Mancation Report

Leading up to the April 14/15 weekend at Mid-America, I made the cardinal error of checking the weather.  Poor weather wasn't going to prevent us from going, but anytime you travel 12 hours to ride a bike, you want to have some sense of how the days are going to go, and how you should prepare.  Doug lent me some wets on wheels from his ex650, so I should be ready for anything.
After a Thursday sleepover in Killarney, Wilson and I set out at the crack of day for the trip south... so early, in fact that the nearest border crossing was not yet open.  So we headed slightly northwest to end up going southeast, but it made the most sense in the long run.
As always seems to happen on these trips, we drive right into a decent headwind.  And to top it off, it is raining.  Not a huge deal, but we are using Wilson's truck and my uncovered trailer.  The ex and his tz250 were gonna get a bit wet.  Check that -- a lot wet.  We drove south for over 900km before we got to clear skies.  For my European readers, we would have driven across several countries in that distance, all under constant cloud and solid rain of varying intensity.  At least it progressively got warmer.

At noon we stopped for one of our many gas breaks, and decided to get a bite to eat.  That is when I spotted this local store...  How convenient!  Only in America would a Porn shop share a parking spot with a Hotel, a Shell gas station, a McDonalds (!), and an IHOP.  Awesome.  No I didn't go inside, but we did fuel up again and we ate at McDonald's.  Eating at "Rotten Ronnie's" was the most peverse behaviour of the trip, although my Chicken Burger wasn't too bad.  However a US chocolate shake now includes whipped cream and a cherry!  Its been years since I ate at the golden arches... Wilson and I both had trouble ordering off of the menu... they musta thought we were a pair of rubes!
12 hours after we left, we arrived at Pacific Junction, IA.  A few minutes from Omaha Nebraska, and about a mile from the track.  It hadn't rained all day, and after a quick trip to the store for lunch provisions and evening beer, as well as supper we turned in for the night.  A few other MRA guys had arrived, and so the BS'ing and bench racing was going full blast in the parking lot.
The next day dawned overcast.  After the usual well-run trackaddix rider meeting, we finished setting up our pit for the weekend.

No rain (yet).  You can see that the MAM parking lot suffered from flooding last year.  The Yanks complained about the track conditions... us dumb Canadians can't get over how smooth it is compared to what we are used to!

MRA dudes Andrew and Wayne prep their bikes for the day.  The Van is a famous vehicle that some Kenora riders use.  It actually has a motorcycle muffler/slip on as an exhaust system.  It doesn't quite sound like a gixxer, though...

As usual, my bike is ready to go, and Wilson is tinkering with his... it IS a two-stroke after all.  It hadn't run since last fall, and Wilson had rebuilt the engine the previous week.  When he got it started, he gave big bikes fits all weekend!

We were able to get 3 sessions in the morning done before the rain came.  A bit of rain is no big deal, but thunderstorms were developing, and the MAM employees reviewed the tornado safety plan.  Apparently Omaha was ringed with twisters.  We sat out the rain waiting for it to clear up...

...and it only got worse.  The track officials called it a day at around 2pm, with the promise of running longer on Sunday.  No good to us as we have to leave early to get back in time.  Hoping for good weather on Sunday, we begged a spot in the concession building to put our bikes overnight, and headed back to the hotel.

Good thing we did.  Our area was under Tornado Condition (TorCon) 9... TorCon 10 means twisters are iminent.  Not having anything better to do in the meantime, the MRA crew (numbering about 20) trucked into Omaha for pizza and beer.  Great fun!  Over in Oklahoma, a tornado killed 5 people overnight.  None the wiser, we slept OK that night.

Wilson breaks the bikes out of the overnight lockup.  No rain for Sunday, although very high winds forecasted.  This turned out to be very accurate, and by 2pm, after 4 sessions in the early part of the day, winds were steady at 40mph, gusting to 60.  Not a comfortable condition to ride in.  We called it a day, packed up the vehicle, and started the trek home.  Got in a 6pm on Monday, after an overnight in Souix Falls, SD.

The riding itself went pretty well.  My best time was a 1:52:958... not the fastest, but not the slowest -- 12th out of 21 who ran transponders.  Aside from one other 650 and Wilson's TZ, all the other bikes were 600s, literbikes, or tuned Ducatis.  Granted faster (and slower) riders did go out without transponders, but I certainly didn't make a fool of myself.  The slipper clutch works well, the exhaust appears to be fine, and most importantly, my head still is in it.  The brakes are still frustratingly weaker than I'd like (although not dangerous, just not ideal), and I was able to get on the gas very early... I think that is why my times improved from last year.  That being said, the 180 rear slick was running way too cool (its a medium compound) and despite lowering the rear pressure, I could not get the correct heat into it.  Thus it provided exceptional grip until the cold tearing condition really started to damage the tire.  By the time I was done, the tire was also done.  Normally I could expect to get 1-2 more race weekends out of a rear, but this hoop is shot.  I need to run a soft tire if the 180 is used.

A few laps from the onboard camera...

All in all, an excellent trip.  No vehicle troubles (2 or 4), and while I have some tweaking to do before round 1, its pretty straightforward.  Roll on round 1!

The preseason approaches

In one week I'll be heading south for the long trek to the Mid-America Motoplex.  This trip is always a great start to the racing season.  Trackaddix put on a very professional event, and the low-key mood allows one to get up to speed after the long winter, without the pressure of racing "the first day back".  The incredible weather has allowed a few hundred km of riding on the 636, but aside from a quick illegal blast around the block, no time on the 650, which I will be bringing south.  All things being equal, there have been some considerable changes made to the bike since last season, some visible, some not.

I think the machine looks great.  The bored throttle bodies have not been installed.  A few mistakes on my end as to what needed to be done prior to installation had me lose some time, and so the machine never got to the dyno.  Playing it safe, it has the stock throttle bodies on the bike.  The full fairing is the most apparent change from the 2011 version of the bike.

This is the new fat rear tire.  A 180 slick from MotoRace, who is now officially "out" of pure GP slicks in the 160 size.  Continental still adverties slicks in the 160 profile, but I think the majority of pure race tires in the 160 size (at a reasonable price) might become supermoto tires.  Bridgestone will still make them, but at a premium, and how much development will take place?  Still plenty of chain clearance, as you can see.  Kit came from TWF racing -- some machining to the cush drive, and some cool spacers that end up being captured, so rear wheel changes should be somewhat quicker.  We'll see.

Never seems enough room to put everything on the busy dash.  Thats a 636 set of guages.  Will tape over the speedo section, and note the redline for the 650 engine is a bit optimistic... 15, 500?  Not likely.  TPS trouble light, oil pressure light, and low fuel light all still work.

There has been a major development with the supermono.  By process of elimination I deduced that the 43.5mm carb was the problem that was causing the backfire issues.  I sold it on eBay and bought a proper 41mm keihin, with the correct TPS plug as well.  Needed a bit of cleanup, but inserting some jets (pilot, main, needle) that I though would be close, I fired it up.  The machine finally runs as it should!  Hooray.  However, my joy was a bit short lived, as I noticed that the carb was weeping fuel from the float bowl and fuel inlet elbow.  Luckily fcr-MX carbs are completely rebuildable, although I needed to order a gasket kit from JD jetting... another 80 bucks on top of the substantial purchase cost.  Hopefully the seller comes forward with some refund, as the unit certainly did not operate as advertised!  That being said, I spent some time doing some safety-wiring of the supermono, as well as spooning on the dunlop 155/125 slicks I bought last year for the tigcraft.  I also set the sag in the front.  It's set up soft, as the mono likely weighs 100 lbs less than the gsxr600 the front end is taken from.  Rear seems OK.

Hard to image I'll be on the track in a week!  Can't wait.

Where are you Running?

Plug for those Lenny Kravitz fans out there.  Got both machines running -- the ex650 fired up relatively easy, now that the weather is pushing +10.  New exhaust sounds great, but I think the new bigger throttle bodies are making it a tad lean -- runs a bit higher than I'd like, even with the throttle return stop backed right off.  Flowing more air, then!  Off to the tuner to match the fuel to the air.

Getting closer getting the jetting right with the Husky.  Took awhile longer to start, but when it did, it idled much better with the 55 pilot.  HMF muffler also quite a bit quieter as well.  No leaks, cooling system appears to be doing its job.  Headers weren't glowing red, so I really think I am on the right track.  Still a minor pop at idle when you rev the throttle.  The remote fuel screw really came in handy -- it worked well enough with the 55, but with the screw 4.5 turns out.  Considering it shouldn't be any more than 1.5-2.5 turns, I still need to go bigger on the pilot.  Off to Scotty's for a range of 58-65 to keep experimenting.  I also have fabricated a filter based on a foam/mesh filter from a VW race buggy.  Will post pics of that when I am done.  Finally, thinking I would develop the 610sm into some really neat engine, with a bit of hot-rodding, I stumbled upon this when surfing the web:

Some engineering geniuses have mated a Ducati 999 cylinder and head to a 610sm case (like what I have).  They've switched from cam chain to belt, as well as a dry clutch!!!  The transmission and case remains intact, so it is still a 6-speed, with the cable clutch.  It loses the electric start, so rollers would have to be used.  Staggering ingenuity!

Planning for the riding/racing season.

The MRA schedule has been posted, and the series has added a round, as well, the April "mancation" to Mid America looks to be a go.  Finally, some organizers with the club have arranged for Canadian pro racer Chris Peris to run a school at Gimli -- an offer too good to pass up.  My racing season looks like this:

April 14&15  Mid America Trackaddix Mancation

May 12&13 Round 1


June 2&3 Round 2

July 5&6 Chris Peris Riding School

July 7&8 Round 3

July 28&29 Round 4

Aug 18&19 Round 5

Sept 8&9 Round 6

Sep 29/30 - MPH Weekend (option)

So a very busy season this year.  The costs will certainly add up.  In addition, I've got the 636 to ride/commute on the street -- hopefully the increased seat time will further help my riding.  In addition, I also agreed to do some track day instructing at Gimli.  Again I felt somewhat obligated to help support the club -- considering the 2 years of refereeing while I re-evaluated my desire to race was a big enough sacrifice.  Knowing my cautious approach to my racing, the instructing on Saturday will likely impact my performance.  Yes, I will still be getting track time, but not "at speed"; my expectation is that some track credit will be offered in lieu, at least for Saturday.  Running two  bike will keep me hopping as well, but I think I am sorted for tires, and short of an expensive crash, my running costs are unlikely to change over the year. 
For the long-term, I would still love to see if I can get back to a single bike.  I enjoy the 650, but the "neat" factor of monos really stirs up the blood in me.  At the end, the DRZ400 supermono had me lap in the 109s -- no where near competitive for Thunder, but I would be racing the experts mid to back field... could I develop the husqvarna into a more competitive bike?  Surely the mito chassis and better suspension will help, but the engine is a question mark.  By all logic I've likely eliminated the backfire condition I saw when I ran it last fall.  The vibration is a reality, but I have some ideas as to how to minimize that -- everything from seat foam to engine mount bolts to a crank balancer nut (which was a bit loose) to a balanced crank are all possibilities to explore.  Ideally I'd love to get the suspension sorted (remember I've adapted gixxer forks and a zx6r shock to the cagiva frame), build a bulletproof, balanced and blueprinted engine, and run in the 107s... in both ultralightweight and thunder.  Then I'd put the 650 back on the street in the guise of a cafe racer, and sell the 636....  Oops, that's assuming I can race and develop the mitovarna at the same time.  An interesting feat.  Best make sure I safety-wire everything, cross my fingers, and hope for the best!

more fake bikes

As there is little to do right now with the real machines, I fiddled around with another Tamiya model.  This one is Carlos Checa's 2005 Yamaha YZF-M1.  It's painted in preseason testing livery.  I always thought nothing looked more like a "works" machine than a bike that has pre-season, pre-sponsor colors.  Most are finished in raw carbon fibre, or simply painted black with minimal logos.

Like a lot of motorsports, this Yamaha team was sponsored by a tobacco company.  Normally known as "Fortuna", in countries that banned cigarette adverts, it was changed to "Spain's No. 1".

Number one what?  Not fooling anyone!  The screen normally had a garish red decal, but instead I masked and sprayed the lower segment flat black, which allowed the #7 decal to be applied.

Nice stubby termi can.  The panels are all cleared with a semi-gloss clear.  Camera and light picks up some of the glare, as well as small specs of dust.  Applied the decals and used 2 coats of matt clear on the swingarm.

The box reveals the same bike in race colors.

Clutch detail.

Checa in the 2004 preseason tests.

wee battery

The lightweight racing battery from Racing Batteries (see link on right) arrived.  As you can see, much smaller than stock.  Also lighter -- using a digital scale from the school, it came in a 1080g -- just over a kilo.  The stock battery was too heavy for the scale to read -- its max was 2kg.  So it is quite a bit lighter than the stock ex650r battery.

A bit more work

Some parts recently arrived for both the mono and the ex650 which has allowed me some time to tinker in the garage.  I thought that while I was working on the clutch of the ex, installing the slipper mechanism, I should also upgrade the springs with heavy duty items from Barnett.  Although they won't be seen outside the bike, the green springs and red caps lend a festive mood to the machine...

The lever guards arrived from Woodcraft -- see sponsor list to the right for the link to their site.  As you can see from an earlier post, the purpose of these is to prevent unintended locking of the front brake due to incidental contact between bikes.

More evidence of why these guards are a good idea...

I plan on installing the clutch side guard on the brake side of the mono... once it warms up a bit and I have some decent grips to install on that bike.  The plastic pieces of junk I have on there now will do nothing to prevent the blisters I got all of last year.

Speaking of the mono, the muffler I first purchased, an all-carbon m4 exhaust from an R1, proved to be in pretty poor condition -- not as light as you would think, and the area that clamps onto the tailpipe would not properly seal, causing a bit of an air leak... perhaps this was what was causing some of the backfire issue?  Regarless, for $55 I got a slip on for a zx10 -- the tailpipe was put to use on the ex650 (see the scorpion exhaust experiment in earlier posts), and the exhaust can -- new -- was utilized on the mono.  From what I understand, the aluminum construction is a better and more durable option to the thumping singles -- carbon cans suffer due to the thumping firing order (apparently).

As you can see, the rear master cylinder has been removed -- it came leaking, a rebuild kit for it is also leaking... so I need to solve that problem soon.  I splurged on a mityvac brake bleeder on sale on ebay, so hopefully that will help both with this project and the many other times a season I bleed brakes!