In Our Last Episode: I had engine troubles, thought I fixed it, had engine troubles, ran out of time. Later, I identified a kink in the fuel line, correction of which seemed to fix things....we resume our story at the track....
Saturday, August 8, 1998
It was really warm and humid--back to the peel the leathers off thing. Ugh. With the Formula USA guys here at Loudon for the weekend, we only got one practice. I determined that I had NOT fixed the lack-of-power-problem after about one lap, came back in and started tearing things apart. The fuel line appeared to be kinked. I bought more line, a new filter, and replaced it. Things seemed better putting around the pits. I kept my fingers crossed, knowing there was no more prectice before racing....
Production Twins: Off the grid, everyone, their brothers, and their grandmothers flew past me into turn one. "Well, at least I have a clear track" I thought. The problem was not fixed, and power was way down, so I focussed on cornering speed. I took turns one and six faster than ever before, nearly WOT, with no brakes required. Sad, but it was enlightening. I got a knee down for the first time. It was really cool. I took naps on the front straight, with the throttle pinned wide open, though. I wasn't dead last, but only because some people crashed. I ran consistent 1:47's.
Back in the pits, having run for 15 minutes now WOT, I was spitting oil out around the right exhaust pipe and the plug was fouled badly. Real problems. I didn't have time to mess with the bike, so I went home.
Sunday, August 9, 1998
I went back to pick up the trophy from last weekend (5th place!). Then I went for a little ride, then went home and pulled the motor out of my parts bike. It reportedly ran well when it ran last, about three years ago. It has been stored inside with all the holes covered since then, so I'm hopeful. It has good compression, and feels ok when turned by hand. I had to drop the swingarm to get at one recalcitrant motor bolt, but I won that battle eventually. Once that motor was out of the old chassis, I went to sleep.
Monday-I pulled the now defunct A-motor out of the racer, checked the valves in the B-motor, checked the cam tensioner and lockwired it. Replanting the B-motor in the racer went ok. A little wiggling did the trick. A second set of hands might have helped, but might also have been in the way. I put the nearly new Mobil-1 from the A-motor into the B-motor, I figure I'll put new oil in it shortly. Use this stuff to wake the old beast up on first, though. After reassembling the rest of the bike, it started on the first try. The Thrill of Victory!....After running a few minutes it coughed and basically refused to run well again. The Agony of Defeat.
Eventually, I checked the fuel line. My new line. Kinked. Dammit. Once that was sorted out, it ran like a champ. Once warmed, it idled ok. Cooling system worked. The gears all worked. Damn! It feels like a motorcycle again! I can't wait for Wednesday, when I am attending a day of fun at Loudon with a bunch of other local riders....We rented the track. How much cooler can it get?
Summary
One sprint race = $50
Pit pass = $30
Gas truck/bike = $15
Food = ? (mostly from home)
No points-paying finishes
I have 8 races and 28 points toward the 10 races / 45 points needed to move to Junior.
BIKE SETUP:
New final drive (14/42)
rear tire=decent 150/80-16 Metzler ME33 Laser
front tire=decent 120/80-16 Metzler ME99
27psi front (30psi when hot), 28 psi rear (32 when hot)
mesh air filter screen, airbox fully assembled
Progressive front fork springs
15W fork oil
Sintered EBC-HH bedded in but not used much yet %^/
No forkbrace
93 Octane pumpgas
