Hey y'all !
Once again, the weekend at Maxton was a wonderful time. Great folks,
awesome machines, lots of stories, and thankfully a safe event.
This is the first year that I attended the races in Maxton, beginning with
the May meet. I was there in June, and again in July. Missed September &
August taking care of my pregnant wife ( More Crew! )
This weekend, I was watching our Sportster List Race Team racers going,
loving the atmosphere, and didn't even have my motorcycle with me in North
Carolina . My friend Jim Snyder has been telling me since May to "Pay your
money, borrow Crim's leathers, and make some passes!". Well, I timidly
approached Bill Mackey & John Beckett and asked about the "duration" of an
ECTA membership purchased now, and was delighted to find that the
memberships run for 12 consecutive months, not for the "season". So, I paid
my money, went through the orientation, and with borrowed leathers and
motorcycle, I set about making my first passes down the Maxton Monster Mile.
My licensing pass ( below 125 ) went well, as I hit the brakes going through
the traps, to record a speed of 101.4. (It's hard to tell how fast you're
going with no tach/speedo!). The next pass, I was going for broke. I
shifted into 5th, and slid back on the seat to get into a nice tight tuck.
Just then, the bike starts coughing and sputtering. WTF??? I looked at the
petcock, and my left knee had turned it to the "off" position. Wonderful
start - my first pass and I pull a goof like this. Well, I get back to the
pits, look everything over, and get ready to make another run. After
shutting down in the staging area and waiting to hear the good news that no
one was hurt in the spinout, my turn came up. I started the machine, and
took off. Run 1st up pretty high, as well as 2nd & 3rd, short shift 4th to
get into 5th earlier. This pass felt a bit better - my timeslip showed a
135.7 - Not great for a bike that ran 144 earlier in the day, but, enough to
put a BIG grin on my face. I didn't want to beat up Snyder's bike, so I
stopped at that run.
Now - what do I do to *my* bike to make it competitive? Hmmm.. There aren't
many records in the Blown Pushrod motorcycle classes.
Anybody out there know anything about turbocharging?
Ray Kimbro - aka - Ray in Richmond
Sportster List Race Team
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