First MX race on my XC R

[Onski326]

So I decided to get a little out of my comfort zone and try an MX race since it seems that the local XC race promoter isn't catering to quads anymore. More on that some other time. Joined some buddies for the last TQRA race of the season and I must say I had a pretty good time. I'm not a jumper. That's why I prefer XC racing but it wasn't too bad. However, pretty sure my setup hurt me a bit. 21x7x10 fronts and 20x10x9 rears with about 8 1/2" race sag and 47" front stance. She does awesome in ruts and over rocks but not so much on flat-pack corners and jumps. Little stiff. lol I finished both motos, not well, but finished which was my goal. Ended up 8th out of 9 overall. 7th first moto and 8th 2nd. I attached the link to the video. The R hooked up real well off the start, wheelie well. Scared the crap out of the guy to my right. Luckily he is a friend of mine who I ended up playing around with on the last lap. From about 6 minutes on its more fun to watch. Officially he did edge me out at the end according to the officials but whatever, it was fun. Looks like it's time to start spending some money on an MX quad setup. Wife's gonna love this. lol

https://youtu.be/Iq6JAhfX0Yg

[rablack21]

Hey Onski, be proud of yourself for finishing. MX is NOT EASY! Anyone who has actually done it, will tell you the same. And with your quad setup being for XC instead of MX, it just made your job even that much more difficult. Glad to hear you had a good time. I'm not a big jumper either. It's something I have had to work on for quite a while. Still not where I want to be yet either. Too much self-preservation instinct kicking in! LOL. Gonna watch the video as soon as I get a break at work. Chassis setup and suspension are going to become your new best friends!

[Onski326]

I very much have that self-preservation issue. And I spend enough money on my R as is, I don't want to add to it by breaking stuff if I can avoid it. But racing's racing. The jumping thing will come around I'm sure. I just have to get more comfortable with it.
I already dropped the quad down to about 7", swapped out the front TRX450R stiff shocks for a set of revalved PEP's I had laying around, widened the front end 3" to get me to 49" up front and 48" in the back and pulled the power valve stop out some. Put a little negative camber in the front too. Already corners a million times better. Wish I could run this for the XC races. Stupid ruts and rocks and trees and stumps. lol  Got another race series I'm going to try this weekend. It's Scramblecross. Kinda a mix of old school MX and track racing. Natural jumps but a grooved track. Hope to fair better there!

[2ndmoto]

Finally got my bikes down here to Austin. Getting closer to being able to ride. Is this an mx series you are racing?

[rablack21]

I very much have that self-preservation issue. And I spend enough money on my R as is, I don't want to add to it by breaking stuff if I can avoid it. But racing's racing. The jumping thing will come around I'm sure. I just have to get more comfortable with it.
I already dropped the quad down to about 7", swapped out the front TRX450R stiff shocks for a set of revalved PEP's I had laying around, widened the front end 3" to get me to 49" up front and 48" in the back and pulled the power valve stop out some. Put a little negative camber in the front too. Already corners a million times better. Wish I could run this for the XC races. Stupid ruts and rocks and trees and stumps. lol  Got another race series I'm going to try this weekend. It's Scramblecross. Kinda a mix of old school MX and track racing. Natural jumps but a grooved track. Hope to fair better there!

Sounds like you are off to a good start! All of those changes will help for sure.
Just a few other friendly suggestions:
1. Consider getting some mx sized tires. 19x6x10 in the front, 18x10x8 in the rear.
2. Set sprocket gearing to 14/37~14/38. Not sure what you are currently running.
3. Set your rear ride height to approx 7", set front to between 7-71/2". A little positive rake in the front will help with holeshot launching, traction, and with ruts.
Not trying to be pushy. Just thought I would offer some helpful info.

[Onski326]

It is an MX series, TQRA. http://www.tqra.com/
That was the last race. It was a rain make-up. They're also the ones that sponsor and put on the Caleb Moore ATV Pro Challenge every year. Last year I think it was at Village Creek in Fort Worth and this year it was at Oak Hill in Decatur. Good series.

Tires will have to wait. Lack of funds, go figure. Gearing right now is 14/39 with the 20" rears and it does pretty good with those at the moment. I've thought about gearing it down a bit more due to the larger tires but the motor pulls it well enough for now. I did drop it from like 8 1/2" to 7" and 7 1/4" front. Initial testing around here shows it is turning much easier. Also had toe-out to the tune of 1/4" so I changed that up while doing the rest to run 1/4" toe-in.

[atvmxr]

Finally got my bikes down here to Austin. Getting closer to being able to ride. Is this an mx series you are racing?

There is also a series in Houston
http://lsquadracing.com

But they are done for the year too

[Onski326]

Crazy those two websites are almost identical, LSQR and TQRA. How's the 2 stroke turnout there? I know there's one other 250R rider in TQRA that's like 3rd in points. Not sure if he's on here or not though.