Round 2: An Up and Down Weekend

The forecast for Round 2 was a bit uncertain, moreso than it usually is at Gimli.  I was sure to load the rain tires, as well as a new front just in case it began to really wear.  Like the big bikes, I was wearing out rears at a far greater rate than the fronts.
Practice Session #1:  no time.  My track instructor responsibilities saw me miss the first practice session.  An extended trackday meeting, plus time to set up another rider's suspension, saw it scrubbed.

Practice Session #2:  best time:  1:05:549.  Success!  One of my goals for this year was to get into the 1:05 range.  I was determined to focus on two corners, turn 2 and turn 6, to try to find some time.  I felt really good about this, but I had to immediately come off the track to prep for my instructor sessions.

Race #1: Canadian Thunder GP (15 laps): when I gridded up for this race, I had already been on the track for nearly 45 minutes. I wasn't feeling tired, but perhaps the front tire was near the end of its life? Anyway, to make a long story shorter, here is the video:

The "woulda shoulda coulda" file also contains the fact that Doug also DNF, due to electrical problems.  Was a 1st place a possibility?  This is a long race, but I was running over a second a lap ahead of 3rd at the time...

The bike wasn't too terribly damaged -- footpeg, clip on, windscreen, fairing, and the tail was broken up as well.  Some duct tape and spares had me back out on the track for the afternoon trackday sessions -- my tattered bike a reminder for the trackday guys to take it easy.


Sunday Practice #1:  with no trackday responsibilities today, I could focus on getting back up to speed.  However the weather did not cooperate, with it cool and windy in the morning and the threat of rain for later.  Session #1 saw me turn a best of 1:07:3 -- ugh, 2 seconds slower!  On top of it all, my fairing stay failed and broke in 2 places, and I rode into the pits a bit floppy.  Off it went, with duct tape a-flying!

Sunday Practice #2:  I scavenged a waterbottle in order for the radiator to drain from the overflow, and went out "naked and fairing-less".  I went progressively faster, turning a 1:06:9.  Better, but far off the pace of yesterday. 

Race 2:  Cdn Thunder (10 laps):  I put on the rain wheels as a drizzle started about 20 mins before the start of this race.  I successfully swapped them over, sweat running off the tip of my nose -- I did the work in full leathers!  I got a great start, solidly in second, before I started to go backwards.  My best lap time was on lap four, a 1:10, but then the rain stopped and a dry line formed.  Uh Oh...  I ended up in 6th, my worst finish of the year.  By the time I crossed the line, the sun was out.  A novice rider on a TZ250 and slicks ended up winning the overall, pipping Doug (on rains) on the last lap.  Tire choice!  I went back to the pits, sulked a bit, and hoped for more rain.

Race 3: Cdn Thunder (10 laps):  and the rain came.  Again, not a deluge, but enough to justify rain tires.  I had even started to over-wear the rains during the last race, with no water to cool them the edges were starting to tear... argh!  However, another good start saw me in 2nd after a couple of laps, shuffled down to 3rd for the remainder.  Not fast times by any means -- 1:15s!  However, a podium on a naked bike in the rain is a good way to end the weekend.  I'll take it.

Back home assessing the damage.  The tail has more duct tape than fibreglass, and to repair would make it weigh a ton.  It's done.  I've re-made footpeg hangers as one of the 2 I had was bent.  More spares, I guess.  I'll get a spare handlebar to replace my "replacement", and I think I may have a pinhole leak in the tank.  I never run it anywhere close to full, but it did take a hit towards the top, and so it may not be safe as is.  The upper and lower fairing are in really rough shape -- they may need to go into the skip as well.  For such a simple lowside, the cosmetics took a beating.  I might revert back to my KTM mini-fairing for the next round or two until I decide what I am going to do long-term.  I think I realized the speed I found at the last round had more to do with my right wrist than some fibreglass.  We'll see.  I've got some hop-up ideas planned, mainly in the area of cooling, that I will keep you posted on.  Off to the garage!

Round 1

Round one of the MRA season took place May 12 &13.  As usual, I left work as soon as possible, after loading the bikes and trailer the night before, and hooking up the rig just before 7 am.  It does get me to the track earlier, and allowed me a decent pit spot and a chance to really give the supermono a go.  Typically the warm day led to a very cold night, and I slept in the back of the car, with a touque on.  Saturday dawned clear but cool, and I got ready to work with Francisco with the new trackday riders.  It was a bit of a juggle getting out with the new riders to the MRA, and getting some decent practice in, but it seemed to be going OK.  The weather cooperated, except for the wind which began to pick up, and in an abbreviated racer practice session, I turned a 1:06:948 -- it was the second or third round of 2011 before I was able to manage that, and at no time was I seemingly at the limit.

Race #1:  Canadian Thunder GP (15 laps)
The luck of the draw saw me gridded into the third spot on the front row.  A decent start saw me second behind Doug (on his new Ducati 900) into turn one, although Wilson passed me before the end of the first lap on his TZ250.  However, unlike last year, neither he nor Doug pulled away (much).  I was quite happy with the race, as mid-way through I took a look behind and could see no one.  I did it again the following lap, and with no one in sight, I worked hard to keep Wilson busy.  Not really the case, but I crossed the line in 3rd place, just 3 seconds adrift, and 18 seconds ahead of 4th!  My best time of the race was a 1:06:109, tantilizingly close to the 1:05s I strove for last year.  Again, there is time to be gained, I just need to dig a bit deeper in a few areas.

Race #2:  ULGP #1 (12 laps)
This was the debut of the mitovarna, against a tough pool of RZ350, an Aprilia Rs250, and a SVX450 supermotard.  While the bike ran ok, it didn't stand much of a chance.  A distant third overall, with the bike losing a bit of power towards the end.  It was jetted far too rich, and by all accounts the plug was just loading up.  It also vibrated far worse than the DRZ tigcraft of last year, with both feet and hands going numb.  I decided to sit out the second ULGP race as I wasn't sure about the state of the engine at the time, and I was likely going to tool around on my own in the small grid.

Aside from a few more trackday sessions, my racing was done for the day.  A bit chuffed at the first result, as it was a Westman sweep of the podium, with fellow Brandonite Doug taking the win, and Wilson from Killarney the 2nd spot.

Sunday looked to be a better day weather-wise, but once again the wind picked up as the day wore on.  The first practice session was a disappointment, and the second a bit better... into the high 1:06s again.

Race #3:  Canadian Thunder #2 (10 laps)
A shorter sprint distance, and a good start had me solidly in second for the first lap, again behind Doug.  Mert on his hot-rod SV came by out of nowhere on the front straight and motored off.  I could catch up in the turns, but my bike's power was no match for his.  Wilson came by after a few laps, and I was shuffled to 4th.  Not feeling great about my riding, I peeked back to see Jason on his new SV right behind me.  It was a battle to the end, with me finishing just ahead of Jason in 4th, with Mert in 2nd and Wilson 3rd.  Slowly going slower... the rear tire was eating itself again, just like at MAM, so my best was a 1:06:979.  Things did not look good for me for the final race of the day, with the rear squirming, and me simply losing confidence in the traction of the rear end.  This was a soft Michelin I bought purposely for dealing with the cold tearing, but despite running lower temps, it was still too cool, and was shredding pretty badly.

Race #4:  Canadian Thunder #3 (10 laps)
A repeat of the last race, and my 4th likely only came due to Mert crashing on the warmup lap.  I tried to keep up with the frontrunners, but I finished a lonely 4th, behind Doug, Wilson, and Jason.  Slow lap times -- 1:08:2... over 2 seconds slower than Saturday!  I had to figure out something to preserve my rear tire or I was going to go broke(r) racing!!!  I packed up and heading home, after cosulting some people in the paddock for suggestions.  All indications pointed to some issue with the suspension, so armed with a few videos (lent by Jason), and conflicting rebound vs compression suggestions, I headed home.

Follow-up

The reality is that I am at the point now where my riding style/speed/skill makes suspension adjustments more critical.  In the past, on lightweight machines, my smooth (slow) riding style allowed for tire preservation... now I am wrecking a tire a weekend.  Normal on a 1000, but not on a stock-engined 650.  It was time to get serious about my suspension.  I spent the following long weekend finding my old suspension books, printing off manuals and log sheets, and checking out Jason's DVDs.  All very helpful, and I took the time to reset the sag and log everything.  Then based on what I saw and read, made some changes, primarly to the rear, but the front receieved some attention as well.  At least I've started the process of elimination to solve the problem... after I had installed the 3rd rear tire of the season... I've got none left!  Basically the rebound on the rear was over-damped, and so I backed that off to speed it up, hopefully keeping the tire on the ground and generating some more heat.  The Michelin guy I buy from is out of 180 softs for the rear, so it will be back to the mediums for now on... until they run out!

Also, the front end is bottoming out constantly.  Not sure if it is under braking, but regardless, I am blowing through all the travel.  I've upped the oil level (which is supposed to help the final 20mm or so of travel) and increased the preload -- we'll see how it goes next round.

I also finally got the front brakes working the way I want.  I got a set of r6 radial calipers, a set of carbon lorraine race pads, and a 17mm nissin master cylinder.  The calipers needed to be machined down 5mm at the mounting posts, but otherwise fit perfectly.  The brakes finally work, with the right feel and balance I prefer.

With the increased cost of tires and the shrinking grid, I think I am going to step away from the supermono for now.  I know some readers may be disappointed, but I want to focus on the ex650 for awhile, to see if I can get the lap times down further and end up closer to the pointy end of the field.

I'm currently 3rd overall in the championship, just ahead of Jason.  Roll on Round 2!

mitovarna is alive!

It finally runs like it should.  A quick and illegal blast around the block to start, need to find somewhere else to run it in at length...

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!