From: wfo-bob [wfo-bob@email.msn.com]

Sent: Thursday, September 23, 1999 11:06 AM

Subject: Tweetybird news

Stoney Broke: Round 11 of Virginia Championship Hare Scramble Series

Another new race venue for Bobby and I. Actually Bobby hadn't planned to go

to this race as he was in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday and planned to return

to the Outer Banks of NC to help with the cleanup of our Inn after

Hurricane Floyd. Once again, the OBX dodged a bullet as there was

relatively little damage from the storm. I went down on Friday and cleaned

up (we lost the walkway behind the Inn's pool along the Currituck Sound) and

left for Richmond on Saturday.

What did get hard hit was the Southern Coastline of NC and Eastern NC.

These hurricanes seem to be making a beeline for these parts of the US. I

called Randall in Morehead City and he was without power again, but escaped

relatively unscathed--just a few trees uprooted and/or broken and one of

his dealerships lost their GM sign (GM's problem, not his). As you will

recall, just a few days ago, they got Hurricane Dennis. And before that,

Fran and before that--well, you get the picture.

Anyway, Bobby couldn't get back to the OBX because Eastern NC was

underwater. So, he decided to drive to Richmond, and go to the OBX that way.

When he got to Richmond he drove to Norfolk, where there was a 4 hour wait

to get through on Rt.168--so he decided to come back to Richmond (he was on

the road 13 hours and never made it). With nothing else to do, he decided to

ride the hare scrambles--using some of my gear and spare helmet and

boots--since his was on the OBX. Luckily, his KTM 250 EXC happened to be in

Richmond.

Sunday morning (at 5:00AM) Donald and Billy Morrow came by in their

motorhome for us. We had already loaded up their bikes in our 8 x 12

Haulmark Race Trailer and we took off for the Western part of the state.

Billy's minibike race was at 9.00. This was his first race on his KTM 65

and he was hot to trot. Don's motorhome is a 24 footer on a Ford chassis and

we ran 65-70 mph all the way to the race track. Needless to say, we were

very impressed with the Ford's V-10 pulling power!

As usual, I used the Bob White School of Motorcycle Maintenance and waited

until I got to the race track to do any maintenance on my 125 EXC. This was

my second race on it since I got my suspension back from W.E.R. The

"suspension settings checklist" didn't make it back with the suspension (but

is being re-sent), so I set the rear suspension to KTM's static sag

recommendations. If you will remember, I had both ends of the bike lowered.

I attempted to set the race suspension sag, based on my recollection that

rear race sag should be approximately 1/3 of the travel (not matter what the

travel is). If I did the math correctly ( a BIG if), when I sat on the bike

in race gear, the measurement indicated that the rear spring was too stiff

(in other words, it didn't sag a full 1/3 of the travel). Since the bike had

the softest (a #1) spring on it, and I weigh 200 pounds, and it's a 125, I

think something was wrong with my math. In any event, I ran out of time to

do any more calculations, so I set the compression on the middle setting and

the rebound on a very light setting, and hoped for the best. I set the

rebound on a light setting because I surmised that the extremely rough ride

I got out of the bike last weekend (I thought the bike was bottoming

excessively), may have been due, somewhat, to the suspension "packing" down

and riding in the stiffer part of the travel. The course turned out to be

acceptable in that a lot of it was new trail, almost all tight, with very

few places to rest, and some really, tight stuff thrown in (you know stuff

that is 20" wide and at right angles to the course. These places made for

major bottlenecks on the first lap. Even David White (no relation) who

loves tight woods, complained about the course because it only allowed him a

few places to pass slower riders.

The start was pretty interesting and another first for me. It was up a

grassy, very long steep hill. Not knowing what to expect, and knowing my 125

would be at a disadvantage, I decided to try to get the best start I could

by timing the starter and counting 1001, 1002, etc. between the time he

raised his flag and the time he dropped it. It turned out to be

approximately 15 seconds, so I started practicing counting and starting my

bike in first gear as each line went off ahead of me. It started perfectly

each time!

It's time for us to go...the starter raises his flag, I count off 15 seconds

and anticipate the drop perfectly! I get the holeshot!! Which didn't last

very long because just as we start up the hill, it turns out there is a

grassy gully, and while I'm trying to decide if it's going to hurt me, two

guys blast past me. However, no one else passes me there, so they didn't

walk the start either, or they would have know how easy it was to get across

the gully, and on the other side I'm still in third as we start up the hill.

The EXC's power band gets into its "sweet spot" , which is sooo cool and

really broad for a 125 and I'm able to hold my own up the hill. As we crest

the hill, it flattens out and a couple more guys blow past, but I'm in the

woods mid-pack (top-five). Since the trail was so tight, and one line, it

started to rut up pretty quickly, and by the third lap there were roots and

woops everywhere. My forks felt pretty good--there were pretty much in the

settings that WER returned them to me, but the shock was beating me to

death...now it seemed that it felt stiffer! At one point I stopped and

backed off the compression a couple of clicks...but this had little effect

as far as I could tell. I think the shock is too soft and what I'm thinking

is a harsh ride is really the result of the bike riding too far down in the

travel. Anyway, I keep going, getting lapped by the leaders once (the usual

for me in a five lap race), and keep going slower and slower each lap. My

hopes of a top five finish are dashed again as I come across the line in

eighth (out of 10).

After the race, David White came over to look at my EXC (he's dying to ride

it), and just sitting on the bike, he said the same thing I'm thinking...the

forks feel OK, but the shock is way too soft. We sit around and bench race

for awhile. Dave has already wrapped up the number one plate in his class

(0-200 A class) and there a four races to go! I kid him about cherry

picking the A class (that's an oxy-moron!) and he takes offense and says,

"Hey, I'm 39 years old, riding a five-year old clapped-out Husky 125!" The

guys in his class must feel the same way Shane Watts makes the GNCC guys

feel! Anyway, next year he's thinking about moving to the Vet (over 35) A

class. I figure that by the time he reaches my age, he'll be able to ride

and win every A class there is.

Next week is the Blue Ridge Race in Martinsville. We're already making

plans to go over Friday and spend Saturday at Joe Jesse's farm and do some

trail riding. Dave may even come over (my son is dying to do some riding

with him), because between Joe and David, you have two of the fastest woods

guys in Virginia!

How did everyone do? Well, Billy crashed out and DNF'ed his class. Donald

did OK (4-stroke B), but kept crashing. He thinks he finished fourth. Bobby

got the hole shot, but got passed going up the hill when his 250 ran out of

power (his pipe is all smashed up), but passed everyone back in the woods.

He hill the wall on the last lap, when the blisters on his hands ruptured

from the gloves he was wearing (my borrowed gloves) and he DNF'ed.

Everyone had high hopes for a good finish, so we all came away from the race

more than a little down. Anyway, see you at the races!

(a subdued) Bob White

Still loving my way too soft KTM 125 EXC and Haulmark Race Trailer, and

Desitine Salve

PS Don't forget my website ...a work in progress as I learn HTML... in

between running four companies and riding motorcycles.

http://homepages.msn.com/YosemiteDr/wideopenbob/

Click on attachment above to see what happens to a "Turon's" yuppiemobile

when he decides to drive out on the beach during Hurricane Dennis. Some of

the visitors to the OBX tend to leave their brains behind when they cross

over the Wright Memorial Bridge, so Turon (a contraction of two words) is

what the locals have named them. The Yuppiemobile is (was) a 1999 Ford

Explorer. If you look close you'll see the Avis rental sticker! I'll

havemore of these views on my web site when I get the chance to put them on.

Also, I have a couple of shots from the Budds Creek race on the Web Site

that Bubba Ron donated to the cause.