Alright, freshman season is over and I'm home safe from Barber.
My weekend started Thursday with practice, which I was able to get all 4 sessions in, to feel out the track and get some much needed bike time. We needed to run transponders all day as well as they wanted to make sure everyone got enough practice laps before the races.
I had fixed my oil leak per scottly's suggestion using a thin aluminum patch with a smearing of silver RTV. I did find that there was a few spots I missed and that was quickly rectified after the morning practice sessions. It turns out that 1 of the 3 bolts that holds the cases together, hiding under the sprocket cover was not a blind hole as I originally thought, but a sheared off bolt that may have been drawing oil from the case. That was filled with RTV as well as a small pinhole from the horrible weld job someone did when the bike threw a chain before I owned it. With that fixed, the bike was running well and leak free.
Friday was the swap meet day which was pretty uneventful. My only score was a Cappellini cam chain tensioner with both the smaller sprocket wheel and the larger bottom wheel for $125! They are asking $260 on ebay so that was a good score for the race motor.
Saturday was pretty chill since I wasnt racing until afternoon so I was able to wander the pits and just relax. We were race 14 and by race 11 the rain had come rolling in and the track was wetted down pretty good. After a few crashes in 11, the rain subsided and the track started to dry pretty quickly. I started getting ready at race 13 and was well prepared for my Barber debut.
My scrub lap went well and I was able to easily get to my starting grid position, in wave 3. There were something like 60+ guys in all three waves so I knew I had to ride predictably, as well as quickly.
My launch from the green flag was my worst yet, but I was still able to get out of the gate well enough to be hot on 2 racers in my class, which I was able to pass before the first couple of laps. After that the only passing was on my be some ridiculously fast guys from the first two waves. The good thing is that I did not get lapped by anyone in my race, but I also didnt have anyone to chase. I was able to turn a low 1:59 in the race, a bit disappointing since I was able to pull out a low 2:00 in practice.
I had Race Tech do some suspension tweaking, where they took out quite a bit of preload in my rear shocks (15mm or so) as well as 5mm out of my front preload. I think I will be adding some preload back in to the rear as I was then able to drag my pipe, the screws on my belly pan and my right boot, which now has a nice hole in it. Definitely too soft in the rear.
The off season is going to bring some big changes. The first being me. I lost about 20lb between March and race day in early June of this year. My plan in another 50lb by race time next year. I know it can be done but I need to get my mind and body in tune with one another and get going.
The bike is going to see some big changes as well, most notably in the rear wheel. I know that the weight of the rear is reducing suspension compliance, and I plan to run with a WM5 Borrani to match the front, new SS spokes/nipples, Ducati Monster rear rotor with Brembo caliper and master all bolted to a quick-change flat track hub I picked up last year. I am expecting somewhere around a 10lb loss in total system weight, potentially more considering the heft of the current rear brake drum.
Other "add lightness" and weight reduction items include a redesigned front rotor carrier, lightened front rotor, aluminum damping rods, removing the brake lugs from the right fork, aluminum fork caps, a redesign of the breather system to use the cavity in the swing arm instead of an external bottle, and quite a number of other little items that will help save weight, which I will document here as they come about.
In addition to that, I will be adding some weight in the form of a few well placed braces, namely above the swingarm pivot and between the engine mounts on the front down tubes. I also plan to redo the top rails by moving them up rather than installing a heavy frame kit so I can get to the valve cover when needed.
With all of that I hope to net at least a 20lb weight reduction on the bike itself, making combined rider/bike weight loss for 2018 about 70lbs, good for a theoretical 7hp. Of course that is in addition to any actual gains from go-fast goodies.
