Monsterdood
Tue 5/30/06, 5:31PM
Note: I finally decided to ask the Kurterator for a racer report section and wanted to catch everyone up on my SV racing because you all have nothing better to do than to read my long winded rambling......:tired: So here is my March Report....
Back in February, I was sure there are a few more seconds left in the EX I was racing, but I was convinced a nice SV650 could get me to the low 1:30's if my talent will let me. So I looked around and found a race prepped SV650 up in San Francisco. Got a decent deal on it considering the engine work, the suspension work and the spares that I got.
On Saturday (in March), I rode the new bike for the first time. It was strange! It felt like I was riding on top of the bike compared to the EX. In fact, when I adopted my normal riding position on the SV, I almost fell off! I had to stop hanging off so far and let the bike do more work. It had a gob of power available although it has some teething issues with air being sucked into the intake boots under the carbs. I finally figured out that chopping the throttle all the way closed would suck the carbs back down and would seal them up. Mental note, fix that prior to next race.
After thinking about why I was almost falling off, I came to the track on Sunday (in March) ready to race. With a few adjustments to my riding position, I felt much more stable and in control of the bike in the morning practice so I was looking forward to a nice easy race.
Well, I hadn't practiced starting the new bike and was worried about making a clean one at a minimum. As the flag dropped, I eased off the line and then started to open her up. The front wheel started coming right up and I chopped a little too much but was right back on the gas. I was mid pack going into turn 1 and was just trying to ride a nice consistent line. I passed one or two people through turn 2 and was following a small group of bikes coming out of 2. They all slowed a bit more than I would have and I felt like I could go up the inside into turn 3. So I passed three bikes under braking and then figured out I was still too hot into 3 to make the corner so I had to hold the bike up a bit longer instead of turning in.
This effectively turned into a block pass and I paid for it when Cody was on a normal racing line and we collided a bit. Both of us stayed up so all is good after the fact, but his left side (radiator) collided with my muffler leaving a little dent and my rear wheel skipped inwards a bit. I was able to get into the turn and get into 4a but I was a little shaken and let up between 4 and 5 to regain my composure (and because I felt bad that I might have blocked someone off of the track since I didn't know at the time that Cody kept it up). So the three bikes I passed went by and then I tagged onto the tail of them to try to chase them back down after settling down a bit.
I don't recall anything else real significant except the rider with the pony tail (girl) was gradually creeping away and I didn't feel like I could safely close up the gap at all. [Turns out this was Brienne.] On the last lap there was a yellow flag on the back straight and I let up so as not to pass a single I was lapping. Boom, JC and Clinton come flying by me on their FZR400's and passed me under yellow, and then I realized it was only a standing yellow and I could have passed the single. Once I realized that, there was a waving yellow and I definitely couldn't' pass then. So I set up real wide going into 9 so that I could get an early drive and pass the single coming out of 9 and to make sure I didn't get passed myself.
After all of that I finished in 10th out of 16 in the SV's inaugural race and I kept the rubber side down... Barely.
I did the BOTT LW race on the EX next. I got a decent start and slotted into 4th right behind Larry Cochran on the first lap. Chris Shadoan had taken off and Michael Gougis was in 2nd. Larry is the Race director so I wanted to make the cleanest of clean passes and waited until the front straight on the 2nd lap to motor by him on my EX. Michael was a fair distance up ahead, but I just wanted to put my head down and try to catch him. For the record, I had no idea that I was in 3rd. I had no idea if I was 3rd or 7th, it all just seems to be a blur to me. It's like my memory and place position goes out the window when the green flag waves and my only mission to pass whoever is in front of me. It is a weird state of mind, but kinda neat in retrospect.
So I'm chasing down Michael and chipping away at his lead over me and on lap 3 I am right on his tail. I pass him into turn 3 (or was it 5?) and led him through the back section. He came flying by on the front straight to lead starting lap 4. I passed him again somewhere (2, 3, or 5 I presume) and was able to hold the lead all the way across the finish line as the white flag waved. I thought I would have a chance to hold him off and just kept my head down. I was cranking through 1 and 2 and went so deep into 3 that I couldn't make the turn where I was supposed to. After blowing 3 and squaring it off, I just tried to keep whatever lead I had. Cranked through 8 and tried to go deep into 9, but Michael came flying by me near the pit entrance. I tried to redraft him, but his bike engine or setup seemed to have just that little something extra over mine and I was only able to hold the gap, not close it. So I finished a valiant 3rd and was pretty excited. I'm sure we had the best race of the day up to that point but unfortunately, the announcer didn't give us any air time. Oh well, maybe next time.
So for the 3rd race, I felt like I do typing this, very tired and just want it to be over. I'm excited to race the SV again, but wanted to back off a notch to ensure I keep everything the right side up. I get a decent start and am mid-pack for the 550 SBK race, I rode a conservative race and don't recall anything specific except that I ran my personal best time of 1:36.7 so I was finally faster on the SV than I had been on the EX. I brought it home in 10th out of 22 so that wasn't too bad for the second outing (back in March).
I pulled out of the 4th race (500 Mod Prod on the EX) because the wind was picking up and I was a bit tired from all the riding I had already done. There ended up being a knarly crash out in turn 8 (996 snapped its swingarm in half!) and there were enough other crashes in other races that I am glad I pulled out although I might have given up a few points since I probably could have pulled 5 or 6 points instead of the 2 points I got for my 10th places on the SV. All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm really happy I have the EX to fine tune my cornering and the SV to really compete on.
Back in February, I was sure there are a few more seconds left in the EX I was racing, but I was convinced a nice SV650 could get me to the low 1:30's if my talent will let me. So I looked around and found a race prepped SV650 up in San Francisco. Got a decent deal on it considering the engine work, the suspension work and the spares that I got.
On Saturday (in March), I rode the new bike for the first time. It was strange! It felt like I was riding on top of the bike compared to the EX. In fact, when I adopted my normal riding position on the SV, I almost fell off! I had to stop hanging off so far and let the bike do more work. It had a gob of power available although it has some teething issues with air being sucked into the intake boots under the carbs. I finally figured out that chopping the throttle all the way closed would suck the carbs back down and would seal them up. Mental note, fix that prior to next race.
After thinking about why I was almost falling off, I came to the track on Sunday (in March) ready to race. With a few adjustments to my riding position, I felt much more stable and in control of the bike in the morning practice so I was looking forward to a nice easy race.
Well, I hadn't practiced starting the new bike and was worried about making a clean one at a minimum. As the flag dropped, I eased off the line and then started to open her up. The front wheel started coming right up and I chopped a little too much but was right back on the gas. I was mid pack going into turn 1 and was just trying to ride a nice consistent line. I passed one or two people through turn 2 and was following a small group of bikes coming out of 2. They all slowed a bit more than I would have and I felt like I could go up the inside into turn 3. So I passed three bikes under braking and then figured out I was still too hot into 3 to make the corner so I had to hold the bike up a bit longer instead of turning in.
This effectively turned into a block pass and I paid for it when Cody was on a normal racing line and we collided a bit. Both of us stayed up so all is good after the fact, but his left side (radiator) collided with my muffler leaving a little dent and my rear wheel skipped inwards a bit. I was able to get into the turn and get into 4a but I was a little shaken and let up between 4 and 5 to regain my composure (and because I felt bad that I might have blocked someone off of the track since I didn't know at the time that Cody kept it up). So the three bikes I passed went by and then I tagged onto the tail of them to try to chase them back down after settling down a bit.
I don't recall anything else real significant except the rider with the pony tail (girl) was gradually creeping away and I didn't feel like I could safely close up the gap at all. [Turns out this was Brienne.] On the last lap there was a yellow flag on the back straight and I let up so as not to pass a single I was lapping. Boom, JC and Clinton come flying by me on their FZR400's and passed me under yellow, and then I realized it was only a standing yellow and I could have passed the single. Once I realized that, there was a waving yellow and I definitely couldn't' pass then. So I set up real wide going into 9 so that I could get an early drive and pass the single coming out of 9 and to make sure I didn't get passed myself.
After all of that I finished in 10th out of 16 in the SV's inaugural race and I kept the rubber side down... Barely.
I did the BOTT LW race on the EX next. I got a decent start and slotted into 4th right behind Larry Cochran on the first lap. Chris Shadoan had taken off and Michael Gougis was in 2nd. Larry is the Race director so I wanted to make the cleanest of clean passes and waited until the front straight on the 2nd lap to motor by him on my EX. Michael was a fair distance up ahead, but I just wanted to put my head down and try to catch him. For the record, I had no idea that I was in 3rd. I had no idea if I was 3rd or 7th, it all just seems to be a blur to me. It's like my memory and place position goes out the window when the green flag waves and my only mission to pass whoever is in front of me. It is a weird state of mind, but kinda neat in retrospect.
So I'm chasing down Michael and chipping away at his lead over me and on lap 3 I am right on his tail. I pass him into turn 3 (or was it 5?) and led him through the back section. He came flying by on the front straight to lead starting lap 4. I passed him again somewhere (2, 3, or 5 I presume) and was able to hold the lead all the way across the finish line as the white flag waved. I thought I would have a chance to hold him off and just kept my head down. I was cranking through 1 and 2 and went so deep into 3 that I couldn't make the turn where I was supposed to. After blowing 3 and squaring it off, I just tried to keep whatever lead I had. Cranked through 8 and tried to go deep into 9, but Michael came flying by me near the pit entrance. I tried to redraft him, but his bike engine or setup seemed to have just that little something extra over mine and I was only able to hold the gap, not close it. So I finished a valiant 3rd and was pretty excited. I'm sure we had the best race of the day up to that point but unfortunately, the announcer didn't give us any air time. Oh well, maybe next time.
So for the 3rd race, I felt like I do typing this, very tired and just want it to be over. I'm excited to race the SV again, but wanted to back off a notch to ensure I keep everything the right side up. I get a decent start and am mid-pack for the 550 SBK race, I rode a conservative race and don't recall anything specific except that I ran my personal best time of 1:36.7 so I was finally faster on the SV than I had been on the EX. I brought it home in 10th out of 22 so that wasn't too bad for the second outing (back in March).
I pulled out of the 4th race (500 Mod Prod on the EX) because the wind was picking up and I was a bit tired from all the riding I had already done. There ended up being a knarly crash out in turn 8 (996 snapped its swingarm in half!) and there were enough other crashes in other races that I am glad I pulled out although I might have given up a few points since I probably could have pulled 5 or 6 points instead of the 2 points I got for my 10th places on the SV. All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm really happy I have the EX to fine tune my cornering and the SV to really compete on.