- Oct 20, 2000
- 2,969
- 2
I hadn't made plans to do much this weekend except do a little work around the house on Saturday and IF I could get my bike running better make the trip to Burleson Sunday. If being the operative word!
I had been invited to race Badlands Saturday night but didn't really give it much thought, that is untill my phone started ringing Saturday morning. I just walked in the house from replacing the brushes in my RV generator and mowing the back yard, the kid was still in bed and I was very dirty and extremely hungry. I figured a quick shower and a wonderfull big breakfast was about the most important items on the agenda, however once I committed to make the Badlands trip one of those was going to have to take a back seat, unfortunantly it was the food :(
After a quick shower it was back to the garage for emergency bike repairs. I pulled the carb bowl off to check for trash, all was good there. Next was to check the powervalve. Ah ha, here is a problem. The linkage that opens the powervalve is worn causing the valve to open late, I adjusted to compensate and thought I had it good enough. I got all my gear together, woke uo the kid, and began to scramble for something to eat. Before I could get that far is when I noticed I now had a flat on the rear tire. Ktm's don't like to ride on flats Another emergency was in order. It was a mad dash to Bargers for a tube. No time for food still. When I got home from getting the tube, my ride was at my house to pick me up so the flat was going to have to be repaired at the track.
We thought by looking on the map that hwy 34 seemed to be a pretty good route. About 4 hours later we pulled in to Badlands MX. A quick unload in the 97 degree heat (no breeze) and the back wheel was off. I hate changing tires! I finally got that fixed in time to make a lap in 1st practice. The bike was still running bad. Back to the trailer for another PV adjustment and then I noticed my air-screw was only about 1/4 turn out. This could explaiin why it wasn't running too good . When it was time for practice again I hit the track, she was running much better this time. I got 2 laps in before it was time for riders meeting. I had the track layout in my head so I felt pretty good about it. As we were doing the riders meeting is when I noticed they were reprepping the track and pouring water on it. The dirt is similar to ours at Waco, very slick when wet! Race order was posted and I'm race 1. As I lined up in the over 25 (combined with over 30 & over 40) I see that I'm once again the only one on a 125. All 450's and a CR500 next to me. I didn't stand a chance on the start.
When the gate dropped I tried as best I could, but from not getting a real good jump on the gate I made it to the 1st turn in last place. Remember that they had watered the track about 10 minutes prior to this. I think it was the 2nd turn where half the bikes in front of me went down. Through the 1st whoop section to the next turn is where several more bikes went down, this stuff was slick!! I was sliding all over the place so I figured to just keep it on two wheels and ride my race. Without even trying I managed to finish 2nd in my class I think. Back to the trailer to melt in the sun.
I ran into about half the Waco Eagles crew there, Billy, Johnny, Parsons, Rich, Harley Jones, and several others, but none were in my class.
There were 17 races this day and me in race one, I had a long wait before my turn again. The sun went down and we were all able to get some relief from the heat.
Race 16 was 125 beginner and they were on the track by now. Race 17 was supermini and back to race 1 (me) where we sat in staging. Someone in beginner looped out and had to be transported so there we were, stuck in staging for about 45 minutes. Finally we were back up and running. There I was beside the CR500 again. I got a good start but didn't have enough power to keep up with the others. Last into the 1st turn again. This time the track was hooking up though and was starting to feel pretty good. Though I never gained any better position, I managed to catch the other riders and stay there the entire race. I was all over the dude on the 500 but he would wax me out of the corners and in the straights. Only advantage I had was I could late brake him. I finished that race in 4th and came home with a 3rd overall.
Really enjoyed the track and given the chance to ride it a little more I think I would have done better. I loved the layout and wished we had one like it in Waco. Amazingly enough, the dirt was not all that different than ours. There were sevreral lines and options on the track. A really cool over and under section, (bridge & tunnel) allowed the track to cross and give much more distance in a lot less space. Aside from my cluster f**k of a morning, and the long way to get there, it was a wonderful trip. We came home a much shorter way. If you get the chance, check out Badlands MX, it's worth the drive.
I had been invited to race Badlands Saturday night but didn't really give it much thought, that is untill my phone started ringing Saturday morning. I just walked in the house from replacing the brushes in my RV generator and mowing the back yard, the kid was still in bed and I was very dirty and extremely hungry. I figured a quick shower and a wonderfull big breakfast was about the most important items on the agenda, however once I committed to make the Badlands trip one of those was going to have to take a back seat, unfortunantly it was the food :(
After a quick shower it was back to the garage for emergency bike repairs. I pulled the carb bowl off to check for trash, all was good there. Next was to check the powervalve. Ah ha, here is a problem. The linkage that opens the powervalve is worn causing the valve to open late, I adjusted to compensate and thought I had it good enough. I got all my gear together, woke uo the kid, and began to scramble for something to eat. Before I could get that far is when I noticed I now had a flat on the rear tire. Ktm's don't like to ride on flats Another emergency was in order. It was a mad dash to Bargers for a tube. No time for food still. When I got home from getting the tube, my ride was at my house to pick me up so the flat was going to have to be repaired at the track.
We thought by looking on the map that hwy 34 seemed to be a pretty good route. About 4 hours later we pulled in to Badlands MX. A quick unload in the 97 degree heat (no breeze) and the back wheel was off. I hate changing tires! I finally got that fixed in time to make a lap in 1st practice. The bike was still running bad. Back to the trailer for another PV adjustment and then I noticed my air-screw was only about 1/4 turn out. This could explaiin why it wasn't running too good . When it was time for practice again I hit the track, she was running much better this time. I got 2 laps in before it was time for riders meeting. I had the track layout in my head so I felt pretty good about it. As we were doing the riders meeting is when I noticed they were reprepping the track and pouring water on it. The dirt is similar to ours at Waco, very slick when wet! Race order was posted and I'm race 1. As I lined up in the over 25 (combined with over 30 & over 40) I see that I'm once again the only one on a 125. All 450's and a CR500 next to me. I didn't stand a chance on the start.
When the gate dropped I tried as best I could, but from not getting a real good jump on the gate I made it to the 1st turn in last place. Remember that they had watered the track about 10 minutes prior to this. I think it was the 2nd turn where half the bikes in front of me went down. Through the 1st whoop section to the next turn is where several more bikes went down, this stuff was slick!! I was sliding all over the place so I figured to just keep it on two wheels and ride my race. Without even trying I managed to finish 2nd in my class I think. Back to the trailer to melt in the sun.
I ran into about half the Waco Eagles crew there, Billy, Johnny, Parsons, Rich, Harley Jones, and several others, but none were in my class.
There were 17 races this day and me in race one, I had a long wait before my turn again. The sun went down and we were all able to get some relief from the heat.
Race 16 was 125 beginner and they were on the track by now. Race 17 was supermini and back to race 1 (me) where we sat in staging. Someone in beginner looped out and had to be transported so there we were, stuck in staging for about 45 minutes. Finally we were back up and running. There I was beside the CR500 again. I got a good start but didn't have enough power to keep up with the others. Last into the 1st turn again. This time the track was hooking up though and was starting to feel pretty good. Though I never gained any better position, I managed to catch the other riders and stay there the entire race. I was all over the dude on the 500 but he would wax me out of the corners and in the straights. Only advantage I had was I could late brake him. I finished that race in 4th and came home with a 3rd overall.
Really enjoyed the track and given the chance to ride it a little more I think I would have done better. I loved the layout and wished we had one like it in Waco. Amazingly enough, the dirt was not all that different than ours. There were sevreral lines and options on the track. A really cool over and under section, (bridge & tunnel) allowed the track to cross and give much more distance in a lot less space. Aside from my cluster f**k of a morning, and the long way to get there, it was a wonderful trip. We came home a much shorter way. If you get the chance, check out Badlands MX, it's worth the drive.
