Washington State Honda Sport Touring Association

September 4-6 - NE Washington Recap by Marv Travis

No tickets, no crashes, no getting lost, no flat tires or other mechanicals, no bad weather. Once in awhile, we get it right.

Chris Harnish, Bob Kramer, Dave Bolton, Jim Holzberger, and I met for breakfast at Mitzels in Everett.  Jim led the group across the North Cascades via SR-530 through Darrington.

While we were fueling in Marblemount, we saw a group of Valkyries and a new Triumph Rocket 3, that we would run into later going over the pass.  The skies provided a light misting from Newhalem to just past Ross Lake where we caught up with the power cruisers.  They were traveling 5-10 mph slower than our liking and were taking their time getting around other traffic.  Eventually, we got around them.

I slowed a little to check my mirror and see if everyone had got by and saw Bob and Dave and the Triumph all moving very quickly.  Apparently, the game was afoot, and the name of the game was roll-on! (something that 2300 cc's of Hinckley power excels at.)  They finally gave up for good when ground clearance became an issue on the big, downhill sweeper just east of Washington Pass.

Lunch was at the "Yellowjacket Brewpub" in Winthrop.  Chris turned around at this point to return home and the four of us remaining continued east on SR-20, over Loop Loop to Omak and then SR-155 south to Nespelem.  Here we turned east and found our way to Inchelium.  From there we returned back to highway 20 at Kettle Falls and then into Colville for the night.

Faced with a choice of Arby's or Subway within walking distance.  We chose the deli at the supermarket which provided ribs, mashed potatoes, a roll, and choice of salad for $4, such a deal.  A soak in the hot tub and a few barley pops completed the day.

The next morning Bob headed home via 20, and we were down to three.  Sunday was about the scenery and remoteness as we headed east on 20, then north to Metalline Falls.  We rode to Sullivan lake and then south to Ione, making our way back to Colville via 20.  While fueling in Colville we talked to some oval car racers that were having a race up in Northport that afternoon.  We headed up that way by way of Alladin road, Deep Lake, and Boundry.  We took the round-about loop but still managed to get into Northport at the same time as our stock-car racing friends who took the straight shot.

Lunch was at the Mustang Grill (not to be confused with Mustang Ranch) and then continued south to Kettle Falls, up to Lake Roosevelt to pick up the road to Curlew, Toroda, Chesaw, and finally Oroville.  From Oroville, we rode west to Palmer Lake, then Loomis, and past Spectacle Lake, hopping onto US-97 in Tonasket.  A short stint on 97 brought us into Okanagon for the night.

Monday was a straight shot back on 20, where we had clear sailing until we got to the west side of the hills and ran into holiday traffic.

September 25 - Mt St Helens Recap by Marv Travis

Anyone heard that Mt St Helens in waking up?  No, well turn on the news!  Dan didn't hear the reports either until we're parked at the top of the mountain and someone said, "Wouldn't it be cool if we felt the shaking right now?"  I think NOT!  As it turns out, we beat the first eruption by less than a week!

No quakes on our day, but the concern did serve one purpose, there was hardly any traffic giving us an unobstructed ride to the top!  It also helped that the Oyster Festival was going on and most of the big cruisers were heading north to ride parade-style, into a heavily-enforced, mostly confined area.  Not for us.

The 10 of us started out in Enumclaw braving the fog to get there.  This wasn't just fog, it was the heaviest, thickest, vaporized water we'd seen in a long time.  As soon as we headed up toward Mt. Rainier, we got above the fog level and headed around the east side of the mountain.  Jim Holzberger went with us as far as Randle before turning for home to take care of the homestead.  Tye Aldana, who came up from Portland, picked up where Jim left off.

From Randle, we rode up to Windy Ridge and then Burger Buggy for lunch.  At the Burger Buggy, three of our party tucked tail and headed back home while, the rest of us headed down to Carson.  We followed the Columbia river east to Cook where we caught a twisty loop on Cook-Underhill Road, above the river.

Following that short stint and catching alt SR-141, Tye now split off to head back home, and the rest of us went up BZ Corner, Glenwood, Trout Lake, Northwoods, and finally, retracing our steps through Randle, Packwood, SR-123 (Cayuse Pass), and home.

Riders were Dan Hytry (who didn't fall down this time), Jim Holzberger, Steve Dorsey, Drake Beaton, Tye Aldana, Dan Kasprowicz, Brady Ipock, Travis Smith, Nick Terrana and myself.

We all had a good (long) ride with no get-offs or tickets, (and no rain, just fog).  I arrived home just before 9:00 in the dark, logging just over 500 miles.

Chronicles of a Novice Racer (Episode 1)

Racing motorcycles can be very rewarding.  You build strong relationships with fellow racers, learn more about your bike than you ever thought possible, and learn to improvise with the tools you have.  This all comes along with minor (did I say minor?) setbacks.  The racing experience can be an emotional roller coaster with each weekend.  I may be way off base but I think it’s those setbacks that make racers appreciate the sport that much more.  Let me start at the beginning of my personal amusement park ride…

To be eligible to race, one must attend a classroom session called an NRC (New Racer Clinic) put on by WMRRA (Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association), followed by an NRC track session.  The track session may be waived having attended a qualifying track day put on by another organization; however attending the WMRRA classroom portion is mandatory.

The classroom session, as it turned out, was one war story after another - exactly what we beginners didn’t want to hear about.  There was very little information presented on race-prepping a bike, which is what I thought it was for.  That knowledge was apparently supposed to be extracted from the rulebook or other racers.  Following the classroom session, there were three Revelations that I gleaned: 1) Everyone crashes and Novices have an inherent ability at being ground-magnets, 2) SVs are really slow on the straight (yeah right!), and 3) This is going to be expensive!  Oh, and sponsorship by VISA does not count as getting a full ride.

To qualify the first point, the facilitators of WMRRA shared one story after another about crashing.  High-sides, low-sides, sideswipes, and ass-packs (highly technical term for being slammed into from the back side when you stall on the grid) were all examples of ways to crash.  This was more information than I ever wanted to know about how many times I would end up on the ground.  This was not confidence inspiring at all.

The story on Suzuki SVs is this, “They’re fun in the corners, but slow as snot on the straights,” we were told.  Since when does snot equate with 1:33 at PR (Pacific Raceways, formerly SIR)?  They didn’t share with us about the magenta rocket (#106) that weighs only 300lbs and puts out over 100 hp.  Make no mistake about it, THAT bike rips!  However, your standard out-of-the-box SV is, as described, slow as snot.

Now, on the costs of racing… I may have been a little naïve in assuming that, having a big-bore bike that was paid for (1995 CBR 900RR), I would only have to worry about entry fees and tires.  I was wrong, flat wrong!  Racing is NOT cheap.  Race-prepping a bike will run in the neighborhood of $1500-$2000 depending on how much work you do yourself.  Typical costs to just get on the track are engine side covers, race bodywork, tires, and safety wiring.

Did I mention all the other creature comforts you will need like a fire extinguisher, tools, bike stands, an EZ-up, generator, tire-warmers, and rain tires?  Track days are the way to go if you are not looking to spend thousands for the thrill of unlimited speed, ticket avoidance, and superior skill development.

You might also consider having a fifth of high-end Scotch and a cooler full of beers to appease the race Gods (who control your eligibility to graduate out of Novice).  It also bears saying that the aforementioned “creature comforts” might come in handy when you fail to acknowledge a flag or consider buzzing the registration desk (at speed).

Round 1, April 3-4, 2004 at PR:

The NRC track session is called a “race” simulation and was pretty much a practice session for recognizing the flags thrown out by the cornerworkers to see how astute the riders were.  They were: yellow (use caution but continue to “race”), a waving yellow (no passing) and finally, the red flag (stop at the next corner).  We also started from the grid for the first time to get familiar with the timing lights.  This heat was only 4 laps versus 8 for full-blown Novice heats.

Following this “race” simulation, there would follow a full Novice Heat that same afternoon, keeping with the normal schedule.  The reason you’re seeing the word “race” in quotes is because Novice riders don’t “race”, according to WMRRA staff and the rulebook.  All the Novice sessions are considered practice.  Who are they trying to fool?  You’re on a track, you start on the grid, you’re riding as hard as you can to try to finish ahead of the guy ahead of you, you stop “racing” when the checkered flag comes out.  I guess they can say you’re not “racing” because your lap times are rarely published, if at all, and you aren’t accumulating points.  Call it what you will.

Each weekend allows for two Novice heats.  On this particular weekend, the race simulation was added due to this being an NRC weekend.  Now, on to the racing, er practicing… The light went green and we were off.

I rode well, getting a good start and picking off a few riders ahead of me during the course of my first couple of laps.  On the last lap, I missed a shift in the bus-stop (about 750 yards from the checkered flag) and, after kicking the shifter up a couple of times, realized that I couldn’t get my bike to stay in 2^nd gear.  As I was losing momentum fiddling with the shifter, I thought I would have to push my bike across the line to collect a finish.  I frantically tried kicking up a couple of gears, losing track of how many, and finally found one that held to get me to what turned out to be a top-5 finish.  Since my race was over and I didn’t have any more practice sessions to investigate the extent of the damage, I wasn’t able work on the problem until the next morning.

On Sunday, I headed out for my first practice session.  Before I even made it to the track, I shifted into 2^nd gear, and instantly, the transmission dropped back into neutral.  I did it again and again with the same result.  Knowing from the day before that I had some upper gears, I tried double shifting and realized that even though I had no 2^nd gear, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th held just fine.  I needed to ride the novice heat on Sunday to collect my first finish so I went ahead and rode the bike the way it was.  I wasn’t going to let this setback keep me from riding my first official race, er heat.

On needing to ride… there are three levels of racer: Novice, Graduated Novice, and Expert.  Novice riders need to successfully complete a minimum of six heats to move up to the next level.  Hey, nobody wants to be shrouded under yellow number plates forever!  Graduated Novices need to complete three race weekends to move up to Expert.  Merely completing the heats or races is one thing, but doing it with respectable times is just as crucial to moving up.  At any time, Expert racers can petition to demote you for being a hazard on the track if you’re too slow in your race.

One other requirement for Novices is to cornerwork for a full day.  I would be completing my cornerworking requirement during Round 3 in Spokane, but would be sacrificing one of my Novice heats in order to do so.

My homework following weekend #1 was to repair the transmission.  This ran me about $1500.00.  Mind you, these are not your typical $70+/hr shop rates.  In the racing community, you learn a lot about having connections.  It is the only way to make things happen in time to make the next race.  Had I gone to a local shop, I’d be looking at close to $3000 and most likely not being scheduled until after the May race weekend at PR, which was still a month away.  Need a good mechanic?  I can recommend one for ya!

The foremost repair was to replace a bent a shift fork in the transmission (cause for not holding 2^nd gear) but, since my motor was already out of the frame and disassembled, I had additional work performed.  I freshened up the motor with new piston rings and a valve job.  The exhaust valves (which were burnt) needed to be replaced, as did the cam chain.  The stock cam chain tensioner was also supposed to be replaced with a manual tensioner, but I didn’t get the part in time so the stock one was reinstalled.  All the above work was done because, as some of you know, my motor had over 100,000 (YES, you read that right) miles on it and had not undergone any sort of major maintenance in that time.  Nothing ever broke!  In any case, I attribute the costs of this repair to Revelation #3.

To test all the work that had been performed, I decided to road-test the bike down my street.  Dressed in shorts, sandals, and a T-shirt (no helmet or gloves), I took the bike to the end of my street, hung a U-turn, and lit it up.  First gear, 2^nd, 3^rd, all worked.  Oh crap, what about the brakes?  As the end of my street was rapidly approaching, so was the bend in the roadway.  I tapped the brakes while downshifting and the rear end locked up (cold tires).  There was no way I was going to get this thing yarded down in time.

Stay tuned for Episode 2 in the next newsletter.