The Days Are Just Packed!
And so is my shop. There are 4 more bikes here you can’t see in this photo.
Well, Hello Dolly
Here is my latest Harbor Freight thing: A dolly for a motorcycle.
What’s been going on.
The last WSMC race of the year was wet! We rode on Fri & Sat but skipped Sunday because of the rain.
Tony said the TZ was too fast, he was kidding, you can never have too much power but it was good to hear anyway.
Dave gave me his new R-6 for LE suspension work and to have it “Edafied” for racing.
Lindemann Engineering work has picked up again as people park their bikes for the winter/off season and send me forks and shocks for work.
I’ll be working with the girls from “Roadracing World” at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show this weekend. Stop by our booth and say Hi.
Randall’s 600
We re-sprung and re-valved the stock GSXR-600 shock for Randall who races with WSMC. He raced with it last month and liked it. Today at Willow Springs, I bounced on his bike it after he said it was perfect and he did not want it changed at all. I made changes to his front and rear damping and made the bike work even better. The biggest trick is helping people understand just how good their suspension can be. I have to make the changes in steps so they can get use to it. Correct suspension makes you faster with less risk and your tires last longer.
I’ve been at Tracks.
Friday with Track Daz at CVR was a good day. 6 clients and a new track. My track list is now up to 58 with CVR Backwards.
Monday at Infenion was a blast, great track and just the right bike. 5 clients.
Now I’m getting ready for the last WSMC weekend of the year. Riding with Tony on Friday in Moto-Yard. Racing on Sunday!
See you at the track.
‘90 TZ 250 Progress Report
One of the power valves broke in half while Tony was racing. Vibration kept the broken parts in place while the engine was running. When the engine was turned off in the pit’s the lower half of the PV dropped down and kept the engine from turning over when I next tried to start it.
Rather than just replace the PV I took this opportunity to improve a few other things:
As you can see the exhaust ports have been cleaned up, they also now match the pipes. The 3 small bits in the foreground connect the two PV’s at the T, you can see between the cylinders. I made the small white sleeves to fit over the arms of the T to take up the space worn into the other half of the PV connector. Vibration kills these parts fast and that connector is expensive. My hope is that the sleeves will spread out the load and make everything last longer.
Yamaha stopped making PV’s for this model and none are left in stock. The V engine TZ 250 uses the same size PV just without a notch in the shaft. Two new V model PV’s and a little time with Tony’s Mill and, Prest-O Change-O, we have ‘90 PV’s. In this picture they have already been installed.
The other picture shows the case packing I did around the reed cages. This increases the primary compression and gives better throttle response. Note the rust on the cylinder studs. This bike really is 21 years old.
73 year old Tony will be back on board this month at WSMC and if you think these are the only improvments the bike is getting you and anyone racing Tony will find out the hard way.
Off to see the Track
See you this weekend at CVR:
Friday Track Daz, room for more clients, find me in the pits and passing you on the track.
Sat & Sun I’ll be the starter except when I’m racing.
Young and thin?
Want to feel old and fat. Just try riding a small bike on a Kart track. This is me on one of Kenny’s bikes. The good news is that Kenny likes the geometry change I made after riding. There may still be some use for me as a test rider…
Photo by Race Dad, Eric.
Thanks Jim.
I raced Streets of Willow backwards yesterday, another new track on my list. Bumpy, tight, point & shoot. Got down to 1.23.81 on my ‘87 CBR600F-1 with a Fox Shox that Jim put a Penske high and low speed adjustable reservoir on and F-2 damper rod forks modified to Jim’s spec. I had a blast, thanks Jim!
58 Tracks
I raced at Streets of Willow Counter Clockwise on Sunday, AKA Steerts of Willow. That brings the total tracks I’ve ridden on to 58!
Tracks I have raced and ridden on in chronological order:
Hawaii Raceway Park, 7 configurations
Willow Springs
Seattle International Raceway
Portland International Raceway
Heartland Park Raceway
Memphis Raceway
Road Atlanta
Nelson Ledges
Suzuka
Ford Island, Pearl Harbor
Pomona AMA course
Streets of Willow
Phoenix Speedway
Daytona Int. Speedway
Laguna Seca
Sears Point Raceway
Infineon Raceway
Road America
Loudan
Indy
Button Willow
Button Willow Backwards
Las Vegas Speedway
Robling Road
Mosport International Raceway
Mid Ohio
Shannonville
Brainerd Int. Raceway
Shube
Pikes Peak
Virginia Int. Raceway
California Speedway, AMA Course
California Speedway, Interior Test Circuit
Mid America
Barber Motorsports Park
Miller Motorsports Park, AMA Course
Miller, Full Course
Talladega Grand Prix Raceway
Horse Thief Mile
Grange
Spring Mtn. Motorsports Ranch
Jennings
ICAR
New Jersey, Lightening Course
Mosport International Raceway’s Rider Development Track
Race City
Race City Mini Track
Chuckwalla Valley Raceway
Mosport Kart Track
Willow Springs Kart Track
Streets of Willow Counterclock
Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Backwards
58 Tracks so far.