Follow The Money #30
Racers Ed Sorbo and Michael Gougis discuss the pace of motorcycle technological development and what the next revolution will be. A discussion ensues about some of the more scandalous creative methods of financing race teams. Sorbo answers his phone during the podcast and tells the caller, “I’m in the middle of Deep Thinking!” Gougis comes up with a new and deeply disturbing use for a helmet-mounted GoPro …
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Trailer Suspension Table
Phase II of the Lindemann Engineering trailer set up is under way. In order to make it easier to work on forks and shocks at the track I need a suspension work station in the LE trailer. Smiling Albert Monge, owner and operator of Custom Steel Fabrication, did a great job. Tomorrow I paint. You can reach Albert at 760 912-7907 and/or amonge91@aol.com
Daytona, on the front row!
A friend sent me this photo today, it’s the grid sheet for the last AMA 250 GP race at Daytona, 2003. Yes, that’s me on the front row, just ahead of winner Rich Oliver. I had forgotten. So I pulled my notes from the race weekend, Q was rained out so the grid was based on points from the ‘02 season.
You have all heard me tell you to write it down. I have 10 pages of rider notes, 4 pages of bike notes and 16 pages of data from AMA Pro for that weekend.
You have all also heard me say that consistency matters more then your fastest lap time. Here are my lap times from the race, supplied by AMA Pro starting with lap two: 2:00.825, 00.550, 00.544, 00.772, 01.067, 00.786, 00.901, 00.366, 01.430, 01.293, 01.662, 01.833, 01.629, 00.532
That’s a spread of 1.467 seconds over 15 laps with a max difference from one lap to the next of 6 tenths. I’m not happy about that big difference, I’ll bet I had a good draft, then a poor draft.
My race notes say I lead into turn one, held 4th for a few laps, fought with Jeff Wood, Wood lost a silencer in the Chicane and pulled off, Colin Jensen went by on his crazy fast Aprillia, Perry Melneciuc caught up to me with two laps to go, I made a great pass on three back markers into T-6 and pulled a gap (the pass was on TV), Perry was right in my draft out the International Horseshoe on the last lap and I knew I had won. Crossed the line 0.015 seconds in front for 5th.
$1,550 from the $25,00 purse, $100 from Shoei, $100 from Galindo, $25 from VP. 50 guys showed up to race, 49 started, 48 finished.
My sponsors were: Bridgestone, Speed-Tune, Silkolene, EBC, Shoei, Barnett, RK, Air-Tech, Gericke, Oxstar, Held, Zero Gravity, Roadracing World, FMF and Lindemann Engineering.
Blue Ninja!
Ninja race body work for sale. Used only on weekends by an old man. Tony is turning his B bike back into a street ride. ’88 – ’07 250 Ninja. Upper, lower with catch, one piece tail. $500
Super load pipes for sale too but you have to promise not to use them on the street.
Call me 909 838-4587
Getting ready for WERA West @ Miller
How to not have problems on your next trip. Do the work before you leave.
You Say You Want A Revolution … #29
Racers Ed Sorbo and Michael Gougis discuss the development of data gathering and analysis technology for motorcycle road racing. Sorbo suggests that the entire industry was founded by a crew chief who had suffered through one too many arguments with riders – and wanted data to prove that the knucklehead wearing the helmet was completely, utterly and incontrovertibly wrong. A discussion ensues about a Customs official on the East Coast who is still bitter about the Revolutionary War (or the War of 1812) and kept Gougis from getting his really cool stickers for weeks.
wooden toolbox with tools. isolated on white.
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If you need a cat, a cat will arrive.
A cat moved in, because we like cats but my wife is allergic to them and this one was having an adverse effect on our lizard population. We like our bug eating lizards too. Enter, Anthony, needs better suspension and a solution to his rodent problem:
Particle News
Hey, Bill, it turns out that the Fischer MRX rear sets are not the same as GSXR rear sets. No problem, I have a TIG welder and now Particle has Woodcraft rear sets. Solid pegs will make shock changes easier with my peg stands as I continue testing different spring rates and shim stacks.
Check out the Woodcraft bars and brake lever guard. 335 grams lighter than the stock steal bars even with the guard.
Fox Shox
John sent me his old Twin Clicker Fox Shox from the FZR400 he picked up. Not only was I able to fix all the worn out stuff and replace the leaking hose, I replaced the cheep spring that was on it with a genuine Fox Shox spring of the correct size and rate. And not just any correct Fox spring, this Fox spring was on Particle when she entered her first race and clinched the 2011 California State Championship. Also the first race of any Fischer MRX.
No one knows what adventures this spring had before I loaded it and all the rest of Lindemann Engineering’s stuff into my trailer. At any “rate,” John will be happy with his shock.
The Bike, The Bike, The Bike Is On Fire .. #28
Amid the backing sounds of clanging and banging, racers Ed Sorbo and Michael Gougis re-spring a shock while discussing burning racebikes with a state of accuracy that may or may not bear any relationship to reality. Any deviation from truth is blamed on WERA’s Mongo. A discussion ensues about a hypothetical condition of existence, much like absolute zero, in which something reaches the state of “Ed Clean.”
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