Just got back from round 12 of the GNCC season at Unidilla NY. I raced in the utility stock class with 14 in our class. First Outlander was also there racing his Bomb800XT. I did not have much seat time on the 800 (only 22 miles)before the race, so I wasn't expecting to much from myself. My class started on the 5th row. I got a slow start mostly due to the slight hessatation when you hit the start button to when it starts, but by the time I hit the woods I was in 5th or 6th. There was a lot of off camber spots and the soft front suspension did slow me down some, but as the race continued I felt more and more comfy with the quad and gaining more confidence. So my lap times got faster as the race went on. The 800 handled the MX track awesome. On the straight aways no one could touch me. I had sport quads behind me coming to the track, but once I hit the open area I was gone. Got some good air on some of the jumps. Getting air I passed Penland on the 3rd lap, but I heard something happen to him. So I was 5th going on the 4th lap. As the 4th lap started I was right on a Kawi 700 but going for 4th. He kept holding me up and would not let me pass (that's racing) so about half way I tried a move to pass on a hill climb and it backfired on me. I got high centered at the top and had to back down to try again, so I wasn't able to catch him. I lost about 2 min doing this, but lost the 4th place by 49sec. So I got 5th out of 14 and 91st out of 215 overall on a quad I only had 22 miles on. The power this quad has is sick, and if I had more seat time I feel very confident I would of been in the top 3. BRP did very well with this quad. Now to a couple issue's for those who plan on riding the 800 hard. The rubber gormets that hold the muffler will fall off. On my last lap my muffler was only being held on by the springs holding it to the header pipes. It was clanging up and down for allmost a lap. The other is the rubber band holding the battery. Under normal riding it should be fine, but the band will break if ridden hard. Mine didn't break, but you could see that it will. Mike Penland made a metal bracket for his. I think by next season the 800 will dominate the utility classes. Right now there doing good, but these are just coming out and it takes a bit to get a good feel on a new ride. Also First Oulander came in 6th on his XT and it was a pleasure to meet him. I will let him tell his race experience.

 

Cool, thanks for sharing, this is one thing the bike needed from the start to see what was going to fail, a good hard ride. Sounds too fun, I was wondering about racing the Outie800 and where it has 12 inches clearance that if would handle even better with 25's.

Some Prairie racers use 22 inchers. I bet the Bomb with 22's on her would Kick butt in gncc, I suppose you couldn't race stock then though.

Giver buddy,

 

I too mentioned in one of the ride reviews I gave, the battery base looked cheap. I hope mike is going to offer his improved design as one of his products he sells. I noticed my battery setting kinda crooked in there yesterday. I will be loosing the stock exhaust anyway so I am not to worried about that. Was anyone racing a aftermarket exhaust on the 800's yesterday if so what brands were they?

 

Kilby had the only modded Bomb800 and he had a Penland pipe on. Everything else was still stock.

 

great job on the bomb.....

 

Kilby won his first race on his running in a modd class with a stock machine and finishing first the first time out seemed impressive to me. Didn't Penland finish second in his stock class his first time out. I don't know for sure on this stuff, I wish I knew where to find news on the GNCC racing. Every time I look for it I have to go through page after page of sporty classes to find utility class info, Whats funny is every magazine I pick up there is at least one add or article on penland racing. I wish there was a website for news on this stuff.

GE, was the Penland pipe an HMF with his name on it, or a homemade pipe they bilt in there shop?

 

Kilby's pipe was a HMF. Look for lot's of goodies to come!

 

Congrats on the race GE!! It sounds like a blast. I would love to race, but it would have to be like a beginners 35 and older class[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] It takes too long to recover from a crash. From your pictures, I am guessing that you are my age or a little older...Great to see!!

 

GE,
Thanks for the great write up and I am looking for more GNCC news in the future. Like someone else said, I have a hard time finding good current info on the GNCC online. Either that, or I dont know what I am looking for.
I hope that you and or the others racing the new 800 will put up a site devoted to how you all are doing and what mods are working for you. I am very thankful for all that you guys are doing and know it will come back to us all in the form of aftermarket offerings for the 800.
I am not a racing, but still find it exciting to follow and love to see my favorite brand does so well. Keep it up, we are all behind you.. (way behind you.. LOL)
TnIceman aka Jeff

 

congrats! gald you had a blast!

I will be at the last round of the season, the Ironman Classic, end of this month in Indiana, on my DS. Last year out of about 800 quads there were only 2 DS's, I was one of them. Looking forward to seeing the new utilities out there. Looks like eventually their gonna have to divide up the utility class further, all the new 700 and 800 machines, putting a damper on the smaller ones!