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fossilfuel

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Everything posted by fossilfuel

  1. Great memories of the school at this track. I think we had the longest thread ever posted on the "Cornering Forum" for the upcoming event but it's no longer there. I think we started a thirty day count down and everybody joined in. That was a great time I and still have the video on VIMEO....I'm going to try and make this one. Do I get full power on the S1000R?
  2. This is like dancing, you have to flow, feel and enjoy. I can't see any joy in the face expression of those pictures. I totally agree with you! I had a grat experience with CSS..they taught me to dance.
  3. https://vimeo.com/54062763 I was ahead of these two guys but missed a shift in turn 2 at Barber. I got off line and threw an arm up. The two guys passed. They almost took each other out before the tunnel turn. I knew the last turn was my best option for passing them both but thankfully one ran off the track and left the one guy. This pass was set up the turn before as I was able to get better drive off the previous corner to get on the gas sooner on the final turn....fun times.
  4. The scenario that Eirik talks about could happen and has happened. Another possibility is that the lever failed.I have a Brembo brake lever which has a roll pin that is held in place with an oem clip that is folded over and has a weak point. I heard of this breaking and put safety wire through the roll pin and brake lever. One day I was checking over the bike and saw the clip hanging down looped through the safety wire. It is also a possibility that the gravity fed line to the master cylinder was crimped, the seals on the master cylinder rod blew out or a caliper piston seal blew out. Jason DiSalvo had to bail off his Triumph 675 at Mid Ohio because of a crimped feed line. It is also a possibility that he lost front tire pressure and the tire spun on the rim.... It is important to replay scenarios of different failures over in your mind just in case something like this happens to you. Sometimes you have only milliseconds to make the call.
  5. Thanks Mate! Yeah it looks like there is a script that runs and shows up on the page with no other information.....
  6. Why can't I update my profile page? Don't tell me I'm on probation.......
  7. This is interesting. I have a 08' CBR1000RR race bike and do not experience this dive issue. Which makes me think about a bad riding habit that could possibly be precipitating the problem. Riding to stiff, a strong grip on the bars and putting most of your weight on your arms....I think this is common for street riding. Otherwise, I just dont see the CBR having that much torque and engine braking??? Maybe you should also take up any slack you have in your throttle cables, this could also increase the possibility of a jerky on off throttle condition...Cheers! Oh and JD don't get down on yourself...always question the meaning of life but not why you ride a motorcycle....s..t happens good luck mate.
  8. MORE...... After I got back from NOLA I decided that the motor needed to be freshened up a bit. If I could get just five more horsepower out of this thing I could be competitive at Barber for the AHRMA Barber Vintage Festival. I took the motor apart honed the cylinders, valve seats, ground the valves, put in new rings and preceded to lose a bolt down the oil return line that I recommend not doing... The Barber Vintage Festival is something special. The 7th annual festival on Saturday had 53,000 people attend and This year had record estimates. I wanted to be apart of that. Thursday race practice was all about finding out that the Thruxton that I was on at NOLA would be very different at Barber. With so many elevation changes gearing and corner speed would be very important and I was having a problem with both. I saw the lap times and realized that to be competitive I would have to make up two seconds a lap. As hard as I had worked to get more horsepower it was not going to be enough. Friday brought problems that I didn't forsee. I was feeling pretty good on the bike and finding my references when something happened....I thought the bike had exploded. I grabbed the clutch and got off the race line as fast as I could. I had been very lucky. The chain had come off and ripped a hole in the right Ohlins shock, almost sawed the swing arm in half, destroyed the air box, cut out the bottom of the battery, tore up the subframe, sprocket and hub. The bracket that holds the high pipe on the right side stopped the chain from hitting me in the back. There was no way I was going to be able to ride this bike on Saturday. I thought I was done. As you might expect, there were several people that wanted to look at the damage. One of my fellow competitors came over and was very sympathetic. He asked me if I would like to ride his back up bike...wow! Ok, sounds like a great plan right? There were some issues I would have to deal with. Would it be worth the chance that I might crash his bike. Could I be competitive? if not, why even take the chance of racing? This was troubling because I wanted to race not joy ride. I decide to ride my race but to be careful in the corners This bike was set up and a beautiful piece of machinery, a list price off the shelf for $8900.00, this bike was probably worth $22,000.00. My only chance to ride this bike before the race was a scuff in lap. The first thing I noticed was no tach.....This could be interesting. How would I know when I got to red line? I came back in and told my friend and bike benefactor that the tach didn't work. I was worried about over revving the bike. He told me to rev it until it quit pulling. He wasn't worried about the top end. If it broke it was time. The top end was done by a master engine builder, beautifully balanced. Attention to detail in valve spring selection, shimming and 5 angle cut valves made the top end feel fluid and smooth. I learned after the first four laps of the first race how to ride the bike, how to get a feel for the throttle, where it quit pulling, gear selection, references and brake markers. I had very few points so I was on the last position on the last row and ended up coming in 9th out of 20. I had battled for position and had a great time. Because of my grid position, I decided that my only realistic goal for the next race was to try to achieve good consistent lap times for Sunday. I could not catch the guys on the front row. Something incredible happened Sunday. I started last as usual but by the end of the first lap was in 4th place. I had never had a better lap in a race. I was making up time on 3rd place when the red flag came out. There would be a restart and I would have to start again from last place on the grid. I finished 7th. I had a great time racing in front of around 60,000 people on Saturday, a new record but was very happy with the performance on Sunday, only .5 seconds a lap off the leaders lap times in the last 4 laps. Realistically speaking there were 60,000 people at the event but probably no more than 20,000 paying attention to our race. It was still very exciting and another goal accomplished, another wish granted. Lessons I learned from racing this bike....Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of skinny tires. Apply what you have learned no matter what you are riding. Trust your ability. Trust your tires. Ride within yourself. I enjoy recounting my experiences racing, CSS helped me develop the skills I use today. Hopefully you will find an anecdote or experience that helps you...
  9. To Brad VanHorn.....Sorry my friend but I am planning on the going to the 40th anniversary of the WERA Grand Nationals to be held at Barber Motorsport park. The first time it has been held there. Look me up on facebook or e-mail me so we can synchronize track schedules.
  10. I have to tell you when a buddy came to me and tried talking me into racing Triumph Thruxtons, I was very skeptical. Thruxton's are vertical 865cc twins that have that tank like quality. The motorcycle weighs close to 500 lbs so when I took stock of a single rotor with a dual disc caliper, I was wondering how one stops this thing. I said, no thank you. A year or so would pass and the question would come up again. "come on, you'll love it!". No thank you...again. But somewhere along the line, I changed my mind. I was given a bike to ride and I would be riding it at NOLA Motorsport Park. It was the Triumph Thruxton Transatlantic Challenge and I was going to be a back marker. I had no idea how to ride one of these things. My regular race bike is a CBR1000RR and compared to that machine the Thruxton was a relic.....a 110/80/18 front tire and a 130/80/17 rear, a wonder the tires didn't burst under the weight. Sometimes when a bike gets tossed round a bit, the ownership becomes questionable. By that I mean, that most people just ride it so the maintenance becomes questionable. I think it was pretty much worn out when it was my time to ride it. Most of my fellow Thruxton racers, in there zest to win, had improved their grid positions by all manner of oversized pistons, port and polish, and magical ignition timing programmed by a software guru who worked for Steve Jobs in the 80's. I would race against these guys and ride the Thruxton as hard as I could, at one point thinking I would be bucked of on a double slip of the rear that sent me searching for anything to grab. Due to others misfortune and my carrying a little more cornerspeed than others, I was able to muster two third place finishes for the weekend on a bike I had never ridden before. The rules of riding remain the same. There was no need to worry just ride like I had been taught and everything would be fine, as it was. Because of the two races I had competed in, I was elligible for the Barber Vintage Festival this past weekend....the opportunity to race in front of 60,000 people this past Saturday. more later
  11. Post Script I have written about my experiences endurance racing in this same forum so one can look back at the exploits if you wish. Endurance racing is fun, a team sport where the riders try to maintain consistency with the other team members. Decisions made on tire changes, fueling, rider exchanges and your on ability to stay out for as long as the fuel will let you has a very real bearing on your outcome. In our 6 hour endurance race, we finished fourth missing third by three laps, five minutes. We could have done it but we chose to let a team member ride his turn. it was the final rotation and he had paid his share. Above I talked about how I worked on certain turns during the time I was on the bike. There are so many challenges and areas one could work on while endurance racing...a specific turn, hitting apexes, challenge your brake marker move it up, can I trail more, work on wide view, what is my gearing, how can I tell by where I shift if I am going faster or slower. I don't think you should be thinking per se, such as where are we going to eat after the race or be obsessed by the bug that hit your visor. Working on drills keeps your concentration on the track. Once you get in the mindset much of this becomes a defense mechanism against pain and fatigue. Think about getting dry mouth on lap 4...you have 45 to go, arm pump at lap 12, you have 37 to go. Concentration is the key and it does make you a better rider. I think the key is that the more seat time you have, the things you learn go from being a drill that you have to think about to a reflexive action. An Endurance team for WERA takes an owner, a captain, and riders. The owner can be the captain, can be a rider. someone needs to stand across from pit lane and count laps, man the pit board, signal lap times and letting the team know the rider is coming in. You need someone to man the fire extinguisher (2 required), someone to fuel the bike and change tires if required or check air pressure. Its nice to have someone to manage your pit area...some of the items you will need to bring to an area you have staked out earlier or the night before is a canopy, generator, ice chest, fan, table, fire extinguishers, tools, spare tires, snacks, a pit bike, gear, a pit board, IBUPROFEN and bike stands...a lot of stuff to haul to and from the pits...In most cases 4 riders so everybody is bringing something. I hope this helps....always a pleasure. Cheers.
  12. There is an extreme amount of intensity in sprint racing.It is not the place to be thinking about anything. It is a place where the skills you've honed at track days and schools take over. It's not to say that once the race is over you can't critique your performance. Endurance racing is a little different. The field is spread out and the riding is a little more laid back. At Barber I might average a 1:38 lap time over an 8 lap race. In an endurance race our team might average a 1:41 lap time over a 4 hour or 6 hour race. The pace is slower and you ride for longer distances. My last Endurance race at Road Atlanta was 6 hours. My first rotation I rode 1 hour and ten minutes. In order to go for long rotations, it is good to have a goal. I work on specific areas of the track that I need to improve on. My problem areas at Road Atlanta are turn 1 and the chicane after turn 2.. I spent my time concentrating on those two areas while maintaining consistency and good technique on the rest of the track. The procedures for fueling are not that complicated, a long sleeve shirt and pants are required. The rider has to be off the motorcycle when refueling which means the rider can refuel but someone else needs to man the fire extinguisher. No big deal. I hope this helps.... Fossil
  13. Kai, Believe me, I know. I had a welder lined up a couple of months ago to weld the tank but my friend wanted to weld it himself and waited till the last minute. Losing first gear was a product of buying an engine from a squid off ebay. The shifting seemed fine when we trialed it on the street but was right there on the edge after the practice session on Friday. Endurance racing is mechanical, mental and physical endurance. I was reading another thread where one of the forum members raced and talked about his mouth getting dry after a couple of laps. When you endurance race, any discomfort or distraction stays with you for the full stretch unless you can find a way to block it out. I experienced dry mouth after three laps in a stretch that totaled 38 laps. What could I do about it for the remainder of my stretch? You learn to block things out. The sides of the tank were different because of the modification so when ever I went through a left corner, my knee was hitting the bottom edge of the tank. I didn't realize it until I came in. I could hardly get my leg over the bike. The knee was swollen and I had to ice it down. Mentally, endurance racing is like meditation. The object of meditation is no thought or distraction but just being in the moment...the flow of the present. This is what endurance racing is... the flow from the present to the edge, pressing into the future but not quite getting there, looking down the track trying to get there as fast as you can but staying in the moment....LOL! I love it.
  14. It has been awhile since I last posted but maybe I can catch up now. I have had a couple of sprint series, a 6 hour endurance race, two track weekends control riding and instructing, and the recent sprint races and nationals at NOLA Motorsport park. The endurance race was six hours. My team mate and I had considered many options for this race one of them being that we would ride. We would alternate the entire 6 hours. Why would we think we could do this you ask? You didn't ask? Ok, sorry. The day we were leaving for the track, my team member who can weld called me at 5:45 a.m. saying he had finished the tank. He decided we needed another 1.5 gallons capacity and it took him until the day we were to leave to finish the d..n thing. The message read, "the tank is welded. If you feel industrious seal it, prime it, paint it and clear coat it". I did. The tank was finished by 11:00. The trailer was loaded and we left for Road Atlanta around 6:00 p.m. setting up after midnight for the race practice the next day. We teched the endurance bike along with our sprint bikes and took turns refamiliarizing ourselves with a bike that had not been ridden since the first endurance race last year at Roebling. You might remember that we sawed the cases in half down the front straight. We had gotten to the track to late to change the tanks out so we rode with the stock gas tank. We probably should have checked it out since it would later become the center of attention. We finished up practice and went out in search of two things, gas hose for the endurance tank and a good Mexican restaurant. We found both. We enjoyed a couple of margaritas so the gas hose would wait until the day of the race, after all it wouldn't take but a few minutes to install. We did install it. We put in several gallons of fuel in the quick fill and pushed it down on the tank. Immediately tiny fingers of gas started streaming out of different areas that were not welded. Ok this might not seem like the worst thing in the world that could happen but we had no idea what this bike would handle like with a full tank of gas and we had about twenty minutes to fix it before final race practice. JB weld wouldn't dry fast enough but we were fortunate to be pitted next to the only person at the track who had JB quick weld..it dries in 5 minutes. We filled it and rode the pratice session. The bike was on stands with tire warmers on pit lane. We were surrounded by Vesrah Suzuki, TOBC Racing, KATRA Racing, Team Kinetics, Army of Darkness and others. The national anthem was about to be played when a different gas leak was found. Its very hard standing there listening to the slowest version of the national anthem ever played knowing that we only had minutes before the start of the race. My friend and teammate is a surgeon by trade. I imagined that he would take charge as he did in an operating room...hand me this, cut that, apply this, tighten that. He did but he couldn't stop the bleeding. If we changed the tank we would lose valuable time so against the advice of every sensible person available we left the leaking tank on and raced. I think it was mentioned more than a few times about the MotoGP incident where Collin Edwards bailed off a burning bike. The first rider went for 1 hour and 3 minutes. I rode for 1 hour and 5 minutes. We cycled through all the riders and were looking good. We actually had a chance at the podium never mind that our bike looked like it should have been the lead character in the movie "War Horse" and should have been shot after the race. I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it was the nearly 2 hours I spent on the bike or the abuse we put that bike through or a combination of that plus what the bike had been through that made me project animate feelings toward this machine but I did and I felt sorry for it. It had taken us for a 6 hour ride ringing it's guts out loosing first gear off the start and a clutch that started to slip after the first hour. It looked ragged and worn out. Sometime after the race someone came up and put a handicapped placard on the bike. We ran a good race. We didn't have any ringers. We all rode with in a second a lap of each other. We were 4 minutes from a podium, three laps...4 minutes out of 6 hours...what if I had ridden a second faster a lap? What if we had taken five minutes less on a pit stop? What if I had stayed out for the last leg instead of coming in so that the final rider would get to ride his final stint. What if we had left the rear tire on and not changed it?
  15. I start my vacation tomorrow and leave for Road Atlanta for the big "Cycle Jam" weekend. Race practice Thursday morning then the vintage races, Friday morning a brief endurance practice then the 6 hr endurance race starts at 10:30. We are riding a 2005 ZX6R with quick change set up. Last year we came in third at the Grand Nationals so we will see what happens after the 6 hr is over. The Sprint races are Saturday and I'm ready for the Senior Superbike, A Superbike and Formula 1 races. If you are there, we could always use pit help during the endurance race...#112 Team Orthopedics.
  16. I don't think Marquez saw Esparago...I think the decision was the correct one.
  17. Turn three is a late apex for me. I like to be about three feet off the curb as I line up for the curbing on exit then on the throttle and go straight for the entry of 4...I don't see much use in going out to the edge for entry to 4. I would rather gas it and keep it straight up and down for heavy braking on entry...there are a few ways to go in that turn...but you are right. Its hard to get a feel for which is best. I love the esses.
  18. There is one thing to consider in this discussion that has not been brought up....Melandri and Haslam were battling each other for 1st place. If either one of them had protected their line this would have been a mute point. Melandri and Haslam were fighting each other so hard for the lead they went in to the last turn with Melandri going a little wide and Haslam squaring it off for the drive to the finish line. The inside line was not protected. Johnny Rea saw the opening and took it. Unfortunately for the two battling BMW's, Johnny's #65 slid a bit at mid corner bumping Haslam. I've seen many races over the years from MotoGP, AMA, BSB, WSBK..and I've seen closer passing than that.
  19. Brad, I will be there! This track is to close not to ride it. WERA is racing at NOLA the end of June and I will most likely being doing a track weekend or two later this summer....What did you like most about the course?
  20. I followed a speed triple around the NOLA track this weekend when I was control riding...very impressive, although the bars make it difficult for the rider to hang off.
  21. Brad, I was there when the CSS trucks pulled in. I went down and said hello to Will and Pete before I left. I was there all weekend control riding and instructing for a track day organization. There are many new faces with the school...been to long.
  22. Lets say you are in a position to give advice to someone new to the sport. You can see the front straight and the first turn. You have 5 minutes to sum up your experience and send them on their way. It's 2nd call. What do you tell them?
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