MOTORREADS: 15 April 2009

mika · Apr 15, 2009

It is riding time in flyover land and I am spending time in the garage. I shouldn’t complain. I was on the road in warm weather when I am normally in the garage doing bike projects. I may be missing riding smiles but in April the garage is much more comfortable to work in than it was in December.

The forum has had several threads about wheels. The one that caught my eye asked about wheel lacing. That will be the focus of this morning’s edition of the Motorreads.

Let’s start with a bit of background
Wikipedia.org: Wheel building

A bigger view focused on motorcycle wheels.
motorcyclecruiser.com: The spokin’ word – all about motorcycle wire wheels
The ins and outs of lacing and truing spoked wheels

Learning from a step by step example
Part I: instructables.com: Rebuilding a spoked wheel for the Royal Enfield Bullet
Part II: instructables .com: Tuing the Wheel

If you want a different teacher Dan’s Motorcycle may work
damsmc.com: Spoke Wheel Lacing

Video learner? A wanna be vintage racer project gives some clues to the issues with wheel building and video production. Not a guide to shop ‘best practices’ it does show the basics and that anyone can do this.
youtube.com – CL175 Racebike project, part 1: Wheels
youtube.com – Cl175 Racebike poject part 2: Brakes and spockets
youtube.com – CL175 Racebike project part 6: Building a new wheel

Still have questions? Do some searches on your favorite search engine. A host of information is out there to help you with your project. Ask questions on the forum. Your fellow riders can be a great resource. Be patient you may not get the response you need right away. Keep asking questions.

I’m still looking for information to help me re-lace the cast wheels on my Roadster.

BENCHRACING:

You follow racing and have an itch to get out on the track yourself. You are not a professional SQUID able to get a factory ride with all the perks like mechanics, trick parts, sponsors, a million dollar motorcoach to take you to the track and umbrella girls. Good, because professional racers aren’t SQUIDS. That still leaves the question of what do you do? Go Vintage Racing!

How do I to do it?

Many roads lead to the race track, but your trip may start with just a click and go to the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association’s AHRMA.org site and begin with some research. The AHRMA is not the only vintage racing group out there. However; the site will give you a good introduction to the sport, classes and links to various resources to enter the sport.

The next step is taking a ride to your dealer and asking questions. Dealers are hubs for local racing activity. The first question to ask is what racing clubs are in the area. If your BMW dealer isn’t the racing hub check out other dealers and ask them. You may not want to race something other than your Beemer so you are going to look around anyway, why not have some fun kick tires in the process?

Go to the track. MOA members tend to be touring riders by nature and the race track is an excellent ride destination. Check the regional forums on the BMW MOA board, advrider and elsewhere to find regional events. Keep an eye on the flyers posted at your dealer for event information. When you get to the track pay attention to what bikes are being raced and ask questions. People love to talk about themselves and their bikes so ask questions when ever you can.

Get involved. At a minimum this is a two part process for the would-be vintage racer. Is there a track day available in the area? You need the skills and this is the place to start. Next, become involved in a club as a corner worker or some other way. This is a way to support local racing while learning the ropes the sport without the fear of crashing.

Vintage racing has a dirty little secret. Not all vintage racing tracks a paved with tarmac, there are many dirt rider options open for the off road crowd. I tend to focus on road racing because I don’t have much in the way of dirt skills. Talk with your dealer about vintage dirt options or AMA armature options. You will be surprised at how many opportunities there are in your area.

Vintage racing is an equal opportunity sport! Don’t be surprised when you spend a day at the track and see a girl’s head appear when the helmet comes off on the walk to the podium. Vintage racing is a good place for all to riders to enjoy the sport.

Here is a link to the videos posted by the CL175 racer above. You will find other videos about his vintage racer project and the road he is on to have some vintage racing fun. Not always examples of best practices they are a fun look at another rider’s road to vintage racing.

Are you already a vintage racer? Let’s hear from you. We would love to hear how you became involved in the sport and tales of your exploits. Pictures of umbrella girls or guys are optional but appreciated.

:ha

WEC
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Canadian Motorcycle Association
AMA Pro Racing
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Cage Racing News

BMW M3s TO RACE STREETS OF LONG BEACH FOR VERY FIRST TIME
04/14/2009

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. - April 14, 2009... The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team is coming off of a strong second place finish in St. Petersburg, FL, and aspires to continue the momentum for the second consecutive street circuit race in Long Beach, California.
The Long Beach Grand Prix will mark the first-ever appearance of a BMWNA M3 at one of motorsport’s premiere events and the team will look to take advantage of the lessons learned at St. Pete and continue to improve. While similar in nature, the Long Beach circuit features many faster corners that play to the M3’s strengths. A key point of the track will be the 180 degree hairpin leading onto the long Shore Line Drive start finish straight; the M3s will be required to use every bit of their outstanding traction to be able to fend off competitive attacks going into turn one.

“Southern California's car enthusiasts love BMW and especially the M3, and our team is prepared to give them a great show,” said Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsports Manager. “We picked up our pace at St. Pete and a podium finish is an excellent result. We continue ironing out the reliability issues with the new M3 and are hopeful to finish with both cars in the points."

Tommy Milner and Dirk M??ller drove the No. 92 M3 to the team’s first podium finish at St. Pete in a strong performance that saw M??ller race towards the front of the GT2 field in the final minutes of the race.

M??ller said “I am very much looking forward to Long Beach. I have liked the track since my very first race there two years ago. Long Beach is a very technical circuit and I believe well-suited to the BMW M3.”

Echoing M??ller’s sentiments, Milner added, “I'm really looking forward to Long Beach. Based on our pace at St. Petersburg, I think we'll be equally competitive at this street circuit.”

Californians Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand hope to use their home court advantage to give the No. 90 M3 a strong start to the season, albeit a late one. Both are looking to Long Beach to turn their luck around.

“I was very comfortable in the M3 at St. Pete and know the agility of the car will translate well to the slightly wider Long Beach circuit where the cornering speeds are higher,” said Hand. “One of the keys is to be the best off the hairpin so we can hang down the long straight. Long Beach is the race I’d like to win more than anything.”

Auberlen added, “It has been a dream of mine to race a M3 at Long Beach and I’m looking forward to the opportunity. In only two races the program has shown signs that we can run at the front end of the grid. This M3 is the most advanced ever and once we come to terms with all of the technology we’ll be right there.”

This will be the first trip to the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit for the team, but like in St. Pete, not the first time for the experienced Rahal Letterman Racing crew members or team principal Bobby Rahal, a four-time runner-up at Long Beach in Indy Car competition.

"Long Beach is a special race for a number of reasons and one that has been a focal point for me and our team for many years,” said Rahal. “We are excited to bring the M3s here and are expecting to continue the improvements that we saw in St. Petersburg. Our drivers and our team know the circuit well and we are looking forward to a great weekend!"

Two test sessions begin the weekend on Thursday, with official practice scheduled for 9:00 to 9:40 a.m. Friday. A single 25-minute qualifying session is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. The one-hour-and-forty minute race is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. Saturday and will be televised from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19 on ABC.

About Rahal Letterman Racing:
Rahal Letterman Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and co-owned by three-time IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, has been competing for more than a decade compiling 20 victories, 30 poles and one series championship (Bobby Rahal in 1992 in CART) and an Indianapolis 500 championship (Buddy Rice in 2004). In 2008 Rahal Letterman Racing again won Rookie-of-the-Year honors at the Indianapolis 500 and partnered with Andersen Racing to run two entries in the Indy Pro Series. In 2009 the team has joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 as BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the American Le Mans Series and will also serve as the organizers of the Formula BMW Americas championship.

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MOTORREADS: 15 April 2009

mika

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