Our rules say, no chains or studs.

Max tire size 26-12-12

 

It was a small sled. I think the small drag plate is what gave it the stopping bite.

I hit 6470 rpm. I'll try the white line next time.

That guy was so big that he didn't need to lean over.

 

After watching the Utility Expert riders I'm more sold on independent rear suspension then I was before the race. The Honda and Grizzly handled the rough track at the end of the day much better then our Kaw did and we were running a Elka shock in the rear and Ekla strut kits up front. Penland's Kaw also handled the rough track late in the day but when I tried to pump information out of them all I could get were smiles. Rumor has it that Suzuki will be releasing a 700 single with IRS as a 2005 model as their flagship model. Rumors also have Kawasaki working on an IRS for the 700 Prairie. After watching all four machines run through the rough stuff I convinced that IRS will be the wave of the future.

 

Now that is blasphemy!! LOL

 

Want to know exactly how you did lap by lap? Well here is a link that will provide you with the details: 12-Hours Lap by Lap Times

 

Awesome Job Everyone!

I wish I was alittle closer to you all for that great weekend! Maybe next year?

I would love to help beat that sneaky Penland!

 

IRS is better, I must admit. The only problem I have with IRS is dependability with mud tires, not dinky mud lites, I mean the heavy ones, like outlaws, vampires, etc. Slap those on a Grizzly, Arctic Cat or Honda and you will be busting axles, maybe not all the time but it will happen. I owned an Arctic Cat, I know all about this.

 

The Grizzly that was in the race broke at least one axle. Hence the 4 minute change that was mentioned. I heard they broke another, but I don't know if that is true. You know how rumors are.

Another team, in the race, used to race a Grizzly but changed to a VForce this year. They stated that last year they broke CV's and eventually the entire differential. They had ratchet straps holding the rear end in to finish the race. Before someone gets bent, yes that VForce blew an engine early in the race. So, no machine is flawless. The blown engine was avoidable though as it was related to a coolant issue.

 

Well,,, Hello guys! I've read through this all and I'm kinda shocked,,,, DWB and Newbeatle have spared me a rash of ribbing! LOL In case you don't already know I didn't fare so well at the pulls the day after the 12 Hour race! I guess that's what I get for bringing a race quad to a tractor pull! LOL

I have to give a big THANK YOU to OldmanWheeler for letting me use his bone stock 700 engine to race due to the fact that we did not follow Mickeys instructions we cracked the sleeves in my big bore when we tried to o-ring them(do not do this) and also to have his chassis for spare parts,, which were not needed!

The 12 Hour race was a blast and getting to meat several people from here was a joy to say the least! Bartlett Racing, (Bob) tell the wife I'm looking forward to next years batch of chilli,, that was some really good stuff on a cold day! Watching Bob switch out the axle on the Little Rascals Grizz was amazing, 4 minutes! WOW!! I think that team had Penlands a little nervous, Morris Penland came down 2 times to see what was going on as they changed the axle! The team of the Little Rascals was just that, them rascals were tearing up the track and kicking azz!
We had our share of troubles too, in the first hour of the race we we were running the new Elka dual rate springs on the front and the left one bent the retainer and the only thing keeping it together was the top strut mount so we were bouncing around off every jump and the front was diving in every turn! Then the second rider hit a big berm and laid the Prairie on it's side. The third rider did the exact same thing at the exact same spot! Then on lap 15 for some reason the teather switch took a crap in the middle of a hard turn and the rider slammed into the dash and bars breaking the dash off and we had to be towed in! It took me about 12 minutes to figure out what was wrong and get it fixed,,, from then on the only problem was trying to play catch up! I knew we could not catch up to first so I was praying that the Little Rascals would stay up front and keep whooping on Penlands but then towards the end of the night they had more troubles and went out! I was both happy and disappointed for them! With them out we had a sure bet for 3rd and yet I knew Penlands would get 1st! I had a couple people make the comment to me that if the Little Rascals hadn't broke we would not have placed 3rd,,,, this may be true but if we hadn't had the problems we did we may have placed higher! But, hey,,, that's racing,,, right! I was just happy to finish the race and to get the 3rd place was just a bonus!!!

I was really having a blast during the pit stops, we never had time to practice at all except for putting on the HID lights for the night ride. We had Leo's soon to be wife timing us and other than the teather switch problem, our longest pit was 58 seconds! In that 58 seconds we took off the front rack, put on the rack with lights, hooked up the lights and zip tied the wires, cleaned the mud from the front stock lights and cleaned the mud off the grill, gased it up and put on the 2 glow sticks, and changed riders! Most of the other pit stops were around 20 seconds or less to change riders and gas up!

Bartletts pit stops were very impressive also, they even changed tie rods, tires and washed the front and radiator in no time at all! I would also like to thank Bob Bartlett for his words of encoragement, I did get a little frusturated and upset with myself after the teather crapped out, I guess that's what I get for taking the 13 year old teather off my drag bike! It's always the cheap stuff that gets ya! I was also pretty upset at the start of the race when our rider ran across the track, jumped on, hooked up the teather and hit the start button and nothing happened, I figured I had screwed something up but it started and off he went! I later found out that the stock kill switch and been pushed to the off position but not by our rider! I will say no more about this till I see the video tape a friend of our has and if I can prove what happened the whole world will hear about it!

I said all year long that I was done racing my quad after this 12 hour race because I own it, build it, and pit for it but I do not race it myself but now after doing it and having the time of my life and meeting all the great people all I can say is look out,,,, we'll be back,,, bigger, better , and stronger! I hope to see you all there!

Hey, if any of you have any pics of my quad could I please get some copys, I will pay for them?

DWB and newbeatle,,,, could I get a copy of the tape you have? I tried to look at the clips you posted but for some reason I can't get um to run!

Thanks guys, have a great day! Team Diamond G Racing

 

if any one has some footage of it that they are willing to send out I would like some...like a dvd or vhs tape or something...pm me

thanks

friesen