| Author | Message | ||
     Knickers |
Any Buell riders going to be at the WERA regional at Grattan this weekend? Everything is going according to plan for my first race so there's a total noob looking for some pits to swing by for free advice. Kurt | ||
| Eboos |
If you ever make your way up to Loudon, I don't know if I could give much advice, but I could offer a hand. Pretty much do the opposite of whatever I advise. | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
The best advise we can give is to skip this weekend and plan to attend the CCS/ASRA memorial day event May 24-26 at Summit Point WV. Its a really fun track, and there should be 20 or more Buell racers there who are always ready to help a fellow Buell racer, especially a virgin. Good luck in your first race. Just remember to have fun. maybe well see you in WV. Seth CCS/ASRA #148 gratuitous self promotion..  | ||
| Shred |
Won't be there but I'll be watching the results as it unfolds or shortly there after. Good luck Kurt, wish their were more Buells in WERA. Kevin and Marty the "Drummer team" did a great job last year. Go race and have fun and here's the best advise I've got to give....coming from someone who doesn't know everything that is. lol! #1 Finish the race! Race smart not just fast. Crashing sucks....If you can't finish a race, you can't win a race. #2 check the gas, tires/presure,etc. LOL! #3 Have fun! Best of luck  Not racing much this year but look me up if your ever going to a southern regional / National. Better yet hope you make it to the GNF at Road Atlanta. Michael, WERA #501 07' Lightweight twins SS Novice National Challenge Champion / 3rd place Formula 2 (Message edited by shred on May 15, 2008) | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
After you get thoroughly hooked this weekend, Just realized you live in Michigan. A better idea than coming out to Summit point is to wait till 4th of july weekend and pop up to Road America for Buell 25 aniv homecoming and the CCS/ ASRA races. Between Buell owners and racers, theres bound to be more Buellers than most of us have ever seen. last year was an absolute blast. That track is by far my favorite and the 1125R unveiling wasn’t too bad either  Hope to see you there. Seth | ||
| Knickers |
Thanks for all the encouragement guys. I didn't crash, did finish, and didn't finish last - accomplishing all three objectives I had for the weekend. And the bonus is Buell took first place in heavyweight twins superstock novice! Of course I was the only one entered in the class, but I got a trophy nonetheless. Also got third in lightweight twins superbike (out of a class of three). It was a lot of fun but was surely a humbling experience. They ran heavyweight twins with the C-superbike expert class in a two wave start. I got lapped within six laps! Man those guys are fast (12 seconds per lap faster). The highlight was putting a pass on a HWT expert on a Duc 748, but it was a hollow victory because he dropped out after 2-3 laps so I was racing alone. I did take about 2 seconds off my previous best time, but I'm still two seconds short of the novices on SV650's. But I know what I need to work on and where to put my money - Suspension!  | ||
| Shred |
Cool....glad you went. Got any pics...post them up! You've got PM... | ||
| Xb9srider |
What classes did you race Kurt? Great write up and nice job. Mark | ||
| Knickers |
I ran heavyweight twins superstock and lightweight twins superbike. WERA allows Buells to race with lightweight twin superbikes, but under the superstock rules which means no engine mods. So technically I cheated because my xb9 is bumped up to 1021cc. But I figure I'm meeting the spirit of the rule since my bike makes about the same power as an XB12 which the rules also allow to race lightweight. I don't think anyone will mind as long as I'm at the back of the pack. I'm looking at picking up a stock 12 engine so I can meet the letter of the law without giving up any power. I got my second race under my belt at Nelson Ledges two weeks ago. No trophies this time since the field was bigger, but the upside was I wasn't racing alone and put a few passes on. Last time racing with the orange shirt - full novice now!  | ||
| Xb9srider |
Thanks Kurt! Congrats on everything. I can only race Saturday (August 23) that weekend. My boy turns 5 on Sunday. I'm not sure if it will be worth the effort for just the one race (lt wt solo 20). However, I may do it. Hope to see you there. Ride safe. | ||
| Knickers |
The solo 20 is a lot of fun because there's wide range of bikes out there and its long enough that you'll surely find someone at the same pace to dice with. The sprints can be a bore if the field is small and you're really slow like me. | ||
| Knickers |
Mark - did you make it on Saturday? I was there Friday and Sunday, but had to skip Saturday so I could run around to find a new coil. Friday was my first day running the track counter clock-wise and I had problems with the bike misfiring which I traced back to the coil. I was able to get some decent practice in though. On Sunday I returned to run two races. Heavyweight twin SS novice went off well. Got another 1st place trophy for being the only one in that classification, but what the heck - ANOTHER BUELL RACE VICTORY.  This time I finished without getting lapped by the 600 superbike experts. I got pulled aside after that race by Tech though, apparently my bike was smoking pretty good and we found an oil leak that was dripping on the exhaust. With not enough time to get it diagnosed and fixed before the lightweight twin SB race I was done for the day. All in all a decent weekend though. Kurt |
