Short version...everyone safe, we had fun and broke some stuff.
Where did I leave off...Friday night. I started on my son's hybrid. Installed bumper (needed slight modification to fit from being welded) and noticed that the mount for the front plastic was bent to all heck. I spent time fixing that and as I started nut/bolt check I saw the air box had come in contact with the chain causing it to be ripped open. I tried to see if anything was causing it rub and I think the air box is a hair over to the side. I used some aluminum, bent to 90 degree angle and pop riveted the plastic to the aluminum. I was able to pull the airbox in enough to not hit anymore. Top off fluids, checked all nut and bolts and went to my quad.
As I was looking at my 250r, I noticed that the metal tube (with holes) was missing. All the exhaust stuff was there but no metal tube. Using some wire mess I had, I cut and bended it to fit in nicely and repacked the silencer. Now...it was getting really late at night (around 2am) and I was not even load up. I knew I had a crack in my case under the counter balancer. It leaked oil very little but has held up. I know I need to split the cases to take care of it but I did not have time nor gaskets. So off to bed I went.
Got up early on saturday and my son and I loaded up and got to the track around 11am. Went to sign up and get everything all set up to hit practice. Weather was awesome. Sunny, temp in 70s just a nice day to ride. Topped off my tranny fluid and my son and I hit the track. We both took it easy first practice, getting a feel of the quads and track. Over the next 3 hours my son and I had fun racing around hitting about 4 practice sessions. And yes...we are both horribly out of shape. LOL.
After the last practice session I noticed that my quad was leaking more oil than normal. Usually only a drip but this was more. We loaded up the quads and headed home. I cleaned my quad and pulled it into the garage and my fears were founded. The crack was now larger. I had purchased some aluminum brazing rods and tried to do that but I could not get the case hot enough to melt the rods. So I tried some powder/glue stuff that I had used before (supposed to work on all metal) and hoped for the best.
We got the track early in the morning and set up the pits area. Put up canopy, table, grill...all decked out. The temp had dropped about 20 degrees over night and was windy. So windy that it bent the legs on my canopy...bummer. It was only a year old and a nice one, but just the start of the day.
My son went out to race first. His class had between 10 and 20 riders on the gate (4 stroke C). Off the start he was outside and was able to make through the first turn without issue but at the back of the pack. He picked off some riders that crashed/stuck and was trying to catch the guy in front of him, but the guy played cat/mouse the last lap and Ryan could not pass. But I was happy that my son was trying to catch the guy rather than settle.
I was up about 3 races later. At the starting line when I was warming up my quad it did not sound right. I told my girlfriend who was down at the line that it was going to break. The gate dropped and off I went with about 8/9 other old guys (35+ class). I was at the back of the pack but right there. For the first lap me and two other riders were battling around the track. One guy got passed me when and another overshot a berm. On the second lap I was pushing to pass the riding in front of me when the quad started not running right. Like I was in the wrong gear. I thought that I would pull off when I got back around on that lap. But it started getting worse and when I went past my son by the fence, he made a hand signal that told me I was done. I pulled off the track and the quad quit. I looked underneath and this is what I found....
So my day was done.
Ryan's second moto was late in the day and the track was beat. This is Southwick after all... But again he was near the back on the start and rode the first lap. I told him to search out the smooth lines and watch for people stuck in ruts. He was doing well, but then his out of shape butt just that look....the look that he is not pushing it. I thought he was done but on the last lap he started catching up to a guy (or the guy was falling back lol) and Ryan went after him. About 3/4 through the last lap Ryan was able to make the pass in a turn and held him off until the checkers. Not sure of what place he came in because they have not posted results. But we had fun and he did ok.
Now I have to worry about getting the motor sitting on the shelf together. It is a Sparks 330 cylinder just waiting on new sleeve. I have the bottom end in a box waiting on new bearings and what not. Damage to my motor...not sure the extent yet. But I will keep this updated and probably start selling some parts I have laying around to get the other motor ready.
Show Posts