pulse
04-19-2005, 01:59 AM
well i finally got back from a long weekend of riding, and it was fun as always. got up to the track saturday at 4:50pm when the office closes at 5pm so i was in a rush to get my transponder so i could charge it ( takes like 24 hours) and because it was SUPPOSSED to be required this month. to my surprise trasnponders were on back order so they would now NOT be required but i was able to pick mine up anyway and get it out of the way. so after that i met up with jerry, hung out and slept in the car that night.
sunday comes and jiggy and shaggy roll in at about 6:30 am and we get the pit goin, tech done and final adjustments. i head out for first practice feeling good and ready to ride, as i round turn 6 on my first lap i wack it open for the back straight and the bike does not accelerate and i smell burning rubber.....i throw my hand up get off the line and head in, so much for first practice. turns out the 209GP front didnt quite have enough clearance on the front fender so it was rubbing the fender hard. just went ahead and ditched the fender and headed out for practice number 2 ready to ride and get in some laps. right off the bat on lap 1 i was getting insane head shake all the way down the back straight and through turn 8 as well as exiting turn 1. this went on the whole session and it was scary and i had to figure out the problem. i went ahead and swapped out the 190 rear for a 180 since i could not get the suspension adjustments i needed for the 190 and figered every thing would be golden for the race.
the best part of the day was watching shaggy do just incredible in his 3 races taking 12th, 12th and 8th and going from 26th on the grid to 8th in turn 1. those were awsome races to watch and jason did great, congrats buddy :thumbsup: so our race comes up and i am still gridded in the second wave on the #29 spot with jerry behind me in 33 i think and jigga man in 42. the first wave was off and i was reved up and ready to go. i got what seemed like and ok start but got eaten up just before turn 1 ending up middle of the pack and jerry was way out front with the hole shot, congrats on that jerry :bowdown: . so i had my work cut out and i did not know if my headshake problem would be fixed so i get on it in two and take a guy or two and then brake under 2-3 guys in three and get on it again and got a very nice slid in 3 but kept it under control with no issue. so i come down the back straight and the head shake is still there and it is scarry to come into 8 with the bars goin side to side but i have to ride through it and do what i can. i loose a few spots an i gian a few just trying to feel it out and settle in. well by the 3rd lap there were already 8 crashes so the race was red flagged and regridded for a 4 lap restart!! this was great for me because i knew who my bike was acting now and this was my chance to gain back alot of spots. so the flag drops and jerry take the hole shot again :bowdown: and i just keep it wide open and go around a few on the oputside of turn 1 holding 5th position (in our wave) and the ntake another braking in 3. from here the race stayed about the same and i was able to keep up much better riding through the head shake. i was duking it out with a guy on a gixxer and having a blast. the race was over and i was not quite happy with my result but had an awsome time anyway and learned alot.
because my bike felt worse in handling than ever before, lol, i felt my times were down from last month and reayd to fix the problem and get back to business next race. to my surprise i checked the lap times today to find i still did my fastest lap so far at willow of 1:35.3 which is off my goal time of 33's but i am excited i pulled that with the problems i was having, so i am happy with that for sure.
special thanks to everyone that came to support the races this month; jenn, carol, bryant, sean, stroble, jerry and jasons dad and anyone i forgot. congrats to jaons on your awsome finishes and your expert career is off to a great start :cheers: :thumbsup: . congrats to jerry on a great race and your starts are amazing :bowdown: :thumbsup: , i hope to be up with you next month. congrats mike for getting the bike back together so fast and getting out there with us and you will be back on your pace in no time. it was a fun weekend as always, til next race :squid:
sunday comes and jiggy and shaggy roll in at about 6:30 am and we get the pit goin, tech done and final adjustments. i head out for first practice feeling good and ready to ride, as i round turn 6 on my first lap i wack it open for the back straight and the bike does not accelerate and i smell burning rubber.....i throw my hand up get off the line and head in, so much for first practice. turns out the 209GP front didnt quite have enough clearance on the front fender so it was rubbing the fender hard. just went ahead and ditched the fender and headed out for practice number 2 ready to ride and get in some laps. right off the bat on lap 1 i was getting insane head shake all the way down the back straight and through turn 8 as well as exiting turn 1. this went on the whole session and it was scary and i had to figure out the problem. i went ahead and swapped out the 190 rear for a 180 since i could not get the suspension adjustments i needed for the 190 and figered every thing would be golden for the race.
the best part of the day was watching shaggy do just incredible in his 3 races taking 12th, 12th and 8th and going from 26th on the grid to 8th in turn 1. those were awsome races to watch and jason did great, congrats buddy :thumbsup: so our race comes up and i am still gridded in the second wave on the #29 spot with jerry behind me in 33 i think and jigga man in 42. the first wave was off and i was reved up and ready to go. i got what seemed like and ok start but got eaten up just before turn 1 ending up middle of the pack and jerry was way out front with the hole shot, congrats on that jerry :bowdown: . so i had my work cut out and i did not know if my headshake problem would be fixed so i get on it in two and take a guy or two and then brake under 2-3 guys in three and get on it again and got a very nice slid in 3 but kept it under control with no issue. so i come down the back straight and the head shake is still there and it is scarry to come into 8 with the bars goin side to side but i have to ride through it and do what i can. i loose a few spots an i gian a few just trying to feel it out and settle in. well by the 3rd lap there were already 8 crashes so the race was red flagged and regridded for a 4 lap restart!! this was great for me because i knew who my bike was acting now and this was my chance to gain back alot of spots. so the flag drops and jerry take the hole shot again :bowdown: and i just keep it wide open and go around a few on the oputside of turn 1 holding 5th position (in our wave) and the ntake another braking in 3. from here the race stayed about the same and i was able to keep up much better riding through the head shake. i was duking it out with a guy on a gixxer and having a blast. the race was over and i was not quite happy with my result but had an awsome time anyway and learned alot.
because my bike felt worse in handling than ever before, lol, i felt my times were down from last month and reayd to fix the problem and get back to business next race. to my surprise i checked the lap times today to find i still did my fastest lap so far at willow of 1:35.3 which is off my goal time of 33's but i am excited i pulled that with the problems i was having, so i am happy with that for sure.
special thanks to everyone that came to support the races this month; jenn, carol, bryant, sean, stroble, jerry and jasons dad and anyone i forgot. congrats to jaons on your awsome finishes and your expert career is off to a great start :cheers: :thumbsup: . congrats to jerry on a great race and your starts are amazing :bowdown: :thumbsup: , i hope to be up with you next month. congrats mike for getting the bike back together so fast and getting out there with us and you will be back on your pace in no time. it was a fun weekend as always, til next race :squid: