GregGorman Posted February 14, 2010 Report Share Posted February 14, 2010 Well, I got 6 laps of practice in yesterday. On the 6th lap, the oil filter backed out a half turn and blew its seal. Apparently it wasn't properly safety wired. I didn't know there was oil on the tire at the entrance of turn 1. If you watch this video to the end, you'll see me enter turn 1 at about 147mph which was about the speed I was doing when the bike went full sideway right when I turned it in. I thought I was gone. I thought I was on high-side trip to the moon. As gently as I could, I picked up the throttle and picked up the bike. Surprisingly the bike came back real gentle and it didn't even pop me up out of the seat. I thought I had the problem handled so I rolled off and turned in again. Again, the bike whet sideways but quick. Again, a little throttle and pick the bike up. Now I'm heading off track, through the grass, across an access road, through more grass, and directly on to the steep banking. I managed to get the bike slowed down enough to turn it. I got it completely off track and stopped. The engine is fine, I'm fine, the rear tire is covered in oil and thrown away. We cleaned the bike, put a new oil filter in and safety wired it real good. Races start today at 9:30. Ride smart, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonbw Posted February 14, 2010 Report Share Posted February 14, 2010 Nice recovery!!!!!! Would have been great for the slide/catch/slide/catch to be on that video! Though having said that, just reading the event was enough to get the heart going! I'd suggest the tire isn't the only item that got soiled in those few seconds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted February 15, 2010 Report Share Posted February 15, 2010 Nice recovery!!!!!! Would have been great for the slide/catch/slide/catch to be on that video! Though having said that, just reading the event was enough to get the heart going! I'd suggest the tire isn't the only item that got soiled in those few seconds! +1, nicely done. CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonzilla Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 So..... you're fine? Isn't running off track on a high speed corner a ######? Once I managed to stop the thing without wrecking I looked back and thought "hmm. That was pretty cool." I'm glad you're fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregGorman Posted February 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 Yes, I'm fine. And, yes it is a ######! I really thought I was about to be high-sided to the moon. The first time it went out I was a bit slow reacting to it and I could feel the tire was right at the point where it seems to just grip suddenly. I was very pleasantly surprised when it came back without so much as a bobble or head shake. Anyway, that limited me to 6 laps of practice on Saturday due to cleanup and verifying the oil filter was indeed the problem. On Sunday it was 47f degrees when we took to the track for first practice at 8am and it was just a shakedown run. My first race, GTO, was at 9:30 and 50f. I wheelied off the start and lost some time there. I then worked on hitting my reference points and getting up to speed. I was mostly in the 1:32 range for laptimes with two 1:31s. My personal best is a 29. The winner was doing 26s and the track record is 23.8. So the track was a bit slick but I've really got to work out why I'm 6-7 seconds off at this track and only this track. I made three passes and finished 7th of 14. Next race was at 12:30, Unlimited Supersport, and a warm 57f. I was doing better, consistent 31s but so was everyone else. On the last lap, I was running in 8th and about to lap an amateur when I used a bit too much front brake and lowsided on the entrance of turn 4 at about 50mph. 15th of 15. Next race was at about 2:30, Unlimited Superbike. I just wasn't in it. I was on the same front tire and I just didn't trust it at all. I was running 1:34 laps and was going backwards. I finished 10th of 11. When I got back to the pits we found a small hole in the engine cover that was leaking oil, damage from my crash. We could have fixed it but it was time to call it a day. I did not start my last race, Unlimited GP. Apparently there was a red flag on the warm up lap for that race and only 7 finishers. Next it's on to Daytona February 27th and 28th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregGorman Posted February 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 Here's the video my wife got of my crash in turn 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fajita Dave Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I like your wifes reaction to that lowside . The corner entry looks a little difficult with the track dropping away like that. I'm glad your ok, you took hard tumble for a lowside. Maybe its a good thing you didn't race in Unlimited GP. You might have been caught up in the red flag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.