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At First Sight: I <3 2012Posted: January 3, 2012 Filed under: Random Thoughts of Speed | Tags: #113, #824, blog, blogging, motorcycle road racing, roadracing, WERA 3 Comments
This year is taking off like a rocket! Literally (more on that shortly) and figuratively. I have just received word that the 2012 racing season is pretty much mine, if and how I want it. Win or lose, one thing is for certain: You, my lovelies, have opportunity to be with us every step of the way. Green to Checkered. No more unfinished business or unscheduled sabbaticals, since I have promised my racing buddy and sister in crime, Margie, that my literary prowess will be on it like an accident lawyer on a meatwagon, or keeping with the theme: On it like a crash truck on Miss Busa's Beemer. Pinky swear.
In return, she's going to pull off one hell of a project in 2013; if we don't kill ourselves first. 😉
Now back to dancing around in my living room singing praises to the God of Speed…
Get 'em out Cold, ride 'em Rough and put 'em up Wet!Posted: April 28, 2011 Filed under: BMW S1000RR, Team PLD Racing | Tags: #113, amateur motorcycle roadracing, BMW S1000RR, cold, crap weather, first race, inaugural race, Lebanon, motorcycle road racing, Nashville Superspeedway, NSS, practice, Provisional Novice Racing License, racing, rainy, Saturday Practice, Tennessee, WERA, wet, yeah, you just got passed by a girl Leave a comment
Race Report (Part 2 of 3)
Miss Busa's Inaugural WERA Race:
Saturday Practice
Up at the crack of dawn. I drag myself into the shower and after getting ready, Mr. Slow hands me a steaming cup of hotel coffee. I love you, man! He knows what Miss Busa needs. The Zombie can finally rise. As we head out the door, I am assaulted by a blast of cold wind and the drizzle immediately adds to my already sunny (insert heavy sarcasm) disposition. Good gawd! I'm awake now! I shiver in my Under Armour HeatGear. Damn! I should have went with my original instinct and packed the ColdGear also. I'm in for an interesting day, I'm sure of it. Cold and wet! Still. It looks as if the storm had blown through, as they had predicted, but I wasn't expecting it to remain this breezy and cold. What was I thinking when I checked the weather report?!? Guess I'm not in Georgia anymore. Brrrrrrr! It's freaking cold out here. Not even 50 out. The sky still looks foreboding in places, the tattered remains of a storm that made for a restless night. Mr. Slow informed me that I pretty much kept him up all night by waking up shivering several times.
I keep my spirits up because I am in good company and am looking at a weekend at the track. I'm not even nervous. I'm just excited. The nausea, however, returns as we pull into our pit and I notice the hustle and bustle of people busying themselves with various tasks in order to get ready for their races. The unmistakable sound of race engines spinning near red line barreling down a front straight tells me that a practice round is already under way, and I stand by my bike feeling somewhat lost and sick to my stomach. Yes, I'm really here. This is it. The moment I have been working towards, waiting for, spending ungodly amounts of money on, is finally upon me. I feel cold and distracted. At least it quit drizzling for the time being. Margie tells me to go register and find out where they set up Tech. I groan, bitch about being cold and drudge down the middle aisle of the garage, making my way to the south end of the building. I walk slowly, hoping I would spot the object of my given quest before I have to ask some stranger for directions. Joe is behind me, reading me like a book, so he hits up the next person for the info. Tech in the front, registration in the next building over. I breathe a sigh of relief. I can't help but wonder if Margie didn't do this on purpose…
We find the registration desk in the Press/Media building and get in line to get our remaining paperwork done. Since I pre-registered online, all I have to do is fill out a transponder rental agreement. I trade the signed form for a transponder and a bracket to mount the thing to the Pirate's left fork leg with a couple of cable ties. I have to get in the other line to add the Heavyweight Senior Superbike Novice race to my lineup so I can use my Kevin Schwantz graduate coupon that entitles me to a free first race entry. Just like the dealer on the corner. The first fix is on the house. After that you're hooked and paying through the nose, bankrupting your children's children for just one more…
Once I return to the pit, we get busy checking the bike over one more time and adding the number plates to the lowers… or at least the two of them try. It's cold, it's damp and the vinyl just won't stick. They manage to peel the paint off on one side while repositioning the background of the numberplate, so now there is a huge primer-colored rectangle where there once was metallic black paint. Margie finally ends up glueing the infernal things to the sides of the bike using a glue stick. The things are wrinkled horribly, but legible. Hubby bets that they'll be gone after the first race. We shall see.
They are announcing my practice group again. Shit! First call. Margie tells me to calm down and breathe. We haven't even put the sponsor stickers on. I'm looking for the anti-fog/water repellent stuff for my face shield, but I can't find it. I crawl all over the truck, digging around, but come up empty handed. I'm cold. My hands are cold. I'm shivering even with Margie's windbreaker over my leathers and I'm on the verge of freaking out because the bike isn't the way I want it.
Off to Tech to get my bike inspected. Of course, I had forgotten to take the lowers off. I ride back to my pit and Margie and Joe remove them for me. I ride back to Tech and get in the line that had formed in my absence. Bike checks out fine, but I need my receipt, to verify payment of my entry fees. Crap! I offer to run across the garage to my pit to quickly fetch it, as my left foot executes a familiar movement but fails to find its target. I realize with embarrassment that I don't have a kickstand anymore. Doh! The tech dude chuckles as I tell him that I'll be right back. Out the other side, around the corner, and back to the pit.
The receipt is tracked down in my now disheveled folder and then the whole folder is crammed down my neon-green Ed Bargy newbie shirt by Margie. Take it all. Arrrgh! How am I gonna get that out later? Off to Tech, yet again. The third time's apparently the charm and I get slapped with two Tech Stickers, one for the bike and one on the chinbar of my helmet for the gear.
I end up missing the damn practice, and now there's plenty of time to get everything sorted, so my inner peace is restored. But I'm cold. I can't think straight and I'm whiney because I feel miserable and out of sorts.
I end up finding myself stuffed into the Sponsor's truck, because I'm pretty much worthless in my current state, somebody shoves a hot cup of black coffee into my paws; courtesy of the racer from across the way. "Say thank you, Miss Busa. Good girl! ;)" My pit crew tells me to quit my incessant whining, drink my joe and stay in the truck to warm up. As my core temperature slowly rises into operating temperature I'm starting to feel better. Margie eventually joins me and we pass the time by talking shop. Practice for Group 2, Round 2 is announced and we hop out of the truck to get me ready to rock and roll. I'm feeling nauseous again. They dress me, put me on my bike and send me out to do or die. As soon as I roll out of my garage it starts raining. Motherhumper!!! You have got to be kidding me! As I make my way to pit road, I start getting cold again. My hands feel slightly cool and the wind is blowing in a way that would make a Nor'easter jealous. I realize, as I sit at the track entrance getting drizzled on and shivering, that I'm not enjoying this at all. I can handle the cold. I can handle the wet. Combine the two and you have found Miss Busa's personal version of Kryptonite.
When we finally get the go ahead from Race Control, I crank up the bike, put it in gear and slap my visor down as I ease into hot pit lane. My former preoccupation with my bodily discomforts is replaced by a mental focus that isn't quite as narrow as usual, but nevertheless it is there. The nausea that usually accompanies my anxiety has also disappeared. I settle in and concentrate on the task at hand: getting around this thing without wiping out.
As I come around a long lefthand sweeper, the first turn is upon me, I miss it, and almost run through the orange cones that block further access to the NASCAR oval. I grab a monster hand of front brake, come to a nose-diving halt and have to walk the bike back a few steps to enable me to make my turn (a freakin' u-turn?) without knocking over any of the cones. Great! I hope nobody saw that. Of course they did. I smile at the corner worker who is standing behind the containment wall at the apex of the 'V' that passes for Turn 1. Evil. My visor is fogging up, and the rain water is not evacuating fast enough. Translation: I can't see shit. As I enter Turn 2 I get passed by a Gixxer. Hot pink. Pony tail peeking out from under the helmet. I just got passed by a girl? Wooohooo!!! My usual enthusiasm returns with a bang. I get on the gas; then it is gone as soon as it had come. The realization of having cold tires on wet pavement at an unfamiliar track and a visibility of close to none has a tendency to reign in my enthusiasm. Damn. For a moment, I wasn't cold anymore.
I settle back down and try to navigate the track as best I can. The racing surface is rough, has cracks, the pavement seams that run in parallel are slippery and there is stray gravel in some of the corners. This track is shit. Well, the infield road course portion is, at any rate. By lap two I'm ready to pack it in. I don't even collect any reference points. I'm shivering, I can barely feel my hands, and it's getting a little moist in some places under my leathers. I have to continuously fidget with my face shield to keep the fog from building up. Another couple of victims to the "packing light THIS time" strategy: my helmet's fog-free shield and the breath guard.
I'm distracted and preoccupied. Not the way to ride by any means, and a potentially disastrous way to race. Every time I pass Pit In, I am tempted to stick my leg out and call it quits. This shit isn't fun. I can't believe I'm putting myself through this AND I paid handsomely for the privilege! Good gawd, woman! You are nucking futs.
Nevertheless, I keep fighting with myself and keep pushing on. I am relieved when the checkered flag finally comes out. Not soon enough, buddy, not soon enough! The last lap must have been the fastest yet, since I was suddenly in a real damn hurry to get my frozen ass the hell off this shitty track. For crying out loud, there is a huge pothole in one of the turns, right IN THE RACE LINE!
Back in the pits, I get reprimanded again for whining. This time (I think) I voluntarily retreat to the sheltered comforts the passenger seat of the pickup truck has to offer. This is crap! I hate the weather, I hate the track. If I wanted to get blown by the winds, I'd join the damn Navy! (This sounds way more appropriate coming from a scruffy looking, muscular, bald dude with swallow tattoos on his forearms.) 1.8 miles of redneck rough ridin'. Hell, they have better (free) roads in South Carolina, and that's saying something.
But I still don't regret coming, despite of the weather reports. I just wish my first race weekend would have started a little more glorious on a picture perfect day… at BARBER!
Going The DistancePosted: April 24, 2011 Filed under: BMW S1000RR, Team PLD Racing | Tags: #113, accomodations, amateur motorcycle roadracing, BMW S1000RR, covered pits, dropped bike, facility map, first race, gate entry fee, inaugural race, Lebanon, motorcycle road racing, Nashville, Nashville Superspeedway, no showers, NSS, power outlets, Provisional Novice Racing License, race prep, race weekend, racing, road trip, safety wiring, Tennessee, the food here sucks, the inside scoop, tired, track info, WERA 5 Comments
Race Report (Part 1 of 3)
Miss Busa's Inaugural WERA Race:
The Day Before
I was running terribly late as usual. There are two factors that I always seem to forget about when "planning" these sort of time-sensitive undertakings:
1. I am a Master Procrastinator, and
2. Everything always takes me way longer than I think.
Correction. Make that three factors:
3. Murphy is my co-pilot. He rides pillion wherever I go, and he backseat drives, too. That bum!
As luck… Murphy would have it, my husband finally gets the OK from his boss to take the weekend off to come with me to Nashville, it seems that some managers do not believe that us mere mortals have a life outside of slaving for the Man, hence ample notice seems of no import to them. But who cares, Mr. Slow is coming along, although I would not have been going alone anyway.
Margie, whom I met at the Ed Bargy Racing School in February, read on my blog that I was planning on going to my first race alone and she wouldn't have it. She emailed me with the offer to pit for me. Of course, I was elated. Hell yeah, woman! I'll take you up on that. We hit it off at JenningsGP, the fastest (pun entirely intended) friend I've ever made outside of the military, and this would be an awesome opportunity to get to know her better and I knew we would have a blast hanging out together between races.
Hubby has to take a power nap since he's been up all night, so I busy myself with packing and loading the truck. The Pirate is pretty much race prepped and ready to go. Since I was running behind schedule (nothing new there), I decided that slapping the sponsor stickers and my competition numbers on her newly painted (and hopefully sufficiently cured) race bodywork could wait until we were at the track; ditto for the safety wiring.
What happens next I duly blame on the eight or so hours of sleep I had in the past three days. I ride the bike from her "pit" in my backyard through the gate in our privacy fence into the driveway. I'm getting pretty good at this, since I have to open and close the gate while I'm on the bike or holding onto it, or else I risk the cats making their well-timed fatty-catty escape. They are getting used to the sound of the Beemer and this strategy may not work for very much longer.
I slowly ease the Pirate over the curb and ride into the street, fully intent on making a u-turn to park her behind the Sponsor's truck on our side of the street. Suddenly, I feel myself going left. What the f…? I try to correct, but quickly find that I can't. The handlebars are not moving, stuck in place; as if the steering lock has engaged. A hundred errant thoughts run through my mind, not comprehending why this is happening. I know what is happening, it just doesn't make any sense. While I am preoccupied with the "why", I completely forget about the "what". Stuck in a terminal left turn, I bounce over the far-side curb, onto the neighbor's front lawn and notice that I am on an intercept course with one of the (as of yet) skinny trees they've planted in all of our yards. "Shit!" Still not comprehending what is happening, I throw the bike down and execute an awesome-feeling backwards tuck 'n roll over my left shoulder. I land on my feet and find myself half-crouched in a classic defensive stance with my hands up at the ready. And whose ass am I going to kick?!? Good to know that some things still come naturally, even though I haven't been to Karate class in over six years. Feeling like a total douche, I right myself, then slap the engine switch to the OFF position and turn the ignition off.
[And why in the hell didn't I just drag rear brake and come to a nicely executed, ladylike stop???]
This is great! Just great! I guess I'm not going to Nashville after all. What in the hell?!? I'm trying to figure out what in the world I screwed up now. But I didn't do any front end work. I didn't touch the triple tree or the fork legs. I just throw my hands up in dismay. Murphy, you fucking bastard! You ever-loving asshole. I hate you!
I squat down to pick up the bike; I see Water Wetter enhanced distilled water trickling out from somewhere. Never mind that now. I'm still in a daze and I need to know what in the devil's name happened here. I crawl all over the bike, checking it out. I can see absolutely nothing wrong. Am I embarrassed? No. I realize that I don't even give a crap anymore what people think. So what? My race bike has buried itself up to its frame sliders in the neighbor's yard. Yup, you got it. Looks like girl can't ride… whatever. Don't care. For some odd reason that thought is quite refreshing; It seems that I am starting to lose that annoying fear of public embarrassment one little mishap at a time. Good.
I decide to try the technique I've learned from the Ride Like A Pro V DVD. It doesn't work for me. I cannot budge the thing. I toss my arms up in the air in defeat one last time, then calmly saunter off to get hubby out of bed to come help me get my crotch rocket off the neighbor's lawn before anybody is the wiser or the Harley dudes look out their windows (whichever comes first).
Instead of finding him asleep, he's on the phone with his boss. He seems agitated. More confusion. As I walk back out the door, I hear him say something along the lines of "I haven't left yet, I can come in if you need me to." Great, looks like it's back to just Margie and I. I shake my head. I give up. I walk across the street and pick the bike up in my usual fashion. One hand on the clip-on, one hand on the subframe, squat and pull. I have massive thighs, might as well use them. I right the Pirate and walk her back to my side of the street and park her behind the truck ready for loading. As I check her over once more, Mr. Slow is coming outside carrying two parts of the ramp. I tell him what had happened to me, he tells me that he might not have a job come Monday; apparently his weekend vacation was not approved after all. I ask him if he needs to go to work, but his response is negative. I am baffled. My only response to his obvious distress is: "Fuck that asshole, you did nothing wrong. Let's go to Nashville and have some fun, you're raining on my parade, dude." We load up the bike and while we're tossing all the various other junk into the truck, I notice that he's distracted; if you can call it that. I've never seen him this way. The man never gets down or runs out of options. He takes life as it comes at him. He's always knows a way out. At least that's how he's always handled himself. He is the strong one in this relationship. This is unusual.
We talk. Well, he does. I do the listening. Then he says: "Tell me that I haven't done anything wrong." I tell him as much. Several times.
Then I add, "Besides, if you do get canned, you have officially run out of excuses not to take your photography to any serious level. You finally have the time to do what you've always wanted to do and even make some money at it."
He's not convinced. "What about your racing?"
"What about it?"
"It will seriously change our life style."
"Will it? Really? It's just stuff, besides you have always found a job. We have never had to go without. So what if we lose the house… I wanted one with a garage for a long time anyway. We'll recover, we always have. So what if I have to quit for a while. We've been through worse."
Still not convinced, and not wanting to "regress the Status Quo" he asks me one more time: "Tell me that I've done nothing wrong."
"You didn't do anything wrong! Now shut your trap, we have a great weekend ahead of us! We deal with whatever may come on Monday; but right now Team PLD has some racing to do."
We finish packing and loading the truck and head east. It takes him a few miles on the Interstate, but before too long he is back to his usual silly, annoying self. Good. We pick up Margie at her exit and have a road-trippin' good time all the way to Nashville. I get a nasty leg cramp on the way, and she takes care of me, makes me eat bananas and we consume our fair share of "various other electrolytes" commonly found in junk food. Life is good!
When we get to Nashville, it is cold, dark, rainy, and the wind is blowing at gusty speeds. I'm miserable when I'm cold. Add "wet" to that equation and I just want to crawl under a warm blanket and forget the world around me. Of course, against my better judgment and in the name of "packing light THIS time", I didn't bring any warm clothes nor a windbreaker. Margie and I start safety wiring the bike. I only have the thick 0.041″ wire, which is hard to work with but twists up nice and evenly. Fortunately Don, who is pitted next to us, tosses his spool at Margie and makes her use his, while he explains to her how to do it. Don's wire is thinner and therefore is much more pliable then the stuff Margie was trying to wrangle. Margie pretty much did most of the wiring herself. She had never done it, so she was happy to learn something new. Meanwhile, I amuse myself by taking the kickstand off, checking the tightening torque on various nuts and bolts and tying up some other "loose ends."
Speaking of loose ends, I eventually figured out why I had the "unfortunate incident" earlier that day; and figuring out is what the situation called for, since I was not going to trust my bike until I did. How was I supposed to race on hardware I didn't trust? I wasn't going to do it… well, I probably would have done it, I am a stubborn German, after all; but it would have been a stupid thing to do. With that said, the cause for the Pirate's dirt nap on the neighbor's lawn was quite silly, really. When I took the OEM bodywork off, I had to unplug the headlamp connectors. I crossed the cables over each other and placed them on top of the steering head, on the little section of frame between the dash and the triple tree assembly, with the intent to secure them later with zip ties. This was overlooked. When I rode the bike down the curb, the bump must have knocked one of the cables off its perch and it dangled there until it got stuck between the lower triple clamp and the steering damper, causing the front end to lock in position. Later, I found my assumption to be true by seeing the slightly mangled connector on the end of the right-side cable when I zip-tied the cables to the fairing stay.
Tired, cold, and slightly damp we finally checked into our hotel at around midnight, after getting provisions at a nearby grocery store. It took my brain a while to wind down, but I still didn't get any restful sleep. I kept waking up freezing. The alarm crashed my PJ party way too soon. It was looking to be a caffeine fueled day. Caffeine fueled with a few shots of adrenaline thrown in. I hope the four energy drinks and the coffee we bought would get us through.
It seems I never get much sleep before track weekends. This must be the norm, why else would Red Bull and Monster sponsor our crazy asses?
Lesson learned: Do it as you go, and if you don't, you better write down all the stuff you've skipped for one reason or another. Don't expect to remember it all, even if you think you will. Better yet, take a page out of a pilot's book. Make a pre-race checklist. Check all necessary items off after you complete them. Only then, do you know for certain you did not forget anything.
Another lesson learned: Be meticulously organized. If you spend any time hunting for tools and parts, you'll take twice as long (if not longer) to complete your work. With that said, setting up your pit completely before you start wrenching on the bike helps a lot, too. Not that it matters at my level, but this is a habit which will be indispensable when you have to change the setup of your bike between races to stay competitive, like making gearing changes, tweaking your suspension, or changing your rubber. If you can't find your shit, you're gonna be late.
Track QuickStats:
Nashville Superspeedway (NSS)
4847-F McCrary Rd
Lebanon, TN 37090
(615) 547-7500
- Gate closes at 10:oo PM Eastern Time
- Gate entry is $20 per person for the weekend
- From the gate, follow the road around the grand stands to the left. Turn right, go through the tunnel (sing the Navy song, honk your horn), the garages will be a little ways down on your right. Drive all the way around the fence and turn right by the Press/Media Building and slip in through the side gate… or you might end up doing the "rat in a maze" thing. 😉
- Covered pit area (the garages)
- Power outlets are available in the garages, come Friday night to get a spot
- WERA sets up Tech at the south end of the garages (signage outside reads "Inspection Station" if I remember correctly.
- Restrooms are also at the south end of the garages, but you'll have to walk around the outside of the building to access them.
- WERA sets up Registration in the Press Building, which is the building next door, also to the south.
- Pit Road (entry/exit to the track) is also to the south of the garages, between the Press/Media Building and the restrooms.
- Vending machines are available in the Press/Media Building, but selection seems to be iffy
- They have a "roach coach" set up during lunch hours (late morning to early afternoon), but the food is grossly overpriced and what I had sucked. If you are a vegetarian you're out of luck save for the Nachos, but I wouldn't recommend them: the chips were barely warm, the cheese looked and tasted like imitation cheese, however, the salsa was pretty decent. I can't speak for their coffee (we brought our own, nor their hot dogs and burgers, none of us tried those)
- Motorized pit bikes/ATVs and bicycles are allowed
- Pets are allowed
Plenty of hotels/motels are also close by. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Southeast for $69.99/night and they had what we were after: Clean rooms, clean showers, and decent mattresses. It ain't no Ritz, but it is affordable and clean. 🙂 They also have wireless Internet access and LAN cables in their rooms; a TV, microwave, fridge and coffee pot, hair dryer and ironing board are also provided. They serve a continental breakfast in the mornings and the staff is helpful and friendly. Don't forget to get your login information at the front desk when you get your key card, so you can use their Internet. I think their password changes monthly. We booked them through hotels dot com on the way on an iPad and had no issues whatsoever.
- Oh, I almost forgot: The infield road course sucks. Watch out for potholes and loose gravel in some of the corners. The seams are slippery when wet and they have better roads in Glascock County. But you'll get used to it.
- Make sure you shift your weight to the rear and let the front end float over the transition at the end of the front straight, coming down from the banked NASCAR track onto the paved infield portion of the track, it will jolt you, but you'll be fine.
- Turn 1 is a peach when you come in hauling Mach 3 from the front straight and are looking at making a u-turn.
- Don't fight your bike (this mother is one rough riding track in places) and stay off the damn wall. =D
-1+3=Weeee!Posted: April 12, 2011 Filed under: BMW S1000RR, Goals & Milestones, Mods & Farkles | Tags: 16T/47T, 2.94, 520 conversion, BMW S1000RR, chain breaker tool, countershaft sprocket, final drive ratio, gearing, gearing change, motorcycle road racing, Nashville Superspeedway, pinion nut, race prep, racing, rear sprocket, rivet, RK, RPM range, safety washer, tightening torque, top speed, torque, Vortex 2 Comments
Excuse the unusual rambled writing and the lack of pictures. I just didn't have time to take any. I suppose there's always time to do a proper write-up with some decent pictures when I put the bike back into street trim, when I'm not so pressed for time. With that said, here we go…
I almost didn't do it, but then I made myself. I had a plan, I needed to stick to it, even though I'm currently a day behind schedule in race prep. It took me six hours to do the gearing change. SIX stinkin' HOURS! I'm really getting tired of this mechanic's gig. My mileage has dropped off significantly since I came up with this crackpot idea to go motorcycle road racing. I'm working more on my bike than I actually ride the thing. I should just slap a Harley sticker on my tail…
Work. Wrench. Sleep. Repeat.
That is not how it's supposed to be…
Wrench. Race. Fight in the pits.
Not quite…
Ride. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
There. That's all I ever wanted to do. With a (huge) emphasis on RIDE. But it was the natural progression of things… it had to end up where it did. Eventually. The street isn't my playground anymore. The street is boring. The street doesn't challenge my will to learn and to improve. I need to move forward. I need to progress. I need to improve my riding skill. I need to get faster, smoother, better. But I digress, as I so often do…
I took the lowers off, then the sprocket cover. There was so much gunk under there, the chain was actually touching it; a redneck version of an automatic chain oiler. It took me two hours to get all the mess out of there and make it look like new again. What can I say? I'm a woman and women have to clean while we're "in there". I really can't help myself either. I'm too anal to skip it. I suppose that's why it always takes me forever to do stuff on my bike. I either get sidetracked or I need to clean something. Speaking of which, I also cleaned all the other parts that I had disassembled and made liberal use of anti-seize when I put all the stuff back together. Then I cleaned yet again. *sigh*
There is no way I could go up one tooth from stock in the front. There is no room, unless one gets rid of the internal chain guard, but then there's a huge risk of ending up with a hole in the engine case should the chain ever break. No thanks, I think I'll pass. I definitely could go down one more tooth though, to 15T.The safety washer that keeps the pinion nut from backing out is a pain in the arse to remove! First you have to somehow bend the thing down, away from the nut without scratching or bending or breaking something else, so that you may spin the nut off and remove the annoying washer and the sprocket; and when you're all done, you have to bend the silly thing back against two of the six flat sides of the pinion nut. I'll have to add this thing to my regular shopping list of consumable items, which already contains such things as oil drain gaskets, fairing screws and washers, lock nuts, spring clips, and rubber grommets. Once I finally bent the dreaded safety washer flat, I put the bike in gear, sat on it, and used the rear brake to hold the wheel in place while I loosened the nut enough with my breaker bar enough so I could spin it off the rest of the way with my regular ratchet.
The rear wheel is familiar territory to me, not that I ever took the actual sprocket off its carrier, but taking the wheel off doesn't take me all that long anymore, I've done it so many times. Same with adjusting chain tension and alignment. I'm even starting to remember the fastener sizes and the torque values. The new 47T aluminum sprocket fit just fine. It looks like there could be clearance for running a sprocket all the way up to maybe a size 49T, maybe even bigger if I ditch the plastic chain guard. But this assumption can be easily verified with a few measurements, now that I have seen the final drive in its entirety and how the different parts relate to each other.
Today was definitely a day of firsts. I broke my first chain with the chain breaker kit I had gotten from Cycle Gear on Black Friday.
I also riveted my first chain, which was a little more difficult, since the instructions were a bit unclear and I had extra parts that they didn't mention. But I figured it out by thinking my way through it. I verified that I actually made the pins spread once they were through the link, by measuring them with my digital calipers. They are comparable in size to the other pins in the chain, so I think I might be able to trust my handy work. The master link is stiffer than the others, but it does not kink, I checked that, too.
But it does have me a little worried. Same worry I went through with my first tire change. Same worry I had with my first stem valve removal and install. Riding and checking the new part(s) often has proven that I did the job properly; well, that the result of my work was proper anyway. If the tire hasn't fallen off its rim in 3,000 miles, I think it's safe to assume that "I used enough rim glue". If the tire pressure hasn't dropped in over a week after switching to angled aluminum racing valves, it's definitely got the air of a proper install about it.
I also calculated my own gearing and decided on the final drive ratio I am going to run at the Nashville Superspeedway. I relied solely on what I had learned from Ed Bargy at his racing school and used a gearing calculator to see how the change would affect things, at least in theory.
I better get a pair of angled pliers so I can get that blasted pinion nut safety washer off and back on in less than 30 minutes. Further, whereas the rear axle nut has a tightening torque of 100Nm, the pinion nut has a tightening torque of 125Nm. Which means, I'm in the market for yet another tool: A slightly more robust torque wrench, since mine only goes up to 102.8Nm. So, for now the proper torquing procedure is as follows: Tighten the fastener until you hear a click and then give it a little extra after. I also noticed I have lost my 18mm hex socket or never had one. I have a 17mm and a 19mm, but no 18? Have to score one of those bad boys before I leave for Nashville on Friday, so I can properly torque down my rear sprocket nuts before the race.
I geared up for a test ride. I was a somewhat anxious. I didn't know what to expect. Well, I did know what to expect in theory. Real world application is usually a little different, however; and the interpretation thereof is highly subjective. I knew that I would be seeing higher RPMs for any given speed than I was used to. I assumed that my speedo would be even more inaccurate than it already was due to running a 190/50 rear tire instead of the stock size of 190/55.
On a side note: The stock 2010 BMW S1000RR does not have the high inaccuracy percentages in speedometer readings that plague all the Japanese bikes; for example my 2009 Suzuki Hayabusa was reading fast by over 9%. The difference between the Pirate in stock form and my GPS was about 1%.
I also knew that I had traded top end speed for some low end grunt and that the midrange would probably be torquier, too.
I decided to go ahead and do some preliminary road testing of my new throat mic and the universal Finger Grip RAM mount for my Droid X, since I needed a GPS to verify my actual road speed anyway. But that is for another post at another time. As it turned out, the speedo reading wasn't affected at all, at least not where I could tell the difference. This observation leads me to venture a guess and assume that the ABS's rear wheel speed sensor is used to calculate road speed and mileage. That the only reason why my speedo is off by about 5 miles or so at cruising speeds is that by using a differently sized tire I changed a constant in the formula and that this constant can be reprogrammed to actually match a differently sized tire. I had thought about asking my BMW dealer about this before. But why bother? I only have one Hayabusa-sized rear tire left, and I'll burn that one up in one race weekend. Then the problem will take care of itself. =D
As I dropped down the curb and turned out of my driveway into the street, I realized when I came to the stop sign, that I had already forgotten the main reason I was going for a ride: the gearing change. Oops… I just peeled out of there like I usually do. Controllable, then; I'd say. Looks like I won't have any worries after all.
After I turn onto the main road I verify that the DTC is in 'Race' mode, as it should be, and then I lay into the throttle a little. She's definitely more ferocious sounding! Of course, that's to be expected, the poor girl is now screaming along at higher RPMs than what she's been asked to do before. I know I'm going to pay for this shift toward badassery in the Pirate's attitude with plenty o' Rum. I have a feeling she's going to be a lot thirstier than she used to be. She's a loudmouth now, too. Also a definite side effect of the higher RPMs required.
I like the way the new race chain transfers power. The feedback transmitted through the frame seems slightly different. Smoother. Less pronounced, maybe? Seems that shifting is even a little easier. But maybe I'm just in my groove tonight.
I had also decided in favor of the 520 conversion. From the factory, the S1000RR sports a size 525 118-link o-ring chain that runs on a 17-tooth countershaft sprocket and a 44-tooth rear sprocket. My bike's stock chain was made by Regina. I don't know if this is true for all 2010 S bikes, but if it is like the OEM tires, then there might be different brand chains, too.
Another superfluous side note: There are at least two different pairs of shoes that an S1000RR could be wearing on the showroom floor, at least to my personal knowledge. I lucked out and mine came with a set of Metzelers RaceTec Interact K3. I liked those tires, but I just can't afford them. The other option that I spotted were Conti Attacks, but I can't remember the exact model nor the compound.
I never liked the stock chain. The first time it rained, it rusted and after trying a few things to polish the oxidation back out, I finally gave up. It also stretched way too much, way too soon. I constantly had to adjust the tension. This behavior eventually dropped off to infrequent, though. The chain also feels jerky and loose in the upper adjustment range (around 40mm), it definitely seems to perform better on the tight end of the scale (around 30mm). I still don't like it. I already like the RK chain tons better, and I adjusted it to about 39mm, which is looser than I would normally prefer.
Maybe the 520 conversion has something to do with the different feedback I'm getting from "down below"? The 520's links are not as wide and the rear sprocket is aluminum, so I know the entire setup is lighter than the stock components, but I couldn't tell you how significant the weight reduction is. I'll weigh the stuff when I revert back to my street setup, just for curiosity's sake.
My persistent worry of changing my bike into an uncontrollable rear-tire-smoking wheelie-machine was also grossly unfounded. I managed to ride her just fine, it looks as though I have learned a little throttle control along the way after all. I couldn't bring myself to do a full-throttle run, though. It was dark and, although pretty late for a Monday, there was still too much traffic on the road for me. I do know that acceleration is much more aggressive with the new setup. Whereas before she blew your socks off, now you better hang the fugg on!
I think I'm going to like the setup I chose for the Nashville Superspeedway. It will make the track easier to run, that's for sure. It may even help with my lap times. I did a few corner-entry exercises while I was out there on my 12-mile test ride from about a ton or so down to 50. This will work in my favor, definitely. I think this will also help me to stay in the proper RPM range, it feels better "up there" now. For whatever reason, I'm also not as nervous about downshifting… sometimes, for fear I won't be able to complete my downshift before I have to turn-in, I just say screw it and don't and then end up lugging through my silly ass through the turn, because now I definitely don't want to downshift. LOL I know that this is related to my tendency of starting my corner-entry way too early and then taking my sweet time to slow down, so that I can shift and throw it over. Maybe it's because I want to do one thing at a time. Maybe it is a holdover kink I had acquired when momentarily losing the rear on that blasted CBR600RR during a badly executed downshift with no slipper-clutch to save me from myself. Up until that point I didn't even know what a slipper clutch was supposed to prevent. *moan*
I don't know. I'm working on it, am slowly getting better at it. I will get this under control, but it'll take a few more baby steps before I'm happy with my corner entry. I practiced doing all of it a little quicker and a little less sequential, if you will, because for some odd reason the new gearing makes me more confident… I really don't get it. Oh well, why question it? It's good. So it shall be until the next kink has to be worked out. This has got to be worth a second or two at least. 🙂 We'll see later this year at JenningsGP. I want to get below 1:30. That's five seconds. Can I do it???
Wired For Safety: Because if the stuff falls off…Posted: March 1, 2011 Filed under: How-Tos & Walkthroughs, Wrenching & Maintenance | Tags: how-to, learning, learning curve, motorcycle road racing, passing tech, postaday2011, race prep, safety wiring, tools, track day, track requirement, walkthrough, wrenching 11 Comments
…we're not going to have a good time.
I don't know what it is about safety wiring, but the task seems overwhelming and insurmountable and a big pain in the backside when you think about it; not to mention it is confusing when you first are faced with a list of stuff to secure properly to pass Tech at a track. I've been procrastinating this safety wiring project for the better of six months and I finally decided to tackle the subject in small increments.
Let's start off with the important stuff:
The Tools of the Trade
- Safety wire pliers: This is a specialty tool that is technically not necessary, since you could clip the wire to size with wire cutters and twist the stuff with a pair of needle nose pliers. Technically. Do yourself a favor and buy one of these puppies! You'll thank me later. No, seriously! Miss Busa is making these mandatory!
- Safety wire: The thickest wire I am using is 0.041″ T-304 stainless steel marine-grade lock wire, which is a perfect match for those 1/16″ drill bits. However, I use various thicknesses for different applications. I also use 0.032″-diameter and 0.02″-diameter wire. The skinnier the wire, the easier it is to work with, but due to its lesser tensile strength, it's more likely to break. I like to use the thick stuff for places that have to be wired and are very unlikely to have to be undone. A medium-thickness wire is a pretty good all-around choice and I use it for most of everything that needs to be wired up. The skinny wire is great for wiring up such things as grips and rearset components.
- Racing safety pins: Completely optional, but they make life at the track so much easier. I like to use these in places where the wiring has to be undone and redone quite often, such as the oil fill cap, the radiator cap, the oil filter, the rear axle nut. Pay attention to the rulebook though, you may not be able to use these in certain places; the oil drain plug would be a common exception to their allowed use.
- Tab washers aka safety wire washers: Also completely optional, but these make things much more enjoyable. Also keep some of these in your tool box, you'll never know when some extra-anal white-gloved tech inspector wants you to secure this or that and now you're hard pressed to fix the problem since your drill is at home, no anchor point is within reach and your day could have just went down the tubes if it weren't for these little lifesavers. 🙂 I like to use them where points of attachments are difficult or too distant to be feasible. You use them like a washer, torque the fastener down onto them, then use pliers to bend the tabs up around the bolt's head. You can then secure your safety wire to the tab that has the hole in it. Obviously, you cannot use them as anchor points for safety wiring the exact same bolt you are attaching them to. That would be silly.
- Safety wire drilling jig: This is another specialty tool and a must-have item if you do not have a drill press and have to manually drill the holes into the bolt heads. Miss Busa is making this a mandatory purchase as well! No whining. Just order the jig set when you order the pliers and the safety wire.
- QUALITY 1/16″ drill bits. I mean it. Buy junk and they'll break or won't get you all the way through to the other side before they turn dull and useless! I've bought some DeWalt 1/16″ Split Point Cobalt drill bits which are claimed to have "maximum life in metal" and are rumored to "start on contact". I can attest to both of these statements being fairly accurate so far.
- Automatic (spring-loaded) punch: Mine was broken, so I had to make do without; which isn't a big deal IF you bought the aforementioned QUALITY drill bits. Tell me you didn't buy junk! This is an optional item, unless you didn't listen and bought a ten-pack of "titanium nitrate" bits for $1.98, then it becomes mandatory. This tool is used to make a little indentation for your drill bit to sit in to get you started and to help prevent the bit walking all over the place while you attempt to do so.
- Drill: I have some housewife-grade cheapie by Black & Decker. Variable speed, quick-release chuck, reversible. It does me just fine with those DeWalt drill bits.
- Vise: You either have to have one of these or try and talk your buddy into holding the piece for you while you come at them with the drill. 😉 I use a little suction cup mounted articulated hobby vise I got at Harbor Freight. I have no garage or workshop, so this little guy is prefect for the occasional Tool Time session.
- If you've got the cash to burn and the workshop to go with it, you might want to forgo the whole vise-and-drill thing and go out and get yourself a decent drill press. Way more accurate and way quicker, but overkill if all you'll be needing it for is drilling a few holes into bolt heads to stick some wire through. Have a friend who has one? Pack your crap, hop on your bike and go see him. Don't forget the pizza and the beer.
- Cutting oil: If you're trying to find "cutting oil" you'll run yourself nutters. Some people use WD-40 to cool down their bits, others use machine oil, or multi-purpose 3-in-1 oil. You get the picture. You'll need something to keep the drill bit from overheating and to ease its passage through some of the tougher stuff you'll ever find yourself drilling holes through. If the bit gets too hot, it'll break.
- Safety glasses: This goes without saying. A scratched eyeball hurts like hell and you can't ride motorcycles when you're half-blind. Put 'em on!
Let the Fun Commence
Today, I'm doing caps and calipers. Since I have a short attention span and find learning how to safety wire almost as coma-inducing as teaching myself suspension tuning, I can only handle this mess in short spurts. I already have my axles, oil filter, and oil drain plug done. I will have to write them up later. Fear not, as this comes together I will re-organize these posts and work them into a proper how-to. This is really just something to get you started, to give you time to gather up all the tools you'll need and give you a general idea of what is coming. I will take the mystery out of this subject yet. Because this is one of these things: You're totally lost when you see the list of junk in the rulebook you have to properly secure, some of it makes sense. Some of it is vaguely familiar and some of it has you drooling form the corner of the mouth, mumbling incoherently. "Oil gallery plugs" anybody? As luck would have it, those beyotches may be secured with RTV silicone; a girl can do that laying on her back in two minutes flat. 😉
- Always take the parts you need to drill off the bike. Before taking them off, a lot of people like to mark their fasteners when they are properly torqued, so they know where to drill the holes for the wire. Plan how you are going to wire up the fasteners that you are taking off. Remember that safety wiring has to tighten one bolt as another tries to come loose, so the tension should always be to the right of each fastener, which will route the twisted safety wire in an s-shape between them once two bolts are wired together. Plan on drilling your holes accordingly. Some people drill more than one set of holes for just that reason, but I bet those are the same peeps who also own one of those snazzy drill presses. (I will post pictures of every secured bolt on my bike when I'm done. A pic is worth a million words and a hundred google searches!)
- Secure the part in your vise. Make sure you don't bend or break anything. Always wrap your part up in a shop towel or use soft vise pads to avoid damaging anything. That's one reason I decided to thread the bolt into the drill jig, even though my vise has soft rubber-capped jaws. That's not exactly how you're supposed to use the thing, or is it?!?
- Mark your fastener with your automatic punch, if you have one.
- Put a drop of oil on the drill bit and on the bolt.
- Carefully start drilling, making sure that your drill bit stays put and doesn't wander around. With the DeWalt bits I mentioned earlier this is not a problem, they stay put, even without a punch to mark the spot. Once you have the hole started, speed up the drill and add a little bit of pressure, not too much, though, if you bend the bit you'll break it. Let the bit do the work for you. Be patient. You'll see metal shavings piling up, I prefer to clean those out with cotton swabs, wipe the drill bit off and add some more oil, then I resume drilling. Each bolt took me about 5-6 minutes to drill. I didn't break a single bit either. 🙂 Remember those "titanium" cheapies? Yeah, I tried those first. After 10 minutes of nothing much happening, I finally admitted defeat and changed to the DeWalt's. A world of difference! The no-name bits are going to have to be re-dedicated to drilling holes into wood or styrofoam… they suck!
- I decided to drill straight through the bolt heads, using the first hole as a guide to start the second hole. I thought that this may be a mistake and would make me break a bit, but it worked like a dream. The holes are nice and clean and perfectly aligned, which will make wiring these up a cinch, no matter where they end up in relation to each other. And I did a way better job than the ex-BMW dealer did on my axle nut, if I dare say so myself.
- The caps were easy. I decided to drill the radiator cap from the back side, so in case the bit slipped I wouldn't scratch up the "pretty side". That was probably a mistake, since I had to use my Dremel to deburr the side the drill exited, which is probably going to cause it to rust. We shall see. If I had to do it over, I'd drill the holes front to back. I drilled both sides of the cap because I couldn't remember which was the one I had decided to drill. Should have marked it, but thought I wouldn't forget. I put the racing safety pin on the side that I'm betting on. We shall see if I didn't drill that extra hole for nothing.
- The oil fill cap is plastic and was done in a few seconds. It took me longer to put the part in the vise. I decided to drill both sides, because the cap could end up at a number of different angles in relationship to the safety wire's anchor point.
Papa Razzi Goes To The TrackPosted: February 23, 2011 Filed under: BMW S1000RR, From Elsewhere, Team PLD Racing | Tags: action shots, BMW S1000RR, Canon, Ed Bargy Racing School, event photography, Florida, Framed By Joe Photography, FramedByJoe.com, JenningsGP, motorcycle road racing, Mr. Slow is awesome, Nikon, postaday2011, racing, racing school, Team PLD, track day, track photography 2 Comments
Mr. Slow, who is my personal PR manager (he brags about his wife behind her back) and track photographer (he takes pictures wherever he is, just so happens he found himself at a race track with a camera in his paws and bored out of his mind), has finally uploaded some pics to his site.
When he sent me the link, the first words out of my mouth were: "Just 43? You're not done yet, I see." His reply was: "No, baby. I am done. That's the cream of the crop." I beg to differ, but he has standards, whereas I do not. A serial killer puts more thought into choosing a memento than I do with track shots. As long as it isn't blurry, I'm hanging onto it.
I paid $40 for the official track photographer's CD, and it only had 22 photos on it. I purchased it for two reasons: I am a photo whore and I wanted to compare the quality between the track photographer's shots and Papa Razzi's. Papa Razzi won hands down. Where the track photographer had to divide their attention between everybody on the track, my husband only concentrated on me and later on also included a friend I had made at the school. Isn't he sweet?
He said it basically came down to equipment rather than skill of the photographer. They used an older body but a $10K telephoto lens. Papa Razzi can't afford pricey glass like that, because he has a high-performance woman on his bank roll, so he made up for the lack of optical zoom in resolution. He probably will tell me I have it wrong, but that's how I understood it.
At any rate, check out Papa Razzi's photos from the Ed Bargy Racing School and track day weekend at JenningsGP in Jennings, Florida. Tell him what you think. I think they're awesome and competitive with some of the other photographers out there. But I'm about as biased about the quality of his photos as Mr. Slow is objective on the subject of how fine my rear end looks when it is hanging off the bike.
Linky to FramedByJoe.com
The Ed Bargy Racing School at JenningsGPPosted: February 19, 2011 Filed under: BMW S1000RR | Tags: BMW S1000RR, corner entry, corner exit, cornering, Ed Bargy, Ed Bargy Racing School, knee dragging, learning, mock race, motorcycle road racing, pass n' spank, postaday2011, racing, racing technique, riding, riding kinks, Riding Skills, skill development, starting procedure 4 Comments
Ed Bargy vs. Kevin Schwantz
As I walked into the classroom, Ed Bargy, after getting my name, greeted me with: "So, you are the Kevin Schwantz graduate. Forget everything he's taught you. I will teach you some stuff you can actually use."
Ba-dam-CHING! Sounds like I had paid two extra large to spend a weekend at the track and hang out with a World Champion. Well, crap!
Yup, he's a racer. I like this man already. It is going to be a fun-filled day of information overload and scattered knee dragging. Ed Bargy set a fast pace, off and on the track. He had a lot of material to cover and between the classroom lectures and the six on-track sessions, I spent the entire day running like a madwoman whose ass was on fire between three locations: classroom, pit, track, pit, classroom,… in my race boots! Mr. Slow had set up our pit in the Back Forty. In the GRASS!!!
The previous night, we pulled in seven minutes before the gate closed, dead tired but kept awake by generous amounts of caffeine, paid our gate fee and started looking for a spot to make our home for the weekend. I pointed to an empty paddock pad, two over from the hot pit entrance and close to the registration building and classrooms. Right up front!!! He says: "We don't have a trailer, I'm not going to back in there." Arrrrrgh! I was exhausted after having stayed up all night and most of the day prepping my bike. I had never been here and was completely clueless. Hell, maybe this place was run like the military, you didn't get a concrete slab unless you… well, earned it. I didn't argue, we parked the truck, unloaded the bike and set up our pit, pitched the truck tent we had acquired for just this purpose, inflated the truck bed air mattress, tossed our sleeping bags inside and pretty much fell into a coma as soon as the cords got pulled on the mummy hoods.
This Is Your Wake-Up Call
The morning got off to a cold start, when we were awakened by people talking while unloading their bikes, setting up and getting ready for the day. I still had no clue when I was expected to show up and where, but luckily they announced everything over the PA system. Mr. Slow met me in the registration building with a steaming cup of joe. The man knows me. There is no approaching me pre-coffee. I was relatively calm, I felt refreshed and ready to take my riding to the next level. Of course, I didn't need to be there until tomorrow to register for my track day. The lady told me just to go ahead and go to the classrooms, Ed was already there.
First Things First: The Track Walk
Class began with a track walk. Of course, "walking" was done under power in first gear. We stopped at key points at the track and Ed Bargy talked about its features and how to use them to our advantage. Got it! This is the first thing every serious racer or rider should do. Walk the track. There is stuff you'll notice you won't be able to see at speed. Subtle but important things that will help greatly in line selection. The best line around the track is the fastest line, and that is not necessarily the shortest. And in order to be fast, you have get to know the lay of the land. Literally. JenningsGP, which was designed by Ed himself and is a motorcycle-only racetrack, is relatively flat. No extreme features, no elevation changes to speak of, some turns are slightly cambered or banked, and the entire 2-mile track is mostly wide open. It is definitely divided into a fast section and a tight section. Turns 3-9 are pretty tightly grouped together, then the track opens up again entering into Turn 10 and you can pretty much stay on the gas all the way through Turn 14, onto the front straight, slow down briefly for Turn 1 and then onto the gas again until you get back around to Turn 3. Repeat.
The track has no rhythm to me. It seems too narrow and claustrophobic in its wide open sprawl. There are no blind corners or hills to obscure your visibility. I don't like this. For some reason it messes with my focus. I see too much too soon. I knew from studying the track map that I may not end up liking the way this particular track is laid out, but it was perfect for what I came here to do: Quit entering turns like an old biddy in her Oldsmobile and get my corner entry sorted. If hauling it down from 150+ to throw it into T3 doesn't do it then I don't know what will.
This Girl Can't Ride
My first few sessions were barely keeping up. I was literally riding by the seat of my pants, and they still got away from me. What in the hell? Screw it! I started doing my own thing, since I did not like the way I was riding. Unorganized, frenzied, rushed, without method. I slowed a little and started turning laps without touching my brakes. This track indeed does not sing to me, like Barber did. I can't find its rhythm, so I can't dance. I'm picking my lines, experimenting with various options, but I like none of it. I feel out of my element. Like a wall flower at a beauty pageant. I'm getting a little despondent, but I try to concentrate on the material covered and execute. My focus is not there. Every once in a while a control rider passes me and taps the tail section of his bike with his left hand. "Follow me!" I did and found that I was doing better copying someone else's rhythm. But again, eventually they left me and I was on my own yet again. I was torn between heeding the call of my competitive nature and keeping up with the boys and tearing it up and doing the smart, responsible thing and moderating my speed back to about 80% of my skill envelope so I could focus on technique. Crap! I'm not liking this at all! Disconnect. Major disconnect.
Say What?!? A Racer You Are Not!
What in the world have I done now? You can't even keep up with the second slowest group of students and you want to do what exactly?!? Go racing? They'll pull you off the field for being a safety hazard you're so damned slow! Good gawd, woman! After three sessions, which progressively improved, it finally dawned on me. As we were heading out to the track I asked Mr. Bargy: "So the slowest of the four groups is to the right, the fastest on the outside?" He confirmed my suspicions. The drawing on the dry erase board was flipped upside down. Doh! I remember Ed even mentioning that and I still got it reversed in my head. This explains a few things! Definitely! No wonder I was feeling off. Instead of staging with the second slowest group, I got in line running in the second fastest. Ed just laughed when I smacked my forehead and said with a giggle: "Well, that would explain why I couldn't keep up to save my life." This would also explain why I had to ride by the seat of my pants. I had not the time to collect proper reference points for myself. Fortunately, I have always made it a point to teach myself "Riding by Reading" rather than "Riding by Repetition". If you don't know what this means, don't worry, it is a subject worthy of another blog post. But in essence, if you know how to "read" the road or track while you ride, you'll be fast no matter where you go. If you are a "repetition rider" you'll smoke your buddies on your home turf, but go elsewhere and you are as lost as a kitten in a litter of hungry puppies.
With renewed confidence and motivation I went outside, suited up, took possession of the Pirate at the corner of the registration building where Mr. Slow waited for me. I think he started feeling a twinge of guilt about pitting his Baby in the grass in the waaaay back! Yeah, buddy! Walk a mile in my race boots…
More My Speed…
I got in line with the peeps who would be more my speed and was ready to get down to business. I had some catching up to do in skill development and corner entries to work on at a speed more conducive to improving my game. Baby steps, yes ma'am! I was rudely interrupted in my reverie when one of the control riders pointed at me, at himself, and then behind him. I followed the arc of his left hand and saw that he had Margie Lee on her silver Ducati in tow. It was obvious he wanted me to come with him. What the hell? I didn't like this at all. You, my man, are disrupting my plans. Apparently Mr. Control Rider is a lady's man. His lonesome studly self gathering about him all the women in the group?!? Can you be anymore blatantly obvious? He was on his way of making me dislike him. He had already pissed me off once, and this must be due punishment for not hanging on his every word and doing as I was told, "Yessir, may I have another!" I might be shy, but I can be very verbose when it comes to calling bullshit where I see it. Go ahead and try me, I have no tolerance for it. And if you do, you'll be the one having to pop a Xanax in the after-action review. But this one's also for another time and another story. And I will share! Fret not.
You! Come With Me!
I had to wait until my group was starting to pull out before I could get out of line, we were pretty much bunched up tire to tire. I cranked my upper body around to make sure that the rider behind me was aware of what I was doing and then slipped out of line and waited for Mr. Lady's Man and Margie Lee to pull out and fell in behind them. Yawn! He was going so slow, I was wondering if I should drag rear brake to give the engine something to pull against. I dismissed my misgivings and took the opportunity to collect much needed reference points and reconsider line selection. Besides, my tires were still cold, so it's all good. After another lap of this, I had enough. I eventually passed Margie Lee and at some point I must have passed him or he had just left us at one… I can't recall, but "frankly mah dear, I don't give a damn" where he was. I was doing my thing, finding my groove, at my own pace designed to maximize my learning process. Previously I was getting rather disgusted with myself and wondering if I would ever manage to carry enough speed into these turns to get my knee down; but it wasn't before too long I was dragging some serious knee and passing people by taking it up their inside; or using the Pirate's awesome power to my advantage by letting myself drift wide and then passing them on the outside. Plenty of times where someone showed me a wheel and I showed my pretty front end to someone else. I was passing. I was getting passed. It was glorious. I started feeling my competitive edge creeping back in and I got swept up in the moment. I was starting to really enjoy myself and I felt like I finally was learning something.
Starting Procedure Practice
At the end of the school we had a mock race, but Ed preferred to call it "Starting Procedure Practice". Mr. Lady's Man had told us that we will be gridded by our observed skill levels. Ed told us not to worry about grid position. The field will sort itself out, no matter what position you start in. The fast riders will be in front, the slower riders end up in the back and the intermediate group will duke it out in between. I bet some imaginary money on what position Mr. Lady's Man assigned to me on the grid, but I lost the bet. I wasn't dead last after all. There was one dude who was worse off than me. At least I had the inside line in the last row. I told him that we're just going to have to roll this up from the rear. He laughed and agreed.
I made it a point to be there right after first call. I sat on the entrance to pit road and waited. Dan, who is Race Control, held his right hand up, all five fingers splayed out and yelled at us over idling engines: "See this? That is your FIVE BOARD. Go!" He stepped off to the side and let us enter pit road to take our warmup lap and assume our assigned grid positions. We were using the standard WERA staggered grid pattern of 3-2-3. From my position in the sixth row with only one rider behind me, I could see the entire field. I wasn't nervous at all, which was strange. I happened to look at the Starter when the 3-Minute Board came up. Time to pay attention now. I lowered my face shield and put my bike in gear. I was ready. The 2-Minute Board was displayed fairly quickly thereafter. I exhaled when the Starter displayed the 1-Minute Board. Apparently I had forgotten to breathe. Sideways. I rev up the S1000RR to 9,000 RPM. My shiftlight illuminates at about the same time the green flag comes out and I smoothly ease the lever out in one quick, controlled movement. The Pirate responds and I find myself passing people on the grid. This is a far cry from the starts I laid down at the drag strip. It is the same thing, pretty much. I don't know why I can't be smooth at the strip. Never mind that now, Turn 1 is coming up. I have a clear shot on the inside, but decide to stay in the middle. for a better drive into Turn 2. I am not aware of the other riders. No, I am aware of them, but I don't know who they are or where they came from on the grid. I know I now have people behind me, since I passed a few on the grid. But never mind this. My tires are still not up to temperature and I decide to concentrate on what I'm doing, not what everybody else is up to. All I know is that I'm always in second place. The guy in front of me? He needs passing. That's all I worry about. I'm having a hoot. I am in my element. I thrive on this.
I have reached a new level in my braking technique. Trial by fire. I notice that a lot of these people like to park in the corners. When you have no brake lights to give you a clue, you have to be extremely aware of your immediate surroundings. If their nose is dipping it's a telltale sign they are on the skids hard. And when your front end is almost stuffed up their tail pipe it's high time to take some countermeasures to avoid collecting. I notice a front wheel in my peripheral vision and have to dismiss the awful thought that my continued success of keeping both my contact patches engaged is entirely at the mercy of the unknown variable behind me.
This is the exact reason why I don't ride in groups on the street and when I do I hang in the back, because I trust in my own capabilities over those of others and rather keep the trouble up front where I can see it. Yet, here I am putting myself at the mercy of others at grossly higher speeds. Strange how I abhor something on the street and thrive on it on the track. There is a reason why they make us take our mirrors off; and it has nothing to do with safety or drag coefficient. I'm sure we'd have to change our diapers several times per race if we could see what exactly goes on directly behind us. Best not to think about it at all.
The Color Of Adrenaline
I have not a clue how I finished in the mock race. All I know is that I got passed and passed others… I do know that I rode harder than I ever had in my entire life. I started sliding the rear I accelerated so hard out of turns. I almost tucked the front on several occasions because I had to brake so hard while leaned over to avoid running up on someone in mid-corner. Ed Bargy wanted us to feel for these limitations of available traction. That is how you know how much you have left. We need to be able to control these without having to wipe our butts later or freaking the hell out and wadding it. The more I do it, the less anxious I am about front end tuck or rear end slides. I'm learning. Slowly. But baby steps is what it takes to improve without wrecking your shit. I'm ok with that. I have a few payments left on my BMW.
Don't race what you can't afford to wreck. That's what they say. When have I ever let stuff like that stop me? Let me think… hmmm… nope, can't come up with anything at the moment. I race what I have, run what I brung. But I race it sensibly. I aborted passes, didn't take opportunities to pass, or let someone pass because the risk to do otherwise was too great. There was no money at the finish line. There were no points waiting for me at the checkered flag. There were no sponsorships at stake. My ego only drives my machine so far. This girl knows when to hold 'em and she definitely knows when to fold 'em. I race my own race. I have no testosterone-driven need to be a track day heroine. I have nothing to prove to anybody but to myself, and most of what I prove to myself has nothing at all to do with raw speed or position.
Check The Appropriate Box
After our mock race we pitted our bikes and went back to the classroom to take our written examination. The questions were multiple guess and all related to racing procedures. Ed said that this test was "closed book, but open can." Those of us who were inclined to do so were invited to help themselves to an ice-cold can of brew with Ed while we were taking our test. I made a huge exception to my standing rule of zero-tolerance for alcohol and caffeine while participating in a race or track weekend. But I could not pass up an opportunity to have a beer with Mr. Bargy. Shortly after grading our tests we received our Provisional Novice shirts and Certificates of Completion. We also got to keep Ed Bargy's book "Introduction To Motorcycle Roadracing", a $50 tire discount coupon which I ended up using the following day; a coupon for a discounted track day which I couldn't use because I had already registered and paid for Sunday; and a 10% off coupon for the chassis alignment and setup services of G.M.D. Computrack Atlanta.
This Was Fun! Can I Do It Again?
Overall I had a great time. I learned a ton, improved my lap times by 17 seconds over the span of six track sessions, gained a great deal of consistency in my riding and learned to trust my machine. I never had the S1000RR on a track. I trusted her on the street, but had no clue how I would get along with her on the track. I never ran Dunlop Sportmax Q2 tires on the track either. I still love these tires and will continue to run them, since they are priced moderately and perform their duties very well, street or track, wet or dry. Once I started trusting my tires and my bike at higher speeds and steeper lean angles, things started happening for me in a good way. I am happy with my progress, but still have lots to work on. Oh, before I forget: I did shorten my corner entry by a significant amount. When I first started, I initiated slowing down and then braking at the first brake marker. I carried an average of 60 mph into Turn 3, which was the turn I consciously measured my overall progress on, but it wasn't the turn I did best in, as I would have expected. Turn 1 was the turn I did my best in as far as corner entry goes. By the end of the day I started braking halfway between brake marker 2 and 1, without rolling off the throttle prematurely and "sunday driving" it to my braking marker, and carried speeds of about 90 mph into the turn and had to actually downshift before stuffing the Pirate in and putting my knee on the ground.
Fun With Still Caps
I still could get more aggressive on my exits and get on the gas just a little harder. I have always had a tendency to get on the throttle as soon as I got to the apex of the turn, but I always finessed it rather than giving it a good, aggressive drive out. I'm nowhere near my traction limit at the apex, which is probably a good thing, considering that I constantly seem to find myself dealing with some slowasses backing up traffic mid-corner, which leaves me room for braking and "changing lanes". At JenningsGP I shouldn't have this problem. I can see them way ahead of time, but I end up putting my nose down for them anyway. I just can't help myself. I should moderate my speed and anticipate the bunching-up effect, but I never do. I always think that I won't be catching up with them, since they are the ones that got away from me in the straights.
Here's a little educational something where Miss Busa demonstrates how NOT to do it. Enjoy! 🙂
*The thing got mangled during encoding by YouTube for some reason. It plays fine locally on Mr. Slow's Mac, so I am not fixing it. The important stuff is there. I apologize.*


text:
Complying with international reporting regulations
Pallinghurst Resources is a private equity company focused on two distinct areas: the mining sector including platinum group metals, steel-making materials and gem fields; and luxury brands, particularly Fabergé. Its primary focus is on underperforming assets and businesses that lack direction, are poorly managed, stranded or distressed. In producing the company's annual report and SENS release we had to convey a complex set of corporate messages to a truly international audience and all in accordance with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange regulations.

subset: commoncrawl


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Australian governments at all levels need to implement tax reforms and not delay difficult decisions, ACT Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr has told CEDA's Economic and Political Overview event in Canberra.
"Every treasurer in the country knows the Federation is broken, that all our budgets are under stress and if we don't begin the process of tax reform, it's going to get a lot harder to achieve that reform in the years ahead," he said
For Canberra and the ACT, tax reform is vital for the Territory's economic future and development.
"The most important thing…for our economy is a continuation of our taxation reforms," he said.
"It's how we will be competitive nationally and internationally…but it's also how we will manage to pay for various infrastructure needs that this community has and the various service delivery needs."
In the ACT, 35 per cent of people are directly employed by the Federal public service and expected cuts are estimated to take $600 million out of the economy which will have flow on effects to the private sector, Mr Barr said.
"I don't think the current Federal Government will enjoy the revenue streams that the Howard government had," he said.
"We cannot rely on the Commonwealth Government and the Territory government has no expectations that the Commonwealth Government will do anything to help Canberra and help this economy for the foreseeable future."
As a result, he said the ACT government's focus will be on developing the private sector, infrastructure and the health and education services.
"There are significant opportunities, we would anticipate a $2-2.5 billion spend on infrastructure over the rest of this decade so it is attracting the attention of national and international infrastructure markets," he said.
Also speaking at the event, ANZ Research Senior Economist, Cherelle Murphy said uncertainty is slowing business activity.
"Local firms are willing to make investment decisions in Sydney and Brisbane but they're not willing to make them here in Canberra."
Ms Murphy said the actions of the Commonwealth Government are going to impact the ACT, noting that in the upcoming budget there is likely to be a fiscal consolidation and contraction.
ABC 7.30 Political Correspondent, Sabra Lane also spoke at the CEDA event, saying the year ahead will be dominated by the budget, new senate and G20.
Ms Lane said the first budget is crucial for any government, especially this one given the pending release of the Commission of Audit Report.
"The Budget gives them a key opportunity to change the nature and tone of government specifically to increase spending or to cut spending to meet the party's election commitment," she said.
It is likely the Budget will focus on healthcare costs especially given health spending increases in the past decade across people of all ages.
"Health is 19 per cent of all government spending here in Australia," she said.
On the topic of the Senate, Ms Lane said the Government will need to gain six to seven votes on the cross bench to achieve its legislative agenda.
"Each of these senators, the Government will need to negotiate with to get them across the line," she said.
Clive Palmer will have three senators on the crossbench who won't always vote with the Government, she said.
"Mr Palmer is conservative leaning but certainly giving some indication that he won't be helping the Government on particular legislation, for example…he was quite clear he will not help lift foreign ownership restrictions on Qantas," she said.
However, the real test for the Government in terms of public opinion is how they deal with unplanned, often global events such as the Snowden leaks.
"The biggest test for any government is how they deal with the unexpected and unplanned events and how they respond to them gives the public either the confidence to trust what they are doing or to distrust what they do," she said.
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February 1, 2020
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September 3, 2019, 6:00 PM - November 26, 2019, 9:00 PM @ Art Studio
3-hour sessions. Open studio for beginning and experienced weavers to work on floor looms. Table top looms also available. Teens/Adults


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Otago Boys' High School
|Otago Boys' High School
2 Arthur Street
New Zealand
|45°52′18″S 170°29′42″E / 45.871597°S 170.495051°ECoordinates: 45°52′18″S 170°29′42″E / 45.871597°S 170.495051°E
|State secondary, day and boarding
|Latin: Recti Cultus Pectora Roborant
("The 'right' learning builds a heart of oak")
|3 August 1863
|Sister school
|Otago Girls' High School
|Ministry of Education Institution no.
|Richard Hall
| Aspinall
|School roll
|828[1] (March 2019)
|Socio-economic decile
Central block
Otago Boys' High School (OBHS) is one of New Zealand's oldest boys' secondary schools, located in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Originally known as Dunedin High School,[3] it was founded on 3 August 1863 and moved to its present site in 1885. The main building was designed by Robert Lawson and is regarded as one of the finest Gothic revival structures in the country.[4] Situated on high ground above central Dunedin it commands excellent views of the city and is a prominent landmark.
Otago Girls' High School now occupies the original site in Tennyson Street, closer to the centre of the city and is Otago Boys' sister school.
The school owns a lodge in Mount Aspiring National Park, and has regular field trips for students.
Building history[edit]
The school opened on its present site in Arthur Street in 1885. The Main Tower Block was designed by R A Lawson and built for 14,800 pounds[5] in blue stone, Port Chalmers breccia and Oamaru stone by W A Carlton. It has long been regarded as a fine design and is listed as a Category I Historic Place.[6]
Increasing roll numbers from 1903 led to the opening of the Shand Building in 1914, designed by Edmund Anscombe. He was also responsible for the Rectory, 1913, the principal's onsite residence.[7] The Shand Building, originally called "Shand Hall" cost 3,600 pounds. The following year it was extended to a design by H.H. Mandeno (1879–1972).[7][8] A memorial arch at the entrance to the grounds, built in blue stone and Oamaru stone and designed by Leslie Coombs (1885–1952) was unveiled in 1923.[9] In 1920 the Fulton Building provided six additional classrooms, but this has since been replaced with the gymnasium complex and rehoused swimming pool designed by E.J. Ted McCoy as part of the later major restoration and redevelopment of the school's buildings.
There is a teaching block, named after a former Rector, Mr. W.J. Morrell, which was erected in 1961 to a standard Ministry of Works design, though contextualised with blue stone fascias by the architect Ian R McAllum.[7] A grandstand with similar fascias on its rearward elevation forms part of a quadrangle, with the Morrell building, behind the Lawson building. This was also designed by McAllum and built from 1962 to 1963. It has a cantilevered, multiple-gabled canopy added in 1964.[7] Specialist science laboratories designed by Angus Black were constructed in 1967 and were named after the pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, an Old Boy of the school.[7] Mr D J MacLachlan, Rector from 1963 to 1985, worked tirelessly for the construction of the main teaching block which now bears his name.
This is part of the major restoration and redevelopment which saw the refurbishment of the Main Tower Block, the central feature of which is the Maurice Joel Theatre. It also involved the construction of several large new buildings, forming a new quadrangle around the former Green in the greatest expansion of the complex since the 1880s. This considerable undertaking, designed by E.J. Ted McCoy was completed in 1983.
The new buildings, though unmistakably Modernist, nevertheless sit very comfortably with the old. Where Lawson's tower block is an exemplary composition in the Scottish Baronial style, taking its inspiration from the 16th-century tower houses and reading something like a toy fort or a castle to a modern eye, McCoy's blue stone aggregate and fair face concrete echo its materials while the new complex's gun slot windows are a playful reference to the Maginot line which echoes the old building's military theme. The new buildings are also very modestly set below the old so the latter take visual pre-eminence from a distance. The project won the architect a National Award from the New Zealand Institute of Architects. It has also been pointed to as an example of his unusual ability to mix the emphatically old with the unashamedly new.
Notable alumni[edit]
The Arts[edit]
- Alistair Te Ariki Campbell – poet, playwright and novelist
- Edwin Carr – composer
- Fergus Hume – pioneering detective novelist
- Rodney Eric Kennedy – drama tutor, pacifist and art critic
- Jonathan Lemalu – opera singer
- Bill Manhire – poet and short story writer[10]
- Colin McCahon – painter
- John Grenell – country music singer-songwriter
- The four original band members of Netherworld Dancing Toys[10] – pop band
- Sir William Southgate – conductor and composer
- Mark Hathaway - One News Reporter
- Robert Laidlaw (1899–1901) – founder of Farmers Trading Company
- Murray Raffills – founder of Treble Cone skifield
- Wong Tape (1875–1967), merchant in Dunedin[11]
- Alfred Charles Hanlon – barrister[12]
- Sir John Salmond – legal thinker and judge
- Sir Bruce Robertson – judge court of appeal, president of the Law Commission
Public service[edit]
- Sir Francis Bell – former Prime Minister of New Zealand
- Peter Chin – former Mayor of Dunedin
- John Hannibal George (1901–1996), Member of Parliament[13]
- Allan Highet – former Cabinet Minister
- Sir Clutha MacKenzie – World War I soldier, worker for the blind and author
- Sir Jack Marshall – former Prime Minister of New Zealand.
- Sir Keith Park – Gallipoli soldier and senior commander in the Battle of Britain
- Eric Arthur - Canadian architect, writer and educator
- Frank Holmes – mining geologist, father of oil in the Arabian Peninsula
- E J "Ted" McCoy – architect
- Sir Archibald McIndoe – pioneering plastic surgeon
- J. Louis Salmond, architect[14]
- Ian Billcliff – cricketer[10]
- Hamish Bond – Olympic gold medallist rower
- Wyatt Crockett – All Black
- Russell Coutts – yachtsman
- Greg Henderson – cyclist
- Byron Kelleher – former All Black
- Roger Johnson – Olympian – 1968, 1972 – 400 Meter Hurdles[15]
- Richie McCaw – Rugby World Cup-winning All Black captain
- Tom Palmer – England International Rugby Player
- Mahal Pearce – golfer, winner of the 2003 New Zealand Golf Open
- Hamish Rutherford – cricketer
- Ron Scott – sports administrator
- Charles Saxton – former All Black
- Alexander Aitken – soldier, author, and mathematician
- David Gray – mass murderer
- Stewart Graeme Guthrie – police officer killed during David Gray's Aramoana massacre
See also[edit]
- ^ "Directory of Schools - as at 3 April 2019". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ Benson, Nigel; Jaquiery, Stephen (8 January 2012). "Nautical ghosts inhabit coast". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
- ^ An English artist visiting New Zealand, signing himself Evacustes in a letter to the Otago Daily Times, when the building was still mostly a design, expressed such an opinion, also that this building and the university's "would do credit to any town either in Europe or America". Otago Daily Times 23 March 1883 p.4h.
- ^ Arnold (et al), 1963 p.6.
- ^ "Otago Boy's High School (Central Block)". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Griffiths, Eccles, McCoy, 1983, pp.40–41.
- ^ Otago Daily Times 2 May 1914 p.5c
- ^ Arnold (et al), 1963 p.23.
- ^ a b c "Where Are They Now?". Otago Boys' High School Foundation. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
- ^ Ng, James. "Benjamin Wong Tape". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ "Alfred Charles Hanlon". Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ^ Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. p. 313. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
- ^ "Salmond, James Louis". New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^ "Roger Johnson". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
- T.J. Arnold (et al.), Centennial Publication Otago Boys' High School Old Boys' Register, Dunedin: NZ; Otago High School Old Boys' Society (Inc.), 1963.
- G.J. Griffiths, Alfred Eccles, E.J. McCoy, Otago Boys' High and its historic neighbourhood, Dunedin: NZ; Otago Heritage Books, 1983.
- Sweetman, Rory (2013). Above the City: A history of Otago Boys' High School 1863–2013. Dunedin: Otago Boys' High School Foundation. ISBN 9780473247720.
External links[edit]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Otago Boys' High School.
- Boarding schools in New Zealand
- Boys' schools in New Zealand
- NZHPT Category I listings in Otago
- Educational institutions established in 1863
- Jacobethan architecture
- Secondary schools in Dunedin
- Robert Lawson buildings
- Edmund Anscombe buildings
- 1863 establishments in New Zealand
- 1880s architecture in New Zealand


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You hear or read about it all the time but you never imagine that it could ever happen to you and then just like that, you get injured by a hit and run driver. When this happens, you'll probably be wondering why someone would do this to another person. Individuals like this must be brought to justice. If you or a loved one has recently been the victim of a hit and run accident, an experienced personal injury lawyer in Kitchener can explain your options. A personal injury lawyer can help you get the compensation you deserve so you can get your life back in order, even if it isn't quite 100%.
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Although you will probably be in shock, try to get as many witnesses as you can. Even if the driver takes off, there are other ways that they can be apprehended. However, witnesses are still your greatest asset. Note the color, make, and model of the vehicle as well as any other distinguishing features. File a police report next and make sure you provide all of these details to the recording officer. Hopefully, someone will have taken a picture of the vehicle on their cell phone.
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