Some of the final work.
Firewall in, bit of a bugger to fit, but not too bad to remove.
Aluminum c-channel for a skid plate.
Reflecting the necessary mindset needed to pilot this thing. It's stupid powerful in the mid range/3rd and 4th gear.
Post race update ... Usual luck, another DNF to add to my tally, but not a bad run with a lap and a quarter completed (5 miles per lap).
Race morning rest ...
Of all things, the steering coupler on the steering wheel shaft dropped off the intermediate shaft. It's a pinch-bolt style stub shaft that i had to make from parts from 2 different companies. Where the pinch bolt goes through, it does not set down into the groove in the end of the shaft. Instead, it relies on the clamped pressure around the shaft, during reassembly i must have clocked it in a position that didn't clamp well. Fell off with the pinch bolt still fully tight.
With that little drama occurring at about 40 mph on a fireroad section, things got interesting in a hurry! I pounded it back in place with a rock, but it fell off another 1/2 dozen times on lap 1 until i finally drove one-handed and held it in place with the other. tried a pit stop to fix it, took the bolt out, reinstalled all the way and tightened it. Fell off on lap two in just about the same place on track so I called it a day.
Had i soldiered around, i could've claimed a 3rd to 5th place finish and some cash. attrition was so bad that only 4 out of 9 made it through both laps and two were heavily damaged. Raced against 7 Razrs and 1 teryx. Rad also cracked again and blew all the coolant out, so likely a good thing that i parked it since it was backfiring pretty badly at the end.
Running up the hill climb in the steam plume of the Teryx. Despite a slow start, i managed to pass an xp 850 and some quads by this point and was chasing the Teryx. I stalled it in the mud hole at the bottom after getting forced into the deepest part. Restarted and pulled through and up the hill with no issues.
About the furthest point from camp/start, valley bottom after running through the first section of rock gardens. At this point it's all one-handed driving and a lot of rock sections left to go. Needless to say, it was not a very quick lap
(52 min) This is about 2 plus miles from camp and is just a few yards to where i destroyed the rear end at the first race I attempted back in 2012. Not the area to get stranded in! The modded XP1k that was leading the race on the first lap tore its right front completely off in the same area and ended up finishing in fourth place after driving back to the finish line in reverse the remaining 2 miles.
Jackshaft bearing mods held up, no chain issues except for some expected loosening. Wore the brake pads completely out and hand clutch is the way to go.
Radiator and cooling fan are wasted, new ones already on the way along with a plan to add some support brackets under the side tanks. They are sagging way down, probably a combination of aged aluminum plus being hung at the tail end and taking a lot of up and down cycling.
Steering coupler and shaft have been drilled and locked together with a 3/16th roll pin.
Now i just have to get better at getting started and off the line, I need to move my starter button to the right side.
Thankfully, not much left to do before september's race.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwOjuM0KfHE