Looks like I may be the first to post a weekend's report. Thursday Roger Lyle hosted a practice day at Summit Point and I spend the day braking in the new motor and riding the EX with F2 front end and 17" slicks for the first time. Although the track was wet most of the day, and very slick the rest, I got lots of seat time and I thought we had the motor running pretty darn good. The slow conditions did not allow any serious suspension tests, however.
The good news is the I think the motor and suspension both have the capability to go seriously fast. The bad news is that the motor would not run right.
Saturday I taught the racing school, cutting out twice to take my practice sessions. The tach had stopped working and I was not able to determine if the bike was a) geared too short, or b) not pulling redline in top gear. I assumed (a) and regeared for lightweight supertwins, the last race on Saturday.
The saying is 'when the green flag drops, the BS stops' but I think this may be backwards. While I was having a great time in practice, I was quickly reminded what a dick everyone turns into at race time. I bogged the start and was nearly last into turn one, and was about to make a pass in three when a novice stuffed me on the left and forced me to back off and veer outside to avoid contact. This killed my drive and I went for a downshift to make up... only to upshift!! Damn reverse shifting! It was the only mistake I make in trying the gp shift pattern and I like the gp style overall. Incidentally, with the EX500 tranny now undercutting shifting was flawless. Well worth the $250.
For the rest of the race I had a great time with a Duck and two hawks (one of which I had previously owned). We were missing it all up and my EX would power past them on the front straight but then the motor would fall flat 3/4 of the way to turn one and I'd drop back again. Although my lap times were nothing to brag about it did feel good to be back in saddle.
Right after that I was a control rider for the school, which was a cluster-puck. I understand that it's overwhelming when you're a newbie, but why can't these guys (or gals) follow a simple line through a turn. In the 'mock race' that culminates the school one of the students lost the front end and bashed in my pipe and tail piece; I didn't go down but he did and busted his collar bone. Hope he's ok. I'll have to give him a call.
Anyway, Sunday was just as gorgeous a day as Sat and the tracked proved darn sticky (for Summit) even in the morning practice. The bike was getting worse, however, and we were (and had been since Thursday) trying different jetting combinations with each session (actually, in one practice we did two needle changes; gotta love those keihins) I discovered the broken wire that prevented the tach from working (duh!) and now we knew that the motor would not rev past 9 grand (redline at 11) It would not take full throttle up top but would run at 11 grand in the pits (partial throttle) The plugs and pipe always indicated a lean mixture so we keep going up on the main and testing it on the hot pit.
I could run it up to 8 grand in first gear, at 3/4 throttle. Go WFO and it stalls, back to 3/4 and it picks up immediately. I ran lightweight gp and had more fun, even though I was getting motored by a 125. Power was coming down all weekend. Sat. I had run 130 mains and Sunday I ran 140 mains (3 steps) and there was no difference. Mid-throttle was fine. Later in the day I ran sportsman but by then I had the jetting really screwed up and I couldn't get much more than about 90 mph on the straight.
I think that there must be something wrong (aside from the jetting). I'll tear into things this week and get some dyno time next weekend. Ideas are slim but I'm thinking maybe clogged carbs, air leak, float level,
CCS Regional Racing, Summit Point Raceway, July 21-23
Overall I had a great weekend at Summit Point, with a few ups and downs. First a quick summary.
It was a just-in-time weekend. On both Sat and Sunday it started to rain within minutes of the end of the day's racing. My bike ran for my races, but on the cool-down lap of my last race, the exhaust broke and fell off.
We chased what are thought to be electrical gremlins all weekend, and I will build a new wiring harness before Road Atlanta. I am not convinced that gas supply can be ruled out, so I will do some work on the gas lines too. In Sunday's two practices I got 1 lap in the first, and had to came in. We cleaned out all the connecting plugs. I went out later and the bike died again, not on one cylinder but on both! I pushed the bike back to the pits (for the third time in the weekend) and we put some gas in the tank. It ran much better and I caught 4 laps of practice.
The motor seems to be running good but not great. I think different needles are in order (and on order now). Of course now I have a broken exhaust to deal with too. Although it seemed to have power on all other bikes in class, it didn't have much advantage on some other EX's. Now that the motor is running, at least sometimes, I'm discovering the suspension and all those wonderful adjusting knobs. It's not too far off but the bumps really upset things. I'm having a hard time overcoming my old cornering speeds; speeds that used to have the DOT tires sliding are ingrained in my head and I am constantly finding myself going way too slow in turns 1, 3, 4, and 10. The slicks are a joy to ride; they stick forever and slide predictably at the edge.
Also, now that things are working better, I will devote some time to getting a fairing, and some paint! Can you believe it!? Thanks to all the lgwt riders who made those 15 minute sprints such fun! Tiberio especially gave me a quick lesson in passing in turn 3. Thank God for the straight or I'd never beat him!!!
CCS Regional Racing, Road Atlanta,
After an absolutely horrid drive south (Washington traffic, a wrong turn, and a meeting with a retread) we finally arrved at Road Atlanta at 6am Saturday. We registered, unload, and tech'd without incident. I caught 45 minutes of sleep and headed out for practice on the EX500 Frank-n-bike. I hadn't been to RA since 1990, and the track proved difficult for me to learn. After two practice sets I was turning 1:45 lap times and still lost in all but a few turns. The bike was handling well and pulling strong down the frightening back straight but would not pull cleanly below 8 or 9 grand. I caught another 2 hours sleep before running Saturday's last race, lightweight supertwins, and continued the learning process. Passing was nearly outta the question for me as I not yet comfortable in most turns. #3, 5, and 7 in particular were beyond my mental capacity, and the blind right under the bridge was giving me a very large pucker factor. I got down to a 1:43 and concluded that I would be able to reach my arbitrary goal of 1:40 on Sunday.
Saturday night I went to sleep :) :) :) :)
Sunday's practice went much better, I was turning 1:43's in comfortable fashion in the second set and felt great compared to Saturday. I ran lightweight superbike as further practice and had some great fun with Stroman on a Harley... I'd get many bike lengths on him in the back section but he'd get me in most turns. The lack of midrange was proving a serious deficit as I could get NO drive going up the hill out of turn #5. Attempts to raise the cornering speed enough to exit at 9 grand had the front wheel bouncing towards the berm. Sam Fleming won that race while turning 1:35's... I was still at the 1:43 mark due to at least one mistake per lap, plus a general lack of confidence in the last two turns.
Ever faithful, I had high hopes for a 1:40 in the 12th race of the day, sportsman. The fastest EX there (Eric something, on a 597cc bike with FZR wheels) was not running the race so I felt confident. Eric was the only sportsman bike that I was aware of turning sub-39s. (in fact, he turned a 36 in lwt twins!!) It rained around race #7, but I figured that it would blow over. It did, and the track quickly dried again. TZ250 pilot Joe Wooton had graciously given me a set of rain tires, but I did not have extra rims so the tire choice had to be made about 1 hour before race time. Unfortunately, it started raining again 1/2 hour before my race. I did one lap on the slicks and took last place, for a third!! Hey, points is points.
Looking for another shot at this technical track...
CCS Race of Champions, Daytona International Raceway, Oct.
Well, the good news is that I'm back from Daytona with all my body and bike parts intact. In fact the EX/F2 is ready to go for next spring.
Thursday (two sessions, half hour each) and Friday (morning, 37 minutes) practice went well in all respects except that the bike still was overheating after 5 or 6 laps. Well, actually overheating after one lap and REALLY getting hot after 5. At one point the bike was missing on the banking but that was quickly diagnosed as a faulty spark box which was replaced. There were one or two bikes in practice that were walking away from me pretty hard, so I knew a win would be impossible. But based on practice I still had hope for a top 5 finish and some Daytona Firewood.
Between my last practice and my race Friday afternoon I installed a HUGE radiator from a GSXR750 that I found for $150. I decided that the tires (two weekends at Summit plus practice at Daytona) would be OK so I saved $300+ by not getting fresh rubber. At this rate I'll be making money!! Anyway, during the race the bike ran perfect, and the temp was just fine. All of the big bore EX500's had the 750 radiators.
At the green flag I got a great start off the third row and went into one at about 6th place. I lost a spot going into the first horseshoe and then three more on the infield straight before the kink. Then two more spots on the short straight after the second horseshoe. Then we went up on the banking for the first time...
The next 5 laps had me working up a few places but riding rather poorly. Missed shifts, poor drive... I turned better times in practice, even though I was then running 3/4 throttle on the banks to keep the temp down. It was very depressing. I should have been able to pull something between 7th and 10th, but I ended up 14th.
I had expected this motor to run around 65 hp, but a Saturday dyno run showed only 61 hp. The top ten bikes had between 71 and 75hp. An EX613 won the race, followed by an RZ and a Woods Rotax. The mix was about even between RZ and EX's (some of them with 5-figure investments) and a few singles (27 experts started, 50-some in the three wave race) Winning times were in the 2:13 range.
Friday night we drank at the Boot Hill Saloon until 3am. Saturday we stuck around for the racing; practice for the NASB superbike race had a few guys in the 1:56 range. Lwt Twins, which ran on Friday, was won by a 750cc hawk who had power on all the Ducs. On Saturday the same hawk returned for LWT Superbike with a 650cc motor and won that race over Sam fleming's 84hp FZR. Sam was turning very low 2:09s and getting walked down the straight. The third place 400 superbike was turning 2:12s.
Injuries include Wooton, who crashed on the second lap of practice Thursday and re-hurt his hand, opting not to race. Anthony Fania also crashed in practice (I think) and broke his ankle. Couple of other guys that I don't know broke collarbones, as did Dave Hardy on his 750 superbike.
I'd imagine that complete results can be had at www.cyclenews.com
Overall it was an eye-opening weekend. (both on the banks and in the bars) The best news is that the '91 TZ250s are now down to $6-7k.