G'Day All,
Welcome to the site
23/11/08
The final race meeting of the year! We have managed to survive the whole race meeting (5 races + practice and qualifying) with the engine in one piece.
The race report has been written up and I am trying to track down a couple of pics to go with.
A big thanks to everyone who has helped out this year, Scott and Nicole from Champions Ridedays, the team from Revhedz Kawasaki Acacia Ridge, Michele from kitup.com.au, my best mates Ross and Cameron for lending a hand swing the spanners when things went pear shaped. Without you all I would never be where I am now. Thanks!
November is MO'vember
Mitch is growing the Mo to help raise money for research into Prostate Cancer and Depression. Go to the Mo'vember page to see more info (and pics of Mitch's Mo).
05/11/08
Today was bit of a fizzer.
I was looking forward to riding the full circuit today, but due to the rain we only got in around 5 laps before calling it a day and putting the bike back on the trailer.
I really wanted to see what this engine was able to do compared to the last engine that blew as it was pushing us to low 1:20s before the bang. Maybe this is a good thing for the bike as the engine is still in one piece and we are ready for Nov 23.
21/10/08
Another flex day off work, another Champions trackday to ride!
Today we rode the Clubman circuit at QLD Raceway which is probably my second favourite config of QR (after the Sprint). I managed to get in around 50 laps today with a single problem on the bike which bodes well for the race meeting on November 23. I must say however that every single noise and vibration sent a wave of 'engine explosion' fear right thru me. All the sounds turned out to be standard noises such as the exhaust springs vibrating, or induction roar.
For most of the day I paced myself against Graeme Grieves and his Ducati 916. For most of the laps we held a reasonable pace of 61-63 seconds a lap on a stinking hot day and both of us being on old tyres. I can't wait for race day!
25/09/08
Well it has been some time since I last posted anything up here, but then there really hasn't been much to post up :)
News since my last update, I have acquired a 3rd engine for the ZX7R and this one so far has done 2 trackdays without an incident. The cause of the last 2 engines destroying themselves, turns out to be an ignition box that has had the redline/engine cut up disabled allowing me to rev up to 14k, which in turn caused an oil shortage at the no.3 conrod. Since working this out I have stayed to the original 12.5k rpm limit and all seems fine with engine no.3 so far (fingers crossed it stays that way!).
An update to the 'Big Motor' rebuild is up in the 'Build' section. The plan is to keep a photo dairy of the rebuild along with a running commentary as we go.
22/04/08
The Big Mitch KitUp Race Team has probably bitten off more than we can chew as we have cross entered our ZX7R into both the New Era class and the Superbike class for the first round of the Champions Ridedays Race Meeting at QLD Raceway on the 05/05.
Should be a great day anyway and here's hoping I don't get lapped too many times by the big Superbikes.
02/04/08
The first round of the Motorcycle Sportsmen series has been run and won. The ZX7R and I did well and we have a full race report written up ready for all you to read.
The short version is that the bike ran well and we had a ball.
24/03/08
Well we have had the mighty ZX7R out for it's first full trackday. It ran well and strong all day and the only grief that I have is an annoying problem of occasionally not starting off the button. It will bump start but that could get annoying after a while too. Update: I have traced the problem to being a bad earth on the motor. It starts 1st time now :)
We have our entry in for the 1st round of the Motorcycle Sportsmen's Championship out at Morgan Park (Warwick) on the 29th and 30th of March. I am hoping for a good showing but I know that the bike is not yet ready to run at the front with the Ducati's.
30/11/07
Well the ZX7R is still not any closer to running. It looks like it may be a ready for next year. I went down to Allbikes to have a chat to the owner about what is going on and it turns out that their mech has been off 2.5 weeks out of the last 4 with his bad back.
I have added some pics to the build section of the engine in pieces showing the damage.
28/10/07
Well race day was not a good day. The bike warmed up real nice and sounded great. I was ready to get some good laps in for practice. However all I got was a nice run thru T1 and the engine decided to frag itself.
Turns out the engine had decided to chew thru the main bearings. Hopefully I will get some pics of the engine apart soon. But it will be a while before it is back on track as the mech has a dodgy back and has taken quite a bit of time off work recently.
BUGGER!
26/10/07
Well Sunday is race day. It will be the first race meeting for the new ZX7R and hopefully it will run better than it did on the first track day. The 7 has been looked over be a mech and they reckon it was a fuel delivery problem. the had it running in their workshop for over an hour without a problem and reckon it may have been some gunk in the the tank. Fingers crossed that is all it is.
From the 1st track day I also noticed that one of the front discs was severely warped. I have managed to get hold of a set of straight discs from a ZX9R which fit perfectly. So no more shuddering under brakes.
I have put a few new pics in the build section of the bike in her race wear. mmm pretty race bike.
See you all at QR on Sunday 28/10 (FYI it's $10 for entry).
08/10/07
Well what a day. Dead bike and a typical QLD thunderstorm to end the day
It was the 1st day out with the "7" and other than just being ridden around on flat tyres in the back yard, I had not yet ridden it in anger. I sat out the 1st sessions as I was taking care of some work stuff for Champs then got out in the 2nd green session. I was just cruising around making sure everything was working (brakes, gears etc). After a while I was starting to feel a little more confident and starting rolling around a little bit faster. The bikes suspension was all over the place so I came in and reset it to stock factory settings.
I headed out for a few more laps to work on the suspension and was starting to make head way when the motor died and would not refire. Well this is the beginning of the end as there is now a nasty rattle from down deep in the motor.but I did find out that the bike is really easy to push around
I have taking it back to the bike shop where I got it and we shall find out what exactly went wrong and get it fixed hopefully before the WPS race meeting on the 28/10.03/10/07
Well the ZX7R is up and running and our first ride will be a the Champions Ride Day on Monday the 08/10/07. I can't wait to get out there and ride her.
I have added a few more words/pics to the build section, so have look and tell me what you think
01/08/07
Well the CBR has gone. I am now the proud owner of a ZX7R. The ZX7R has come to me as a damage road bike and in 'kit' form and I now have to put it together before the next race meeting.
The New Era grid in QLD is steadily growing as many see it as a cheap way to go racing and be competitive without spending mega dollars for the Supersport/Superbike classes.
I will be taking plenty of photos for a photo journal of the bike being created. See the bike.
Thanks for all the positive feedback I have received, and I will see you all at the track.
06/07/07
Well I have decided to go back to racing New Era, so the CBR is up for sale. I have worked out that being 2m tall just doesn't work with these new small 600cc sportsbikes. Being my size I am just too uncomfortable on the bike over a length of a race, so it's back to New Era for me.
I have already started to look around for a replacement and have found a couple of ZX7R's that should do the job quite nicely.
Anyone want to buy a great race bike?
12/06/07
Well the 1st round of the WPS Motorcycle Championship has been run and won. It was a great day with over 100 riders participating in the event.
Like all 1st goes there where a few little mistakes (like lining up in the wrong grid positions) but overall the whole day was a success and everyone had fun.
I have only just posted up a race report for day (sorry about the delay).
Regards,
Mitch
17/03/07
Well by now I had hoped to have competed in my 1st race with the new bike. However things have turned out a little differently. The meeting was cancelled due to a lack of entries received by Queensland Raceways (QR). QR had decided to take the running of the motorcycle racing in house and it appears that due to a number of factors, that the info just wasn't there for the riders in time.
Well we now have to wait until 09-10/06 before our 1st race, which is ok as it gives me time to settle into & setup the new bike.
01/01/07
Well what a great 1st year I have had road racing. I have had some great results, including a class round win in my 1st race meeting, an overall race win and picking up 2nd in the F4 class (New Era) of the Motorcycle Sportsmen Series. It sure has been one hell of a lot of fun.
A few things have changed over the break. As you may have noticed I have sold the old girl and upgraded to an '05 CBR600RR. Selling the ZX6R was a real hard thing to do. My wife reckons it was like me giving up one of my children! The new owner is going to be racing her in the PCRA series, so I hope to hear some good results and I will post any news on how they go.
For 2007, I am planning to run in the Superstock 600 class in the local series and take on all comers in the QLD state champs as well. Should be a lot of fun. I haven't yet turn a wheel in anger on the new bike yet and have only ridden it around the back yard. From these brief 'rides' I am unsure how well I will tuck my 2m tall frame behind the tiny screen of the CBR but I do tend to fold up pretty well so I'm sure it won't be to much of a problem. Bring on the racing
