So the planets aligned and I had time off from work, no obligations, and my scooter was actually running well! I'd been trying to get out and have some fun on some kart tracks all summer, but things kept getting in the way. Not this weekend!
The Mid Atlantic Scooter Racing Commission (http://masrc.info) had a race scheduled at Sandy Hook Speedway in Street, MD on Saturday. I prepared my scoot. Its your basic honda-clone I've dubbed "ChinaJunk". Its a FeiYing Xtreme 125cc 4 stroke. Its got minor mods. A horribly manufactured stainless exhaust system from eBay; two Ruckus rear shocks mounted up front in the trailing link forks; a Daytona brand "performance" shock sold for the Ruckus which feels no different than the blown stocker it replaced. And I cut the airbox off. I also applied FormulaV traction compound on the stock tires a couple times a day for the few days leading up to the race. I removed the mirrors and taped the lights and I was ready.
The race field includes pretty much any small-stature motorbike. Pit bikes, pocket bikes, mid-bikes, mini-motards, and the scooters. There were three other scooters there, all running tuned 70cc Zumas or chinese Zuma clones. Ages of the riders ranged from somewhere around 8 yrs old (the kid was FAST) to about 45 yrs old.
Here's one lap of practice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFFsCrbbFSE
Here's the standing start of the first race. You get a sense of the diversity. I get passed in the first corner. The cameraman is mounted on a KLX110. About 35sec in you'll see the 8yr old come ripping through the pack of bikes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGUUY4hZJd0&feature=channel
And here's the start of the final race. a 12yr old kid on a YSR50 cuts in on me. I think he's about to swipe my front tire and I panic-stab the front brake. The tire washed out and I took a nap while the KLX rider surfed my scoot down the pavement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpJChh1ruk0&feature=channel
All in all I had a great time for my first time out. I'm sore as hell from that crash and another minor lowside i had in the grass during practice. The scoot broke some plastic, but is otherwise fine. We got tons of track time. Two 25 minute practice sessions and then two 10 lap races and two 12 lap races. Not bad for $48! I'm definately going back. I'd like to get some tires and a longer rear shock. I was scraping my engine case on the left and my exhaust on the right. A shock w/ some actual damping qualities might be helpful as well.
If you've got a small bike (150cc or less) and some free time, you should come check this out. There's similar racing w/ http://njminigp.com and http://ovrp.com in NY.
