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So this weekend was awesome and full of many learning experiences. Thursday night my new forks arrived. Got the springs swapped over to the new forks, only to realize that the new ones were also bent. (thanks ebay). Installed the forks in the new triples with the bend facing towards the front of the bike. Also re-geared from the stock 16/41 to 16/44 and put a new chain on.
First practice on Saturday I went out and threw down some solid 33-34's. Second not much better, but managed to get some 32's. Only race on Saturday was Production Twins. Got a good start in that race, but Dan Kapnis got a better one. I followed him and was on his ass for the entire race, but could not make the pass. Until in turn 3 Dan turned in late and his the rumble strip with his front tire while leaned over and allowed me enough time to get him on the inside. I managed to hold him off for the rest of the race and pick up my first win, while setting a new PB of 1:29.157
On Sunday both practices consisted of trying to change my lines in turn 1 and turn 6. Basically I stayed out the outside of the turn and waited very late to turn in. My intent was to straighten out turn 1 through 2, but it didn't work. Glenn Coolbeth gave me some pointers and guided me in the right direction as well as advice from Mark (#988). I tried to get the new line down in 6 also, but when I take the faster line my suspension bottoms out and I hit hard parts, so I stuck to the other line.
My first race on Sunday was GTL. I got a great start and even got the front wheel to get up there...heh. Got 1.8 laps in when it was red flagged. Got the warmers on for 2 seconds after being sent back to the pits and then was sent out to race again. By this time the tires were cold so the warm up lap consisted of a lot of hard braking and accelerating. I tried launching at 7 grand instead of 6 grand to try and get a better start, but it only consisted of the ex front end wayyyy up in the air. I had to let off and put my feet on the ground to keep balance. Still managed a decent start, but Lori Shaw got past me. Me and Lori actually had an awesome battle throughout the first 7 or 8 laps. I would pass her in turn 3 and then she would pass me on the front straight. It continued like that until we got a debris flag, which is a yellow and red striped flag in turn 6. Of course I thought it was a yellow and red combined, so I slowed down and thought nobody could pass me. Then Lori came by me and I figured out I was wrong. She just started to pull away now that I was not in front of her before getting to the straight. Next lap I was going into turn 3 and a 125 rider forced a pass, which resulted in me standing the bike up and braking so that he didn't crash me out. That kinda screwed with my head a little bit for the rest of the lap and I couldn't catch him. Ended up keeping that position for the rest of the race, so I finished 7th out of 12. I also happened to get into the 28's that race with a 1:28.988. Needless to say I was stoked.
Last race was Lightweight Sportsman. I got a great start and was right behind Kurtz through the first corner. I tried to follow him and did so until he got to the first straight. Then I didn't see him for the rest of the race again...lol. Keith got by me on the 3rd or 4th lap and I stayed pretty close with him for a few laps until Dan Kapnis got by me. They both kinda checked out and it took me another lap to reel them both in again through turns 1-2. By turn 3 I had caught up to both of them and Dan was passing Keith on the inside. I was going go try to pass Keith at the same time, but I didn't have the drive and Keith was closing the door. Once Dan passed Keith I couldn't catch him, as he was pulling away. I finished in 2nd place in my class out of 4, and broke my goal of finishing in front of Lori Shaw, but her hands were hurting her so it didn't really count. I also managed to bump by PB down to a 01:28.422 and ran half of my laps in the 28's!
For next weekend I will be regearing again. The plan for this time is dropping a tooth in the front, so I will be -1 +3. This should help a little bit as I am not even using 6th gear. Anything I can do to this bike to get pulled on the straight less is a huge help!
I also wanted to thank MTAG for keeping my Pirellis squared away. My tires for the first race were wicked hard and I was sliding around everywhere. They monitored my pressure and got me to where I needed to be. Without their help this success would have never been possible.
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Originally Posted by csmutty
