- Oct 20, 2000
- 2,969
- 2
It all started Thursday when I had summer camp orientation for Tigger to be a C.I.T. (counselor in training) at summer camp. It was a mandatory meeting from 5-8 p.m., high school graduation for her half sister at 8pm and a jury summons for night court all at the same time. I managed to get out of court with a letter to the judge, made the other 2 obligations and still had enough time to put a clutch in the ktm before bedtime.
After work Friday I got to take the bike for a test spin in the field for a couple of minutes. Everything was fine until I tapped it out in 4th then it was the oh-so familiar cough & sputter that has reared up from time to time. No real big deal, a new plug usually takes care of the problem so I got ready for the weekend at Whitney.
After some procrastination Saturday, Tigger & I finally headed up to the track. I didn't put water in the holding tank for the trip up since I was going to rent a RV spot with hook-ups. On the way up, you that have experienced this know what I'm talking about; a smell shot through the RV that Ajax wouldn’t cure. I thought, "I should’ve emptied the black & gray water tanks before I left." Come to find out an overhead vent had dry rotted and blown off on the trip up. Since we were so late getting there, we didn't make it in time for the Sat afternoon practices. Turnout was very light, they only had 9 motos on Sat so I set up camp & repaired the vent. I unloaded the bike and figured I'd head over to the jetting area and give it another test spin. Dang this thing! It still was coughing and sputtering at mid to high rpm's so I headed over to the KTM support semi. After guessing it was a little lean on the main, we figured it'd probably be okay so it was time to play till bed time. Tigger & I headed over to check out the track on the bicycle and her electric scooter and that’s where I busted my fanny. She was afraid to ride it down the freshly watered hill so I said, "I'll do it!" All was fine until I hit the throttle about half way down, it was like applying air brakes so the hole scooter flew out from under me sending me bouncing off my duff a few times and removing a layer of skin or two under the bvd's. OUCH! Back to the RV just as the rains came. Glad I fixed the vent.
Sunday morning after sign up I hit the track for my 2-lap practice. The track was watered for the duration and it was plenty soupy out there. I managed to keep it up right but the bike was still running so bad that I headed back to the KTM semi again. It was then suggested that my pipe was clogged up with carbon and I should purchase a new pro-circut pipe & silencer. It was a bunch so I opted to tuff it out but during this time my 2nd practice was under way without me. It was then the bottom fell out of the sky and dumped about an inch of rain and several large hailstones. That delayed the start of the races for almost 2 hours but I was race 12 so I wasn't too worried about wet track conditions at that point.
Finally the 1st moto for me is up so I head to the gate. As the gate drops I hit the gas hard and get a good jump only to find my 125 will not cut through the deep tilled start. I entered the 1st turn in time to avoid a couple of downed riders but only managed to pass one guy the whole race. Each time I'd get to a jump the bike would cough and sputter and I never knew if it would go or not. I even had a hard time making it up the mountain. I finished that race shy one lap as I was lapped at the finish by 1st place. I immediately headed back to the KTM semi for a pipe & silencer. They had the pipe with them but no the silencer so I took what they had. Back at my pit I took off the old pipe and bolted on the PC but was having a hard time getting the PC shorty I already had to line up. When I took off my old silencer is when I found my problem. The inside had broken and was floating around causing intermittent exhaust blockage. I know I've had this problem a while because onetime the bike would run great and the next it wouldn't. Back to the KTM semi again. “Please help me out” I asked. The only thing they had was a ?Snooky silencer made of titanium or something. I bolted it on and took her for a spin. Wow this bike has never ran this good!
Back to the RV for a little r&r before my next race. Just as I got up to put my boots back on Tigger walked in the door telling me she had to leave her scooter "WAY ACCROSS THE TRACK" because the front wheel is bent into the frame. Okay I said, "let’s go". She wasn't kidding, it was way across the track. When we got there, a swift kick was enough to realign the wheel but the battery was dead. I pushed it all the way back to the RV, put on the rest of my gear on the way to the starting line where they were at the gate.
The gate dropped and I was finally in the running. I got a descent start and came out of the 1st turn several places ahead of where I went in. I was getting stoked! Just then the guy right in front of me bobbled and I laid it down to avoid him. Bike was still running but the clutch lever was buried in the ground so I had no choice but to kill it as I picked it up. I fired it back up in dead last and charged the pack. My bike was pulling well and I managed to catch back up pretty quickly. I passed a couple of guys and was finally making the jumps. I fell in behind a guy but when I tried different lines the dirt was softer and I never could pass. I got tired and he finally pulled away. I think I finished 15th overall out of 26 and I was dog tired and done for the day.
Back to the pit and out of the gear. It felt like I was racing in a sauna and I was looking forward to a nice cool shower. Tigger went to get food while I cleaned up. Just as she rode up it was time for a repeat of the morning’s weather. Everything was out in the open, the wind got real strong and was reeking havoc on the easy-up. It was a mad dash to save it. That took about 30 minutes to secure everything and of coarse we were both soaked. The sun came back out and it was steaming hot, so much for the shower I just got out of. We ate and came home. Glad it's over but my bike finally is running good.
After work Friday I got to take the bike for a test spin in the field for a couple of minutes. Everything was fine until I tapped it out in 4th then it was the oh-so familiar cough & sputter that has reared up from time to time. No real big deal, a new plug usually takes care of the problem so I got ready for the weekend at Whitney.
After some procrastination Saturday, Tigger & I finally headed up to the track. I didn't put water in the holding tank for the trip up since I was going to rent a RV spot with hook-ups. On the way up, you that have experienced this know what I'm talking about; a smell shot through the RV that Ajax wouldn’t cure. I thought, "I should’ve emptied the black & gray water tanks before I left." Come to find out an overhead vent had dry rotted and blown off on the trip up. Since we were so late getting there, we didn't make it in time for the Sat afternoon practices. Turnout was very light, they only had 9 motos on Sat so I set up camp & repaired the vent. I unloaded the bike and figured I'd head over to the jetting area and give it another test spin. Dang this thing! It still was coughing and sputtering at mid to high rpm's so I headed over to the KTM support semi. After guessing it was a little lean on the main, we figured it'd probably be okay so it was time to play till bed time. Tigger & I headed over to check out the track on the bicycle and her electric scooter and that’s where I busted my fanny. She was afraid to ride it down the freshly watered hill so I said, "I'll do it!" All was fine until I hit the throttle about half way down, it was like applying air brakes so the hole scooter flew out from under me sending me bouncing off my duff a few times and removing a layer of skin or two under the bvd's. OUCH! Back to the RV just as the rains came. Glad I fixed the vent.
Sunday morning after sign up I hit the track for my 2-lap practice. The track was watered for the duration and it was plenty soupy out there. I managed to keep it up right but the bike was still running so bad that I headed back to the KTM semi again. It was then suggested that my pipe was clogged up with carbon and I should purchase a new pro-circut pipe & silencer. It was a bunch so I opted to tuff it out but during this time my 2nd practice was under way without me. It was then the bottom fell out of the sky and dumped about an inch of rain and several large hailstones. That delayed the start of the races for almost 2 hours but I was race 12 so I wasn't too worried about wet track conditions at that point.
Finally the 1st moto for me is up so I head to the gate. As the gate drops I hit the gas hard and get a good jump only to find my 125 will not cut through the deep tilled start. I entered the 1st turn in time to avoid a couple of downed riders but only managed to pass one guy the whole race. Each time I'd get to a jump the bike would cough and sputter and I never knew if it would go or not. I even had a hard time making it up the mountain. I finished that race shy one lap as I was lapped at the finish by 1st place. I immediately headed back to the KTM semi for a pipe & silencer. They had the pipe with them but no the silencer so I took what they had. Back at my pit I took off the old pipe and bolted on the PC but was having a hard time getting the PC shorty I already had to line up. When I took off my old silencer is when I found my problem. The inside had broken and was floating around causing intermittent exhaust blockage. I know I've had this problem a while because onetime the bike would run great and the next it wouldn't. Back to the KTM semi again. “Please help me out” I asked. The only thing they had was a ?Snooky silencer made of titanium or something. I bolted it on and took her for a spin. Wow this bike has never ran this good!
Back to the RV for a little r&r before my next race. Just as I got up to put my boots back on Tigger walked in the door telling me she had to leave her scooter "WAY ACCROSS THE TRACK" because the front wheel is bent into the frame. Okay I said, "let’s go". She wasn't kidding, it was way across the track. When we got there, a swift kick was enough to realign the wheel but the battery was dead. I pushed it all the way back to the RV, put on the rest of my gear on the way to the starting line where they were at the gate.
The gate dropped and I was finally in the running. I got a descent start and came out of the 1st turn several places ahead of where I went in. I was getting stoked! Just then the guy right in front of me bobbled and I laid it down to avoid him. Bike was still running but the clutch lever was buried in the ground so I had no choice but to kill it as I picked it up. I fired it back up in dead last and charged the pack. My bike was pulling well and I managed to catch back up pretty quickly. I passed a couple of guys and was finally making the jumps. I fell in behind a guy but when I tried different lines the dirt was softer and I never could pass. I got tired and he finally pulled away. I think I finished 15th overall out of 26 and I was dog tired and done for the day.
Back to the pit and out of the gear. It felt like I was racing in a sauna and I was looking forward to a nice cool shower. Tigger went to get food while I cleaned up. Just as she rode up it was time for a repeat of the morning’s weather. Everything was out in the open, the wind got real strong and was reeking havoc on the easy-up. It was a mad dash to save it. That took about 30 minutes to secure everything and of coarse we were both soaked. The sun came back out and it was steaming hot, so much for the shower I just got out of. We ate and came home. Glad it's over but my bike finally is running good.
