4
Preface: I'm late to the game building my new motor. Wednesday night, up til 3, sleep for 2 hours at my dads, up at 5 to drive back to my apartment and go to work. Thursday night, same thing but I start the bike that night. Friday I leave work at 1 and head home to button everything up and actually drive the bike and seat the rings. In the process I blow a head gasket and I have no spares. Luckily Adam had a spare for me up at the track so I shove towels and crap over my open cylinder, load up and head for the track around 8. Get to the track, grab the gasket from Adam, Pete makes me a delicious margarita, and I get to work. Finish around 2:30, set up my tent, can't figure out how to blow up the air mattress so I sleep on the ground pretty much spooning Carla for warmth.
Saturday morning I finally start my bike and all seems good except the rings are still not set and I'm on a fresh motor I've never ridden. Plan is to break it in during first practice. Well I was ignorant to the schedule and missed that. Second practice I resist pinning the throttle and running it wide open, I also pull off every lap to take a looksie. All seems fine so I finally put two laps together and get two laps in the 27s. Still not able to test any sort of brake markers because my speeds are off from not cracking the throttle open. Get back to the pits, my oil level is significantly raised. I talk to Adam, and we figure I have a bad seal and tranny fluid is mixing in...great.
I have one race Saturday, super singles. I almost don't do it, I felt like shit, I wasn't confident in my bike and last second I decide to do it with some coaching from my garage mate Adam Butler. As soon as I get on the grid I realize how much I love this shit and think I made the right decision. Wrong. I'm gridded dead last in 4a as it is my first expert race and manage to go into 1 in front of 1 or 2 people. There's a slow guy, a faster guy, and me in that order. Through 1a fine, guy in front of me lines up a pass on the slow guy and I'm on his tail planning on doing the same thing. Slow guy stands it up for some reason causing the guy in front of me to stand it up leaving me with a split second to decide to go wide and straight for the air fence or try to stop. I try to stop. I stand the bike up as much as I can, get on the breaks hard and the rear is high in the air. As I'm pulling a bad ass stoppie around turn 2, the guy I'm about to hit actually looks back and makes eye contact with me knowing something bad is about to happen. I either hit is tire or the front slides but as soon as my rear tire comes down I'm sideways and it causes me to come as close a high side as I'll ever get on a motard. Yup, flying through the air right now, this is not good. I land, slide for a bit, run off track and am okay. Bike won't restart so I'm out of the race.
Watch an epic battle between Shane and Eric for the dash then immediately head to a friends in Laconia and get some real sleep. After a quick nap I woke up around 9pm on my absolute deathbed. I'm sick from camping, well past exhaustion, and incredibly sore from my crash. Go back to be and wake up at 6:30 feeling a bitbetter. After an entire pot of coffee at the track I'm feeling much better but nothing is going to cure my aches from the crash or my cold I picked up camping. I finally had sleep though.
I make first practice and my bike is running awesome. Second practice I put motor issues to the side and just turn laps. Lots of 23s and a 22.9, 1.6 of my PB in practice on tires from last season, I am finally having fun. To top it off, my oil level is staying the same so fears of losing tranny fluid to the crankcase are going away.
One race today, motard, goal is to finish. I go easy on the start and just roll into t1 in last. Do two laps and then decide to start the fun. Try a pass on the outside of 6 and have a nice two wheel slide off line a bit forcing me to give it up and let him have 7. Get him on the inside of 3 on the next lap the. Take another on the outside of 1. I see Adam and the pack in the distance and bury my head. I'm reeling em in then a lap and a half later I push the front in 12 and down I go into the grass. Bikes still running, I pick it up, try my hardest to get my front brake and throttle back where they were but can't. Hop on the bike and start down the straight until my bike sputters and dies. Won't restart so I'm out of the race. When I finally get the bike back to the pits we realize my gas got flipped off. Ended up turning a miserable 27 out lap but I was in traffic, two 23s, and a 22.1. I load up and go home.
I'm super motivated to come back with new tires, a motor I am confident in, and put in some good finishes in May.
Cliff notes:
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday sucked.
Sunday was awesome.
Being at the track is awesome.
Adam Clark, Adam Butler, ECK and RSP are awesome.
Crashing sucks.
My dog is awesome.
I need new tires.
Motards crash well.
For all the new guys I didn't meet or appeared to give a cold shoulder to on Saturday. I apologize, I was extremely frustrated, tired, sick, etc and just in one of this moods. I swear I'm extremely friendly and don't bite.
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99 + 02 SV650 ex-race - 91 FJ1200 street - 03 KDX220R woods - 12 WR450F motard/ice
Originally Posted by Paul_E_D
(since you were obviously fine)
Carla
