At last a fine trackday!

duke22 · Post by **duke22** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:23 pm

First sunny trackday of the year - we had one day previously but it was only any good for running in my wets...

Good day out this time, mostly. Got to the track and the bike wouldn't start, found just 5 volts in the battery despite being on charge all night! Fortunatley there's a good bike shop only a few minutes from the track and I was able to buy another one.

After that no problems. Good to give my new Ohlins/Racetek combo a run - the bike is still a bit cumbersome to turn but absolutely stable - no chatter, no pogoing under power and it doesn't notice the bumps at all. The most obvious change is under brakes - the new front end setup has me braking about 30 metres later than previous. Ther's not so much suspension dive and so much more feel from the front wheel

It was a very sunny day. The bike is actually red, not orange!

Love those tyre warmers. Knee on the deck on the first corner...

The only thing I missed was the big motor. I need to make some urgent progress there.

Next outing a race meeting at Taupo next Saturday.

hotcam · Post by **hotcam** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:59 pm

Excellent - good luck getting the battery on the day.
I also have Ohlins/Racetech combo, just put it in prior to my last
track day. I'm very happy with the improvement.

Mmm, tyre warmers

duke22 · Post by **duke22** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:37 pm

The next challenge is to see if I can make the suspension better still. I've changed the preload a bit but there is a ton of adjustability in the Ohlins to muck about with.

I'm not sure I can do much about the steering, I'm at the point now where the rear ride height is as high as it can go (rear shock almost touching the swing arm) and the front is as low as possible (front guard nudging the radiator at full dive). I know a couple of owners have remachined the steering head to steepen the steering head but I think that will embed the front guard even further into my expensive custom radiator...

Yoniboi · Post by **Yoniboi** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:38 am

Lighter front wheel????

hotcam · Post by **hotcam** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:01 am

taller profile rear tyre? fork brace?

duke22 · Post by **duke22** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:14 pm

Lighter wheels are at the very top of my wishlist, and with the British pound getting cheaper and cheaper a set of Dymags might be worth thinking about. Of course then you have to get the alloy centred lightweight discs to go with them and I'll bet they're not cheap.

Higher profile rear tyre is a good idea but I think 180/17 racetyres only come in one section.

I've just seen the entry list for the weekend's racing and its not looking good. In the pre 89 class there's a Cagiva 650 and my FZR750 and (with two other exceptions) everyone else has 1000cc plus. The two exceptions are a Ducati 888 Corsa (WSB homologation special) and a seriously hot RZV500 (130bhp/150kg) both ridden by national class riders, who will probably finish 1st and 2nd. Perhaps I'll just stay home and watch TV...

Post by **FZRDude** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:36 pm

Doubtful that you'll stay home.....

duke22 · Post by **duke22** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:58 pm

You're probably right. The weather forecast is for a sunny day, and a ride is a ride. At least I'll get a good view of the fast guys as they come round to lap me

gtlewis · Post by **gtlewis** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:20 pm

Duke

I used to race a car and all I can say is racing is never a done deal. If the RZ's putting out 130bhp it won't last forever and even the fast guys have bad days.

Everytime I went out I learnt something. I can only assume that bikes are somewhat similar but take my hat off to you as I don't have the nads to do what bike racers do! I look on in admiration!

Regards
Tony

spook · Post by **spook** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:51 pm

Looking good Duke. Just go and have some fun in the sun! Tyre profiles often improve things at the front. Some frame bracing whilst the engines out..lol. How's the 900 engine coming on?

Mike_SS · Post by **Mike_SS** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:53 am

Just go and have some fun in the sun

What he said

I had the same thing last weekend. I saw who I would be gridded up with and knew that all but two of them would be faster than me. The two I didn't know was becasue I hadn't seen them before (turns out they were faster than me too

)

I told myself that I was not racing, just praticing, and ended up having fun and learning a few things even if I was at the back.

Enjoy yourself!!

stan · Post by **stan** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:41 am

i raced for 5 years, and not untill the very end did i realise that the only person i was racing against was myself

as soon as you start worrying about who is going to be faster than you, your waisting valuable brain space

the stopwatch at a track is your only enemy, the one you must beat weekend after weekend, if the stopwatch starts winning, your performance is going backward, then its time to ask Q'ns....WHY

Visualise a lap in your head, sit on your bike in the shed and run through the motions even, and time it. I'm sure you will be 25-30 sec quicker than your actual lap time, how often do you find that amount of time on a race track. Keep at it, slow your mind down till you can do a lap in your head at actual pace..........soon you will be kicking that stopwatch's arse

stan

duke22 · Post by **duke22** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:40 pm

Thanks for the support guys.

In truth I don't take it all too seriously, a long time ago I wanted to be a hero but then I realised that I never was going to be Valentino Rossi (or perhaps that should be Eddie Lawson, for people my age

) and perhaps I should just concentrate on enjoying myself.

Like Stan says, the real enemy is the stopwatch. If you finish last but still set a personal best lap then its been a good day. If the sun shines so much the better and if you get to have a good race with someone else at your pace that's a bonus.

It would be nice to have that big engine though...Then we can really show the stopwatch who's boss

duke22 · Post by **duke22** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:15 pm

Spook said

How's the 900 engine coming on?

Slowly. I now have a set of EXUP rods/pistons/barrels and am trying to decide whether to use them instead of the Genesis part. Indecision is a terrible thing. Plus I'm struggling to get time in the machine shop to modify bits. Plus I have two other projects on tight deadlines. Plus the racing season's now underway. Plus...well, how many excuses do you want?

What's really getting to me is that Kiwi has almost finished his 1040, and I really need some more horsepower before that hits the track...

spook · Post by **spook** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 6:47 pm

I understand where your at...lol. mines still on the bench in bits. But just about ready to go back together.

Why don't you just buy a set of wiseco or even better JE pistons? Flat top and fresh?

kiwi60 · Post by **kiwi60** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:05 am

What's really getting to me is that Kiwi has almost finished his 1040, and I really need some more horsepower before that hits the track...

The way my bank account was looking this week, you should have more than enough time up your sleeve.