Kawasaki 650cc Fun Race at BIRA Circuit on December 18th, 2010

[TonyBKK]

Some pictures from today's Kawasaki 650cc Fun Race at BIRA Circuit!

A fun mix of ER6n's, Ninja 650R's and a couple of Versys too!

NormanW posing with his ER6n- looking great in the new leathers boots and gloves!

NormanW's Slime Green ER6n and my ER6n"RR"-

Getting ready to roll!

Mugging for the photographers before the race-

Khun Pep looks a bit unhinged but rest assured he's really a great guy!

On the starting grid-

Starting positions were determined by random draw and I ended up WAY BACK in the pack at position 15...

Ready to ROLL!

Blasting down the straight-

Big thanks to my mate Neil who took most of these pictures.

Looking forward to the next one!

Let the Good Times ROLL!

Tony

 

[TonyBKK]

Some videos from BIRA


Let the Good Times ROLL!

Tony

 

[Cruising]

Looks like some fairly serious bikes and riders for a 'fun' day.

 

[TonyBKK]

Well, considering that the event was entirely FREE, including food and beverages, an ambulance and paramedics and spotters at every corner I thought it was a pretty FUN and well organized fun race
What makes it a "fun race" is the fact that there is no purse or prizes, though I'm told that if I'd stuck around until later I would have received a trophy ;-)
As soon as they start holding "real" 650cc races I expect I won't even make it onto the podium. There are some Thai pro racers out there with no fear and mad skills.
As for me, I'm almost 40, this was my 2nd race, and I just do it for fun.
Ride On!
Tony

 

[TonyBKK]

Some more pics from the Kawasaki Fun Race at BIRA Circuit!

I started at number 15 on the grid and had to get past all of these guys!

There's my friend Jonnie (NormanW on ThaiVisa) in green on the number 53 ER6n-

Good pic of Jonnie on number 53-

For some reason they allowed a trio of Ninja 250R's to join the 650cc race as well-

Oddly enough two of them crashed out...

I thought I'd have trouble with number 14 as he certainly LOOKS the business!

It turns out flashy graphics don't actually make you go faster ;-)

Still, a damn nice looking ER6n!

Some other random pics.

Khun Pep on a nicely tarted up Versys-

Knee down on a Versys!

Some cool graphics on this Ninja 650R:

Here's Khun Pui who came in second-

And finally a couple pics of yours truly

Woohoo!

Let the Good Times ROLL!

Tony

 

[TonyBKK]

A few more! :happy5:

Ride On!

Tony

 

[jon]

Tony, fun race or not, getting past 14 other bikes in what was probably a fairly short race, was going well. I just wondered if you have thought of putting a fairing on the bike? I see the Northern Irish racer, Ryan Farquahar has been racing an ER6 which started out as a ER6F but he then changed the bodywork and seat to that of a ZX10 and it looks great and seems to go really well. The fairings on the little Ninjas might also be persuaded to fit? A fairing of some kind might give you a bit more speed down the straights, but I am no expert.

 

[TonyBKK]

The battle for first!

 

[daewoo]

great photos BigBike... and looks like you have good body position and everything... Have you been getting tuition at Bira or just watching lots of GP2 racing???

Cheers,
Daewoo

 

[TonyBKK]

Cheers Mate!
I took a Kawasaki riding course a while back where they gave me some good feedback on body position.
I've never taken a racing course but I've been blessed to have some much more experienced riders take me under their wing, so to speak, and give me tons of advice which I try apply as best I can.
There have even been members on this forum, such as Brian (forget his board name) who have given me valuable advice on suspension set up and track tires.
All good fun!
So far the Kawa 650cc races have not attracted any seriously fast racers. Probably because there is no purse. But I know too that when I go up against the guys at the Pirelli Track Day this coming Sunday that I'll be eating their dust ;-)

Ride On!
Tony

 

[JohhnyE]

Tony as you may know that while the Blue Group is supposed to be the slow/beginner group many faster riders enter in this group so they look good and fast against geriatric schmucks like me.
And I enter in the Green group just so I don't get taken out by those riders in the Blue group who are in fact novices/track virgins!
That doesn't mean to say there are no idiots in the Green Group either.
What group have you entered in? By the above pictures/results you should be in Green! See you there!

 

[TonyBKK]

JohhnyE;263067 wrote: Tony as you may know that while the Blue Group is supposed to be the slow/beginner group many faster riders enter in this group so they look good and fast against geriatric schmucks like me.
And I enter in the Green group just so I don't get taken out by those riders in the Blue group who are in fact novices/track virgins!
That doesn't mean to say there are no idiots in the Green Group either.
What group have you entered in? By the above pictures/results you should be in Green! See you there!

Hiya Johhny!

That's the funny thing- the Pirelli Track day last August was my first one and only my second race ever and first on the Gixxer so I entered the Blue (Beginner) Group.

During all the practice sessions it was a motley mix of bikes and riders and I was thinking to myself, gee, I might actually make it to the podium.

Then when it was actually time to race all these guys dropped down from the Green and Red groups:

I wouldn't call them track virgins- some of them were wicked fast and I finished 11th...

Good fun but this time I might just do the practice sessions and skip the race...

We'll see how it goes!

Happy Holidays!

Tony