AM#763 (rolker) Round 2

[rolker]

Arrived Thursday evening and setup camp. Helped a slightly intoxicated DDK retrieve his camper. Learned a few rules about doing that:
- Know your way to the camper storage area. DDK sucks at directions.
- His name is on his camper. Confirm that the camper you are about to hook up indeed has "Dan" written on it.
- His camper will not hook up to a 2 5/8" ball no matter how convinced Dan is that it will.

Now, on to the report.

Friday was my first time (that I remember) practicing with amateurs and experts. Like many have said, it's quite eye opening to have the fast guys buzz by like you are standing still. I was very very slow compared to my times at the end of last season. Wasn't happy about that.

Saturday practice, I was a bit quicker, but still very slow.

Saturday race 4, 125GP, I came in 3rd out of 3. I'm happy to finally have my first amateur race done, but I'm embarrassed at how slow I was, 8 seconds slower than my PB. Got on the podium due to the small entry list, but didn't deserve it. Plenty of 4th place finishers in other races ran way better than me yet went home empty handed.

I got a lot of work to do before the classic!

[Chippertheripper]

Way to go dankey.

Grip it and rip it Roland. you got it.

[PainfullySlow]

It will come back to you, and then some. Having those other guys around you will help you to pick up your own speed in no time.

Definitely looking forward to watching you and the other 125 guys at the classic, those bikes look like entirely too much fun =)

[The Snowman]

Don't sweat it. It's like riding, well, er, a bike. It just comes back to you.

Will we be seeing you next Monday or Tuesday at NHMS?

[rolker]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

Being slow like this is actually part of why I chose to race the 125. I can't make up with HP what I loose by backing off a bit, so I will be motivated to work harder at next week's TTDs to get back up to speed before the Classic.

The 125 is difficult to ride fast, so the hard work and disappointments I experience along the way will make it that much more satisfying when I finally achieve faster speeds.

Can't wait to be back on the track!

["Dangerous" Dan K]

That camper has been moved with a 2 5/8 ball in the past. Yours was defective.

Thanks a ton for the help!

You'll get it back and then some. First AM weekend is odd with the experts coming by. I expect you to impress yourself @ the classic.

[rolker]

That camper has been moved with a 2 5/8 ball in the past. Yours was defective.

My balls are too big???

[Rambunctous]

Good to see ya....

[rolker]

So, I worked a bit on the program I wrote to analyze my GPS data so I could easily compare select laps from different days. Here are my best laps of 2009, 2010 and 2011 before and after my April crash.

red - Sept 2009 - 1:29.190
blue - Sept 2010 - 1:29.430
purple - April 2011 - 1:33.040 (First practice of the season, before the crash)
black - May 2011 - 1:36.910 (Best time since crash, LRRS round 2)



Looking at the black line, I'm definitely not carrying the corner speed I used to, so that's part of the problem. My acceleration seems to be tapering off more now than it used to. Is that a bike issue or am I letting of the gas sooner as I get closer to the corners? Well, the one thing I can say for sure is that I have plenty of room for improvement everywhere on the track.

[Rambunctous]

Looks like you didn't dot the i's and cross the t's to me. ......I have no clue what that is.

[Marc R]

Here is my guess how to read the graph...

The GPS data is very cool.

[Marc R]

Click on the thumbnail picture from my previous post, I added some notes to Roland's graph (turns, and mph for the y-axis).

[Paul_E_D]

That's really cool data to have. I wish I had that when I was racing. You can clearly see that your biggest losses right now are between 6 and 9, and between 10 and 11. Those are both places that require commitment to go fast. So it could be just a case of getting the mojo back. (maybe your balls aren't so big afterall?

You are also giving away a lot on the front straight, which could be that you are starting your drive later, or it could indicate a bike issue.

It would be really nice to see throttle position data overlays to compliment this.

[rolker]

Looks like you didn't dot the i's and cross the t's to me. ......I have no clue what that is.

Sorry, it's still a work in progress and I haven't labeled the axis yet...

Here is my guess how to read the graph...

The GPS data is very cool.

Click on the thumbnail picture from my previous post, I added some notes to Roland's graph (turns, and mph for the y-axis).

Thanks for adding those clarifications Mark. The graph shows speed in mph vs distance in meters since passing the start finish line. I used to do speed vs time since crossing the line, but the turns would not line up with each other unless comparing very similar laps.

[rolker]

I wish I had that when I was racing.

Time to start racing again?

You can clearly see that your biggest losses right now are between 6 and 9, and between 10 and 11. Those are both places that require commitment to go fast. So it could be just a case of getting the mojo back. (maybe your balls aren't so big afterall?

After seeing that video of you and the other 125 from a few years ago, I can confirm that I am indeed lacking in ball size!

I do need to work on the 6-9 section. I have been trying to make it flow better by eliminating the straight sections, now I just need to do that quicker and stay on the gas longer.

In 10-11, I get on some maintenance throttle to get over the transitions, then go wide open. When I was running 15/40 sprockets, I would reach a point where I would have to up shift for half a second before taking 2 downshifts, so I had been eliminating that up/down shift pair. After discovering a crack in my 40 sprocket, I put on the 38 and that has solved the need to shift problem for now. Now, I just need to get on more throttle over the bumps.

You are also giving away a lot on the front straight, which could be that you are starting your drive later, or it could indicate a bike issue.

I'm thinking that if it was just a late drive out of 12, it would just displace the data rather than change its slope, so it does seem like the bike is not producing as much power, or my crappy bodywork repair job is affecting my aerodynamics!

It would be really nice to see throttle position data overlays to compliment this.

Yeah, that would be cool... <geek_mode> This week I started recording video. I wonder if I ran the audio through a Fourier transform, could I extract out RPMs and when I get on/off the gas?</geek_mode>

[Paul_E_D]

Aahhh. The 38 is a tough gear to pull. Its tough to stay on the pipe in 1st gear out of 3, and 2nd gear is a serious stretch through 11 and out of reach for 12 until you are slamming the bike in there at about 60mph.

I think a 39 or 40 would be better for you. Could easily get your speeds up.

[rolker]

I actually had a brand new 40 I rplaced after the crash but discovered cracks in it on Tuesday. The 39 I have is damaged so I went with the 38 that day until I replace the 39 and 40. So, for the data shown, I was running the 40.

[Paul_E_D]

Aah, ok. I like your sound analysis idea. Anyway to get roll on and wot throttle data will be useful.

[wheelieman14]

Or just do as I did and switch to a 14 tooth front sprocket with 38 tooth rear & also use lower 1st - 5th internal gears with stock 6th gear. I use 2nd - 6th gear around Loudon, while most RS125 racers only use 1st through 5th (with a pretty bit gap from 1st to 2nd gear).

I've only gotten down to around 1:20 or 1:21 laptimes on my 125, so maybe you should listen to Paul (was chasing after 15's when he tucked the front and crashed in T12, handing me my 1st 125 GP win just 4.5 years ago... in October 2006). Where does the time go... It still seems like just yesterday :-)

Bob Poetzsch
'98 RS125

[Paul_E_D]

I still have some alternate internal gearing if anyone is looking for that...

Bob, that crash is my one regret I got greedy! on a used medium front at that...

[rolker]

Bob, both you and Paul are way faster than me so I'll listen to both of you for now!

I was intrigued by your gearing when you were telling me about it the other day, but for now, sprockets are cheaper than gears so I'll stick to experimenting with sprockets until I reach a point where I think my gearing is the only thing left holding me back.

Paul, I might be interested in those gears in a few years from now!

[Chippertheripper]

15's on a 125?! Yowzamymuthafuckinbowza!!!
I have no frame of reference, really, but that sounds fucking insane to me. Holy shit!

[Paul_E_D]

It's pretty hectic. I think a few people have dipped into the 15s. Todd Pucket (local guy) and the fastest 125 dude in this country(forgot his name, but he's from VIR), and maybe PJ Jacobsen. I had it in the bag but failed to slow at all for twelve, threw the bike into the right hander and it just kept going straight...

I could crack off unlimited mid sixteens, which is about as fast as anyone has raced a 125 at loudon.