Barber Vintage Weekend 2013

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 7:59 pm

Spent last weekend at Barber Motorsports Park at the AHRMA races. Beautiful weekend filled with racing, friends and a whole lot of spectators. They announced the attendance for Saturday was 91,000. Below is a link to some of my picture I have loaded so take a look and hope you enjoy them.

I spent some time with DennisTheMenace and he was going good till he was knocked down on lap 1 of the Superbike race on Sunday hurting his right shoulder. My bike was a big hit….you could hardly find a minute someone wasn’t taking a picture, so that made me feel good. All in all it was a great event that everyone attend at least once.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18607827@N07/sets/72157636587385623

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:08 pm

Great pics. Have thought about going the last year or 2. Looks like a must. 91,000, thats awesome.

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:10 pm

Very nice...thanks for sharing!!

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:15 pm

I went last year and had a blast. The facility is really second to none and the roads around there are pretty nice as well. I was really bummed that I could not make it again this year.

Dave

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:02 pm

questions... i) what is the black carbon fiber bike, and ii) what is the little red phone jack ziptied to the front fork leg of the blue moriwaki bike?

thanks for posting

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:46 pm

Went 2 yrs ago and had a blast! Father in law and brother in law went and had a bike in the cafe show. I really would love to go every year, but I'm hoping I can go next year since it is the 10th year. Very jealous of the ones of you who went!!

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:15 am

mwe wrote:

questions... i) what is the black carbon fiber bike, and ii) what is the little red phone jack ziptied to the front fork leg of the blue moriwaki bike?

thanks for posting

Pretty sure the black carbon fibre is an Erik Buell Special Edition 1190RS.
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/bikes/2012-erik-buell-racing-1190rs/

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:22 am

Scott, thanks for the great pics and nicely set up album. You have some hidden talent.
Did you get to hear Randall wind up the Wing?
Not surprising your beauty got some well deserved attention.

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:20 am

What fantastic photos,al of them.The gold CB250 at the bottom of the first page is the same as my first road bike,except mine was the faster red one.Some very interesting bikes.Thanks for sharing.

Chris.

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:33 am

I had hoped to attend this year, but life got in the way.. Next year for sure.

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:12 pm

mwe wrote:

questions... i) what is the black carbon fiber bike, and ii) what is the little red phone jack ziptied to the front fork leg of the blue moriwaki bike?

thanks for posting

Smurdoch is correct about the 1190RS and the “red phone jack” is actually the timing transponder used to keep track of the bike while racing.

Smurdoch, i did get to see Randall putt around on the wing.....what a cool bike. I even helped him load it at the end Sunday. Funny thing he texted me this morning wanting to know if I would sell my bike.

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:42 pm

Here is a video of the start of the race Dennis went down in, taken from the bike that crashed in Dennis's path.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr4iApVmF-k&feature=youtu.be

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 4:40 pm

Great time!
I was there Thurs. thru Sun.. At the museum on Fri. and the party after.. Rest of the days at the track..
My red 1100 was in the teck. area out of the Sun.. Gots lots of comments on it!
Everyone should go at least once, especially that weekend! If you do you will be back every year..
If interested you can volunteer at the museum.. Get in free and they feed you! Easy duty!

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 4:53 pm

TCS1100F wrote:

Great time!
I was there Thurs. thru Sun.. At the museum on Fri. and the party after.. Rest of the days at the track..
My red 1100 was in the teck. area out of the Sun.. Gots lots of comments on it!
Everyone should go at least once, especially that weekend! If you do you will be back every year..
If interested you can volunteer at the museum.. Get in free and they feed you! Easy duty!

Pencil me in as a volunteer next year Ted.. I really wanted to be there this year, but as I said,, life's other commitments got in the way..

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:05 pm

Scott, it was nice seeing your bike in person. All in all, I didn't have the greatest weekend.

On Saturday I rode poorly in the Sportsman 350 race, ending up 9th out of 16 and did crappy in the Superbike race also, finishing 6th and getting beat by some people I normally can get in front of. I had arm pump issues in both those races. I kept stretching my arm and gave myself a talking to and was happy with how I rode in the Formula Vintage race; I improved my lap times from the earlier Superbike race by about 2/3 of a second. The blue Moriwaki Kawasaki in your photos beat me in the Formula Vintage race - I led for two laps, and then he came by. He slowly crept away and there was nothing I could do; he won with a comfortable margin.

Sunday started out okay with me getting a good start on the 350 and I ran in 4th place most of the race until 2 riders got by me on the next to last lap & I couldn't get 'em back. in my next race - Vintage Superbike - I got a good start (not great) and was running in 3rd when the black Katana (also in the photos Scott posted running the green #1 plate) tucked the front on an aggressive pass from 4th to 2nd & a half - not quite there... I watched it unfold and he took me out since I was on his outside when he went down. I t-boned the Kat and was done for the weekend.

The Kat rider & I are friends, and he felt appropriately bad. He's going to Phillip Island, by the way - his silver Kat (also in the photos) has been 'upgraded' to more cc's and slicks for that event. If you're down there for the international vintage challenge, go by and say hi - his name is Joe Weir.

It's TOUGH to type with two sore wrists and one arm in a sling!!

Dennis

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:17 am

Tough luck on the crash and injuries, Dennis.
Joe Weir occasionally posts on the GSResources site so it will be interesting to hear his take on the weekend as well.
Can you tell me the difference between Formula Vintage and Vintage Superbike?

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 2:01 am

What a great weekend - It was nice talking to you and I appreciate you including a photo of my bike in your album. Lots of nice stuff!!

HACKSAW

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 8:30 pm

smurdoch wrote:

Tough luck on the crash and injuries, Dennis.
Joe Weir occasionally posts on the GSResources site so it will be interesting to hear his take on the weekend as well.
Can you tell me the difference between Formula Vintage and Vintage Superbike?

Formula Vintage is a "bump" class for Vintage Superbike (heavyweight) and some other classes that don't have any other class to bump up to. It exists to give people (like me) who want to race more than once another class for certain bikes that have no other class to bump to. All kinds of oddball bikes end up here, and I've raced against (and lost) to Yamaha TZ750s, Suzuki RG500 Gammas, that Moriwaki Kawasaki, Jay Springsteen on a beautiful XR750RR and some other really cool bikes that come from other classes.

Joe Weir would probably say the 4R bike moved in on him and he had to brake harder to avoid contact with the rear tire of that bike. However, the 4R was still too far ahead to see Joe but in another half-second Joe would have been visible on the inside and the crash wouldn't have happened because the 4R bike could have taken a wider line. Joe's weekend wasn't stellar either - he only runs in Vintage Superbike and I think he got beat Saturday (putting him all the way down in 2nd) and then had the crash on Sunday.

Joe & I talked both at and after Barber, and because we're friends he's feeling especially bad. He's already talked me into letting him buy me a new part or two to ease his guilt. Smile

Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 12:04 am

That is about the only thing I miss about living in Birmingham....I grew up 15 minutes from the track, and every road that takes you there was a fantastic ride!

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 6:21 pm

I was there for the whole event and a couple of days before, riding around, all the way to Deal's Gap. That man Barber had a vision. Best place to go in the U.S. for any motorcycle lover. Loved the races.

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:25 pm

DOHCRob wrote:

I was there for the whole event and a couple of days before, riding around, all the way to Deal's Gap. That man Barber had a vision. Best place to go in the U.S. for any motorcycle lover. Loved the races.

Lovely photos, Looks like Motorcycle Heaven. Laughing

Foxyj.