Topic: race update and thanksgiving

[turboguzzi]

More than three years ago I decided to go vintage racing on a 500 four, not quite knowing what kind of endeavor I was getting into. Good thing too, guess if I knew back then how much work is involved in building in your own garage a full blown racer, I might have never started. It was quite an epic odyssey, but after a winter of endless nights in a cold underground garage, I went straight to my first race without ever testing the bike and got a ninth place.

Nice start but it took a very short while to understand that it was pure beginners luck and that the technical and riding level in Italy's national championship is very high. Time to shelve the dreams of easy glory. As a 45 year old who got into racing for the first time, I understood after a few races that getting more than mid-field finishes with all those ex-racers around would be quite hard.  

Three years on, 2009 season starts with a few wet races were I seem to excel, I bring some high placements, then a third place in the dry arrives too and by the end of the year it's looking good. Last race was this weekend and I am glad to announce that I have ended in third place overall in the 500 cc four stroke class for 2009.

I am not here to self boast, racing teaches you to be very humble. I am not the third fastest rider out there, not by a mile, but have been very consistent and never DNF. So the main reason I am posting this thread is that I really don't know what would I have done without the information, help and support I got from this forum. I have done plenty of restorations in the past, some mild tuning but never built a full on racer. I had so many questions that needed to be answered, let alone all the dead ends that I avoided thanks to good advice I got here. Had some great discussions that solved serious problems and doubts. So there, thanks for whoever helped, directly, or sometimes indirectly, without knowing, as I was reading through the endless threads.

I am obviously chuffed and so should you. If this is this forum's first ever podium finish, then many can justly feel like it belongs to them too.

TG

[manjisann]

Congrats on the placement thats awesome!!!

Brandon

[scunny]

congratulations, and thank you, I enjoyed reading your build and it's progress

[Sam Green Racing]

Getting as far as you have in such a short time is testament to your motor prep as well as your riding skills, DNFs don't get you where you got.
Congrats.  

Sam.

[meloni.racing]

Congrats TG!!!!!

[Kemp]

Great story TG, to finish 3rd in a national series is no mean feat. I really enjoy reading about your build as well. Keep building, racing and writing.

Kemp

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

WOW!  Fantastic job.

[Bill/BentON Racing]

TG,CONGRATULATIONS,YES I'M SHOUTING!!!!!!!,I GOT SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT!!!OK,WOW,how neat.Hard work and skill and a little luck and a great attitude,Look what you've accomplished,Be PROUD,we are!!Love your posts and pics,Thanks,CB500/550's Rock and Run!, PM me your address and size you just won a genuine Sam Green Racing T/Shirt! ,Bill

[Popwood]

Nice going, TG, you're livin' the dream. You've clearly accomplished a great deal in a relatively short time through hard work, mechanical and riding skills and pure desire. Congratulations! And +1 to all those on the forum who give unselfishly their time and knowledge to help us all. 

[moham]

Well done TG! Must feel pretty gratifying after all your effort.

And your story is inspiring...while I may not take the 550-Ninja Hybreed out on the track, I'm seriously considering attempting to build/race a rally car for my next project...

Again, great job! Enjoy your accomplishments and crack a cold one!

[turboguzzi]

Thanks for the good vibe guys,

Just getting on the track was the fulfillment of a VERY old dream for me, this third place is a real reward.

Without getting to carried away, I hope this shows to more people here that it can be done and its extremely rewarding.

I guess I sometimes put people off when I keep suggesting dirt cheap solutions to everything but its worth saying that my bike was put together with a very low cash investment, mostly with swapmeet and *bay finds. Lot of work though!

The only two components that are worth more than 300$ in it are the megacycle cam and the recently *bay purchased set of used CR29's. Never spent more than 100$ on any other single part, I think the overall budget was less than 2000$. The bike was already competitive with a set of 50$ VM26's but when the cheap CR29's came along I just couldnt pass it.

And to think that the trigger for the whole project was the actual choperized CB500 with a King and Queen seat that I got half free....

TG

[paulages]

congrats yossef! wish i could have caught a race while i was over there this spring. maybe next year.. keep it up. as others have said, a well tuned motor only goes so far. the fact that you excel in the rain is a testament to your riding skills. hope next season finds you in second or first!

[bwaller]

Right On TG, good job man.

Consistancy is key, but you wouldn't have grabbed third spot without being one of the fast guys.

I agree that this place and these people are a big help, but kudos to you for being unselfish with the information also. I can say that more than once you have saved me from following the wrong path in my own little dragged out proj.. 

Now if you could just find a $100 CR gearbox. 

[Ecosse]

awesome and kudos tg!! i wish you much future success and enjoyment and thanks for the post too.

this forum truly is invaluable. 

[Bill/BentON Racing]

TG,once again Great job!,what's your plans for next year? Bwaller time for an update!,Bill

[voxonda]

See this topic just yet, CONGRATS TG!!! Your the man!

Regards, Rob

[von_Wanderlust]

Wow TG, that's excellent!

And I agree, this is a great place for information and help. (It's so valuable that I hope it's backed up many many times!)

[mec]

congrats TG

mec

[turboguzzi]

Hei Mec

Seen two cars with Austrian plates in the paddock, did your friend come?

Was just too busy to go around asking if any body knew of MEC, the guy with the DIY Egli....

TG

[Rod]

Great job TG - an example to us all.

[greasy j]

way to go! hopefully in 5 yrs or so I will be able to put my business on autopilot and start working towards the same goal.

congratulations and keep it up!

[turboguzzi]

TG,once again Great job!,what's your plans for next year? Bwaller time for an update!,Bill

Bill,

plans? a good question. My category, 500cc /4 stroke is the most populated and challenging and I would like to develop my bike further.

On the other hand, at 6'4" I am really too big for a tiny 500-4, so am pretty tempted to step up to 750. There is a CB650 that i can have for cheap but I'd be starting from scratch. Been also offered a KZ750 and with all due respect to our sohc's, building a green, mini-eddie lawson replica is tempting too.
 
Have to decide real quick i guess, five months to build a competitive racer from the ground up is not that much. Most likely i'll be back on the 500, guess that's a better place to sharpen my riding skills.

TG

[paulages]

TG,once again Great job!,what's your plans for next year? Bwaller time for an update!,Bill

Bill,

plans? a good question. My category, 500cc /4 stroke is the most populated and challenging and I would like to develop my bike further.

On the other hand, at 6'4" I am really too big for a tiny 500-4, so am pretty tempted to step up to 750. There is a CB650 that i can have for cheap but I'd be starting from scratch. Been also offered a KZ750 and with all due respect to our sohc's, building a green, mini-eddie lawson replica is tempting too.
 
Have to decide real quick i guess, five months to build a competitive racer from the ground up is not that much. Most likely i'll be back on the 500, guess that's a better place to sharpen my riding skills.

TG

i'd love to see you develop a cb650 and see how many horses you could squeeze out of it, but the physical size is not very different than the 500. on the other hand, you'd be building upon everything you learned with the 500, as the engine design is almost identical... not that you'd likely have any problems building a fast cb750. do you know what lap time differences are like on those bikes where you race (i realize that's track-specific, but generally speaking)? at our local track (PIR) the lap record in open vintage was on a 500/4, beating cb750s, water buffalos, etc. honestly, i've never ridden a track-ready 750, but even a lightened and "agile" street version feels like a pig to me compared to the smaller fours.

[mec]

Hei Mec

Seen two cars with Austrian plates in the paddock, did your friend come?

Was just too busy to go around asking if any body knew of MEC, the guy with the DIY Egli....

TG

yes, my friend peter was in franciacorta. bu i do not have further informations till now.

mec

[turboguzzi]

we have only one real horsepower track in the season, Vallelunga and there, the lap times of the top guys in each class follow pretty much the horsepower levels.

The rest of our championship is run in smaller tracks and on these, there's not a whole lot of difference in lap times between a 500, 750, or even an open class bike,

Case in hand, a friend of mine runs about the same lap times on his 500-4 and his big bore 718 / 500 hybrid

For whatever the reason, nobody races here CB750's in either 750 or the open class,

750's are mostly Guzzis and Ducs here while in the open 1100cc class those are GS and KZ big bores doing the winning.

TG