Went to a local XC race in east Texas yesterday...was perfect weather with lots of sun, blue skies and mid-50 temps. Below is a little write-up about my race in the utility class with my damage report (swingarm bearings) mentioned too.


Bumpsteer and Bottlenecks....that pretty much sums up the rough and tough XC course yesterday.

BUMPSTEER
Man, I must have had the handlebars yanked out of my hands at least a half dozen times or more from all the little stumps that seemed impossible to avoid at times. I also got stopped dead in my tracks at one point by a tall stump that I didn't see and I almost went completely over my handlebars...stopped so suddenly, I got clipped in the back by another rider. It put a nasty dent in my front aftermarket skid plate, but I'm sure I can bang it out later. If I had known about the stumps, mud and deep ruts, I would have brought my regular 25" mud tires instead of using my little 22" sport tires. But I'll know better next time I attack that course.

BOTTLENECKS
We had 6 sport/utes lined up together on the starting line (3 P650s, 1 Rincon, 1 Grizzly and 1 Rancher 400) and I was very happy to win the holeshot and maintain the lead for the first few miles. Unfortunately, I got the "bottleneck blues" after some sport quads were stuck in front of me and 2 of my competitors found a way around...then I followed them only to find a longer back-up located just a few feet up the trail where another 5 or 6 quads were lined up and waiting to get around someone who was stopped. Thats when I jumped behind a sport quad who was making his way to the front of the bottleneck by making his own trail just a few feeet to the right side of the course...I was soooo excited b/c I thought I was going to re-take the lead again, but then the sport quad I followed got stuck or highcented just a foot or 2 from where he planned to re-enter the course in front of the bottleneck! So I had to back up and that's when all of my class competitors passed me! I eventually battled my way back to 3rd in my class, but only to find a very bad bottleneck caused by 1 sport quad rider who had lots of trouble trying to get his stuck quad out of the way...he high centered while climbing out of a sloppy creek crossing that had slick clay and very deep ruts all the way up the bank. We must have waited 3 to 4 minutes for that bottleneck to clear...in the meantime, 2 of my lucky competitors (who were just ahead of this sport quad rider when the bottleneck occurred) were gaining precious ground on me which I was never able to re-gain. Like they say, if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all! hehe But seriously, I had a blast yesterday despite the rough conditions and my lack-luster results. Considering I slept in late and missed the opportunity to do a practice lap (which I usually do for these local XC races), I was happy with my 3rd place finish out of 6 utilities.


DAMAGE REPORT
I noticed something was wrong with my quad on lap 2, but didn't know what it was until much later when I finally stopped to inspect my quad near the beginning of lap 4 (where I discovered my swing arm bearings were completely shot). Everytime I turned, it felt like I was pulling a trailer...except it was my swing arm that was moving separately behind my frame instead of a trailer!!! When I finished lap 4 (and thus, finished my 2 hour race), I took a closer inspection and discovered that it had so much slop in the swing arm bearing that my right rear tire (22" v-force wheel) was apparently rubbing against my gas tank when I made sharp turns! Now I have to disassemble my quad this week to see if I ruined my swingarm (hopefully I didnt' wallow out the hole where the bearings go)...if so, I'm guessing that could be expensive!

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

hope it didn't do much damage. There was some parts on ebay. It looked like someone was
parting one out. I didn't see the swingarm but maybe you could email them and ask if they had one.

 

By any chance, was the race part of the ATVCCS series (www.atvccs.com)? I raced that series in 2003 and had a blast. It was the first year for it and there wasn't many entries in the 4wd utility class. I made 5 out of 10 races and still got 1st place for the year, so that should tell you something. I didn't make any races for 2004, but will try to make a few for 2005 (although I will probably run the over-40 class on a KFX-400). I understand the number of entries has went up significantly.

 

Ahhh, Yes! You must be the legendary "Richard" who earned the 2003 title for the ATVCCS Utility 4wd class...Your reputation proceeds you! hehe

But seriously, I noticed from the ATVCCS website (www.atvccs.com) that the utility B class in 2003 normally had only 1 or 2 quads in each race. By comparison, I raced 6 ATVCCS races in 2004 and we usually had between 3 to 5 quads for each race in this utility class. I think we have had as many as about 100 people race in one weekend in 2004...so to answer your question, yes the ATVCCS has grown in numbers and also in the number of different courses. So its much more exciting today than it was in its first year of operation. In fact, its so big that they divided up the courses for 2005 so that you can either race in the East TX Division or the West TX Division or both. I'm in the East division...what division do you think you will race in? I hope to get the chance to meet you this year at some of the races.

PS - A lot of the ATVCCS racers, including myself, talk on a local atv forum (www.texasatvs.com). You should check this site out...its a great place to meet locals atvers and find local places to ride/race.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Yup, I'm the legend in my own mind! Ha-Ha. Never had more than 3 other racers in my class on any race and one time I had no competition. I only won the championship because I simply made more races than the other guys. It sure wasn't because I was the best one! I raced twice at Rabbit Creek in Kilgore, twice at Rip-Char in Weatherford and once in Denton.

I will probably race the east division because I like the terrain better and the tracks are a little closer.

I will check out the Texasatvs.con website.

 

Richard,
What a coincidence! The race I had last Sunday (where I blew out my bearings) was at Rabbit Creek in Kilgore. This was my 3rd race there. I also raced at Rip-char in weatherford once (this is my least favorite course b/c it seemed so rough with wayyy too many tight turns and not enuf long straight-aways for my liking), race at Mud Creek in Jacksonville twice (this is my favorite course...lots of open pasture land to race on at high speeds), and at Pittsburg, TX once. The ATVCCS had a lot of MUDDY races in 2004 thanx to all of the rain we got...so it was a good year to be racing on a 4wd utility quad.

Hope to see you at some of the upcoming ATVCCS East races this year.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Mikey, if your bearing race holes are toast, you can get them welded up and remachined. I would guess that the bearings will be toast, but your swingarm where the cones go will be fine. The design of the swingarm is a real disappointment IMO. I welded up my swingarm to keep water out of the bearings and made my swingarm bolts greasable last year and I haven't had a problem since.

 

These are certainly going about now. I have 2100 miles on my prairie and 200 hours. My rear swingarm bearings went a few weeks ago. Gotta love that kaw extended warranty I bought on Ebay for $350(4yrs). It covered the repair of both bearings and seals being replaced, which the dealer said was around $500. I personally can't believe you continued racing it with it broken like that - I hope you didn't damage your swingarm in the process!!

 

Here's a few pics from Sunday's local XC race. First off, here's me winning the holeshot (notice that all 3 P650s took the holeshot with the Rincon, Grizzly and Rancher 400 draggin up the rear)...

http://www.atvccs.net/gallery/album105/KJ303
http://www.atvccs.net/gallery/album105/KJ304
http://www.atvccs.net/gallery/album105/KJ305

Here's a few action pics...first one you can see me following a 400ex thru a gully and the next few are me climbing out of the same gully.

http://www.atvccs.net/gallery/album105/KJ364
http://www.atvccs.net/gallery/album105/KJ365
http://www.atvccs.net/gallery/album105/KJ421

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

UPDATE:
Pulled off my swingarm last night and inspected it closely. Looks kinda chewed up on one end, but not bad at all on the other. I am 99% sure that I can re-use my swingarm b/c its not damaged where the surface of the races rest inside the ends of the swingarm. (but I may have to use a little sandpaper to smooth out the chewed up outside edge). Anyway, I am very relieved that I won't have to buy another swingarm right now.

As far as removing the swingarm, I followed the instructions/pics on KODs website. Except that I used a 1" (standard) socket and rachet to punch out the races instead of a 24mm (metric) socket. This worked GREAT as I did not have to use a vice to remove the race from the socket like KOD did in his pics.

BTW, I also disassembled my rear wet brake to inspect the friction plates for the brakes. They appeared worn to me and I intend to replace these at the same time that I install the new swing arm bearings. I have been unhappy with the lack of stopping power on my rear brakes for a long time and have wanted to change out these rear brakes anyway...so this is a good time to do it.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]