Night at the Flat Track Race

Friday night they had flat track racing in Mineral Wells at the WV Speedway.
Great stuff and evening. Dad and I decide to ride in style and take 77 and 78 Bonnies. Tickle tickle Kick kick kick.

Went with the pit pass and walked around. Sucked that neither one of us had a camera on us. Not a ton of racers but they went on 7:30 and raced till midnight.

Man a XR750 would be a blast to throw around. We talked with one of the dudes behind the scenes that was racing a 750. He said a rebuild cost's in the multiple thousands and alot of homemade parts and rigging. About every 5 or 6 races he's rebuilding.

Alot number of 750's and the twin experts was the races to watch. A dude was racing a Triumph but he disappeared. The HD's held court. I can't help but laugh as these guys throw their bikes sideways in the turns. MotoGP doesn't have anything on these guys.

A guy with a very nice Norton was racing. If I had a bike like that, I would not be playing in the dirt, it was pristine. He wasn't having a good evening. first run and he was bogging down. We caught him cleaning plugs. Second run out and he spilt the bike, only one of the evening. he was done.

The coolest racer in my book was a young dude racing flat track with one arm. He's a winner every race if you ask me. Props to him.

Time to go home, tickle tickle kick kick kick, the 77 fired up. Mess with the stupid cold start system on the 78, she fires up. Then they both decide to die on us. We chill for a moment, a couple people are hanging around and offer a bump start. As they push the 77, I jump on the 78 while sweet talking the Amal's, I kick kick kick and she comes to life. She dies yet again.

Meanwhile, they got nowhere pushing the 77. Pull the plugs, let her sit for a moment... tickle tickle kick kick kick and she's alive. We push the 78 to the side, vowed to return for her. I hop on bitch and Dad and I hit I77 lucking to top at 60MPH about 1:30am. I lean back on my arms holding to the grab rail and enjoy the cloudless night, the twinkling stars and the vehicles screaming past us.

We get to the house, hook up the trailer and return for the wounded. We get the 78 tied down in no time, and as Harvey says in Reservoir Dogs, 'I'm hungry, lets get a taco' we hit up the The Omelette Shoppe on a Friday night with all the Drunks in Parkersburg. We get to turn in at 4am.

So today, we messed with the floats on the 78 that deals with boiling the bowls in water, a hammer and a punch. She's back to normal with that wonder Triumph growl. Better growl on the 77 with the straight pipes.

A night of Flat Track and kicking Bonnevilles, what more could you ask for?

Hey all; Neat story, Those old Bonnies could be tempermental, Although My '76 wasn't too bad. (Gee I wish I had that bike back again!!) You forgot the best part.. Spending time with the ol' man! Both of my sons ride, and I love to watch them ride, very smooth, and graceful. Wish I could take credit for their abilities, can't. Used to race flat track back when I was young and foolish, have the torn-up left knee to prove it!! Still love to watch. Vaya con Dios, Dutch

Hey Bunky, yep that's exactly the best part of it. He's definitely a good buddy of mine.

We messed around with the 78 this morning replacing the contact points. Temperamental nails it but worth it, I love riding the Triumphs.

Take care man, h

Mac; Just realized that you live right across the river from my daughter and her hubby. (Pomeroy) Hope to get down there in the next month or so, any flat track racing going on in August that you know of? Enjoy the triumphs, I plan to add one to the stable as soon as I can figure a way to sneak it by my wife... Silly woman thinks that three bikes (and one sidecar) is too many!!! Can you believe that?!! Vaya con Dios, Dutch

here's the web site for the speedway:
www.wvspeedway.com

Yep, Pomeroy is like a 30 minute ride or so.

Whenever you're in the area let me know, we'll hit a road or 2 if possible.