Chairman’s Column

Recalling My First AHRMA Race

It had been 25 years since I entered a formal motorcycle race, and things had changed. It was 2007, and I was venturing out into America’s premier vintage racing organization armed with how it was done a quarter century ago. I had recently joined AHRMA (American Historic Motorcycle Racing Association) and resurrected my former Kawasaki Z1 1015cc AMA Superbike. My very first AHRMA race was at Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah, GA, that February. Accompanying me on this adventure was Jeff, a good friend who was a veteran motorcyclist (but no race mechanic) and my lovely wife, Wanda. I was rusty, the bike hadn’t been raced in forever, and the sport had changed somewhat. What could go wrong? What had changed in this thrilling sport of high-speed motorcycle racing was that racers building and working on their own bikes had become a dated and quaint notion. Back ‘in-the-day’ there were no track days for testing bikes or honing skills. Also, there were very few speed shops to build and maintain racing equipment; we rolled our own. This was a culture change for me. My status was as a ‘new guy,’ who was unfamiliar with most of the other attendees, and they unfamiliar with me. The format for a typical AHRMA race meet was a full day of practice on Friday, practice early Saturday and racing Saturday afternoon. Saturday’s schedule was repeated on Sunday. All morning long on Friday I was getting used to high speeds, passing in traffic, full lean angle cornering, hard braking, and the various quirks of my racebike. As if this weren’t enough, my left boot was shiny after each track session. The dreaded oil leak. If left unchecked, the oil would end up on my rear tire and ... We cleaned it up and searched for the source of the oil after every on-track session. An old mechanic’s trick for finding hard to pinpoint leaks is to clean the suspected area and spray on Arrid Extra Dry deodorant. When the spray dries it leaves a white dry powder over the area. Even the smallest amount of liquid will turn this powder dark, exposing the source of the leak. Good news/bad news. Good news, by midday we found the leak. Bad news, the oil was oozing out of a crack in the lower engine case. Now, for those who may not grasp the scope of this discovery, this is a big and complex four-cylinder, DOHC engine with a built-in clutch and transmission. We tried gluing the crack knowing it was an unlikely and desperate move. Nope. Didn’t work. Only one way to stop this loss of engine oil during hard use was to replace the broken engine case. Keep in mind that our race pit consisted of an open van, an EZUp canopy, and a piece of carpet laid on the grass under the canopy. We were carrying with us basic spare parts and hand tools, but no engine cases or air tools. As this was my first race back into the sport, I was on a mission to win. Prospects were looking dim for that. A ‘team’ meeting was called, and a plan of action was formed. The facts of the situation: We lived in Ormond Beach, FL, four hours south of Savannah. I had a spare set of engine cases at home. Engine case replacement requires removal of the engine assembly, clean up and scrape all gaskets, then disassemble/ reassemble the lower engine and transmission unit, and retune everything. Typically, a 10-12-hour job when performed in a full shop. It was Friday afternoon, and the first race was noon Saturday. We loaded up the leaky bike, tools, and gear. I informed my neighboring racers that we were going home to fix it and would be back for tomorrow’s event. I could see it in their eyes, “sure you will.” I drove us home. Jeff and I unloaded and got to work pulling the engine. Wanda went to bed for as much sleep as she could get. I dug out the used lower engine case and got Jeff started on scraping gaskets and cleaning the part for surgery. The engine case replacement process took 10 1/2 hours, an all-nighter. We loaded the van differently for the return trip north to allow sleeping en route accommodations for Jeff and me. Wanda drove us back to the track, another four hours. We arrived back at Roebling Road Raceway at 11 AM Saturday, just in time to unload and prepare for the afternoon race. Our neighbors in the paddock were astounded. Somehow, facing and meeting a big challenge gives big satisfaction, and winning makes it even better.