Moto-Brian

Just a few shots from Mr. Jeff Kovack... All Images Copyright: Jeff Kovack 2009© Race 15: This was every lap until end of lap 5 when Sammy had water spewing from his R1... Race 13: This was about as close as I stayed with Sammy. Just got a shit start and couldn't reel him in enough with so little time... Qualifying session #2: It came together a bit more this time around vs. the first session... Fruits of labor: Sammy is a tall sum beotch! You'd think the AMA could come up with something better than wodden plaques, huh?

I don't know anything about filling it for wheelies. However, the idea is that too much oil causes too much stress to spin through that extra oil. Think trying to run on land and then trying to run in water... Takes more effort, right? That more effort causes stress on engine components - especially the crank and rods. We have seen guys blow motors (actually a staff memeber's 750) due to hydro lock. What happened is that the motor stressed a rod from too much energy needed to be spinnign the motor with WAY too much oil. The rods stressed and broke when running at high RPMs on the track. Now, again, I can't comment on oil for wheelies as it makes sense since when up in the wheelie position, it is sending the oil back and starving (possibly) the crank. More oil allows it to be where it needs to, but again, my feelings are that you are more on two wheels than on one. Maybe not for some of you guys, but in the case of Dub, I think he'd need to be where it should be. Now, obviously... you may never hydro lock your motor and you may never have it stress a rod or cause issue with your crank. BUT, it can happen and when it does, it costs a LOT of money... Simply food for thought, guys.

One thing I do is that if it says 3.3 or 2.2, whatever, I simply add 2 qts or 3 qts and start it up and run it until it reaches operating temp. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes (usually enough time to get the plastic back on and things cleaned up... I then check and usually, it ends up right in between the lines (where I always want it) and I am fine. If you then need to add a little, adding .2 or .3 is pretty easy...

Overfilling oil is a pretty bad thing to do. Look up hydro lock and you'll see why that's not a good idea... Stressing the rods, crank, and such due to the amount of oil it has to spin through is never good... The oil filter idea is a great idea or the syringe idea is easiest...

That's what was funny... We were all over 30 and even Sammy won the "vet" award for 30 plus!!! We were thinking of forming a team sponsored by Geritol!

The R6 is the best machine to have. But, the ZX6 pays more so, not sure. But with all the trouble guys have with the ZX10, he might just have stayed with what was a better overall package...

Here: http://www.myracingbio.com/?event=lapsByEvent&seriesId=1&facilityId=53&eventId=117 I'm still in wonder as to the difference between my beacon lap timer and the transmitters they use. Remember, they use a transmitter and not a transponder... Not sure if there's a difference, but there was about 2-3 tenths a second difference. I had a high :30 on my transponder vs the low :31 they posted... Weird... Maybe lap timers aren't as accurate??

Sorry, an 09...

Yeah, Brian is a great guy. We've known each other for a long time and through all his successes, he's never changed. Still a great dude. So is Sam... Next? MAYBE FT at Beaver. That's a BIG maybe... Sam was trying to convince me to do the WERA Nelson or the FT Beaver event...

Nope. I run a GSXR1000... On that note, it was cool that we had three brands represented. Stokes had a '10 ZX10, Sammy had a '10 R1 and me on an old bone 07 GSXR1000. Funny thing was, both guys wished they had GSXRs!!! Stokes hates the ZX10 - you could see him chattering everywhere. Sam simply liked the GSXR better overall, but man, that R1 out of turns was tough to beat. He could get on it so much sooner than Brian and I could. But, it lacked top end power, but seemed to handle well...

Thanks, man... And, represented the OR!!

Race Day: I decided against better judgment to run the morning practice. The AMA only allowed us ONE practice session. One… Mid-Ohio in the early morning is slick and unpredictable. At all the important turns like the keyhole, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, carousel drive onto the front straight… But, I changed spacers in the forks at the end of qualifying the day prior and needed to try and get a feel if it was the right move. The practice wasn’t a total wash. Ran a soft rear compound and notched up the fastest practice time of a low :34. Was able to get a close read on how the spacers would work. The unfortunate part was that I can only run three classes. I thought I could only run two as the Brembo M/C I have is illegal in WERA Superstock classes, but apparently, not illegal under CCS rules. Had I known that, I would have run the SS event… But, I didn’t and in doing just the two races, I was down from about 9am and wouldn’t turn a wheel again until about 4 PM or later… That down time really sucks as Sam and Brian had at least 4 races before I did and as qualifying was, they got to learn and make changes along the way… Race one was where I was gridded second. I haven’t launched the liter bike ever before and hadn’t launched a bike in race mode for a few years. To top it off, I was never a strong starter. Add that up and I wasn’t surprised to see I was 3rd going into one with others hot on my tail. I don’t know if the traction control hit weird or what, but it bogged off the line and was slow out of the hole… I got back up towards Sammy, but he was running hard and it was pretty much the same gap through to the end. I bobbled in the carousel trying to make ground and just made it worse. Looked over my shoulder on lap 7 and saw nobody even close and decided to call 2nd place a good first race back… Sam rode great and hit all the spots right. That R1 is a killer out of the corners… Race two was where I was gridded 4th. Just like the first race, I sucked a major monkey ass on the launch. Terrible… Even worse than the first, I think… I was 5th going off the line, but stuffed under AJ to get up to 4th. Was able to drive pass and settle into 3rd behind Stokes who was on the tail of Sammy. I made up some ground on the two off the back straight and came up in behind Stokes. We were all nose to tail for a lap and then Stokes put a beautiful pass on Sam and took the point. We were still running nose to tail. I was stronger than Sam in two through to the entrance to the Keyhole. He drove out better with that R1, but I made ground back as his top end wasn’t as strong as what Stokes and I had. I was able to gather back up under brakes off the back straight (Thanks to James Kerker teaching me some things there!) and even made a side by side attempt on Sam about mid-point. I should have made it stick, but I thought better of it so early and decided to use that as a last lap move. Well, that didn’t pan out. I thought I might actually get Stokes, too had I possibly set up Sam with two to go and get Brian on the final lap. He struggled with chatter on that ZX10 and I knew he was slower through to Thunder. BUT… With about 3 to go, Sammy’s bike was starting to over heat. He and I came onto the front straight and a TON of water came out as we were driving out. His back wheel stepped out HUGE and I had a decent kick in mine. My face shield got hit with the water and all I thought was that his belly pan was full of water and when we were going into turn 1, we were both going down. I throttled way back and tried to choose a different line into one. As we were exiting, he was shooting water out between 1 and 2. I was worried going into the keyhole and Stokes was simply walking away. I thought about Sam’s water issue the whole next lap and finally felt it was blow by. So, I charged towards him and he was on the move as he realized it was going to be ok, too. We were pulling Brian back, but it was too little, too late and we ended up where we started. Stokes, Gaige and then me. We got into low 31s. I showed a 31.0 on my timer, but not sure as the CCS transmitters were slightly slower than what I got on my timer so… But, we were hauling at race pace. I guess since Stokes is a Pro and a previous Horizon Award winner, he was DQ’d from the AMA finish. So, I guess I technically got 2nd. I don’t view it as that, but they do so… Overall, I am happy with the results. The interview guy asked me how I felt about being there in every session and race and yet the win being elusive. I just felt that getting a podium with the likes of Brian Stokes and Sam Gaige and actually being there and not a HUGE distance back was like a win for me after being out of racing for so long. It felt good and makes me want to do more, but alas, I am retired and will only do a couple of races a year. Unless someone needs an endurance rider for their team!!

Back in the race seat… Well, coming back to race an event after years of not doing it and solely working at track days had me a little nervous. I get all mental when racing – always have. The problem is that I can run faster times when there’s no pressure and thought this would be a lot easier. I was wrong… The morning practices were normal as I remember. The first morning practice was a wash. The track was so slippery and cold which are typical Mid-Ohio characteristics. A few notable names were there: Brian Stokes, Sam Gaige and AJ Krauser (sp?). There were other guys in our classes, but these three were the ones I worried about. Only Stokes and I were dumb enough to run the first practice… Second practice I decided to run the race fuel to make sure it was mapped good enough and to learn the differences. The track was much better, but not where it would be come qualifying time. That is where riding it sucks. Morning practice is almost worthless as by the time we race or qualify, the track is warm and totally different. Tough to get a base line and learn… Stokes and Gaige were entered in at least 6 classes each. They had 3-4 qualifying sessions prior to me even turning a wheel. One would think that may allow them to fatigue and leave a better chance for me, but the way I view it is these guys are athletes and have been racing full seasons for a while and don’t get worn out. They get to see the track multiple times and learn things and make changes to get faster each time out. Unfortunately, I was right on the money with that… My first qualifying session was a bit rough. I knew to get behind Sam and Brian for at least a few laps to try and get into a groove and drop times. However, they took off like rabbits from hearing a shot gun blast and I lost them right away. They had scuffed tires on and I had a new rear so, I was left in the dust. AJ was in front as he knew the drill as well and was trying to keep them in sight. I used AJ as a carrot and slowly pulled him back to me, but it wasn’t soon enough. He got me by 1 tenth of a second and I was 1.1 seconds off Stokes’ pole time. I was at least on the front row and where I actually prefer – on the outside… Second qualifying was a bit different. I had the butterflies as before, but I had a scuff on now and was ready for Sam and Brian. We all left together and had a novice that got between us at the start. Not a big deal as he was trying the same thing I suspect where he wanted to grab a tow early. It is the way to do such short qualifying sessions. But, I got held up ever so slightly, but it was good in the end as it allowed me to try hard and get back up behind Sam and Brian. I reeled them in and we were all running pretty close times. I got a pass on Sam and held it, but let him by on the straight under braking for 6 as to not show much before Sunday’s races. So, I stayed behind him and learned what he was doing and taking notes for Sunday. I felt pretty good. Was reeling in Stokes, but he pulled up at about the halfway point and that ruined my chances at a better time. Sam was actually holding me up and I didn’t feel he was running faster during that session so, I pulled off early, as well and hoped I would front row it again. I ended up running in the P2 spot for that session and missed Stokes pole time by 3-4 tenths. They were slightly slower than the previous session, but only by about 3 tenths. I think had I got up with Stokes sooner, we could have pushed into the :30 range easily as we were skirting it at the time with low :31s. So, Sunday is next and I will report as to how that went. I’m a little nervous as it has been a long time since I launched a bike – especially a liter bike, but I’ll give it the college try. Never was a good starter so, I am used to playing catch up… Wish me luck!

Rick? The one with his wife that does pit out? That's cool. He's a good guy... As for the race, thanks. We got a few low :31s. Was bummed to see Stokes hit a hit :30 and I just couldn't find it this weekend. Just get so mind fucked since it was the first time back racing in a few years... Too many good guys racing against... The second race was better until Sam started to over heat and shot water out. Man, I thought we were both going down... We were all three right on top of each other and I think we could have changed it up by the end had we not gotten spaced out so much after the water incident...

Young guy or older one? I just am asking as we want to make sure we know for making sure if they sign up as staff for us next time. There's some fragile information that can get out and we don't mind them using our staff, but we want to make sure STT's stuff and format stays STT...

Matt- Hit up Cycle Specialites and Honda of Fairfield. Maybe even Tom over at Beechmont... Cycle Specialties has two shops - one on the west side, and one on the north side. Fairfield is right up the road from CS's north store. Beechmont is on the east side...

You mean Apex2Apex did a good job... Any familiar STT faces in the staff crowd? Or, was it the same group from the last event?

I am always willing to help when someone is askin'. Wuss bag. Ok, I threw that in to not tarnish my asshole image...

Holy five post, Batman... The going from 5 valve to 4 is probably the same mentality as to why they did it on the R1 and sych. It's a power deal... Easier to build power into a 4 valve head than a 5 valve one... My guess, of course as to why they did it...

No worries. Buddy is a HUGE KTM freak and wanted to know. He was starting g to salivate!

Correct, but Yamaha was trying it out before the others did. It was somewhat shocking they didn't come to the table first, but look how poor the sales were and slow to market the RMZ was. Maybe Yamaha knew something. In any case, every year, they always had an FI bike they ran in the Japanese series (where you typically see new things surface before production). Suzuki was first to produce in a selling to the market stand point...

No worries. Just couldn't see the guy spending money on something so easy to do on your own type of deal. And, if anyone has a Penske, it is really simple...

Link? I heard they had something in the works.

Take your rear stand, lift the bike as you usually would do. Get two jack stands (don't need to be for a 3 ton truck, either. Small ones are fine) and place under your rear sets. GENTLY drop the bike down onto the jack stands by dropping the rear stand. That will unload the rear wheel and keep it off the ground. My suggestion is to remove the rear wheel - easier to lift and wiggle the swingarm. Loosen the top and bottom shock mount nuts. Lift SLIGHTLY the swingarm to get the bolts out. The swing arm will drop to the ground and be fine. Will also allow a BIG opening to get the shock off. DO NOT remove the top nut on the frame that holds the shock collar on. You only need to remove the bolts that hold the shock on and not the collar... Remove the straps that hold the remote reservoir on. Wiggle the shock out and BAMO!! She should be off easily. Do you have the Penske spring tool? Looks like a dowl rod with a slight bend at the end? Helps to add spring tension or remove spring tension? If not, I have one. Here are some pics for reference... Top bolt needing removed: Bottom bolt needing removed:

Uh, the 06 R6 is now two generations old. There was an update to midrange and performance after the 07 model and then for 2010, there's an even better improvement. Thing is, these bikes are really good and making them better is more in smaller changes than big ones. The revamped fly by wire, etc is going to improve things and with the revisions to the mapping and throttle control and such, the bike will perform better. The 06 was a great bike and did a great job, but lacked any mid range. Maybe you were referring to the sport R6?