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Short race report as I'm still dead tired and need to finish waking up and on my way to work...
Friday - Cornerworked for Penguin in T12... as a result I achieved KFC Original Recipe status with a good sunburn to my head, neck and shoulders. Got to watch a bumper crop of new Novices work through the school, including one guy on a Katana 1100 'getting the job done' as well as one can expect on a boat like that.
Saturday - Started out wet, and I still had my rains on the GS from my last USCRA race... So I went out and played in the rain once open practice was called. No idea what I was doing for times as they never bothered posting them, but I got a ton of track time and had a ball. Actually got to 'hang' with some of the Expert PTwins guys for a bit, which was cool.
The rain let up fairly early, so we had dry track in time for the rookie race and the rest of the day. Sun came out in full force for the afternoon... I'm looking overcooked at this point, and avoiding any sun at all as it HURT. Went out for NV PTWN and had a ball. Serious dicing going on with a bunch of the guys, with a nice full grid for a change. One of the most fun PTWN races I've been in yet. Had one lil MX excursion under the treehouse... : ) Vid should be cropped and Vimeo'd this evening I hope. Came in 6th after a good battle, turned 34s, and possibly killed the GS in the processes.
I discovered the left side cases were wet with oil when I was going over it post race, suspect I either lost the base gasket, or the cam chain tensioner gasket. Too much oil all over the place to pinpoint the problem at the moment. Didn't seem to be smoking or down on power compared to normal so my fingers are crossed that it's not a fatal failure.
Saturday Night - TGI Fridays will never be the same for me, that rocked.
Sunday - Beautiful weather, and I'm officially 'Extra Crispy' now. Figured out how to start the KTM that Dan hauled up for me. (Yes, I bought/am buying it.) Scott F came up with a brilliant and simple kick starter restraint to keep the lever from flopping out on me as it was doing in practice, worked like a champ.
Race 2 was a fricken blast. 3 waves this time due to the number of bikes entered, which meant in order for me to harass DB I was going to have to work my ass off. In the end I dropped a 25.5, a new personal best, and took 2nd after a good 3 way battle, friggen awesome race. I also got to try and chase a couple experts when they lapped us, including a sweet pass by Materie on me in 11A. Fricken A do they carry some crazy entry speed into 3, 6 and 11. My camera acted up and only recorded 5 laps or so, I'll try to get the vid cropped and online tonight too.
So now I have to do some serious wrenching...
- Fix the GS
- New rear sprocket for the KTM? Kept trying to find 7th down the front straight... : )
- Noticed oil out of the waterpump weep hole, going to have to take a look see and see what that's all about. I also have a lil oil on the bottom of the motor, I'm thinking kick start or countershaft seal, easy cheasy. Otherwise the Katoom ran like a top. Clutch is still dragging, but I can ride around that for now.
I also have to decide how I'm proceeding from here. I believe my lap times on the KTM are good enough to allow me to bump if I want. My lap times on the GS are not. I know there are a couple areas where I am braking way early, and not on the gas anywhere near soon enough on the GS, but I dunno if I can find 29s on it any time soon. I really felt the power disadvantage this weekend, but at the same time, I had a friggen blast racing on it. I've got a good chunk of change invested in it, including spare wheels and rains, and I don't want to sell it as I'll take a stupid hit, and I LIKE riding and racing the bike. The thing is sweet in the wet. There are still novices running faster than I am on Motards, so I still have some room to learn if I don't bump.
Guess a good chunk of it depends on what I find when I put the GS in the shop during the break till our next event. Have to see how things pan out from there.
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good job this weekend mang
Originally Posted by Kurlon
