Blaster build up part 5!

[bradley300]

NEW TIRES AND A NEW FACTORY RACER:by Bradley300 pics courtesy of www.itptires.com

NEW TIRES= MORE TRACTION:
Well, as the South Carolina GNCC weekend was starting, I decided it was time for a new set of rear tires. The 20 inch RAZR rears I had been testing were worn way pay what most would allow. If you remeber from the first article, i would be going back to holeshot rear tires (you guys all read the first article right!?). So i was off to the nice guys at the ITP trailer for a new set of skins.

I have used the holeshot xc's in the pst and liked them alot. But wanted to try another tire first. The XCT's i would like for a muddy race, but like lot of races, i cant afford a bunch of spare tires. So being as they are a little tall for normal conditions, i chose not to try them. The HD's I have heard alot of good things about, but I was afraid that they may be just a little too heavy for the Blaster. So I setteled on a set of Holeshot xcr-03. I ran the original xcr's a few years ago and liked them alot. The only problem I had with them was that they were a little shorter than a stand 20 inch Holeshot xc. This caused me to high center a little more often. It was'nt really a big issue, but, i want as few problems as possible during a race. For 2003, ITP redesigned the XCR to be a little taller, but it still has the 6 ply rating and are a little narrower than the normal xc. This is to help with breaking traction for easy sliding.

At the ITP trailer, the xcr-03's are 65 a piece and are mounted for free which is a nice touch. The whole proccess took 15 minutes and I was done. I was instructed to leave the air pressure up for a few hours and park my quad in the sun if I could. This was too make sure the tire was seated on the bead as well as possible.

[bradley300]

TIRE TEST:

Right off the start these tires had great traction. They hooked up well but not so much that my quad wanted to wheely. They didnt spin wildly either. As you probably know the first few coners of the track are usually pretty tight. In these corners, the tires did very well at sliding when I wanted them too. They were in fact so easy to slide, I wondered how they would do in other corners on the track. As we headed thru the track the ground was pretty much perfect. In the woods there wasnt much dust at all, but the track was'nt moist either. Traction was perfect in these situations. Crossing the creek brought you to a short muddy section full of ruts. I hit this section as ard as i could but lost all my momentum in a rut. I just kept the throotle pinned and the tires did an excellent job pulling its self thru the mud. So well, that the numerous fans gave a good hearty cheer as i made it out of the section with no problems. The tires did better in this spot than I would have expected, every bit as well as the razrs would have. For the next section, was hardpack and slightly off camber going away from the creek. It was also wet thanks to the creek. This was usually a bad spot for the razr's as they would try to slide down the hill and spin the tires wildly if I got into the powerband. The holeshots also spun, but not nearly as bad as the razr's would have. The holeshots did keep enough traction that they didnt slide much at all. In the more open sections with tight,dry hardpack turns, the tires also did very well. The quad never spun around and I never had to shift my weight to get traction heading out of the turn. This is a very easy tire to ride on.

So far, i would say this is the best tire I have ridden on. I have not tried any of the Kenda tires yet, but I would say the Holshot xcr-03's are going to be hard to beat for general conditions.

[bradley300]

NEW FACTORY RACER:

Nope, it wasnt me. Thought would be cool tho wouldnt it? It wa in fact atvriders member GNCCer on a modifie Kymco Mongoose 250. We had ridden this quad together at the 12 hours of America last year and GNCCer covinced them to let him race it in a GNCC to see how it would fare. Nathan was my only competition that day. I didnt care about anyhing but beating him thanks to a little smack talking between the both of us on the forums. Also thanks to the constant warning from 465stroker about how bad I would get it on the forums if GNCCer beat me on the Kymco. Off the start, I was in the top 3 i beleive. Bobbie Ously dropped down to sport class on a warrior and checked out from the very begining. Once we were in the woods, I had Countypark pressuring me early which caused to quick mistakes. I hit two trees, but i was able to hold him off. We got close another time or two during the race but i ws always able to find just a little extra energy to stay ahead of him, but he was never far behind. GNCCer was already pretty far behind on the Kymco. I beleive it was his frist time riding in a while, not to mention riding a quad that he had never been on. (this was not our 12 hour quad, but a different one, with a few more mods). I was having a pretty good race as long as I stayed just out of Countypark's sight. I raced alone for ost of the race until I came to the last checkpoint. I heard a quad behind me and looked just over my shouldr to see a bright red fender. Assuming it was a 450r, i pulled right over and took a second to check out my quad. As I looked back up, all I saw was GNCCer on the Kymco and put the hammer down. I took an alternate line and almost passed him back, buck he held me off. I stayed with him for about another half mile. I hit a big bump that kicked my rear end up. It landed hard and my chain was thrown off. Luckily it was'nt broke and didnt damage the case. I was able to put it back on fairly quick, but GNCCer was already out of sight as was Terry Rowh who had passed me while I was on the side of the track. I also decided if there was any chance for me to catch Terry or GNCCer, I would have to take it easy and make sure my chain didnt fall off again. I ended up not catching anyone but, I didnt lose any more spots either. I ended up 5th place, which is my worst finish this year, but it woas a fun, competetive race. Right after I finished, I looked to the scoring tent and there was Countypark finishing right behind me. All in all, it was one of the most fun races I had been in as well as being one of the most competitive. I will be back for Loretta's with a new chain and more determination than ever to finish well and hold my 2nd place spot in the class.