The Racing Wade at NHIS, June 7, 2003
Prelude to 2004
I missed the first race weekend this year because I was working. In preparing for the second race weekend, I pulled the SV650 racebike out of storage, and discovered the engine oil sight-glass was creamy white. Hmmmm. Two mechanics suggested it was just condensation from winter, but three oil changes and two filters later, the creamy-ness was only getting worse, and I was losing coolant level. Dang - I must have forgotten to put anti-freeze in the engine last fall, and it froze up. I knew I didn't have time to deal with it myself, so I cast about a bit for someone else to fix it. Rochester motorsports said it would be at least 4 weeks before they could look at it - too late for me. Eventually I asked the guys at RAZOR if they could give me a hand - they said they could. I brought the bike down there, Chris took the motor out, and Mark tore it down to find one freeze-plug in each head popped out. I guess that's why they call them freeze plugs, maybe? Well, apparently Suzuki doesn't sell them to consumers, expecting one to buy new heads if they freeze I guess. Sheesh, why put them in if you can't replace them? I hate that. Anyway, Mark stretched the plugs a little bit and put some high-temp locktite on them and banged them back into place, and sewed it all together again. 5 or 6 oil changes later, and the oil sight-glass was looking more or less like oil. WooHoo! While he was working on it, he lubed the chain and moved the shock reservoir to under the frame tube from the side of the tube where it was located before. Fine by me. He also put a set of new Dunlop 207s on, which are supposed to be one of the hot setups for SVs. The RAZOR guys also put a set of prototype fully adjustable rearsets on the bike, and Chris gave me a Yosh pipe and can. Cool. The stocker can serve as a spare.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
I got to the track about 11 or so. Thursday is open practice: cars in the morning, motorcycles in the afternoon starting about 1pm. I parked the van and started in on some house-keeping chores, while I waited for Mark to arrive with the bike. It rained last night, and sprinkled a little this morning, so the track was wet, but the cars circulating were drying the track slowly. Thanks guys! The track has an OLD OIL disposal center - I finally remembered to bring the 5 gallons of oil from the garage to get rid of it. Once the bike had arrived and I'd settled up with Mark, I puttered around the paddock a little, and observed three things: Mark must have charged the battery because it was much better than when I left it with him, the new exhaust gave the bike a real bark, and the shifter was set up for GP shift-pattern (which is backwards from streetbikes: shift up once for first, and down/down/down for all others). Cool. I think Chris and I spoke about it way back when, but I had forgotten. Then I put the lower fairing back on and realized it would interfere with the shifter in the new configuration, so I trimmed the fiberglass a little with my trusty Dremel. I gassed the beast up and it was about time to head out for practice on the now-dry track. Air temp was in the low 70s. Just perfect.
They break these open practice afternoons into two groups: Amatures and Junior/Experts. I'm still wearing Junior plates, and I'll probably stay here for a few more weekends hoping for another trophy. They are going to kill this class next year anyway, and have only Ams and Experts, so I'm going to try to get another trophy or two before I have to get used to being at the end of the pack. So anyway, practice went well, I got the tires scrubbed in without incident, and tried to wick it up. I don't have a timer so I have no idea what my lap times were, but I played with brake- and shift-points some, and generally had a good time. Coming around Turn 8, a sweeping right hander that apexes near the crest of the hill, I tagged the top few inches of an apex marker cone with my shoulder hard enough to bruise myself a bit. Surprised me, but didn't upset the bike at all, which probably means I'm not pushing hard enough. I gave that corner a little more room after that. And other than one very short slide in the front end coming out of Turn 2 near the middle of the second practice, the tires hooked up great. I am starting to get a little headshake in 5 over the hill crest under power, but it seems manageable. I never got the point of really planting a knee anywhere, but I dragged it lightly in a few places. Looking at the tires, it's clear that I'm close to their edge, but could still lean more. Plus, I'm using the rear tire harder than the front tire. Hmmmm. The quarter-throttle is really stiff, and maybe I'll try to soften its action some before racing on Saturday, if I can find some time.
The best advice of the day came from Kenny, regarding remembering how to use the GP shift pattern: When you're coming into a turn and slowing you're sitting up, so lift the lever UP...when you're accelerating, you're tucked down behind the windscreen, so press DOWN. I think I can remember that, thanks Kenny!
Saturday, June 11, 2004.
Tim and I were up at 4:45am, packed the last few tidbits and left....stopped for gas in Rochester ($14 for 4.5 gallons in containers and filling the SV and Tim's TT tank.) Once at the track, we parked the van by the fence at T3 and I went back to deal with registration....Arriving 20 minutes before it opened at 7, I was 20th in line for a transponder, which you need before you can register for races. Then registration, and I was back at the truck quick as a wink. Well, a long long wink. I got through tech, and was told this is the last weekend they'd accept my SNELL 95 helmet. OK, I should have known that, I guess. So a new helmet for next weekend. The oil level was a little low, but I know I didn't put a full 2300 ml into it Thursday, so I'm not surprised. I put a little more in and then checked the radiator...oh no. The radiator cap has the nasty brown/tan emulsion of oil and water....I rinse the cap off, and pull of a radiator hose to find only water coming out...Apparently I'm still knocking little blobs of oil out of the cooling system, but it's almost all water, so I put it back together, refill with water, and head out for second practice.
I was placed in the medium-speed group, which had so many riders in it that they split the practice again into even and odd, putting perhaps 25 or 30 guys on track at once. That's not bad. I'm clearly the slowest guy in the crowd. It was kinda sad. My best time was a 1:25. I'll hope none of these guys is in my race. The weather was FAB-U-LOUS, with no clouds, gentle breeze, and air temps in the 70s. Wow. Just Wow.
RACE #3, GTL
This is a half-hour race. The gridsheet showed 13 registered racers, and I think everyone showed up. I was in the middle of the third row, with one guy behind me in the fourth fow. I got a decent start, and was 6th through T1, passed one more guy at 1A, making me 5th out of T2. I can see the leaders ahead pulling away. On lap 2, a Junior on an RS125 (one of the tiny GP two-strokes that corners like they are on rails) passes me in T10 and pretty much runs away down the front straight. He's the last Junior I see the whole race. I don't catch the fast guys, everyone behind me stays behind me. About lap 6 or 7 the experts start lapping me, beginning with Ricky Doucette. Damn is he fast - even allowing 15 seconds between our waves, he basically made up a minute of time in 7 laps: that means that while I'm turning 1:24s and 1:25s, he's circulating the track in the 1:17 range. Yikes. Then one of the Yoo brothers went by, then Ted Temple went by me at the half-way flag, then some more guys including Des Conboy, then a couple more, then Ricky goes by me again, and the white flag is out at START/FINISH, and I get a standing yellow in T1, a waving yellow in T2, and see a rider getting to his feet near the tires at the outside of T2, his bike on its side under several tires...By the time I get to T7, it's redflagged, and the race is over. I'm 6th of 12. Not first but not last. WooHoo! Results are online at http://lrrsracing.com/2004/results06121304/Sat3.PDF
RACE #9, LightWeight SuperSport
The junior grid for this 15-minute race was pretty much all SVs - about 13 of them, again - I had just about the same grid spot near the back. I got a mediocre start, and was 7th out of T2. I made an ugly but successful inside pass into T1, and was catching STONE with black leathers and his name on the back in lap 2 when I went past two bikes down in Turn 6 - they were off the track but there was some debris on the pavement, and at least one rider who was not moving as I went past. The race was redflagged as I went up T7. We all pulled into the hotpit, and were regridded by our position. I tried to figure out which of the guys near me was the one I made the ugly pass on, so I could apologize, but I couldn't figure it out. So, if you're reading this, I'm sorry, whoever you are. My excuse is that I'm still trying to learn how to pass people. Several minutes went by as they got the guys and track straightened out, and we did another sighting lap and started again, for a 5-lap, no-midway-flag sprint. Doesn't get much sprintier than that, eh? I got a terrible start, and went downhill from there. The first three laps I kept finding myself in the wrong gear, and just couldn't get into a groove. By the time I did, the race was over and I felt like I was nearly last. The results sheet showed me as finishing 6th again, though. Go figure. My last lap was the fastest (no surprise) but it was a 1:23.6. Wow. That did surprise me. It was a little anti-climactic, though leaving the track before I could get my race results, but that's racing. It was 5:15pm by the time I parked the bike, so Tim and I packed up, took a quick shower and headed home for an NRA banquet in Rochester. Results are online at http://lrrsracing.com/2004/results06121304/Sat9.PDF
I was off my best laptime by 2+ seconds for most of the day, but eventually got within 1.5 seconds of that pinnacle - even though I need to trim an additional second off that best-lap to be competetive in the Junior field. Maybe next time I'll remember to brake less (particularly into T1, T3, and T6). I'm getting some headshake over the hill at 4-5, which is new. Maybe the new pipe gave me just enough extra oomph to make that happen? I don't know. Maybe I'll dial the damper up a bit. I'm also getting chatter in T1 and T9 - which means I either need to give it more gas (to lighten the tire a bit) or slide forward to load the tire a bit. More practice is in order. Race results will be available on the LRRSRACING.COM website next week. Look for RACE #3 GTL and RACE#9 LWSS, both JR/EX races from saturday.
This was the first weekend I had a small (4ft x 4ft) deck on top of the van. It made a great viewing platform for T3, but the rest of the track was pretty well hidden. Maybe I'll try to park somewhere else next time for a better view of 9/10/12. Cheryl (to our left) and Joe (to the right) both spent a little time up there. Maybe next weekend I"ll arrange a better way up than the 24' extension ladder I had leaned on the side of the van this time. Maybe not. %^)
Until next time, keep the dirty side down, everyone!
SUMMARY: The first weekend of the year is NEVER cheap:
-Wade Bartlett, June 12, 2004
Last modified on 12JUNE2004