Posted by saddlebag on March 3, 2008, 10:20 pm
tomorrow@erols.com wrote:
> Sunday morning was the warmest morning of the four days in Daytona,
> perhaps a portent of things to come. In Garage B44, the Screamin'
> Duc Racing Team went about its business in short sleeves, in contrast
> to Thursday morning, when we were all wearing jackets and running two
> electric heaters in the garage in an attempt to stave off fits of
> shivering.
>
> After the team meeting on Saturday night, during which our Crew Chief
> had assigned duties and impressed on everyone the importance of
> sticking to the schedule, things went very smoothly on Sunday.
>
> Donnie and Mike changed tires, adjusted the suspension, and Jeff and I
> suited up and got ready for CCS practice group three: the plan was
> that I would follow Jeff for two laps to go to school on his racing
> line, then he would wave me past and follow me for two laps to see if
> there were any specific places on the track where he could give me
> pointers to help speed me up. It might have worked, except that there
> were about 10,000 racers in the session, and the on-board radio on the
> "A" bike was not adjusted properly, so I was distracted by all the
> chatter in my ears as I circulated around the racetrack. Suffice to
> say, I learned nothing in that all too brief outing. After our four
> laps, we both came in and Jeff went back out on the "A" bike to check
> out the suspension adjustments that Donnie had made in response to our
> feedback on Saturday. We both agreed that the bike felt significantly
> better; the scary weave we had experienced earlier had been about 90%
> banished. The funniest part of the session was that Jeff's laps were
> recorded under my number, so it appeared that I was both faster than
> Jeff himself as well as Steve Keener on the official qualifying times
> sheet.
>
> After Donnie debriefed Jeff and I on the way the bike handled and ran,
> Jeff and George and I went off to a Moto-ST mandatory rider autograph
> session. While we had fun meeting the fans, signing their t-shirts
> and giving away Screamin' Duc Racing swag, the crew was humping our
> pitside gear from the garage to the pit wall, a quarter mile away.
>
> After the last CCS race of the day, and after Jeff's last ASRA
> Thunderbike race, a very brief (i.e. eat in five minutes while
> continuing to work!) lunch break followed, and then the entire team
> reconvened down at pit wal, with both the "A" bike and the "B" bike.
> The rider order was Jeff, me, then George. George had already told us
> he wasn't feeling up to riding, and that Jeff and I should plan to run
> extra sessions, unless there was some kind of emergency where George
> simply had to ride. Meanwhile, he and Justin and Donnie coordinated
> the whirlwind of activity required to get set up for the opening
> ceremonies, gridding, parade lap, pace lap, and warm-up lap.
>
> At 2:00 PM all the preliminaries were dispensed with, and Jeff and the
> other 39 riders took the green flag after the pace car dove into the
> pits. Jeff immediately started turning competetive lap times,
> gradually breaking below 2:02, then 2:01, while catching and passing
> several other riders. By lap 9, he was in 12th place, threatening the
> 11th place rider, which would have put us one position out of the
> money paying top ten. Unfortunately, on lap nine, the clutch started
> slipping badly, and Jeff was forced to radio in that he was coming
> into the pits. Donnie leaped over the pit wall as the rear stand went
> under the bike, and in one minute and 19 seconds bled the slave
> cylinder. Jeff hopped back on the bike, fired it off, and roared
> off... only to return to the pits with the clutch still slipping
> badly.
>
> Now, we had been having clutch problems most of the weekend, and
> Donnie had finally resorted to installing heavier devil bike from hell
> (for those unfamiliar with the model, that is a synonym for the Suzuki
> SV650) clutch springs. After that, we hadn't had problems in the
> shorter stints either of us put on the bike prior to the Moto-ST main
> event.
>
> The team pulled the bike behind the pit wall, and Donnie pulled off
> the fairings and started a blower fan (thoughtfully provided by fellow
> competitor Steve K.) to cool the bike down. We had a team huddle and
> decided to stay in pit lane in the hope of being able to go back out
> there later in the race, and to be running when the checkered flag
> flew.
>
> So, we monitored the race in real time at the Grand American Timing
> and Scoring website, and while some crew members returned to the
> garage to pack and load equipment and tools for the trip home, the
> rest of us noted that one Sport Twin class competitor had stopped
> running at 19 laps, meaning that if we could go out and complete 8 or
> more laps, we would finish above the number 26 bike.
>
> In response, we formulated a plan for me to go out when the race
> countdown clock got to 45 minutes, and try to run smooth, consistent
> times and baby the clutch and bike as much as possible, and see if we
> could move up one place in the final standings.
>
> That's exactly what I did, and even though the clutch once again
> started slipping after about ten laps, I just stayed out there, short
> shifting the bike and never getting over 7,200 rpm under actual engine
> load. It was a darn shame, too, because the bike was running
> fantastic, the brakes were incredible, the suspension was near
> perfect, and the only thing on the bike that needed a lot of
> improvement other than the clutch operation was the rider!
Interesting. I remember reading that the ss bike's frame was the least
rigid in the lineup and didn't always provide the same level of
confidence inspiring feedback as the others. Sounds like you didn't
seem to notice.
> I managed to complete 23 laps before taking the checkered flag,
> bringing the Screamin' Duc Racing entry home in 34th place overall,
> and fourteenth in Sport Twins class.
>
> There wasn't much celebration after the race, mostly due to the
> disappointment of the clutch problems (for which Donnie already has
> diagnosed and devised a permanent fix)
New plates, Hyabusa springs...what?
Posted by tomorrow@erols.com on March 3, 2008, 10:34 pm
> tomor...@erols.com wrote:
> Interesting. I remember reading that the ss bike's frame was the least
> rigid in the lineup and didn't always provide the same level of
> confidence inspiring feedback as the others. Sounds like you didn't
> seem to notice.
Our bike's frame is improved in certain key ways. That doesn't mean I
am capable of noticing the difference.
> > I managed to complete 23 laps before taking the checkered flag,
> > bringing the Screamin' Duc Racing entry home in 34th place overall,
> > and fourteenth in Sport Twins class.
> > There wasn't much celebration after the race, mostly due to the
> > disappointment of the clutch problems (for which Donnie already has
> > diagnosed and devised a permanent fix)
> New plates, Hyabusa springs...what?
Well, if I told you that, it wouldn't be much of a secret any more,
would it???
Posted by Calgary on March 3, 2008, 11:09 pm
On Mon, 3 Mar 2008 18:59:18 -0800 (PST), "tomorrow@erols.com"
>But I'm STILL excited about VIR next month, the next round of Moto-ST
>on April 27th, the "out-of-the-box" goodness of our Duc Pond
>Motorsport prepared Ducati 800SS, and the changes that Donnie will be
>making to the bike between now and then!
Great report Tim. Thanks for taking the time to fill us all in. Too
bad about the clutch but the bike will be stronger for the next event.
Sounds to me like the riders are doing just fine.
Don't be surprised if you see me at your race in Wisconsin (it was
Wisconsin wasn't it). I might just drop by to see what all this racing
is like.
Get some sleep.
--
See Ya On The Road
2000 Yamaha Venture Millennium
2004 HD Road King
Posted by tomorrow@erols.com on March 4, 2008, 7:59 am
On Mar 3, 11:09 pm, Calgary
> On Mon, 3 Mar 2008 18:59:18 -0800 (PST), "tomor...@erols.com"
> >But I'm STILL excited about VIR next month, the next round of Moto-ST
> >on April 27th, the "out-of-the-box" goodness of our Duc Pond
> >Motorsport prepared Ducati 800SS, and the changes that Donnie will be
> >making to the bike between now and then!
> Great report Tim. Thanks for taking the time to fill us all in. Too
> bad about the clutch but the bike will be stronger for the next event.
> Sounds to me like the riders are doing just fine.
> Don't be surprised if you see me at your race in Wisconsin (it was
> Wisconsin wasn't it). I might just drop by to see what all this racing
> is like.
Yep, Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 15. It would be
great if you could come out!
Posted by . on March 4, 2008, 8:51 am
> I managed to complete 23 laps before taking the checkered flag,
> bringing the Screamin' Duc Racing entry home in 34th place overall,
> and fourteenth in Sport Twins class.
How does the racing organization define "Did Not Finish"? You went
less than 1/3rd of the distance that the leaders went.
Oh, and did you ever think of going around to the leader's pits and
finding something to protest? Lodging a protest might have moved you
up to 33rd place overall...
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> perhaps a portent of things to come. In Garage B44, the Screamin'
> Duc Racing Team went about its business in short sleeves, in contrast
> to Thursday morning, when we were all wearing jackets and running two
> electric heaters in the garage in an attempt to stave off fits of
> shivering.
>
> After the team meeting on Saturday night, during which our Crew Chief
> had assigned duties and impressed on everyone the importance of
> sticking to the schedule, things went very smoothly on Sunday.
>
> Donnie and Mike changed tires, adjusted the suspension, and Jeff and I
> suited up and got ready for CCS practice group three: the plan was
> that I would follow Jeff for two laps to go to school on his racing
> line, then he would wave me past and follow me for two laps to see if
> there were any specific places on the track where he could give me
> pointers to help speed me up. It might have worked, except that there
> were about 10,000 racers in the session, and the on-board radio on the
> "A" bike was not adjusted properly, so I was distracted by all the
> chatter in my ears as I circulated around the racetrack. Suffice to
> say, I learned nothing in that all too brief outing. After our four
> laps, we both came in and Jeff went back out on the "A" bike to check
> out the suspension adjustments that Donnie had made in response to our
> feedback on Saturday. We both agreed that the bike felt significantly
> better; the scary weave we had experienced earlier had been about 90%
> banished. The funniest part of the session was that Jeff's laps were
> recorded under my number, so it appeared that I was both faster than
> Jeff himself as well as Steve Keener on the official qualifying times
> sheet.
>
> After Donnie debriefed Jeff and I on the way the bike handled and ran,
> Jeff and George and I went off to a Moto-ST mandatory rider autograph
> session. While we had fun meeting the fans, signing their t-shirts
> and giving away Screamin' Duc Racing swag, the crew was humping our
> pitside gear from the garage to the pit wall, a quarter mile away.
>
> After the last CCS race of the day, and after Jeff's last ASRA
> Thunderbike race, a very brief (i.e. eat in five minutes while
> continuing to work!) lunch break followed, and then the entire team
> reconvened down at pit wal, with both the "A" bike and the "B" bike.
> The rider order was Jeff, me, then George. George had already told us
> he wasn't feeling up to riding, and that Jeff and I should plan to run
> extra sessions, unless there was some kind of emergency where George
> simply had to ride. Meanwhile, he and Justin and Donnie coordinated
> the whirlwind of activity required to get set up for the opening
> ceremonies, gridding, parade lap, pace lap, and warm-up lap.
>
> At 2:00 PM all the preliminaries were dispensed with, and Jeff and the
> other 39 riders took the green flag after the pace car dove into the
> pits. Jeff immediately started turning competetive lap times,
> gradually breaking below 2:02, then 2:01, while catching and passing
> several other riders. By lap 9, he was in 12th place, threatening the
> 11th place rider, which would have put us one position out of the
> money paying top ten. Unfortunately, on lap nine, the clutch started
> slipping badly, and Jeff was forced to radio in that he was coming
> into the pits. Donnie leaped over the pit wall as the rear stand went
> under the bike, and in one minute and 19 seconds bled the slave
> cylinder. Jeff hopped back on the bike, fired it off, and roared
> off... only to return to the pits with the clutch still slipping
> badly.
>
> Now, we had been having clutch problems most of the weekend, and
> Donnie had finally resorted to installing heavier devil bike from hell
> (for those unfamiliar with the model, that is a synonym for the Suzuki
> SV650) clutch springs. After that, we hadn't had problems in the
> shorter stints either of us put on the bike prior to the Moto-ST main
> event.
>
> The team pulled the bike behind the pit wall, and Donnie pulled off
> the fairings and started a blower fan (thoughtfully provided by fellow
> competitor Steve K.) to cool the bike down. We had a team huddle and
> decided to stay in pit lane in the hope of being able to go back out
> there later in the race, and to be running when the checkered flag
> flew.
>
> So, we monitored the race in real time at the Grand American Timing
> and Scoring website, and while some crew members returned to the
> garage to pack and load equipment and tools for the trip home, the
> rest of us noted that one Sport Twin class competitor had stopped
> running at 19 laps, meaning that if we could go out and complete 8 or
> more laps, we would finish above the number 26 bike.
>
> In response, we formulated a plan for me to go out when the race
> countdown clock got to 45 minutes, and try to run smooth, consistent
> times and baby the clutch and bike as much as possible, and see if we
> could move up one place in the final standings.
>
> That's exactly what I did, and even though the clutch once again
> started slipping after about ten laps, I just stayed out there, short
> shifting the bike and never getting over 7,200 rpm under actual engine
> load. It was a darn shame, too, because the bike was running
> fantastic, the brakes were incredible, the suspension was near
> perfect, and the only thing on the bike that needed a lot of
> improvement other than the clutch operation was the rider!