I wanted to see if I could beat last weeks time, so I took the bike down to WISD again. I managed to reel off my PB on the first run! I got 11.89@120MPH which is a bit of an improvement over last week (11.94@121MPH). After that I started getting worse with every pass. I think I was trying to hard to get a big launch... I kept getting wheelspin off the line and looking back at it maybe I was actually overheating my tyre in the burnout. I'd pull out of the water and give it a practise launch and it would bag up hard and I even hit the limiter a few times. I tried slipping the clutch more on the last run and it was worse than the wheelspin runs so I think I'll try smaller burnouts next time. It's hard because I love my burnouts but I'm sure my $300 rear tyre will apreciate it if I lay off it a bit.

I've been helping my mate put his bike together in my garage for the last few weeks. He bought it for cheap, unregistered and damaged. He decided to turn it into a street fighter style bike since all the fairings were road rashed. We finally got it registered and took it for the maiden voyage yesterday arvo. We've still got a few little problems to iron out but overall its turned out pretty good for a very quick budget build. I knew very little about working on bikes when I started, but luckily they're easy as piss to work on much like a muscle car because of their simplicity. 

The specs are;

• 1998 Kawasaki ZX9R (900cc)
• Painted matt black with farings removed
• Renthal Fat Bars
• Mini bar end mirrors
  
• Buell XB12 headlight and fairing
  
• Braided Brake lines
• Hindle exhaust
  
• Re-jettted carbs

I took it for a ride last night and it's got stacks of power (more than mine I'm ashamed to say) and the Renthal bars make it awesome to ride, you've got so much more leverage due to the wider grip.

I took my blade down to the street meet at WSID last night. I've never ran before so I was pretty nervous. My best run was 11.94@121MPH (thats 195KPH) with a .009 RT! It was actually the best reaction time of the night but I missed out on the prize by 10 mins. I've still got heaps more in it but I need to work on my launches. It was a huge rush and I can't wait to get back out there!

Here's a pic that Andrea took.

 

My mates hassled me to smoke my bike up for them so I told them only if someone films it. I only did a small one, because it's a $300 tyre which I'd only put on it a few months back. When it's time for a new one I'll give it a proper flogging.

For those who don't know — it's a CBR 900 RR. 

I knew the day would come when I'd finally get a car in Street Machine magazine. 

 

hahah, well it's better than nothing I guess. My VR clubby was parked next to my mate's XU1 in the WSID carpark at the recent Muscle Car Cruise.

While me and Andrea were busy at work some lowlife junkie decided to break into our house and pinch the few luxury items that we owned. Laptop, video camera, digital camera, 2 mp3 players and some jewlery etc. Ontop of all that I stupidly had $800 cash sitting in a drawer that I had from when I sold my toploader a few weeks back. That was my gearbox fund to get that turbo 350 into the torana. Yet another setback for the flat black beast..

All I can say is that I'm glad that the mongrol wasn't into cars. In the same drawer as the money was the key to my VR 5L which was sitting in the shed for the taking (I ride my bike 9/10 times to work).  I've got a whole room full of car parts such as a nitrous kit, heaps of genuine SLR5000 parts, subs, amps, surge tanks etc. Having said that, there's nothing to say that he wont be back today for another lucky dip in my belongings. 

It feels horrible to know that some CUNT has been through all your stuff while your not there.  The cops aren't very interested and infact based off their line of questioning, I beleive that they think I'm trying to pull an insurance job. Luckily I've got nothing to hide so it doesn't worry me one bit — but it backs up my theory that cops are not tops.

Incase you've been living under a rock, there's a new reality show on FOX8, called Blood Sweat & Gears. It's an Australian show where they pick 7 highly modified cars and have the owners of them compete against eachother in events.

The cars are;

1. Ford XY GT with a 427 race motor, big stally and a spool. This runs globes with pissy ass skinny tyres on it. Does a mean skid!
2. RX7 Series 6 obviously running a rotary which aparently puts out 800 at the bags.
3. A Vette with a 540 cube big block with big chromies and super low profile which will never see traction in its life.
4. An "XU1" LJ Torana with a "V8" thats set up for drag. I highly doubt it's an XU1, they never show under the bonnet but it sounds like an injected 304 to me. As far as I can see it's a very tame set up compared to all the other cars which is what works to his advantage. He also runs decent profile tyres on the back which gives it a leg up when it comes to putting the power down.
5. A VL HDT Brocky - A very tidy car, it performs well all round, I think because he hasn't gone wild doing modifications to it, it's got a resonably streetable motor in it by the sound of it.
6. A twin turbo Ferrari Modena? If this thing didn't have the snails and the silly bloody 20s on it, it would probably clean up every single event. The owner has successfully turned it into an undrivable joke.
7. A frankenstein of a 200SX which has a bit of everything done to it. It seems to drive very badly and he tried to do a skid in the dry and blew 2 axels. I thought this thing would be right up there, but it's actually the worst performer by far.
   
   

First Episode - Test Drive
This had me hooked, race driver Ian Luff was driving the cars and giving honest and constructive feedback on each of them. The cars all looked hot (well maybe not the 200!) and I was hanging for the next next episode!

Second Episode - Drag Racing
I was excited about it, but I was a little turned off when I realized that these fools were getting like 2 second R/Ts and missing gears. I put it down to nerves because it was the first event they actually drove in.

Third Episode - Motorkharna
Heaps of re-hashed footage and 80% of it was the drivers verbally felating themselves. I was absolutley disgusted when only one of them was able to complete an elementary motorkharna course. Every single one of them spun out with the exception of the RX7 who actually took it seriously.

These guys are the stereotype that make us all look bad - big mouths, big horsepower, little skill and no self control. It's starting to make me feel sick. I could see past all the bullshit if these guys could pedal their machines. My recommondation for the next series (hopefully there is one), is to try recruiting for cars at an event like Powercruise instead of the MaccaNats.

That said, I'll still be eagerly watching the next episode, because lets face it - what else is there for us rev heads?

My mate just picked up a smashed ZX9R that he's going to fix up. I took it for a lap around the block and holey crap it has some power!! Way more than my P plate skills know what to do with. Riding it sure put a smile on my face though! I think when I go to upgrade I'll go for a something around 600cc, that 900 is stupid fast..

Here's a little vid of my mate bagging it up - enjoy

 

As most of us suspected, Supernats was called off on Saturday. According to their website, it will now be held on the 16th of Demember, which is now a Sunday.

Since there was nothing to do on the weekend, it gave me and Dazza the chance to change the gearbox in my girlfriend's Swift. I'd never changed a gearbox on a front wheel drive before, but it turned out to be a pretty easy job.

Welcome to my car blog! I'm a young petrol head who is really into the muscle car scene. I go to every car event I can get to and read every magazine I can find at the newsagent.

Like any true rev head, I've got something in the garage. I've been building an LX Torana for the last 6 years. Unfortunatley it's on a pretty tight budget so that's why things are taking so long.  I'm going for a tough street machine of the 80s theme. I'm getting back to basics with it — no fancy electrics, leather interior or even shiny paint, just a bulletproof driveline and a seat.

To make a crust I run my own Website Design Business based in Sydney. The guys that work with me are all car freaks like me so we have decided to build a huge mucle car related web portal since we are dissapointed with the lack of quality Australian car websites, especially that cater for the types of stuff that we love. The website is named Serious Grunt.com and will hopefully be online in 6-8 months time. In the mean time, I'll be posting everything I can find in this blog.

If your into aussie muscle cars, car events (like Summernats), love burnouts and drag racing, then you should bookmark this site!

 

Thats all for now!

Marty