Racing doesn’t always have to be expensive, the recent six hour 150cc/Commuterlite endurance race I competed in proves that. It is easily the cheapest way to get the most track time, challenge yourself physically and get a taste of a proper race weekend all in one. Words: Zane Dobie.
My entire “racing career” has been built upon getting the most smiles per dollar. I started my career when I was around six-years-old racing go-karts, my dad would seek out the best deals and the only thing we didn’t buy second hand were tyres and protective gear. This brought me up in a low-stress and low-pressure environment surrounding racing, dad never expected me to win and we were always out there having fun, with smiles way greater than fellow racers plunging tens of thousands into their equipment (who were also getting beaten by a kid in a much older kart).
Check out our gallery from the Six Hour Bucket Endurance here…
Racing karts for six or seven years, I saw a bit of success, winning a few rounds at Oran Park, Kembla Grange, Lithgow etc. and also scoring championship podiums and small sponsorship deals. I was hooked on racing at this point, the rules changed and the class needed an essentially brand new engine to compete in. Dad said “why don’t we give bikes a go now”.
Multiple gumtree motocross bikes later and no real luck with it, I threw a leg over the Yamaha YZF-R3 Cup bike that was being passed around to journalists at the time. First outing on the track with no training and I was decently quick for someone who hadn’t ridden on a road track before. I hassled the shit out of dad to get into racing after the R3 Cup bike went back, so we went down the cheap path and purchased two Honda CBR250RR’s off Ken Watson and his son, Keo. This was back before CBR250RR’s skyrocketed, so it was somewhere in the realm of $2k for a race-ready bike.
Along the timeline, a Honda CB125 Commuterlite racer was thrown in the mix to race in the Commuterlite class of the PCRA series, with these bikes, we were racing something like four or five different classes across a race weekend. We got entire seasons out of the tyres we used on the bikes, with only maintenance and entry fees being the only expenses.
I remember the Honda CB125 being a ball to ride, essentially flat pelt around 90 per cent of Wakefield and SMSP, tucking my 184cm frame the best I could underneath the fairing. The best part of it all, even at a complete loss of bike in an accident, you’re only out like $1000-$2000!
After hanging up the gloves for a few years to focus on my journalism career and drifting cars, Ken Watson gave me a ring and asked if I was interested in giving the Six Hour Endurance Race, at Pheasant Wood in Marulan, a go. Troy Corser and others in the industry had just recently competed in the Four Hour challenge and Ken was calling around trying to get some names in the industry involved, adding to the awareness of the event.
At this point I hadn’t raced a bike in five years or so, granted I do the occasional track day and testing day on stock bikes, but having to compete against other people is a whole other ball-game. I teamed up with Luca Gardner and we were ready to tackle the six hours as a two man team. The rules are simple, Commuterlite class allows for a modified 125cc single, four-stroke while the 150cc Production class allows for no modifications besides the tyres and suspension. Keeping costs low and the competition close between the two different capacities…
“The idea behind the Four and Six Hour was to provide a cost affordable race class that involves minimal machine prep. This is to put the “Fun” back into racing.” – Ken Watson
Ken Watson, who runs around organising these events, is an absolute legend in the low-cost racing scene, racing against some of the biggest Australian names on a national level back in the 1980s and 1990s and racing internationally with great success. He’s had quite an impressive career but ever the modest man, it’s hard to get a peep out of him about his national and international achievements. He now spends his spare time helping son Keo with his racing career, also organising low cost racing weekends like PCRA rounds and these Bucket endurance races. Ken says he makes nothing from these weekends and just wants to let everyone have a go.
“The idea behind the Four and Six Hour races was to provide a cost affordable race class that involves minimal machine preparation. This is mainly to put the “Fun” back into racing.” Said Ken “We always try to have people from the industry involved as guest riders, primarily so that they see the people who spend money in motorcycle shops are the people who race these commuter-based bikes in these types of classes. This has worked very well with members of the motorcycle industry and shops getting right behind the series with support and prizes.
“Pheasant Wood has been awesome in the success of this class and has been instrumental in the design of rules and to make it all very even. All riders competing love the track, love the format, and most of all love the fun atmosphere. Out of very simple beginnings it has developed into probably the richest race series for small bikes in Australia, with over $6000 in prizes at the Six Hour alone. Sponsors have made this a success. People who see the value in fun, like: Les Corish, John Stamnas Goodridge, Wemoto, Belt and Bevel, Carr Brothers Motorcycles ,Shark Leathers, Whites Racing Products, Pryce Race Engines, Stay Upright, Motoproducts.com.au”
Ken’s son, Keo, has also become an integral part of the series. Keo can be seen running around the pits helping out fellow racers in need of parts, repairs or advice. He runs his small business around the series too, offering a trade in for your stock suspension and a few bucks for a race-ready front and rear end, which makes a huge difference over stock. With the little bikes having very few modification options off the shelf, Keo says the idea around the series is to keep it cheap.
“The rules have been designed to keep the racing as simple and cost effective as possible. Modifications on the 150s are limited to external gearing, suspension preload and oil, brake pads, and tyres. For an idea on the cost, the bike Zane Dobie and Luca Gardner finished 2nd on was sold, race ready, for $2500.” Said Keo
“I’ve prepared a few bikes for this series as well as doing the suspension on the majority of the field. The Commuterlite class which runs with PCRA was already quite popular but it could be difficult at times for new riders to find bikes. That led Pheasant Wood (along with some advice from dad) to introduce the 150 Production class… As well as keeping the cost low, the limited modifications keeps the 150s relatively even with the slightly more modified Commuterlites.”
The Track
Pheasant Wood itself is a tiny and tight track, nine turns over just 1.4km on some of the nicest track surfaces I’ve been on. It’s located just under two hours from Sydney in the small town of Marulan, NSW. I have been on this track in a drift car but never on a bike, it became apparent very quickly that it’s made for bikes 600cc and under, with the motorcycle record being held by a KTM450 Supermoto at just 0:53.42.
The track was built back in 2009 as a driver training centre, it then went under some huge changes when Steve Shelley purchased it in 2016. Since the ownership change, Steve has made the track an integral part of grass-roots motorsport, often hosting lots of low-cost race meetings while developing the circuit further every year. It is a seriously impressive little track that gives the impression the owners simply want to see people have fun, especially with the closure of Wakefield Park last year which is situated about 20 minutes away from Pheasant Wood.
You’ll get to grips pretty quick as there aren’t too many places that’ll catch you out, but a lot of testing how late you can brake. The track starts with a run up the hill along the main straight, heading into turn one where trail braking is extremely popular. You then run down to turn two which is a nicely banked hairpin, here is where I think a lot of time can be made up as you run in from the wall on the entry, turn in late and gun it mid corner. Turn three, you quickly switch sides and find out how brave you are to not touch the brakes through here.
You then begin the climb uphill as it’s flat through turn four then hard on the brakes leading to turn five. This corner saw a few accidents as it’s very easy to get wrong and is one of the tighter sections of the track. You hit the peak before turn six where you’re met with another bravery test, holding it flat as you go through turn six on the downhill leading to turn seven which is where you set up your braking for turn eight. When you reach turn eight, it’s off the brakes leaning in, trying to make the corner as smooth as possible. Turn nine, light on the brakes through this heavily banked corner to get a run up the hill and start it all over again!
The Bike
Our weapon for the weekend was a version two Yamaha YZF-R15 that Ken and Keo prepared for us. Basically a stock bike with engine guards made out of a tough plastic, some of Keo’s special forks, rear shock and some Bridgestone R11’s (review coming on these very soon)! An extremely simple setup that would most likely run you between $1000-$2000 or you can contact Ken and Keo for a race prepped one circa $2500.
The little Yamaha hosts a 149cc, liquid cooled DOHC four-valve engine in the tiny Deltabox frame, making a whopping 17hp@8500rpm and 15Nm@8500rpm. Those specs alone prove that you really have to rev these things all the way out to even move. The Watsons kept the exhaust system stock as Ken and I are both agree that “loud does not equal fast”, plus who wants to hear a single-cylinder revving its nuts off for six hours?
Check out our stock Yamaha R15 review here...
The modified stock forks up the front along with the RS11 tyre makes the bike much more sturdy than expected. The front-end feeling is awesome, no diving under braking like you would normally expect from decade old forks, you really can’t go past the Keo upgrade. Braking is sorted via a twin-piston caliper gripping a single disc and a single piston caliper on the rear.
All of the lights were pulled off to shed a little bit of weight, seemingly in vein when my 184cm 80kg frame jumped on the bike. There is only just enough room for me to tuck under the fairing on the straights, you wouldn’t want to be much taller on it though…
Race Weekend
The whole weekend was setup like your average race weekend, so we rolled in on Saturday morning for the practice and qualifying day, which slotted in with a normal track day, so anyone could show-up and have a run.
First run out on the track, getting to grips with the bike and a track I had never ridden on before, I soon became accustomed to just how much lean angle these little machines have. The R11’s weren’t an option back when I first raced Commuterlites, but I wish they were because these hoops grip hard. The YZF-R15 is a perfect pairing for the Pheasant Wood circuit, they may not look quick from the outside but teach brake discipline and corner momentum better than anything I’ve ridden.
After plenty of track time during practice, qualifying saw me head out to get a few extra laps of practice in. Luca had already raced the four hour previously on the same bike so he was our obvious choice for the quali fast lap. I passed the bike off to him and off he went, everyone had their eyes on the timing chart as Luca and Keo went tit for tat, we had pretty much secured second place on the grid but Luca was in the zone and determined to catch Keo. This ultimately lead to a low-side on turn two, no stress as Keo and Ken had the forks straightened out for us on Sunday morning!
Sunday morning and spirits are high, bike looks awesome and feels straight. Heading out for an early morning practice, the brand-new Bridgestone RS11s are fitted so the first few laps are spent scrubbing them in. After a good 40 minutes, it’s time to line all the bikes up for a good old Le Mans style start! The race has a minimum of 10, one minute long stops and a three minute refuel, so it worked out that Luca and I would spend 30 minutes each on the bike at a time.
We lined up between Team Shark Silkoline and Team Shark Leathers, we agreed that Luca should do the first stint since he was faster and try to gain a gap. Unfortunately, the other two teams on the front row had the same idea, so Luca was battling with Keo Watson and ASBK Supersport 600 rider, Mitch Khune for the first half hour! The flag drops and Luca gets an awesome start, overtaking Keo into turn one. This was short lived as Keo instantly fought back and took control of the race within the opening minutes. We started to lose some ground on Shark Silkoline as Luca had already caught up to some lap-down traffic within the first half hour stint!
The pit-board waving for Luca to come in for the first stop and I start gearing up. Pitlane chaos wasn’t a thing as the minute is more than enough time to have a quick chat and get comfortable on the bike. Of course, the first thing I do when I leave the pits is go as fast as possible, around the 10 minute mark of my first stint, I’m puffed. I managed to keep my head down and keep us in second place for the time being. No worries though, I keep it together for the whole half an hour, pull into the pits and a small mishap! We sent Luca out at 58 seconds instead of one minute since we were going off a manual stopwatch and not the timing board. Rules are rules, so Luca had to come in for an extra minute long stop.
The next few stints had no hiccups, we would see glimmers of catching up to Shark Silkoline when Keo was on the bike or I was in the same stint as their slower rider but we were ever trying to make up time, we had pulled about a lap lead on the Shark Leathers team in third place at least.
Nearly right on the third hour, there was a rider down and the red flags came out. The whole race had a few stacks but Ken and flaggies managed to keep the race going un-interrupted until this point. This would become our three minute fuel stop, I filled the bike to the brim and headed out to do another stint as I had only done about five minutes of my stint before the red flag. I was ready to try my best to get a tow from Keo, at least for half a lap, when the bike started to bog down. Desperately scrambling to find a solution, it became apparent that I could either go in and lose our second place or just see out the 30 minutes losing heaps of time.
During these issues, John Stamnas riding with Team Shark Leathers managed to sneak past me with his big, grey beard and ponytail hanging out of his lid, I couldn’t believe how quick he still is! The bogging issue managed to fix itself for a few laps so I got a good battle with John. I was later on the brakes and carrying a bit more speed through corners but John was much more confident getting through the traffic so we made for an even match for a good few laps. I finally had enough and dived up the inside of him on turn one, expecting him to attack back into turn two, I moved to the inside, but no one there!
Coming back around the next lap and poor John is picking his bike up off turn one! Lucky he’s such a nice guy, there was no kicking and screaming just laughs and smiles, he had tried to get me back mid corner and hit the ripple-strip.
The rest of the day went off without a hitch besides the on and off issues, which I believe may have been a fuel venting issue from over-filling the tank and me going a little bit wide into turn five while lapping an unpredictable rider but keeping the bike upright.
We gave Luca the final stint to do his best to claw back some time from the three lap lead by Shark Silkoline. No chance though, Keo was out for the fastest lap and that he scored. Not only did this man beat Troy Corser’s 150cc production lap record, he did it on lap 290… and then went even faster on lap 297, Madness!
We managed to ride it back home for a second place finish, an exciting addition to my trophy shelf that had remained the same for the past four or five years! It’s a shame I didn’t spend some time at the track prior as I began really shaving some time off my laps mid-race, I was a good five seconds quicker during the race than I was on Saturday even with all the traffic. Towards the end, I was sitting relatively upright, a different style from my usual moving off the bike, trying to preserve the most amount of energy as possible.
A sensational weekend, I couldn’t move for a day or two afterwards, which is a testament to how much track time you get with theses events. You don’t even have to be quick, there were a few people just putting around at the back but still having the time of their lives. The best part, the track is so short that even if you’re the slowest on the track, you’re bound to have a battle with someone at some point as you get lapped or overtaken and you get to experience racing to the fullest!
Thanks to Ken and Keo Watson for organising the bike for Luca and I, McLeod Accessories for supplying the Bridgestone hoops and of course, all the prize sponsors: Les Corish, John Stamnas Goodridge, Wemoto, Belt and Bevel, Carr Brothers Motorcycles ,Shark Leathers, Whites Racing Products, Pryce Race Engines, Stay Upright and Motoproducts.com.au. Last but not least, thank you to Pheasant Wood circuit, your dedication to grassroots motorsport does not go unnoticed.
If you’re looking to get into Commuterlite/150cc racing then join the Facebook group here. Alternatively, you can contact Keo Watson on 0497186898 for all your suspension needs. I hope to see even more people out there for the Four Hour Bucket Race on April 15th 2023!
Pheasant Wood Six Hour Endurance Race Outright Podium
1 Shark Silkoline – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 311 Laps
2 Team Bridgestone BikeReview – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 308 Laps
3 Shark Leathers – Yamaha YZF-R15 – 306 Laps
Full Timing Sheet
