Vintage Dirt Racing on a 350 Honda Twin

Vintage British fenders from ebay arrived.

Front;


Rear;

As we continue to prepare for the upcoming season, Luke and I have been talking about getting in at least one or maybe two races before the D100 and the MK1. So we decided to ride the XC race at Eddieville on St Patty's Day (even Doc Sprocket is going to ride with us!) and then my old friend Don H (he is the one that gave me my SL350 back in 2011, and got me re-started on this adventure) said we should go ride the 6 hour team race at Eddieville on 3-3, just to get me familiar with the course before the XC on 3-17. He said I could ride "sweep" and get some seat time without racing an unfamiliar course on a less than competitive bike.

Don (H) has been riding at Eddieville for at least 20 years and he and his riding partner (also a Don (N)) have been racing and riding together longer than that. Don and I left Scappoose at 6AM Sunday morning and planned to meet Don N at the track at 9 AM. Race time was set for 10 AM. We had a nice drive up the Columbia River Gorge.

Don at the wheel;


While we were driving and talking, I asked Don how many riders they had on their team. He said it was just the two of them. Hmmmm. So then I asked would it be of any help to them if I rode a few laps, just to give them a little rest. Well sure, that would be okay. So riding sweep turned into racing pretty quickly (who didn't see that coming?).

So as we got closer to the track, we saw more and more of the famous windmills of the Columbia Gorge;


At this point Don mentioned that we would be riding right next to some of these windmills and that I should try not be startled when the shadow comes sweeping across in front of me on the track. He said that over the years at least a few people had managed to run off the track when this had happened. <?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shape style="WIDTH: 11.4pt; HEIGHT: 11.4pt" id=_x0000_i1028 type="#_x0000_t75" alt=""><v:imagedata o:href="http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/eekers.gif" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\rickte\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image005.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape>

Then I saw the track and it looked just a bit like the D100, just not quite as many vehicles;


Race Club here is the "Over The Bars Gang"


We unloaded the bikes and started to get ready;


Whatcha doin' Don?


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Suited up and ready to go;

Don H


Don N


Me


Since all three of us are getting close to 60, we signed up as Team Viagra. Laps were approximately 9 miles long over what amounts to a very large motocross course, with a small rock garden and also a section featuring small stacks of telephone poles and then finishes on an actual flat track that was pretty well groomed, and about 3/8 mile in length (nirvana!). The plan was to have Don H lead off, go 2 to 3 laps and then Don N would take over for 2 to 3 laps. I would then ride one lap, evaluate my ability and my bike's ability to do more and go from there. This was the first real test of my shoulder since last years injury and the TTR is basically a little foo foo bike, so we needed to make sure I could run at least close to a competitive speed and also not hurt myself.

Don came and went on his first lap, there was a 5 mph speed limit on pit road that was checked with a radar gun, and enforced with a one minute penalty (you were stopped and held for one minute). Before the day was over we would end up getting three such penalties. It is very hard to go 5 mph or less on a dirt bike! <v:shape style="WIDTH: 11.4pt; HEIGHT: 12pt" id=_x0000_i1039 type="#_x0000_t75" alt=""><v:imagedata o:href="http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/eek7.gif" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\rickte\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image021.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape>

When Don came by on his second lap, he was supposed to let us know if he was stopping or going on for another lap, but didn't see us until it was too late and he just kept going for his 3rd lap. Don is on the left;


After Don H did his 3 laps, Don N took off and did two laps, then it was my turn to give it a try. I'd never seen the course and had very little idea what to expect. At first I was hyper aware of the other riders and trying to stay out of their way and also just trying to learn the course and terrain and what my little trail bike would or wouldn't do. I also missed one corner (someone had mowed the flags down) and it took me a minute to get straightened out and pointed the right way. In the end it was a pretty uneventful lap, but I had cost our team about 5 minutes, we were averaging about 22 minutes a lap and my first one took about 27 minutes. I came into the pits, signaled I was going out for another lap and this time was feeling a little more confident and also starting to understand the limits of the TTR. There were smooth sections where it did pretty well and in the rough stuff I was working hard to find the smoothest lines and trying to keep the speed up. I ran off to the side of the trail in one place and gained some speed, but broke off a bunch of sage brush and jammed the brake pedal, so any time gained was lost while I stopped and cleaned out the vegetation! The new steering dampener also gave an added sense of confidence in the rock garden, not sure how much it helped, but no crashes leads me to believe it was working properly. Second lap took about 24 minutes.

Don H took off for another 2 laps and then Don N did two more, then it was my turn again & we figured if I rode one lap, then the other two faster riders would each do 2 more and that would finish our day. My last lap was my best and took about 23 minutes. I was trying to balance out my contribution to the team by helping them rest, but not riding so much that it created too much of a time deficit. At the finish we ended up with 16 laps or about 144 miles. Not bad for a bunch of old farts!

We had a great time, made some new friends and are all looking forward to the next event in two weeks.

Here is a post race photo of Team Viagra;

Good times!
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Way to go Rick!!


I had no idea you were racing this weekend...sounds like you didn't either...

What?

It is a nice experience to get back to the vintage age. Racing can now get a renewed look and experience. So lovely it is to see the first tires and motorbikes in the market take a new look..

Today Don and I decided to go for a ride and let me try out Don's KTM 300 MXC to get an idea if it was good fit for me to ride in the upcoming races, instead of my TTR 250.

The day before Jan and I had taken a nice long ride on the road bike and really enjoyed the warmth of the sun, but today there was no sun, just cold and drizzly rain & about 39.9 degrees out. bleh...

Ready to go;


Don refuses to grow up;


Trying to remember how to light up a two stroke; :huh


And off we went. Headed up the mountain, our first destination was the old iron ore pits where we used to ride in the 70's. Much to our surprise, the timber company had logged it all off and it was at least recognizable again. We rode all over the mountain top and then further west and finally on a trail and down a wet clay hillclimb that looked fairly benign, until we tried to climb back out again. Head slap!

I made the first attempt and got about 3/4 of the way up the wet and rutted skidder road when I hit a nice wide strip of grayish looking clay, soaking wet and super slippery. Stuck! Backed down the hill and then Don took a run. Same result. We both tried a few more runs, with no luck. We finally decided we would double team each bike to the top, Don would run the bike and I would push. I used a walking stick to poke into the ground and anchor my down hill foot and held it with my right and pushed the back of each bike with my left. Although effective, it resulted in me getting heavily roosted with wet mud and clay. It was a lot of work and we had to take several rest breaks but finally made it to the top. Whew!

We'd been gone a few hours at that point and decided to head back home.

Here's what we looked like when we got there;


It's hard to tell from the pictures, but my left side, including helmet, were caked with mud. Don seemed to find this amusing;


Old, tired, wet and dirty (well at least the guy on the right is dirty!);


We pressure washed the bikes and then another friend, master brewer Ken Fisher stopped by with a case of his finest. A couple of Ken's beers and all aches and pains were forgotten and we were planning our next ride, good times!

As for my test ride;
The little KTM is very torquey, but I was surprised how quickly you reached top gear on the fireroads, my left foot was always hunting for another upshift! One of the best characteristics of this bike, is whenever we came to a mudhole or somewhere the front end needed a little loft, no problem. Very unlike the TTR that struggles to get the front end up. Next weekend is the Eddieville XC and I'm planning to ride this bike, and if it works well enough, I may be riding it at the D100 as well.

Very nice..but what the hell are you gonna do on a proper race bike??? Jeebus...you could win the damn thing!

Here is the link to the thread on repairing the motor home's furnace, for anyone who might be interested;

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20945216&postcount=3243

Also need to think of a spiffy name for the motor home, such as the "OSR/LCG Bivouac 1" or something equally pretentious, any ideas out there?

Jan and I are headed out this morning to meet up with Don and Don at Eddieville for the OMRA XC. I will be riding one of Don's bikes, either the KTM 300 (rode last week) or the 450 Honda (Ive never put a leg over one of these). Should be an interesting day!

Yesterday was a mixed bag, Luke and Al were here working on Al's MK1 chase rig, while I worked on the SL350. Good news is Luke welded up the frame where I modded it for the MT 250 tank, bad news is the engine build went into full reverse.

Got the cam into the cam box, but for some reason could not get enough slack in the chain to lift the cam high enough to get the bearing supports bolted in. Tried subbing in the stock cam and it made no difference. Finally realized I was just going to have to take it apart and check the whole cam tensioner system. Tore it down to the block, extracted the tensioner and compared against stock and it seems like they are the same size and should work. Feel like I am missing something obvious. Rather than get frustrated and pissed off, just put my tools down and went in the house. I've learned that sometimes if you just walk away and clear your head, the solution will come to you. I will write more about this tomorrow with some pictures, and a race report from Eddieville.

Everybody have a great day!

Hey Rick,

If you want, I can PM you Owens number. He should be able to talk you through it.

-John

John, thanks and yes please send me his number. I have an idea or two what is going on, but definitely need some help.

Hope your radio interview went well!

PS: race report tomorrow, we all had a good time and everyone finished in one piece!

Saturday around the garage

upgrading the roof basket





Rick getting his pics





Working on the SL frame










Supervising

(cue the Ominous Music)

"Luke....I am your father.

And, you missed a spot."

Hmmm...I think if Luke had any of my DNA he would be shorter and not quite so brilliant!

Early morning drive to the high desert, Jan and I were in high spirits, but Danny wasn't quite so sure why we had left our nice warm house.

Are we there yet?


Obligatory windmill pic, note ice and snow on road, it was cold!!!


Base camp;


Luke and Doc Sprocket trying to stay warm;


Don "It's an electric start, so quit whining";


My new official OMRA number is now 98Y (AHRMA # is T98);


OSR Team ready for action (Doc Sprocket aka Alex, me and Luke);


Riders meeting;


Starting line, lined up according to speed, I'm in the back row with old men, women and children;


Our row went last, turns out the 450 likes to wheelie;


At this point the battery in the camera went dead. :eek1

My pre-race plan was divided into 3 30 minute segments (50 and older rode 1.5 hours, the younger riders rode 2.5 hours). First 30 minutes learn bike and course & don't fall down, second 30 minutes, try to gain a little speed & don't fall down, last 30 minutes don't fall down.

A few minutes into the race, we hit a very tight gate that went uphill to the right and I killed the motor. Doh! Even with the magic button it took a minute to get going and back into a groove. Settled into a rhythm and caught a few of the slower riders, then hooked up with a young beginner on a KTM going my speed, at one point as we were exiting the flat track portion of the course, he had his bike in a full lock slide and I was holding my breath waiting for the high side but somehow he saved it. We hung together for about a lap and a half until he missed a gate. Was alone for a long while and then the first two A riders came up to lap me, I made the mistake of trying to keep up and came down front wheel first on a down hill jump, hit my chest protector on the handlebars and was very lucky not to crash. Whew! I then went into the I must not fall mode and tried to settle back down, then along came another group of four A riders, and I thought "I'll just find a wide spot and get out of their way". I spotted what looked like a good place to move over and pulled to the side of the trail, but it was off camber and when I stuck my right foot out couldn't touch the ground and over I went. Jumped up, picked up the bike and tried to restart but the brush buster was jammmed into the throttle and it would not turn, had to coast down the hill till I found a large enough rock to hit the brush buster and get it off the throttle. restarted and off I went with no further problems.

After my 1.5 hours, I got off the bike and Don and I loaded up, then Jan and I headed over to wait for Luke and Alex. Well here came Alex, but no Luke. :huh We were a little worried and just as they were closing down the finish gate we spotted Luke coasting down the hill. As it turns out he had a flat rear tire and was out of gas. Oh well, as long as he was in one piece no harm done.

It was a really fun day, had a great time and can't wait to head out for Odessa in a few weeks. Yeehaw!

That was great! Alex gave me his update via a text today....sounds like he also had a great time!!