My venture started after lunch on Friday. I only planned to work till mid-morning but could not get away until after lunch. A four hour ride put me at the hotel in Valdosta about 5:00 P.M.
GZ 3.0 would not be denied and insisted on tagging along!
So we each have nearly 600 miles for the 2013 relay!
Called JimF from the hotel to find out the crew was still at the track. 5:30 P.M. and Sam had not even run any time trials! So off to the track I went to find Bill and Jim still fussing with the line lock on Sam's bike.
Bill's "Calendar Girl" was refusing to fire on all cylinders and had already been retired for the weekend.
The line lock on Sam's bike was finally shelved and the crew resigned to running without it. Sam finally got to make a trial run under the lights and then packed it in for the night.
Back at the hotel by 10:30 and we were off for a late meal and some barley soda to wash it down. Bikes and racing dominated the conversation.
Up early on Saturday, first call for Sam was 8:00 A.M. so we were in for a full day. Sam got his first Valdosta win that morning which really ramped up the crew. The second round win came just before lunch... we're riding high now!
http://youtu.be/hY4uCrBQZAsBill had brought his leathers and was not going to be denied the opportunity to race, so ideas began to form about preparing project "Purple Rain" (sounds appropriate, I don't recall whether Bill has named this one yet or not) for racing the following day.
Quite ambitious seeing as how it had just been purchased that very day...
Good thing Bill and John had done such a good job of preparing "SamAuto" for racing since it might have been difficult to get much done with people stopping by the pits every 10 or 15 minutes to reminisce about their own experiences with their old Hondas. Before the weekend was over I think just about everyone there checked in with our pits!
The stars and planets were aligned in such a manner that we got to spend a good part of Saturday talking shop with both Ken and Todd from CycleX
Mike R., Ken (Cycle X), and Bill B.
Bill and Kenny trying to figure out the correct direction to go down the track. 
Ken brought along a super trick CB750 SOHC cylinder head that they are developing for their drag bike. Mike and Bill were inspecting this mechanical eye candy VERY closely. I think I could actually see flash rust forming on the steely bits due to the spike in humidity! Sorry, no picts (top secret stuff) but the O.D. of the outer valve spring was about the same as the stock INNER spring. Custom (larger) intake connectors welded in place, some over-the-top port massaging, and a billet cylinder block to go with it! Monster valves machined deep into the head, enlarged combustion chamber, I think he mentioned 74mm(?) bore and another 2mm stroke. They are definitely into their 750's!
AND if that wasn't enough... Pat and Big Jay from A.P.E. happened by...
What a treat talking with Jay. His declaration that his business was built on these old Hondas is evidenced by his insistence on continuing to produce parts for these old bikes. He really enjoys what he's doing and it shows. He talked at length about his involvement with RC (Sr) back in the day, about the lifecycle of some of the different product lines, how they came about, how some fell out of favor, how they were resurrected, as well about current projects and ideas. I could listen to him go on for hours...
Also got to meet Tracy from Montgomery Motorsports, purveyors of carbon fiber bling:
http://www.montgomerymotorsports.net/ . Tracy just scored an early SOHC 750 and has started making carbon fiber bits! Fender, points cover, clutch cover, and more to come. I don't know if they have the CB750 items posted on their site yet, they're that new!
Saturday afternoon was spent hurrying up to wait. Sam's third (and final) run of the day would not come until after dark. This gave me plenty of time to browse the pits:
And we thought our bikes were old...
The lady racers were well represented:
After Sam's third round loss we were packed up and off for an early dinner and favorite spirits by 9:30 P.M. Sunday starts all over again with a clean slate AND we got to sleep in, first call was for 8:30 A.M.
There was quite the field on Sunday:
And more racing!
Got to see both Bill (on Purple Rain) and Sam both take their first round wins on Sunday and then it was time for myself and the Atlanta/Colorado/Massachusetts contingents to pack it up. If you don't think we had an absolute blast, then you don't know Jack...
One final shot of Jerry, the triplets, and me before parting ways.
GZ 1.0 off to retire in Colorado Springs with Jerry, GZ 2.0 and 3.0 off to Sunny Florida. During the uneventful ride ride home, I happened to see the coolest tow vehicle during a fuel stop...
Now I want to build my own dragbike...
