When I last posted I was hoping to make the AHRMA Daytona race in January. The injury to my finger (torn tendon) took much longer to heal than anticipated and Daytona was a no go. Over the winter I decided it was time to upgrade my front brake. The Grimeca I was using has been less than adequate, fading after a couple heavy braking corners and causing me to give away too much ground. Went with a 250mm Fontana which I bought from John Clarjis. The Fontana is a magnesium alloy versus the aluminum Grimeca. So the Fontana is both bigger and two pounds lighter.
First race of the year was with AHRMA at Heartland Motorsports in Topeka, Kansas. Unfortunately I had hurt my back a few days before the event. Ever the optimist I went ahead and made the trip hoping for a miracle! It was not to be. After the first practice sessions Friday morning I knew it was not going to happen. Rather to let the trip be a total loss I went ahead and ran the Formula 500 and 750 races Saturday with no additional practice. I was well off the pace and finished with a 5th and 6th. At my reduced pace I could not tell if the Fontana was an improvement over the Grimeca. I did note that the cables needed adjusting after each practice and race. My assumption was the shoes were bedding in. Most importantly this counted as two races toward the four required to race at Barber Motorsports in October. My brother had fallen off a ladder working on his motor home a couple of days before the event. X-rays were negative and he raced with his boot duct taped to accommodate his swollen leg. What a pair we were!
Next up was New Jersey Motorsports with AHRMA. As a bonus Brent Waller, Mike Rieck and George Schuld (helping Matt Esterline) were also attending. The trip did not get off to a good start. Wednesday afternoon I tried to start my van to hook it up to the trailer and it would not stay running! It cranked, fired, and then died. After about 6 tries I called the towing service and had it taken to the repair shop. They did not have any quick fix suggestions and I left it with them. My brother was planning to attend , but not race. He had returned to the doctor as his leg was continuing to give him trouble. New x-rays showed the leg was indeed broken, so no racing for him. Fortunately he had driven his mini van out and my bike fit with one inch to spare. So off to NJMP we went.
It was great to meet Mike Rieck. After all the positive interactions by phone and email over the years I was looking forward to meeting him in person. Can't say enough good things about Mike as a person and as the best cylinder head guy out there! Ran into Brent Friday morning at the motel. This guy in a VRRA shirt sure looks familar! My race weekend did not go well. It was quickly apparent the Fontana was not working well and continued to need cable adjustments after each practice session. So like Heartland, I only raced Saturday in F500 and F750 finishing 4th and 5th. The good news was I now had the four race finishes needed to race at Barber.
When I opened up the Fontana I was shocked to find the lining on the brake shoes was nearly gone! The photo shows the Fontana shoe on the left after two partial race events and the Gremica on the right after over twenty race weekends!
You can see the lining was actually transferring to the brake drum!
With my regular brake shop shutting down I was in need of relining service asap. Kenny Cumming of NY City Nortons runs Fontanas and he recommended Brian Henderson in Canada. A call to Brian confirmed he could reline the shoes and service the brake in time for the AMA Vintage Days at Mid-Ohio. The stars aligned and he was able to reline the shoes with Ferodo race compound, arc the shoes, and turn the drum in record time. The wheel arrived back two days before a track day at Mid-Ohio. I live about an hour from Mid-Ohio and drove up Monday morning hoping they would have an opening for me. Fortunately they did and after changing a non-compliant oil filter (K&N with spot welded nut) I was good to go. What a difference good brake shoe linings make. After some initial bedding in the brake got better every time out on the track.
Following my normal oil change routine I changed the oil on Wednesday. Much to my horror I found metal on the drain plug magnet! Definitely gear metal. Pulling the oil pan confirmed there were broken gears in the box. A shift dog had broken off second/third gear and the other two dogs were cracked! I'm wondering if the hard welding and race cut is the reason. With one week before leaving for AMA Vintage days the wrenches were flying. Pulled the motor and removed the lower case. Not only was second/third missing a dog, but the fragment had gone through the fourth gear set. Fortunately the custom first and fifth were not damaged. A used motor bought for parts was then torn down to source donor gears. The motor was reassembled with a mix of stock and race cut gears, male and female. Fingers crossed, just need it to hold together for Mid-Ohio as there is a gap in my schedule for a proper rebuild afterward.
We set up in the Mid-Ohio paddock Thursday and prepared for practice Friday. Much to my relief the transmission shifted just fine and made it through to Sunday. For the first time this year I had a working front brake and was riding decently. Saturday and Sunday finishes are averaged for your overall finishing position. I finished second in Vintage 3 both days having a spirited race with a Yamaha 650 that was bored to 750. I was faster on the first half of the track (including the main straight) and he was faster on the second half of the track. For the first time ever I ran away with both Formula 500 races. It was such a strange, but good, feeling to win by over 10 seconds both days.
Formula 500 checkered flag.
Formula 500 podium
Next race for the 550 is Barber. Looking at doing Gingerman on my Honda Hawk to try and stay sharp. Hoping my troubles are sorted and the rest of the year goes well.
