kevo
Well-known member
AFM Round 2 & 3 – Infineon Raceway
The week preceding Round 2, I was at the Keigwin’s one-day Race School at Thunderhill Raceway. During the mock race, my transmission locked up as I headed out for my warm-up lap. I pushed my bike back to the pits thinking that I had another clutch problem, like I did last year when I crashed at Infineon. I took the clutch apart and found a bent clutch plate like I did before, and replaced it. This time, replacing the bent plate did not fix the problem. I decided to call it a day.
When I returned home and took the gear box cassette out, I found nothing visibly wrong with the gears or the shaft. I was on the phone with Bill Eason, who walked me through the complicated (to me) process. This being the first time I examined the gears and took the cassette out, I spent much of this Friday night and early into Saturday morning, working on the transmission to no avail. I decided to get some rest and planned on getting the bike working at the track, where hopefully there were some better TZ mechanics that could help me. Saturday was the day of race practice, so Wendy and I wanted to get to the track early so we could secure a good spot to set up our pit. We woke up late due to the early morning mechanics exercise and fortunately Simon Williams saved us an area just large enough for our trailer, bike, and chairs. Our little corner of the paddock was shared with Simon, Dave, Gary, and Rick.
All I had left to do with the bike was torque the transmission cover back on, fill it with gear oil, and safety wire the fill plug in order to get the bike through tech inspection. I took the bike to tech with the clutch pulled in, as that was the only way the bike was moving anywhere. I knew my morning was going to be filled with transmission fun. With tech completed and practice group 1 out on track; I again took the transmission out for inspection. In the Sonoma daylight, it looked like one of the shift forks was slightly bent. I called Bill and gave him the grave news. He suggested I bring the bike to his shop in Oakland. I decided to try finding someone with some spare bits first before making the trek to Oakland.
I found Kelly Winkelbauer and asked for his help. He offered up his spare tranny cassette for me to use for the weekend. I graciously accepted his generosity and got the bike together in time for the last practice session of the day. I brought the bike back in and packed up our pit for the night.
Sunday morning we arrived at the track and headed to tech inspection only to find upon removing the lowers that there was a massive leak of gear oil coming from the counter-balancer shaft seal. So for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few days, I again pulled the gear box out and borrowed a seal from Kelly. I missed my morning practice due to the transmission woes. The weekend ended with me completing my first Formula 1 race and my regular Formula II race with piss-poor performance.
In the month I had to repair the transmission, I found that a gear was seized on the drive shaft and a few other gears heated beyond safe usability. Bill and I sourced parts from Rising Sun and Snarl Sport to complete my transmission rebuild.
We received all the parts on Wednesday, a few days before the Round 3 weekend. I also had a trackday at Infineon on Friday, since I needed the seat time there with my sluggish lap times. We got the gears on the shaft and new bearings in place on Wednesday night. Having been laid off the week before, I had Thursday to install the cassette and test run the bike around the block. Big Oz also picked up my new clutch pack at Mach 1 and delivered it Thursday night.
Friday’s trackday went well, as did Saturday practice. My average lap times were the same as the last race, so I felt pretty good about that. On Sunday I was on row 13 in F-I. Which surprised me since I had a poor finish in the one and only race the month before. I surmised that there were a few new racers in the class with even less points than I.
On Sunday, we again set up our pit area and tech’ed the bike. It was a little cold and I was feeling a little tired, so I decided to skip my practice session and get the jets changed. I did so and had a bit of time before the riders meeting. I thought I should probably change the clutch plates out since I got the new ones. I was running out of time so I hooked up the drill and started the generator. I started the bolts for clutch by hand, thinking I was being smart in not stripping the steel bolts in the aluminum housing and saving a lot of time with the drill. Well, I got a little ambitious with the drill and over-torqued two of the bolts. One of the bolts sheared off and another sheared enough that it was useless.
So once again I went to seek out Kelly for help. He offered to get his spare clutch boss and bolts from home, given that he wasn’t going to race that day. While he was gone, I managed to get the broken part of the bolt out of the housing since I was missing my first race of the day. Kelly eventually came back with the bolts I needed, again saving my race weekend.
The track conditions were changing and I again needed to re-jet. I did so, but left the air-box cover off and the fairings off, in the event that the temperature cooled down by race 12. Off I went to watch the races only to see a red flag and subsequently a black flag in the Open GP/ 650 Twins race. I heard the crash was in T3 so I took our pit bike up there to satisfy my curiosity. On the way up, I came upon Jeff’s dogs and woman who looked a bit nervous. She asked me if I knew Jeff and also mentioned that his girlfriend ran up to T3 because she thought he was involved in the incident. I got there as Jeff got his bike upright with the help of a cornerworker. As he headed down the hill in T2, I saw Bianca, his girlfriend. I gave her a ride back to their pit.
We got there and Jeff was already working on getting his bike ready for the FP race. I jumped in knowing I had a lot of time before my race. With the help of his brother, we got the bike back together just in time for F40. With Jeff back on the track, I went to finish up getting my bike ready. I suited up and got the tire warmers on with more than enough time to make my grid. I spent the remaining time double-checking that all the bolts were tightened and everything was ready to go.
With the second call for F-II, I removed the tire warmers and push-started the bike. I got down to the hot pit and got my bike up to temperature while we waited for them to release us on to the track. I got my warm-up lap in and found my grid position. I was in Row 7, next to Chas…..again! I found neutral, which is no small feat, and waited for the race to begin. In my head, I went over what I thought I should do for the start. I hadn’t practiced my race starts, in order to preserve my clutch. And I’ve historically had very poor race starts in my short racing career.
Sidewaaaaaaayyysss…..GREEN FLAG! I drop the clutch from 10K and the bike starts bogging. I think to myself, “Fck!@%!!!! Not again!” I notice what looks like two rows pass me as I finally get the bike moving above 5 mph. As I start turning into T1, I see that I’m not DFL and that I’m passing a few bikes going up the hill. I get to T2 and take the inside passing Tam on her NSR. I’m following the pack looking to make up some positions going in to T4. I out-brake another TZ on the inside and off I go. I stay behind a 125 and two other 250’s for a few laps, not finding any passing opportunities. They’re both good riders and have a better drive out of the corners than I do. But I’m catching up to them on the brakes going in to T7 and T9. I decided to make my move in T7 since I was right on their tail heading up the dragstrip. In the corner of my eye I see Chas trying to pass on the inside. The guy I was chasing made the turn and Chas had to check up as I was turned in too. Whew! If nothing else, I have to stay in front of Chas. We’re both about the same speed but on two different bikes. His is a newer RS and mine is a semi-outdated ‘95.
Completing lap 4, we all get on the gas hard coming out of T11. The expert in front of me gets his wheel up and is about to bring it down, when he notices that there is a 125 directly under him. He shifts in to 2nd to avoid crushing the other guy and holds his wheel up as we get on the main straight until the 125 is clear. In amazement, I’m smiling as I pass the guy while he tries to get back on the pipe. I hold him off until T4, where he takes me on the brakes on the inside. He checked out as we rushed in to the carousel.
I saw the white flag and knew I had to make an attempt to pass the 250 in front of me. I was still weaker coming off of the corners than he was so I stayed as close to him as I could to keep from losing too much ground. I made my move in T11 getting the best drive out that I’ve had all day. We drag race to the finish with him ahead by a wheel. I couldn’t out motor him and he beat me to the line.
So far that was the best race I’ve had, with the most excitement. I finished ahead of 6 racers for a few more measly points. I also lowered my times by 3 seconds from the previous race. :thumbup
Thanks to Kelly and Sue for saving two of my race weekends! Thanks to Wendy for the endless support and late nights. Thanks to all of my friends who helped work on the TZ as well as those who offered their help. Bill, Pete, Oz, Sonny, Aaron, Dave, Rick, Simon, Lo, Gary, Patty, Rick, Dave, Geoffrey, Jason, Tim, Hodaka, Paul, Jack, Calvin, Jeff, and Melvin. Ryan thanks for the Suomy shield! Thanks to the cornerworkers who make our sport safer and to the other racers in FII. Thanks to Cycle Gear and LP who furnish our bikes with moto-goodness. Thanks to Zoom Zoom and Keigwins @ the Track for all the track time one could ever want. Thanks to Dito for the photos that make me look fast. Thanks to Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning for setting up my suspension for Round 4 at T-hill!
The week preceding Round 2, I was at the Keigwin’s one-day Race School at Thunderhill Raceway. During the mock race, my transmission locked up as I headed out for my warm-up lap. I pushed my bike back to the pits thinking that I had another clutch problem, like I did last year when I crashed at Infineon. I took the clutch apart and found a bent clutch plate like I did before, and replaced it. This time, replacing the bent plate did not fix the problem. I decided to call it a day.
When I returned home and took the gear box cassette out, I found nothing visibly wrong with the gears or the shaft. I was on the phone with Bill Eason, who walked me through the complicated (to me) process. This being the first time I examined the gears and took the cassette out, I spent much of this Friday night and early into Saturday morning, working on the transmission to no avail. I decided to get some rest and planned on getting the bike working at the track, where hopefully there were some better TZ mechanics that could help me. Saturday was the day of race practice, so Wendy and I wanted to get to the track early so we could secure a good spot to set up our pit. We woke up late due to the early morning mechanics exercise and fortunately Simon Williams saved us an area just large enough for our trailer, bike, and chairs. Our little corner of the paddock was shared with Simon, Dave, Gary, and Rick.
All I had left to do with the bike was torque the transmission cover back on, fill it with gear oil, and safety wire the fill plug in order to get the bike through tech inspection. I took the bike to tech with the clutch pulled in, as that was the only way the bike was moving anywhere. I knew my morning was going to be filled with transmission fun. With tech completed and practice group 1 out on track; I again took the transmission out for inspection. In the Sonoma daylight, it looked like one of the shift forks was slightly bent. I called Bill and gave him the grave news. He suggested I bring the bike to his shop in Oakland. I decided to try finding someone with some spare bits first before making the trek to Oakland.
I found Kelly Winkelbauer and asked for his help. He offered up his spare tranny cassette for me to use for the weekend. I graciously accepted his generosity and got the bike together in time for the last practice session of the day. I brought the bike back in and packed up our pit for the night.
Sunday morning we arrived at the track and headed to tech inspection only to find upon removing the lowers that there was a massive leak of gear oil coming from the counter-balancer shaft seal. So for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few days, I again pulled the gear box out and borrowed a seal from Kelly. I missed my morning practice due to the transmission woes. The weekend ended with me completing my first Formula 1 race and my regular Formula II race with piss-poor performance.
In the month I had to repair the transmission, I found that a gear was seized on the drive shaft and a few other gears heated beyond safe usability. Bill and I sourced parts from Rising Sun and Snarl Sport to complete my transmission rebuild.
We received all the parts on Wednesday, a few days before the Round 3 weekend. I also had a trackday at Infineon on Friday, since I needed the seat time there with my sluggish lap times. We got the gears on the shaft and new bearings in place on Wednesday night. Having been laid off the week before, I had Thursday to install the cassette and test run the bike around the block. Big Oz also picked up my new clutch pack at Mach 1 and delivered it Thursday night.
Friday’s trackday went well, as did Saturday practice. My average lap times were the same as the last race, so I felt pretty good about that. On Sunday I was on row 13 in F-I. Which surprised me since I had a poor finish in the one and only race the month before. I surmised that there were a few new racers in the class with even less points than I.
On Sunday, we again set up our pit area and tech’ed the bike. It was a little cold and I was feeling a little tired, so I decided to skip my practice session and get the jets changed. I did so and had a bit of time before the riders meeting. I thought I should probably change the clutch plates out since I got the new ones. I was running out of time so I hooked up the drill and started the generator. I started the bolts for clutch by hand, thinking I was being smart in not stripping the steel bolts in the aluminum housing and saving a lot of time with the drill. Well, I got a little ambitious with the drill and over-torqued two of the bolts. One of the bolts sheared off and another sheared enough that it was useless.
So once again I went to seek out Kelly for help. He offered to get his spare clutch boss and bolts from home, given that he wasn’t going to race that day. While he was gone, I managed to get the broken part of the bolt out of the housing since I was missing my first race of the day. Kelly eventually came back with the bolts I needed, again saving my race weekend.
The track conditions were changing and I again needed to re-jet. I did so, but left the air-box cover off and the fairings off, in the event that the temperature cooled down by race 12. Off I went to watch the races only to see a red flag and subsequently a black flag in the Open GP/ 650 Twins race. I heard the crash was in T3 so I took our pit bike up there to satisfy my curiosity. On the way up, I came upon Jeff’s dogs and woman who looked a bit nervous. She asked me if I knew Jeff and also mentioned that his girlfriend ran up to T3 because she thought he was involved in the incident. I got there as Jeff got his bike upright with the help of a cornerworker. As he headed down the hill in T2, I saw Bianca, his girlfriend. I gave her a ride back to their pit.
We got there and Jeff was already working on getting his bike ready for the FP race. I jumped in knowing I had a lot of time before my race. With the help of his brother, we got the bike back together just in time for F40. With Jeff back on the track, I went to finish up getting my bike ready. I suited up and got the tire warmers on with more than enough time to make my grid. I spent the remaining time double-checking that all the bolts were tightened and everything was ready to go.
With the second call for F-II, I removed the tire warmers and push-started the bike. I got down to the hot pit and got my bike up to temperature while we waited for them to release us on to the track. I got my warm-up lap in and found my grid position. I was in Row 7, next to Chas…..again! I found neutral, which is no small feat, and waited for the race to begin. In my head, I went over what I thought I should do for the start. I hadn’t practiced my race starts, in order to preserve my clutch. And I’ve historically had very poor race starts in my short racing career.
Sidewaaaaaaayyysss…..GREEN FLAG! I drop the clutch from 10K and the bike starts bogging. I think to myself, “Fck!@%!!!! Not again!” I notice what looks like two rows pass me as I finally get the bike moving above 5 mph. As I start turning into T1, I see that I’m not DFL and that I’m passing a few bikes going up the hill. I get to T2 and take the inside passing Tam on her NSR. I’m following the pack looking to make up some positions going in to T4. I out-brake another TZ on the inside and off I go. I stay behind a 125 and two other 250’s for a few laps, not finding any passing opportunities. They’re both good riders and have a better drive out of the corners than I do. But I’m catching up to them on the brakes going in to T7 and T9. I decided to make my move in T7 since I was right on their tail heading up the dragstrip. In the corner of my eye I see Chas trying to pass on the inside. The guy I was chasing made the turn and Chas had to check up as I was turned in too. Whew! If nothing else, I have to stay in front of Chas. We’re both about the same speed but on two different bikes. His is a newer RS and mine is a semi-outdated ‘95.
Completing lap 4, we all get on the gas hard coming out of T11. The expert in front of me gets his wheel up and is about to bring it down, when he notices that there is a 125 directly under him. He shifts in to 2nd to avoid crushing the other guy and holds his wheel up as we get on the main straight until the 125 is clear. In amazement, I’m smiling as I pass the guy while he tries to get back on the pipe. I hold him off until T4, where he takes me on the brakes on the inside. He checked out as we rushed in to the carousel.
I saw the white flag and knew I had to make an attempt to pass the 250 in front of me. I was still weaker coming off of the corners than he was so I stayed as close to him as I could to keep from losing too much ground. I made my move in T11 getting the best drive out that I’ve had all day. We drag race to the finish with him ahead by a wheel. I couldn’t out motor him and he beat me to the line.
So far that was the best race I’ve had, with the most excitement. I finished ahead of 6 racers for a few more measly points. I also lowered my times by 3 seconds from the previous race. :thumbup
Thanks to Kelly and Sue for saving two of my race weekends! Thanks to Wendy for the endless support and late nights. Thanks to all of my friends who helped work on the TZ as well as those who offered their help. Bill, Pete, Oz, Sonny, Aaron, Dave, Rick, Simon, Lo, Gary, Patty, Rick, Dave, Geoffrey, Jason, Tim, Hodaka, Paul, Jack, Calvin, Jeff, and Melvin. Ryan thanks for the Suomy shield! Thanks to the cornerworkers who make our sport safer and to the other racers in FII. Thanks to Cycle Gear and LP who furnish our bikes with moto-goodness. Thanks to Zoom Zoom and Keigwins @ the Track for all the track time one could ever want. Thanks to Dito for the photos that make me look fast. Thanks to Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning for setting up my suspension for Round 4 at T-hill!
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