Track Stories 08

[RacingJake]

I guess sometimes it's better to see green vs red before releasing the clutch.

As for that jerk, I'd point my exhaust pipe toward his pit and everytime he'd start talking I'd put my bike on the rev-limit :lol:

I know alot of car guy's that would get inline for an attitude like that. Wouldn't be much left by the time it's my turn :sad:

 

[lecroy]

I think I changed plates and springs in it since last time. I am sure I am not that much quicker on the draw.

I have never been flipped off by another racer. This guy is a rare case. He just needs to be taken out first round for the rest of the season.

Nope, this is not the burnout box. It's my launch after first putting the strap on. Full zoom you can see the S hook mark it is leaving. I see a worried look in my face thinking that I should have worn my suit or at least put on some leather pants....
http://www.putfile.com/pic/8208640#

 

[RacingJake]

Looks like a good way to warm up the sidewalls

 

[lecroy]

I picked up a 2-stage MTC clutch for the old GS to try and tame it's launch. We have next weekend off, so I may try and take it on a few test days and see if I can make it work. No plans to turn it into a race bike and will keep it all manual shift and hand clutch.
No bars or slicks allowed in street class anyways.

Was watching some of the "street" cars. Some of them are more setup for racing than the ones running in modified. There are only 10 or so in the class so maybe I can get lucky once this year, but not with .4 or .7 bulbs.

 

[rosco15]

Good write up. If I ever get to go racing again I might join in the discussion. Between my boys birthdays and rain I'm not even sure the bike will still run. Heck I might have even forgotten how to ride. I better get out the practice tree.

 

[lecroy]

Good to know your alright Ryan. Get the kids to practice on the tree with you.

Putting the MTC on the stock GS was not the 1/2 hour job I hoped for. Picked up a new battery (took out the GSXR one) and had it on charge then started to work on the clutch.

The break arm didn't fit. The fairing doesn't fit. The cable is too short. Took it apart and found an old Barnett 10 plate kit in it. Looked fine still but I don't use those anymore. Put a new set of FBG plates in and the softest springs I had with no shims. 9 grams on each arm. Should be more than enough for the 80 or so HP it makes. The air gap came out a little wide but the arms on the 2-stage can swing out a lot further than the multi-stage. Should be ok. Sprayed some teflon lube in the cable and made sure the lever was loose and lubed.

Took it for a short ride around the block. It started right up and did not smoke like the first time I started it this season. The seals must be shot in the head or those few passes I made helped it. LOL Maybe this coming winter I will finally give it some TLC. That head has never been touched.

The clutch is a very soft pull in but other than that, I can't tell any difference. I'm ready for Wed. or Fri. test. Will leave the fairing off so I can get to the cover to fine tune it. I need to get into mid fives to do anything with it. Some of those street cars can really cut some great lights. How????

 

[lecroy]

I have been playing with the lockup, riding the bike to work. Weather was pretty nice today so I put the bike in the trailor and headed North with the wife and dog to Martin. I get there and there is no one at the gates. I drive in and here some of the NHRA guys testing for this weekend's event in Chicago. I watched Steve Johnson on his Snap-on Suzuki make a 7.1? pass with a .41? light. I stopped by their trailor but they had no interest in shooting the sht. Nice setup. He was the only bike there. The rest were cars. I asked one of the other guys and they told me that they had rented the track.

Why can't Martin just make a quick mod to their website? Its about 3 hours for me to drive it and $30 in fuel. It's not like they didn't know they rented it out.

There is a big pro-mod race there this weekend, so the clutch will have to wait until next week.

 

[rosco15]

Man it was really hot and humid saturday. Right off the trailer went a 9.60. Too fat so I went down 1 jet size. Picked right up to a 9.543 with the Density Altitude of 3818.

Rd.1 9.542 DA3777. He red light so I ran it out to see what it would do.
Rd.2 9.526 DA3518. This was a bye run. I had a 9.53 as the dial.
Rd.3 9.526 DA3453. I passed him up right before the stripe. He was on a low 10 second sled. Hit the brakes hard. I'm guessing on the 9.526. My 1000' was exactly the same as Rd.2.

My lights were a bit slow, but I was dialing in pretty tough. I'm really liking this E85. Bike seems to run pretty good on it. I think the heat kept most of the bikes away. The class was really small only going 3 rounds for the win. At least thats 2 points races in the books.

 

[rapidray]

CONGRATS Ryan! It sounds like your bike is pretty dead on with the E85! Ray.

 

[rosco15]

We'll we had 11 bikes show up. A couple round 1 winners couldn't make the call for round 2 and we ended up only having three bikes in the second round. Got the win in round 2 into the final. Ran a busa on spray in the final. We went up to do the burnout and I looked over at him and Realized he wasn't running and was trying to get it started. Now he's trying to get it push started without any luck. I'm getting worried about heat and the clutch by now so I shut it off in the water box. A couple other guys came over to try and help him get it going. They finally got it started. The starter is now waving at me to do my burnout. I did my burnout and went up to the line real slow. By the time I got up to the line he was coming up right behind me. I cut a .007. Best light of the night. Ended up with 3 rounds for the event win.

One of the quick 16 wrecked in the first round. Story was his throttle stuck and he hit the brakes. Car went right then went in front of the guy he was racing and slammed into the left side guard rail and flipped. He got right out of the car and was fine. The car didn't fare so we'll.

Bike seemed pretty consistent if I don't count the first pass. Off the trailer it went a 9.51. The rest of the passes were between a 9.42 and 9.46. I'm not sure whats up with the first pass. I guess I'll just chalk it up to the track.

This is one heck of a start to the year.

 

[Tailgunner]

If you are running slow off the trailer every week you are not warming the motor up enough. Oil operates best at about 180 degrees and you need heat in the head for proper combustion . If you are still running E85 it requires even more warm up because it runs cooler

 

[rosco15]

If you are running slow off the trailer every week you are not warming the motor up enough. Oil operates best at about 180 degrees and you need heat in the head for proper combustion . If you are still running E85 it requires even more warm up because it runs cooler

I wish the bike had a temperature gauge on it. I try to do it by feeling the side and top of the head, but that can't be very accurate. It being cold is a very good possibility. I'll pay better attention to the heat first pass next race.

 

[Tailgunner]

Ryan:
Coming out to Norwalk this weekend?

 

[rosco15]

I wish I could. We're moving this week. Busy Busy Busy.

 

[lecroy]

I wish I could. We're moving this week. Busy Busy Busy.

Had to buy a house with a bigger driveway to fit the new trailer?

They had the big pro-mod race two weekends ago. I guess it was very good. Had a record 30,000 spectators. I hear they plan to run it again next year. Some friends went and said the bikes were over 180 MPH to the 1/8. The tower was hit by lightning and they switched to half track. I guess they flag started them rather than send everyone home. Crazy.

We have our first all bike race this Sunday. We must be in last place in points by now. We have been plagued with several problems. No bike has even came close to victory against the cars.

I plan to go up today with the GS to try and set the lockup. I plan to try and race it Sunday if I get it sorted out.

Finally started to work on the body for the junker bike. What a mess. I was picking at it with my finger, then grabbed a razor and went to town. Must have all been old time lacquer. I took off everything to the primer with the blade. There were places that the primer did not stick and I could see more paint below. I spent yesterday with the DA to remove everything. As near as I can tell, the bike was originally black with red and white stripes. Then it was painted gold. Then white. Then red. Then primed and painted red with silver and white (last paint job).

 

[rosco15]

Had to buy a house with a bigger driveway to fit the new trailer?

Thats the real reason. That and the 3 car garage with trailer pad on the side. I lied and told my wife we needed the new house for better schools, more space for the kids, you know.

 

[lecroy]

Yea Sunday is almost here!!! We are running four bikes. I plan to run the old GS in street so I can still pit. You know the old saying that a light buld is brightest just before is blows out, well that's my GS. She ran quicker last time than it has ran in a long time and it's not because I was on a diet.

Had to lay some new glass in the junker bike's body to stablize it. It had some cracks in the gelcoat in the tail and near a couple of the zeus fasteners and needed to be ground down. Finished stripping the paint and filled some of the holes and nicks. Plan to prime and paint it this Monday along with repairing the flag bike. It's going to be a long day.

 

[FJman]

I don't see her saying anything, and I wasn't there, but DreamRyder had a mishap at the track on her busa. Had a minor wheelie, got it down, had a large wheelie, came down crossed up, and ended up highsiding. Wasn't moving real fast, wasn't too far out of the hole, but put scuffs on the bike and did quite a number on her leathers. Other than some bumps and bruising, the only injury that I know of is that she broke a finger pretty decently.

Saw her 2 weeks later at Byron and she was all taped up but seemed to be in good spirits. Glad that's all that happened.

 

[lecroy]

Sounds like she is doing fine. I was hoping they would be at Martin this weekend.

The race was a major bust. I knew before we went that there was a little cell coming through around noon. It made it around 1:00. And what do they do, they cancel the race. Damm this is getting old. They were talking about it taking till 4 to dry it. Rain was short lived and we had beautiful weather home. Roads were dry. Many of the racers were upset that had drove 150+ miles to get there. I doubt they will have any bike races next year. The price of gas is too high to have them play these sort of games. They pulled the same sht last year and the numbers have really fallen off.

On the + side, I got to finally try the lockup on the GS. The bike was very lazy coming out. Still went red, but instead of .1 under, it was 0.0081 under. I need to take a little more out. I plan to take it again next weekend and try my luck with the cars.

 

[Guest]

Used to race against cars in the early '90s. Only made a final once and lost in a .002 breakout after going SIX rounds to get there. Was really happy when they created a bike class. Would drive down the 90 mi. to Great Lakes only to have them yank the plug way too early.