[RRWANTR]

March WSMC race report.....Long

Well here goes...the entire weekend started out sketchy. On Friday I'm loading the bike in the back of the truck and notice that the drive chain tensioner on the sprocket side is broke and the rear plate is missing from it. Looks like something hit it and broke the tensioner bolt. Don't know how the heck that happened as i never felt it. Well after calling around I'm able to get the parts needed over nighted to Lillie Honda in Lancaster....Will end up missing the first half of practice on Sat. Sat I installed my new fork in the morning (one on there had been leaking around the seal. We (thanks John) replaced the seals, which didn't go very easy at all , but it started leaking right away again....think the fork may be slightly bent or something....) and then went and got chain tensioner parts and installed them. Finally got out on the track for the last session before lunch and things were going ok. Came back in and the bike started puking up a bunch of water through the over flow tank. Filled my catch bottle and everything....I'd changed the seal around the water pump and had filled the cooling system so I probably had some air in the system. Figured ok...filled it up and started it...got it warmed up and burped it and topped it off....ok that should be ok....go out the next session with a new catch bottle (Gatorade ). This was bigger than the one I'd had on and I installed it a little too low....tire rubbed and burned a whole through it.. Was able to consistently run 34's and 35's which is an improvement on my consistent times of 2-3 seconds. which is good (although still slow) Ok so next session I go out and it starts hesitating at high rpms....nottttt good. Come in early and the thing starts to boil over again at 220 deg......I try and mess with the cooling system some more that evening...go out in the short practice in the morning and run about 5 laps...seems ok. Go out in the second practice and it starts hesitating some at high rpms.... mess some more with the cooling system and look at the hoses for any crimped lines etc...don't see any. Figure I'll try the race and see what happens. Find my place on the grid sheet. Gridded 19 out of like 39 riders. It'll be a 2 wave start with me in the first wave and Axel in the 2nd. Get out there and the bike feels ok on the warm up lap. the board goes sideways and the green flag waves. I have a pretty good start and am into turn 1 in about 7th place. All of a sudden two guys go down in right in front of me and start sliding out into my line...I have to adjust and tighten up to avoid them and go into turn 2 in 5th place. I pass one guy in turn 2 on the outside and get right on 4th places rear into turn 3....coming out of turn 4a I'm about a half a bike length behind him and he gets on the gas too much and breaks the rear loose and he has a pretty mild (is any high side mild??) high side right in front of me the bike spins out of the way but stays on the track and the red flag comes out with me in 3rd....I was so friggen mad....We get waved back to the pits and about 15 minutes later we get out on the warm up lap for a 4 lap restart. I notice my bike is hesitating just a bit at high rpms...not good. Get gridded and the green flag flys. I get a pretty good start and dive into turn 1 in 6th place. Pass another in 2 and am running in fifth. Follow a guy around on a GSXR and pull up on him going through 8 and 9. Get a decent drive out of 9 and pull him on the straight....but right toward the end my bike starts hesitating..... I stay off the brakes and out brake him into 1 taking a good pass on the inside through 1 into 4th pos. I put my head down and just try and not make any mistakes as the top 3 have pulled away a bit. I get into 8 and my bike startes hesitating again at about 9.5-10k...I'm yelling in my helmet just pissed. The hesitating's not too bad at this point so I keep pushing. The hesitating then starts getting worse. Any time I get to about the 9.5 to 10k range it's like I'm almost hitting the limiter...the bike just starts sputtering then it comes back and then sputters...I have to short shift in this range every time. It's VERY scary going through 8 at speed and having this going on wondering when your rear is going to break loose when the power comes back on.....I'm sure my leathers have stains in them... ...I know the riders behind me have to be catching me because of this. I'm able to keep 4th until the end of lap 2 and have one guy pass me in 8. I'm just pissed cause even with my bike cutting out at I'm able to stay with him.....I stick with him and then in coming out of 4a I get on the gas...the bike sputters then catches and the rear end spins up giving me a scare....stick with it and keep going staying with the guy in 4th...then on the 3rd lap I have 2 more go by me in 7 and 8 with me sputtering like crazy. I tuck in behind them trying to utilize as much draft as I can with my bike cutting in and out. They pull on me down the straight but I close on them on the last lap through 1-4 and am on their a$$ coming out of 5. I'm just hoping my bike will not sputter going through this final section, but alas that's not the case....I lose a little through 8 but close into 9 as they hit the brakes more than I and get a decent drive out of 9 but the bike is just coughing and I can't get enough to get by them and end up crossing the line in 7th just screaming cuz I could have had 4th EASILY if my bike had run correctly. Is it next month yet???

It was nice seeing Freddy and April out there at the track. Thanks for stopping by and chatting! I also seen Gforce out there representing in the light weight class.


Any ideas on what caused the sputtering? I'm thinking one possibility is that when the bike boiled over into the catch can with all the breather hoses that some water was sucked up into the fuel filter and partially plugged it restricting flow at high rpms....Anyone have a race bike for sale?

Received my PD tirewarmers (tirewamers.com)on Sat and I was more than satisified with them. Fit and finish is very good and they seem well constructed. I know a guy that works for them and was able to get a set with the new pressure switch feature they're not even advertising yet. When you take the warmers off the tire they automatically shut off so if you forget to unplug them from the generator they won't burn up like the other warmers out there. They worked very well and I'd recommend them to anyone out there at this point. Very decently priced also. up!

[G-Force Junkie]

Good to meet you, that sucks about your bike. Is your fuel tank breather hose and overflow hose going into the same catch tank? If so, you might have sucked water into the fuel system. If there is room, I would run a seperate catch tank for the tank vent, It probaly doesnt have to be that big. If you cant do that, next best thing is to make sure the coolent overflow hose goes all the way to the bottom of the tank, so it sucks it back up as it cools, and the fuel tank vent just stick in the overflow about 1/4 inch, saftey wire it if its wants to fall out. You dont ever want fluid to be on the tank vent hose, it can create a vaccume inthe tank and restrict fuel. Speaking of which, are all the gas tank vent hosed not pinched/kinked?

[RRWANTR]

Originally Posted by G-Force Junkie

Good to meet you, that sucks about your bike. Is your fuel tank breather hose and overflow hose going into the same catch tank? If so, you might have sucked water into the fuel system. If there is room, I would run a seperate catch tank for the tank vent, It probaly doesnt have to be that big. If you cant do that, next best thing is to make sure the coolent overflow hose goes all the way to the bottom of the tank, so it sucks it back up as it cools, and the fuel tank vent just stick in the overflow about 1/4 inch, saftey wire it if its wants to fall out. You dont ever want fluid to be on the tank vent hose, it can create a vaccume inthe tank and restrict fuel. Speaking of which, are all the gas tank vent hosed not pinched/kinked?

Yes they are going into the same catch tank. That's one possibility that i thought of. If I'm running this bike next month I'll switch to two tanks. Another possibility that someone else came up with is a loose battery cable or other loose electrical connection as at higher rpm more power is required....

[G-Force Junkie]

Originally Posted by RRWANTR

Yes they are going into the same catch tank. That's one possibility that i thought of. If I'm running this bike next month I'll switch to two tanks. Another possibility that someone else came up with is a loose battery cable or other loose electrical connection as at higher rpm more power is required....

Ya, maybe pull the plugs and see if one is notacably blacker, perhaps one cylinder is dropping out, bad coil, spark plug wire, etc

[coderedcbr]

That was a good race I was wondering what had happened with the other riders that were able to catch up with you with the gap you had. The top three kind of checked out, but you were latebraking the group you were with into turn one very good race Hope you get your bike sorted out for next month. You don't want any problems going into 8 .

[RRWANTR]

Originally Posted by coderedcbr

That was a good race I was wondering what had happened with the other riders that were able to catch up with you with the gap you had. The top three kind of checked out, but you were latebraking the group you were with into turn one

Yea, they'd pull a bit on me through 7-9 due to the problems but I'd get back with them through 1-6....

Hope you get your bike sorted out for next month. You don't want any problems going into 8 .

Nope...going into 8 like that SUCKED!!!

How'd you end up doing?

[tigerblade]

Sorry to hear about the bike problems. Glad you finished the race at least.