It was hot. No, I mean DAMN HOT. Like 100°F hot during the
day, and 80°F hot during the night. Uhg. Regardless of the heat,
the team still came away from the 4th LRRS weekend in great shape.
With only 1 minor casualty of the weekend, Kevin loosing the rear end in
turn 2 on Saturday, the weekend saw the fastest times ever for almost all
the team rider. The team also came home with several trophies, with
a 1st in Productions twins, and a 2nd and 3rd in GP Singles!
Find all of the weekends race results at the LRRS website here.
Wow. What a weekend. What heat. But when all was said and done, it was a great weekend. I ran my fastest times ever, and I didn't crash.
The original plan had been to practice on Thursday and Friday, but I had promised Kevin that I would paint his bike for him, and as usual, that took much longer that first anticipated. So, I spent Thursday in the paint booth painting Kevin's and Scott's bodywork.
Friday, I head up to the track in the late morning. On the way up, I stop at North Reading Honda/Kawisaki to order some parts, and talk with the guys. I arrive at the track by about 1pm, and it is sweltering out. Kit is already there, and shortly after Scott shows up. Both Scott and I look at each other, and decide it is just too damn hot to practice. So we take the opportunity to make sure everything is set for practice the next morning. Later on in the early evening, Rob shows up with the RD and unpacks.
I made a few changes to the F4. I moved the clip-ons below the triple clamp, and went up two teeth in the rear, following the advice of Eric Wood on both counts. When I pulled the wheels off to get new rubber mounted, I noticed that I had about zero pad material left on the front pads. A quick run over to Street and Comp, and I have new pads and new tires. I mount everything up, and head out to the paddock, to seat the pads. As I accelerate and brake, I notice a weird clunk from the F4. Back in the pits, we try to find the cause. We even ran the bike over to Peter Kates to see if he had any ideas. He ruled out the forks and the steering head bearings. Great.
We head out for dinner, and meet up with Adam and Reto. After dinner and shopping, we tear into the F4 to find the cause of the clunk. After about an hour of digging, wee find it, a loose lock nut on the top triple clamp. I tighten it up and put everything back together. Just as we finish up, Kevin and the NYC crew show up. It is about 12:30am. We all call it quits, and head to bed, trying to fall asleep in the heat.
Saturday morning. It's hot already by 6am. Not a good start. Both my practices go well. I feel good.
Race #1, GTU:
-------------
It's hot. Really hot. I soak down my T-shirt before
I put on my leathers. That helps, but it is still hot. I'm
gridded on the outside of row 3, right behind Tony I!. The green
flag drops, and I'm off. My best start ever! I shoot past Tony and
enter turn 1 in about 6th place, and hold it through turn 2. I hold
position well, with only a few bikes getting by me entering turn 3.
I get stuck behind a slightly slower rider. He's just fast enough that I can't get by him. About 1/2 way through the race, Tony manages to get by me, but he gets stuck behind the other rider for a few laps. I notice from the pit board that the field has sorted itself out, and that I have some running room behind me.
At this point, I'm starting to really feel the effects of the heat. It's hard to breathe its so hot. I contemplate coming in, but feel ok enough to stay out, and kick it back a notch. On the 14th lap, the red flag comes out. I'm ashamed to say, I was happy to see it, more than ready to come in. As I rounded turn 9, I saw the cause of the red flag, it was Tony! His bike was in the middle of the track, but he was up and OK. I *just* missed a top 10 finish, finishing 11th out of a field of 28. Best lap, a 1:20.26!
After the race, I was toast. I chugged as much water as I
could, and soaked myself with water, sitting in front of the fan.
It took me about an hour to fully recover. I was seriously thinking
about skipping my next race, but as the day went on, I felt much better.
Race #7, MW Superbike:
----------------------
I was gridded on the outside of the 4th row for this race.
I got another decent start, but got crowded going into turn 1, putting
me in about 10th. The field quickly sorted itself out, and I found
myself dicing with two bikes. #345 passed me on the inside of turn
3 on the brakes, but I got the pass right back in turn 4. The next
lap, he did it again, but this time made it stick. I was on his tail
for the whole race, but could never quite get past him. And that is how
it finished, with me right on his tail. I finished 14th out of 22.
Race #11A, MW SuperSport:
-------------------------
Last race of the day. I get a good start, but after 2 laps, the
red flag comes out. On the restart I don't get nearly as good a start,
but put my head down for the remaining 10 laps. Once again, I find
myself chasing #345. Each lap I get closer and closer to him, and
my pit board shows that I pulling away from the next bike behind me.
I decide that the last lap is the time to go for the pass. I'm much
faster than he is through turns 10-11-12, so that is where I need to pass
him. I close on him entering 11, and pass him as we enter 12, sneaking
in the inside! A nice clean pass, and good for a 13th place finish.
On the last lap, I pulled my fastest time ever, a 1:19.70!
After a hard day of racing, I was ready for a beer and some fine
food, served up by chef Adam.
Sunday: Another scorcher. Even hotter than Saturday.
Both practices were fine, with me finding the groove again, and feeling
good. Good enough, in fact, that I came in early during my
second practice.
Race #4, MW Grand Prix:
-----------------------
It was a repeat of race 7 on Saturday. I found myself behind
#345 the whole race, but he was running just fast enough that I couldn't
find my way around him. I had to settle with finishing behind him
again, but still finished 12th.
Overall, a great weekend. I would like to thank everyone who came up to watch, and to help. And of course, I want to thank our sponsors, without who, we couldn't do what we do.
I can't wait for the next weekend!
The jetting on my bike wasn't quite right at the last (June) event
so I made a change to a bigger secondary before heading up to the track
for this weekend. First practice Saturday morning... blech!
Stumbling and doing so seemingly inconsistently. I come in and decide
to try going down in size. When I go to change the jet I notice that
it isn't quite in all the way. I must not have gotten it seated all
the way when I changed it Thursday night. Hmmm. I decide to
stick with the current size (seated properly) and try the second practice
with it. Still stumbling when wide open. The loose jet probably
gave the inconsistent behavior but is still the wrong size. I go
to a smaller jet and hope it's OK.
LW Sportsman - Saturday Race 4: 5th place
------------------------------------------
Nope, still not right. At the start the bike just doesn't
want to get up and go and everyone goes streaming by me off the line.
I hate when that happens. Red flag and we restart for what is now
a 6 lap race. I flog the bike around as best I can turning mostly
1:32's in the process.
I change back to the stock air filter.
GTL - Saturday Race 6: 7th place
---------------------------------
Hot. Brutally hot. Track temp is over 100F and I'm
going to be out there for 30 minutes in full leathers... I must be
nuts. Gridded in the back, slow start... yep, I'm running sweep
on this ride. But hey, the bike seems to running well! I settle
in and catch up to an EX-500. We swap places a few times early on.
When he's out front I see him look back on the straights to see if I'm
still behind him. I'm tempted to wave. :) About 2/3rds
of the way through the race the heat starts to take its toll on me.
I'd managed some 1:29's but now I'm starting to fade. I back off
a notch and the EX is in front to stay. 30's... 31's... 32's...
I have to *think* about what I'm doing out there. Finally the white flag
and then the checkered. I turn a 34 on my last lap. Back to
the garage and I can barely get off my bike. My legs are jello.
Teammates rock. Rob takes my bike, Kevin helps me peel off my boots
and leathers. I lay on the garage floor in front of the fan and Rob
pours water over me. I'm completely toasted. There were 11
DNFs in this race.
Sunday morning practices and the bike feels pretty good. 2nd
practice, taking the right in T12 I hit that ugly patch pretty hard and
my bike dies! I coast through the left and out to the front straight,
put up my hand and pull into the hot pit. Fuel on, kill switch on,
... ignition is off!? I'm not sure if I did that just now or
if the bump caused it to switch off. I re-enter the track and continue.
2 laps later... same thing. This time I know that the bump caused
the key to move to the off position. Not good. I re-enter again
just as Kevin is coming through 1-1A. He sees me and taps his tail
for me to follow. I turn a 1:30 following him. This is good
as I'm usually a couple seconds off the pace in practice.
GP Singles - Sunday Race 5: 3rd place (trophy)
-----------------------------------------------
I get off the line OK but screw up a downshift into T1. Playing
catch up again. I chase Scott for most of the race. I know
there's someone behind me but I just keep my focus forward. At some
point past the half way mark my ignition switch does the T12 dance.
I'm ready for it and quickly turn it back on but that's all the guy behind
me needed and he's by me onto the front straight. Turns out it was
an Expert so I didn't lose a position but I really need to figure out how
to keep my ignition switch on...
Not a bad weekend. 25 pts and a trophy. And I survived
the heat.
As always a big thanks to our sponsors!
I consider this a very successful race weekend, mostly for 4 reasons:
1. The RD350 did not blow up or seize.
2. I did not crash.
3. Nothing rattled off/fell off the RD.
4. The RD did not leak a single drip of oil.
Friday evening left work to go home and pack. Arrived at the track around 7, signed up for race #5, Lightweight Sportsman. I was only bringing up the RD350, and only for Saturday. I wanted to get some practice on it, the EX500 needed two new tires, and I could only make it up for Saturday. Finally got through registration and to the garage, and everyone but Bruce was there already, prepping their bikes for the weekends events. After tricking Kit into safety wiring the last few bolts on the RD ("Hey Kit, wanna learn how to safety wire?" ) and chatting with a few other racers, went to bed around 10.
Saturday morning. It was warm already, and it was only 6am. Even though it was going to be humid, I decided to jet the RD a little richer than last weekend, just to make sure I didn't seize the engine. First practice, I was all over the place. I'd forgotten where all my shift and braking points were. The RD turns in ALOT faster than the EX, and I almost hitting the curbing inside a few turns. Bike felt good, little down on power due to the rich jetting, but the day was still warming up. Back to the garage and drank alot of water.
Second practice, was feeling more comfortable. I was finding all my shift/braking/turn in points, and I felt faster. Front end was chattering real bad in turn 9 if I was pushing it. I think the forks were bottoming out completely. Need to replace those fork springs someday. Soon.
Race 5, Lightweight Sportsman:
------------------------------
I got to the pregrid too early. Had to keep the bike moving on
the pregrid to I wouldn't overheat it. Adam and Reto offered to do the
pit board for me. Sure, what the hell... My start sucked. I was just concentrating
on not stalling the bike, and everyone and their mother passed me. Turn
1, I weave my way to the outside and pass a bunch of people slowed by traffic.
Turn 1a, I'm on the inside, pass a bunch more. Turn 2, hold my ground,
until the straight. All those four strokes roll on the throttle and just
leave me. Hard braking in 3, make some ground back. The whole race ended
up like this. I get passed down the front straight be 2-3 people. I pass
them back in back section by just not slowing down in the corners. I end
up dicing with a group of four riders. Around lap 5, I cut inside another
rider into 11 to pass him before the chicane. He sees me, gets on the gas
and runs wide. He gets into the chicane at a BAD angle and drops anchor
to make the transition in the chicane. Instead of ramming him, I decide
to cut across the grass in 12. A few bikes I've worked real hard to pass
get back past me. Grrr. On the last lap, I know if I was on my EX that
I'd just fly past these riders, and there's no reason I shouldn't be doing
the same on the RD. I brake late for every corner, and catch up to a group
of 6-7 riders in turn 9. They all slow each other down and drift wide.
I zip down the inside and hit the gas hard before the apex to 10. I think
I managed to hold all but one off before the finish line. In other words,
I don't agree with the results sheet.
Well, I managed to get printed proof of a fast lap for the RD, a 1:37.25. Everyone on the team improved their times this weekend, especially Paul who got down into the teens. I really wish I could've hung around for the team track walk on Sunday and entered a few more races... Next time I'm bring the EX.
Even though the heat was unbearable, it looks like everyone had
a good time. I can't wait until next weekend.
Coming Soon!
Returning to Form
After my disappointing show in June, I started searching for help to solve the carburetion problem. I called Factory in CA for a listing of local owners of their EC997 dyno, and they pointed me toward JW Raceparts in Nyack NY. I called and spoke to Joel and described the symptoms - "Waaay too rich, get down in the 150 range (jet size)." So I called Carb Parts Warehouse and ordered 5 pairs of jets in consecutive order starting at 145. Meanwhile, I was solving some other problems related to the oil tank, and having PK/Computrack optimize the ride height. I tested the bike Thurs night before the July race weekend and it ran really strong, but it was a short test. Paul had painted my bodywork for me so the bike had a better look to it than Sharkskin fleshtone. I packed everything up Friday and headed up to the track, arriving shortly after Paul and Kit; it was blazing hot, stuff to unpack and set up, so I passed on the friday PM practice and just went setting stuff up. I started the bike up later in the afternoon and it still ran strong, I was hopeful for a good weekend showing.
Sat AM:
First practice went well motor running OK, started to sputter again
as the heat index rose. Second practice was worse, same symptoms as before,
but as the engine heat rose, the performance dropped.
Race 4 Lightweight Sportsman:
----------------------------
I got a great start for the Junior class, second into turn 1. But
the motor was already starting to cough at upper revs. On the second lap,
I narrowly avoided running over another racer who fell in front of me as
I was about to turn into T1 - I had to run around the bowl and get behind
Bruce for the duration of the race suffering through the rough-running
engine. I ended up in 6th place with 7 points.
After the race, Reto helped me pull and clean the carbs. I lowered the needles all the way down to lean out the mixture more (having left my smaller jets at home ...). Later, when the engine was cold, I adjusted the valve clearances a little looser to allow for heat buildup.
Sun AM:
WOW! - The bike started up no problem but with a high idle, went
out to practice and it ran wonderfully. I easily matched my best lap times
of 1:34's. I lowered the idle speed and ran 1:33's in 2nd practice -
things were going right for a change!
Race 5 Gran Prix Singles:
-------------------------
With renewed confidence in the engine power, I launched a great
start and was running with the experts into 1, 1a, and 2. I'm still
uncomfortable with T3 at greater speeds but I turned it on as much as I
felt comfortable, with Bruce pushing me the whole time. He tried to pass
me on the last lap coming out of T10 but I was able to motor by him into
11 and right thru to the checker. A second place and 13 points! It's starting
to feel good again!
Special thanks to Reto and Kendall for lending extra hands and temperment when mine was all used up.
Big thanks to all our sponsors: Factory Pro Tuning, HJC, Jodi F. Solomon Speakers Bureau, Lockhart Phillips, Fog City/Modern World Ventures, North Reading Honda/Kawasaki, PK Suspension/GMD CompuTrack, Parametric Technology Corporation, Sharkskinz, Spectro Oils, Street & Competition, The Knee Dragon, Vanson Leathers, and Woodcraft/CFMotorsports.
Thanks to the rest of the Team Daemon pit crew and friends who came
out to help and/or just watch the races.
Everything considered this was a very nice race weekend indeed. All in all there was only one person missing this weekend that would have made it absolutely perfect and she know's who she is!!!! My travel partners and I arrived at NHIS Friday at Midnight. After a little chatting with the team and some ooooing and ahhhing over the wonderful paint job <more on that later> that Paul did on my bike we all bedded down for a nice night of muggy tossing and turning.........
Everybody always seems to put this last but I think I'll put it here because without them we couldn't hope to do this half as well as we do!!!!
Many thanks go out to HJC, Parametric Technology Corporation, Jodi F. Solomon Speakers Bureau, Factory Pro-Tuning, Lockhart Phillips, Fog City/Modern World Ventures, North Reading Honda/Kawasaki, PK Suspension/GMD CompuTrack, Sharkskinz, Spectro Oils, Street & Competition, The Knee Dragon, Vanson Leathers, and Woodcraft/CFMotorsports.
Oh yeah and a VERY SPECIAL thanks to THE TEAM and to Matt Lai and
BJ Worsham for the friendship, close competition, comaraderie and all the
great atmosphere that surronds this very wonderful group of people.
Saturday July 17th, 1999
Hmmm..... time to see if the bike is running. Paul had mentioned that it would not idle nor throttle off of idle. AFter trying to start the bike with everything from rollers to baseball bats <can't do that it would hurt the paint> I decided to pull the crabs and see what the problem was...... To make a long story short the carbs were contaminated with spooge from the penguin pro-school day when the petcock filter dropped of in the tank and the bike sucked some kreme/tank gunk. After much fiddling I manage to make it out for the second Jr/Ex red practice. I spend this practice trying to remember/work on the stuff that I learned in school. The bike is carbuerating like it never has before and other than the fact that track seems very slippery to me I'm looking forward to a great day.
Race#4? Jr. LWSportbike
------------------------
I'm gridded in spot 15A. I'm the last bike on the grid and
the only person in that row. I hate being lined up all the way to
the left but the way the guys in front of me positioned themselves there
was no place left to go. I decided that I was going to go for a medium
launch and then work my work to the right<while every one else was going
left> for a run up the outside in 1, 1A. BINGO The strategy
worked perfectly and I was past 2/3 of the field by the time we entered
T2. I made an inside pass on at least 3 people (including my nemesis
Matt Lai) in T3 and proceeded to run up the hill into T4. For
whatever reason I ran wide on the top of the hill...This shouldn't have
happened. I was going that fast.... and proceeded to motoX my way over
the hill. I re-entered the track on the inside and with no speed/position
to get to my usual entry point for T6. I took option number 2 gas
it and run up the inside.... This actually worked pretty well and
I managed to re-take 2 of the 3 spots that I lost to the motox. As
we entered T9 I was now within striking distance of the next rider and
then Scott Sargent and then Matt would be next. I knew that I could beat
them. I passed the next rider coming into 11 and then ran hard up to 12
and closed to within 6 bike lengths of Scott and twelve of Matt. I closed
tha gap even further between the front straight and T9 where I passed Scott
on the inside and then drove for Matt. I took a look in T12 and spoiled
my drive upon which Scott motored back by me on the front straight. AT
this point we were running somewhere in the top six and had closed to within
three lengths of Matt. Entering T1 I went late for the brakes and
keep up my speed to pass Scott on the outside... It was a beautiful
pass...right up until I hit the transition bump in T2. Hey how come
I'm sitting on my A$$........... I hit the bump and before I could
say BOO the real wheel had come around and passed the front..... So much
for the paint job.... Actually it was minor Unfortunately,
I was the reason for the Red Flag so even if I could have fixed the bike
I had been DQ'd anyway.. MAJOR BUMMER!!!!!
.....back to fixing the bike...... twisted front end, missing
foot peg and, LO AND BEHOLD, a totally wasted sprocket carrier. I
had apparently reassembled it without the internal spacer which caused
the bearing to disintegrate and the wheel to drift left/right on the axle....
no wonder I was sliding around. MUCHO, MUCHO thanks go to Matt Lai/Bj
Worsham and Jeff Wood@ Penguin Roadracing School for helping me find replacement
parts "so's I could play on Sunday" Also thanks to Matt <a true
and fair competitior> for giving me a wheel with a fresh tire on it.
I have not doubt that it contributed to the PTWNS win....
Sunday. July 18th, 1999
After much running around on Sunday morning to fix all of the above.... I make it out for the 2nd practice session again. The bike is running well. Everything seems straight <thanks to Matt and Adam> and I just concentrate on my lines. 4 Laps left and I see Bruce coming out of the pits so I tap my tail and take him for a tow. I think it was good for both of us. It caused me to slow a bit and be more consistent and it seems to have helped Bruce "clean-up" his lines some more. I think we should do it again next time.
Race#2 Jr/Ex Production Twins
------------------------------
Gridded 15D.... last row again. 8 entries.. Matt Lai,
the kind soul who has beaten me the last two time out, was gridded on the
front row. The flag drops and I get a good start and head up the
outside into one and find myself in the front four with Matt right on my
right side. I was thinking "okay who's going to brake first
and let the other in" It had not even occured to me that gassing
it was an option. Well, Matt gassed and stuffed me back three places.
I was caught off guard for a second... I was like "Man, that took
BALLS" to do that in that pack. NICE MOVE. Okay back to the
race..... the pack funnels out of three and there are 6 JR's right
in front of me. I stayed to the right as we entered T3 managed
to get 3 <including Matt> on the brakes. I passed the one more
in T6 and then two with what Paul said "was a great move" around the outside
in T9 and down thorugh T10. At this point I was leading the JR PTWINS
group and I just wanted to concentrate on staying out front there.
As we pass start/finsih I see a +2 on the pit board, cool!!!!, I pass tow
experts in the next lap and come around to see a +3. Replay +4.
Lap six and the board shows me a +5. WOW, I I can see a group of
experts within striking distance but I decide to pace it at this point.
After all. Crashing out of first is still dead last. That and the
temp guage is real close to the red. White flag lap and the bike
is overheating. The guage isn't in the red but coolant is blowing
in my face from the catch bottle. I'm still +5 so I decide
to dial it back and let the experts go....... Checker!!!!!!
and the illustrious Mr. Kornfeld (our starter and a very good friend) gives
me a little extra special wave to tell me congradulations. Now that
felt good. Much celebrating back in the pits. Time to pack
and go home.