ccdhowell
01-28-2008, 02:50 AM
Well after 2 busy months getting the Quadracer I bought from Lomax ready to race, I ran the ATVCCS season opener at 9 o'clock this morning. There were 7 other riders in my class and 65 total in my race program. The track was 6.3 miles of mostly open field with about a mile of knarly, tight, godforesaken muddy, rutted, whopped-out woods. I practiced on the track yesterday, on the original track of 9.3 miles. Much of the woods portion became so rutted and muddy that it was practically impassable for anything but the utility quad racers. I got stuck 5 times on my last practice lap yesterday, high-centered on all of them, and I'm running 20 inch Pirelli Race Rail XCs on the rear, normally a very good tire. The ruts just got too deep. Basically it everyone would stack up at the bogs, 4 to 8 or so of us, we'd all pitch in to get everybody through and going and stack up again at the next bog. At the riders meeting this morning, the organizers said they had rerouted the track and cut-out most of the woods. I rode the track once this morning to check the new layout and it was passable, at least before the race started. I lined-up on my starting line about 20 minutes prior to the race and as the other racers began to fill-in I noticed I had the only 2-stroke in the field, and there were only two other kick starters. All the other riders in my class were electric start so I knew I wouldn't get the holeshot since it is a dead-engine start, but it fired up on the first kick and I wasn't more than two lengths behind the trail rider off the line. Then about 100 yards off the line, with me still 2 to 3 lengths back and setting up for the first turn, a sweeping right hander to a 200 yard up hill run, a dip-*Edited**Edited**Edited**Edited* on a KTM to my right front brakes too soon and pulls across the front on my Quadracer and clips the right front tire bending the right tie rod and screwing up the toe on the right side. Luckily it didn't end the race for me, but the steering was damed squirrely at speed turning in to high-speed corners after that. I did manage to finish the race on the same lap as the leader, but last in my class, nearly 8 minutes off the leaders time for a 60 minute race. I had hoped for better in the season opener, but it wasn't to be. I just couldn't get comfortable with the steering at high speed and on turn-in it pushed like a Mack truck and wouldn't set and turn through the corner. I'll have to get the front end fixed, hopefully I can just bend the tie rod straight, but it is aluminum. I put a set of Full Flight +2 a-arms on and the tie rods are aluminum. I'm thinking on calling Full Flight to see if they have any chrome-moly tie rods, aluminum bends too easily. To make matters worse, I guess, I cliped several trees in the woods with the front end. Several places were only 3 to 4 inches wider than my quad and very rough and if you didn't slow down and came it hot and bouncing, well you know what happens.
So at the end of the day I have no bragging rights other than I limped a damaged and poor steering quad to the end of the race. I will say though that I was impressed with the ability of the old 250 2-stroke to hand with new 400s, 450s and even an Outlaw 525. I wasn't giving up much in the way of horsepower to the new bikes. I did have trouble getting it in the right gear sometimes coming out of corners and the torquey thumpers would pull out on me untill the 250 hit it's powerband. The thumper guys weren't shifting nearly as much as I was. I don't have huge time on the seat of my Quadracer so I know I'll get all the bugs worked out and be more competitive before the season gets too far along, hopefully by the time warm weather gets here.
I didn't take any pictures, but I will post a link to pics when the ATVCCS sends me one and to the race report when it is written.
Chris
So at the end of the day I have no bragging rights other than I limped a damaged and poor steering quad to the end of the race. I will say though that I was impressed with the ability of the old 250 2-stroke to hand with new 400s, 450s and even an Outlaw 525. I wasn't giving up much in the way of horsepower to the new bikes. I did have trouble getting it in the right gear sometimes coming out of corners and the torquey thumpers would pull out on me untill the 250 hit it's powerband. The thumper guys weren't shifting nearly as much as I was. I don't have huge time on the seat of my Quadracer so I know I'll get all the bugs worked out and be more competitive before the season gets too far along, hopefully by the time warm weather gets here.
I didn't take any pictures, but I will post a link to pics when the ATVCCS sends me one and to the race report when it is written.
Chris