Intentional Destruction of Laboriously Engineered Artifacts
Part 1

by Sam Q. Fleming

In 2018, Army Of Darkness lined up against some stiff competition and, with a combination of good fortune and preparation, experience and talent, we won all four rounds. Most of these races were won with relatively slim margins so it wasn’t that we were overmatched for the competition, just that our mistakes cost tenths of seconds and their mistakes cost whole seconds and, when the flag fell, we were ahead.

The variables in a successful racing equation are enough to drive a team captain to distraction: rider talent, rider health, transporter servicing, trailer tire end-of-life service time, crappy GMC transmissions. And all that just gets you to the track. Once at the track it is too late for much program development but you should have accounted for: tire suitability for lap times and durability, fuel capacity, suspension set up, appropriate horsepower, and, above all else, reliability—chain life, sprocket life, wheel bearings, wire chaffing, transmission shift drum wear, valve train fatigue, shock seal life, cam chain adjuster fatigue. Then there is the whole getting tire pressures, fuel, brake fluid, brake pads, grips, and all those little details correct. Once the race is underway, a big lead can evaporate, for better or for worse, with an ill-timed red flag or a rain squall or a migrating turtle or a bike dropping fluids on the track.

Intentional Destruction of Laboriously Engineered Artifacts
Part 2

by Sam Q. Fleming

Twenty-six years ago an incredibly ignorant group of FZR400 racers from Summit Point Motorsports Park decided to pool some money and field an FZR600 in the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges. With the confidence of inexperience, we stoked the furnace and poured our efforts and resources into the crucible. Our first race as Army Of Darkness ended, like so many race efforts involving FZR 600s, with the transmission attempting to be in two gears at once and cracking the cases.

Nelson Ledges had always been famous for crappy pavement and unpaved crappers. Both have seen substantial improvements since ’93. The current race surface, barring a couple of undulations, in the apex, of the fastest turn, isn’t bad. Given our mixed experience with the new Michelins, we were much relieved to find that our sassy new tires and the sassy new pavement matched our S1000RR chassis and, therefore, we were the fastest endurance bike in practice.