Jonathan Houston Classic Racing

ended up having a pretty good weekend.
Third in Classic (Period 3) 500 - would have been second but for the new lithium battery that just turned off while waiting to go out on the track in race 3, lead acid here we come!
Second in Classis Unlimited
Third in “Fastest 30” Classic feature race.
Gotta be happy with all that!

So far, so good at the 40th running of the Southern Classic at Broadford.
I qualified the Ducati 500 second in Period 3 500 and third in Period 3 unlimited. With two rounds of each completed I’m currently running second in both classes. There are a couple of notable absences, but hey, you’ve got to be in to win it!
My son Tobias is riding the black 250 Motobi with mixed results - it’s not run as a 250 (rather than a 125) for a few years so there’s a few issues like slipping clutch and inconsistent ignition, but he’s still getting around on it.
My 250 Motobi is now running as a 350 with longer stroke and bigger bore to make it 324cc but was a non starter til I get some teething issues sorted, although it showed great promise at the practice day before the meeting.

2023 Victorian State Historic Championship done for another year. Third outright with second in the last race for the 500 Narrowcase. Unfortunately the little Motobi 125 nipped up mid corner in the first race while leading and threw me down the road. Another project to add to the list.

A good weekend was had at the annual HMRAV Southern Classic at Broadford.
Came away with the overall win in both classes! Two wins and two seconds for overall honours in Period 3 500 on the Ducati and four wins from four in Period 3 125 on the little Motobi. For the first time there were more P3 125’s (the Motobi, two Bantams and a Bultaco) than P4 and 5 combined (only one of each) I also beat the P4 in all four races.
Gotta be happy with the weekend!

The 500 Ducati and 125 Motobi all ready and packed for the HMRAV Southern Classic next weekend. Road trip starts Wednesday.

so it seems my first thought on why the Motobi 250 stopped at the Aussie Titles (after setting a new 350 lap record) was indeed valve failure. The head came off the valve and was sandwiched flat between the head at the spark plug and piston crown, thus compressing the conrod - you can see it has an “S” bend where it tried to become shorter, it then jammed in the crank and broke. So seems it may be my tuning of the carburettor... This particular carburettor (Dellorto PHSB) is reputedly hard to get right and even though the bike was going better and better as I went leaner there may have been one critical point where it was too lean? I’m probably on the lookout for a 38mm Gardner carb.....

So....
ended up second place in the 2022 Australian Historic Championships Period 3 Senior (The Premier Class!) on the 500 Ducati with four second places to the awesome Clatworthy Norton ridden by young star Kane Burns who was in a class of his own setting a new lap record.
I’m quite happy with this result!
And an update on the Motobi -
After setting the new 350 lap record (it’s only a 250) it stopped as I shared previously. I now have the head off it and discovered why the exhaust valve broke...... the piston took it out when the conrod broke. I guess it passed the thrash-by-date.

well, that’s a bu**er. Third in 350 race one and set the fastest lap of the race (on the 250 Motobi), was leading race two and increasing the lead every lap, set a new lap record, then the exhaust valve broke with exactly one lap to go.
At least the 500 Ducati is still doing it’s thing - second in both races. The leader on the Clatworthy Norton is a young bloke who has raced Moto2 in Europe or something similar, so I’m very happy with second!

qualifying done at the Australian Historic Championships. Quite happy with how it turned seeing as my first time ever round this circuit was this mornings first session. Qualified the 250 Motobi 4th on the grid and in 350. (I moved it up to the 350 class as there was only one other 250 on the grid) Might have to look into a 320cc upgrade....
Put the 500 Ducati 5th on the grid and second in the 500 class.
Left the 125 Motobi at home as they put it in the same race as the 250 and 350.
Looking forward to a fun weekend!

All three bikes checked over, serviced, cleaned and polished ready for the 2022 Australian Historic Road Racing Championships at Morgan Park Raceway next weekend.