Morley and I made it back to my house around 1:30am this morning, and he got a little sleep and took off for Wichita. I rode 1600 miles with him and he has around 400 left to go by himself.
I'm sure Sean will be posting a little more about this but I'm going to try and give everyone a little summary.
We left Wichita Friday morning around 10:00am and drove the 400+ miles to my house in Iowa, spent the night and got up around 5:30 to make the 600+ miles to Thompson, OH. It rained almost the whole way up there, but we got there in 10 hours with a few quick stops and met up with Shawn Kloker at the track to check it out. We walked around a bit then went to our hotel and then decided to unload the bikes and grab a little supper. I think Morley was a little hesitant on getting the bike out as it had been raining, but he did. We got about 30 miles from the hotel, and got off the interstate. Kloker and Morley got on it pretty hard (aparently Morley was on it a little harder, as he locked up something in the rear end) He was pissed to say the least..... 1000 miles (one way) and he won't be able to race his own bike.
The Klokers and I see a bar/steak house across the road and head over there as Morley heads back on my bike to get the trailer. I have a few gin and tonics (followed by a few beers) since I wasn't riding any more and wait for the trailer to get here so we can load up the bike. We get everything loaded up, Morley is still fuming, but hides it very well. We go back over to the steak house to order supper, and Sean orders a bloody steak, I think he was so mad, he actually wanted to go out and murder the cow and cut up his own piece of meat and eat it raw... (I may be stretching it a little, but he was very upset and dissappointed to say the least).
We get supper finished up and say good night to the Klokers, (It was their 4 year anniversary that night by the way, so congrats to them!) Morley and I head back to the hotel with his broken bike on the trailer. We still aren't sure what happened, so we get parked under a parking lot light as it is around 10ish I believe. We are hoping it was a shredded clutch basket, but a quick removal of the cover and disassembly of the clutch shows a clean/functional clutch.... damn. Morley gets out his flashlight and it peaking in the internals of the engine and notices one of the gears is chewed up something fierce.....missing/ground off teeth.... not good!
We don't have a new tranny or even the time to split the engine and replace it, so we decided to get my bike ready for him to ride. We make a few adjustments (handlebars, shift peg, throttle cable, etc.) just to make it feel a little better for him. We know what my bike has for HP since it was on the dyno in Topeka just a month earlier. It was down in HP from Morley's bike, but we really didn't have much of an option at this point.
We are sitting outside the hotel waiting for Mario to show up.... I don't know his last name, but I'm sure many of you know who he is and have seen some of his bar-end mirrors. Anyway, I think Mario shows up around 11:30pm or maybe even later and we shoot the **** for a few hours... Mario and his son were great to meet and talk to.... Good stories!
It was around 2:00 before we got to bed, I was BEAT!
Sunday morning comes around and we get up around 7ish. Get packed, and headed over to McDonalds for one of those super healthy breakfasts. I ride my bike to the track as Morley takes his bike on the trailer. We wait in line for a few minutes for the gates to open and talk to a few other V-Maxers that are in line as well. It isn't long before we are able to make it in and get things unloaded and set up right at 9:00am. The morning was looking pretty good as the skys were overcast, but it didn't look like rain. We are walking around looking at bikes talking to each other, we are parket next to Jon and the UFO guys and everyone is friendly, but you can tell there is still a little tension in the air, but nothing to worry about. Cornell did his little drag racing lesson, and it was a pretty decent talk covering the basics, but I think most of those already knew most of it, but it was good anyway. Around 10:30 or 11:00 we were able to make it out to the track and get some runs in. I took the nitrous bottle off my bike just to make sure Morley wasn't spraying and he is off to the staging lanes.
This is Morley's first pass all year long, it is on a bike he had only been on once before (for 30 miles the previous night), and the first time at this track. Anyway he pulls off a GREAT reaction time of 0.0246 but his 1/4mile MPH was VERY SLOW @ 109.8, but was still able to pull off an 11.4689. I'm thinking my bike is messed up, I knew it was down on power a little, but not that much..... I talk to Sean as he is getting in the staging lanes for his second pass and he said he accidentally let off way early... he didn't realize the finish line was past the time display signs.
Each pass is getting better and better and I am feeling much better about the bike, but I am also realizing my racing skills are needing a little work as Sean can get about 3 or 4 tenths of a second faster times than I can. Cornell is posting some very low 11 second times and it is going to be hard for Morley to beat him. It will have to be at the tree.
Morley has 3 passes in, and he and Cornell decided to race. The tensions were high, the smoke from the burnouts was so thick you could cut it with a knife, the smell of racing fuel was in the air.... sorry, I'm not a very good story teller.
Short version First race:
Morley red lights (by a c--t hair), but has a great launch and Cornell chases him down at the big end of the track. Jon had a pretty crappy start, but his bike is running strong.
Second race:
Cornell got the RT and had a great launch... this pass was going to be great for Jon. He came through the traps at 10.65 @ 125.04mph SMOKIN!
There was just no way my bike could keep up with that! Jon's bike was set up well, not sure what all he did to it, but that thing could run! I'm going to try and compare the two bikes and riders so everyone can compare the two:
Seans Bike (well my bike, but it was Sean's for the day)
2002 with 16k miles on it. ($4250)
Kerker exhaust with no baffle, just the comp end cap ($700)
Dyna3000 ingition ($225)
Morley's carb kit, but I didn't have the breather system hooked up like Sean normally has it, so we probably could have gotten a little more out of it. ($200)
Strapped front end w/ forks lowered 1" in the triples ($20)
11.5" progressives in the rear ($150)
Double D clutch ($50)
Pretty much stock everything else with Metzlerrs for tires
Sean probably weighs around 200lbs.... ????
Jon's Bike (actually I think he said it was his wife's)
1985 I don't know about mileage
UFO exhaust
UFO ram air intake/scoops
VGas carbs
Air shifter, though I don't think it worked, so I don't think he used it?
Rear struts
Kosman Wheels (light weight 3 spoke)
M/T ET Drag radial on rear
Slick on the front
One caliper/rotor on the front
Strapped front end
Jon may weigh around 170lbs maybe???
I't would be neat to compare $$ and time put into the bikes... I just put some dollar amounts next to my mods and it looks like I have around $5600 in the whole bike (not including nitrous). The best carb/fuel system will always be a debateable subect, but I did see Sean sell one of his kits, and I'm not sure if Jon sold any? I am happy with Sean's kit and 40mpg
Lessons learned:
Jon's bike is faster than my bike
Sean farts when he eats certain veggies
Ohio is a long freakin way from Wichita
Gas is expensive!
If you are going to have a pissing contest, do it with someone in your area.
The Klokers were great to hang out with!
Things were organized very well and thanks Jon for the placks and food.
Sean is a better racer than I am.
I had the fastest 1/4 mile mph of all the VMaxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I'm the weinner!!!!!!
I'm sure Sean will post some pics, movie files, and all the times when he gets home.
I just thought I would get this posted so we can start talking.
Jeff