Honda/RJs 4 hour endurance race

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:39 am

Team Exuper's Ive been invited to ride in the up coming 4 hour at Wakyfield at the end of the month.
There will be 4 of us riding 2 bikes. Both GSXR Suzuki's 1 a 1000K3 & the other a 750 K4. So we are busy getting the bikes prepaired & plans in place for this event.

Zoltan is co riding the 750, & I will be co riding the 1000. Zol will be taking his FZ 750 as a wet bike/spare. Just in case it rains we have something to race on while we get the GSXRs set up for the wet.
My ribs are giving me $hit & feel like they will never mend. I know it takes a long time for ribs to knit, but Im really getting sick of this pain. Its like a tooth ake. If you forget they are crook, they soon let you know.

I went for a ride on the ZRX in between rain showers on sunday & they were fine while riding, but they played up that night.
But anyway ive still got a few more weeks to get them right.
Im really looking forward to doing this race. They guys that own the GSXRs are very keen track day riders & this will be their first race meeting. So Im really keen to help them as much as possable, & repay them for inviting me to ride. It will be an great learning experance for them, & it will give me a chance to do some laps on a pretty new bike.
I'll let everyone know of our progress as it happens [if your interested]
& give a full race rundown.
Steve.

hotcam · Post by **hotcam** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:04 am

Sweet, let us know how the prep goes and hopefully your ribs come good!

spook · Post by **spook** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:24 am

this won't come as a surprise, but they take about 6 or so weeks heal...lol.

You should be feeling a fair bit better by the race Steve. Keep us posted on the progress of the team

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:29 am

spook wrote:this won't come as a surprise, but they take about 6 or so weeks heal...lol.

You should be feeling a fair bit better by the race Steve. Keep us posted on the progress of the team

Yeah 6 weeks is about right for the knitting. But they will still hurt like hell for a couple of months.

The guys are in the middle of prepairing the bike for a ride day on the 25/7 at Waky so that should hold them in good sted for the 31/7 1/8 weekend. I think I might go as well, just to help keep them pointing in the right direction. Dont want them learning bad habbits.
I'll probebly have a ride too, just to see what Im dealing with. I have had a ride on a K3 1000 on the road, & let me tell you I was pretty impressed. So things are looking good for this old fella..

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:08 am

UPDATE
The forks are comming out of the 1000, & going to Frank Pons in Sydney for a revalve & respring. They are as notching as hell & the springs are dead.
Graham has picked up a set of "F" brake pads which we will fit soon.
We will be picking up the latest genaration Bridgstone slicks next week.
If Im not working next weekend I'll go down for a track day at WP to get a few lap in & get a bit of a feel for the bike.
Motels are booked.
So things are humming along pretty well.
Steve.

Mike_SS · Post by **Mike_SS** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:58 am

Sounds like some fun coming up Steve. I used to have a K2 1000 roadie and it was a fairly impressive motorcycle. Good luck with it all

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 5:02 am

OMG !!! I just had a look at the weather for Sunday -4 with a top of 9
What the hell were they thinking building a race track down there??

Big Jon · Post by **Big Jon** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:56 am

Break out the thermal underwear, and spoon on some good street tires (Pilot Powers) and stretch lots as the colder weather can make you tense up. But plus 9 is just fine!

haunter · Post by **haunter** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:11 pm

sounds cold but fun!

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 2:54 am

Well we did it !!
I have to say a big thank you to Graham & Martin for having faith in me, to offer up the ride.The boys wanted to see what racing was like, well they saw alright. LeMans start, Pace cars, tyre changes, wind, rain, hail, floods, the lot in one day!!!!!!
Thanks to Graham for giving me a great bike to ride, I did the best I could but im really paying for it today.[god im sore]
I think Im getting to old for this racing gig.
I might have to take up golf or something less phisical.

Now my take on the race. Sat AM:: Wet & cold. I didnt got out in the wet, I didnt see that anything would be gained, as did many other teams.
It slowly dried up so off I went & talk about dicky conditions! Dry track but rivers running accross at T1 T2 T9. There was no point trying to set the world on fire, so I just had fun pulling mono's down the straight for the boys, & settle into the bike a bit.
We/they decided on Sat night, that I would qually the bike. Although I didnt really want to, I knew I could turn a time that would see us not last. [but near enough]
We stuck it on 37th with a 1:13.2580 on the last lap. So that was good, we were getting faster so all was good.
Seeing I was only riding the 1000 we worked at making it easy to ride, & by the end of the weekend I think we got it pretty good.[BTW] The 1000 was very much like riding my FZR1000!!
Graham was stating the race & was turning good times, & getting faster the more he was on it.
Martin was next out & was matching Grahams times,[around 1.12s so they had their first taste of racing & did a pretty good job of it.
With that out of the way me & Zol went out & had a ball !! Did what the boys wanted & we made it to the end of our stints with no problems.[thank god] I did our fastest lap 1.09.36, so Im happy with that.
Apart from a couple of bad pace car calls, we all didnt put a foot wrong all day & came away happy with what we did..
A big thanks to my son in law/cheif machanic Mark, for doing what he always does, [which is pretty much doing everything I dont want to do]
Bones for keeping us under control, & working out what to do next.
Graham & Martin for giving me the oppituity to ride with them, & hopefully guide them through their first race with what little wisdom I have.

bike41 29th outright, 4th in class.
Z.Petrie/S.Butler/
G.Allott/M.Ball Cooranbong Racing-Greg Dunn YamaSuzSuzSuzuki 1100 CL4 178 04:02:42.5780 96 1:09.3630
Not a bad effort for a couple of virgins, & a couple of has beens.
Now weres that bloody RADOX???

hotcam · Post by **hotcam** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 2:57 am

Great news, Steve! Good to hear you made it through all those wild and
woolly conditions and nearly a podium too, (whereas I'm sure I'd have
binned it at some point if that was me out there LOL).

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:06 am

Yeah it was pretty crappy at the end, but up untill then, things went bloody well. Some pics here>> bike 41
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3 ... 640&ref=mf

spook · Post by **spook** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:22 am

Sounds like a good weekend with all the box's ticked there Steve. And great to see you and Zoltan teaming up to help newcomers Graham & Martin have an enjoyable first race also!

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:26 am

spook wrote:Sounds like a good weekend with all the box's ticked there Steve. And great to see you and Zoltan teaming up to help newcomers Graham & Martin have an enjoyable first race also!

Thanks spook. We had a great weekend of racing.
I cant tell you how much that GSXR1000 feels like the old Peter Jackson bike. The PJ bike handles about the same, & didnt like being rushed, the zuky was the same. The new bike had a little more power,[not a lot] & being EFI was very nice in the throttle. But other than that I think old PJ would give it a run for its money. Or maybe im wearing my rose coloured glasses?

spook · Post by **spook** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:35 am

sbutler wrote: But other than that I think old PJ would give it a run for its money. Or maybe im wearing my rose coloured glasses?

Just getting a bit misty eyed I would guess Steve

Mike_SS · Post by **Mike_SS** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:04 am

Woohoo, way to go Steve

(I think your glasses may have a pinkish tinge

)

P.S. PJ is going to be one of the first bikes to run on the extended Morgan Park circuit in September. They have added almost 1 km to the track and it should be able to stretch it's legs nicely

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:11 am

Mike_SS wrote: They have added almost 1 km to the track and it should be able to stretch it's legs nicely

Thats one thing that FZR does so well !!!

JasonL · Post by **JasonL** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 10:06 pm

Well Done Steve and team,

So what's the plan now, race some modern stuff?? Buy another EXUP?

Had my EXUP stretching its legs on the weekend, will do a write-up later on.

sbutler · Post by **sbutler** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 10:50 pm

JasonL wrote:Well Done Steve and team,

So what's the plan now, race some modern stuff?? Buy another EXUP?

Had my EXUP stretching its legs on the weekend, will do a write-up later on.

Mate I'd love an 89 exup for P6. But money is fast running out.
Im going to be doing the Honda/RJ series next year on the 750 in retro with st george. The clubsport class is a little fast for these clunky old bones. Besides the Suzuki didnt impress me to the degree that I would go out & get one. I'd have to sell the T. to be able to get any other bike. The little T model will do for now.
I'll be still doing the BSfos & the odd PCRA meeting next year at this stage, but the RJs series will be something different & that will do me.