EX250 Preparation Curious about what accounted for the differences between some of the various EX250 motors he had built, Mike Norman (#586) once again busted ass and breathed a lot of exhaust in the dyno room to find out. He and I experimented pretty extensively with cam timing, and a bit with carburetors. When my motor was built fresh before Buttonwillow, it made 33.3 Peak Inertial DynoJet Acceleration Measurement Amounts (pidjamas). After the Buttonwillow races with no changes (just break-in) it made 33.6 pidjamas, and the power curve carried out to higher RPMs. After a long day of cam timing work, it made 34.3 pidjamas, and after another semi-long evening of cam timing work, it made 34.6. Using the larger early carburetors and playing with jetting at the end of that semi-long evening, we were able to get 34.9 pidjamas, but the area under the power curve in the racing range looked smaller with the big carbs. So before the Sears Point races I followed Mike's recommendation to swap back to the smaller ones that produced lower peak but (probably) more overall power through the racing rev range. To get more power out of the motor, Mike and I believe we would need to remove the balance shaft, which isn't something I want to do at this point. If I continue my Buttonwillow trend of getting out in front and then slacking, allowing myself to be out-powered at the line, maybe I'll change my mind. But I doubt it. Based on Paul Somerville's (#311) experience with dyno testing, Mike and I decided I should install a 428 chain- and sprocket-conversion kit that Mike figured out how to get custom made. Unfortunately the kits hadn't come in by the time I needed to leave for the track on Thursday. The week leading up to my departure for the track had mostly been spent in Miami, Florida and traveling back and forth. Lois and I went to Miami to visit her sister, niece, and mother. When we got to Miami on Thursday night a week before the races, I realized I had a sort throat. Unfortunately the sore throat stuck with me for over a week, through the race weekend. GSX-R 750 Preparation I didn't do anything to the GSX-R. I should check the valve clearances soon. Friday dP School I learned Friday morning that Mike had sent e-mail to the 250 production e-mail list Thursday evening announcing that he was going to have the 428 conversion kits at the track on Saturday. Yipee! Most of the point of Friday's dP school was to try to come to better grips with the GSX-R. I also wanted to make sure I still knew my way around on the little bike, but I felt there was less work to do there. On the GSX-R I tried to work on getting on the gas where I can, but I wasn't very successful. I quickly got to the point where I was doing 2:04s or so, but I didn't speed up from there all day. Scott Winders (#901) had volunteered to ride the GSX-R and give his opinion on the chassis setup, since I had some concerns about the headshake I was experiencing at Buttonwillow in March. I was pretty sure the problem was that I was holding the bars too tightly on corner exits, but I knew it would improve my confidence to have Scott ride the bike and tell me there was no problem. Scott raced a 1997 model GSX-R 750; mine is a 1998 and the two are very similar. So Scott's opinion is informed. When he went out on the bike, I hopped on my EX250 to chase him around. I figured he would probably leave me immediately, but I hoped I would get to watch him for part of a lap. It turned out Scott took it pretty easy and he and I had a good time dicing back and forth. Seeing my number on a bike ridden by someone else was sort of strange. All day Friday, even before Scott rode my bike, I was much more successful than I'd been at Buttonwillow at keeping my grip light on the bars, and I noticed a lot less trouble with headshake as a result. This improvement lasted through the whole weekend. Scott gave me good feedback after he rode the GSX-R: The chassis setup felt fundamentally fine to him, and he recommended I slow the rebound damping in the forks slightly. He said the motor felt flat in the midrange. This isn't a big concern for me at the moment, but eventually I might want to put the bike on a dyno and see if I can work out a better fuel injection map for the midrange. The only other complaint Scott had was that the brakes didn't bike as well as he expected or would have wanted. He recommended I change brake pads and rough up the surface of my rotor. Bruce Gutman (#345) mentioned after seeing me on the track that it looked like I was riding the GSX-R as if it had the same top speed as my EX250. He pointed out that in a number of spots, I simply wasn't opening the throttle and letting myself experience corners like turn 1, turn 5, and turn 9. My best times on Friday were high 2:03s on the little bike and 2:04s on the big one. I was a little disappointed with the big bike times, but I felt the EX250 times were OK for Friday. Saturday Practice Saturday morning's practice was too crowded for me to get into a separate group on each bike, so I rode the EX250 once to make sure it still worked, and rode the GSX-R 750 for the other two sessions to try to get myself working. Perhaps partly due to my conversation with Bruce on Friday, my times took a big jump downward, to 1:58.x in the first session on the bike, then to 1:57.x with a bunch of other 58s and 59s thrown in the second time I rode it. Far from fast, but definitely improving. I noticed I was feeling much more comfortable on the bike, and I had a lot more confidence that the bike was going to do what I wanted in the corners. I'm sure Scott's stamp of approval from Friday helped in the confidence department. Being light on the bars and getting less headshake as a result was probably the single most important thing that let me make big improvements. I made the rebound damping change Scott recommended, increasing damping by 1/4 turn on each fork leg. I also bought a set of the EBC kit HH pads he recommended, but I didn't install them. The GSX-R brakes already seem excellent to me, so I didn't expect any problem staying with the current pads. I'll try the new ones when these wear out. I didn't really worry about my practice times on the EX250 on Saturday, since I did only one practice session on the bike. Everything had been fine on Friday, and I figured there wasn't much to be gained by worrying about Saturday's times. The AFM's electronic timing system was messed up during the first session so I got no times on the EX250 anyway. A combination of user error on my part and the fact that people had set up some infrared timing beacons that weren't reliably picked up by my on-board timer meant that I didn't get a lot of information about my lap times from the on-board timer, either. Saturday AFM Race School I rode my EX250 in the race school because I think it's a good idea for the students to see comfortable instructors who know what they're doing rather than instructors who are struggling to figure out their bikes. The group I instructed was a good one, with some students who were very good right out of the box, and some who improved significantly during the school. It's always nice to see students actually learn during the school because sometimes I feel the riding part of the school is so short that there's no time to do anything but evaluate them. To find time and the right student-teacher connection for teaching and learning is a treat. In the school's open practice, I noticed some places where it felt like my bike was intermittently struggling to produce power. The trouble happened only at high RPMs under load. It was pretty windy, so I figured maybe the wind was gusting in a way that made the bike feel like it was losing power. The trouble didn't slow the bike down much, but it was disconcerting. I also noticed the bike had gotten quite a bit harder to start when it was hot, and I didn't know whether this was related to the power loss on top. After the open practice, Doug Smith who was working in Turn 10 told me all the turn 10 workers had been watching my front fender shaking pretty violently. I had fixed the fender after it began trying to come apart at Buttonwillow, but checking it again revealed that the fix had simply moved the disintegration process to new and harder-to-fix places. I resolved to swap to a new fender on Sunday that was generously supplied by Tamara Rushing (#683) from her EX250-turned-pile-of-parts. I was thankful for Doug's warning because it would probably have come apart with only a little more riding. I had to leave the track fairly promptly after the school on Saturday because I was to join Lois at the Novato home of our ex-neighbors Dana and Kevin. They lived next door to us in Mountain View before Team Iguana Elder Eric Bong moved into what had been their house. I left lots of stuff to be done to the bike on Sunday morning. I hadn't had time to change fenders after the school, and there hadn't been a good time all day to install the chain conversion kit Mike brought. I had also gotten too caught up in school activities to get my EX250 rims to Terry Newby of Sport Tire Services to have new tires mounted for Sunday. It was nice to see Dana and Kevin, but I thought the whole time I was at their house about how much work I needed to do on the EX250 in the morning. Items on the "to do" list were: Get new tires; install the 428 chain conversion kit that Mike Norman had brought to the track; install the new fender from Tamara. I figured this stuff would take an hour or more since it involved removing and replacing the rims and waiting for tires to be mounted and balanced, so I planned on a very early awakening Sunday morning. After hanging out at Dana and Kevin's a bit later than I did, Lois got back to our hotel room sometime around 11PM. It was going to be a treat to have her at the track to watch the races on Sunday -- if I could avoid crashing right in front of her, that is! Sunday Pre-practice preparation I got up painfully early on Sunday and went to the track to get started. I checked my EX250 clutch for free play first thing, and noticed it had none. So I thought maybe my low-power problem had been due to a slipping clutch. I adjusted the clutch cable. Then I set about all the wheel-related stuff: pulled the rims, took them to Terry to get new tires mounted, replaced the fender, checked that the chain conversion kit pieces were going to fit, installed them, got the rims back, and put them back on the bike. Terry and his gang run an amazing operation. The number of people who get new tires fitted by those guys on Sunday mornings at the track is amazing. The only thing that needed doing to the GSX-R was to remove its lower fairing for tech inspection. Sunday Morning Practice I got one session on each bike. On the EX250 I did a couple of low and mid 2:04s, and a few 2:05s. Sort of slow, but OK. No one else that I knew of on an EX250 had done better times so far, so I was reasonably satisfied with this and the knowledge that I could go quite a bit faster in the race. Also, the annoying low-power problem was still there, and it had gotten worse. If I could get rid of the engine stumble, I was certain that alone would speed me up a bit. Sunday Post-practice Preparation So as much as I hated to admit it, my bike had a problem. An intermittent problem. A hard to diagnose intermittent problem. And I had no practice time left in which to figure out what was causing the trouble or determine whether I had fixed it. I was going to have to change everything that might be causing the trouble and hope for the best in the race. I still felt that if the problem didn't go away but didn't get worse, I could probably do OK in the race in spite of it. But of course that's exactly the sort of distraction I don't need when I'm trying to win, so I wanted very badly to get it fixed. I talked to Mike Norman to get his intuition about what might be causing the problem, and he and I agreed that the trouble's intermittent nature suggested an ignition fault. I decided to replace every ignition component I could reasonably change, and this sort of situation is where the camaraderie and spirit of our class really shine. I should have had all the spares I needed, but I turned out somehow to have only one, the black box. One by one, other 250 production riders came through with all sorts of parts and help. Jerri Grindle (#618) and Pete Pelletier (#714) loaned me a spare battery. Mike Lohmeyer (#177) loaned me new spark plugs. I had somehow showed up with a parts bin bereft of spare coils, so Paul scurried around begging for spare coils on my behalf while I spun wrenches. Mike Norman gave advice and pushed me to change everything I could that even might be the problem -- including fixing a couple of corroded connections I probably would have ignored, and that might have made a difference. In a startling feat of preparedness, I supplied my own spare black box. Joe Pardo (#728) came up with a crimp-on connector to replace a very corroded, disintegrating bullet connector. I got the bike ready around lunch time rode it down to the hot pit for some practice starts, and tested to see whether the hard-starting- when-hot problem was still there. That problem seemed to be fixed, so I was optimistic that the bike would run right in the race. After doing that stuff, it was time to drink water and wait. 250 production was the day's fifth race. Sunday Races We had to wait on the pre-grid for the 250 production race while the workers cleaned up an oil spill at the exit of turn 4. Every time I shut my bike off in the pre-grid just before a race, I worry that it won't start again, but usually my worry is unfounded. It was unfounded this time, too. When the sign went up for the warm-up lap, the bike started and we were on our way. Sighting on the warm-up lap revealed that the workers did a great job with the oil spill, and it wasn't in a terribly bad place anyway. We could ride right through it without slipping. We gridded up with Paul to my left and Joe, Frank Mazur (#10), and Tom Dorsey (#63) to my right. When the flag flew, I'm not sure whether Tom or I got the worst start on the front row, but we fought hard for that honor while the others tried to get away. While Tom and I were struggling to see who could get off the line slowest, Vlastimyl Kotyza (#175) came blazing by from the second or third row into something like third place! At that point I decided to let Tom have the prize for worst start and I started chasing the others. I'm not sure how it happened, but I got by Paul somewhere in the early part of turn 1. Next I had to deal with Vlastimyl, and I got him going into turn 2. Joe was leading, and Frank was in second place. Passing Vlastimyl had slowed me a bit for the section on the hill, and I made up some ground on Joe and Frank in the entrance to turn 4 and the carousel, but I wasn't close enough to make a pass in either place. I gained more ground in turn 7, so when Frank turned around to check behind him at the exit of 7, he saw me inches away from his rear tire. He turned back forward and shook his head. Frank is a master of wide riding. For the next several corners he darted from left to right, making it hard for me to guess where I might get by. Coming out of turn 10, though, Frank wanted to pass Joe so he was going to have to make up his mind between left and right. Joe was guarding the inside, so Frank set up to Joe's left going into 11. They left room for a bike between them, though, and I just couldn't turn down the invitation. They both started slowing sort of early, and I just aimed for the opening. Once I had the lead, I just tried to go fast. When I got to the front straight I realized I had forgotten to switch on my on-board timer, so I took care of that. The next interesting thing that happened was that I turned around coming out of the carousel on the second lap to look behind me. There was no one there. I looked back again after turn 10. Still no one. Coming out of turn 11 on the second lap I had my first slide ever on the radial tires I'm running this year. The rear spun up and gave me a little moment before it hooked up again. I later learned my rear-slide antics got an "ooh!" from a bunch of spectators watching from that area. The slide also cost me some time between turn 11 and the chicane. I checked my on-board timer after the chicane and it told me my last lap had been a 2:00.50! That's an unbelievable time for an EX250, but I mostly let myself believe it because I knew I hadn't yet explored the real limits of the radials. After I saw that time, I looked behind me again on the front straight, and again I saw no one. I decided it would be best to slow down since it seemed like I had a comfortable gap. I like going fast, but I like winning, too. Going fast and crashing is worse than going a little slower and winning. On the third lap the lapped traffic started getting fairly heavy, and I had also made a conscious decision to slow down and avoid crashing. This lap registered as a 2:02.16 on my on-board timer. I continued to look behind me occasionally, and I continued to see nobody. Exiting the tighter turns (7 and 11) I noticed a rider that looked like it might be Dan Kimble (#689) entering the turns across the infield. I didn't know who might be between him and me. Knowing Lois was in the stands was part of my consciousness; I remember entering turn 10 and asking myself, "I wonder if she can see me now... I wonder what she thinks..." The fourth lap was more of the same: plenty of lapped traffic, but mostly not in terribly scary places. I think most of my passes were friendly. I remember cresting turn 3a and identifying Charles Statman (#116) by his brown two-piece leathers before I lapped him and a bunch of others in turn 4. Lap 4 came in at 2:02.84 on my on-board timer. Lap 5, too, was more of the same: more lapped traffic. I was finally starting to believe there was no one behind me, so I slowed even farther. There was a crash in turn 8a, and the associated yellow flag made me slow quite a bit to avoid passing a lapper. I was very thankful then for the cushion of space behind me; I didn't have to worry about getting passed right after the flag. I later learned the crash involved Jim Heiser (#466) who had fallen and been run over by Jake McGuire (#702), who also fell. I heard another rider fell in the same incident, too, but I don't know who it was. All of them are going to be OK, but Jim broke a couple of ribs and is going to be sore for a while. Lap 5 was a 2:04.44 on-board. Halfway through lap 6, the race was red-flagged because of the crash in 8a. I came to a stop in turn 7 and Bruce Barnum, holding the stop sign, was the first to congratulate me on my win. The race was more than half over so it would not restart. Scoring reverted to the end of lap 5. I was disappointed the race didn't run full length, but I had won! Not only that, but it seemed I had done an incredible lap time on the second lap. I told a few people of my 2:00.50 lap time, and Paul gave me a one-man standing jubilational congratulational ovation and a big hug when he heard about it. I cautioned him (and myself) a little about believing it, since I had seen some weird results from the on-board timer in practice, but we still believed and we celebrated! After the race I realized I had felt none of the intermittent power problem. The bike had worked flawlessly. I think the most likely culprit was the battery. At least I hope it was, since the next most likely culprit was the black box and I don't need another questionable black box. I'll have to swap back to the old black box at Thunderhill next month after I get a new battery to find out. When the AFM's electronic lap time sheets for our race became available, I learned that what a tiny little part of me had feared was true: The 2:00.50 lap time wasn't real. My real time for lap 2 was a 2:01.669 according to the AFM's timer. Apparently the time I got on board was an artifact of switching my timing receiver on too late. When I learned that the lap 2 on-board lap time had been bogus indeed, I felt even sadder for Paul than I did for myself because he'd been so excited for me when I thought I had gone truly fast. I was happy at the same time, though. If I had never thought I'd done a 2:00.50, I would have rejoiced at a 2:01.x and Paul would have rejoiced along with me, I'm sure. I tried to keep this in perspective and be happy with a new personal best and a decisive win. My laps 2, 3, and 4 had been the fastest three laps of the race. Next was Dan's fastest lap at a 2:03.053. Dan brought home second place 10-11 seconds behind me, and Frank took third behind Dan. Congratulations to both Dan and Frank on their fine finishes! The combination of improved horsepower and acceleration from G-Force and Dunlop radial tires mounted on my Kosman-modified rims has definitely made it easier for me to go fast on the EX250 this year than it was last year. I haven't touched my Aftershocks suspension since last year; it remains as close to perfect as I can imagine. 750 production was the last race of the day. There's less to say about it than about 250 production because I know far fewer of my competitors. I had lost to Eric Welch (#427) at Buttonwillow and I wanted to beat him at Sears Point. I was pretty tired by the time the race started, and my riding showed it. I got a pretty bad start, but I made up quite a few of those positions in the race passing people. I went a little slower in the race than I had gone in practice, putting in a best lap in the mid 1:58s. At the end of the race I ran the bike out of gas. Sputtering and stumbling across the line, my underfueled bike let three riders by whom I'd passed earlier in the race. I had started 16th and finished 17th. Next time I'll put more fuel in the tank. :-) I did have enough fumes to limp around the cooldown lap and make it back to my pit space. At the rate I'm improving on the 750, I think it's reasonable to hope for a finish in the top ten within the next few months. Sponsors and Others Deserving of Thanks Phil Douglas of Aftershocks: Phil, I haven't pestered you much lately because my suspension simply works great and doesn't need anything. Even though I'm not bothering you all the time, I appreciate your work every time I ride. Very special thanks to Mike Norman and the whole crew at G-Force Performance Center for working so hard with me to learn about EX250 cam timing. I feel our efforts have cleared up a few age-old mysteries. Yet again I have to thank my competitors because without them I would not have had a working bike for the race. Paul, Joe, Jerri, Pete, Mike Lohmeyer, Mike Norman (again!), and whoever else I've left out, THANKS! You people are the greatest! Thanks to Lois my wonderful partner for coming to the track to support and encourage me. I'm very glad I didn't reward her by crashing! Finally, I am also sponsored by Redwood City Honda/Kawasaki/Suzuki/KTM/Husaberg.