Karl Rehpohl CRA #910, 4/11-13/2003, MAM Hey all, Thursday was an Edge trackday and I was signed up for “New rider racing school”. First time for me on a track, first time for me on my (new to me) 89’ GS500 racebike. It was a complete fricking riot!! Never had so much fun on a motorcycle in my 7 years of riding. The hype about attending a trackday, any trackday on any bike is VERY justified. You will learn so many new things in a blink of the eye. And just think how many blinks you can complete in a day or full weekend? I was cutting 2:03 by the end of the day, and finished 3 or 4 out of 9 riders in the “New riders” race Of course everyone else was on an R6, CBR, or SV650. I thought the clutch was slipping on the bike, but that wasn’t the case (more on this later). Friday I head out for practice and get one good lap in, the bike feels great and the clutch feels like it’s slipping again when I’m high on the revs. Turns out the clutch isn’t slipping at all, I’m over-revving the engine and have been for a whole day of track time!! The tach on the bike shows 11K for a redline, but I guess the engine is only good to around 10K. The “slipping clutch” I was feeling was actually valve float which occurs when you rev to high. I tried a bunch of stuff to fix the problem, hoping it was gas, spark, timing, electrical….anything. Nothing fixed it and the bike ended up getting parked Friday afternoon. Engine work might be needed; we’ll see what the mechanic says? Word to the wise: If you’re ever on a new bike or bike you’re unfamiliar with ask what the redline is. Or double check (ask) if it has a rev-limiter. With my Superhawk I never come near redline (cause it doesn’t need to), and every bike has different engine characteristics. Make sure you know ALL of them before you go out and dish track abuse on that engine. Lesson learned for me. So….I needed to complete the 5-lap “New rider race” on Friday evening in order to get my CRA racing certificate. Kent was nice (read: brave) enough to borrow me his brand new, sparkly clean SV650 for the race. This race was very different than the Thursday race. I think the total number was 34 riders and most (70%) on screaming inline 600’s. My goal was to finish the race and return Kent’s bike in one piece, nothing else. Of course Tony was in the new rider class with his new SV650 as well. Luck would have it he gets gridded right behind me in slot 9A for the race. I got a “fair” start and passed 4-5 bikes in the first lap and 3 people came around me during the race. Tony was the third rider to pass me on the 4th lap on turn 1. I didn’t even realize he was right on my butt the whole race. I latched on to him for the next two turns and then had a chance to come back around him exiting turn 4. I chose not to because it would have meant coming hard into the brakes on 5 and I had to consciously say to myself, “Hey dipshit!!, don’t risk Kent’s bike, don’t risk Tony and his bike for your stupid ego!!!!”. So I didn’t. I followed Tony till the last corner leading into the straightaway. I took the corner better than I had the rest of the race and ended up right next to Tony on the outside. We both dropped the throttle and I finished with my front wheel at his handlebars. It was so close and SOOOOO much fun. Tony, great race man, thank you. We found out later that we ran 1:57 on some of those laps. It seamed faster than my previous 2:03, but not a full 6 seconds faster. Obviously the SV is a faster bike than a GS, but it surprised me how that extra power didn’t provide that much difference. The rider makes the difference, power does help though. George proved this by running (I think) 1:51 on a stock engine GS500 later in the day. That was the end of my riding for the weekend. I still had fun watching, talking, and learning from everyone at the track. Pat, Brent, and Darrin (list members) stopped in Sunday afternoon to watch and say “hi”. Thanks guys for making the pitstop, it was great to see ya. I was bummed about my bike engine and not being able to race Saturday and Sunday, but happy I passed my certification. I’ll let the others tell their own stories about the weekend. Saying a simple “thank you” isn’t enough for all the help and comradary the following people provided this weekend. Kent, Tex, George, Tony: Awesome racers with tons of riding knowledge and always there for ya. I couldn’t have done any of this without your help!! Great job on the track this weekend guys!! Nikki, Donnie, Corey: Thanks for all your help. Birch, Kyle, Roger, Mike: Thanks for corner working, greatly appreciated, especially on this hot, dusty, windy weekend. You guys rock!! I can’t wait for Brainerd when even more of the list members can/will be there to watch and race with!! As always thanks to Bridgestone for keeping me upright and Lockhard Phillips for the support. Ride fast, ride safe, Copyright TeamPoop 2003
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