3
So after the last round I decided to change some things on my bike. I was having some problems shifting and wanted to see if I could get it sorted, as well as fuck around with some other stuff. I ended up installing a slipper clutch, shift star, Pro Motion throttle, clutch slave cylinder, rear master cylinder, and rebuilt the front calipers. I took Thursday off to finish up most of this, and headed up to the track Friday morning. It was still a little damp when I got there but I signed up for practice and made it out there a few times. I've been riding this bike the way it is since 2007, so even a couple small changes felt pretty big. Anyway I got to see how my bike acted with the new clutch, and tried to adjust my riding a little.
Saturday GTO I gridded up in the last row and got an extra shitty start. I had the bike at around 6500 rpm, and when I let the clutch out it just was slipping and then grabbing, kinda with a little banging. So that sucked but the rest of the race went pretty well. The slipper clutch helps a lot in T1 and T11, and the shift star made the bike shift much better. I'd been having some problems a couple times each lap when I tried to up-shift, that's all gone now. I was able to work my way up through the pack and in the end ran a best time of 1:17.360 and finished first.
Saturday HWSB I gridded up in the back again and got another lousy start, but the race was red-flagged on the first or second lap so I got a chance to do it again. On the next start I launched the bike around 3000 rpm and the clutch behaved like it should and I was able to get off the line half decent. I was able to make my way toward the front, but had a hard time getting around some guys and never got much clear track and couldn't find my pace. In the end I ran a best time of 1:17.913 and finished second.
Sunday Supertwins Again gridded up in the back and got caught up in the crowd. My out laps are in the 1:28 range, and it is enough time for the guys in front to get a little spread out. I made it up to first in supertwins, with a best time of 1:17.831.
It was an incredible weekend and I'm very thankful to be surrounded by so many great people. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep racing ($), but coming up for these couple rounds was enough to remind me that I don't want to be away from this. I also don't want to be an amature anymore. I'm hoping my lap times and finishes will be enough for them to let me bump up to expert. I think I'll drop a second or two that way, maybe at least get some open track at the back of the pack for a while.