Triumphrat

GrandPaulZ · 03-05-2008

American Historic Racing Motorcycles Association (AHRMA)
Born Again Bikes' Novice Historic Production, Heavyweight class

The weather in Daytona was decidedly nicer than the weather in Georgia just a few days earlier (I finished 4th there). Found my way to a fellow Bribike.com forum member's home/shop in Altoona and he offered us a corner of the shop for camping, and virtually unlimited use of his nicely appointed shop facilities.

I took advantage of the drill press and drilled my oil pressure relief valve acorn nut and oil gallery plug for safety wiring overlooked previously (about 1/2 the bikes aren't wired there). That was absolutely all I needed, as my bike had performed flawlessly at Roebling Road. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

Tech day at Daytona is held at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in Deland a few miles from the track, and was a gathering of all the familiar faces and a few new ones. The gorgeous bikes were lined up and glinting in the sun. Ah, yes, the WARM sun! Gathering the paperwork for tech inspection took about twice as long as the actual inspection. The bike checked out 100%.

That afternoon was a lot of "hurry up and wait" for the militaristic Daytona track staff. We sat in the staging parking lot for an extra 2-1/2 hours for the previous track occupants to vacate the pits we were assigned to. Finally, we were allowed in after dark, I just unhitched the trailer and high-tailed it to the airport to pick up Sally & Talitha.

Monday dawned cool and calm, and warmed up nicely with just a mild breeze and a few clouds, prefect day for racing. Lap 1 of practice I headed out in the first wave and immediately dived into the infield section never suspecting it was so TIGHT! Suddenly, right after the back straight chicane, there it was - the East banking. It looked like a bloody wall! I sized it up and decided to stay on the apron just BELOW the yellow line at about 75 MPH. Next lap, I punched it and started climbing the wall at about 80. I couldn't seem to maintain my line, it's a lot rougher than it looks on TV. My forearms were pumped up and I was breathing hard; I kept it pinned and the banking kept trying to "suck me in" below the yellow line. I managed to kep it upright (well, whatever angle that banking is), and completed practice without incident.

The call to the grid couldn't come soon enough, I had been over the bike twice with nervous energy, and did nothing but swap to fresh set of spark plugs. I was ready. The start was good, not quite as good as I hoped, but I hit turn one in 2nd place in our class, 6 bikes in the group. It was a good dice with the 3rd and 4th place bikes in the first lap, but I kept them close after they got by.

Then came Chuck on his Triumph 500 Lightweight bike. He would get by me in the infield every time, then I'd either get him before the chicane on the back straight, or just out on the banking as we got up to speed. Anyway, I had him at the line every lap till the white flag flew. He got me dowin in the hairpin and I couldn't swing out on him on the back straight. He gained another few feet through the chicane and that was enough to open up a lead on the banking that I couldn't overcome through the tri-oval to the line; he got me for 4th. Still, I managed 5th in a 6-bike field. My buddy Malcolm lost the screws to his primary cover on lap 3 and pulled off, thinking he had an engine going away.

So that was it; I got 5th at Daytona. That's better than Casey Kahne or Dale Earnhardt Jr!

GrandPaulZ · 03-05-2008

I decided to sit out practice and save everything for the race; in hindsight this was a mixed blessing, a problem cropped up in race 2 that I might have either been able to fix before the race, or might have been prolonged just enough to cause a DNF if it hadn't shown up during practice (more later).

Weather had been deteriorating all day, with clouds darkening as we were called to the grid. The only thing I had done to my bike all day was clean & lube the chain and swap plugs again.

The form-up lap felt great, with the infield feeling much easier at the slower pace, so I resolved to "slow down to go fast" in the really tight sections (it actually worked).

As the starter turned the "1" board sideways, Malcolm got antsy and almost flew off but managed to grab a handful of brakes and keep the engine lit, then the Green flag flew and I launched just inches behind him. I followed him into turn one, then settled in for the usual parade of faster riders getting around me one at a time. About mid way through the second lap, it seemed like my engine braking was getting more pronounced, and accelleration seemed to be getting sluggish. Then, Chuck got around me and I couldn't even stay close.

Out on the banking and across the tri-oval, I was only managing 75 on lap 4 and 70 on lap 5 by the time the checkers flew. Into hot tech, I could feel the brakes binding up significantly; it was all I could do to hustle the bike up 10 feet as the rider ahead cleared tech. The inspector looked me over and seemed to do a double-take at the rear brake, but waved me through.

By the time I got to my pit, the rear brake locked up SOLID. The rear hub has smoking profusely, melted grease was dribbling out the brake arm grease nipple, and chain oil was sizzling on the sprocket. Somehow, the brakes tightened up on me; it was definitely not the chain or bearings as the wheel freed off as soon as I took 2 turns out of the toasty hot adjuster. I think that cost me 5th place, but who can say?

Anyway, I happily packed up with 5th and 6th place finishes, the confidence that I had completed two races without ever putting a wheel wrong, and nearly escaped the gremlins completely. I leave Daytona in 5th place out of 6 riders, at least I'm not in the basement!

Less than 2 hours after my race, a DOWNPOUR drenched the raceway; I watched from the window of my hotel room as I downloaded photos to my laptop.

Pix later-