redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted June 24, 2004 10:13 AM
Our race team makes the "Big Time"
BMR Makes it in Road Racing World
We have finally made the "big time"! Our team, Backmarker Racing LLC made into the latest issue of Road Racing World. Right there on page 137 under Endurance Medium Superstock. Okay, so it's just a sixth place finish and not a full blown write up on how great we are (or not). Still, I'm proud as a Papa to see my boys rate some ink in a magazine like RRW and I hope that they'll get a few more before the season is over.
Rise and Fall and Rise Again of BMR
Note: the names of the riders were left out to protect the guilty
After our meteoric rise to fourth in class after the first two events, we were pumped and looking forward to our first podium finish at the next event. It looked like all the stars had aligned since it would be the first event that all our riders were healthy (having recovered from previous injuries) and the race was going to be at what the team's considers as their "home track". Ah, but while we were sure that nothing could go wrong, the race gods were not with us. While everything seemed perfect during the practice sessions, all it took was one lap into a five hour endurance race to make that point clear. The bike seemed to fall flat on it's face at anything above 8K. We spent the majority of the next 4+ hours frantically trying to figure out what had gone wrong. We checked all the fuel lines, fuel tank, replaced the fuel, plugs, coils and even the ECU and nothing worked. We were devastated and it wasn't until I got the bike back to my garage did I discover that the previous owner had used RTV on the float bowls, clogging up the jets and just about everything else. So much for getting into RRW a second time.
We had now dropped from fourth to eighth in class by finishing dead last in the event. Though strapped for cash, we knew we had to make the next event. We knew transportation costs for almost a 1,000 mile round trip to Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas would be expensive, but it was the only 8 hour event of the season. This was going to be our only chance to make up at least some of the points lost at the previous event. Since injuries and dollars have pretty well shot any chance of a decent overall standing for almost all of the riders in the sprints, they voted to not run all but one of the sprint race on the following day and concentrate on the 8 hour endurance race. Our luck took another turn for the worse when one of the riders was injured during an open track day the week before TWS.
Our luck started to look better when we got a call from a Texas rider that just ran sprints and was wanting to do some endurance racing if we had an opening for him. He was not able to run all of the sprint races in the first half of the season, but in the ones he did run in, he had podium finishes in 4 of the last six, including a first and 2 second places.
When the 10 am start time rolled around, trackside temperatures were already into the 90s and the humidity made the air feel like a ton of bricks was pressing down on your chest. For me, it was brutal and I wasn't even wearing leathers. We started off kinda slow, but I kept reminding them that this was an endurance race and seeing as how it was for eight hours, it was more important to just survive than break any record lap time records. We needed to conserve our tires the best we could seeing as how we only had one fresh set to replace the already used set we started the race with. The race gods smiled upon us with a red flag shortly after passing the halfway point. Since CMRA rules allows us to work on the bikes during red flags, we took advantage of the stop to change out the tires. Everyone jumped in and we had both of them change with plenty of time to spare.
As the afternoon wore on, the temperatures continued to climb and it show in both the lap times and all of the riders. Earlier, it wasn't much for any of the riders to stay on the track for an hour or more. Towards the end of the race, anything longer than thirty minutes and their lap times would go up dramatically (2 to 4 seconds a lap). When they would get of the bike, they'd be simply wasted. It was now well past 100 degrees in the shade on pit lane and even the fans and cold towels were offering little relief. The most exciting part was watching one of our riders slowly close in on our "arch rivals" (39 points ahead of us going into this event) at a pace of almost 10 seconds a lap. When he started his session, they were a full two minutes ahead of us. It was basically a full lap on the 2.9 mile TWS road course. After fifteen or so grueling laps, we joyfully watched him make a beautiful drafting pass on the main straight away. We thought it was on now.
What the race gods give they can equally take away. When or rivals ran out of gas and their bike was pushed back to the pits, we had visions of us bumping them down a notch in the standings. After a stop to change riders, the one getting off told us that the oil light had started to flicker on our bike. Unfortunately, no one told the rider that had got on the bike about this. ARGH! On his first lap by, he was signaling that he was coming in. I sent him back out for a couple of laps while sending someone back to the trailer to get the oil (we forgot to pack it with the rest of our pit stuff). I instructed the other riders to just put a splash of oil in and send him back out and I returned to my timing spot along the inside wall of the main straight. Very bad mistake on my part. There is more than one reason why they have me wrench on their bikes and I was just about to be introduced to one of them.
From the wall, I watched as he came back in for the oil. Thirty seconds had gone by and I noticed that they were putting the bike up on the rear stand. I couldn't quit figure out what was taking so long, so I started walking towards pit lane to get a better look. A full minute had gone by and the bike was still on the rear stand. I continued slowly walking toward our pits, knowing that the bike should be coming off the stand any second. By the time a minute and a half had gone by, I started running towards our pits. As soon as I got to the edge of pit lane, the bike came off the stand and shot down pit row. I was furious. I could think of no reason why it would take over 90 seconds just simply to add a cup of oil. I continued to our pits and asked WTF was going on. The rider that was pouring in the oil said that the engine was too hot and he didn't have any mechanic's gloves. I just shook my head and pointed to the TWO PAIRS of gloves that were sitting on top of all our tools.
I started back across the pit lane, but suddenly stopped, turned around and went back to our pits. "Please tell me that you did not check the oil level on the bike.", I asked knowing that the R6 is cursed with that stupid screw in dipstick instead of a normal sight glass. "Well, yeah!", was his reply. ARGH! In words I will not bother to repeat here, I informed him that it was kind of pointless (and stupid) to check the oil level with the dipstick when the bike was sitting on just the rear stand. Since the light was just flickering, I felt that simply topping it off would easily solve the "problem" and that about 250cc would be plenty. As I walked back to the wall, I realized who fault it really was... mine. The responsibilities of each of the team's members are pretty simple. They ride and I wrench (and supposedly "manage"). Because I shucked off some of my responsibilities on to the others, I just cost the team well over a half a lap and it was getting late in the race.
Luck continued to be with us when our newest member took his turn. His lap times were blazingly fast and was within a few seconds of the leader. The final blessing came when there was a red flag with less than 20 minutes remaining and the called the race. Little did we realized, but our newest rider was about to have a friggin' heat stroke and was going to be coming in within the next lap or two. Since it was planned for him to finish the race, no one would have been ready to take his place. Even though we finished seventh in class, we ended up three laps ahead of our rivals and by scoring 254 point, we closed the gap to 26 points. We are now even with them by finishing better two out of four events.
Now the real fun begins. Next month, we are returning to our "home" track and again, all our riders will be healthy, plus we have a new rider that is at least 5 seconds a lap faster than any of their riders. Of course, it's never so easy as that since there is a "new problem" with the bike. It seems that the second gear bearing is going out. At least we know of the problem four weeks prior to putting the bike on the grid of the next event. I just hope that I both have the time and we can get the parts in before we start loading up of the next race. Did I mention I hate working on transmissions?
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
   
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D
Needs a job
Posts: 3365
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posted June 24, 2004 10:27 AM
Cool - now the factory offers oughta start pourin in.
Right?
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k bryant
Needs a job
Sponsor
Posts: 2911
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posted June 24, 2004 10:44 AM
Right. Cool report there Sherman. Keep up the good fight!
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Michael Lee
Zone Head
Purchase Ivy
Posts: 729
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posted June 24, 2004 10:45 AM
Congrats, just don't hurt my pit bike 
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted June 24, 2004 12:30 PM
D - Yeah, right.  Actually, were trying to put something together for next year, but the shear expense of going to the track, entry fees, tires and such, or forcing us to re-evaluate what we'll be doing next year in the way of how many sprint races we'll actually run. Odds are, some of the R6s will be sold or traded for something more our "speed" (i.e. SV650, TZ250 and such).
Michael - Man, these guys are just trashin' your Uber Scooter! First it was the fuel petcock and then the sparkplug wire kept comin' off. I think I worked on it more than I did on the race bikes!
KB - I'm pulling what little hair I do have - out! I dropped the engine last night on preperation of tearing into the tranny. I check the service manual and it's talkin' shit about goin' in from the TOP (removing cyclinder head, timing chain, etc.) instead of going at it from the bottom. Is this really the case with R6s? Surely not, but I don't have a clue!
I need to start ordering parts real soon if we are to have any chance of getting everything we need before the next event, but I won't know what all we'll be needing until I get into it. Kawasaki's have always been accessable from the bottom, but I don't have a clue with these "stacked" transmissions (ala R6 or ZX10R).
Got any ideas?
____________
There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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jonwright
Needs a job
Posts: 2416
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posted June 24, 2004 12:35 PM
 Edited By: jonwright on 24 Jun 2004 13:35
Well, I was on the bike during the 'oil' incident and I had control over when it left and how long it stayed. I should have been all over Pierson's ass but I wasn't.
I think both of us know better now.
And Billy signalled that he was coming in and by the time he came in I was ready to get on the bike - but I wasn't expecting it at all. I was the only one left with leathers and helmet at the pits and I was going to take 'em back to the trailer, even.
It was a good thing the end of the race was red flagged - Billy worried the shit out of me when he fell off the bike.
TX World - I HATE that track. It's on at Hallet. The rest of the year are at my favorite tracks! Hopefully we can do better - I think we can.
We're learning as we go forward. Our collective style is very smooth so we can probably be a bit more aggressive on our compound selection as well for more grip.
While I was 'crusing' at TWS, it's take no prisoners at Hallett! 
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ice 1
Novice Class
Posts: 32
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posted June 24, 2004 01:02 PM
So what don't you like about TWS?
Or are you forgetting about 108 in the shade last year at Hallet????
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dnwhoop02
Expert Class
Posts: 204
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posted June 24, 2004 01:32 PM
yeah, why don't you like TWS? I'm not saying anything about it one way or the other, but it just seems like most people I've talked to think it's great compared to some of the other tracks (namely Oak Hill). What are your thoughts?
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David
'04 ZX-10R
'00 SV650
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zeta xray
Expert Class
Posts: 416
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posted June 24, 2004 04:00 PM
jonwright, why don't you like TWS? To tell the truth I have never ridden Hallet on a motorcycle. but when I used to race Formula Ford, I raced both Hallet and TWS a lot. Given the choice I would always prefer to race TWS. Don't get me wrong, I really like Hallet, I just like TWS more.
BTW, what kind of lap times were you turning at TWS?
Ice 1, did you guys run TWS? Any race report?
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Hells Dark Lord
Needs a life
living life, and loving it.
Posts: 7981
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posted June 24, 2004 04:18 PM
thats cool Sherm....good luck to you and the Backmarker boys at your next event..... and good luck with that tranny.....
____________
When in doubt, lean farther and go faster....
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catd11r
Expert Class
Posts: 206
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posted June 24, 2004 04:21 PM
Good Luck, we'll be rootin for ya.
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Life's Been Good to Me!!!!!!!!!
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slug
Pro
Out in search of my mind...
Posts: 1433
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posted June 24, 2004 06:29 PM
http://www.r6messagenet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1504
lucky stiffs...mine has to ahve the head/cylinder jugs removed to split cases....
good luck on the rebuild sir
PS is the gear hopping out (jumping to neutral)?
it may be rounded gear dogs.
if it is that, make sure you change the 2 gears (dogs and lands gears, most likely 2nd wheel and 6th wheel (output shaft gearset)
change the fork (trust me....it got bent if it hopped out of gear even once)
change hte drum (trust me it got dinged when the fork got bent when it hopped out of gear)
heh heh (having had to go in to my engine twice for same issue because i cheesed out and skimped on buying hardware. shoulda changed the gears and fork and drum all at once. hindsight is 20/20 ya know )
also if it is an older R6 (pre '03) then see if the 03+ 2nd gear will fit...the new gear has 5 dogs vice 3 and should last a smidge longer.
disregard this if it is not hte gearset being ruined, but it seems awfully suspiciously like the fabled geardog rounding problem ;P
 
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jonwright
Needs a job
Posts: 2416
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posted June 25, 2004 07:58 AM
I don't like it because of the speeds involved. Now, for amenities I like it alot. But since I've had my only get-off at over 120 mph at TWS and have screws and plates to prove it - I don't like it.
But I do appreciate the wide track. It's forgiving of errors - more so than the other narrower tracks.
My times aren't what they were before my wreck, but I'm getting close. I still need to get a case of 'nads for turn 1 - I let off the throttle way too early. But for my endurance pace I'm running about 2:05 or so which is kinda slow for an R6. I know where I'm losing time - but I don't want any additional hardware in my body just yet since I'm not totally healed up. Can't afford to run off the track until my bones are done healing - and they aren't now.
Oak Hill is fun as a track, but sucks because of the amenities. I like the smaller, more technical tracks like Cresson and Hallett.
The bike isn't jumping out of gear, yet. But prolly will. And good idea on the '03 gear - we'll see. R6's are famous for dropping second.
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted June 25, 2004 08:06 AM
Slug, you got mail, if your e-mail address is the same as of 6/03.
____________
There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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zeta xray
Expert Class
Posts: 416
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posted June 25, 2004 09:12 AM
jonwright, a 2:05 in an edurance race on a 600 sounds good to me. I know you were running around 2 flat before your shunt in turn 7. Just to put it into perspective, I've run 2:04.50 on my ZX-10R and I was proud of that. LOL. Keep up the good work.
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jonwright
Needs a job
Posts: 2416
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posted June 25, 2004 11:49 AM
Thanks, Zeta. I'll be glad to have that bracket off my shoulder.
Erm, monkey off my back.
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted June 25, 2004 11:59 AM
Of course, his "new monkey" is the fact that our new rider was running mid 1:50s at the end of 7 hours. Looks like JW just needs to pick up the pace, eh?
____________
There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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jonwright
Needs a job
Posts: 2416
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posted June 25, 2004 01:10 PM
And YOU need to pick yer ass up and do some work!
Sheesh. No fuggin respect around here. Shit.
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kz2zx
Pro
Nobody in Particular
Posts: 1166
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posted June 25, 2004 02:12 PM
Good on ya, gents.
I so envy...
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