Hi everyone,
Well we are back home today following another tough weekend at the Mt Dew ATV National Motocross Series. Round 2 at Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tn. was however better than round one in Georgia. The bike was spot on this round and it showed during practice. Zack laid down blistering laptimes passing other racers at an alarming rate. I have to say the ZHR engine and Barkers Exhaust is a match made in heaven. That bike is a beast! The races themselves unfortunately were not that impressive. Motos found us with horrible starts again. Being caught up in first turn crashes and then being forced to pass our way through the pack was not going to get us on the podium. We finished with a 12th place finish in Open A. We made it to Sunday but could not make the main again. The same in 450A. A 9th advanced us to Sunday but not to the main. Not good. For some reason it seemed we had lost our ability to get a good start. We knew the bike had the horsepower but just couldn't manage a decent start. We left Tenn. early and made our way to a track in Richmond ,Va. to practice Sunday out. After repetitive starts we discovered the problem. It was all Mike's from Barker's fault. It seems that that we had to change our start procedure due to the change of the engine with the Barker's exhaust. As reported last race we simply had too much horsepower. With the gear ratio we were running we couldn't get the bike to hook up. We raised the gear ratio to accomodate. Zack reported incredible pull out the corners and clearing big doubles and triples with short runs. You could physically see it and he simply stated "Don't touch the bike". However what was the problem with the starts? The answer. Our routine of starting in 2nd gear was causing too much wheel spin with the added torque. We started launching in 3rd gear! From the gate to the holeshot line we shaved 8/10's a second! 8/10's = 10 bike length's. I don't think I need to explain anymore! We found the problem. I told you it was Mike's fault!
Some interesting things from the race. During practice Zack came up short on a double going end over. The Go Pro footage showed the bike flipping and the nerf bar hit Zack in the head HARD. The impact was right over his right eye in the EKS goggle and GMAX helmet. The footage also showed Zack on the ground with the bike on top of him. Other riders stopped to help him. They got the bike off him, he get's up, then you hear someone say "Are you alright?" Zack replies simply "Yea". A headache, a little gooseegg bump and abrasion, but no concussion. GMAX and EKS, you officially have a dad's endorsement. That crashed scared the heck out out of this dad.
Following the Open A 1st moto, Zack complained of a funny feel in the clutch. He said he had to tighten the clutch during the race. Upon further inspection, we found the fill level bolt had come out and blew the oil out of the tranny side of the engine. We removed the drain plug and got a whole ounce of oil to drain out. I went ahead and started taking the side cover off to replace the Marshall clutch plates figuring for sure they were smoked. Zack even got a new set out of the cabinet to start prepping the plates. When I removed the Marshall Racing plates they still looked new. I couldn't believe it. The oil even smelled burned. A micrometer measure showed the clutches at 2.98 mm and new they are 3.02. We left them in, put in new oil, kept getting down with no problems. Marshall Racing clutch plates, you officially have our endorsement. Marshall chains. Still no stretching, no cupping in the sprockets. Still like new.
We would like to thank everyone for everything you do. We could not do this without you. I am sorry but we don't have hardly any photos. The photographer and the glue that holds us together (Mom) could not attend for only the second time in Zack's career due to a major conflict in work schedules. However we are currently editing some awsome Go Pro and I Phone video for everyone. I think everyone will like it. One more thing. At the track we stopped at, Zack went ahead and set a new record. Check out Facebook from Southfork Competition Park. Zack was the first quad to ever clear the Lock Ness Monster double. It's pretty nasty and he made it look easy! About 90 ft!
God Bless,
Zack, Toni and Greg Harris
ZHR, Inc.
