The Scooter Blog The Scooter Linc - Part 6 Leminz returns this year and with it so do the memories of past events.
Linc Biggins
It’s on again “the Le Minz 24 hour scooter trial” as a two time competitor I know what this years competitors will be up against, I was along with my partner and a good mate from the gold Coast lucky enough to compete in the 2006 event on a TGB 101r 50 and again in 2007 on a Peugeot Blaster 50.
The Le Minz is not a “race” it is a reliability trial, it is a test of how far a 50cc scooter can go in 24 hours, the rules are simple across 3 different classes, class 1 is stock restricted – standard in every way including the LA Class “moped” speed limiters in place, 50Kph plus the 10% variance allowed for speedo inaccuracy so 55Kph max speed.
Class 2 are the same scooters but with the “limiters” removed, so depending on the scooter concerned up to 80Kph (it’s this reason we chose the Blaster in 2007-celebrated as the fastest factory 50 on the market at that time) class 3 is the open class with no restrictions on performance modifications other than it must retain the original 50cc capacity, this throws up some interesting results, coupled with this being the only class that can only have one rider for the entire 24 hours things get real interesting around 2-5am mark, class1 and 2 can both run teams of up to 3 riders so this spreads the load.
2006 was great fun with all teams showing a fantastic camaraderie particularly after 4 hours of solid rain the lights went out at 10pm for a couple of hours and competitors were plunging into a 50-75mmdeep river running down the middle of the fastest back straight (yes you can aquaplane a scooter) to top it off the drain that the water was running into was the braking marker for “toilet block bend” a 90 degree blind double apex corner, surprisingly enough there was very little carnage and the rain forced all the teams into the main shed which meant they had to get along. The rain stopped about 11pm and by 2am the track had all but dried, it was during that time the lap record was set. The following morning the open class competitors discovered faster is not necessarily better when more than 1 scooter suffered from piston and ring failure from “race spec” equipment that is designed for 6-8 hours running, all said though a great time.
2007 was a totally different ball game! The weather was fantastic for the whole 24 hours and the teams were almost hostile towards each other, 2007 was at the peak of the scooter boom and the old adage “win on Sunday Sell on Monday” was never more evident. Along with this there were a number of teams who may have taken the class 2 “de-restriction rules a little liberally”. This aside the “trialling” (it is not a “race” remember. Lol) was close and considerably more professional than the previous year and as such still held an appeal.
Will I do it again this year? Probably not, the old racer in me wants to but it is not a race, if we could re-create the atmosphere of the 2006 and just enjoy it as it should be I would but I doubt that would be the case, the LeMinz is now beyond a bunch of scooter nutters boring around a track in pitch darkness and rain, it is now ultimately what it really should be, a test of the factory machines that the average owner can own and use, albeit unlikely for 24 hours non stop.
published 19/08/2011 |