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Racing! 27 Nov 2018 10:46 #794262

  • jerry a smith
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Lots of good reads here. I started racing a '75 Z1 in "06. Stock engine with a slight overbore(tired motor) and a Wiseco piston kit. First race 13th out of 14(,but 1 guy crashed..) Now I laugh when people tell me heroin is addictive. At first I kept track of the races until almost 100 (same same -mid pack and a few podiums but great fun). Always a detailed mechanical log. On Metzlers it would slide predictably but when I went to Avon race rubber the bike became dangerous. At an endurance race my buddy crashed. At the next race at Mosport I didn't know what was wrong but after first practice thought it was too dangerous and just rode the Yamaha. Then I went to Roebling then Daytona. After first practice I was thinking of not racing. A track official stopped by and said I've got one of these and I told him what happened (not a speed wobble but a high speed weave- threw me out of the seat on the banking) he just laughed said and all these old pigs handle like that here. When it starts try and drive it down off the banking. A buddy Brian Henderson- pro racer back in the day- told me ride on the balls of your feet get your ass off the seat the banking is compressing the suspension and your riding like you're on a straightaway,not in a corner. It worked. I found it helped if I moved foreward and put more weight on the front. Just about the time the weave (more gentle now) would move me towards the wall and I would think about letting off I'd be in the the chute down to the finish line. My pit was across from the garages and I could sit and watch the guys from Japan I was racing against. Guys in suits,girlfriends in dresses and high heels and their own mechanics. As far as I was concerned the bikes where almost as pretty as the girls.
I could always launch Z1, always in the top 5 to the first corner( they would pass me shortly after) At Daytona I think I was 4th or 5th, next straight the guys from Japan passed me and I remember thinking how are they going to make the next corner- am I going that slow? They all ran off the track. A few laps later the ones that didn't crash caught up. I ended up 4th -cool.
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Racing! 27 Nov 2018 10:53 #794263

  • Move0ver
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We obviously need pictures!

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Racing! 27 Nov 2018 12:58 #794271

  • jerry a smith
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Yah know I've got lots of pictures. Everytime I try I have trouble. In my garage I cut ,weld bend drill and invent parts for my bikes for over 40 years. they all worked fine at over 100mph on the race track. At first when I had problems trying to post pictures I thought maybe I was stupid(hope that word doesn't offend anybody because it might be politically incorrect) . I'm still racing at 70 yrs old, but the only thing that raises my blood pressure to dangerous levels is trying to figure out how to do this xxxx.So after that crusty senior citizen rant if you have any suggestios of how to help me out I would appreciate that. NO!! I'm to old for therapy.
Jerry

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