2000 Racing Season

Round One, NHIS, Loudon NH.
Race Report - Exciting things are happening to 50cc racing in the USCRA. First of all, last year we were lucky to field a grid of five or six bikes, this year the grid is averaging about 11 bikes, with more being built all the time. Pictured below are some of the high quality bikes and riders this class is attracting. In addition to the excellent suzukis which have been leading the points race we now have a Honda Dream 50 with tons of HRC race kit parts installed and a beautiful Italjet racer. The class is generating a lot of excitement and oft heard "I gotta build me one of those".

On 6/11 Mary and I rolled into Gunstock NH late in the afternoon, we caught the USCRA 50cc race at this vintage race track as spectators. There was an eleven bike grid and some very close racing on this extremely narrow and winding course. Unfortunately we didn't make it in time for the Sunday race and would have to wait until Monday at NHIS to test the new parts.

Later that evening we checked into the pits at NHIS and got ourselves a garage, unloaded the bikes and tools and headed off to find a room for night. Monday morning we arrived at the track around 8am and attended the riders meeting. After the meeting I still had to safety wire the bike and install the fairings. We got the bike tech inspected and started some test runs in pit parking area. Things were looking pretty good, the motor seemed to accept the new 18mm carb and intake just fine, we had a little bogging on the 1-2 shift and the 2-3 shift but the situation improved when race fuel was added and Mary started shifting at a higher rpm. The new fourth gear ratio felt excellent, since we stayed with the 13/40 final gearing our overall ratio in 4th gear was lower (higher numerically) than last year so I was expecting maybe our top speed would be off a little.

We were allowed a two lap practice and I sent Mary out telling her to do one lap because I wanted to bring the bike back in after a short distance to check it over for problems, after all this would be the first lap at speed since the new parts were installed. This would prove to be a mistake later on as I will explain. Anyway, I felt we were ready to race so I put the bike on the battery charger and waited for our race.

They had 12 bikes gridded for the race. Mary got a poor start and about eight bikes pasted her on the starting grid. When the bike fired it took off and by turn one Mary had moved up two positions, things were looking pretty good so far. By turn three (about 1/3 lap) Mary was in fifth and moving up, as she went up the hill after turn three she pasted the next two bikes like they were standing still, as I was watching it I actually was saying to myself "slow down Mary you're going too fast", turn six was coming up and it's a very tight left hander called "the bowl" at the bottom of a hill. She was a solid third now and seemed to be keeping pace with the two leading Suzukis that had quite a lead. Towards the end of the first lap, going into the chicane she lost some speed and a few bikes were close behind, one of them being Hiroshi on the Dream 50. Coming out of the final turn on the front straight she started pulling away again with Hiroshi following, she was still pulling away at the start finish line but then starting slowing somewhat, Hiroshi started gaining ground. Close to turn one on the second lap I saw Mary's hand go up and she pulled off the track. I couldn't believe it, the bike was running so good. I hopped on the pit bike and rode over to meet her, she said the bike starting running poorly at the end of the first lap and just quite in turn one. I had an idea, I unscrewed the fuel cap, then put it back on, gave the bike a push and it fired right up and ran great on the way back to the pits. It was a CLOGGED FUEL TANK VENT !! Something that simple can end the race for you.

Well, I know this sounds bad but, we learned a great deal about the bike and the proper set up for this track. I am very happy with the way the new carb is working out and extremely happy with the new fourth gear set sent to me by Ardjuna Racing in Holland. Mary said the bike started running poorly about 3/4 into the first lap which means it was actually running even better than it appeared to be. The new 4th gear is just perfect for running this track. Our top speed was not hurt at all and appears to be even better than last year. I think we could still use a lower ratio yet, when I listened to the bike going down the front straight it didn't seem to be using as much rpm as I thought, so maybe a 13/41 for next year.

Our next race is in August. By then I will have the new Kitaco Ultra Camshaft installed which should help high rpm power even more. I will raise the carb needle one notch to see if that helps the the bog while shifting. Also I may have a new megaphone exhaust installed, built by Ray Sumner in Australia. Overall I'm hoping for another 5% more power for the next race.

	This is the HRC 22mm Kehin CR carb on Hiroshi's Dream 50. Having a hard time finding a CR carb this size for your bike. That's because they are hand bored to 22mm specifically for this bike by the technicians at HRC. It's a beautiful piece of work. I must get one of these velocity stacks also.
	This is the HRC race tach and number plate kit on the Dream 50. Redline is 14k rpm. The tach goes up to about 20k, I'm thinking you could over rev it a little without hurting it.
	Hiroshi and mechanic working on the CR carb, trying to get the needle settings correct. Things to note in this photo are the single outlet HRC DOHC four valve cylinderhead, front disk brake, HRC megaphone exhaust and overall beauty of this little bike. I took it for a few rides in the pits and this thing goes for a 50cc, specially above 11k rpm.

Round Two, NHIS, Loudon NH. 8/6/00
Race Report - For this race the bike was modified with the addition of a new megaphone exhaust and 2 inch Takegawa velocity stack. Our initial testing looked promising. While doing some testing at the track before the race we discovered a stumble in the motor around 6-7k rpm. It wasn't very serious and could be worked around by rolling the throttle gently or just keeping rpm above 7k. The new setup was producing very good power at high rpms in third and fourth gear.

For this race the club decided to do a lemans style start which means I had to hold the bike at the outside of the start finish line while Mary and the other riders lined up across the track and ran to the bikes to push start them. Mary got a decent start and by 1/2 lap she was in second place behind Hiroshi on the HRC kitted Dream 50, they were both leading the two stroke Suzukis that have been dominating the class. Down the front straight at the start of the second lap Mary passed Hiroshi for the lead just before turn one, the crowd went wild. She flew into turn one and into a section of the track where I could no longer see her. I waited and waited, no Mary. Someone yelled to me that she went down in turn two.

I caught up with her getting a ride back to the pits on the broken bike truck, she had low sided the bike in turn two at about 50mph and slide up into the air fence on the outside wall. Other than a sore shoulder and some fingers she was ok. The bike had some minor damage. It appears that the tires and rear shocks we are using are no longer suitable for the increased performance of the bike. The thing was really flying. Mary also said she held the throttle wide open through the turn, probably not a good idea.

All in all we are very happy that the bike has reached a new level of performance and looks to be competitive with the two strokes. We will be adding some better tires and KYB rear shocks before the next race in Sept. That should improve the handling and traction. We still have a few bugs to work out of the new motor set up. A motor vibration started to show up at max rpm in third and fourth gear so I think we may need to change the gearing somewhat to keep from over revving the motor. By next year we should have a race clutch installed which will allow us to turn a higher rpm without damage. After I do the math I will figure out whether we will increase one tooth on the front sprocket or drop one or two teeth on the rear sprocket.

I'll try to get the web site updated with pictures and details of the new parts as soon as possible.