New member, long time racer

[50Joe]

Greetings to all. I raced with WERA from 2003 to 2013 and won 5 National Championships all on 2-stroke bikes. Unfortunately in June of 2013 I had an engine seize at 145 mph going into T1 at RRR. I became a ping pong ball in the trees and broke 8 bones in my back, 2 in my neck, 16 ribs, my femur and a spinal cord injury at T7 leaving me paralyzed. I recently bought an FZ07R from a fellow racer with all the good stuff from AP Motoarts already in place. Engine will remain at SS state of tune. I'm currently adapting the bike so I can ride again with a thumb brake, Proshift electronic shifting and retractable landing gear to hold me up when stopped. Hopefully the pic of the FZ07R will attach.

[i28]

Welcome, Joe.

crazy story. Best of luck with the upcoming bike!

[mossrider]

Greetings and congratulations on getting back after it. 

 

Good luck with the conversion.  My buddy is a T6 Para and we converted a ZX12 for him with pneumatic landing gear and shifting for street use. We found that to be impractical and dangerous on public roadways due to a combination of his conditon and the bikes quirks so he is now on a modified Spyder.  A track bike would be an interesting/exciting project. I also race an FZ. If you need anything beyond a cheerleader give me a hollar.

 

Welcome back!

Dave 

[blackout]

Sad story about your accident, but glad you pushed forward and getting back into the game!  Good luck and keep us posted on your progress with the bike and your racing.

[50Joe]

2 hours ago, mossrider said:

Greetings and congratulations on getting back after it. 

 

Good luck with the conversion.  My buddy is a T6 Para and we converted a ZX12 for him with pneumatic landing gear and shifting for street use. We found that to be impractical and dangerous on public roadways due to a combination of his conditon and the bikes quirks so he is now on a modified Spyder.  A track bike would be an interesting/exciting project. I also race an FZ. If you need anything beyond a cheerleader give me a hollar.

 

Welcome back!

Dave 

Thanks. I'm using a Proshift electronic gear shift with Downshift blipper system. It allows clutchless downshift and upshift. The speed of each shift can be programmed between each gear up or down. For the landing gear we will use linear actuators to push/pull the linkage system. Only 1 second up or down. The high beam flasher button will be used for the up position and the horn button will be used for the down position. The system is being designed by a fellow racer who is an engineering genius. He has already applied for a patent on his design and he had a colleague at Cessna review the design and gave his thumbs up. I'm both excited and nervous about getting back on a bike. After riding for 39 years, it's in my blood.

[Cruizin]

1 hour ago, 50Joe said:

Thanks. I'm using a Proshift electronic gear shift with Downshift blipper system. It allows clutchless downshift and upshift. The speed of each shift can be programmed between each gear up or down. For the landing gear we will use linear actuators to push/pull the linkage system. Only 1 second up or down. The high beam flasher button will be used for the up position and the horn button will be used for the down position. The system is being designed by a fellow racer who is an engineering genius. He has already applied for a patent on his design and he had a colleague at Cessna review the design and gave his thumbs up. I'm both excited and nervous about getting back on a bike. After riding for 39 years, it's in my blood.

Thanks for joining us and we hope that you make us your digital resource to post your racing results, pics and "things learned" along the way. 

 

And please tell your engineering friend to come join us as well. If he wants to find a way to sell that system, I have some ideas and resources that could help. 

 

Congrats for facing the cause of your injuries and getting back on a bike. That takes alot of gusto and you are an inspiration to us all. 

[r1limited]

Bloody freaking awesome, welcome and just Bloody freaking awesome

[shinyribs]

Welcome, 50joe. 

 

I can't think of a word to describe how much I admire your attitude about your accident and your desire to ride again. 

 

Best of luck to you in all this!

[Cruizin]

8 hours ago, 50Joe said:

Greetings to all. I raced with WERA from 2003 to 2013 and won 5 National Championships all on 2-stroke bikes. Unfortunately in June of 2013 I had an engine seize at 145 mph going into T1 at RRR. I became a ping pong ball in the trees and broke 8 bones in my back, 2 in my neck, 16 ribs, my femur and a spinal cord injury at T7 leaving me paralyzed. I recently bought an FZ07R from a fellow racer with all the good stuff from AP Motoarts already in place. Engine will remain at SS state of tune. I'm currently adapting the bike so I can ride again with a thumb brake, Proshift electronic shifting and retractable landing gear to hold me up when stopped. Hopefully the pic of the FZ07R will attach.

I'm a Two Stroke fan, short for fanatical about what the industry and lobbyist have done to the mighty two smoker. Beta and Ktm think they have emissions beat with their new fuel injected 2 strokes. I just prefer the ease and price of two stroke top ends ea winter. I'm about to start stripping my 14 250 XC down. 

 

From 2003-2013, what was your fastest bike?  And, or the bonus question (5 bs points) If you could have any bike that you ever used to own back, which bike would it be? 

 

Those are just my favorite two questions to ask racers.

 

[50Joe]

10 hours ago, Cruizin said:

I'm a Two Stroke fan, short for fanatical about what the industry and lobbyist have done to the mighty two smoker. Beta and Ktm think they have emissions beat with their new fuel injected 2 strokes. I just prefer the ease and price of two stroke top ends ea winter. I'm about to start stripping my 14 250 XC down. 

 

From 2003-2013, what was your fastest bike?  And, or the bonus question (5 bs points) If you could have any bike that you ever used to own back, which bike would it be? 

 

Those are just my favorite two questions to ask racers.

 

My favorite and fastest racing bike was a bike I built. It has an Aprilia RS250 chassis with Yamaha RZ350 engine that is heavily modified. It has a 396cc big bore kit with +4mm stroked crank. That bike is about 290 lbs wet, ready to race and about 90 rwhp. I always preferred smaller, light bike for the track. I still own that bike and will post  pic. I also still own a Kenny Roberts RZ350 in mint condition I bought new back in 1984. If I could walk again, I'd like to have my Aprilia Tuono back.

[Yury Lo]

wow , what a story. 

Welcome to the forums bro.

what does it mean when your engine "seizes"?

[50Joe]

4 minutes ago, Yury Lo said:

wow , what a story. 

Welcome to the forums bro.

what does it mean when your engine "seizes"?

The left piston was ever so slightly overized and when the engine got hot the piston expands and if there is not enough clearance it will "weld" or lock up against the cylinder causing the whole engine to lock up.

[Yury Lo]

6 minutes ago, 50Joe said:

The left piston was ever so slightly overized and when the engine got hot the piston expands and if there is not enough clearance it will "weld" or lock up against the cylinder causing the whole engine to lock up.

what actually happens to the bike? 

Does it lock up the tires ? 

How could it have been avoided, and did you know that it was a possibility ?

[50Joe]

17 minutes ago, Yury Lo said:

what actually happens to the bike? 

Does it lock up the tires ? 

How could it have been avoided, and did you know that it was a possibility ?

The rear wheel locked up at 145 mph. Engine seizure with a racing 2-stroke is always a possibility so you almost always cover the clutch lever to get the rear wheel unlocked. My quick reaction got the clutch in and the rear wheel unlocked and I got the bike back under control but that actually was a bad thing. I used too much distance to do this and ran out of run off room at the track. I would have been better off if the bike spit me off right when it seized.

[blackout]

1 hour ago, 50Joe said:

My favorite and fastest racing bike was a bike I built. It has an Aprilia RS250 chassis with Yamaha RZ350 engine that is heavily modified. It has a 396cc big bore kit with +4mm stroked crank. That bike is about 290 lbs wet, ready to race and about 90 rwhp. I always preferred smaller, light bike for the track. I still own that bike and will post  pic. I also still own a Kenny Roberts RZ350 in mint condition I bought new back in 1984. If I could walk again, I'd like to have my Aprilia Tuono back.

Beautiful bike!  Thanks for sharing.

[gregjet]

My favourite bigger racer was my NSR250 Hondas. Vtwin performance 2 stroke with variable exhaust timing and an insanely fantastic set of chassis ( I had 18's and 21's)...what's not to like. Also had a CR85 motored ( 28HP) Honda RS125chassied . On a short tight track best thing I ever rode. It weighed less than me...

The Aprillia chassis was incredible. Raced a friend's 125RS with slicks ( first time ever on slicks) and that was the first time I ever got to consciously get my knee puck on the ground and load it. I was hooked after that...

 

[robbo10]

I had an engine seizure caused by dropping the needle to its lowest setting on the Amal carb (to save me money). Too little fuel meant extra heat which caused a seizure. Fortunately this was at 30mph and I remembered to pull in the clutch to straighten (!) the bike. It tip my hat to you, 50Joe. Good luck. 

[fzar]

Welcome, I congratulate you on your determination and will to get back, not just to riding but to Racing. Good Luck with whatever comes your way next.