Yep, that's it.

I won't be making the Yearbook Photo Wednesday night because I'm picking up my GS500 that night.

In the stuntriding thread a Craig's List posting was linked about a track prepped '90 GS500. Seeing as how the owner is 5 minutes from me, I decided to check it out. It's pretty.. and for $350, I couldn't pass it up.

I think we're going to need a motorcycle track day... MM-M.

Picked this bad boy up after work today... Saw it on their website and just said "Damn, way cool, I have to have it." So I went and got it It is a Sparco First jacket...



<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ogracing.com/eshop/itemdetail.asp?ses=3127rqzt03l426u6p6&itemid=819&showbrake=1">http://www.ogracing.com/eshop/itemdetai ... howbrake=1</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.livestrong.org">http://www.livestrong.org</a><!-- m -->

Proceeds go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation which aides young people with cancer... I just ordered a pack of 10. If anyone would like one let me know and you can Paypal me the $1 or just hand me a dollar bill when I see you... I'll eat the shipping for you poor college kiddies

Cancer sucks, it's random a lot of the time, and I'm all about helping those in greater need than myself.

I have had trouble sending money for the past 4 hours, sent it and have gotten no confirmation email, Im getting all sorts of errors, on different computers and different connections too, I cant even visit their main page without getting some error abort titled page hock:

Selling the following OEM belts, all brand new still in the packages from Courtesy Nissan:

A/C Compressor Belt
Fan & Alternator Belt
Power Steering Pump Belt

$30 shipped for all three.

Doing the 120k maintenance and found out my crank pulley was chipped - so went with the Unorthodox underdrive pulley from Concept Z Performance with the shorter belts. Save a couple bucks and take advantange of my misfortune :roll:

gather round children, it's uncle scotty's story time again! for those of you at work or just bored, i hope you enjoy this.



As we pulled up to G Force it almost didnÔÇÖt look like a karting venue at all. Blending into the somber gray loading bays of the adjacent warehouses, the front door was the only clue that inside this vast expanse of corrugated metal some amazing kart racing takes place. After filing into the lot and exchanging a few wazzups, we pretty much invaded the place to the tune of 20 MMÔÇÖers hungry for some high quality karting. Paperwork and politically incorrect team names out of the way, it was time to check the track out and get a little lecture from one of the employees on kart etiquette, which mostly involves not beating the crap out of their karts, and that green still means go and red still means stop, etc. Good stuff. After donning the sexy (read: dumb) looking head socks we grabbed our helmets and got our first good look at the karts and the track.

Looking through the scratched lexan shield of the helmet the karts look innocent. Cute actually. They have little blue side pods and a little blue shield over the steering column, little LED taillights, a meek looking roll hoop, and that goofy plastic halo that encompasses the entire cart so as to deflect blows from the tire wall and more importantly, other competitors. Despite their meager appearance though, deep down you know they are most likely no joke. The steering wheel is teeny, with little bulges where you hands need to be. The pedals have a cage over them to hold your feet in place. The front tires are wide, but the rear tires are FAT, and rear haunches of the kart bulge out shamelessly to contain them. The seat is nothing but a plastic bucket designed to wrap around your lower torso, and it has a noticeably thin layer of fabric stretched onto it making a weak effort to comfort you. The engine, although small, has a vented fairing over it and is very low set in the chassis, to the right of the driverÔÇÖs torso. Next to the fairing is the only other covering on the kart, which hides the rear axle directly behind the seat. Come to think of it, everything is low. Nothing mechanical really rises far above the height of the tires save for the steering assembly and the top of the engine and pedals. The lack of weight, low center of gravity, and wiiiide stance are blatant and speak strongly of the purpose of this machine. The thoughts of the go-karts at the fair or boardwalk were now totally absent. So much for cute.

One by one the first shift MMÔÇÖers took to their assigned kart. Drop in (and I mean drop, as you end up with your butt literally about an inch off of the concrete), slide your feet into the pedal cages on the left and right of the steering column, and pull the shoulder belt over from the left. This happens all very swiftly really. There really isnÔÇÖt much happening but everyone is anxious. The head guy, who I shall name Tiny since he was very much not, began to rip on the starter cord of every kart, and with the whisk of an armstroke the burble of each 6.5 horsepower engine filled the open expanse of the warehouse. The track begins to take on the likeness of a blank canvas, and the coughing little karts want to smear tire marks allllll over it. You can just tell they want to. Heck, when Tiny would start each kart it would jolt forward and try to take off unless the brake was applied because the choke mechanism added a little throttle to the engines. But really I knew those karts wanted to rumble.

I took off my helmet since I knew I had 15 minutes to wait (can you tell Im anxious?), and as I did I got a better whiff of the fumes. How they keep a place like this ventilated so well Ill never know. But anyway, the smell, sound, and look of 10 drivers ready to tackle the track was really getting to me, I almost wanted to run out really fast and beg Jay to let me drive first, even though I was kind of apprehensivethis being my first time and all (and considering we got NO warm up lap due to time constraints). But just as the thought crossed my mind, Tiny gave a wave of his arm and there was no mistake in anyones mind that it was officially go time.

In no time the track was being navigated by packs of roaring karts. Despite everyone leaving in single file, the lack of experience and a degree of caution by most of the new drivers meant 3 or 4 kart packs soon developed where faster drivers who were staged towards the rear were trying to pass. So for the first 5 laps or so it was mayhem, MM style. Passing, nudging, screeching, waving. Through the slower corners, the engines bogged down, but as soon as some momentum was gained and the engines hit the upper RPMÔÇÖs, they really took off down the straights and through the fast sweepers, no matter who was at the wheel. For 6.5 horsepower, these little things could move!

As I ran between spectator areas I came to realize one very apparent thing. These karts oversteer.alot. The hairpin, sweeper leading onto the back straight, and turn in front of the pit area were all ripe with the sound of chirping rear tires indicative of some drift action. At any given moment I could look around and see Maeng, Jack, or Jay (among others) leaning into opposite lock or blipping the throttle with abandon to tame the loose rear end. It had just never occurred to me that these karts had the power to pull that off! Eventually the field thinned out some more as the pace of each driver retained more of a rhythm and the faster drivers battled amongst themselves while the other karts vied for the occasional pass.

Someone yelled out, ÔÇ£2 minutes!ÔÇØ Whoa, it was already time for me to get the helmet on! I fumbled around with my gear, shaking from excitement. Headsock pulled on tight, helmet squeezed on, neck brace secure. I sauntered over to the pits, and in a minutes time Tiny briskly waved the checkered flag to signify that round one was over, and round two was up!


tune in tommorow for part 2 of the 3 part series! same time, same channel.



cliff notes: sea monkeys stole my money, Mike got his own class, Jack got to test the first airbag equipped kart and Dave raced a 69 charger over some railroad tracks on the way home.

We drove back from Richmond in Aaron's ML320 after karting. We were acting like jackasses. We got an SS to lay on it for us. We stared at people... stuck heads out the window etc. We were about to get passed by an Infinity FX35 and we noticed that the car had 3 HOT persian looking girls in it. Then they waved to us before we could do anything jackasslike. THEY BEAT US TO THE PUNCH! Anyways.. they dropped back and were waving and smiling at us.

Then what happened shocked us. They pulled up along side us and with huge smiles, they flashed us! It happened so fast that I didn't have time to break out the camera. Either way, great sight.

The squirrels powering the servers died again... Really slow access, evening considering I'm out in the boonies

Today, Rob came over to my house to bleed the brakes on his car - easy job, no sweat. Get all my tools out, Rob states that the lug nuts on his car are on very tight and he couldn't get them off the last time he tried. Judging by the size of his tire iron I see why it might have been a problem getting the nuts off. I take my 1/2 in drive socket wrench to the first nut on his right rear tire - no luck, the nut won't budge. OK I thought, I'll get the tire iron out of my car, which is breaker bar sized. Take off the first three lug nuts on the tire, all which were on very tightly and required the majority of my strength to remove. Fourth nut, same drill, pressed down hard on the nut - not budging, not budging, sickening crack. OH SHIT hock: . Nut and stud broke off as one piece. Decided to say fuck it and tighten the remaining 4 up, now the brakes are still mushy and Robs wheel hub needs to be replaced in the near future.

Morals to this story:
1. Lug nuts are not supposed to be torqued over 200pds
2. If they are torqued tight as hell, don't be the guy trying to get them off.
3. Never work on someone elseÔÇÖs car, cause you can break something.
4. Don't spray paint a wheel while it is still attached to a car. Ever.

Pictures in the near future.