Harris Magnum Project Part 2 by Keith Higgs

A word from the editor - Martin Kopp
Welcome to the latest issue of the P.C.R.A newsletter. It’s a bit thinner than previous issues but still the same price.
As always I need to thank the members for their contributions to the newsletter, without them it would be even thinner !
I have dedicated the first few pages to Craig Ralls, a much loved member of the PCRA who lost his life in an industrial
accident in January. We miss him dearly. There are lots of great photos from Round 1 and the Barry Sheene meeting as
well as race reports from Ray Nelson. I have also included the first of regular contributions from the committee members to
keep everybody informed. As well as a few orange pages devoted to the beautiful racing art from Oz Laverda.
Keith Higgs updates us on his Harris race bike build and Nigel Taylor tells about his wonderful factory FZR.
My apologies for the lack of point scores in this issue, will hopefully get that sorted next time.
Many of you may have heard about the early finish of Round 2 due to the accident involving Steve King. The good news is
that Steve is on the mend although he did give us a big scare that day.
If you’d like to send me something for future issues or have any questions that I can possibly answer feel free to email me at:
communications@pcra.com.au
I first met Stick at Oran Park in June '07 on a cold sunny morning. Later on I passed him out on the track and his bike wasn't
going too well and I thought oh well don't need to worry about that bloke! That was I think only the 2nd time he'd been back
out on his RS and the day when it made a mess of itself - he found bits of piston in the expansion chambers. What I remember
most that day was when I asked if it was an NSR, trying to assume some knowledge and authority, and he quickly corrected me
- "its an RS" !! I could tell it wasn't the first time he'd had to correct some wally and there was a slight terseness in his voice but
that was as short as I ever saw him get - and coming from just blowing the thing up too. I would have been having a tantrum!
Another abiding memory is the 2008 One-Hour when I fell off in the first heat and damaged the bike, I was so annoyed because
I thought I'd wrecked Stick's weekend as we'd teamed up but he coolly assessed the bike, worked it out and got it going. He did
such a solid 2nd stint when the pressure was on, and we ended up doing much better than anticipated. At trophy time he dedicated the win to Lynton; no gushing sentimentality, just a quiet but deep acknowledgement.
He was excited when I bought a 2 stroke, a KR1-S, he said I'd love it. He made me a set of stands for it unprompted and just
gave them to me, no fuss. He'd knocked them up at work and they were schmick, I was really taken aback he'd done that - but
that's the kind of guy he was. When I moved the KR1-S on I made sure he got the stands back, and he said had a use for them a new RS!!
We traveled back up to NSW for Christmas and New year 2010 and made a point of stopping in Bathurst for a day on the way
home. We had a BBQ with Stick at Jim and Peggy Burke's place and our daughter's played together. Stick took us around the
motor museum the next day and we did an eighteen minute lap of Mount Panorama in my Mitsubishi people mover. We had a
pub lunch and then went to look at his new RS which was pulled down for some off-season work. By this time, inspired in no
small part by his enthusiasm for these bikes, I'd finally got one of my own and we were already talking about going to the Nationals in Tasmania this November, Stick was well keen. I say all this because when the cruel news came, I was so glad we'd
spent that time together with him less than a fortnight before.
Perhaps the most enduring memory for me is at the end of the last Oran Park meeting in Oct 09. Lots of people were telling
grand tales and elaborate stories, all fine and worthy, but Stick simply said "thanks for the memories". I understood this more
during the church service and later at the wake, when I was able to appreciate what sense of place meant for him - Oberon,
Bathurst and all the places in his life, racetracks included. So I simply say, Stick, thanks for the memories.
Jason Light.
By Stuart Voerman
There are so many good times, laughs and memories of Stick it’s hard to know where to start.
Gold Country Tourers
In about 1984 I started going to bike rallies and met up with a bunch of similar minded folk who called themselves the Gold
Country tourers. Among them was another young fella from Oberon everyone just called Stick for really obvious reasons. The
first picture of Stick in my head is of him crouched down over 3 small glowing embers of the campfire, at about 6am on a frosty
morning. With no more wood at hand it was a sad and sorry sight.
Stick was the sort of person who was always the face in the back row of a photo, a quiet sort of bloke who was happy to let
others have the spotlight, until you started talking about bikes and relaxing over a drink.
He had a unique look on a bike, it was all elbows and knees as you followed him. A giant grasshopper.
We used to make jokes with Stick that his appearance was caused by a large tapeworm, so at a Christmas BBQ Stick was given a
present containing a packet of DRONCIT dog worming tablets. In typical Stick fashion he opened the box and took about 3 of
them.
“There that’ll fix it, you can’t have a go at me now”
We built some strong friendships from that club that we still have today.
I’m sorry Lurline but racing was a bit my fault
We got a bit bored with touring and rallies I guess. We wanted to go fast. I’d always wanted to race and through a friend at work
Stu Ellis I entered my first race at Amaroo Park riding an RG250.
Stick and Mark went down and watched without my knowledge and the bug bit them as well. “Geez if Stu can do it we should go
great!”
Before long Stick Mark and myself were all competing and having a ball. Mark’s wife Lynne and the kids were always there
with us. There are so many memories of racing with Stick and Mark they were great times.
Usually it ended with me waiting to be picked up from hospital while Stick and Mark went to the presentation.
Stick was never what you would describe as ‘run of the mill’ and it showed with the bikes he ended up with. One bike he raced
was a particularly evil CR500 converted for road racing. It was lowered and ran wide rims with slicks.
This bike left physical and mental scars on ALL who rode it.
Stick hit a bump at the kink in the straight at Amaroo and the bike went into the biggest tankslapper out. It tried to turn itself inside out. It broke the steering damper, bent the steering stops and cracked the rear guard it shook that hard and I believe it dented
Sticks confidence more than we realized at the time.
He returned to the pits looking scared and white and I’d never seen him like that before.
We’d been sizing up GP bikes for a while and Stick played his cards close to his chest. He’d purchased an RS250 Honda from
Sydney A grader Matt Cooley.
We’d seen the bike in action on a few occasions and it was fast and reliable as far as Honda GP bikes went. Cooley used it to set
the 250 lap record around Mt Panorama.
In practice it was like riding a knife edge with sharp power compared to the TZ Yamahas and even sharper handling. Using the
tyres of the day it either tried to high side Stick through the screen or the front would fold at the worst possible moment. But he
stuck with and got some good result along the way.
We both thought that GP bikes were the purest form of bike you could get.
By the end of 1990 Mark and his family had moved to Queensland, I was broke and burnt out with racing, and after breaking his
collarbone twice in quick succession Stick was beaten up and disillusioned with racing so he stashed the little RS at the back of
the shed and we walked away from it.
Darmahs
Shortly after giving racing away Stick achieved another ambition with the purchase of a Ducati Darmah. The sight and sound of
the red Darmah became synonomous with Stick. He travelled to rallies and Ducati Owners Club meetings and went everywhere
on that bike.
The Darmah was a breath of fresh air for Stick. It was a bike that suited him and he loved to ride it.
I followed Sticks lead and purchased a Darmah after a while and we did many trips on the road together, only by now I had a pillion. This didn’t worry Stick at all , when he wanted to go fast he’d just clear off and we’d meet up down the road.
Phillip Island, Queensland, day trips down to Wisemans ferry, rallies , NDR at Stanthorpe.
Never once did he make Gayle feel out of place with us but that was Stick’s way.
On the road Stick was king, in all the miles riding I only once remember staying with him if he had his head down. In the bends
coming up from Cox’s river on the Hampton rd I was glued to his rear guard until the last bend when I grabbed another gear but
stick just left it pinned. I guess that’s what desmo valves are for. Stick had the ability to ride at a level of commitment I just
wasn’t comfortable with.
Times change and lives change and my Darmah became an 18 x 9 shed.
Married/Mates
After my the wedding Stick asked me some questions about the girl he had been dancing with (Linda) and I knew there was some
interest.
We didn’t see much of Stick for a while as he built a great relationship with Linda. He was happy.
We’d often meet at the hockey and catch up, or we’d drop around to each other’s house for a beer
and a yarn.
Stick was always there if you needed a hand moving something , or fixing something. You could ring three
other mates or you could just ring Stick he was strong as an ox despite his spindly body.
Little known facts
Stick hated chooks - For someone who generally loved animals so much it surprised me to find out this
fact. Because he travelled past home on his way to and from work we asked him to call in and collect the
eggs while we were away on holidays.
“ they have beady little eyes and they peck your feet” he’d say with his face screwed.
Stick hated water – I talked stick into coming water skiing with us one weekend at Carcoar Dam. It involved speed and lean angle so I thought he’d enjoy it. We packed 2 Life jackets around him so they didn’t
slide up over his spindly little body and he carefully climbed down the ladder into the water. He bobbed
around in the water like a fishing float. I could tell straight away this wasn’t going to work by the terrified
look on his face. He managed to bob around in the water and do a lap of the boat but climbed straight back
in. “water is for bathing not swimming in, let’s go and fish” he said gruffly
Engineering
Stick was a boilermaker by trade and proud of it.
“Boilermakers work to thousandths of an inch” Stick would say with great pride.
What we did here wasn’t quite that accurate. On one occasion Stick had crashed his RZ250 and bent the subframe so it was about
8 inches to one side of the bike. To straighten it out we attached one side of the bike to the garden fence and the end of the
subframe to the bulbar on John’s blue Daihatsu.
Carefully applying a bit of pressure we pulled it back into line. With a steel rule and a
string line we got it amazingly close.
That was the way Stick worked, he would always sit back and work out a method to fix
something and not just rush straight in.
Funnily enough that was one bike Stick didn’t keep under the house.
I’m sorry again Lurline but Post Classic Racing
I had itchy feet about running an RD250 in post classic races so I went to Wakefield Park
to watch the 1 hour race back in 2006
Sitting on the hill at the end of the straight the bikes didn’t look that quick and I think
Stick made the decision there and then.
The next week he dragged the RS out and started stripping the motor and checking out
Ebay for spare parts.
Once again Stick could thrill the ladies in the pits with his marvellous physique while
changing into his leathers.
The second meeting back the bike had a piston failure which resulted in most of the top end of one cylinder being spat down the
exhaust. At the time Stick was fairly down about this.
Stick had met up with post classic stalwart Lynton Keck who lived over at Rockley. They got on like a house on fire right from
the start with a common love of 2 stroke GP bikes.
Lynton was a great help when Stick started back as well as fixing the bike
after this first engine blow up and was a wealth of knowledge.
Sadly Lynton lost his life in a sidecar accident and as a mark of respect the
PCRA created the Lynton Keck Memorial Trophy.
The racing stories are for someone else to tell this time, I couldn’t make it.
But Stick would always call in or we‘d talk on the phone after a race meeting. About who went fast, how the bike was going, or problems with the
rider.
The last time I spoke to Stick was Just before Christmas.
“I’ve finally matched you, I’ve made it to B grade” he blurted out after I
answered the phone.
Telling me about the PCRA presentation he had taken out the formula 2
club championship and the Lynton Keck Memorial trophy. He was just
beaming, at the top of his game
Stick is up there with some big names now, Sheene and Hansford were a
couple of his heroes. With Lynton to tune the bike for him I’m sure he’ll be
up there at the front of the field.
“A big man who knew how to race hard, Craig was an imposing sight as he passed you “
Craig began road racing in 1986 on a Yamaha
RD350 at Amaroo Park in Sydney. After only a
few meetings the engine snapped a conrod so
he bought a brand new RZ250 which he debuted at Oran Park, and competed in 250 production races at club and open level. This bike
served him well and he competed in the 250
production race at Mt Panorama in 1987, as
well as meetings at Winton in Victoria and both
the Sydney tracks. As a result Craig was upgraded to C grade.
After a few minor placings and a couple of minor falls Craig purchased a Honda CR500 that
had been converted for road racing for the
1988 season. This bike proved quite fast
around the tighter tracks and Craig continued
to compete in Formula 2 and 500cc races
At the end of the year Craig purchased a
Honda RS250 from Sydney A grader Matt
Cooley. This bike was one of only 5 in the
country at the time and held the 250cc lap record at Mt Panorama.
Craig Raced the Honda at the support races
for the World Superbike Championship round at Oran Park, Victorian titles at Phillip Island, and the NSW titles held over
a number of rounds at the Sydney tracks during 1989.
Craig continued to race in 1990 on board the Honda with a number of trophies to his credit however a heavy fall resulting in a broken collarbone had taken the shine off racing. After breaking the same collarbone again a short time later in a
dirt bike accident Craig became disillusioned with racing and retired. Craig's last race, before retiring was at the first
meeting at the new race track of Eastern Creek
The bike was stored under the house for a number of years until Craig went to watch a 1 hour race for Post Classic
bikes at Wakefield Park near Goulburn. His passion for racing was reignited and he went about preparing the bike for a
return to the track.
Craig returned to racing in 2008 on his beloved RS250. Things didn’t go quite as planned however with a massive engine blow up at the second meeting of the year. Undeterred he acquired enough parts to repair the bike and run it reliably for the rest of the year.
With pistons for the 250 getting hard to get Craig purchased a 1989 Honda VFR750
He raced in the Formula 1 class in addition to the 250. Teaming up with Sydney rider Jason Light they won their class in
the annual 1 hour race at Goulburn.
Craig’s love of grand prix bikes saw him purchase a 1990 model RS250 Honda which he raced with great success during 2010, scoring a number of wins and places. Teaming with Rob Frances, he came 1st in the formula 2 New Era 1hr
race.
In December 2010 Craig was upgraded to B grade status and was awarded the Lynton Keck Memorial Trophy recognising the best performing two stroke rider in the Post Classic Racing Association of NSW. Craig had reached the pinnacle
of his career.
On behalf of the whole club I’d like to wish Linda and Bobbi all the best for the future and thank you for these words
and photos. We will never forget Craig and his family will always be a part of the P.C.R.A. family.
We’d love to see you at future race meetings and if there is anything you need, we’re here.
Martin Kopp
Craig - STICK - loved his racing, but he loved the racing friendships more. He loved the race weekends where he
could wonder around the pits and "tell Lies" about all aspects of motorbikes and the racing of them.
Many a time I was left in 'his pit' with a salad roll or coffee made ready for Stick to consume, only to find he had
headed in the opposite direction. Returning an hour later, just in time to get ready to race again. It was the only
time/place that talking was more important to him than food!!
Stick found that racing with the PCRA really suited his character. With the priority being mateship, helping others
and keeping the bikes going around, being such a contrast to his early days of racing, where most ego's thought
they were on their way to become World Champions.
His love for bikes also meant he was ready to be a 'flaggie' whenever he chose not to race or was injured.
He would spend hours in the shed, making disks or adjusting wheels etc, then spend more time on Ebay searching
for bike bargains. He prided himself in having well presented bikes - with Mr Sheen on constant in his racing tool
kit.
He was so excited about the P6 classification starting this year. His chance to do some "real racing" with bikes of
similar size and mobility. He had the pressure on me to photograph his bikes. His log books arrived the day of his
funeral. (I have been told that his were the first P6 log books)
There are many of you that Stick knew but I don't, Many that Stick talked about and compared times with, etc. I
know so many faces, I know so many of your names but not your bike, leathers and helmet.
So, please don't be offended if I have ignored you. Bobbi and I both wish to keep the relationships going with you
all, but I must admit, it is hard to come to the meetings and to not be helping out (or photographing) our tall skinny
grey haired bloke. So, at future race meetings, if you see a vulnerable teary eyed women wandering around with a
skinny "TWIG" daughter attached to her side, please understand and support us as we continue to move through
our grief.
Bobbi and I wish to thank the PCRA Members for their support, and for remembering "STICK". Despite his funeral
day clashing with the Island Classic, I had so many messages from members and of course many more were able
to make it to support us on the day. (and have a Bourbon for STICK)
Stick had 3 loves, his bikes, his dogs, and his family I wish to thank you all for your contributions to turning
Stick's love of bikes into a passion that really fulfilled and gratified him. It was a joy to see him enjoying his racing
so much.
Imagine the conversations that Lynton and
Stick are having together now.
Thanks again
Mrs Stick - Linda Ralls
PS: I have been looking through my photos
to pick some to go with my writings - I find it
so hard to believe that I will never have a
chance to take his photo again.
Pics By Jim Murphy
President’s Pommie Prattle — Keith Higgs
It is already the end of May, where did those 5 months go? Anyway, here we are first news letter of 2011. It
has already been a very eventful year for the PCRA. We have had Period 6 formally adopted by MA, but with
a few oddities that need tuning out, so we have not quite adopted those rules as per the MOMs. After some
careful thought and consideration of the bikes and people that would be impacted at the PCRA, we tweaked
things to suit specifically, we kept the F1 class open to bikes of more than 1000cc, and we split the 500cc
class into 2 strokes and 4 strokes. That allows the 400cc four strokes to race against each other, and also
the 500cc 2 strokes like 350LCs to race together. So far that seems to be working out ok so we will be feeding back to MA our thoughts on P6.
Now some of you may be aware of the politics going on between Wakefield Park and MA/MNSW.
Basically Wakefield owners (who also own Winton) and MA/MNSW are not talking to each other after a track
licensing dispute last year, after the independent track inspector did his annual review, and said they now
needed an air fence at turn 1. The outcome is that Wakefield have now moved to an alternative body called
AASA and are not talking to MA/MNSW. Now, given PCRA is a MNSW affiliated club, and given all the rules
and regulations and insurance and legal red tape that has to be in place for us to run a race meeting, this
posed and still poses issues for the PCRA.
In short, to run meetings at Wakefield, we have to run under AASA which means we have to be covered by
their insurance, and their track licence and you may have noticed the supp regs have a different legal bit to
sign, well that is because it is AASA meeting. At the moment, AASA are allowing us to use our MA licences
rather than having to buy their licences. Also, they are allowing us to use MA licensed scrutineers to check
the bikes. However, the Clerk of the Course and the Race Secretary both have to have and maintain AASA
licences.
Moreover as AASA do not have an equivalent of the MA Manual of Motorsport (MOMS), which lays out all
the rules for motorcycle racing in general, and specifically the historic rules, with MA’s permission, we the
PCRA have had to adopt the MA MOMS as our own rules. So when you see references to ‘PCRA rules’
specified in the Wakefield / AASA supp regs, what that is ultimately referring to, is our copy of the MA
MOMS. This is all very messy, and frankly we could do without it. Love them or hate them MA are our governing body and the politics in our sport could end up ruling us out of using one of the two tracks available to
us in NSW. How bonkers is that? Let us hope it does not come to that. We are trying to make sure we can
still run meetings at Wakefield but it is not all under our control. Thankfully, the modifications being made at
Eastern Creek will provide more options for tracks soon!
Then we had the most amazing Barry Sheene Festival of Speed. The move away from Easter was a masterstroke. We had more bikes and riders and trade stands AND spectators than ever. The weather was good,
and lots of great racing. The Kiwis who came over loved it, and could not believe the size and intensity of the
meeting, far bigger than anything they had experienced before. And they even managed to win the Trans
Tasman challengeK..not sure how we let that happen!!!! Clearly we need to find a way of winning that back!
Then, we also had another chance to get out for a run at Eastern Creek at Easter with the Festival of Sporting Cars (FOSC). For those that took part, there were mixed feelings. It was a good fun meeting, and the
atmosphere was nice and relaxed. However, the needs of bikes were not fully appreciated by the organisers
and so a few strange things happenedK..like a water tanker going out and washing of the track before a
bike race!! And coming round T8 on the out lap to find the entire track covered in gravel which someone
thought would not be a problem! Well let’s just say the FOSC guys learned lots of lessons that weekend, so
that next year, it will be much better. And next year will also be at a different time, i.e. not Easter, as that was
just too close to the BSFoS for us. All the same, thanks go out to Charles and Co. at the FOSC for giving us
another outing, and we are confident next time there will be more bikes on the grid with our needs more
closely considered. Oh and sorry for missing the rider’s brief!!! Oops!!!!!!!!
Finally, our well wishes go out to Steve King who had a few problems at Wakefield round 2. He is making a
good recovery now, even though things looked grim for a while. The medical team at Wakefield did a SUPERB job on him, so thank you to those people. Sadly we had to abandon the meeting as we were not going
to get the track back until something like 4pm, by which time it was going to be just too late to make it worthwhile. We look forward to seeing Steve at a meeting again soon, riding, watching, we don’t care, we will be
just happy to see him!!
See you at the Creek in August!
LIFE O/ THE OTHER SIDE - Matt Hanna.
Last October we found ourselves at Broadford for the final round of the 2010 PCRA Championship. I was hoping
to have a good final round as I was sitting in 3rd position in the Pre-Modern F2 championship with only 3 points
separating myself and 2nd place, being held by Pete Waldron. This was my first trip to Broadford and we had
come down a day earlier to do the Friday practice. The day went OK with a couple of minor excursions into the
daisies. After the track was closed at the end of the days’ proceedings, we headed out for a track walk to get a
little more familiar with the layout of the circuit.
Saturday dawned nice and sunny and the anticipation for some good racing on a new track was growing. After
the usual checks and talking crap with good mates, as usual, it was our turn to head out onto the track for our
warm-up session. Taking it easy at first and trying some different lines due to the evaluation from the previous
days’ walk, I had about 3 laps under my belt and decided to up the pace and try and get into a good rhythm. Well
that didn’t last very long as all I managed was to get to the end of the back straight down the inside of another
rider on the approach to “Crash Corner”, totally screwed my line and ran wide out of the turn.
With very little run off before a slight embankment, this was never going to end well - the front wheel washed out
from underneath me on the damp grass and then due to gravity and physics, I impacted the ground using my left
shoulder to bring myself to a rapid halt. The end result being; 2 broken ribs, 1 broken collar bone and 1 broken
shoulder (all the way through the blade and into the socket for my arm)KKin the words of Steve Green “I ran
out of talent”.
The net result of this was:
• stuffing up a perfectly good weekend for me and my beautiful wife Kym (who never got to get on the track at
all before my “moment”)
• Lots of time in a Victorian hospital
• Kym having to drive the whole way home to Sydney with me drugged to the eyeballs in the passenger seat
• Shoulder surgery to stabilise the shoulder socket with 2 screws
• Kym playing nurse maid to shower, dry & dress me. (I managed to drag this on for an extra month than was
necessary)
• 8 months and counting of re-hab. (my physio has just bought a new car)
• During all this I managed to only have 7 days off work.
So what do you do for such a long lay-off from riding/racing? Well step 1 was to be elected to PCRA club secretary; I really don’t know how I got suckered into that! KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. Keith!!
There certainly are some benefits to being on the committee; I have gotten to know a lot more people in the club
as well as getting to know some people a lot better (not always a good thingJ). You also get a better appreciation for what it takes to get a race meeting happening (and dealing with the politics with all interested parties)
plus, it’s also good to understand why some things happen and have some input into the decision making process.
Obviously I perform Pit Bimbo duties for my wife when she is racing, but as she did not race the Barry Sheene I
decide that WE would help the event by doing recovery duties. This was a fair bit of hard work but very rewarding. Everyone that we assisted over the weekend were always very thankful for our services, and showed a
happy disposition (even under their circumstances of either crashing or breaking down). Fortunately there
weren’t too many injuries over the weekend.
My trailer has now had some very nice bikes upon it, although they could have been in better condition and, we
had to return them to their owners. We also got to interact with all the volunteers that work tirelessly behind the
scenes to make our racing weekends possible and cheap; the flaggies, the office people, race control, timers,
stewards etc. These people are on the go for the whole race meeting - they only get breaks for a “Code 20” which
is support speak for a toilet break.
Well that has been my life for the last 8 months standing “on the other side” of the pit wall. I also now have a shiny
new garage in which I will finally get around to fixing the Kawasaki in (which by the way was still rideable after the
incident - it just needed the gauge bracket straightened and some duct tape to hold the fairing together). I am planning to get out for 1 or 2 track days over June & July with the intent of making my comeback at Round 3 being held
at the Creek.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my wife, Kym, again for taking such great care of me during this
time and being so patient and understanding. Can you believe she never lost the plot once during the whole ordeal?
See you on the track.
Matt Hanna
Photos courtesy of; Brad O’Loughlin, Southern Radiology & my iPhone.
Vice President’s Report – Rick Kwok
Volunteer helpers needed
Ross and Lyn Day are sorely missed for all their efforts over the years in organizing the club trailer and pickups at the circuit.
We’ve had it good for too long and this year we’ve been struggling to fill the massive void.
Here are just some of the many things that Ross and Lyn did for us, that most of us took for granted.
Store the club trailer
Transport the club trailer to and from race meetings
Fill the club trailer with grog and soft drinks, fill eskys for flag marshalls
Bike pickups when you fall down or break down
Drive lunch out to marshall’s posts
Supplies for the end of meeting barbecue and cooking
The list goes on.
We appreciate racers don’t have the time to do much more than racing. If you know of anyone who would like to volunteer for
any or all of these responsibilities, please ask them to put their hand up or put it up for them! The club will cover fuel expenses
for driving the club trailer to/from the circuit and overnight accommodation if required.
Webmaster Report – Rick Kwok
Out of the 200+ members over 100 have online logins which is great. Our aim is to get all members online so membership
renewals for 2012 can all be handled via the website saving everyone the hassle of printing and sending the paper renewal
form. Not only does this save you time, envelopes and postage, it also makes the job a lot easier for Rob Francis who is the
poor soul who processes all the renewals.
It has come to our attention that a lot of members are having trouble logging into the website. This can be for many reasons,
so I have listed a few here so you know what to do if you are unable to login.
Incorrect username and/or password – your username is in the format firstname.lastname for the simple reason that
we reckon you won’t forget these details! If your name is John Smith, your username is john.smith and your password if you don’t know it can be retrieved using the forgotten password function. This of course will only work if
you gave us your email address in the first place and we set up an account for you, see point 2)
Online membership status is not correctly set up - Not all members have been set up with an online profile, especially if you renewed your membership using the paper form. If you are unable to login, send a request to Rob
Francis at memberships@pcra.com.au and Rob will renew your online status if you already had a login from 2010.
If not, Rob will set you up with a new profile, make sure you give Rob your email address.
Account locked – if you have tried too many times to login unsuccessfully, your account may get locked. If you think
this has happened to you, please email webmaster@pcra.com.au and I will unlock it for you and reset your password.
Flaggies Report — David Morrissey
The incident at Wakefield on May 14 illustrates the essential role of Flaggies, and the need to see them as volunteer professionals in the business of racing. And by the way congrats to all who were involved in that incident and what I hear was a
very professional response. Sorry family business pulled me out at the last minute.
Basic paramedical skills such as CPR, what to do in emergencies, how to keep the pace of the meeting going, knowing the
lore of the track, these are all assets we need to foster and protect. No flaggies – no racing.
Its also hard to get the right numbers at each meeting, taking a lot of time to get the message out and gather in those available. On the one hand, people who have done it previously are better informed, but you don’t want to over-task them, or
block newcomers. There will always be a natural turnover. And thirdly, there are other clubs, other events and some sharing
of people and learning will benefit all.
NSW once had a flaggies network or league, and I believe Qld and Vic still do. As Flaggies Coordinator I have discussed
this with some flaggies and with M NSW and the Motorcycle Council of NSW. Ulysses has been helpful, as have other
rider or bike-specific groups.
It seems to me that the time is ripe for a new Flaggies Network, using new media like facebook. We don’t need yet another
sports administration, but we do need better management of this valuable resource. We need some level of accreditation,
based on training and experience. M NSW already offers some courses.
I’ll be talking to Flaggies, to MNSW and others to gather ideas. Its important to hear from members too, so I’d be interested
in your thoughts, ideas, warnings or whatever. You can email me direct at davidm@csrsydney.com
Scrutineering Report — Marcus de Caux
With the introduction of period 6 there has
been a steady flow of Log book applications, M.A. has not set a deadline on these
applications to date i.e. no log book no start
as in other periods.
At the recent commissioners meeting some
rules were recommended to be tidied up
Ruling on E85,Methanol for P5 solos,
Capacity and overboring for P6, Drum brake
size P3 these recommendations have been
submitted for Approval to MA and the results given at a later date.
Most people are complying with the rules
and understand that ineligible components
will not be tolerated.
One source of confusion exists when a competitor takes out a AASA licence and doesn't receive a copy of the
MOMs in these cases the rules can be viewed at www.ma.org.au. Motorcycling NSW has also called for
expresssions of interest for those wishing to become officials in various capacities so that is a initiative on
their part.
See you at the next race.
-P4 – 250 cc Race Report – Wakefield Park; February 2011 by Ray /elson
Old number 28 Reports: What race? There was only 3 of us so somebody had to come 1st, 2nd or 3rd!!
Entrants – MDC – alias Marcus; the fast guy.
MM – another Murray; another fast guy on the locally produced Yamaha. Though no relation to big Al.
Old No. 28 – me on the Suzuki and still trying to crack the 1 minute 40 second barrier!
Weather – Saturday was a stinker – 30 + degrees all the way down from the Newcastle area. Even got to 39 degrees passing through Sydney down the M7. Saturday night we had a series of storms and heavy rain and wind. Most of it has
passed by the wee hours of the morning. Had a few sleepless hours thinking about racing in the rain.
Race Day - Practice and qualifying – no problems. Weather was much much cooler (around 18 degrees for a lot of the
day). The track was clean after the overnight rain.
Race 1 – Marcus was like a movie star, gone with the wind!! Mike was in hot pursuit and all the other players really going for it, though giving me, the old guy, plenty of space. Pressed on to finish and in one piece!
Race 2 – Tried for a better start, but all the guns were like a blast out of the barrel and away they went and left me plenty
of space again. Tried some different approaches – like holding lower gears longer, but me thinks I just has to ride
HARDER!! Mike had an off course excursion, a DNF.
Race 3 – Nearly lost it off the line but someone gave me a gentle nudge to help me on my way, so man I was really fired
up then. Had a great run, but lap times a little slow AGAIN!! Or still.
Overall – a great day. MDC got 1st, I got 2nd (mainly because of Mike’s earlier mishap), and Mike got 3rd.
Thanks again to all involved and the volunteers for a great day. All went well and I even got to have 3 dry races – even
though the track was declared wet for awhile. Am now looking forward to the Barry Sheene meeting and the wide open
spaces, so come on guys get out those P4 – 250s. I need some others to try to catch!
Ray Nelson
And now, hot off the press is Ray’s report on the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed.
He sure is having a lot of fun out there and we wish him well.
Thanks heaps for your contributions Ray, always a great read.
Barry Sheene Festival of Speed Period 4 250 Report from Old /o.28
Ready to Race or what!!
Well yes, started getting worried around early Feb, needing some racing fuel for the big meeting I found Shell had stopped
making R100, and my black market supplier had none. Checked other suppliers, BP had it, but it only arrived on the
Wednesday before the meeting even after ordering it 3 weeks before. What a relief !!
Packed up Thursday Night and up at 4.30 Friday for the cruise down the Freeway, arriving trackside @ 7.30 Big Al had
organised the garage, so we unpacked, set up, signed on and generally prepared, with good feelings all round.
Don’t know how the times went on Friday, but felt comfortable and you do sort of get used to people passing you. Set tire
pressures @ around 26 F&R, all seems well.
Saturday Qualifying- Qualified 2nd slowest but I’m happy, becoming used to the track and just about have the gears sorted
for the corners and the turn in points allocated.
Fastest lap-don’t laugh!! 2.38.33
*Race one: Just remembered, hadn’t thought about starts, so I figured just go for it! Slip clutch,heaps of revs,let the speedy guys go
and change up like mad,cause you can’t hear a bloody thing any way. Got into a good rhythm until I had a strange thing happen,started to scrape my boot on turn 2. Lifted toe up on next lap, then thought, maybe I’m going a little faster here,
so I just let it happen!
Had a great time out there, best lap-wait for it-no more laughing 2.33.52 nearly 5 secs off.
*Race Two: Moved a couple of grid places closer to the front, so I try to look for a place through the riders and go for a good clean
start i.e no bog downs etc but that Old No.28 helps me out and we get away really well!
No other real drama’s apart from a parting shot across the bows from one of the front runners, which checked me a little, but I figured
the other guy knew if he smacked me,both of us could get hurt, so his judgement was pretty good. I carried on with a bit more boot
scraping at turns 2&12 and had another fun race and all round good time.
*Ken Lucas Challenge:Grid position 46-gave me plenty of space and then........I noticed some of the Hand Shift Heroes in front of
me. This was going to be SOME race. Got a fair start and as per plan, let all the fast guys go. But then I came upon-You guessed it! A
pack of wild Indians and the occasional Harley. So- revise plans and try to get past these guys ASAP Not so easy me thinks! Her thy
are spread across the track like Browns Cows, so after nearly running up the a....se end of a couple of them,I waited for the main
straight, threaded the needle and blasted past them.
Checked behind after Turn 1 as all was quiet except for the Indian tribe closing on me. One guy broke loose and nipped by into Turn
2. LACK OF CONCENTRATION ON MY PART!! He gave me a great run for the rest of the lap and just missed catching him by
about 2m at the finish.
** I later spoke to three of these guys and thanked them for giving me one of the most fun rides I’ve had!!
*Race Three: Going better now, tyres getting chopped up on the shoulders, so I’m trying a little harder. Everyone leaves me, so I run
my own race, trying to get into a rhythm to keep the corner speeds up and the turn in points consistent. Its great to have the really fast
guys go past and watch the lean angles and cornering lines, really great stuff!! The boots are rapidly being ground down, but who
cares,its all part of the ride.
Big al had a few machinery problems, Mike is going gangbusters and my Crewchief is working overtime just enjoying herself.
*Race Four: Last race for me and after some delays, its good to be lining up again. Change of position on the grid, alittle closer to
the front again, so looking for a better start.
Had a good run,no incidents and home in one piece, with the tyres hanging on really well and the bike going great.
The weekend overall for our garage was really good apart for Allan who seemed to suffer Gremlins in the engine Dept. Which
I am sure he will excise before the next meeting. We all made it through the weekend in one piece and will race another day.
My Thanks to the Following:
My Crew Chief (Marie) for all her preparation and organisation.
B&C Motorcycles in Boolaroo who worked on my bike previously and it hasn’t missed a beat.
All the Organisers. Officials, Flaggies and my Fellow Competitors, as without all and sundry, we wouldn’t be racing.
Spectators who came and looked and spoke with riders, not just the high profile ones.
Kathy and Nigel for their photos which are coming through and are photographic proof, that YES , I was ready to race ( though not
that fast)
PS Fastest remained at 2.33.52 so maybe next time will be better
Ray /elson Old /o.28
Pics by Rick K.
Harris Magnum Project Part 2
by Keith Higgs
So where were we?
Ah yes, engine built and in the frame, front end including brakes all in but springs too soft, rear shock rebuilt and fitted.
Major items to be sorted included Rear wheel fitment, Rear brake, Exhaust, Ignition,
Breather catch tank, Fairing and hanger / tacho / oil cooler, Wiring / Electrics / Battery
The target for completion was the Island Classic. Apart from the slipper clutch, the spec of the bike was within the UK Post
Classic rules, and the idea was to run it as a UK team bike with a CRMC eligibility certificate (no mate, standard clutch in there
honest). I am guessing time wise, it is now September….so it all looked pretty doable.
We had the engine in the frame and an offset sprocket in my grubby mitts, so the next job was to get the rear wheel and rear brake
sorted, and sprockets lined up. The Harris has an unusual chain adjustment system with eccentric adjusters that the spindle runs
through. I got the wheel central and with a straight edge could get the sprockets to line up, and could measure the spacer needed on
the left.
On the right, I had a Brembo caliper and hanger from a Ducati, but to make that line up with the disc, it needed some machining.
Once again, Peter MacMillan was called into action and he made the spacer for the left and machined the sprocket hanger. On it all
went….but strangely now I could not get the spindle to go through. After much huffing and puffing and sweating, it went in….and
the nut was tightened….but something was not right.
The nut would not tighten properly, so something was still askew…and bugger me the nut would not now undo, and when it did
the thread on the stainless spindle was damaged. I could not work out what was going on and why the spindle would not go
through when the spacer was in place. Eventually I did work it out….the spindle hole is close to the edge of the eccentric which sits
inside a collar on the swinging arm. The diameter of the wheel spacer on that side was sufficient to just touch the collar, so when it
was bolted up, it slipped inside the collar, and raised the spindle a fraction, enough to stop it going through the eccentric. This was
also being caused by the set up o the other side of the wheel which was slightly too big, hence pushing the spacer on the left into
the collar.
Got it? No? Sorry!!!! Took me several days to work it out. When I finally did, I just ground the edge off the spacer and it all went
in fine. But in the mean time, I had a damaged spindle thread (stainless). So it was off to see Jules who only lives 10 minutes
drive away, who duly cleaned up the thread (thanks!!), and turned the spacer down properly (thanks also!!).
In all this faffing about, I also worked out the size of spacers etc on the right of the rear wheel so that the wheel would be central
and the calliper would line up with the disc. This was not so straight forward though as the caliper hanger needed machining on
one side and a spacer made for the other side…..it is too hard to describe exactly what was needed…but I left that with him to
do, which he decided was too tricky so passed onto Peter MacMillan to do!
A couple of weeks later, the bits had been sorted and the wheel now went in and could be tightened up and all was good. The
next step was to find a way to secure the other end of the brake calliper hanger. This meant welding a lug to the swinging arm
(or something)…..which was good because another issue that had come to light was how to get a stand under the back!! There
were no bobbins or anywhere to bolt some bobbins….a job lot of lugs needed on the swinging arm then!!!
With some help from the venerable Denis Brown of Corsair Timber (which I call Pubic Timber much to his annoyance, after all,
when we were kids the hideously ugly Ford Corsair was always known to us as the Ford Pubic, snigger snigger). I’d arranged for
Rod Tingate to build an exhaust system for the bike. Of course he needed the bike there to make it fit, so back in August we had
agreed on the phone that I would drop the bike off on the way down to Motogp and pick it up on the Monday on the way back
home. A week before we headed down to Motogp to show the aliens how to ride, I called Rod, who had a vague recollection of
our previous phone call, but now he needed the bike for much longer than the weekend and was not sure when he could fit me in.
I made a hasty decision not to take the bike down and leave it indefinitely in his workshop, but to let him build the pipe from
some drawings he had (but we later discovered he could not find!!) and he would send it up and if it didn’t fit, then we would
have to modify it!!! Well Denis Brown brought the pipe up to the 1 hour meeting, and it looked great!! But of course, it didn’t
fit……the headers were fine, it was the secondary pipe and muffler that were not even close to fitting.
So, once again, the services of Peter MacMillan were called for. This time, I needed to take the bike to his place so he could cut
and shut the pipe, and weld the lugs onto the swinging arm. I’d not visited Peter’s workshop before…….it was errr interesting!
The massive huntsman on the back wall was happily at home. The place is an Aladdin’s cave of bikes, spares and errrrrrrr stuff
some unkind people might refer to as junk! Old cars, old bikes, tools, piles of parts, new and old, half started and in progress
projects, lathes, milling machines, presses, an anvil, magazines, welding gear….frame jigs, frames, wheels, boxes of new parts,
lots and lots of old parts laying around. Wow…..amazing. Peter of course knows where everything is, and I believe
him…………….!
So, out came the hacksaw and the welding gear…and a couple of hours later the pipe fitted. A bracket was made to blot the muffler to the frame and attention was turned to the swing arm lugs. Peter had a look and reckoned a peg through the swinging arm
and into the slot on the calliper bracket was the way to go. So that was done, and with a bit of persuasion, was sorted. Then a
couple of lugs were welded on for the bobbins and the next step of bike preparation was almost complete!!
Back in my garage, the rear wheel was bolted in and the sprockets lined up. The gearbox sprocket needed a washer behind it to
line it up. On closer examination, I saw that the spacer that sits between the end of the gearbox and the gearbox sprocket, was
only just protruding through the transmission cover oil seal. Hmm that does not look right. So off with the transmission
cover…and a suitable washer was put behind it from a doner gear box! Now it was looking better. A new chain was put on,
shortened to the right length, and the gearbox sprocket nut tightened. All good….so I thought. I then found that with the chain
adjusted to the right sort of tension, when you sat on the bike the chain went completely tight! And when the rear wheel turned
with no one on the bike, the chain runs on the swinging arm pivot and the frame! I guess that is what you call a design ‘feature’?
Some plastic will be needed on there to protect the frame parts, and that can be replaced on a regular basis.
Then I tried to move the gear lever to put the bike into gear….and now the lever was sticking and not returning to centre. I’d
used a transmission cover I had had for years, which had been modified to have a extra bit welded on for the gear change shaft to
run through to give it support. On a standard bike the gear change shaft would have support on the end from the outer casing. But
for racing we all throw the outer casing away as it weighs a ton and gets in the way, so the gear change shaft has to have some
other some external support. On the P&Ms I have an out rigger with a needle roller bearing bolted on the outside of the transmission cover. I couldn’t do the same arrangement on this motor as the transmission cover on the GPz is slightly different. So once
more the transmission cover came off…and this time the gasket ripped too. The gear change shaft support was honed out to
make it a bit bigger. I had further plans of putting a needle roller bearing in the end if there was still a problem, but when it all
went back together, it was now working fine! Phew, another problem overcome.
So now we had both wheels in and working, and callipers / brakes in place. They just needed some fluid in them….easy job!!
The original rolling chassis had come with some flash looking footrest hangers. However, the bike toppled over in the garage,
no damage, except the right footrest hanger had bent badly, which told me these footrest hangers were made from recycled Suzuki parts as there were clearly soft as sh*t not up to the job. So new ones were fashioned from some slabs of 8mm ally plate a
mate of mine had given me. That also meant the rear brake master cylinder could now be bolted on to the lugs that Mr Harris had
so thoughtfully put in the right place on the frame. All I needed was a linkage rod ….PETER!!!!
Next jobs….breather catch tank, ignition and battery. These were going to have to live under the hump of the seat. Plenty of
room up under there. The plan was to have a breather catch tank fabricated, then the ignition unit would sit on that on its side,
and the battery would be at the back. And for once the plan worked first time!! Aluminium Engineering in Brookvale made the
catch tank from a fag packet drawing, my mate mark made a little battery tray and it all slotted in perfectly.
I had ummed and arrrred about what ignition to run. I really wanted to run a system with no battery, ie self generating. However I had
already acquired a Dyna 4000 SP and dyna twin spark coils same as I run on the #1P&M. There are not too many choices when it
comes to 8 plug ignitions Trouble is, the twin output coils are massive and I could not see where we could mount them. Eventually, we
found that they could be squeezed up under the tank, so long as they were at just the right angle. Some mounting brackets were made
and that is where they now live.
I found an old kill switch in my box of electrical stuff, and then I made up the wiring loom and put it all on the bike. It was a neat job,
all nice connections with heatshrink for protection. Connected it all up, switched on and nothing melted!! Result!!!
Oh yeah, down at Motogp, Steve Leembruggen of Metros, had shown me his very flash Ni Cad battery. I had to have one of them!!
Small, light, and very powerful and durable apparently….we’ll be finding out!!
I then gave Aluminium Engineering another fag packet drawing, this time for a fairing hanger. It needed brackets on it for the tacho
(Mychron4) and the oil cooler, and the lock stops. Well it nearly fitted!! Had to make some spacers…..jeez how many spacers do you
need to build a motorbike? Answer….thousands!!
Nearly there!!!! The seat had been drilled to fit. Just needed a fairing. Off I toddled to RB Racing with the Harris in the trailer to see
Harley Borkowski. Wasn’t he in Taxi? Anyway, down in the shire, Harley disappeared up into the loft, and reappeared with a Kawasaki 400 fairing that they had previously modified to fit something else. It seemed to roughly line up with all the right things, and he
only wanted $250, so the deal was done.
Back home again, the fairing hanger needed a small extension to suit the fairing and the angle of the front needed to be worked into the
adapter (didn’t call it a spacer this time!!). I made a bit in wood to start with, to be sure the length angle was right (and we all know
how important length and angle are....). Then a suitable ally part was created. The fairing was then shortened slightly, and some other
small mods done and it was fitting nicely. I then made up a ‘stay’ to hold the top edges in place, and there it was, looking like a proper
race bike.
Wow, really was getting close to completion now.
I got the tank down from the office (garage is full so some stuff gets stored in the house – one of the joys of being single!!!!), and
bolted some nice new fuel taps on I had bought from Trojans via Ebay. The tank had good old imperial ¼ inch BSP fittings, just like
the old Triumph and Nortons!!
But hold on, the taps came without the spigots to allow the fuel lines to attach. Back on the phone, the chap at Trojans assured me
Bunnings would have them…although I must say I was a tad dubious. So off I went to Bunnings in Artarmon.
Well, that’s a couple of hours I will never get back!! After searching through the plumbing section, then the air tools section, then the
motor mower section, and having been shuffled from one ‘expert’ to another (none of whom had a friggin clue and each required a long
wait to get an audience) I realised I was really wasting my precious time and the bloke at Trojan’s was an dipstick!!! There was no way
Bunnings would have anything even vaguely close to what I needed….so it was back to Ebay!!
Even on Ebay, there was precious little available. OK….google….and a few sites in the UK came up with what I needed. Then more
Australia specific searches revealed a couple of other British wood burner bikes places, one in Sydney, another in Victoria and another
in Brisbane. Well NONE of them had anything in stock. So guess what? I had to order these damn things from the UK (plus a few extra
as spares!!!).
However, I could not wait for the delivery, so using some brass plumbing fittings from the local hardware store in the city, I was able
to fashion up a bodge to get fuel from the taps to the carbs without any leaks. Not elegant, but functional.
Everything was in place for the first ‘fire up’……
I tell you, I was soooooo nervous! My mate Mark Surebet Shurety came round to help. To start with, I took the plugs out and spun the
engine over in gear on the starter rollers to get some oil into the oil ways and oil cooler. Then the plugs went back in and it was
time…..Mark operated the starter rollers and lent on the back to get more traction on the back wheel…and I knocked it into gear and it
turned over and …..nothing, a big blank nothing. Try again…..nothing…..again…..nothing. F8888888888888888k!!!!
The immediate diagnosis was no spark, as it had not even vaguely tried to fire.
I checked all the obvious stuff, battery connected, fuel on, kill switch in correct position, all that looked ok.
We put the bike back on the bench with long faces. Mark had to go, so I was left to do the investigation, Off with the seat unit, and
armed with the multi-meter, I soon found there was 12v in all the right places at the right times. Carbs had fuel in them.
“ Hmmmm. Thinking out loud ”
Perhaps it was the Dyna 4000 blue box of tricks? I could take the one off the #1 P&M and swap it? It was after all second hand and
an unknown quantity.
Perhaps it was the coils….but both them? Nah unlikely, they had sensible resistance readings and were brand new. Hold on, did I set
the ignition timing statically? I knew I had meant to, but could not remember doing it….that would also tell if the Dyna 4000 was
operating or not, at least to some extent - there is a red LED on the Dyna 4000 unit that lights when the magnetic trigger on the rotor
passes under the pick up on the end of the crank, allowing static timing to be carried out.
So, off with the ignition cover on the end of the crank….out with the plugs…connect it all up again, turn the engine using the rear
wheel and …..no light on the Dyna 4000!!! Relief…so the problem is definitely ignition related! And clearly I had forgotten to set
the timing statically or I would have found the problem earlier. Deeerrrrrr.
I then looked closely at the rotor which has the magnets in it, and it didn’t look quite right. It was protruding a couple of mm further
than normal. A quick check against the same set up on #1 P&M confirmed it should be flush. Then on even closer examination, I
could see the small magnets in the rotor were not passing under the pick ups, but a fraction beyond them. So I slackened off the back
plate and held the back plate / pick ups out a couple of mm, and then the LED lit!!!! Ah ha!!! Problem diagnosed. On even closer
examination, it turned out the rotor, even though it fitted in every other aspect, and looked the same, was for a Suzuki not a Kawasaki!!!! Well, no wonder!!
The rotor I was using was a ‘billet’ type, which bolted direct to the end
of the crank and did not utilise the old Kawasaki advance retard mechanism. I had another Dyna rotor that relied on the Kawa advance retard
unit, although not a great set up as it relies on friction to hold it in the
right place (which was why I was not using it in the first place!!)
Anyway, I looked it out and set it up, bolted it up tight and tested it.
Sure enough, I now had ignition box LED coming on at roughly the
right time.
Next day, Mark popped round again for fire up take 2.
I was even MORE nevous but this time, but she fired first go……oh
man, MUSIC!!! That pipe plays the most glorious and loud symphony!!!!!!!! It sounded better than good!!
Quick check showed all the gears were engaging, clutch felt ok, just a bit of oil weeping from the oil cooler unions behind the barrels. Time for a beer!!! Ok, 2!! Ok 3…
Next steps….sort the oil leak, then put it on the dyno and check the carburetion.
It took several attempts to fix that damn oil leak. Each time required the carbs to be taken off so it is not trivial. The cooler line
unions were tightened, then tightened some more, then some more, and each time it sstill leaked!! How tight do ally fittings need to
be? …..ok so must be leaking somewhere else….!!
Finally I took the entire oil cooler feed off the crankcases. I could see it had not been leaking from the O rings underneath, but it
looked like it was leaking from where the widgets were welded on that the lines screw on to, specifically round the back where 6mm
bolt holes existed (for the original Kawa lines) but were no longer in use. So I cleaned them out, put Wick In locktite in them and
plugged them with grub screws. And it worked!! That is a bit of a bodge so I think a better permanent solution is needed, but for
now, the leak was fixed.
It was ready to go……well nearly. Before the first outing, there were still a couple of things to be done to keep the scrutineers and
rule makes happy. Firstly, a secondary cover over the clutch cover was needed (I have fallen off countless times….and NEVER had
a clutch cover touch the ground, not once, never…not even close, but rules are rules….) and then the gearbox sprocket cover, and
the sharks fin thing for the rear sprocket were needed. Simple enough to make, just time consuming.
The job was all going fine, then while drilling a 6mm hole for the gearbox sprocket cover, and holding the bit of ally I was using in
my left hand, suddenly the drill bit snapped and the drill dropped with force onto my left thumb and the remains of the bit gouged a
messy hole right throw my thumb nail! I think the young kids next door learnt some new words……!!
Blood everywhere. Jeepers that hurt!! Worse, I play keyboards and had a band practice scheduled for the next night – not all the
notes got played that night I can tell you!!! ( It’s called improvisation or Jazz ! - Ed )
So the first PCRA round beckoned. I had intended to put the bike on the dyno before Wakefield round 1, but ran out of time. The
new ignition rotor arrived and was fitted and the bike timed up on the strobe. The fuel line spigots arrived too, and were fitted.
Then a bit of painting was needed, so out with the 2 pack and spray gun and the fairing and mudguard were soon looking very
green!! I had intended painting the bike something other than Kawasaki green, but that was going to be too hard at this
point…..may be later!!!
At some earlier point I had painted the wheels a gaudy gold colour too, and when put all together, the bike was looking pretty tasty
I thought.
I really did run out of time to paint the number backgrounds, so some white fablon sticky back plastic was cut out and used
instead.
The bike was entered in the New Era F1 class for Wakefield, but had never even turned a wheel, so this was really just the first
test. If it ran good then I might start from the back of the grid and play, otherwise, just go out for practice and see what happens….
Race day arrived. Scrutineering went smoothly and then I realised I had forgotten my tyre warmers. Oh well….go out on cold new
slicks then!
With help from Matt Hanna, we got her fired up, although it took several attempts. Those damn slipper clutches cause major
hassles when trying to start the bike as the clutch goes up on the ramps instead of turning the crank!! And although I have set it up
with a nut on the end of the crank so I can use a drag bike style starting process, I have yet to acquire a starter motor and battery.
Once again I was bricking it! We were 3rd practice session….and it was time!
We fired her up again, and I fed the clutch in and carefully took off down pit lane, flicked it into neutral and waited for the green
flag….it felt good, not uncomfortable, remember I had never ridden it before!!
Off I went…bit of a cough and splutter but it accelerated away ok to start with, then the engine disappeared into a black hole, a flat
spot the size of WA. Out the other side of the flat spot, from about 7000 rpm, it seemed to want to go into warp drive…..but the
tyres were cold and T3 was approaching. Some very gentle pressure on the brakes showed they worked ok, I tipped it in and went
round the top two corners, nothing untoward happening, and nursed her round to get some heat into the tyres. Once on the start
finish straight, I tried to gently open her up a bit…but that flat spot was bad bad bad……once through it the bike really did take
off, and it was making the clutch slip! Another lap, same deal although the tyres were getting warm now and I could start to lean it
into the corners a bit. It felt good, stable, soaked up the bumps, no wobbles…just that flat spot followed by a smidge of clutch slip.
After 3 laps I came into the pits, just to have a visual check to see if anything was leaking. It wasn’t (a small miracle in itself!!!) so
I went back out and did another 5 or 6 laps. The flat spot didn’t get any better, and it made the bike almost unrideable so I decided
to park it for the rest of the day. Couple that the gearing being miles out…I only got into 3rd on the straight and was taking the rest
of the track in 2nd!!
The ‘test’ was successful, nothing major had gone wrong, just some jetting needed, and some gearing changes. A great result!!!
I was very happy!!
Jan Blizzard, bless her soul, uses a 3 character abbreviation for each bike in the program/spreadsheet she uses for admin.. So a
Honda 500 comes through as HON500…..etc. My Harris had appeared as HAR1260, No probs with that. In the results sheets, /
timing sheets the three letters get expanded and someone had kindly translated HAR to Harley of all things……FFS (work that one
out yourselves!!). What an insult!!! I will be tracking down this person and re-educating them!!!!!!!!!!
Stop press…..flat spot gone, main jets down from 148s to
140s and needles dropped to lowest position….now
producing way too much power for the clutch to handle, so
next job is some Viagra for the springs and some new
friction plates!
17 tooth ZZ1100 sprocket acquired for the front (just needs
machining down from 530 to 520), and 41 and 42 tooth
sprockets being made for the rear by Ben Shaw at Extreme
Creations. Nearly ready for another go.
Next outing will be the BSFoS NE F1 races. Watch out!!!
By Robert Seiler
Hello Everyone,
To help Martin to fill his wonderful magazine I would like to give a brief summary of what has happened in NE
(P6) and PM so far this year.
Racing
The turn out for both NE and PM at Wakefield was great. I guess to have a rule set to be able build bikes to in P6
has helped a lot. PM as usual had a strong grid.
Also the grids for the BSFoS were packed and oversubscribed. It is almost a given that at any meeting the PM F1
/ F2 race is oversubscribed. And why wouldn’t they with an entry to PM with a ZX6R, CBR600, GSXR750,
YZF750, etc. available for probably from $4,000.
The Suzuki GSXR750 seems to be the bike of choice in P6 Formula 750. It is time that someone brought out a
RC30, OW01 or ZXR750. I thing the 750 class will be great in the long run. Maybe I should have built a ZXR
instead of my GPZ900R? Too late now!
The same cannot be said for the Formula 1000. I believe that running that class in the PM F1 race is keeping
bikes away. And why would you want to run a now legitimate historic bike with “modern” (remember we are talking
90’s here) bikes anyway. It is also costing the PCRA money (5 bikes = $ 1,000 per meeting) with PM F1/F2 oversubscribed and slots available in FE Unlimited / P6 Production 750.
I was a bit disappointed with the turn out of 125’s so far, but I guess many have been “improved” into Motolites in
the past. Surely there will be more coming out of the woodwork during the year.
Technical
The adoption of catch trays according to MA rules is progressing. At the BSFoS I saw bikes such as Suzuki
GSXR750, Yamaha FZR1000 and 600 that had previously been argued could not be fitted with one. Saying that I
also saw a Bimota that had no lower fairing at all!
Another thing that came up and Marcus also mentioned this to me was the use of radial brake and clutch master
cylinders on P6 bikes. I will have to look into my old bike books to see when these came out.
Saying this, I hope that the log booking process will entice people to get their bikes to a technical spec that complies with the MA Rule Book.
The non adoption of the MA 1000cc capacity rule because of existing GSXR1100’s running at club level also
seems to have been not worth the effort with none running at the BSFoS.
The Future
2 things that P6 competitors should be doing:
1st Get your P6 bike log booked. Just before the BSFoS there had been 26 P6 bikes log booked. If P6 competitors
want to take part in future Australian Historic Titles you need to log book your bike.
2nd Lobby the following organisations to allow P6 to run at their events:
Island Classic
MotoGP
World Superbikes This seems a logical choice with the superbike series starting in the 80’s. Just wait for all those
RC30’s, etc. to come out then!
The Past
It is with sadness, and probably most of you would have heard about this already, that I need to mention the passing of a NE stalwart in Craig Ralls. Craig was a great guy and racing against him during 2009 in the then NE F1
was a great privilege for me. When I reflected back on that year and looked though my racing pictures there was
one constant, in any picture that had both of us in it, he was in front. Who will show me the line now? He is sorely
missed.
Pics by Derek Hanbidge and Rick K.
Andy Macdonald was on hand at Round 2 to capture the action on behalf of the orange people from Team OzLaverda. He generously
allowed me to reproduce his (shortened) work here. Thanks again Andy, lovely stuff.
When I got word that an invite to the track was on the cards from Steve, I figured that it might be interesting. Who knows what circumstances I could get myself into? The opportunity to get hurt, possibly to DEATH, always makes for interesting pictorial opportunities.
One of my personal mottos is that if your camera is in harms way, chances are that you're going to take some interesting pictures. I
haven't managed to lose a camera yet, but there have been several times when quite literally, the slip of some fingers could have seen a
few thousand dollars worth of camera body and lens being an awkward insurance claim. "You were doing WHAT with it?" One day I'll
hear that on the phone to AAMI..
Anyway, a quick google earth look at the Wakefield park circuit provided me with a few options. I really had to be on the inside of the
corners to get close enough for the following shots. Long distance shots of racing bikes are about as interesting as a porn film soundtrack.
So what else are the considerations?
The corners are reasonably far apart. Unless I want everything to look the same, I want to get to a few different corners. I don't know if
I'll be let loose on the inside of the track unless there's a gap in the activities. I might have to run like hell for the marshal points to get
anywhere.
This could prove to be a real adventure.
Saturday morning saw me successfully avoid kangaroos with suicidal tendencies and make it to the track before the gate had actually
been unlocked. So a quick walk up the queue of cars with trailers let me get a sneak peak of what was in store. I'm sure that one guy
had what appeared to be Hulk Hogan and a Postie bike's love child.
It was at this point that I discovered that it was cold and my idea of thermals was a good one. My fingerless glove purchase on the night
before, however hadn't been a moment of brilliance.
Very quickly, the gate opened and the cars started moving. Once inside, I decided to park roughly in the middle of the parking lot behind the pits and wait to see three orange Laverdas rock up. I figured that it would keep my car out of the way and if I got out of it and
it DID obstruct someone, they wouldn't know who to yell at.
People started unloading bikes. I wandered around with my camera and big lens on, playing
"WTF kind of bike is that?" This white bike looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out what it
was. I eventually spied something from my youth. I can't remember if they had to have
spokes to be considered a super sport, but this Katana sat in the sun, trying to absorb some
heat.
Katanas hold a special significance for me. I remember the first time I saw one in my home
town. I also learned a very important life lesson while sitting on the back of one:
If you're going to take a day off from school and ride around on the back of your mate's
Katana, make sure that he doesn't drive past your Grandmother's place.
Especially on the day your mother takes her shopping.
I continued to walk around having a good old sticky at what was going on. Having a big camera almost gives you permission to be
places. Unless it's outside Nicole Kidman's house.
I figured that I'd best go and sign myself in so that I could get onto the inside
field. After signing the form that suggested that motor racing is dangerous and
death caused by motor racing activities can be fatal, I absolved Wakefield Park
for any responsibility for my stupidities that may cause my own aforementioned
death and went up to chat to the Clerk of the Course. He turned out to be a
retired chap called Don. Don pointed out the best places to be and then decided
to take me for a track inspection. Apparently there was black ice on the track
earlier in the morning and he was concerned that it would be slippery.
We stopped to grab the Medical Tech on the way and while we circled the track,
they both kept me entertained with stories of crashes at the different locations.
Katanas. What’s not to love ?
The one thing that really caught my attention was how rough the last turn before the back straight
was. I seriously wouldn't like to be under brakes going hard into that. After a few more questions on
how to get around and across the track, I was then turned loose. Armed with only a rough idea of what
I wanted to achieve and a serious concern about not wanting to see anyone get hurt (particularly me) I
figured I'd best get down to it.
After a while, with more and more people turning up, I still hadn't seen any orange bikes on trailers.
What was encouraging though, was that everyone who I spoke to about them, either was very enthusiastic about them turning up, or knew that they'd done very well previously, or both.
I decided to see what was happening in the scrutineering line. Eventually they'd turn up there.
That's when I saw Crispin looking exceedingly happy to be out in the cold, astride something of the
right colour.
I went and introduced myself and Steve turned up a little bit later.
Running a quick eye over these machines revealed a tell tale sign of serious riding. I never
managed to get my tyres looking remotely like that. I think it had something to do with me
being...er....a bit of a sook really. Following the bikes back to the pits showed me why I'd missed
them arriving. Steve expected them to be on the other side. Still, camp was readily
established with the last of the OzLaverda team signs and decorations going up. I quickly got
introduced to some members of the team and then got the hell out of their way. There's a bit of a
mystique to these bikes. A mixture of classic charm and styling that contrasts sharply in places
with newer manufacturing technology. Italian racing lines and curves topped off here and there
with billet machined components and electronic instruments. Everywhere I looked I saw blends
of old and new. It was historic soul, tapped on the shoulder with the combative sword of modern
racing tech. And lets face it. Anything with two chromed fuel caps just automatically is COOL!
I decided to have a look at various things on these bikes to
see what there was of interest. Seeing steering dampers
reminds me of the three tankslappers that I've had during my
early riding days. Just seeing one installed on a bike must
give a certain amount of sphincter relaxation. There was
much activity going on as things were checked, noted,
written down, polished and tested. Crispin had a book which
appeared to have details of previous settings and pressures for
the bikes. It even had records of what Drmsby has for
breakfast and lunch at previous successful days out.
His preferred brand of mayo might just be a performance
secret. So I will never tell what it is.
Cee Jay demonstrates the
importance of having your
socks match any motorcycle
that you're working on.
Here we have Steve with the
computer plugged into one
of the bikes. I'm not quite
sure what he's doing.
Possibly he's reprogramming the exhaust sound
from "Meaty Throb"
to "Testicle shrinking
BELLOW".
It was all in Italian, so I
couldn't really tell.
Don’t miss the 2011 Bucket racing nationals to be
held on September 17 & 18 at Wakefield Park.
It will be held at the same time as the one hour and
will be a great weekend of racing.
Lots of interstaters have shown an interest so the
competition will be fierce. Stay tuned for more info.
The spiritual leader of Bucket Racing, King Kenny
Lindsay recently celebrated his 50th and it was a
rather interesting evening ! All the best mate, you
really do meet the nicest people on a Honda.
Adam Muldoon is on a winning streak, but Jim
and Walter Murphy are not making it any easier and are both riding well.
Commuterlites are go !
Jeff Clissold is running third in the Superlite Pro
category behind Ken Lindsay and Ian Gregory.
Join the fastest growing and easiest class of
racing without spending a motza.
Commuterlites are based on 125cc 4 stroke
commuter bikes like the CBR125. Basic
mods are allowed but engine internals must
stay standard and the bike must meet the
usual safety regulations. The class was introduced due to the ever dwindling supply of
the older bikes on which most of the Superlites are based. The first one was developed
by Garry Briggs and proved to be a competitive and sweet handling race bike.
For more info on building a Commuterlite or
any other bucket please visit the excellent
ozbucketracing website. It has all the info
you need to get started on the smaller side of
racing. Several high ranking members of the
PCRA have recently been seen sampling the
delights of the little bikes and all came away
with a smile.
I purchased this bike in June 1988 off Warren Willing who at the time was the Team Manager of the
MarlboroYamaha Dealer Team operating out of Yamaha Australia's base at Silverwater in Sydney.
Two bikes where sent directly from the Japanese factory in 1987 as a complete ready to race Yamaha FZR
750 superbikes for the 1987/1988 Australian Superbike Championship in the hands of a squad of riders Mike
Dowson, Mick Doohan and Kevin Magee sharing the duties! The bike I have is Frame #
MYDT 001 and the factory 750 engine which currently sits in my garage is Engine MYDT 003. There where 3
more (copies) of these bikes built by the team over this same period to supplement teams
racing efforts in these two season!
After purchasing this bike I used it to compete in the remainder of Australian Superbike Championship in
1988 and also I had been granted an entry in the Oran Park round of the World Superbike Championship in
the September of the same year. But due to a crash in late August 1988 injuries prevented me from competing in this event. After recovering from these injuries I again came back to racing in late 1989 but after racing
in the Aria 500 at Oran Park 1990 with good friend Darryl Mallam I retired from the sport due to these injuries
My bike laid at rest in the garage intact for 20yrs, I made a decision to start racing again with PCRA in 2010
season. So a visit to my former Engineer Chris Dowde asking him to assist me in preparing this bike of which
started in July 2009! We read up on the rules for New Era F1 and bulit a FZR 1000cc engine for its debut with
the club at Rd 1 Wakefield Park in Feb 2010. The year went with a few hitches, an engine component failure at
BSFOS 2010 and a damaged gearbox in PCRA 1 Hour in November 2010 whilst having a big lead caused
retirements probably robbing me of class wins at both events and outright victory in the Endurance race.
Winning the PCRA New Era F1 Championship in 2010 with perfect points tally after returning at 49yrs old and
20yrs away from racing was very satisfiying.
I started racing in 1985 in the 250
production class at club level and C & D
Grade meetings with the Wollongong Club at
Oran Park and Amaroo Park! Later going onto
to race at Aust GP Bathurst Easter Races in
85,86,87 and 88.The 1987 season began with
me
racing a stardard Yamaha FZR 1000 and TZR
250 at State level , once again Bathurst Easter
meeting, going on to win the C Grade 1000cc
race, a week later I went down to Winton
Raceway and won the Micheal Herman C
Grade Memorial race.
After being upgraded to B grade I began to
race at National level in the Australian Production Championships finishing a credited 6th in the same year.
The 1988 was a big year of racing in OZ Superbike Champs, State Titles and Bathurst Easter GP meet, with
support from Yamaha I went onto win the B Grade 1000cc race and to this day hold the current lap
record for this event.
I have worked in the underground coal mining industry for over 30yrs and this year getting helped by fellow
workmates through the Union at Metropolitain Colliery, Helensburgh with some sponsorship.
Also Fuchs Oil, EBC Brakes, Illawarra Property Management, Blaas Auotcraft have come onboard to
assist me.
Racing has become a family affair with my Wife, In laws, Brother in Law and close mates forming a
fantastic Pit Crew at all the PCRA events!
Since retiring I got an opportunity to help close friend Troy Corser with the start of his International
Career by going to do the 1994 AMA Superbikes Series in the states and later going into Europe with
the World Superbike Series.
Nigel Taylor # 85
PS The photo is from PCRA Rd 1 Wakefield Park 2011, Me leading Paul Grant - Mitchell