MARCH
2003
28/03/03 :
X-Race news... Today sees the official launch of the spanking new X-Race UK website! It's taken some time to put together but I'm sure you'll agree
the results are worth it. It's still early days though and extra content will be added over time
in particular the 'Photo Library' and 'Video' sections. What you will find though is all you need to know about X-Race,
when the next meetings are and what the requirements are to go drag racing. All the results from past X-Race meetings are on-line
for you to look at. Plans for the future include a 'Global Leaderboard' of best quarter mile and eighth of a mile times and a
'Past Masters' results table detailing all those records set since the beginnings of scooter drag racing back in the sixties.
So head on over to the all-new X-Race website for what will hopefully become the premiere scooter sprinting site on the web:
X-RACE UK CHAMPIONSHIP 2003 - ROUND 1
If you're up for havin' a go, it's the first round of the X-Race UK Championship this weekend! Yep, this Sunday 30th March at Santa Pod Raceway. It's the
first time a competition like this has been run and this will be the first meeting. If you're serious about getting into sprinting or just
wanna have a go then why not come along and give it a try or just come and spectate. Santa Pod is a great venue and also a great day out,
to get there full directions can be found on the Santa Pod website. But in any case, here's the details:
Santa Pod Raceway is well sign-posted off the M1 motorway, leave at junctions 14, 15 or 16. Nearest British Rail station: Wellingborough.
Santa Pod Raceway is situated at: Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants. NN29 7XA. Ticket/Info line: 08700 782828.
17/03/03 :
A plug here for Paul Vincent Pua's (aka Aerosmith) magneto conversion, if you've been reading the posts on the message board then you will know what
I'm referring to here. But just in case, what Aerosmith has managed to do is fit a Malossi 'Selettra' to a Dragster 180 (this type of magneto is more
commonly found fitted to 50cc racing scoots).
It's not a straight conversion and involves some machining work (due to the larger crank of the 180 as compared to 50cc scoots). Aerosmith tells me that the conversion
is intended for scoots used for sprinting (fast acceleration) since
the new magneto is much lighter compared to the stock magneto (approx. 1/3 of the weight).
Aersomith is accepting orders for the conversion priced at $500 USD (plus shipping and handling) plus tax at your end. Send Aerosmith an
email if you wanna know more.
12/03/03
UPDATE:
More Dragster's from around the world in Gallery Collection 26: now on-line.
10/03/03 :
Dragster clothing: PSN Scooters in Batley, West Yorkshire now have on offer some cool
fleeces with the Dragster logo embroidered on. PSN currently have them in blue at the moment in the following sizes: medium, large,
x-large and double x-large. Prices are £35 each but 10% off if you state that you are an Italjet Dragster.com
member. Furthermore if
you are ordering any parts you will be entitled to get 20% of the fleeces. Contact PSN on 01924 445449 or visit their
website.
07/03/03 :
MB Developments in Doncaster now offer a 190cc ceramic conversion for Runner/Dragster 180s...
As part of MB Development's ongoing work on a 210cc Runner/Dragster conversion, this is the first kit
that they have produced which MB describe as a 'viable easy to fit kit'. It's based on a standard
Runner/Dragster 180 barrel and head (which are the parts
customers need to send if they want the conversion). The condition of the
bore is not important as MB rebore the barrel and put a ceramic lining in.
MB cannot do this conversion to a Malossi barrel because the spigot would be too thin.
MB Developments are currently working on an steel linered conversion for the Malossi kit but this
will only fit 180 casings. 125 casings would need to be opened up to suit the bigger spigot.
You will not need to do anything to your crank but MB do recommend fitting
the Malossi race crank as the standard ones won't be strong enough.
The current price to do the barrel and head conversion is £348.75 and this price includes UK VAT at 17.5% but does not include postage.
The price without VAT (for outside Europe) is £296.81 (this price does not include postage either).
The new MBD Gilera 190 ceramic lined road race kit, ready to bolt on includes:
- Cylinder bored out
- Cylinder ceramic plated
- Yamaha piston kit
- Cylinder tuned to road-race spec (which is as large as possible without breaking through into the water jacket)
- Cylinder head re-profiled to suit the piston
For more info check out the MB Developments website.
05/03/03 :
More X-Race news...
The dates for the X-Race UK Championship have now been finalised:
Round 1: 30th March - Santa Pod Raceway, Bedfordshire.
Round 2: 20th April - York Dragway, North Yorkshire.
Round 2 is a bike only event at York Dragway also featuring Round 2 of the Streetfighters Straightliners series. NSA Classic sprint specials and stunt bike demo's. Firestorm jet funny car. Bikers Run Wot Ya Brung. Camping from 6pm Saturday.
Round 3: 18th May - Elvington, North Yorkshire.
Round 4: 6th July - East Kirkby, Lincolnshire.
Round 5: 3rd August - Santa Pod Raceway, Bedfordshire.
It's imperative that everyone wanting to do well in this championship enters the first round at Santa Pod since there are points to be gained at each round, miss a round and you miss your points (which could be crucial to winning the championship). See you on the strip at the end of the month...
Other news just in...
Wanna go on a cruise? And I don't mean the sea-faring kind, well if you live near Bromley (S.E. London/Kent area) then this could be for you...
This saturday (yes, that's this weekend) a scooter convoy will descend on Bromley at around 8pm, by all accounts there will be an insane amounts of scoots there... The meeting place is at a car park near Bromley North station (a map is available
here), the cruise will then begin at around 9pm.
If you 'ave any questions then drop an email to Gilera Gary.
03/03/03 :
X-Race news...
Not long to go now before the first round of the X-Race UK Championship which takes place on 30th March at Santa Pod Raceway, Bedfordshire. The competition will be run over five rounds with points to be earned at each round dependent on your performance. There are two classes and in order to make the competition fair and square to everyone there will be a Street Class for road-going scoots and a dedicated Sprint Class:
Street Class - any road legal (road going) scooter, any engine capacity (geared or automatic) entered into this class must satisfy the following criteria:
1. Bike is taxed and MOT'd for road use (not off road use).
2. Has a standard frame.
3. Has a working brake light and horn.
4. Has a speedo.
5. Has a stock fuel tank.
6. Runs on roadside pump petrol only.
7. Has a battery fitted.
8. Has shock absorbers fitted (no straight bars or rods).
Bikes that do not fit the above criteria will be entered into the Sprint Class.
Sprint Class - any engine capacity non-road legal (geared or automatic) scooter that is not taxed and/or MOT'd and can be identified by one or more of the following:
1. Cut-down, modified or lengthened frame.
2. Has no suspension or suspension has been removed and replaced with straight bars or rods.
3. Has no battery.
4. No working brake light and horn.
5. Runs on Nitrous or has Nitrous fitted.
6. Runs on anything other than roadside pump petrol e.g. Avgas/Methanol.
7. All sprinters must have a scooter engine (not a motorcycle engine).
In addition to the above, if a bike has NOS (even the bike is road-legal) it will be entered into the Sprint Class.
For safety reasons, leather boots, gloves, jacket and a suitable helmet must be worn. Full leathers are highly recommended.
Work is currently underway with regards a full launch of the X-Race UK website . More news on that later.
