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- Latest Member: ludwig242
| April 28, 2026, 12:59 PM |
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« Last post by Mikku on April 27, 2026, 10:42 PM »
Raced at the Shonan Speedway Cup on Sunday. The track is in Chiba, just northeast of Tokyo and is popular enough that they run an over 50s class - a rare thing in Japan despite the comparatively large number of us older racers! This time there were 11 riders divided into two racks of six and five. I was in the second rack and went 3/4/4 over the three motos. At other tracks that would have qualified me for the main but here the top 7 go through and they run a “B” main for the rest, with the winner of that taking the final spot in the “A” main. Having qualified in 8th place, I had first gate pick and went for 3, with my main competition choosing 2. We were side by side for most of the first straight but I got beat into the first berm and slotted into second. Thereafter I couldn’t quite get close enough to make a move for the lead, so that’s how it finished. A little disappointing but at least I didn’t have to then race the “A” main, as my legs were shot!  Overall, a fun day of racing at what is going to be my local track from next month. Looking forward to it and also to returning to the Redline, as fun as the Quamen is to race. 
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It's a strange material. Almost alien like. So glad I have it tbh.. So the issue with my current bars is they are carbon. The grip shifter bites into the surface to stay put. Obviously that is bad with carbon. So, I am using my Ti bars.  Issue is they are not wide enough. So.  They also look a bit odd. And, I would not really want to stand up and lean into them hard to pedal. As such I got these.  Just for the cross bar and clamp. £26. So with that out of the way I need a 25.4 compatible stem. Got this to match the cranks.  And then finally these.  I am quite a gentle fellow but apparently if you yank on these levers hard....  They tend to snap. Besides, they were like £20 so the £46 for the Paul copies is fine with me.
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« Last post by Mikku on April 24, 2026, 11:35 PM »
Am now in Tokyo and yesterday I swapped out the Maxxis tyres on my Quamen for the Vee Mk3s that were originally on my Sunday. That should better suit the track that I’ll hopefully be racing on tomorrow, though will see when I go for a practice session there this afternoon.
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« Last post by Mikku on April 24, 2026, 11:30 PM »
I watched a good vid a few weeks back on Ti BMX frames / parts - Brant Moore’s interview with Roscoe Siebers of WLDLFE Bikes. V. interesting and it seems like Ti is getting cheaper and therefore more and more popular in BMX. In other news, I’ve just bought a 2.35” Rant Squad tyre for my Sunday, which means that the Vee Mk3 tyres from that are now both on my Quamen in readiness for racing that on Sunday!! Confusing, eh!
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Thanks lads.
I’m just so glad I sold the bikes because that would have been a complete nightmare.
Talking of bikes…
I’m going to paint and fit my Ti bars to the road bike. I’ll post a pic soon. Basically the grip shifter is damaging the carbon due to the way it mounts.
I’ve also bought a Ti coloured stem to match the cranks, some bar extenders as they’re quite short and some knock off Paul levers from Ali express.
I do need to paint the bars as they are gold, but I have some “fire” flip paint and 2k clear left over from other projects.
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« Last post by Mikku on April 21, 2026, 03:36 AM »
Was supposed to go to that second April race in Osaka on Sunday but life (aka moving preparations) got in the way of that. I could have gone but decided to save both time and money, and put the effort into sorting and clearing out house stuff instead!  That said, I'm driving down to Tokyo with a car-load of stuff on Thursday, so if the weather stays good and my back holds up, I plan to enter that third April race on Sunday. Fingers crossed!
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« Last post by Funkyworm on April 16, 2026, 03:18 PM »
Forums are still a viable option for groups of people with the same interests, just look at the museum or pistonheads, but it takes a community to have a community and i fear too many have moved on to other things.
Totally agree, sad times indeed, especially when the museum seems to continually do so well... Must just be down to the purely huge numbers in the states keeping that place going . Even their for-sale page seems busy ... Weird really ... I don't think a few of the admins on here helped the situation tbh. I've heard a few people bad mouth some of them & their elitist attitude & I've had (off site) issues with a couple myself over the years tying to throw their weight around as if they're the (gatekeepers to the hobby)... Wont name any names , all water under the bridge ....Ah well, times move on .
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« Last post by Taipan on April 13, 2026, 11:08 PM »
deffo echo all the above replies 
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« Last post by Taipan on April 10, 2026, 12:15 AM »
So sorry to here of your loss fella.
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« Last post by Mikku on April 06, 2026, 12:17 PM »
Was able to hit up the first of those three-in-a-month races yesterday - a small local race north of Tokyo. The track was super damp and slippery following Saturday rainfall, and I just didn’t have the confidence aka balls to do anything other than tiptoe around the berms, particularly the first. Moto after moto that meant losing a position or two in the first berm despite getting out the gate well. I therefore went 4/4/5 out of 6 riders. Disappointing but that’s the price of putting self-preservation first, so can’t really complain.  With racing done by lunch and fuel still left in the tank, I headed over to a much larger and thankfully drier track for an afternoon practice session. This is one of the most popular tracks in Japan, as evidenced by the number of cars in the parking area. Riders ranged from beginners to elite, and at one point I lined up on the gate next to a World #1! Talking of gates, I managed to get in some much-needed gate practice, all with a view to racing there later this month. That’ll be the third of the three April races, the second being a return trip to Osaka on the 19th.
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