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I hope to Triumph at Bonneville on my Triumph Bonneville

4K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  GrandPaulZ 
#1 ·
I'm headed out to the Salt Flats at Bonneville, where it's nice and cool compared to Laredo.

Making a run on the salt with the '69 Bonnie (Bonneville at Bonneville), then roadracing at Miller with the Bonnie in Production & Kawasaki 500 in Formula, take a few days to get to Albuquerque and run the roadraces there, and take my first try at Vintage MX on the Montesa.

Have fun and stay tuned!
 
#11 ·
Best of luck.

Good luck at all three venues, Paul.

Safe trip, safe run, safe race and safe return.

Grab all the free souvenirs you can and bring'em back with you. It will provide a nice ebay retirement income in about 30 years.

regards,
Rob
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
I especially like the Betty Crocker catch pan under the engine.

Did a short stint on the track myself with an SV650 I built from a street rat. Crashed at Pocono the second year and although I walked away after the ambulance ride back to the paddock, on the way home I decided I don't heal as quickly as I used to and decided I'd had my fun. But my leathers still hang in my closet because someday I'd like to build a Triumph or Norton cafe bike and bring it to a track on a vintage day.

All I can say Paul is those are some damn skinny tires on that there racebike.

Congrats on the record, regardless of when you set it.

For those of you who have never run on a track, go take a racing school. You cannot describe the experience. I took all three levels of Code's Superbike school and have run at Loudon, VIR and Pocono. You will never regret doing it. I've seen guys in their 60's taking the courses. If you can throw a leg over a bike, you can do it.
regards,
Rob
 
#16 ·
Here is my 2008 season wrap-up:

AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSN. (AHRMA)

Historic Production Heavyweight - 1969 Triumph T120R Bonneville 650 -

I built this bike from spare parts in 40 hours over 7 days' time. It finished under the checkers in every race entered until 2 laps from the end of the last race of the season. I DNF'ed due to a muffler falling off; although the bike could have finished, I was waved off the track becasue the muffler fell off on the racing line.



13 races, 12 finishes posted (1 DNF)

5th overall, out of 20 competitors; 3rd highest points total (only top 10 scores count)

"Best of the West" - (Willow Springs, Miller Motorsports Park, Sandia Classic) - 4th

"Masters of the Midwest" - (Mid-Ohio, Road America, Grattan, MI) - 5th

"Dixie Cup" - (Roebling Road, Daytona, Barber's) - 6th

(6) 4th place finishes, (5) 5th place, (1) 6th, (1) DNF


Formula 500 - 1972 Kawasaki H1 500 triple-



8 races, 8 finishes

3rd overall, out of 29 competitors; 3rd highest points total (only top 10 scores count)

"Best of the West" - (Willow Springs, Miller Motorsports Park, Sandia Classic) - 2nd

"Masters of the Midwest" - (Mid-Ohio, Road America, Grattan, MI) - 8th

"Dixie Cup" - (Roebling Road, Daytona, Barber's) - 9th

(3) 2nd place finishes, (2) 3rd place, (2) 5th place, (1) 6th place

This was on a bike borrowed from an AHRMA official. The last 4 races were run with a stock engine pulled from a bike bought at the swap meet in Albuquerque at the Sandia Classic, after I broke a cylinder sleeve on the cool-down lap at Miller Motorsports Park. The bike ran on 2 cylinders most of the time at Sandia, and all of Barber's. (It had holed the middle piston)

Vintage Motocross - 1972 Rickman Montesa 250 (Sandia Classic, one race only)-



2nd place - 50+ category; standing - 30th / 58 competitors

4th place - Sportsman 250; standing - 55th / 63 competitors

Bonneville Salt Flats-


Class speed record in my AHRMA class of 91.948 UNBELIEVABLE

An excellent adventure, and a great 50th birthday present to myself. If you've ever thought of going racing - JUST DO IT.
 
#20 ·
Hey there GPZ, how long have you been going to Bonneville?

Back around '98 I was passing through in my Alfa Spider and broke a u-joint and ended up spending an unexpected night in Wendover. I had a reasonable tool stock with me and even located a spare U-joint in town the next morning, but I didn't bring snap ring pliers on the trip.

I recall a helpful fellow who was there racing a Bonnie was staying at the same hotel and saw me in the parking lot working on the Alfa. He lent me a pair of snap ring pliers so I could finish the job.

If that was you, Thanks!
 
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