1st race of 2010

My brother and I headed out to West Coast RC to get some practice in for the upcoming Super Cross series starting next Sunday. I also wanted to test out using 20° timing and P8 (timing boost profile) on my SPX and test gear ratios to use with this combo.

For my 1st practice run, I used the same ratio I was running at OCRC (75:26), but turned up my motor timing to 20°. I ran about 8 minutes and my motor temp at the end of the run was over 200°F!! Opps! I thought I would be ok running a little longer, since it was so cold inside the building. For my next run, I kept the gear the same, but stopped when I hit 6 minutes. The motor temp was over 200°F again! Hmmm. I guess I better change the gear.

I dropped to a 25T, then 24T, but my motor temps were still high! For round 1, I went to 78:24, but after the race my motor temp was still over 200°F! Then for round 2, I went to 78:23, but the temp was still too high. Wow! Either the layout at West Coast is tougher on motors than OCRC, or there's something wrong with my Murfdogg Duo 17.5 :( For the main, I dropped another 2 teeth to 78:21, but after a hard race trying to catch Bill Koch (dang he's fast and doesn't crash, at all!), my motor temp was 210°F! (He won the race btw, with me in 2nd and my brother in 3rd).

I'm pretty sure nothing is binding in my motor or drive train, but I plan to double check to make sure, then put in a 81:20 gear ratio! Which seems weird, but I guess that's what I'll need to do, to keep the motor cool, using full motor timing and full timing boost, via the SPX. What's also surprising, is the timing boost profiles on the SPX, didn't make that much of a difference when the motor timing was at 0° or 10°, but when I set the timing to 20°, I almost ended up with a burnt motor! Next time I gear a motor using full motor timing and P7 or P8 on the SPX, I'll start way more conservative. I'm thinking I should drop 10T on the pinion!!!

Also worth mentioning, is the fact that my brother almost beat me in both rounds of qualifying! In round 1, we got together, and I went to the back, but quickly caught back up to him. I then, attempted a berm pass on him, but hit him in the back, causing him to get turned around, so I stopped and waited for him to get going again and let him by. But, a lapped truck got between us, and slowed me down again. I got around that truck, and chased him down, then got by when he bobbled. Not sure though. All I remember is that we were having a fun race :) I ended up finishing just in front of him in 2nd, behind Bill.

In round 2, Bill and I checked out, but a mistake passing lapped traffic, put me on my lid, and Bill was gone! I cruised around in 2nd, until in the last few laps, I clipped a pipe and endo'ed on the center kicker jump, which allowed Ran to catch up to me! I just barely finished in front of him in 2nd! What was cool though, is that we both went 14 laps! However, Bill went 15! Doh!

In the main, Bill and I checked out on the rest of the field, but my motor started getting hot again :(, and I lost a few tenths to Bill every lap. I didn't make any mistakes this time and neither did Bill, but I was a little slower every lap, becuase my motor was going soft :( At least I turned a fast 14:05 run, and scored $5 in race bucks! Ran finished in 3rd, but didn't win anything, since there were only 5 trucks in the main :(

Next race will be Round 1 of the West Coast Super Cross series! (maybe- lol!)