posted October 04, 2008 07:42 AM
Edited By: Shane661 on 4 Oct 2008 16:28
Instant Replay at MIR; 12 vs. 14 Etc. Friday Racheal and I attended another Jason Miller seminar. Crotchrocket (Rick) was in attendance as always with his clean ZX-12. I had my 14 back at the track after replacing the clutch, changing gearing, and installing an air shifter. Here are the two bikes side by side:
Rick suggested some changes in bike setup, and though I wasn't sure they would work for me, I decided to take his advice He had suggested that I add more gear to the bike. I was already seeing some wheelie's at +2 and +4 overall gearing. He suggested that I leave the +4 sprocket on the back, and go down one in the front. Now, I'm thinking, what the hell? I'm wheelying it and he wants me to add MORE gear? Crazy! I also made a change with the clutch springs, on his advice...using a less stiff setup.
When I got there, we talked about changing my riding technique a little. I had gotten used the the 1000 and I was being very aggressive with the throttle and really dragging the clutch pretty far out. He told me to lower the rpm, get the clutch out quickly, and simply "let the bike do the work". Well, it worked out pretty good for me. Here is my best slip of the day (#44, left lane):
The last time we were at the track, I ran Rick a couple of times. But I was very inconsistent, and my footshifting is unreliable on the 14. This time I was hoping to do a little better against him, based on the air shifter alone. Rick footshifts his bike, but is very good at it. Speaking of shifting, we both missed a shift on our first match up. I somehow managed to stab the turn signal switch, lol:
Pay attention to the .04 difference as it becomes a theme! Here is a comparison of our next two runs. Rick is #23 and I am #44:
Wow, talk about close! Look at how Rick's slips stack up. 330', 1/8th, 1000', 1/4....near identical! That is what it takes to be a good bracket racer. I have always managed to be fairly consistent...but I may have a ways to go to get to that level. Practice is the key.
Racheal took video of our two solid runs. Here is pass #1:
And pass #2...it's like a mirror image of the 1st!:
Speaking of Racheal, she had her 03 Gixxer out again. She is still working on clutch control, but she is getting a lot more consistent. I installed a video camera on her bike so that we could see what was going on, firsthand. Here is a 9.6x@144 run. She goes through the traps on the limiter. I'll probably make a gearing change soon, and she is due for an airshifter as well (not that she really needs it!):
It was a great day. I want to thank Rick again for his setup suggestions. They really fit my riding style perfectly. I am going to leave the bike setup the same for awhile and just start chipping away at my times. One more shot of the Kawasaki's:
This was the final scheduled Jason Miller Seminar of the season. We're definitely looking forward to next year!
posted October 04, 2008 02:30 PM
Great pics and vids! Congratulations!
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2008 Atomic Silver ZX-14, Brock's this and that, some other stuff, 260 in full gear, powered by Cheese
2005 Ducati 999 with all the goodies
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posted October 04, 2008 07:42 AM
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