G'day All
It's going to be a big update - I'm happy to say our team won the Step-Thru class, but it wasn't a completely clean race.
Two punctures, two crashes and having to run back to the pit after one of the team ran out of fuel due to a faulty fuel gauge.
I'll start with the lineup from last to first place on the grid:
The organiser's bucket:
Give it a Nudge Racing - they built there bike in 3 days out of odd bits and even without a battery or kickstart managed to do pretty well.
Note: Ratchet start - possible upgrade mod for when your starter fails?
And yes that entire toolbox was needed to keep theirs and other bikes running.
Next up, the lone 4-stroker. A 3-speed with a knackered gearbox leaving them with only 2nd and 3rd; not the fastest way to get around a twisty track. BTW, this was classified as a step-thru scooter.
The following team had a water leak putting them out of the race at the 3 hour mark - however at the time, all the buckets were roughly within a lap or 2 of each other.
Then it was us - our Blue Nifty serving as our dedicated racer and the red one borrowed from a mate as a parts frame.
Next up, was a Chinese mini-moto with a massive CRF450 front brake setup on there little frame - it's surprising they didn't cartwheel down the runway.
The 'ol Dio, she wasn't anywhere near racing form - she definitiely needed a good tune up. But boy was she hard to miss in that striking colour scheme.
The eventual winners were next up
Brown Bullet Racing were next in the queue:
Then there was the bmx, he was reasonably quick but had a few good falls too. He had to shoot off before the race finished unfortunately so we can only guess where he would have come overall:
Then in first place on the grid was:
That's the lineup sorted next up some pictures of the track taken from pit lane- I'm trying to get an aerial shot of the basic track and post sometime next week.
This next shot is during the practice - note both size of the little Spree and the distance the far riders are out - the course length was about 1.1km(0.7mi).
Our start wasn't the best - we were stuck on the line with only the electric start - 30 seconds later and we were away. The guys who were ratchet starting usually took 5 min to start so were allowed to start the race engine on.
Our clutch wasn't the best, in fact when I found out we were racing the Spree I decided to rip off the clutch drum to find a clutch that looked a lot like this:
As you can imagine, it wasn't the best for pulling out of corners - or anything for that matter.
The guys on the moto bike had a recurrent problem of their swingarm nut falling off (twice) and the bolt half falling out. A puncture and a blown water pump ended their race around 2 hours in.
They weren't the only ones with punctures - with four teams suffering a loss of air.
Twice (both times whilst I was riding) we had to stop for a tyre change - thank you attrition frame.
Pit Lane was walking speed - so with a worn out clutch it was quicker to canter through the pit lane both to save the clutch and escape the condescending eye from the clerk of the course for speeding.
Next up is a series of photos of some of the team racing - note the Spree trying to overtake the Dio both around the outside and taking the inside line... and succeding!!!
Then one showing another team around the same corner:
Then a few more of us:
At the 5hr and 50min mark, Give it a Nudge Racing's makeshift scooter sheared an axle in half - loosing the rear wheel and providing a bit of drama in the closing stages of the race. He's filing the axle so he can cross-thread a nut onto the axle and finish the race.
And then come the end of the race, the results:
We took out the trophy for the scooters, beating the geared bikes as well as the single speeds and came 5th overall. We lapped 172 times, 5 laps behind fourth and 15 laps behind third; with each lap taking approx. 1min 50 sec. So not too bad considering running out of fuel early on (the gauge works from full down to half - we couldn't understand how the scooter was running so well on so little fuel until...) two rear tyre pictures AND two crashes.
And finally a close up of the BEAST and a little bit of tyre peeling - no chicken strips on our tyres.
The next mopedathon is on January 28th, 2012. Game On
I've had a good chuckle with the replies,
so not too bad, apart from the slightest of slopes for drainage, the tarmacs flat as a pancake.
sad panda
.........
as one of my co-riders offered his Aprilia RS50 to race - capable of over 60mph in race trim with large disc brakes and a 13L fuel tank. 
