Drag Racing Drag Racing - Gunnedah NSW

Gunnedah “Weeks of Speed” Drags - 6th & 7th of March 2021



Team 2fiftycc diary – Part 1

Well, here we are again. An inconvenient delay thanks to Covid and lockdowns.

It had been nearly 2 years since I last ran the ZX2R drag bike (May 2019), so I wasn’t expecting miracles. Adding to my apprehension was the number of changes I had made without getting a chance to test the bike.

I needed to drop some VT250F and ZXR bits off to Murdo, so as soon as it was ‘safe’ to drive deep into NSW, I took the drive up to Tamworth. On the way, I stopped off at Gunnedah to run the TDRA (Tamworth Drag Racing Association) March meet as part of the annual Gunnedah ‘Weeks of Speed’ event(s) including speedway, drags, shows etc. For tractor/trailer lovers, I passed a D-61 and an old International heading out of Gunnedah on my way in on Friday the 5th. Man, that D-61 was mint and really brought back some memories.

The Team 2fiftycc crew were thin on the ground. Murdo is still recovering (he came to spectate on Sunday), The Chief was on parental duties, Pete (also showed up Sunday) was still waiting for bits to finish his CBR250 race bike, @risky was also MIA. The QLD branch was again a no-show. So, including me, team 2fiftycc had a total of 1 entry.

Normally, I am not a big fan of the Saturday Test & Tune session and I might do a few runs just to get my eye in on the tree and make sure the bike is launching properly etc. However, not having had any chance to test meant that I really needed to get as many test runs in as possible on the Saturday before qualifying and eliminations on the Sunday.

My first run was a disaster or as Valentino Rossi would say “itta wassa shitta!” It was so bad I actual thought about packing the bike up and heading back to Melbourne. In the 10.45 seconds it took me to cover the 1/8 mile I was overwhelmed by the number of things that were wrong. Picking up my timeslip just confirmed my worst fears. I was rusty, so I wasn’t too worried about my Reaction Time (R/T), but my 60ft time was horrendous (2.25 sec).

 

Team 2fiftycc diary – Part 2

When I showed up on Saturday morning I had a look around and noticed a couple of bikes in the carpark, so I thought we might have a quiet weekend for the bikes given the low numbers. To my surprise, a couple of vans had bikes in the back and one in particular (attention @kiffsta @ShaneP et al) had come down from QLD to race at a ‘local’ NSW track. When we got through check-in and scrutineering, I was told the pits had been moved to a new paved area away from the start line. This wasn’t great for me as my bike doesn’t run a charging system and I can just get 6 runs out of a battery before it won’t start. I asked if I could park near the start line and they said, yeah any of the bikes are allowed to pit down there. The QLD guy (Anthony) and one of the Sydney guys (Greg) said they’d prefer to be near the startline, so the three of us pitted and started chatting.

I knew Greg (Minion Racing) from previous events. He hadn’t been for a while.



Anthony normally races at Willowbank, but prefers the local QLD tracks like Warwick, Stanthorpe and the one near Shane P. He was really keen to race his nostalgia themed Z-Rod Kawasaki. He ran a couple of 6.80’s over the weekend and would have gone quicker if he had tubeless tyres/rims. It’s a stunning looking bike and a credit to Anthony’s dedication to building a classy piece of kit. He uses a Nissan Elgrand to transport himself and his bike around; Pretty good setup too.



The rest of the field was made up of an R1 (regular Gunnedah competitor), 2 x motocross 450’s (1 Honda & 1 Yamaha), 2 x HD and the 3 amigos making a total of 8.

 

Team 2fiftycc diary – Part 3

After my crap run, both Anthony and Greg asked ‘why so glum?’ I explained that I’d made too many changes during the Victorian Covid lockdown and now I wasn’t sure what combination of things was causing the bike to run like rubbish. Greg was also peed off as his two-step launch system had failed and he now had to launch without electronic assistance. My bike was slow off the line and seemed down on power. I had done a compression test after the last time I raced it and the engine is getting a little tired. In particular, one piston was down 30psi to the others. I couldn’t believe that the performance had dropped away that much. The clutch didn’t seem to be biting like it should. Normally the bike skips the front wheel on the 1-2 change, but nothing and the run seemed to take forever (probably because it did!).



I had originally decided to make a few changes to the bike to shed a few kilos. The longer lockdown went, the more changes I made thinking I’d have a couple of test days to sort out the good from the bad. The main changes included going from 2 front rotors to one. I had originally intended to remove the entire ZXR250A front end (USD forks and twin rotors are wasted and heavy for drag racing) and replace it with a complete ZZR250 front end of normal forks and a single disk. Alas, too much planning required to do that, so off came one of the ZXR disks to save a kilo or two. The fuel tank was also on my ‘get rid of’ list. I replaced it with a TYGA tank skin over a 1 litre alloy tank. I also moved the battery and all the electrics to the front of the bike (behind the fairing). I tossed the normal dash, which weighs more than you’d think, and replaced that with a tacho, water temp gauge and neutral and oil lights. I also removed the ignition key and replaced that with an on/off switch. Murdo had made a custom loom for one of my other ZXR projects, so I just copied that. I had a single seat rear section, but didn’t get enough time to fit it before heading off. I cleaned up the rear of the bike by removing all the plastics for holding the battery and TCI and also the rear hugger and chain guard. All of this was replaced with sheet metal and a custom water overflow tank. I had also decided to try running the bike with a muffler (as suggested by several people) even though I felt this was pointless from previous testing. I had thrown a 13 tooth front sprocket into my tool box as I had intended to try running the bike with lower gearing to see what affect that had on my ET’s and speed. Alas, I never got a chance to try the 13T cog and I ran the standard 14T/48T setup for the entire weekend.

 

Team 2fiftycc diary – Part 4

I had noticed my clutch was grabbing a little later in the lever release than I normally like, so before my second run I made a slight change to facilitate a quicker grab. I was also wondering if the modified TYGA tank (it’s lower than the normal ZXR250A tank) meant I was sitting or leaning forward more than normal when I launched and that was upsetting the balance and weight over the rear wheel. Plenty of things to think about, but the one that really was worrying me was the changed jetting I was running. I had read how the Period 6 racers tend to go down on their main jet sizes as it gives them the best performance. I normally run #120 mains in my carbs (normal is #125, #128, #128, #125) as I find this works best across different atmospheric conditions (humid, cold, hot etc). The period 6 guys run #110 mains, which I just felt was a step too far for WOT drag racing. I did however change the main jets to #115 and after my first run I was sure these were part of the problem. I sent a text to the chief asking if I could borrow the set of carbs I had built for his ZXR250 drag bike as they had ZXR250C jetting (#122, #125, #125, #122) and would be better than the carbs I was running. He said ‘yeah no probs’, so I had a plan B if the bike refused to run.

Anyway, off I go for my second run and this time I nail a 9.53 at 119.12kph. My 60ft time was still rubbish, but I felt I was at least able to run a reasonable number.

By the end of the day, I had managed to run a bunch of mid-9’s, but had missed gears on half of my runs and my 60ft time were still crap. Again, I think the changed tank meant I was in the ‘wrong’ spot for my muscle memory to work properly. I decided not to bother the chief for his carbs and just to head to Murdo’s for beers and a shower. It was 36 degrees on Saturday, but it felt hotter and most of us complained about being ‘drained’ by the end of the day. I checked my battery after making 6 runs and it was in need of a good charge. Normally, on Sunday, we get 3 qualifying runs and then eliminations, so I thought I’ll only have issues if I make the final as that would be my sixth run.

 

Team 2fiftycc diary – Part 5

Sunday dawned as another warm day with little wind. Murdo and I set off from his place at a reasonable time, stopped at Maccas for a coffee and then showed up at the track after 9. Lots of people were happy to see Murdo and he was chatting with his many friends throughout the day.

The organisers said that due to the lower than normal numbers, they would give us 1 practice run before the three qualifying runs. It didn’t occur to me that the extra run would drain the battery more than I had budgeted for.

The one change I made from the configuration I ran on Saturday was to remove the muffler as this was an easy job. The bike instantly felt better. Not great, but it started to run better ET’s. 60ft times were still not great, but at least I was running in the 9.1-9.3 region.



I dialled in at 9.1 for eliminations and got one of the Harleys in round 1. A Hail Mary 0.087 reaction time helped me get the win. I left my dial in at 9.1 for the semi-finals and when my opponent went too early (Red Light), I slowed and turned off the track after crossing the finish line to get a ‘stunning’ 18.828 second ET.



I saved enough of my battery by doing that to run the final. The final was me and Kristy on her orange 1200 sportster Harley. The sun was out and it was hot, so I changed my dial in to 9.2 to give myself some room to wiggle if I fluffed the start (which I did). As soon as I left I knew the bike had launched well (1.97sec 60ft) and that I was very late on the tree (RT 0.249sec). I ran the bike hard, but I knew I would probably breakout so I had to back off and hope Kristy was late too. I looked around and I saw her out of the corner of my eye and accelerated again, but it was too late. Kristy got me by a foot at the line. She’s a good competitor and her win was well deserved.



As for me, I’m heading back to VIC to do some testing with two sets of carbs and a quick check of the clutch plates and springs.

Hopefully, we’ll have better 2fiftycc numbers at the May (8th and 9th) meeting. It was good to catch up with Murdo and the Chief. Thanks to Covid, It has been too long between races and I hope to make up for it this year.

At least I’m having a better time of it than this bloke…



Cheers

Frank

 

Your dad has the pink lady FZR. She just needs carbs and away you go. Be great to have you out there.

 

https://www.prime7.com.au/news/7462...tq4WH334HnopmH0QSYoMRZTQMmWToWT894D21gVKfLQ7M

 

Thanks. I saw the news crew there but forgot to watch it when home.

 

Hi Shane, I hope you and Chris realised my previous comments about you two coming down were 'tongue-in-cheek'. It would be great to have some of the QLD 2fiftycc guys come down, but it's completely understandable that not everyone likes drag racing and traveling 600km+ to do it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

I go to Gunnedah to catch up with Murdo and a few of the 2fiftycc & VJMC crew and because VIC is effing useless for racing my bike. The TDRA have 4 meetings a year, which is 3 more meetings than Ballarat has had in the last 3 years! Sure, Portland and Mildura have a few meetings, but I can't run my bike at them. If I lived in Brisbane still, then I'd be racing a dozen times a year. Worst still, drag racing in Tasmania is dead. From what I can tell, they haven't had a meeting in over 2 years and it has nothing to do with Covid.

 

Funny that you mentioned that movie. I was watching 'Stripes' the other night and Warren Oates is in both movies. Weird that two musicians (Wilson and Taylor) starred in a movie about drag racing. YT has a bits and pieces...

 

Thanks to the Chief, I won't be wearing that mangled hat anymore. A few people commented that it technically wasn't a working hat! The next door neighbour's horse decided it looked yummy and pulled it off my head and started eating it. Bloody thing was pretty adamant that it was food and wouldn't give it back. The Chief has given me some Tamworth hats, so I have promised him I will let next door's horse finish its meal.

 

***** ENTRIES ARE OPEN ****

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