Dirty Girl's 2008 Racing Season | |
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The Quinte TT was a great start to the 2008 racing season, my fourth year racing the Honda NS 250 F, which is now a quarter of a century old. It has prooven a very reliable vintage bike, but it is inevitable that parts begin to wear out. This past winter Tim stripped about 25 lb. of parts off the NS, some of which were not working anyway, and some of which could be categorized as 'avoidable failures' (like the oil injector pump and fuel pump). Now the NS is lighter and runs better too. The ATAC valve had failed internally, interfering with the engines breating. With the charging system removed all the power the engine makes is all available for going.
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So the pre-season trackdays started out wonderfully, my bike was running great and making more power than ever. But after the second trackday I noticed my bike had consumed nearly all its transmission oil, and I starting to panic about sourcing obscure seal sets on a short timeline before the racing seaon. The highs and lows of vintage racing are so easily obtained. If I were racing a modern bike nothing short of a major crash could produce the same combination of parts+time distress. In vintage racing a single leaking seal can plunge you into despair. Yet the pinacles of joy can be reached easily when your bike miraculously stops leaking. Tim solved my leaking seal issues entirely, and now the NS consumes less engine oil than any previous time since I've been racing it. Absorbing as these highs and lows are, I think I preferred the more relaxed racing seasons I enjoyed when my bike seemed entirely reliable, except for shedding silencers. While I'm not exactly missing the minor excitement of retrieving my wandering silencers, I am missing a problem that is in no way mysterious. At the Quinte TT this year my front brakes faded into near nothingness in my final race on Sunday. Both overly exciting and overly myseterious. Nothing felt wrong, the lever wasn't squishy like fluid was escaping, but the bike wasn't stopping, and the discs were barely warm after an entire race of squeezing that lever for all I was worth. Fortunately I'm accustomed to using the rear brake, and I did shave a second off my previous best lap time of the weekend; but it wasn't a very enjoyable final race, and I'm still preoccupied by the mystery of my brakes... they'll be coming apart soon, which will hopefully solve the mystery. Stay tuned for an update in July.
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And in the meantime...Summer plans - VRRA Schedule for 2008 - Winter '08 Bike projects - 2008 Off-season Excitement | |
Plans for this summer | |
JULY | |
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MOTORESS Womens Trackday JULY 6Enjoy one of Ontario's best learning tracks; the Rider Development track at Mosport, in the company of other women motorcyclists. An easy introduction to track riding, or an opportunity to improve your trackriding skills. Instruction for experienced women racers included! Visit: http://www.motoress.com/readarticle.asp?articleid=218&c=Technique for more information.
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JUNE | |
WROAR Ride - Sunday June 1st, 2008 | |
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The fourth annual WROAR Ride! 'Women Ride Out Against Rape' a motorcycle ride organized in support of the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre / Multicultural Women Against Rape. This year we reached our goal by raising over $10,000.00 for the TRCC/MWAR! In the four years of the ride we've raised about 30,000.00. WROAR 4 was a wonderful ride with beautiful weather and a huge group of bikes. To find out more about how you can join the WROAR Ride, visit www.wroar.com for more ride information. To find out more about the cause the WROAR Ride is in support of, please visit www.trccmwar.ca.
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 WROAR 4 - June 1 2008 - www.wroar.com |
MAY | |
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International Female Ride Day - Friday May 2nd, 2008National Female Ride Day on May 4th in 2007 was such a huge success, with women riders submitting their photos from across Canada and the USA, so the decision to expand to 'International Female Ride Day' for 2008 was made. Visit www.motoress.com or read the Feb. 2008 press release for more information.
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VRRA 2008 Racing Season:
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 For more information on the Vintage Road Racing Association please visit www.vrra.ca |
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Winter bike projectsThe very reliable NS250F has needed very little attention over the years, and the front end was entirely rebuilt last winter, so my plans for this winter aren't too extensive.Aging plastic and rubber parts have allowed a few minor oil leaks, so new oil lines are on the list. I am hoping that the plastic reservoir for the oil injector holds together for another year or so, since I enjoy the convenience of not having to pre-mix gas and oil. I'm considering other changes too, furthering the transition from a street bike to a race bike with rear-set foot pegs, and possibly lower clip on handlebars. I have talked Tim into making me a new set of silencers; he built one for his bike last season, and it's a beautifully crafted part. My old silencers getting quite beat up since they fall off so regularly. While other riders were ogling over Tim's creation at Mosport last season, I quietly slipped in my order for a pair of my own, making me first in line! The billet aluminum ends have been cnc'd already and they're gorgeous. Thank you to all the riders who have tolerated my semi-silenced bike, and thanks also to all the marshals and track workers who have brought my errant silencers back to me. Hopefully a new mounting system for my pipes and new silencers should solve the problem next year.
Read more about the NS updates planned, with photos: NS 250 F ArticleTim is planning some exciting new parts for his TZR250, and there are some great updates in his website about it - visit www.naughtyboymotorracing.com to read more.
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Winter excitement | |
MAX AwardI was honored to receive a MAX Award - the 'Motorcycle Awards of Excellence' - for journalism, at the motorcycle SUPERSHOW in January. Writing is, for the most part, a very private experience, and public accolades are rare. I felt very touched by this recognition, thrilled that my early writing efforts had come to the attention of my peers in the motorcycling world. Even though this recognition seems to come early in my career. Writing still feels new and challenging to me, something I'm learning not something I've mastered. I'm hoping that seeing my MAX Award on the wall will motivate me to live up to it.
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See the WINNERS LIST online |
Worm CompostingThinking about my personal allotment of carbon credits over this past winter, I decided to find new ways to get dirty and give something back to the environment, other than my exhaust fumes. Read about Worm Composting and my very cool but not very fast pets.
Vulcan page onlineA few snowy days and I found time to assemble a Vulcan page for this website. I've put nearly 100,000 km's on my Vulcan, and it's still running like new, it deserves a tribute page! Vulcan page
Kart racing clinicWomen racers, mostly from the car world, sports car racers and drifters are holding a series of women's kart racing clinics over the winter. I attended the January clinic, and had a fantastic time. The Downsview indoor track offers good traction, not like the slippery surfaces I'm accustomed to. Their electric karts worked very much like the internal combustion karts except they don't smell the same. Instruction was excellent too, we walked the track with our instructor, and reviewed the line in karts in our first track session. After that we worked on finer points, and I learned things about weight transfer that years of experience on slippery tracks hadn't taught me. Excellent karting clinic! Thanks Sweetie Girl Racing! www.sweetiegirlracing.com
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