Yeah, we like build threads, especially with lots of pics!!

 

you know the knobly front dispearses better that a non knobly one but gives horrible judder?

i love that judder though it lets me know when i have locked up or the tyre is letting go think, they look like the rain tyres i use and no complaints

 

I've not run Dunlop rains before, so we'll just have to see how they go.
I must admit that the cross-hatch tread pattern looks as if it would be a less "stable" construction, for lack of a better word, when putting a load on the front at lean - hopefully they will work out well... I mean, I honestly hope to not have to use them much at all anyway!

 

I got around to installing the other right-angle valve stem set in my spare black rims, polished them up, mounted the rains and balanced both wheels, and got the rear rotor mounted - once I get the front rotors on, the rain set is good to go.

 

Very little has been going on, but I'll be a little bit busy with some bike work this weekend - I got the front rotors and cush drive/sprocket carrier installed on the wet set, and since we're finally past the point where it's still freezing overnight, I'm headin' out now to re-mount the race wheels, and get the race brakes installed, among other things.

 

So I finally got the CL pads on, got the wheels re-mounted, re-torqued the fasteners, and wired it all back up.

I had put some new OEM pads on the rear, which only saw a wee bit of track time, so with the CL pads also on the rear now, I'm left with that set of OEM rear pads, with lots of life left, to put on the street bike.



And then... nekkid again!!





I put in some new plugs, and added a couple of gallons of fresh fuel to the very near empty tank.

Before winter, I had expressed that the thing didn't seem to be running right, and I suspected I was running a smidge rich, and that the semi-new plugs were already fouled out... indeed, they were a touch fouled out, and wet.
I put in some new plugs, and decided to dial my fuel screws back in to 2 1/4 turns out, which is only 1/8 turn over OEM baseline, and start it up and run it for a while.
I noted it was struggling, and on the lean side, so I adjusted 1/4 turn out, started it and ran it for a bit, and repeated, until it ran the best - this had me still ending up at 3 turns, which is where it started, but something just didn't seem right - even after letting it warm up plenty, the idle just wasn't right... wasn't smooth.

I suspected a slight air leak, so I let it cool off for a bit while I worked on other stuff.
I fired it back up, ran it for about 2 minutes, sprayed some carb cleaner around the intake boots, and sure enough, I had an immediate increase in revs, so instead of putting the bodywork right back on, like I had planned, I'll have to yank the tank and airbox, and check my boot clamps.

 

Seems like it's always something doesn't it? Man the time we put in lol. But, when it's right, nothing better to make you go woohoo

 

Yes... but you know...

 

Round 1, at Putnam Park in Indiana, was a weekend riddled with bad luck! Three separate mechanical issues cost me a LOT of track time, which is something that you never want, especially when you're learning a new track.

Saturday... The Dunlop slicks were excellent - I never had any grip issues over the course of the weekend. I really liked the track, which could be quite flowing, once you pieced all the bits together.

I had fun in the early sessions, and my Saturday race was at 4pm.
Two sessions before that, I hadn't even completed one lap, and suddenly the bike completely shut down, while exiting turn two. I had either lost fuel or spark, and was suspecting fuel, as after getting well off the track, I wore the battery completely down while attempting to start it, but didn't smell any fuel at the exhaust.
After the session was over, the crash truck brought me back to the garage, and I got tearing into the bike quickly, so I could hopefully resolve the issue before the race - I did resolve it, and missed two sessions, but I was ready to grid up for the race.

So, the race starts, and the bike was running excellent again, but not for long. I only made it to turn 8, and the bike completely shut down again, but this time, I was unable to restart the bike, and I noticed my dash was dead... total loss of electrical power!

So once again, I go back to the garage on the crash truck, and day one is over. I found after testing the battery, that it had lost one of the cells - after charging for while, it would only hold 10 volts.


Sunday... picked up and installed a brand new battery as soon as I got to the track, and put the bike back together - this cost me my first session of the day, but with another chilly morning (44ºF Saturday/46ºF Sunday), I didn't care, as the only thing I missed was having to tip-toe around the track to limit cold-tearing of the tires.
Sunday's race was at noon, and I was ready to go, having taken further measures to avoid a recurrence of the fueling issue.

Another issue I discovered, though not with the bike, was that my transponder was not working - I was too busy with the issues I was working, that I had not had time to check the timesheets, where I would have noticed that I wasn't listed.
I scrambled to get another transponder mounted, and made it to the grid in time to take my warm-up lap, and grid up.

All issues resolved, and I was ready to go for the race. I made a good start, but after 5 laps, I made a mistake of my own... I got into turn 7 a wee bit hot, which is a tight right-hander, due to missing a down shift.
I had to either trail the brake heavily into the turn, and risk washing out the front on the track surface, or go into the grass, gather it back up, and get back to it - I chose the latter.
In the grass, I got lined up, and checked to make sure the track was clear, but got too greedy with the throttle on what I learned was still-damp grass, spun out the rear, and had a mild crash in the grass.

I got the bike up quickly, got on the track, and proceeded to hot-pit, so they could look over the bike.
They released me back to the track, and 1 lap later, mechanical issue three came to the fore... clutch... OUT.
That put "paid" to Sunday, and I missed ALL of the afternoon sessions.

Since my transponder had not been working, I got very little in terms of lap times, and the only thing I know, is that during that race, I had improved my lap time by over 4 seconds, compared to the best time of the first session where I was running a new transponder... what I don't know, is whether that was my fastest of the weekend, or if I ran better laps when running the dud transponder.


So, I missed about 50% of all possible time on track, and have no lap times for about 90% of what I did get to run.

Hopefully, all bad luck for the season was spent there, and I can have smoother running for the rest of the year... Gateway Motorsports Park, in St. Louis, is where we will run the next two rounds.

 

Sorry about the bad luck at the track. But, very cool to read about a Hoosier, especially one close to my old neck of the woods. I was born and raised in Bloomfield which is in Greene County.