From: ScanRan (8/13/98)
To: Rmoms2
CC: rnorian
         last weekend
Subj:	Rg500 racing at blackhawk (very, very long)
Date:	08/11/98
To:	rg500@xs4all.nl

Ok, here's what happened last weekend.  

I have been slowly getting back up to speed all summer, but not pushing too
hard.  last weekend I intended to push the Gamma about as hard as I was able,
while still keeping a little bit in reserve- no crashing allowed!

got the bike prepped after I finished racing the R1, and finally finished
loading up the van at 6AM.. took a shower and went straight to work.. so no
sleep, as usual. At least I got the water setup working, the sensor on the
powervalve was catching a lip and folding the arm back under.  cheap piece of
crap. vexed me at the track, too.  had the water switching on at 6800 and the
bike was really pulling super hard by 7000 rpm.  not just starting to pull,
really, like peak torque by 7500 rpm.  great stuff- 

anyhow, we tow the Rg and R1 out to blackhawk farms (in illinois), about 4.5
hour trip. of course the U joint fails on the van, just as we pull into the
pits. what luck!!! good and bad, sort of set the theme for the weekend.  Todd
is ready to ride on his R1, and we meet Graham climpson in the pits first
thing saturday Am. Another friend brought his bandit 400 to take the school
on...

my little bet for the weekend was that Todd and the R1 would not be able to
beat my 1974 RD350. I have run 1:30 previously on the ancient yamaha, so that
was the 'line in the sand'.  

Todd and Graham hit the classroom while I ran my first 2 practice sessions-
first time out, I ran mid 1:24s,  next session, I ran mid 1:23s.  almost all
of the experts in my session (600+cc) were all at 1:22 and below.  (down to
1:16)

In the lightweight class, the fastest experts were running 1:22. too bad they
won't let the Gamma in that class!!

I have run near 1:18 flat on my ninja here,  so I knew I could do better than
1:23, but it was just a question of getting used to the gamma.  Gear selection
is much more critical, obviously, and I couldn't afford to lose ground because
the bike was off-pipe in places.  I ran the water in the second session, and
it helped greatly, allowing me to pull hard off turn 1 where I previously was
gargling for precious yards.  It also got the bike moving faster off turn 4,
which would have been nice later on.  more on that!

on top of that, the Gamma frame is like a bag of jelly compared to modern
sportbikes.  This was the hardest I've ever ridden my RG, and it was an
extremely eventful ride around the track compared to the slower, heavier, but
rock solid ninja.  On a smooth track, the RG might have a good fighting
chance, but blackhawk has many bumpy corners and you simply cannot accelerate
hard across a rough track like a new bike.  just ain't happening!  I suppose a
good analogy would be to swap the engine, forks, wheels, and swingarm off a 98
GSXR750 onto the frame of a 1986 GSXR 750.   I think there would be a small
lap  time penalty.

Blackhawk is 1.95 miles and very tight.  here's a lap:

pass the s/f line in 5th gear at 127 mph on my scoot-  down 2 gears to the top
of 3rd for turn 1, right hander.  out of one and accelerate pulling the bike
upright, it twitches the bars as the front wheel skips but catch 4th gear
while still leaned over,  it opens up to the right, then a short left kink
near the top of 4th gear, I snap it through, coasting, then give it another
shot of gas before dropping down into 3rd for the carousel, a long, double
apex right hander.  enter fast and let the bike scrub speed as you tighten up
midcorner, then accelerate out, snapping thru a fast left/right chicane, curb-
to-curb,  before dropping back to 2nd into turn "3", a tight right hander,
then flip immediately full over to the left for a sharp left (3a).  out of
this left you get a short run into turn 4, a really bumpy entrance into a left
hander.  This is where I was having a problem.. the next corner, (4) was sort
of  too high in 2nd, but a little too low in 3rd.  I just couldn't get my
entry speed up high enough to get a  good drive in 3rd, so I settled for
screaming in in 2nd, slamming in across the bumps (I really hate that corner)
then accelerating hard and catching 3rd gear while still cranked over, just
finishing the corner.   problem was, the bike was pretty wiggly accelerating
thru there and I had to just bang it fast and no clutch into 3rd to keep
everything loaded and settled (sort of) .  out of 4, pulling hard and pitch
into 5, a fast left again, it opens out at the exit and you can let it run
wide if you're trying to drag past someone into six.  problem there is, 6 is a
right hander with another bumpy entrance, and running wide from 5 has  you
taking a very narrow entry into 6.  also here, I was running out of 3rd gear,
but if I shifted up to 4th I has to go back down 2 gears entering 6 (almost
immediately).  So, I just winged it up there in 3rd to 10600 tho it went a bit
flat, then brake HARD and then dive into 6, right hander.  the bike really
bashes across the bumps and  you've got knee down , smack, smack, wait till
the bike settles an instant, the track straightens for a moment,  then I catch
4th short shifting and dive into 6A, another right hander. 6A opens out at the
exit and you can really scoot out of there, but again its bumpy and the Gamma
was very nervous there, to say the least.  minor slapping there but keep on
the gas and it (usually) settles as you arc out, getting fully upright and
catch 4th, down the back straight and into the kink there, a right bend.  I
roll off just before the kink and try to turn as sharply as I can, but you
have to begin braking while leaned over to the right, then roll the bike
upright as you finish braking and drop 2 gears quickly before 7, a 90 degree
right.  carry as much speed as you possibly can into 7, done right you slap
the bike down and have your puck on the ground almost immediately, you have to
turn in very fast here because there is no room or time to turn slowly, you
need to keep as much speed as possible as this leads back onto the straight.
out of 7 and the bike is right on the power as you roll upright, slithers a
little but no slapping cause its smooth here, back up bang, bang, bang into
5th gear and past the start finish again.   there you go!!  do that every
minute-twenty and you're in business at blackhawk.

Of  course the water injection crapped out because the powervalve switch was
geting caught on a lip and folded the sensor arm backwards.  I was in the 3rd
race on saturday, so I said 'shove it' and turned it off.  the bugs are
getting fewer!! now I know how harley davidson's VR1000 team must feel- 

After 2 practices I was down to 1:23.5.  there was one guy I was dicing with ,
it turned out to be that old guy, but we had some fun anyhow.  I got passed by
a 916 just as I closed on this F3 mounted fellow, and I ran it right up onto
the F3s butt in 6. Coming out of 6a, I tried to outrun him at the exit but
this guy really came off   corners hard, i suppose 20+ years of dirt tracking
will do that for you... anyhow, I have more motor but I'm holding a tighter
line on the gamma as we shoot out of 6a.. he runs it out to the edge, and I am
having to put a fair bit of pull on the bar to keep the bike turning, also the
front is really light here so that doesn't help any... well, the one-sided
pull on the bars is not a good  combo with accelerating across bumps, and the
bike starts to slap.. but I stay in it, since this is SOP at this point, but
it turns into a really BIG tankslapper and I have to back off a bit, and he
and the 916 zip out another 10 yards as we dive into 7.  I try to really drive
out but with these guys you just cant make up  tons of ground anywhere, but
even so, as we  run down the straight I think I can get both of them before
turn 1.  

I have to digress at this point and mention that I had left my brake lever in
the 'street' position, which is fairly close to the bar, and the lever had
been  coming back a little bit for the last lap or 2. 

so now we pass the s/f line and I stay on the gas an extra instant as I come
up on these two, but I cant make the pass. I hit the brakes going into one,
and WHOOOO!!!  not much brakes!!!  The lever comes back and pinches my fingers
on the throttle- I don't have the presence of mind (or maybe the time) to let
go and get my other fingers out of there, as I was saving my braking till the
last minute anyhow, but I keep squeezing and waiting as the bike hauls into 1
MUCH too fast... I think to myself, well, maybe I can just go thru here
faster... but at this rate I'm gonna pass both these guys midcorner and all my
speed  sensors are screaming that this is TOO DAMN FAST!!!!  I peel in,
trailing the brakes as hard as I dare, and arc out toward the outside of the
corner trying to buy myself some more time (and space) to slow down at this
new radius-  when I get to the edge of the track I let off, stand it up, and
go zooming out  into the grass and water puddles.  I have to keep turning,
cause there are big weeds and swampy crap to the outside, but I ease it over
and bounce/splorsh my way around and finally get slowed and back onto the
track.  WHEW!!!!   I finish that lap and sneak back into the hot pit, adjust
the brake lever ALL THE WAY OUT, and finish the session.  I thought I was
going slower, but I ran my quickest laps of the session at the end. hmmm...

Anyhow, I get ready for my first race. of course, I had finished my fuel can,
so I had to buy 4 gallons of astoundingly expensive Sunoco race   fuel at the
depo.  Ackkk!!!!  I grid up, get a wimpy start, along with a wimpy wheelie,
and swarm into turn 1 at the very back of a 10-bike freight train. the leaders
had already put some huge distance on us.. how is that possible....

I zoom around with these guys, but am still off the pace and they all slowly
drive off, leaving me 20, then 40, then 60 yards behind with each run down the
straightaway.  well, what can ya do.  I try to focus on what's working and
what's not, and the worst spot is that lousy turn 4.  after about 6 or 7 laps,
I sling into 4, bang my shift into 3rd gear accelerating out, and it caught a
neutral instead.  so I upshift, find myself in 4th gear, blauuughhh....  hmm,
downshift and get neutral again... hmmmm.. I click back into 4th and putt
around, arm up, and pull off at the  pit entrance.  I recheck.. 1st, neutral,
2nd, neutral, 4th... so I go back to my pit.

well, it turns out I had started the race at 1;23 and then ran off a string of
1:22.5s, so I was pretty happy with that.  I think 1:20s were in the cards
this weekend, and was looking forward to getting into the middle of that pack
of guys that left me this time.

I was hoping the gamma had a bent shift  fork, but first I had to pull the
driveshaft off the van and replace the lousy U joint. fortunately, it's a
chevy and the first parts store we  tried had a new  U joint ($11).

Then I pulled the tranny out of the Gamma and discovered that all the 3rd gear
dogs had snapped off, leaving only craters to mark their former locations.  

I was so  relieved that my cases hadn't exploded, that I wasn't able to get
too pissed.  This was a serious amount of abuse, with a serious amount of
torque passing thru there, and my violent 2-3  shift was apparently too much
for the old parts to take, lap after lap.   What can you do, that's racing,
I'm glad nothing else broke.  But for now I have to wonder if another
replacement gear will be able to take it, or the even greater power levels
that we will probably get in the future.  This bike has a fair amount of
racing miles logged on it already, and the only thing that has never been
replaced are the gears and shafts themselves, actually. 

The WORST THING is that I never had a chance to make  the stinking on-bike
video!!!!  On the tape I have now, the first footage is probably 1:35 laps on
the Gamma, from 5 years ago.  this weekend was a good 13 seconds a lap faster,
it   would have been like fast forwarding that tape--  1:35 is a 73.8 mph
average,  1:22 is an 85.6 mph average, so look at the tape and picture going
12 mph faster everywhere... sort of... or picture losing 550 yards a lap to
the bike doing 1:22s.  whatever works for you!

in its place, I will include some footage I shot on a borrowed ZX6R , while
scrubbing in his tires at 1:26s.

Graham acquitted himself admirably, his well- finished and very purple bike
scooting around the track capably and carrying him to completion of roadracing
school, and the ensuing certificate.  He even offered to let me steal parts
from his bike, but as it wasn't a life or death situation I couldn't really
take his gearset. no point in blowing up 2 trannies!   Graham blatantly gave
himself away as a fellow racer with that offer-  greatly appreciated!!  And he
once again missed out on a ride on the maroon missile.  drat!

Todd demolished everyone in the school (but one) on his R1, on the first lap
of the mock race he came aound about 50 yards before the next bike.  He went
on to run mid 1:34s (very good for a first time racer) and was only headed by
a ZX6R mounted student who got him late in the students'  'mock race'.
However he was still 4.5 seconds off the blazing lap times set by the creaky,
old, pathetic 1974 RD350.  heh heh... 

That won't last for long, though, as he is a very smooth and skilled rider, I
bet he goes under 1:30 on his next track day, no problems.  I may have to get
the RD back out there to defend its honor....

I'm gonna fix the tranny somehow and brace the hell out of the Gamma's frame
this winter... the whole corner worker net was buzzing over just what that
maroon bike was, and as usual we  got visited by many interested and curious
passers-by.  It really is great fun taking the gamma to the track.  and even
if I can't go as fast as I can on my new bike, I really felt like a hero
running 1:22.   it was tremendously satisfying!

And that's what happened!!!!!

Randy N.


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