Diary 2009

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Race Diaries - 2009

Diary catch-up for 2009 (April-July racing action)

Since our website has been down for remodeling, here’s a quick summary of our 2009 season (so far)....

The season started at our home track (Mid-Michigan) on April 5

Con: Due to disagreeable weather, we made our first pass down the track on May 22 on Bike#2. So, we started the year 4 races behind the door cars in our class.
Pro:

1) We invested in a new laptop, “Crew Chief Pro” program, and a new weather station (with a wind gauge).

2) Bob engineered an air throttle (to replace the snap-crackle-pop 2-step) seemed to work well.

3) Bob was also able to complete a custom fit airbox for Bike #2. (Still determining benefits.)

Test & Tune #1 (May 22):

Pro: No problems with Bike#2 other than working through “new bike” setup hassles (!) that we had forgotten about since we’ve had Bike#1 sorted out for many years.

Con: “New bike” setup hassles (clutching, jetting, tire pressure, and other fine tuning)

Race#1 (May 23):

Our first 2-day race weekend. Beta sees us packing and carrying things out to the trailer. Starting to pout….

Pro: We determined that the air throttle allows Bob to be all tucked down and ready for the run at launch time instead of having to try to adjust his body while going down the track. (More steady bike balance.)

Con:

1) Electrical (wiring connection) problems – lost ability to record RPMs on the Tachometer so we had no ability to make fine tuning tweaks and to be able to determine whether each tweak was good or bad.

2) Noticed water coming out of pipes during one of the runs. Further investigation back in the pit confirmed that water was indeed being pumped out of the exhaust. (Back home, a teardown of the motor showed the base gasket was blown. Motor had a paper OEM gasket but needed a higher quality rubber coated aluminum gasket in order to withstand the water pressure in the motor.) Fixed by getting the better gaskets. Also made sure we have extra replacement gaskets on hand.

Test & Tune #2 (May 31):

Objective was to test out new gasket & correction of electrical/Tach problem.

Pro: 1.355 60ft time with 6.0 sec @115mph in 1/8 mile run – quickest time so far this year.

Con: Same electrical problem reoccurred (and accompanying loss of Tach recording).

Test & Tune #3 (June 10):

Objective was to test out correction of electrical/Tach problem (again). Trying to get some practice runs in before the inaugural AMA Dragbike race @US 131 Motorsports park on the coming weekend.

Pro: Ran some consistent times.

Con: Lost Tach again!

Special Event (June 12) AMA Dragbike (inaugural) @US 131 Motorsports park (3 day event - Friday T&T + 2-day race using Bike#2)

Friday, June 12 – Test and Tune night (regular track T&T open to public)

Pro: Got there early in the morning, got a good parking spot – with electricity; beautiful day weather-wise; had most of day to catch up with our fellow Super Eliminator racers and met some new folks – very relaxing.

Also, we just got our new purple windshield for the bike (had been waiting about 8 weeks for it!)

Con: Made our first test pass down the track with “Uncle Paul” Gast watching from a position next to the bike (probably due to his interest in engineering similar snowmo-bike setups and probably because our mutual buddy “Buck Rodgers” suggested he check us out).

As usual, we had the tree light fiasco we usually have at this track. (Got a red light before the tree barely started coming down and had to reset.) Then, the bike made a mediocre pass (something on the order of a 9.69). Not very impressive to the crowd other than those who have never seen the snowmo bike before.

Then to top it off, we figured out that this was Bike#2’s first right turn. Upon exiting the racing surface, Bob turned right to go back to our pit and the throttle came on unexpectedly and stayed – causing an incident which caused much front end and frame damage.

Pro: Got our money back since we never made it to race day.

Bike#2’s new purple windshield made it through the incident unmarred.

Made it home before dark on Friday night and slept in our own bed. (Beta was happy!)

Con: Bike #2 is put back in barn for further work.

(We suspect the throttle cable got pinched between the bodywork of the bike and became

stretched – pulling throttle wire to give it more gas - as the front tire was turned sharply

to the right to exit back toward the pits.)

Race#2 (June 20) – National Dragster Challenge (first chance to win a Wally this season):

Brought Bike#1 (old faithful) back out of mothballs.

Pro: Won a round for the first time this season! Then went on to win a second.

We determined that the new weather station and software program and Bike#1 are

very compatible. (The software’s predicted times for us were very close to actuals !)

Con: Unseasonably hot and humid (lots of water in air) – bike slowed down from normal elapsed times/speeds.

Race#3 (July 3):

Pro: Holiday weekend! Plan to race today, spend the night at the track and race tomorrow.

(Still using old Bike#1)

We won Run-for-the-Money (pay $10 and put a dial time on the bike for last time trial to try to be closest without going under - winner gets part of the cash pot). We ran dead on our guessed dial to the thousandth’s digit (6.080) !! (We are starting to really like the new weather station and software now.)

Con: It was an odd day as far as track mishaps. There were 2 separate crashes (one needed aero med, but there were no life threatening injuries). It is rare to have one crash during the season at all but to have 2 on the same day is extremely rare. Due to this, our first round was at 10pm!

We lost by a red light (rolled out of beam), broke the chain at the MPH timers.

Ejecting chain ripped the left wheelie bar right off the bike and sent it flying. (Neither of us noticed the missing wheelie bar panel until we got back to the trailer and someone had dropped it off before we got back with the bike.)

Upon further inspection of the bike, we noticed that the chain had also taken several teeth off the 71-tooth back sprocket and chewed up a couple on the front sprocket.

We played back the run on the Tachometer and noticed that the RPMs shot up to 10500 where normally the max for a run is 9200 RPMs – zing!

(During the night, the track elves found and left our missing chain outside our trailer door.)

We did spend the night but were already packed and headed home early in the morning. (Beta was happy – again!)

Starting to suspect Beta is jinxing us….

Race#4 (July 18):

Another 2 day race weekend. (Still using old Bike#1)

Con:

We are 34th in points (out of 36 people in our class)….got a lot of catchin’ up to do!

Weather is not very nice this weekend. Heavy clouds and wind – threatening rain all day (a few drops here and there).

We went up for our last time trial (the Run-for-the-Money round) and noticed the bolts on the tail end of the wheelie bar had come lose and one roller wheel was missing.

…..we are now really starting to suspect Beta is sending bad mojo our way……

Bob made a dash back to the trailer and grabbed another roller ball and bolt. Ran back, found out that it was the wrong type of bolt and ran back to trailer again. (It dawned on him to ride the pit bike back from trailer this time instead of running back and forth).

Got that straightened out in time to make the run. Then the rain started just as we were about to make our run. So we had a 10 minute intermission sitting under the protection of the overhead walkway until the light ran stopped the track dried off again.

The bike made a 6.128 pass but we had dialed 6.13 – lost due to going quicker than our guess.

Pro: Even though we lost first round today, we still had an intact, running bike to race tomorrow at “The King of the Track” race (our second chance for a Wally this season)

Race#5 (July 19):

Con: Same weather as day before – dripping rain on and off.
Pro: Won first and second round without buying back in! Unfortunately, the rounds were not won through our great racing prowess. With the exception of having very good reaction times, we won due to the misfortune of our competitors. First round, our opponent had a red light. Second round, our opponent’s throttle cable broke.

Con: Third round, we had to actually race (against the #1 guy in points!) . The bike ran way off it’s normal time. We suspect a combination of weather and track surface conditions caused loss of traction.

Note to self: We race because it is fun and profitable! We race because it is fun and profitable! We race because it is fun and profitable!

We have this weekend off. Beta will be happy!

Dog Sledding (January 21, 2009)

January 21, 2009 - by Bob & Shelly Boruta

Well one pull under our belt. The two girls didn’t do so well, They both made a right turn instead of going straight. All dogs are required to stay behind the start and they both wanted to go back to see the other one. This was on the first pull with the empty sled that they are required to pull to move on. Polaris did as I thought he might, he tightened up the line and then stood their and talked to me. After his 60 sec. were up I went to him, tugged a bit on his harness and he pulled to the finish. We decided to only pull Beta at the next race so Shelly could be buy the finish line and the other dogs could be at the truck instead of behind.

PS, We hooked Beta to the finish weight after the dogs were done, about 435lb, and Shelly and the other dogs at the finish line, and she pulled it without trying. Could have been her day. Maybe next time.

Mackinaw Island Ice Bridge / U.P. Excursion

February 1, 2008 - by Bob & Shelly Boruta

Just got back from a short snowmobile trip in the Upper Peninsula. With the cold weather, Lake Huron was frozen between StIgnace and Mackinaw Island. Hasn’t been frozen for a couple years. We made a trip (6 miles) over the ice to check out winter life on the island. There was quite a bit of traffic on the ice - a couple bicycles, several snowmobiles with small trailers hauling their groceries and other supplies. (In one of the photos, you can kind of make out a box of Milkbones next to one guy’s foot. A woman passed us who had a bag of pampers under each foot and a cart of groceries in tow.) It was a clear, sunny day and the buckles of the shifted compression cracks on the lake were glistening in the sun. The ice was so cold, it was a brilliant “ice blue”. Unfortunately, we were only carrying our small digital camera and didn’t get good photos of this. We toured around the streets of Mackinaw island. There were some year-rounders out and about. (We passed one woman on a snowmobile with a toddler seated in front of her and a diaper bag slung over her back. Probably en route to or from day care.) There were also many carpenter/repair type people around working on the larger Victorian homes. We stopped by the Grand Hotel. It was a little eerie with no one around. The movie “The Shining” came to mind and we didn’t linger around there very long….. We also rode to Tahquamenon Falls during our trip to see if they were frozen over from the frigid temperatures this season. They were partially frozen over but there was still a small section of flowing water in the middle of the falls. We also rode to Grand Marais to view Lake Superior from the bluffs. The frozen shoreline extended quite a ways out - we could see no open water. (Some lake effect snow moved in within a few minutes of stopping to view the lake and we could barely see the shoreline anymore either.) Trail traffic was very light since we have enough snow in the Lower Peninsula to ride (and the economy). Put on a total of 326 miles in 2.5 days of riding.

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