Joe and I are on our way to the last GNCC race of the year. This will be the only GNCC race that I’ve done this year which is has sparked conversations about the complete GNCC calendar that we did last year. We’ve been reminiscing about the fun times, the challenging times, and our favorite courses during last year’s race season as we drive south to Crawfordsville, IN for the Ironman. We’ve been discussing what races we want to try and hit in the 2010 GNCC season. Too early to know for sure but there are few that I hope to get to in 2010. Anyhow, we are on our way to the Ironman and we are stoked.
On an aside, there’s an OMA winter series that’s caught our interest. We might try and hit a few of those during the upcoming dark and chilly months. Might help the winter pass a little faster if we had a bright spot on the moto schedule once per month.
I had a list of stuff that I needed to get together in prep for the Ironman GNCC. Most everything revolved around bike set up and Mark Junge a Vesrah Suzuki helped me get things done. The biggest task on my list had been gearing challenges. I’d been tinkering with gearing options at Dyracuse from time to time and learned that the stock RM-Z250 transmission ratios and final drive were very motocross focused (no surprise since it’s an MX bike that I’ve massaged into a woods bike). The combination of stock tranny/sprocket gearing and my riding style make it so that I spend a lot of time in 4th and 5th gear, even at a place like Dyracuse where there’s some tight woods and lots of heavy sand. The OE 12 tooth counter shaft sprocket and 48 tooth rear sprocket help the bike get up to speed pretty quickly but I run out of gears on too many long straights.
I asked FMF Suzuki Racing’s Shane Nalley what the hot set up is for gearing. He suggested 13/51. That’s not much taller than the OE 12/48 but it should feel “longer” and the larger sprocket sizes should wear better. When I tried the 13/51 at Dryacuse, I was suddenly using 2nd and 3rd from time to time but it took a long time to get up to speed. Seems the 13/51 was a little tall for the stock engine (plus the heavier 110 rear tire and additional weight in other woods-specific bolt on stuff). Maybe the broader performing 13/51 and stock engine would be good for mellowing out the ride during 3 hour races but that wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted more power.
This is where Mark comes in. He upped the compression and re-shaped the intake ports on the head and he gave me some flame thrower R-Tech race gas. The engine isn’t so radically changed that I have to run race gas but when I’ve used it in the past it not only makes more power, it also makes crisper throttle response. To take full advantage of the fuel’s potential I stepped up the main jet size and raised the needle a notch. It’s going to suck a lot of fuel at the Ironman but I have to stop for gas anyhow – I’m running the stock 1.9 gallon tank. Might as well make more power between stops.
Joe and I swung by Mark’s Vesrah Suzuki shop on our way down to the Ironman. He set us up with some race gas and we gabbed about motos and mountain bikes.
Left to right is Nancy (Mark's wife), Mark and Joe. Our visit was too short - the Junge's are great people and we thank them for their support.
Outside the Vesrah shop. That's Mark in front of his grocery getter van.
Mark will be pissed that I posted a shot of his "messy" shop but its an amazing place. The truck had just come back from the WERA finals and dumped its guts in the shop. There were tires, bikes and parts everywhere.
The 2010 RM-Z250 is fuel injected. I haven’t researched the tank size on that bike but rumor has it that some of the injected 450s burn a lot of gas. Some of the 450s have 1.5 gallon tanks. One point five gallons will probably get you through a long moto but it won’t do much more than an hour in the woods, especially with race gas and high horsepower mapping. So now my concern is that the injected RM-Z250 might have a smaller thank than the carb bike: will I be able to do local Wisconsin 2-hour races without stopping for fuel?
Tomorrow we race. My RM-Z250 is in prime condition and I’m excited to race. Woohoo!
That's an RM-Z250 powered kart. This would be the only 4 wheeled ride that's cooler than my 2 wheeled rides.
