Well, 2009 is in the books. I for one am not going to miss that year one bit and as I’ve told my wife 2010 is the year of Albert. A snicker and a smart comment is all I got out of her so we’ll see. As for 2010 and TVRC it looks to be a banner year and pick up right where 2009 left off. A lot of good things happened for the club in a rather ho-hum year for most.

      The new race schedule is being put together as I type and the kick-off race for 2010 is going to be in Waco on February 21. A non-points race in Oklahoma at the Simon’s Lucky 13 track will follow on February 28. David Henry has the annual “Bike Week” going on with TVRC scheduled to race on March 14. Diamond Don is pushing back his Riverport National event a few weeks this year in hopes of avoiding the rain to April 16-18. Texas-Louisiana native and former World Champion Trampas Parker is going to be this year’s legend and will be racing. Watch the TRVC website for further updates to the schedule but we plan on events at Burleson, River Valley, and possibly Oak Hill to complete out the schedule.

      Picking up from the last newsletter we had the King of the Anthill race at Burleson. It was an amazing turn-out and pure mini heaven for the TVRC organization. The feature race of the day had Ronnie Welch up for the crowing ceremony with a 1-1 finish crushing the rest of the class. The highly anticipated Buddy “Panty” Race was truly a spectacle to be witnessed in person. The race was closely contested between the team of Tim Riddle/Jeff Kring and the team of Mark Brown/Tom Flores. Seriously, this was a see-saw battle with the Riddle/Kring combo coming out on top. Many thanks to Chester and Denise Czajkowski for providing us with carte blanche use of the facilities for the day and all the club members for providing food and helping with the race event.

      Prior to the racing at Burleson we had a surprise presentation of motocross nostalgia to local vet hotshoes Joe Joiner and Mark Moore. Incredibly, Bill Davis found a guy  that had entry forms from the 1968 Inter-Am series at the Golden Eagles Club Motocross track, or as locals called it the “2^nd Avenue Track”, in Dallas, TX. Bill obtained the forms that Mark and Joe filled out, which were in incredible condition, and had them framed. It was a nice treat and a special moment for all of us to witness that day. The stories you can uncover through various club members is truly amazing so keep an ear peeled when you drift through the pits.

      Up next on our race schedule was the Jerry Nelson Memorial race at River Valley MX Park. When we arrived the entire track was hidden under a thick fog but by about the second moto it was starting to burn off and was a fantastic day for racing. The track was prepped extremely well and River Valley does have some of the nicest dirt to race on. Tim Wallis brought out one of Jerry’s old XL350 race bikes and gave it a go until the chain pitched on him. I got a chance to ride this bike later and I was stoked at the smooth power and handling this bike had. Jerry knew what he was doing with these old four strokes back in the day. The feature race was the Texas 4 Stroke race which Joe Edwards won on his vintage Ducati. Other highlight races showcased Mark Brown and Kirk Spencer dueling in the vintage gate and later Cam Potter and Kirk going at it in the GPIII gate. David and Liz Lux are to be thanked again for supporting the club and offering up the track for us to race on as well as Mike Shelby for a fantastic lunch.

      River Valley also provided the opportunity for TVRC to take donations to support a fellow long-time member of the club, Stacey Smith. Stacey, as most of us know by now was injured racing a modern event out at Swan MX Park in Tyler in the early fall. Planned as just a hat passing to collect a few bucks to help out with some bills it turned into a full-bore donation event with TVRC collecting over two thousand dollars. Words cannot express the generosity of the members of TVRC and the pride we all take from this is well deserved. Stacey is back home now and attending physical therapy. For updates on Stacey you can view the link on the TVRC.org website provided by Paul Burnette.

      To end the year out we are at a paid membership level of 118 members. The finances for the club are looking very good and we are adding sponsorship as time goes on. Ken Walden has done an outstanding job as president of the club and the health of the club is in great shape.

      Lastly, the wrench tip of the month. I’m going to go back a couple of articles and make some additions to the YZ250K tips I provided. I’ve been quite surprised by the number of people that have emailed me about this one and they want more, so give the people what they want. Last time we covered the tip of using the YZ60 ignition components and gearing. To get more horsepower out of the bike it was recommended to raise the compression ration by milling .4mm of the mating surface of the head. The port openings are also changed by raising the top of the exhaust port to 32mm below the top edge of the cylinder and to grind the bottom edge of the intake port 2mm lower than stock. Maintain the porting shape as you go through this process. If you want more information on tips for this bike email me and I’ll send the entire article to you.

Until Next Time,

Albert Newmann

      The 2009 TVRC fall season is under way and it’s been one of our best season starts ever. At the recent “King of the Hill” race at Oakhill the number of racers present was great. Then to follow it up the Wyman Priddy event turn-out was respectable considering the looming chance of rain on the event.

      Oak Hill seemed to bring some guys out of the woodwork for this event and Joe Edwards had a full brigade of small-bores ready. With 22 entries this years event lays claim to one of the best supported KOTH off all time. By the end of the day it was Jay Novero laying waste to the class on his Bobby Lucas prepped Penton. John Fricke, riding a real 125, held off the rest of the class of many riding 175 plus cc bikes. Easily John Fricke was the fastest 125cc rider so congrats to him. Tim Riddle took 3^rd overall with his usual impressive riding. Congrats to all the contestants on this day. The challenges of the Oak Hill track on a small bore are a test to the machine and the rider.

      Other classes had “Hollywood” Jim Vaughn holding off Jeff “Kring-Boy” Kring in the GP Over 50 in which that had to be a battle going on with those two. Craig Knight held off the wild child Clay Coburn in the GPIA  class and Motocross Matt Moseley flip-flopping first and seconds with Matt Leach to take the overall in GPIIA action. The big news of the day was that pro rider Will Hahn was sporting a Honda CR500 in the Decade class. Great to see someone of this caliber out supporting our little club and he put on a show. Come back out any time Will.

      Up next on the schedule was the Wyman Priddy Memorial/Vintage Iron USVMX race at North Forty Cycle Park. David Henry had the track prepped well for his event and many showed up on Friday to get the party started early. Very laid back event day since it was a vintage only event so there was no rush and the track stayed well prepped throughout the day. In our first ever Over 60 class event we had local Skip Miller holding off John Bezinque out of Kansas to take the victory in this inaugural race. With 4 entries and several other over 60 riders in the area we expect this to be a well supported class in the future. Look for it as a supported TVRC class starting in 2010. Again the small bore class had decent support with Paul “Bermshot” Burnette cruising to victory in the A class however Martin Brazil and I had a nice race in both motos going on. Later in the day many of the riders drifted over to the TT track for some racing and was that a sight. Everybody left smiling from that event as well as Martin Brazil leaving with some wood. As the sun started to set though the weather would not hold out. An all-nighter of rain rolled in and ruined the Sunday Post-Vintage racing. For those in attendance on Saturday it was worth it. Did I mention the Cowboys blew another loss on Sunday??? Was not a good-day. I would have rather been racing than watching Romo.

      Upcoming events have the 26^th Annual Red River Dirt Riders Enduro in Muenster. Archie Talliaferro has secured us a vintage class (1980 and under) for this event. I know many of you like to ride Muenster so this should be a great way to spend a day on your vintage bike. October 25 has us back at Montalba, November 15 is the King of the Ant Hill race at Burleson, and on December 13^th it’s the season finale at River Valley for the Jerry Nelson Memorial race. Get your four-strokes ready for that event. Lastly on December 6 we are looking to put some of our riders on the gates at Rio Bravo for an EVO event. No club dues are needed to race this event and it’s a great way to show support to our Houston area riders as well as ride on such a legendary track.

      As many of you know Stacey Smith was injured racing a modern event recently and is on his way back through rehab right now. To keep up with his progress check the website or the ‘ning for updates.

      This month’s wrench tip came to me as I remember many a racer on those Honda CR 480 beasts struggle with carburetion issues, most vividly Cris Barton. Here’s a little tip I found for you Cris: #1) Keep the stock gearing (14/54). #2) Run a 185 main, 68 pilot, 3.5 cutaway, 28g needle on the third clip, and set the air screw at 1 ¾ turns out. #3) Clean up the ports. #4) Run two head gaskets.

Until Next Time,

Albert Newmann

      Well, I hope all the members are enjoying these hot summer days now. I know I’m not as I watch the water and electricity bill shoot through the roof, but hey we’re in Texas it’s a way of life.

      Our Spring Season concluded with some nice events scattered amongst several race facilities. I would have to say that watching Jeff Kring on his GP III YZ 250 has been a delight. Super nice bike and he fits that bike like a glove. The pace he set on it at Burleson a few months back really got heads turning again. Nice to see Kring Boy in his groove. Another rider who has put on some additional speed this year has been Clay Coburn. He’s on a 1976 YZ250 and is screaming on that bike. And last but not least Richard Reeves. Clearing big doubles at River Valley was awesome and the thud of the ground when he would land that big old Husky at the finish line jump is probably the stimulus for all the earth quake activity in North Texas over the spring. And for you guys out there who thought Eb Simon would always run away from us I can tell you that Motocross Matt Moseley is starting to hang in there with him. This is getting fun to watch these two battle.

      One track that stood out to me this spring was down at Montalba. Being a 125 rider I was very intimidated to go ride a deep sand track in fear of blowing up a motor. To my surprise the track is not “all” deep sand. Now, of course it is a sand track no doubt but from the looks of some bull dozing I think the track is getting down to some dirt and clay in various spots. It’s still kind of a work in progress and the track doesn’t have a great feel, but there are some nice jumps, berms, and technical sections. Friendly track owner and you can wash off your bike after racing. Hell, even hose yourself off if you feel like a sand crab after the race.  I think we need to make a real effort to support this track one time in the fall with a campout and get some of those dang Houston powder puffers up to race with us.

      The premier event this spring was the GP Small Bore Shootout in Waco. Hard packed and dry the Waco Eagles facility was ready after a one week rain delay to get this duel on. Some great racing with Richard Reeves, Joe Busby, and Jimmy Ewing but Reeves stole it that weekend. Nice turnout for that weekends event also.

      I am proud to say our current membership is now at 105 members. It’s been a long time coming but the growth of the club over the last 4 year period has been very good. Now we have a nice size membership base and it’s time to get feedback from you guys as to what you want at the races. This is a member owned club and that’s not lip service. Give your feedback no matter how thought out it is. There may be a hidden gem of an idea out there that would be a good idea to make our club even better. Added membership and higher rider turnout should be adding extra money into the TVRC coffers. We should have a nice bank roll at the end of the year party to give back and maybe do some new things in the future.

      One final race item for this month. The Texas Shootout III AHRMA National race went off well for David Henry and North Forty. We are fortunate as vintage motocross riders to have a national level event in our backyard to show people outside of North Texas how we do things. TVRC had a nice barbeque spread for our fellow racer brothers and sisters from around the country. We were proof of legendary Texas hospitality and manners and I was so proud to be a member of TVRC that weekend. The high level AHRMA folks have all been informed with excellent feedback and TVRC was recognized as being a cog of David’s success. It was great exposure for us and amazing racing from some of our members. Watching Trey Jorski take on Chuck Sun was a treat that will rarely or maybe never be seen again. Then to see Kirk Spencer put a whoopin’ on them all was the treat of the day. Kirk carried our flag high that day and we’re all proud of him. Good times, good food, and good racing, what more could you want? Oh, and we had a long list of luminaries at this event to make it super special. Recognize the local legends? Bobby Pickard, Danny Doss, Mel Newman, Kirk Spencer, Jeff Kring, Paul Burnette, Mike Hance, Bill Davis, Trey Jorski, Richard Reeves, Tim Riddle, Joe Busby, Rick Jordan, Billy Click, Diamond Don Rainey. WOW!

      In closing I would like to through in a new piece to the article. Kind of a wrench report type item for you all. This time I would like to share with you a trick for the 1983 YZ250K model is to find a YZ60 magneto assembly and cdi unit. Set the timing at 1.3mm BTDC. Smooths out the power and makes it useful on this bike. Run a 270 main and a 50 tooth rear sprocket. I have a few more tips on this bike so feel free to email me for them.

      Pool Party This Weekend July 11 at Joe Busby’s. See the main web page for directions.

Until Next Time,

Albert Newmann

TVRC Newsletter March 2009

“All the Texas Vintage Racing Club news unfit for print”