Death Race Oct. 29 2011
- Thread starter Dave31
- Start date
One thing I learned, the Maxxis Hookworms may be a little too soft of compound for what we are doing. I chewed the sidewalls up trying to keep up with Alex. Alex is having the same problem except his wore the center right off the tire.
Dave, I'm glad that you had a great turn out, I wish we could have been there. I hope you post a pic of that Yamaha 4 speed, sounds interesting.
Running the Hookworms with the China 2 stroke is a perfect match, Knowing now that the Hookworms may not be the choice for a higher HP MBikes, I feel it leaves us really with only 2options.
1. limit the HP of the engines (will never happen)
2. gravitate to a non bicycle tire (moped or motorcycle), for safety truley this is the only option
We are really fortunate that we haven't had any serious accidents due to tire failure. If we keep pushing the envelope, unfotunately I believe it will happen.
Again, I wish we could have been there, I really like that facility, everyone looks so happly holding their trophies. post more pics. -magrider-
Running the Hookworms with the China 2 stroke is a perfect match, Knowing now that the Hookworms may not be the choice for a higher HP MBikes, I feel it leaves us really with only 2options.
1. limit the HP of the engines (will never happen)
2. gravitate to a non bicycle tire (moped or motorcycle), for safety truley this is the only option
We are really fortunate that we haven't had any serious accidents due to tire failure. If we keep pushing the envelope, unfotunately I believe it will happen.
Again, I wish we could have been there, I really like that facility, everyone looks so happly holding their trophies. post more pics. -magrider-
I was just thinking the other day, that to keep it from getting as deadly as boardrack racing once was, it may become required to limit something.
It's a real dilemma, and given the blast that a really fast bike is to ride, nobody wants more limits than just thier wallet. But at some point perhaps simply limiting top speeds allowed could be the only policeable way. A speed gun watching the first 4-5 riders would do it. On the Tucscon track, maybe two guns, one for each of the really fast straights.
I went 50 mph on my bike tires, and I have to say it did not give me a safe feeling. Perhaps limit top speed to 50? Obviously unpopular with a few, but aren't the majority of riders sub 45 mph?
Ok, say you go the other route, create a fast class that requires motorcycle tires. At that point, why aren't we just racing 125 class supermoto? Isn't a really crazy fast bicycle with motorcycle tires just flirting with other failures, like twisting wheels out of bicycle frames?
I don't know what the answer is, but the bike speeds are starting to exceed the tires at this point for sure. The speeds exceeded my riding ability last spring.
It's a real dilemma, and given the blast that a really fast bike is to ride, nobody wants more limits than just thier wallet. But at some point perhaps simply limiting top speeds allowed could be the only policeable way. A speed gun watching the first 4-5 riders would do it. On the Tucscon track, maybe two guns, one for each of the really fast straights.
I went 50 mph on my bike tires, and I have to say it did not give me a safe feeling. Perhaps limit top speed to 50? Obviously unpopular with a few, but aren't the majority of riders sub 45 mph?
Ok, say you go the other route, create a fast class that requires motorcycle tires. At that point, why aren't we just racing 125 class supermoto? Isn't a really crazy fast bicycle with motorcycle tires just flirting with other failures, like twisting wheels out of bicycle frames?
I don't know what the answer is, but the bike speeds are starting to exceed the tires at this point for sure. The speeds exceeded my riding ability last spring.
The agk #81 18 to 20 hp 4 stroke monsta bike ran Hookworms at the Grange race and
had no problems that I know of. AGK was also cornering very fast and accelerating out of the
tight turns harder than any other bike except for liveforphysic's radared 67 mph eMotorcycle.
AGK was the fastest bike around the track beating even the race winning ebike #109 who was
also running Hookworms on 26" wheels and PaulD was just as fast through the challenging
Grange race track.
AGK went 51 mph and PaulD's winning ebike had a top speed of 49 mph.
Even the very fast #74 Moped only went 50 mph on the uphill 950' front straight away.
I don't see any problems.........
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That was a lot of fun, learned a lot of stuff, I'm the guy with the white tee next to Dave's awesome China Girl (heh heh I rode her hard).
Well, just saying. Board track racing got deadly back in the day.
I'm sure the best riders do save thier tires. I don't think Paul had any real problems with tires. Last dr I ran laps on a slowly deflating tire. looked ok from the ouside, but inside half the rubber was crumbles, and the cord all tangled. That tire got plenty hot.
Call me the the worry wart, but we are getting awful fast for bike stuff. What's worse is a doofus like me that builds a bike that's faster than I can handle. Best outcome is laying down early, like I did last year. I should have had a lot more racing experience before trying to bring a bike that fast.
I'm sure the best riders do save thier tires. I don't think Paul had any real problems with tires. Last dr I ran laps on a slowly deflating tire. looked ok from the ouside, but inside half the rubber was crumbles, and the cord all tangled. That tire got plenty hot.
Call me the the worry wart, but we are getting awful fast for bike stuff. What's worse is a doofus like me that builds a bike that's faster than I can handle. Best outcome is laying down early, like I did last year. I should have had a lot more racing experience before trying to bring a bike that fast.
Your Board track racing comparison is ridiculous to anyone who
knows any history.
The board tracks were extremely banked with the spectators hanging
over a guard rail where they would have their heads taken off by the
over 100 mph crashing bikes.
The insurance behind the recent races would never allow such idiocy.
The safety gear worn by Board track racers was crude in comparison
compared to the faster motorized bicycle racers of today.
The tracks at Grange and Tucson are very safe and the speeds
not very fast for the majority of racers.
See the radared list of speeds of all the bikes at Grange.
The worst injuries from Tucson and the SoCal races are a few scrapes
and bruises.
If you are that worried stay home in bed my friend because it's much more
dangerous to walk across the street let alone dare to ride a motorized bike
through Tucson or Los Angeles traffic.
Troll!!!!
On another note, here's a badly lit video I took of the pits. enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atTObQj_IUA
Re: Death Race Oct. 29 2011 - Official Pictures!!
Guys,
I had a blast ot there with you last night... some great races within the race!
Here is a a link to the on track photos from last night... I just finished the uploads a few minutes ago...
Spooky Tooth - Motorized Bicycle Race 10-29-11 - mikephotos' Photos | SmugMug
Mike Hoppe
Staff Photographer
Musselman P1 Kart Track
Tucson, AZ
Guys,
I had a blast ot there with you last night... some great races within the race!
Here is a a link to the on track photos from last night... I just finished the uploads a few minutes ago...
Spooky Tooth - Motorized Bicycle Race 10-29-11 - mikephotos' Photos | SmugMug
Mike Hoppe
Staff Photographer
Musselman P1 Kart Track
Tucson, AZ
Thanks for the kind words re the pics...
I think there were probably 20 or so racers, maybe twice that many bikes in total. a bit lighter than last year but , well, welcome to the new economy.
I'm VERY impressed with the designs and performance of these machines... I'm a big mountain biker, a dirt bike rider, adventure motorcycle guy... and was orignally trained as a manufacturing engineer... so what you guys do rings almost all my bells... VERY cool stuff!
Mike
I think there were probably 20 or so racers, maybe twice that many bikes in total. a bit lighter than last year but , well, welcome to the new economy.
I'm VERY impressed with the designs and performance of these machines... I'm a big mountain biker, a dirt bike rider, adventure motorcycle guy... and was orignally trained as a manufacturing engineer... so what you guys do rings almost all my bells... VERY cool stuff!
Mike
Yeah that was Daniel and that bike will not be allowed to participate in any more DR. It just goes completely beyond what I think we are trying to do. If thats what you want...just build a motorcycle.
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There's a reason why I mounted a China Girl to my HardRock Mt. Bike lol
You're sworn to secrecy now about how fast my China Girl is.
Well, I knew I'd catch it for speaking up about it. You are very correct that the track is much safer now. The banks of the board tracks was a lot of the problem. You also see really good safety gear on the faster riders for the most part.
Just saying do think about it, Is it a bike race still? Maybe you don't care if it's a motorcycle race now. What is a bike? At what speed is a bike tire safe with a talented rider on it? At what speed is a bike tire unsafe with a less talented rider like myself on it?
Just saying do think about it, Is it a bike race still? Maybe you don't care if it's a motorcycle race now. What is a bike? At what speed is a bike tire safe with a talented rider on it? At what speed is a bike tire unsafe with a less talented rider like myself on it?
Gotta give him credit for even getting on that thing with comparitively no frame/suspension or brakes... I ride a 250 dirtbike and that is got to be a handful... and apparently he has figured out how to get it tru corners...
Spooky Tooth - Motorized Bicycle Race 10-29-11 - mikephotos' Photos | SmugMug
Hear hear, well said. It's starting to look ridiculous in a big fish, little pond kind of way with a flimsy bicycle frame and rim brakes.