Up'ing the Quest to 275

[Papi]

7/31 Update

Rebuilt the braking system, new caliper pistons, seals.
The caliper pistons had some corrosion, and two of the seals were damaged.
The caliper itself was cleaned and then an anti-corrosion agent applied. We like T9, it seems to be our new favorite for resisting the elements.

Then some great news, our Ceramic Bearing Sponsor, WorldWide Bearings and Dave Conforti sent us our new ceramic wheel bearings for our wheel sets. Dave is really cool and helped us a lot this year, so send them your ceramic bearing business please. Go to: http://worldwidebearings.com/

Then some really good luck. I saved a little baby bird from drowning in my pool after he flew the nest. I'm hoping for karma points. But if not, at least I made a new buddy. Last Pic.

Good day so far, hoping this change stays positive and keeps our sail full of wind. And some good wind for the little baby birdie to.

Todays pix...

 

[Lester Green]

7/31 Update



Then some really good luck. I saved a little baby bird from drowning in my pool after he flew the nest. I'm hoping for karma points. But if not, at least I made a new buddy. Last Pic.

Good day so far, hoping this change stays positive and keeps our sail full of wind. And some good wind for the little baby birdie to.

Todays pix...

I knew there was a soft side in there somewhere. GO PAPI GO!!!

 

[Tharkûn]

I'm surprised you got to the bird before the dogs did

 

[Papi]

I'm surprised you got to the bird before the dogs did

Actually, not exactly.

3 birds came out of the nest sometime in the middle of the night. @ 0530 this AM, I found one on the back steps by the pool. As soon as I went down to pick him up, Lily charged over and took a one bite snack. By the time it went from chirping in Lily's mouth to when I got her jaws pryed open, birdie was dead. End of Bird #1.

Bird #2 was laying sideways in the dirt. I got him up, and he flew right into the pool, now drowning. Rescued him again, got him dry and warm inside.

In the meantime, birdie #3 was discovered very injured two stories below the nest. Looks like he fell out during the night. He was gasping for air. We did what could to warm him up, but he died in the palm of my hand. Very sad.

So back to Bird #2. We fixed him up, and he was happy as can be. I place him near the nest, and his mama found him and fed him on the ground. We then took the pool net and hoisted him up two stories to the nest where he climbed back in to rest from his busy morning. He was a cute little guy.

 

[EQPlayer]

Such a heartwarming story.

A little birdie told me you will succeed at Bonneville this year.

Go (faster) Papi!

 

[Baptistro]

Adversity? Kick it in the nads!!! Awesome story so far, and best wishes to a successful run at Bonneville :thumbup

 

[Papi]

8/1 Update

Well, more good news today. Motor is meeting or exceeding our expectations in the testing phase. She is still in her cradle, but will come out of the motor room dyno tonight or tomorrow. Power is up, all is looking good.

Tomorrow I will bring the rolling chassis up there to put the harness, all electrical and the motor back in.

Big thanks to our Tire Sponsor Viets Performance. Jeff is having rubber shipped out today for us and a new trick to try. We leave with 5 rears and 3 fronts all mounted up, balanced and ready to go. Jeff is a top notch supporter. He has delivered for 3 straight years Bridgestone quality to our high speed efforts. Please, if you need Racing Bridgestone's, talk with Jeff:
http://viets-performance.com/

Tomorrow I turn the big Five-O. So I will celebrate today as my last good day ever as a 49'r. My only dream for 50 is to run a 300MPH pass on a sit on MC and beat some records. Since 311 was done already by my competitor and awesome racer Bill Warner, I guess we need to do 325 next year. But for now, I will be happy getting the Production Record up'd just a bit more and getting ready for the awesomeness of SpeedWeek 2012.

 

[Lester Green]

8/1 Update



Tomorrow I turn the big Five-O.

Happy B'day youngster....GO PAPI GO!!!

 

[Papi]

8/2 Update

Big day today for me personally and the bike.

Today I made it to 50 years old. arty
My dream for this year and birthday wish for myself is simple; travel on a sit on motorcycle 300MPH+.

Now the bikes. As of last night we made more magic happen in the Kawasaki production motor. These were very impressive gains as we unlock the motors complete potential. Needless to say, I am very happy with the results. We have nearly 3 years of R&D into the production motor, and now it's all paying off.

I also made the decision to stop work on the blown fuel bike until we get back from SpeedWeek. Whats critical at this point is we have a solid platform to race on, and we go with what is nearly complete. And that's the production bike. So we will divert all resources to that bike in hopes of record passes and then back on the blown fuel bike when we return to make an appearance at year end events; World Finals and El Mirage. There is some mild disappointment in this decision path though.
On one hand, we will have our record holding production bike compete for the top speed record we missed by only 1.6MPH in 2010. While she made the SCTA west coast 1 mile record, and we still hold that, Bonneville is the holy grail, and I am set on owning that record to.

On the flip side, out Blown Fuel bike is what will get us to 275+. And not having her ready for SpeedWeek is a personal let down for me, as hitting this new milestone on our way to 300 is where I wanted to be at this point in the year. However, a couple more months will be worth it when she maidens out in October.

Here's a pic from this morning. We will have the rolling chassis done in just a bit, then all the wiring and motor goes back in over the next couple days. Our goal is to have the bike buttoned up by Sunday so we can get the rig packed for leaving.

It's gonna be a good day today for our team, and thanks to our great vendors, sponsors, volunteer crew and supporters, it's time to buckle down and rock this bitch into the record books once again.

:ride

 

[m0t0_ryder]

8/2 Update

Big day today for me personally and the bike.

Today I made it to 50 years old. arty
My dream for this year and birthday wish for myself is simple; travel on a sit on motorcycle 300MPH+.

:ride

I Don't come over here often but just had to stop in and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :bday arty

Making it to the big 5 OH is a big thing. :cool I remember it well.

Ya know I only wish you the best in life and Land Speed.

 

[Brown81]

H B/d

& Good Luck with your goal! Seems awfully fast. Make sure you wear a helmet....

 

[EQPlayer]

H B/d

& Good Luck with your goal! Seems awfully fast. Make sure you wear a helmet....

Found a pic of Papi. He's wearing a helmet!


:rofl Happy Bday Papi. arty

 

[Papi]

8/3 Update

Man is the clock ticking fast!
More done today. Mocked up the motor in the frame to make some final adjustments. A couple small bottlenecks, but we overcame and made some parts work as we wanted.

Another big day Saturday and Sunday. Trailer problems to fix and wrap up on, more re-assembly and tweaking, checking, double checking and re-checking everything over and over.

Pix later, time for my glorious 5 hours sleep till it all starts again.



arty

 

[Papi]

8/7 Update

The 48 hour mad scramble has begun. We will try to get some pix up before we leave. Our launch is sched for O Dark Thirty Thursday.

Bike, trucks, trailers, food, dogs and humans, a lot to manage. Oh, and the wife telling me what to do every 5 minutes. :laughing

 

[Lester Green]

Go Papi Go!!!!!!!

 

[Papi]

Go Papi Go!!!!!!!

The current Record in 1650 P-P is 201.913MPH

Here is our slip from 2010. We missed it with some headwind.
This year I'm looking for a 205+, my Red Hat and a record. :thumbup

 

[SuperMike]

Go get 'em Papi!!!

 

[Lunch Box]

Probs to Crew Chief Pat for making the attempt possible. Good job, man! Go get 'em!

 

[Wumpus]

cant wait to see what you can do this year! :thumbup

 

[Bondage]

cant wait to see what you can do this year! :thumbup

:ride