Racing on a shoestring. Tales of woo!

Once upon a time in South East Queensland there was a pair of Yamaha SRX's, they had a hard life and went for sale on ebay, luckly for them they were purchased by me, they cost me under $1k for the pair. The decision was made that I would race in the Clubsport Lites class of racing, versus CBR250's, ZX2R's and FZR250's. So my foes had a horsepower advantage, suspension advantage, better brakes, and water cooling, however I did get about a 10kg weight advantage, and the tracks we race on are mostly short so top speed would not be too huge a factor in me getting left behind.

After getting them running, I decided to make the prettier one (it also had better suspension) my primary race bike. Removed all road gear, gave her fresh oil and filter, fitted a new oversize front tyre, fresh brake pads and shoes, and sorted the valve shims. SRX number 1 tried it's hardest at a track day out at Warwick, some fool had put the timing chain tensioner in wrong and the timing chain was way over tightened, only a few laps were completed. Rider and bike were scared by a red light on the dash that came on a couple of times on her first session. So I went back to thrashing my road bike GS500 and let the SRX take the day off rather than kill her.



The over tightened timing chain was sorted and next it was off for a thrashing at the Ipswich Kart track. It proved to be alot of fun! much fun was had, the tyres were starting to get good grip and the noobie on the seat was starting to come to grips with handing such a lean mean piece of machine! Also it was learned that the red light was not a warning about overheating but a warning that you have exceeded 80km/h, stupid red light. It was disconnected! Temperature gauge has been added to the wish list.

Modifications start. Crash bars are added to comply with MOMS and to protect the heart of the machine from the evil bitumen! Bolts were drilled and lockwired, the mighty mayo bottle and new hoses were added for fuel overflow. And we put the bikini back on.



Next stop, Warwick again, for it's first proper race! Round 2 of the Southern Downs Challenge. The scrutineers said we were good to go! The SRX performed like a gem. Lap times came down, bikes were overtaken. Alot of fun was had by all! Didn't even come in last position, which was very nice. The magical combination of a 1.25L Coke bottle and duct tape were used fill the headlight hole in the fairing. Lap times came down some 4 seconds over the weekend. All the way down to 1:20, now I have a goal for next, get a sub 1:20 lap time. This club racing is awesome and addictive, so many people that will help you out if you break something. Lining up and waiting for the red light to go out, what a rush! Although the seconds disappear so quick.



Another track evening at Ipswich was attended and it was a great learning experience. Reverse track direction and someone to encourage me to put on some more speed. Thanks Ray. More knee down and getting used to the pegs scraping the ground too. Time to add rear sets to the modification list!

Upgrades Continue! Exhaust modification. Removed the collector, and replaced with straight pipe, removed baffle and shortened. Air box modified to allow more air in! Mmmm air!



Round 3 of the Southern Downs Challenge. Wow! Awesome! Never had so much fun! The boys at scrutineers were amazed that once again I was going out there on the beast. I not only got into the 1:19's.. I got into the 1:18's, low 1:18's. One of the other clubsport riders Ray helped out with an upgrade, a braided brake line. The weekend was alot of fun, I got to know many more people. Had some issues with the baffle of my new exhaust coming out. Thanks to the flaggies for finding my baffle, and people for lending me the tools to get it back together again so I could go back on track without being louder than the Post Classic 500 guys :)



I change the rear wheel to see if the tyre from SRX number 2 is any good, and also changed the rear sprocket up a couple of teeth and put on a new chain. Off we go to a track day out a Warwick again. No lap timers at this event which was a bummer but then it didn't matter as I could not put much speed on with the crappy rear tyre. It didn't get the grip I was used to. Man I love the track! Got talking to Ken and he was kind enough to let me take his Yamaha RD350LC for a spin around the track - those things go a bit of alright, what a giggle to ride, much more challenging. Also the rear sets are up where the passenger pegs are on the SRX so I found it challenging to get confortable, but it held onto the road like a champ with those dunlop tyres. I think it's time to make the bike prettier! I remove the front guard as it touches the wheel and it's not really needed anyways. Dad helps me out and removed the Coke bottle and duct tape fairing, and replaces it with fiberglass, thats right kids fiberglass, now it's just like a real race bike. We decided that we need to goto a red and yellow colour scheme. The pretty plastic and fiberglass nose becomes yellow! We even put the little screen back on to pretty her up.



Back to the Kart track we go. Should have gone back to the good rear tyre, but decided I would try and scrub it in and get past the old rubber. Well it is old rubber the whole way through. I had a opps while getting onto the brakes and crossed it up going into a right hander. It spat me off, I came off running and it flicked over and landed hard on the left hand side.. No damage to the fairing (Phew!), gear lever is bent, nothing that can't be straightened, but left handle bar is very very bent and clutch lever is broken :( Never fear I brought the spare one from the SRX number 2 with me. So on I go again. Rear tyre is a little squirmy but maybe it will come good I am thinking. The new exhaust system put alot of pressure on the little baffle, busted out with 3.5 rivits in it that time at Warwick, and it's just torn out 5! We kick the baffle the rest of the way out since it's no longer held in properly. Damn it sounds good! I was wrong about the tyre coming good. A different right hander, no breaks this time. I was going for a lap record! Out she goes, I back off. In she comes HARD! Up I go... This is going to hurt. Pretend I'm a rag doll and hopefully I won't break any bones. THUMP! Ohh there was the ground. Sliding is fun! Woo no broken bones! Not even any chunks out of helmet. I officially love my leathers and back protector. Best investment ever. So what did I break this time? Left handle bar, clutch lever, gear lever bolt sheared off, and a mark in the pretty yellow this time. Also noticed the crash bars work, engine untouched and a couple of marks on the bars. So that ended my night.



So time to get to work on new bits before I get to play again. new handle bars are the main issue. Ended up cutting the bar off the part that attaches to the forks and triple tree and welding on a clamp so the bars are just pieces of pipe that are cheap and quick to replace. Standard lever replaced with short lever. Stole gear lever bolt from SRX number 2 and straighted the lever. Exhaust modified, welded up new baffle and can extension - thanks again dad, master piece! Also painted the rims red, that should help with speed :) Changed the rear wheel back to the good tyre.



Another blat out at the kart track, took me a little while to get my footing and get comfortable on the bike again, just took it easy for the session cos it's cold in Ipswich at night.

Looking forward to the Qld Championships! September 19th-21st.

So the moral of the story is that anyone that wasnts to race can do it, and can do it on a budget. Talk to the other racers - most are willing to help you in any way they can, be it giving spare parts or loaning tools, some even crazy enough to loan you a bike to try! (Thanks Ken and Ray you really showed me community I was not expecting to find) - simply because it's more fun with more people.