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[JimsSEEG]

Jeff -

Noticed your comment about "2 AMA 250 GP Championships ..." were you by chance at Daytona during '79 to '83? I'll upload a pic of my "keepsake" from the last trip to Daytona.

I ran under WERA / CRRC and AMA between '77 and '83. I rode with Silver Bullet Racing out of Austin for a few years. We ran TZ250, Yamaha 920 in the Battle of the Twins Series, and had 2 F1/Open class bikes.

Always nice to run across those who have been down the same stretch of pavement.

Jim

[JimsSEEG]

Here is the "keepsake".... As with any trip to the track, there is a story behind it.

Jim

[jdracing]

Hi Jim;

No, my time was after that--I was at Daytona for the '96 through 2000 seasons.  Ran TZ 250s in '96, '99 and '00, and ran Honda RS 250's in '97 and '98.  But you would have been there during the Eddie Lawson years, right?  My "mentor", who taught me about everything I know about how to build and prep a race bike, was Lawson's tuner when he was running TZ 250s.  His name is Roland Cushway.

Anyway, I miss the class a lot--it went away after the '03 season.  We raced head to head with Rich Oliver for several years, and beat him for the '00 championship without winning a race--Rich had 2 DNF's that year, and we had a whole bunch of seconds.  

Always great to meet another two stroke afficionado.  There is nothing like a 250GP bike at Road America on a cold summer morning screaming up the front straight.  One of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard.  

Jeff  

[JimsSEEG]

Jeff,

Nothing like the smell of premix and hot gumballs on a cool, clear morning. I hadn't thought about Road America in years. I tried riding the 250 class for a season, the whole class had about a four second split. It was so tight in the talent, it was hard to make any headway. I liked the power on the front end, so I jumped to the F1/Unlimited in 79 - ran a Yamaha 1100 with some factory goodies we got from a couple of the dealers here who had some contacts at the factory. Did pretty well in the overall standings for privateer, until this punk kid named Kevin Schwantz showed up - things went to crap again.I'm impressed you guys beat Rich, he was one of the best in that class - just down right impossible to beat.

You got your dates right, I was there when Kenny and Eddie were running 1 and 2 for Yamaha. I got close enough to be within four feet of Eddie's OW61. A truly impressive peice of engineering and machinery. The last year, my 1100 just didn't live long enough to finish Daytona. So I got to hang with the Yamaha guys in the Pits. I stood on the infeild near where the chicane ran up to the oval and watched Kenny and Eddiy lay down "snakes" off the back tire as they made the turn to the Oval. Being 25, at daytona with the big boys and I thought I had the world by the short hairs. Got passed in the chicane by them in a practice session by them  - GEEZUS they were fast! LOL! I though seriously about loading my stuff on the trailer!

I picked up an old dirt bike last week - just couldn't stand it anymore. Wonder if I'm too to get into that new class where they are running the dirtbikes with the street tires on pavement.... Hmmm.

Take care Jeff, good talking to you...

Jim

[spydglide]

Jeff,

I picked up an old dirt bike last week - just couldn't stand it anymore. Wonder if I'm too to get into that new class where they are running the dirtbikes with the street tires on pavement.... Hmmm.

Take care Jeff, good talking to you...

Jim

Hey Jim, is this 'new class' gonna be like a reincarnation of the MARS class/circuit that ran about 10 years ago?  That was some great racing!   [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif] spyder

[The Mysterious Q!]

Like anything else in life ,you dont know unless you try.I'm not saying take your bike apart like a toaster you dismantled when you were 8 yrs old ,but with the internet,digital cameras to document disassembly and manuals there should be almost nothing you couldn't do,(having the right tools is also key).I learned by going slow ,reading up and having basic mechanical aptitude. Obviously,time constraints and fear will stop you from swapping out your crankshaft but almost everything is conceivable to do on your own.I had a service issue with my 5000 mi service.The checklist is obvious and when things are done the tech checks off,well some of the items checked were not done.So you have the choice bring it back or finish yourself.Have faith in yourself and twist away. Q

[jdracing]

BD1569, I share that philosophy completely.  On top of everything else, it's rewarding as hell.

[JimsSEEG]

Spider -

Sort of like that. I saw some footage of Eric Bostrom and a few other well knowns running this class during thier "off-season". It looked like an absolute blast. 450cc dirt bike that weighs only 200 lbs and makes probably 50 hp. Got to be incredibly fast acceleration and with 8" of suspension travel on sticky street tires, could probaly use the concrete barricades as berms....

I got a little work to do on the new project bike - a Yamaha TT200. It's had a hard life so far and definitely needs to be freshened up on the motor and carb. The front master cylinder is shot and the stearing head bearings are just about rusted together.Plus the usual things need replacement like bars, levers, grips. It runs, just not real well. Picked it up for $300 and already have piston kits, carb kits, new sprockets, bars, grips on order. It's amazing, the cost of two stroke parts are about what they were 20 years ago.

Doubt I will ever see another class race since the knees are too far gone for that kind of stuff. Will be content to play a little and show the kids how it's supposed to be done. Maybe they will get into it.

Jim

[spydglide]

Hey Jim, sounds like a good plan, Man.  Just don't hurt the ole knees anymore in the process of showing the young ones how it's done. [smiley=nervous.gif]  Har!  spyder

[SEvet]

I think it comes down to time, tools, and knowledge.  If you have 'em, save the green.

Otherwise, you need a dealership you can trust, and if possible, have 1 tech. that works on your bike.  Then make sure you treat him (or her) right.  8-)

[Twolanerider]

Then make sure you treat him (or her) right.  8-)

Have read this statement or things similar to it a few times now.  Some have even mentioned slipping the tech a pizza or even $50 or $100 after a job well done.  

That's so annoying.  Even more so because it may actually be necessary.

These folks are ostensibly professionals.  They are most definitely not waitresses being forced to skimp buy on minumum wage or less who really require a tip because the law and their employer allows them to be paid at unacceptable wages.

What we're talking about is really being so insecure in the performance expecations we have of a dealership operation and its staff that it is felt necessary to have to bribe them in to doing a good job.  That they might appreciate the bribe is irrelevant.  Quite frankly they should be insulted.

We should be holding up our end of the bargain simply by giving them the work.  They are paid the fair (or more) price they request.  For that quality work without need of tributory contributions should be the simple and baseline expectation.  It is quite frankly sad that the general state of affairs has reached a point such that the thought of paying extra even crossed our minds.

[hd-dude]

Have read this statement or things similar to it a few times now.  Some have even mentioned slipping the tech a pizza or even $50 or $100 after a job well done.  

That's so annoying.  Even more so because it may actually be necessary.

These folks are ostensibly professionals.  They are most definitely not waitresses being forced to skimp buy on minumum wage or less who really require a tip because the law and their employer allows them to be paid at unacceptable wages.

What we're talking about is really being so insecure in the performance expecations we have of a dealership operation and its staff that it is felt necessary to have to bribe them in to doing a good job.  That they might appreciate the bribe is irrelevant.  Quite frankly they should be insulted.

We should be holding up our end of the bargain simply by giving them the work.  They are paid the fair (or more) price they request.  For that quality work without need of tributory contributions should be the simple and baseline expectation.  It is quite frankly sad that the general state of affairs has reached a point such that the thought of paying extra even crossed our minds.

I could not agree with you more! These Stealers charge a bunch of money. Is it not fair to expect good service and a job done right? Why should we ,the consumer, have to tip a professional to do their job correctly? If I owned a dealership or indy shop for that matter I would not allow this to happen. I would expect the best job from the tech each and every time, regardless of the task at hand, the bike, or the customer!

That's why I do all of my own work, and work on many other bikes as well. As I tell my customers "I treat each bike as if it were my own" I wonder if you would ever hear that at a dealer?

[Crawdaddy]

 It is quite frankly sad that the general state of affairs has reached a point such that the thought of paying extra even crossed our minds.

Yeah, I get this from my employees.  Why should one pay extra to someone who is being paid to do the work in the first place.  In my employees position, they think that their base wage is for showing up to work, to expect work at that wage is absurd, I need a bonus to do that....

[Twolanerider]

Yeah, I get this from my employees.  Why should one pay extra to someone who is being paid to do the work in the first place.  In my employees position, they think that their base wage is for showing up to work, to expect work at that wage is absurd, I need a bonus to do that....

CD, it's just that attitude that is one of the things that makes me content with not having employees anymore.  At least none that are directly my own.  It's just maddening; even worse when someone actually seems to want it explained.  There's a reason I don't have much hair anymore.