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I was amped up to take a crack at Scottie's 848 this weekend and post up results from such an astounding machine. Everything between Scott and I was agreed upon, planned and in place, that is of course, until I swung a leg over his 800 Super Sport to get some practice time in. One session on that bike and I end up not taking the 848 at all once I began to get tuned into the 800ss...a bike I will eventually race for the entire weekend.
Since this was my first time riding this bike and it was all new to me and very different in many ways than my 600, I knew I was in for some adjustments to my riding for this round. I did not realize exactly how different this bike is and so my education ensued...
Sat - Since I went home on Friday night to take care of some things. I have to wake up early, pack my dog and few other things in order to arrive at the track early enough to get tech'ed. I start my Saturday morning off on the right foot when my grill falls out of my truck and goes skidding down Rte 3 at 65 mph.Once this happens I'm already prepared for what this day might bring.
Fast forward to practice...
During practice I was trying to sort out the lack of feel from the front end that I either wasn't used to because it was the nature of the bike or was a real thing. At one point I came around Richie going into T1 and the front felt vague....very vague all the way to where I started to run wide. I was already on the binders and going deep and had this "replay" of sorts that if I let off the brakes the front was going to leave me, a similar occurance with my 600 last year. I recover while knowing that Richie is somewhere near me. As I start to setup for 1a I want to make sure I'm clear so I look left (and mistakenly travel left) toward.....HOLY SHIT!!RICHIE'S RIGHT THERE!! So I issue a
to my teammate in practice. Ahhh yes, so far the day is going exactly like I didn't want it to.
During all this, my times are coming down to within 2 seconds of the lead bike's pace, #556 Rick Blake who's running 20's, but I notice my times come in late in the sessions. I start off riding initial laps in the 24's and am able to click some 22's toward the end of Friday's and Saturday's practice sessions. After seeing this, my goal on this bike I've never ridden, isn't mine and I don't have spare parts for is to hit 21's.
"Hey Scottie, is the clutch slipping in this thing? It kinda feels like it's starting to but I can't tell."
Fast forward to racing...
Saturday - GTL Race 2 - Feeling comfortable with how the front was responding, the race was cut short due to a red flag. I finish 6th with no improvments to consistancy or goals. I make some suspension adjustments as, at this point, I'm trying to tune out the chassis wallowing being exhibited going from T8 to T9. I end up struggling with this for the remainder of the weekend and chalk it up to the frame twist that I keep hearing about.
Saturday - ULSB Race 9 - Only goal for this race was to hand Doc his ass. Mission accomplished.
During this race I was slowly reeling the 4th place 505 bike of Richie and I can see he's being stalked by the 5th place 433 bike of Tony Soucier. I'm approaching this battle quickly and reach them approaching T1 on lap 6. As I work the oustide line, I see 433 try for the inside but Dolla Bill already has the line and 433 is forced in behind him. I reap the benefits by taking 3rd and this time I didn't butcher my teammate. Richie would hold off the 433 bike long enough for me to finish 3rd while I squeak in a 22.7.
"Scottie, I really think this clutch is slipping but it's when I have to shift so I'm not 100% on that."
Sunday - LWGP Race 10 - Knowing what #556 Rick Blake was running for times, I knew I had nothing for him with the limited amount of seat time I had on this bike. I was hoping for something different but didn't really "connect" with the bike all weekend. I did see some familiar names as I would be gridding against the LRRS fast ladies, Lorna Murphy and Cynthia Bisagni. Green flies and I get a decent launch but end up somewhere around 6th. I pick off one bike within a couple laps and see that 817 is next, albeit 5 or so seconds ahead. I put my head down and start to reel Lorna in when all of a sudden her bike has some issue like it has shut down as she goes into T3. I take the position on the inside of T3 and try to see if there's anyone else I can catch up to. At some point, Cynthia had gone down which afforded me a position in 3rd and another step closer to my goal as I post a 22.4.
Sunday - Thunderbikes Race 12 - Only 3 bikes on grid and I wasn't about to do anything except try to hit my goal. This would prove to be an elusive goal. The two other bikes left me in the dust....think they were running 18's or so with one rider bumping to EX. Just before mid-race I catch one of the MW bikes and started to figure out how to work my way around him on my Ultralite. Problem was, the clutch was spent at this point and my times were a direct reflection of that. Since I simply needed to finish, I let the MW bike go and rolled thru the finish taking 3rd out of 3. Never did hit those 21's.
"Scottie, the clutch is defintely toast in that bike. Thanks for letting me ride it this weekend."
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Originally Posted by Butcher Bergs
"why tip-toe through life to arrive safely at death?" Tony Campol
you.
