Gas powered bikes?

mfennell

Well-Known Member
I had some fun yesterday.
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Trip to NJMP for a track day. Took the first timer school. There was a little confusion in my first lead.follow session and we ended up going faster than normal. Here's my rear tire after 6 laps. :)

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Had a lot of fun. Beginner group was a little frustrating but I'm not really ready to move up yet either.

there were 5 friends in the class. One of them is a bit of a collector, especially of 2 strokes. Here's his garage. The RGV250 is my favorite and it turns out I fit it pretty well. Unfortunately, the time to buy one was 5 years ago...



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The ducati ran great. It's scary on the street but running through 3rd and 4th felt sluggish compared to liter bikes. Passing rules made it annoying until I was comfortable enough.to pass them on the brakes. It's easy to be a hero on the brakes in the beginner group.
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
I had some fun yesterday.
View attachment 185197

Trip to NJMP for a track day. Took the first timer school. There was a little confusion in my first lead.follow session and we ended up going faster than normal. Here's my rear tire after 6 laps. :)

View attachment 185198

Had a lot of fun. Beginner group was a little frustrating but I'm not really ready to move up yet either.

there were 5 friends in the class. One of them is a bit of a collector, especially of 2 strokes. Here's his garage. The RGV250 is my favorite and it turns out I fit it pretty well. Unfortunately, the time to buy one was 5 years ago...



View attachment 185199

The ducati ran great. It's scary on the street but running through 3rd and 4th felt sluggish compared to liter bikes. Passing rules made it annoying until I was comfortable enough.to pass them on the brakes. It's easy to be a hero on the brakes in the beginner group.
How much was the day at the track if you don’t mind me asking.

I keep thinking about my current garage and either swapping or adding another bike. I bounce between an ADV or street triple.

If I buy aST3 I would definitely head to the track.
 

mfennell

Well-Known Member
How much was the day at the track if you don’t mind me asking.

I keep thinking about my current garage and either swapping or adding another bike. I bounce between an ADV or street triple.

If I buy aST3 I would definitely head to the track.

As you should. :)

$250. $185 if you join the club for $400. This is the group: https://njmp.com/the-riders-club/

TBH, I'm not sure the beginner class was the best ever. The instructor was good but the format felt rushed and the track time wasn't as controlled as I thought it should be but maybe I worry too much. The class is 'free'. No extra on top of the regular day. I've heard good things about these guys: https://www.n2td.org/ They come to NJMP a few times per year but I didn't want to wait.

The organization was very good. Four sessions per hour and always bang on time. Four morning sessions, an hour for lunch, then four afternoon sessions. That's 2 hours of track time and you'll feel it. I bailed after 6 sessions, feeling a little fatigued in the heat and wanting to get home at a reasonable hour. A lot of people were staying for today - it must be brutal out there.
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
Just finished up the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. Cross Country does know how to put on an event. About 300 riders. Nice route and raised over $35k.

Saw a couple cool bikes and one awesome 3 wheeled Morgan.

Talked to the Ducati owner and he gave me the whole run down on it. It went dark on him right when the ride was supposed to start but he got it fixed… Once we all got back.

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mfennell

Well-Known Member
Acquired.


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Ring a ding ding! '96 Aprilia RS250. 250cc of two-stroke GP bike replica goodness. This one is the "Max Biaggi" version.

The seller did a ton of work. New pistons, Nikasil liners re-done, aftermarket heads, race ECU (whatever that means on a carb'd bike), updated Brembo front brake master cylinder, Tyga expansion chambers, random stuff I already forgot. He's basically only heat cycled it since the work (he bought a Suzuki RG500) so it will need some fine tuning, which I am completely ill-equipped for. But F-it. I've wanted a 250cc 2-stroke GP rep since reading a test of a Honda NS250R in MotorCyclist magazine in 1984 (4 or 5 years before I actually bought my first bike). Randomly, that article was probably written by Nick Ienatsch, who is friendly with Steve at SpeedWerks in Delaware, who connected me with Nick, the seller of this bike. 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon and all that.

EDIT: I like this pic, so I'm posting it.


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extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Acquired.


View attachment 185986View attachment 185987

Ring a ding ding! '96 Aprilia RS250. 250cc of two-stroke GP bike replica goodness. This one is the "Max Biaggi" version.

The seller did a ton of work. New pistons, Nikasil liners re-done, aftermarket heads, race ECU (whatever that means on a carb'd bike), updated Brembo front brake master cylinder, Tyga expansion chambers, random stuff I already forgot. He's basically only heat cycled it since the work (he bought a Suzuki RG500) so it will need some fine tuning, which I am completely ill-equipped for. But F-it. I've wanted a 250cc 2-stroke GP rep since reading a test of a Honda NS250R in MotorCyclist magazine in 1984 (4 or 5 years before I actually bought my first bike). Randomly, that article was probably written by Nick Ienatsch, who is friendly with Steve at SpeedWerks in Delaware, who connected me with Nick, the seller of this bike. 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon and all that.

EDIT: I like this pic, so I'm posting it.


View attachment 186002
Back when I raced my pit buddy had one of these. Fun, obviously not fast but fun. Much heavier than the real 250GP bikes but easier to maintain. If you need any hints I can probably check with my bud. Gorgeous bike, ride it like you stole it!

Ah, trackdays! I miss the fun but not the fees....

Back in the day I cornerworked CSS to get free track time, the drills are pretty useful. They have dates coming up in August.

Another idea is instead of the school format you can sign up for a regular track day, seek out a friendly coach, and ask them for pointers. At least back when I was coaching we were more than happy to "adopt" a rider for the day. That was always fun to see them progress. Sometimes I'd just go out and circulate in the lower classes and tow peeps around. One of my buddies still coaches but I can't recall what org, probably TPM. Anyway!
 
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mfennell

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't be upset if a link showed up in this thread to a video of this thing running and maybe riding. Love the 2 strokes!
One of these days I'll get a GoPro for such a thing. You can just search YouTube tho - plenty of videos.
 
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