Just got back from the first race of the year and I feel pretty good
even though I had some mixed results. I am now racing a V50 based
racer originally built by Mark Smith, a former supporter of Dr. Johns
Team Moto Guzzi.  I completed the bike last week and was looking forward
to a fun weekend. My first lap of my first practice session, I felt
right at home on the bike and knew then that it would be a fun little
race bike. I was doing good times those first two practice sessions
(about 1:36's) which was pretty good considering. The track felt great
Saturday, it was clean and the sun was shining which always helps
traction at Summit Point. I signed up for 4 races, 2 on Saturday and 2
on Sunday. Saturday was vintage racing, and I was entered in Vintage 4
and Vintage 5. I was in good shape in my first race, in third place
when my foot peg became loose and rotated down (it was hinged) I was
dropped to 4th for a while and was just about to pass back into 3rd
when it seemed like the bike ran out of gas and cut onto one cylinder.
I limped along until the last lap when it died altogether. I had a few
minuted until my next race and I filled the tank thinking it had just
run out of gas. Time for my next race and the bike started up but died
when I got to pit road. It would not restart. Thus my tally for
Saturday was 1 DNF and 1 DNS which was a little frustrating given I
could have finished third in Vintage 4 and had a trophy. I checked the
bike out and it flowed gas into the float bowls, no obstruction (crud
from the inside of the long dormant, but flushed tank might have
dislodged and clogged something). The plugs jumped a spark when the
ignition switch was turned off and on.  But then I put a voltmeter
across the battery and it read 8 volts and that dropped to 4 when I
turned on the ignition! Found my culprit, but why did my 1 week old
battery fail, I don't know other than to say maybe it had a shorted
cell from the factory. I borrowed a battery for Sundays races, but
nature conspired to makes things interesting. It rained hard Saturday
night, and the track was wet and filthy Sunday morning. I was in the
second practice session, and had to see the bike run. After getting
into some big slides, one big front end slide in particular, I
satisfied any need to know if the bike was running. When I got back to
the pits, my pit crew Alice Sexton and I had to clean up the bike as it
was now covered in filth. Come race time there were 4 races before my
first race and the sun was out strong, so I was hoping for a clean and
dry track. What typically happens is there develops a clean line around
with good traction and outside that its still slick from a light
coating of mud. I got a good start in Twins and was passing someone on
the outside of turn 4 on the first lap and lost both tires in a massive
slide (at least it felt that way, probably only a few inches). The bike
recovered (as well as I) and I pressed on and found myself in a battle
for 7th position with three other racers. I had a good race and I feel
that my years of Pro experience as well as my current conditioning
(I'm in the gym 4 days a week) gave me what I needed late in the race
as I was able to run down everyone that was near me and take a clear
7th place. The Formula Clubman race was immediately following the twins
race and I planned to go banzai on the first lap because I knew I had
fully warmed up tires and that most everyone else didn't. Well I tried
to pass about about 6 guys in the first turn and crashed when I tried
to get traction off of the racing line. But for the first time in my
career, I was able to remount after crashing and re-enter the race. I
had to go down pit road for a quick safety inspection and then I could
race for points. The racing was interesting as my front brake lever (my
only brake lever, this bike has integrated brakes) was bent back and I
could no longer 2 finger brake as I would trap my other two fingers
against the throttle. I was able to salvage an 8th place in the race
and had a blast passing bunches of novices enroute to finishing next to
last expert. Thus my tally for Sunday was a 7th and an 8th. What was
frustrating is that the guys I beat in the twins race ended up coming
in 2nd and 3rd in Clubman.  If I had used my head a little more I might
have been able to pull off a 2nd. Still I know the bike and I are
capable of some good finishes and plan to take some trophys later this
year, maybe in just 2 weeks in Rockingham, N.C. The bike itself is not
very fast, It can't out accelerate a EX500 or a RZ350. It does handle
exceptionally well due to its lightness. After years of tossing around
the big bikes, it is a dream come true. Now if it would just pull like
my old 1000.