Tag: racing

Kentucky Family Racing In Mexico

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

This year marks the second year in a row that one of our EXAIR team members will be racing in the SCORE-International Baja 1000.   While I am extremely envious (not to mention mad at myself for not going), we all wish we could be there to support him and his family as they try to complete the torturous event.  The Longshore Racing team has made nothing but improvements over last year when they completed over 600 miles of the event but ultimately were brought down by part failures.

2014 Baja 1000 UTV 1943
2014 Baja 1000 UTV 1943

Since then, they have completely rebuilt the vehicle and learned a tremendous amount about what they need and implemented it all for this year’s event.  The team is a family affair for one of our Design Engineers, Ryan Longshore, his father, brother, and mother all play a significant role.

Longshore Racing's Favorite Taco Stand
Longshore Racing’s Favorite Taco Stand

 

The group definitely knows that when you want to achieve and excel, you have to work hard. I wish them the best of luck in this year’s race.   Here’s a picture of the team launching from the start line.

The 2015 Longshore Racing Baja 1000 Starting Launch
The 2015 Longshore Racing Baja 1000 Starting Launch

Ryan and his team managed to make it past halfway this year, before snapping frame welds that could not be overcome. He came back with another year’s worth of experience and knowledge, while still maintaining his resolve to someday conquer the course.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer Manager
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

Longshore Racing Debuts at the Baja 1000

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

Ryan Longshore, a design engineer at EXAIR, famous for his hard work on our new High Lift Reversible Drum Vac, will now be famous for something else. He left Cincinnati, OH last Thursday November 6th, 2014 to run the Baja 1000. He is running the race with a few members of his family and friends as a part of Longshore Racing. His trip to the race is 2,168 miles. After driving to Ensenada for the start of the race, They will compete in 1,275 miles of racing, unlimited UTV class 19.

Longshore Racing
For any one unfamiliar with UTV class 19, here is a photo of the vehicle they will be using.

The Baja 1000 is one of the most grueling off road races in the world.  According to Scores International, the race this year will be 1,275 miles starting in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico finishing in La Paz, Baja California Sur. The course crisscrosses the Baja California Peninsula drive along the cost of the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California at various times.

The temperature in La Paz now is 87 degrees and sunny, so I hope he gets a chance to enjoy himself.

If they complete the race (a huge accomplishment), the convoy will then depart from La Paz to drive back to Louisville, KY.  For those of you scoring at home that is roughly 6,500 miles or around 80 hours of windshield time.

As I’m writing the blog the number 1943 is 398 miles into the race after running for 18 hours.  They only have 40 hours to compete in the Baja, so they have an uphill climb to finish in the allotted time, but they seem to be putting on a good showing so far.

Best of luck to # 1943! EXAIR is Cheering for You!

Monday Morning Update: The Longshore Racing team made it to mile 625 where they suffered an insurmountable breakdown – two broken front right ball joints. The repair vehicle was a couple hours away and they were unable to make the repairs in time to finish the race. Ryan has stated it has been an amazing journey and they have begun talking about next year.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
@Dave_Woerner
DaveWoerner@EXAIR.com

 

Photo Courtesy of Longshore_Racing

Track Days Will Never Be The Same

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

We all know that change is always right around the corner, there are far too many variables in life to know exactly what is going to happen.  That’s the joy in it.  As the track season has begun this year so has the burden of owning a trailer that is large enough to haul more than just your own bike.   When two of my friends and I bought a 20′ trailer, we only planned on carrying our 3 bikes, all of our stuff, and maybe 1 extra bike.

The only problem has been that over the past two years of owning this trailer, more and more people seem to need a ride to the track.   Well this just makes it more of a hassle for us to get everyone’s stuff and make sure everyone has all they need.  Not to mention hotel rooms get a little crowded at 6 people.

So, we finally decided to sell the big trailer and it just so happened that my brother-in-law was looking for one to carry around a 1966 Nova he is restoring.  So, this past weekend, I drove to Skaneateles, New York to deliver his new to him trailer.   In case you have never been there, it is in the country and so when I sent this picture to my buddies, their response was, “Wow, you really did take her to a farm upstate.  Looks like she’ll have plenty of room to run around.”

20130602_091504

20130602_101148

Now that the trailer is gone and the next track day is only 2 weeks away, we are all trying to figure out the best way for us to get there.   So it looks like we’ll be back to the car caravan where everyone tows their own bike and we all have hours of fun on the CB’s.

Here at EXAIR change is happening every day.   We are constantly improving processes, designing new products, or figuring out ways to get information to and from our customers faster and easier.  We’re always looking for a good challenge to promote thinking outside of the box also.  So if you have any questions on your compressed air application then give a call, email, fax, chat or visit.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Winter Is No Longer Welcome In My Book

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

For those of you that read my blog posts it may be shocking that I haven’t blogged about a motorcycle since October 12, 2012.  That’s far too long! Over the winter months I have been working here and there on the motorcycle. Doing the normal maintenance like oil change, cleaning, sitting on it and making engine noises because weather isn’t permitting outside fun.

Of course, one of the things I have done is use my E-Vac Brake Bleeder.  After successfully bleeding my brakes I took my front suspension to a local motorcycle race shop to have it refreshed and new seals installed.  This is something I don’t have the correct tools for so I have to hand it over to an expert.  We then got to talking about bleeding brakes and getting all the bikes ready for this race season.  So I explained the E-Vac system to them and they didn’t believe it would work as easily as I stated.

After showing them a brief video of it I was able to see the wheels start spinning in their minds.  Suddenly they realized that they could use one in the shop and that there were applications that I didn’t think of.

The main application would be for bikes with a hydraulic clutch.  The clutch fluid needs to be changed out and the air needs to be bleed out of the system as a regular maintenance item just like the brake fluid.  The reason I hadn’t thought of it is because I have a cable driven clutch.

Hopefully with the weather today nearing 50 degrees I will be able to get an E Vac in their hands and let them see that the way they were bleeding fluids is obsolete and this is best, easiest, and fastest method to do so.

The old methods are shown in the video below.  (Please don’t try to siphon brake fluid by sucking on the brake line.  You don’t know where that line has been.)

If you have any applications you think we could help with please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF