-keg bonanza thrown by the Crow Bar crew, but our food was second to none. The Team ate, drank and talked their fill and was in bed by 10pm. It's a wonder any of the Team Charm crew could lift themselves from bed Sunday morning (although the die-hards did feast on bacon and eggs).
Sunday Steve elected to not enter any races, but Rich, fueled by a few bucks given to him from his mother, entered a few. Rich did practice, while Steve loaned his bike to Mike Tiebero for a test ride. The suspension changes tightened up the handling of Rich's EX, but it was still a handful when on the brakes and through the fast. sweeping Turn #4. The front end seemed vague and wandered around when pushed. During Sunday morning practice the front end response degenerated further, and close inspection reveled horribly worn wheel bearing. A hurried tire swap to a spare wheel was made and, understandably, Sunday's race demonstrated that proper wheel bearings can prove a welcome improvement at 135mph.
Encouraged by his recent fast laps and an entry-fee donation from Mom and Dad, Rich signed up for Unlimited Twins on Sunday morning, a mid-day race that would likely see a pair of Ducatis up front. After the aforementioned bearing replacement, practice laps could be comfortably run in the 1:27 range, and the weather was shaping up to be yet another perfect day.
With a multitude of riders apparently trying to get in one last crash before the end of the season, the day was filled with delays and the races were shortened to six laps to maintain schedule (by the end of the day they had been reduced to four laps). At the start of the combined Expert/Novice Twins race Rich got a great start but was only fifth into the first turn. Fully aware that a shortened race would leave little time to play catch-up, Rich quickly got up into third behind Donnie Unger and 20-year racing veteran Bill Dietz. For four laps it was Donnie and Bill nose to tail, with Rich sticking as close as possible; "Of course they were pulling away out of Turns 1 and 3, but I was surprised that I could almost hold the draft down the straight" report Rich. "This motor is a rocket, and with a strong drive through ten I was able to stick with them. I could close up entering one, three and ten, but not enough to make the pass."
On lap four Rich went by Dietz for second place, but Unger was upping the pace, getting into the high-24s. Rich was well into the 25s, with a best of 1:25.3. These times were taken by Steve "I wouldn't believed it unless I took the times myself" Harris. Exclaimed an excited Rich, "After the white flag I could see that I wouldn't catch Donnie unless he balked in traffic, and with the short race traffic was not an issue. But I couldn't be happier with second, since I've never finished a race with these guys even in sight!"
So there you have it. In one year Team Charm transferred from:
into:
Special thanks to Rick Beggs of Fast Lane Cycles for the hours of help in getting a pair of winning bikes properly setup, to Lockhart Phillips, to Leslie for putting up with this nonsense, to the whole Sturges clan for the raucous cheering, to Brian Summers for technical and moral support, to Glen Ouye for taking all the photos of is this season and to all of our Team Charm fans!
Next up on the Team Charm Race Calendar is the AHRMA 11/15-16/97 Roebling Road event. This should prove to be an interesting race as Steve has placed the cross hairs on the back of Rich's head, and bragging rights will be online for three month winter break.
Despite front-end suspension chatter that plagued both Rich and Steve all weekend, the duo finished first and second in Sunday's Battle of the Twins (BOT) Formula 3 race. In Saturday's BOT F3 race Steve bested Rich although both were beat by a Honda Hawk. Saturday's F2 race, in which our heroes pitted their EX500s against the larger twins, saw a five-way battle for the lead foiled by lapped traffic. Rich took third in Sunday's F2 race, while Steve retired with mechanical problems.
A month after the successful close of the CCS season the Team met in Savannah, Georgia, to participate in one last racing weekend before the long winter wait for the '98 season. Rich was working in Mississippi and flew into Georgia Friday night, while Steve, Leslie, and Anya drove down with the bikes and gear. Saturday morning our racers headed for the track with checkbooks in hand. The race series was hosted by AHRMA, and with their affordable racing program the team signed up for four races; BOT F3 (lightweight) and BOT F2 (middleweight) on both Saturday and Sunday. They pitted with Dave Fine and Cathy, having left many of the pit accommodations, such as the tarp, at home. The weather was clear, sunny and cool all weekend. The ladies spent Saturday touring Savannah, but came to Roebling Sunday to cheer the Team on to victory.
First practice had both riders establishing their lines, but second practice revealed serious handling shortcomings; both bikes were chattering the front suspension when pushed to race speed. Throughout the weekend both Rich and Steve tried various changes to their respective front ends, but to no avail. The true solution most likely lies in a heavier front fork oil and a switch to Michelin tires, a change that they were not prepared to perform on the road.
The first race, like all the Team's races this weekend, was a second-wave start. Like he has done at almost every race this year, Steve won the race to turn one, followed by the Hawk, then Rich and the rest of the crowd. For four laps this was the lineup; Steve leading the Hawk and Rich slowing reeling them in. At half-way the Hawk went past Steve, then Steve retook the point one lap latter. The two traded the lead a one more time but in the end the Hawk won the race. Steve was a close second and Rich finished third about two seconds behind.
BOT F2 was a bit more exciting, with Rich and Steve racing against the 750 Ducatis and big-bore Moto-Guzzis. Into turn one Dave Fine lead the pack on his MG, followed closely by Ducati rider Pete Johnson, then Rich, Steve, and the Hawk rider. Steve tried to slip past Rich at the end of the first lap but the failed attempt let the Hawk rider take fourth away from Steve. The freight train continued in this line-up for four laps, until the five-some caught up to the tail end of the unlimited twins race which had started ten seconds ahead of the F2 race. Hammering into turn three Pete was able to slip past the traffic, Dave powered past one of the two backmarkers and Rich was completely stymied by the 916s. Steve immediately pounced, passing Rich on the inside of the entrance to turn 5. But it was Hawkman who capitalized, passing Steve, Rich, Dave, and the slower 916 around the outside of the turn. Rich and Steve spend three laps trying to get around the 916 but every attempt was quickly countered by the Ducati's superior horsepower. Eventually Steve made a pass that stuck, but Rich finished a frustrated fifth. After a few beers we forgot about getting cheated out of fame and fortune, and headed to Savannah for seafood and spirits.
Sunday was cooler, in the fifties, but just as sunny as Saturday was. Steve and Rich ran practice with the same results; eyeball shaking front end chatter was limiting their corner entry speeds and lengthening their lap times. BOT F3 came soon enough, and at the flag Rich drilled the start, passed Steve down the straight and ducked into turn one with the lead. Four laps with as much chatter as he could stand had him still up front but down the straight he was passed by a previously unseen rider on a clearly illegal turbocharged CX650. Rich and Steve had clear track for most of this race and dipped into the 1:22 laps despite the high winds and suspension problems. Steve had tried to improve front end performance by lowing front tire pressure, but that proved a mistake. A protest of the 100 hp Honda was not necessary as the race officials did not even score him. Rich walked away with first place wood, and Steve pulled an equally decisive second place.
The final race of the season went poorly for Steve; his rear brake locked up two laps into the race. At the start Pete Johnson lead into turn one and walked away, while Steve lead the group of Rich, Dave, and Hawkman. At the end of lap one Dave smoked past Rich, then Steve at the end of the straight and somehow negotiated turn one. One lap two Rich pulled the same power-move on Steve, who was rapidly loosing ground as his rear brake slowly started to seize. He was forced to retire a lap later, at pit in the rear wheel locked up. Rich charged ahead, a large target clearly painted on the back of Mr Fine's leathers. On lap six of eight Rich pushed to the inside of Dave headed into turn five, but Dave countered by holding a tight line and forced Rich to back off. Rich realized that Dave would not relinquish second place without a fight, and for the next lap he carefully watched for any weakness Dave might display. On the final approach to turn one Rich passed around the outside (having tried the inside two laps earlier) and tried to outpace Dave through the infield. Pushing hard had the front end bouncing wildly, but coming onto the front straight Rich lead Dave by a hundred yards. Unfortunately, displacement was victorious once again and Dave powered past Rich, taking second place by just inches.
Well For 1997 the team had several goals in mind:
Of these five goals we hit the first one pretty well, completely missed the second, sort of hit the third, blew off the fourth, but had at least one keg for the fifth. As individual racers our goals were for Rich to defend the Sportsman championship, while Steve just wanted to build a bike that beat Rich. Both Rich & Steve failed to meet these goals. In the process of failing Steve won the championship and Rich won the races… Oh'well sometimes you win and sometimes you loose.
Next Race: 1998!!
