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Playhard
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 10:20 am: | 
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WOW is all I can say! My first race weekend as an expert was a whirlwind. Took me all day Friday to get the suspension dialed in, thanks GMD! By the end of the day, the bike was feeling pretty good but I was sill having some issues shifting it. Coming off a smooth sifting Suzuki, the XB12R is a little clunky plus no quick shifter or slipper clutch, so I was pretty much dirt tracking it into every corner.
My first race was Sunday morning, LW Super Sport. I had a lot of butterflies just before getting on the bike not knowing how I was going to match up on the Expert Grid. Lined up on the front row outside so I had a clear shot to turn one. The one board went up, I revved the bike to about 4,500, the board went sideways and then came the quick green flag. I shot off the line like a cannon. As I rounded turn one, I was like, “holy shit, I have the lead”. I led the first lap before Mavos drafted past me at the tri-oval. I ended up finishing 3rd. and on the podium for my first EXPERT race, yeah!!!
The LW Superbike and LW Formula Forty races were stacked with Ducati 1000’s and Bimota’s. However to my surprise the XB12R, being pretty much stock, held its own on the super speedway. The LW Formula 40 race, although I ended seventh, was the most exciting, intense race I’ve ever been in. Holy Crap,,, we had a five bike battle for 3rd. thru 7th. the entire race. At one point we came through the tri-oval (4) wide and stayed in a pack the entire race constantly swapping places, especially on the high banks utilizing the draft. At one point, I went from 3rd. to 7th. and back to 3rd. in one lap. The Suction of a four bike draft is amazing! Even though I got hung out on the last lap, it was the most exciting race I’ve ever been in. My wife said the announcers were going crazy calling the race. Good Stuff!
I was impressed with the BUELL turn-out. Lot’s of Buell’s on the grids this past weekend. SMOKE looked good on the 1125, two (2nd’s), and Jay Smith was riding his two XB12’s hard all weekend, including running first in the Team Challenge for a long stint. Not sure what place they ended up in though. |
Xoptimizedrsx
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 12:11 pm: |
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Al don't forget send me an email when your ready I'll walk you through that ECM on how to access the stock baby and make changes. Its not hard to adjust fueling and a few other EPA things you need to turn off for the track.
Congrats on the start and ect. your on your way. Laird ended up 8th or 9th I believe in his first Expert outing. He elected to run the belt drive, which held him back a little.
Any way all you buellers did very well. Hats off to you all!!
Mike |
Blake
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 12:14 pm: |
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Really great reports. Way to go guys! Thanks for taking time to share. |
Firstbuell
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 01:17 pm: |
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yes, thanx for the on-the-ground reports
more, please !! |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 01:31 pm: |
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This is fabulous . . . It's like a chapter from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas . . . the story of the motorcycle company that refused to die.
What a fabulous showing at Daytona!
Less than 48 hours counting down . . . can't wait to get there.
Best of luck to ALL the Buell racers!
Court |
Manxboy
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 07:23 pm: |
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Hi guy's I had a great day on my 1125R today. Won Battle of the Twins F1 and Sound of Thunder beating Dario Marchetti on the Ducati 848 in both races, guess his visor could have misted up again?! Dedicated both wins to Erik Buell in the post race interview too, thanking him for building such a fun bike! Hope to do the same tomorrow......
With a VERY heavy heart I must tell you we lost one of our own at Daytona this morning. Skip Bradley crashed in turn one on his 1125R and has passed away. Brad introduced himself at Roebling Rd on Friday and we had a long chat about everything, he was a SUPER nice guy and will be greatly missed......... |
Firstbuell
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 07:36 pm: |
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get better, Skip Bradley !!
(Message edited by firstbuell on March 02, 2010) |
Dentguy
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 08:50 pm: |
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Manxboy,
Were you racing the 1125 in the Sound of Thunder? I thought the OHC twins were limited to 1100cc?  Just curious.
By the way, great job! |
Smoke
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 09:03 pm: |
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we were in sound of thunder with the 1125R.
AHRMA rules: four stroke twins- any displacement:
RIP Skip.
tim |
Dentguy
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 09:09 pm: |
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No problem, but seeing this on their site today is why I asked.
From AHRMA.org
"Sound of Thunder®
Unlimited displacement four-stroke singles; 4-valve demo twins to 1000cc, OHC twins to 1100cc and pushrod twins to 1350cc; three-cylinder machines to 1000cc; and twin-rotor rotary engines."
Went back and found in the rule book it says any displacement. Weird.
Thanks for the info.
(Message edited by dentguy on March 01, 2010) |
Imonabuss
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 09:13 pm: |
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RIP, Skip. A man who was enjoying every moment of being alive. |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 - 09:37 pm: |
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Vickie and I are keeping Skip's family in our prayers.
Court |
Paint_shaker
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 08:39 am: |
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RIP Skip. Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.
Al, Glad to hear you like the Buell and did well on your first outting with it!
Mike, it was 6th... Hellofa battle for last, which I lost. :-)
Good job Manx and Tim!!
Buell Motorcycles may be gone, but Buells in racing are still alive and kicking, strong!!!!! Go Buell Racers!! |
Playhard
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 08:56 am: |
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Ah man,,,I hate to hear news like that.
RIP Skip |
Court
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 11:49 am: |
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Posted on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 11:43 am: Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)
quote:
Roger "Skip" Bradley
Jr. was listed in serious condition at Halifax Health Medical Center after crashing his motorcycle in practice at Daytona International Speedway Monday. Bradley, from Houston, crashed in road course Turn 1 near the exit of pit road.
Source:http://www.news-journalonline.com/racing/other/201 0/03/02/longtime-rider-achieves-racing-dream.html? utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter |
Blake
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 12:21 pm: |
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Skip LIVES!
quote:as of last night Skip was "responsive".
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Smoke
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 07:27 am: |
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i wrote this up this morning for your enjoyment!
hi guys! well it is official! http://www.news-journalo...&utm_medium=twitter
i have had a good Daytona race event starting Saturday with the CCS/ASRA Team Challenge after practicing Friday with Team Hammer. it was pouring rain and our first rider had visor problems(fog) and pitted after 2 laps so i jumped on and tried to make good time, i managed to make about 10 laps before i was cold, tired and couldn't see. our 3rd rider jumped on and he did a solid 7 laps and came in for the same reasons. our first rider got back on and it was a repeat of 2 laps and pit. i jumped back on and ticked off another 10 laps and our third went back out and took the checkered flag. we finished 12th overall and 6th in our class. the rain stopped and i was in the 3rd race GTO which is the heavyweight solo. i took a chance that a dry line would develop and swapped to DOT's. i should have left the rains on as that cost me the opportunity to get a win at Daytona as i tiptoed through the infield and blasted through the straights and banking to come in 2nd. started sunday practice well and went out in Heavyweight Supersport. got balked at the start and at the international horseshoe and tried to make it up at the back chicane and overcooked the entry but managed to put in some redeeming laps and came in 4th. followed this up with Heavyweight Superbike and another bad start and international horseshoe, followed by 2 overcooks in the back chicane which put me at the back of about 16 racers. settled in again and worked my way up to 6th. last chance for sunday was in Supertwins. i had finally found some calm and didn't seem to be to amped up. got a good start and put in good laps but the fellow in 1st had longer legs on the banking and straights and what i could make up in the infield and on the braking he would take back on the straights and banking. managed a solid 2nd to finish out the CCS weekend. Charles Justice took a trip to the hospital for a collarbone/shoulder injury from a chicane crash sunday but was released Sunday late. i hung around sunday evening to wait for the vintage boys from Lafayette to come share the garage. some japanese guys had some crates shipped in and on sunday afternoon they showed up (12 of them) and started uncrating and assembling. 1 moto guzzi lemans, a GS1000 and another i don't remember. they were mostly finished by the time the Lafayette boys showed up and i went back to the condo my wife had for us in St. Augustine. came in Monday to find that they had my S1W and my 1125R in the same practice group so i practiced only on the S1W. first practice went good except for excess oil blowby on the S1W but 2nd practice developed a breakdown of running at high rpm and bad running. started the race but pulled in on the 1st lap as to not present problems for the other guys. took the 1125 out next in Formula 1 and finished just off the podium in 4th. next up was Sound of Thunder and i was ready with a clear head and with the intent of hanging with Pat Mooney the winner of the Formula 1 race. got a good start and i was number 2 through the 1st lap and Dario Manchetti took me in the horseshoe. i hung with him for a while but made a couple mistakes in lap 4 and an Aprilia got by me, again in the horseshoe. i said to myself no way this is happening and stuck to him and blasted past on the brakes at the backstraight chicane and i never saw him again to finish in 3rd. didn't accomplish my goal of a sub 2 minute lap at Daytona but managed my best of 2:00.07 in that race so i was happy. tuesday came round and it is my wife and I's 36th anniversary. went to the track in the rain and put the rains on. got ready to go out to practice on the S1W and no start. AAAAAAH! turns over no fire-started tearing into it and managed to fire it up by hotwiring the key swich connector but still runs like crap so back in the pit and tearing it down to make race 2. oh yeah, it stopped raining and the track dried up too so the rains had to go. i jumped into my spares and pulled out all the electronics i had: coil, plug wires, ignition module,etc and started yanking off the bodywork. Art from Old Farts Racing was helping me out. i was on the left side of the bike attacking the electronics when Luke from Old Farts Racing walked by and said that will really make it run bad and pointed out that the front header had broken at the sleeve about 12" from the head. off to the welder and 40 bucks later it sure sounded a lot better. the race to the start was on!! Luke came back by and i enlisted His and Art's help to get her back together and get the race DOT's back on. at 3rd call we were safetying it up and for the 1st time i was glad that 3rd call with AHRMA seems to take a while and i made it to the grid in time to make my warm up lap. mission accomplished! full throttle was full speed. i got a good start and was hanging with the leader into the horseshoe when i upshifted instead of down and off he went. (i put the 1125r Gp shift and it bit me on the S1!) found my false neutral on the banking between 4th and 5th and lost more time. settled in and rolled around the track, came in 2nd and put in some 2:14's on the S1!! made all that trouble worthwhile!!! next up was Formula 1 and i was ready. ready all the way until the Ducati in front of me stalled and pulled in my way on the start letting almost everybody by. took off and got bit in the horseshoe again!(upshifted after coming off of the S1 instead of downshifting) i could still see the leaders and i was going to catch them. we had a 25mph tailwind on the backstretch that i didn't take into account and when i stayed off the brakes even further than ever for the backstraight chicane i ended up in the grass and put the bike down sliding in the grass instead of running straight into the haybales. did a couple somersaults and jumped up to remount. the corner workers helped me get her up and asked if i was good to go. i said yes and off i went behind all the 2nd wave. i tore out to try and catch some of my group and i was rolling good. the front fairing, windshield and fairing stay were broken and flapping as iwent down the straight and banking but appeared that it would stay on. the air pressure without having a shield to get behind was forcing me helmet back making it hard to breath and hard to hang on the bike. caused a lot of rider input handling issues as well but i wasn't backing off. 2 laps later i had caught the last guy of my group only to get the meatball  so i pulled off at turn 1 and got the bike behind the airfence and became a spectator. i was worried now because this was the first race/track weekend that my wife had attended when i was riding and i wasn't going by her seat anymore. she was waiting with a concerned, uneasy and uncomfortable look and manner at the pit when i got there and it took a bit to ensure her that her man was fine.(or as fine as i can be  . Art jumped in again to help and started pulling the farm out of the r/h radiator fairing while i safety-wired the fairing stay back together and got the spare front fairing out of the van and put it on. i did some more comforting with my wife and convinced her to stay for the next race to watch and we went out for race 10. got a decent start but was more cautious overall and let the Aprilia take me in THE HORSESHOE(problem area for me) but i wasn't going to let it happen. i took him back right away in the right hander after the kink and kept an eye on the 2 leaders. they were having a go pushing each other on and i was in cautious mode. they pulled away even further on the front stretch and i settled in 3rd to put down decent times and cruise in in 3rd. same finish as the day before: 1st- Pat Mooney, 2nd Dario Marchetti, 3rd Tim Ivanoff. i have to say that finishing well after falling made my wife a little more at ease and we celebrated over dinner with our daughter and all is well in the world of Tim! 4 race days- 3 2nd's, 2 3rd's. Next race-Jennings Gp Apr 3. see ya there!
tim
#222
Thrashed Bike Racing, ArrowAviationCo.com, Buell, Pirelli, TigerTrackDays.com |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 08:13 am: |
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Excellent! |
Hurricaneleah
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 08:37 am: |
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congrats on the great finishes Tim! You looked great out there! I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet, it was the most challenging Daytona i ever had.....a bad case of the flu, flat tire on the buell monday (pretty scary on the banking....), and 2 grenaded engines on the vintage bikes, topped off by a broken wrist the last race of the day (folded the front end, tankslapped, but saved it). On the plus side things came out a little better on tuesday and we were able to beat Marcheti on his factory duc for a 1-2 finish. Huge congrats to Pat for his perfect week in F1 and SOT! The guy has huge talent and continues to be a benchmark racer on whatever he rides. Its awesome to see him on a Buell. Hopefully we will be able to keep it closer to him when we go to our backyard at road america!
Also on the vintage bike, we got some great on bike footage of the tim joyce high side/save right in front of pat. Should have a link to you tube soon on that one...
Congrats to all buell racers and good luck to shawn, Paul, and Walt in the 200!
WFO |
Rkc00
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 05:37 pm: |
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Court and I made it to Orlando. When we got off the plane Court received a phone call from his wife that her aunt passed away today. He will be heading home tonight Safe travel home. RIP
sorry. I should have posted this in the roll call thread
(Message edited by Rkc00 on March 03, 2010) |
Paint_shaker
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 08:46 pm: |
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My thoughts and prayers are with Court and his family.
Congrats Tim and all the Buell racers! |
Xoptimizedrsx
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 10:34 pm: |
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Great Job Smoke.
Congrats and ect!!! |
Blasterd
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:48 pm: |
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See you in April Tim! |
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