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| SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS We are able to reach thousands of people and bring this drive to you with the support of our fine sponsors! |
JIM FILANC
Age: 53
Weight: 225 lbs
Bike Ride: KTM 525
Age: 53
Weight: 225 lbs
Bike Ride: KTM 525
We finished the race on the Husky, but not late
due to bike loading up and stalling numerous
times on all legs.
As it turns out the stator re-wind by Baja Designs
was inadequate and did not charge the battery
when the HID lights were attached. The starter
would not work and we relied on the kick starter.
Well that's when the fun began. I got the bike at
10 PM Wednesday, carb jetting off and too tall
gearing. The day before the run between Punto
Conejo and Todos Santos was fairly high speed
and about 2 miles of mild silt. When I got on
the bike the silt had stretched to 40 miles -- from
mile marker 1140 to mile marker 1180. The
bike stalled 25 times on me. Since I was in the
silt beds at night with no moon, and no electric
start, I has to kick start it each time. Well, the
bike was overheating due to the slow silt pace
and too tall gearing. It took about 10-25
minutes each time to restart. At one point I
pulled off my gear, rested and cooled off
because I was getting heat exhaustion. I drank
all my water and begged for water from racers
as they passed.
due to bike loading up and stalling numerous
times on all legs.
As it turns out the stator re-wind by Baja Designs
was inadequate and did not charge the battery
when the HID lights were attached. The starter
would not work and we relied on the kick starter.
Well that's when the fun began. I got the bike at
10 PM Wednesday, carb jetting off and too tall
gearing. The day before the run between Punto
Conejo and Todos Santos was fairly high speed
and about 2 miles of mild silt. When I got on
the bike the silt had stretched to 40 miles -- from
mile marker 1140 to mile marker 1180. The
bike stalled 25 times on me. Since I was in the
silt beds at night with no moon, and no electric
start, I has to kick start it each time. Well, the
bike was overheating due to the slow silt pace
and too tall gearing. It took about 10-25
minutes each time to restart. At one point I
pulled off my gear, rested and cooled off
because I was getting heat exhaustion. I drank
all my water and begged for water from racers
as they passed.
| went over the bike, topped it off. After about 45 minute rest, I kickstarted it one more time and the kickstarter broke right off the bike. We zip tied it to the frame to keep the oil from oozing out of the case and scratched our heads on how to get the bike through te remaining silt without stalling, and if stalled, how would we restart it. We decided to wait until sunrise when I would no longer need lights. Mag 7 had a trickle charger. We charged it for 25 minutes and the electric starter worked fine. I then waited until sunrise, jumped on the bike, and rode through the remaining silt, stall-free. The bike ran fne the remaining way to Cabo and I finished around 10:45 AM, almost 13 hours after I started. But the BIKE DID FINISH!!! As I sat in Pit #19, I decided the bike would either finish or break, and I was determined to not let my teammates down. Well it ran fine the rest of the way. We got photos of the finish line checkered flag and the podium with the bike, my chase truck and the Tecate Girls with me and my Chase Driver, George Heule. Post Mortem -- good stator, good lights and good starter. Bad starter -- muy mal. Gearing -- great for a speedway racer, Baja 1000 -- muy mal. Carburetor -- replaced at Bay of LA by Bill Hitchon, the Canadian. No Bill -- no finish. Bill -- muy bueno. Silt is silt. That's Baja. Some say this was the toughest Baja 1000 race ever. I don't know that to be true. But I do know my five hours in the silt was the single most grueling physical experience of my life. And I survived, nursing the Husky home. There must be something to that word -- perseverence. It sure paid off here -- for the entire team -- no one would quit. We kept the bike going down course -- all 1296.36 miles. Our goal was to finish safely -- and we did just that. The guys were great. Bill Hitchon turned out to be an essential part of the team -- keeping the bike moving. Mission accomplished. |
