robwbright
Member
- Apr 8, 2005
- 2,283
- 0
Well the first two races here were rained out, so Saturday night I finally had my first race of the year.
In practice the bike was not running well. I turned the air screw 1 1/2 turns to the left and re-discovered the upper mid/top end revs that were missing.
Anyway, we had 12 bikes in the heat (which is a full gate at this track - it's a very tight supercross style track and is certainly best suited for 85s and 125s). I was running in an open class and started 4th. I passed my buddy on a 450f on the inside of a corner and a 250f when he went down in a flat turn leading into the whoops section.
I was catching the leader but ran out of laps and finished 2nd. When I got back to the pits, my buddy on the 450 said about my 144, "Man that bike is strong."
There were 2 other 450s (One of which was the TOTALLY COOL yellow YZF) and about 6 250f's in the field - but 1st and 2nd in the heat were taken by a near stock 125 and my 144, and 4th was a completely stock 125. ;)
Ironically, the winner was a 17 year old kid who couldn't stay within a 1/2 lap of me last year. . . I guess that's what happens when a young kid gets to practice all the time and I don't get to. :(
Anyway, in the final, I had a crappy first 20 feet because I miss slipped the clutch, tried to recover by the first turn by holding it on as long as I could and was taken out by another buddy. I got up in last and was only able to pass 4 guys before the checkers. :bang:
BTW, the 144 is definitely faster and easier to ride on this track. There's a step on step off I was having trouble with last year, and I was getting it cleanly 75% of the time last night. There's also a small double double very close to the corner exit that I was having trouble with last year and it's much smoother now.
The whoops section is easier because I can nail it in 2nd out of the corner and land on the 3rd whoop instead of on the 2nd like I did last year.
Finally, my gearing last year was 11/52 for that track and I was taking the finish line double in 4th. I had the 144 done and switched to 12/50 gearing. Even with the gearing switch, I now take the finish line double in 3rd.
All in all, I have to say I'm still quite pleased with the 144 - especially when watching my buddy's 2004 RMZ 250f spew coolant and lose oil each heat. He had to refill the oil and the coolant twice . . .
In practice the bike was not running well. I turned the air screw 1 1/2 turns to the left and re-discovered the upper mid/top end revs that were missing.
Anyway, we had 12 bikes in the heat (which is a full gate at this track - it's a very tight supercross style track and is certainly best suited for 85s and 125s). I was running in an open class and started 4th. I passed my buddy on a 450f on the inside of a corner and a 250f when he went down in a flat turn leading into the whoops section.
I was catching the leader but ran out of laps and finished 2nd. When I got back to the pits, my buddy on the 450 said about my 144, "Man that bike is strong."
There were 2 other 450s (One of which was the TOTALLY COOL yellow YZF) and about 6 250f's in the field - but 1st and 2nd in the heat were taken by a near stock 125 and my 144, and 4th was a completely stock 125. ;)
Ironically, the winner was a 17 year old kid who couldn't stay within a 1/2 lap of me last year. . . I guess that's what happens when a young kid gets to practice all the time and I don't get to. :(
Anyway, in the final, I had a crappy first 20 feet because I miss slipped the clutch, tried to recover by the first turn by holding it on as long as I could and was taken out by another buddy. I got up in last and was only able to pass 4 guys before the checkers. :bang:
BTW, the 144 is definitely faster and easier to ride on this track. There's a step on step off I was having trouble with last year, and I was getting it cleanly 75% of the time last night. There's also a small double double very close to the corner exit that I was having trouble with last year and it's much smoother now.
The whoops section is easier because I can nail it in 2nd out of the corner and land on the 3rd whoop instead of on the 2nd like I did last year.
Finally, my gearing last year was 11/52 for that track and I was taking the finish line double in 4th. I had the 144 done and switched to 12/50 gearing. Even with the gearing switch, I now take the finish line double in 3rd.
All in all, I have to say I'm still quite pleased with the 144 - especially when watching my buddy's 2004 RMZ 250f spew coolant and lose oil each heat. He had to refill the oil and the coolant twice . . .
