trackpimp
11-21-2005, 02:45 PM
First Race weekend on the Kawasaki!
The thing is still not 100% race ready yet, I've only really changed the
suspension, bodywork, and tires.. Other than that this bike is still 100%
bone stock.
First thing we did after we got our pit all set up was set the sag on the thing
and get it ready to try. Tooling around doing like 1:32-34's out there was
kind of scary, but I just wanted to go fast enough to get a little feeling from
the bike. I gave my buddy some feedback, and we made some changes based on
that. Went back out on the bike and now its feeling good, but still I wanted
in to steer more in the fast corners.. We came in and unfortunately didn't
have another practice session left to try my change.. Total of about 9 laps
of practice on Saturday! That sucked, but that's what happens when you work on
your bike a lot.
Sunday rolled around, we showed up.. Raised the ride height in the rear a
little and I went out and tried it.. Doing 3 laps in morning warmup, and I was
already in the low 1:29's without really trying too hard.. The most important
thing was that I was smiling inside my helmet again! This Kawi is really fun
to ride.. It wants to wheelie everywhere, and I'm using that to my advantage
becuase when I do stuff like that and have fun, I go faster..
I was gridded on the 2nd row for 650Superbike. The flag drops and I get one of
my usual slow starts. I go to work, and pick off a few guys.. and rather
quickly pick off my team mate QUIG who's been whipping my butt the last few
months.. I ended up passing stan bates too, but got passed back.. on the
last lap, I was making a run for Bates when right at the exit of 9 he let off
the throttle.. I had to let off bigtime to avoid hitting him, and gave Quig
just enough to get by.. I finished 9th! Not bad really.. best lap of a
1:28.5something
Next up was a race I've not done in a long time. 750 Superstock.. As I lined
up on the grid I noticed guys like Jeff Stern, and Curtis Adams on the grid..
WOW.. I passed 2 guys going into turn 1 off the start and set off to chase
down my buddy Ken Kramer, and MARZ... I ended up all by myself.. The gap
between us not growing or shortening.. I ended up 6th.
Best lap of the race 1:28.8something
My final race of the day was 750 ModProd. Green flag dropped and I was all up
in Kramer's ****! I think I passed him in the middle of 8 on the 2nd lap, and
held him off most of the race. I got by Marz with a cool inside pass in 9,
and I was really feeling it.. Marz passed me back on the straight and started
to gap myself and Kramer a bit. I still figured I could hold off Kramer til
the end.. Last lap I put a pass on an open class back marker and made my
downshifts for 9.. At the exit, I went to upshift, and my lever was no longer
there! My bolt must have backed out or something.. ****.. Kramer got me at
the line.. I finished 5th.. best laptime of the day (and of the weekend) a
1:28.1something
Overall, I'd say I had a great weekend. I honestly didn't notice all those
crazy setup gremlins that several folks are talking about. We're going to
make a couple more minor changes, but right now the bike is pretty damn close.
I'm really looking forward to 06' now!
The thing is still not 100% race ready yet, I've only really changed the
suspension, bodywork, and tires.. Other than that this bike is still 100%
bone stock.
First thing we did after we got our pit all set up was set the sag on the thing
and get it ready to try. Tooling around doing like 1:32-34's out there was
kind of scary, but I just wanted to go fast enough to get a little feeling from
the bike. I gave my buddy some feedback, and we made some changes based on
that. Went back out on the bike and now its feeling good, but still I wanted
in to steer more in the fast corners.. We came in and unfortunately didn't
have another practice session left to try my change.. Total of about 9 laps
of practice on Saturday! That sucked, but that's what happens when you work on
your bike a lot.
Sunday rolled around, we showed up.. Raised the ride height in the rear a
little and I went out and tried it.. Doing 3 laps in morning warmup, and I was
already in the low 1:29's without really trying too hard.. The most important
thing was that I was smiling inside my helmet again! This Kawi is really fun
to ride.. It wants to wheelie everywhere, and I'm using that to my advantage
becuase when I do stuff like that and have fun, I go faster..
I was gridded on the 2nd row for 650Superbike. The flag drops and I get one of
my usual slow starts. I go to work, and pick off a few guys.. and rather
quickly pick off my team mate QUIG who's been whipping my butt the last few
months.. I ended up passing stan bates too, but got passed back.. on the
last lap, I was making a run for Bates when right at the exit of 9 he let off
the throttle.. I had to let off bigtime to avoid hitting him, and gave Quig
just enough to get by.. I finished 9th! Not bad really.. best lap of a
1:28.5something
Next up was a race I've not done in a long time. 750 Superstock.. As I lined
up on the grid I noticed guys like Jeff Stern, and Curtis Adams on the grid..
WOW.. I passed 2 guys going into turn 1 off the start and set off to chase
down my buddy Ken Kramer, and MARZ... I ended up all by myself.. The gap
between us not growing or shortening.. I ended up 6th.
Best lap of the race 1:28.8something
My final race of the day was 750 ModProd. Green flag dropped and I was all up
in Kramer's ****! I think I passed him in the middle of 8 on the 2nd lap, and
held him off most of the race. I got by Marz with a cool inside pass in 9,
and I was really feeling it.. Marz passed me back on the straight and started
to gap myself and Kramer a bit. I still figured I could hold off Kramer til
the end.. Last lap I put a pass on an open class back marker and made my
downshifts for 9.. At the exit, I went to upshift, and my lever was no longer
there! My bolt must have backed out or something.. ****.. Kramer got me at
the line.. I finished 5th.. best laptime of the day (and of the weekend) a
1:28.1something
Overall, I'd say I had a great weekend. I honestly didn't notice all those
crazy setup gremlins that several folks are talking about. We're going to
make a couple more minor changes, but right now the bike is pretty damn close.
I'm really looking forward to 06' now!