Brian's OMRRA Season Opener
April 9/10, 2004

Summary

• It's good to be racing again after the winter break and I had a great time!
• 1st place in 450 Supersport (of 10)
• 7th place in 450 Superbike (of 16)
• New bike! New tires.

Preparation

I was hoping to get some kind of 17-inch rear wheel solution this season so that I could start using the latest race tires. After doing some research and shopping on eBay, I was talking to Scott Soper and Dave McGrath at the motorcycle show in Seattle in December. Dave had some CBR rear wheels for sale, but Scott convinced me to just buy his bike (since he's retiring from racing) and sell mine for a few hundred dollars less. I'd get the 17-inch wheel, plus a stronger motor.

It was a deal I couldn't pass up, so in March, I picked up the bike that I've finished behind for the past two seasons.

Meanwhile, my "old" bike still needs the countershaft replaced. When the sprocket fell off after the last race last year, it stripped the threads on the shaft, which requires complete engine disassembly to replace. I haven't finished that project yet.

Scott's bike needed a bit of work to get ready: new tires, a bunch of safety wiring, replacing the antifreeze with water, and a bunch of little issues.

Hmm, something seems to be missing on the old bike...

Friday April 9 Afternoon Practice

It was great to see all the familiar faces among the racers and volunteers at the track.

Is it any surprise that the brakes were both dragging and very spongy? Brake problems on my bike?

Yes, it seems to be a curse. A thorough bleeding of the brakes resulted in spongy brakes that drag a lot. While the novice school ran in the morning, Les Green (now an OMRRA Vice President) helped me bleed the brakes. They got less spongy after several laps, but they still drag.

The weather was nice, and it was a good day despite one of our practice sessions being cut short due to a crash.

Scott's bike rides a bit different than mine due to a taller rear shock and, I think, stock forks. I got some chatter in several places, so I think I may swap the forks with the ones on my old bike.

I've switched to Dunlop tires, and it feels like the D207 GP's are stickier than the BT-090's and BT-56SS's were. I was never unhappy with the Bridgestones, but it's hard to argue with Dunlop's contingency program. I'm not sure if it's the stock forks, or what, but the front tire is being destroyed, while the rear tire looks like it's hardly been ridden on.

After the afternoon practice, I tried to take Gustavo and Lizbeth out to dinner at Ganga, but Lizbeth wouldn't take my money. She even fed me a bunch of delicious left-overs on Thursday night. Such wonderful hosts I have in Portland.

Saturday April 10 -- The Races

The morning started off chilly, but the day just got warmer and warmer, eventually getting up to around 75 degrees.

The 450 Superbike qualifier was my first race. I discovered that the clutch on this bike has a bit of "grab" in the engagement. Using my launch technique from my old bike, I ended up with a big wheelie!

After getting the front end back on the ground, I chased around in the SV herd. There are a lot of new novices this year, and many of them seem to be on SV 650's. I felt like the motor really was stronger than my old one when I managed to draft and pass an SV on the front straight.

Then the 450 Supersport qualifier came shortly afterwards. I over-compensated for the grabby clutch this time, and my start sucked. It seemed like I was the last bike off the grid. However, the bike does pull hard, and I passed all the non-FZR's (GS 500's and Scorpions in this class) on the way to the braking zone, then out-braked everyone except Rocky Sloan going into the corner. Rocky had no trouble staying in front of me through the first several corners -- I think he's gotten a lot faster this year. I caught back up to him between turns 8 and 9, then passed him on the front straight and stayed in front for the next 3 laps.

I didn't run Middleweight Superbike this time, so I had a lot of time to talk to people and go watch some of the other races.

In the 450 Superbike race, I ended up 7th out of 16. I got another bad start, then had a little moment of excitement when I ran over someone's windscreen in turn 8. There was a waving yellow flag, but no debris flag out, and the SV in front of me had slowed way down. I pulled out from behind him to avoid hitting him in the corner just in time to see why he was slowing down -- he was avoiding this windscreen sitting in the track. I ran right over it, and it was a bit nerve-wracking because the front tire slid several inches, but the bike stayed up, and the pieces had been picked up by the time we came around again.

I got another bad start in the 450 Supersport race, but once again passed everyone but Rocky on the brakes in turn 1. This race felt a little wild because there were a lot of crashes, mostly from the 650 Supersport Twins class which started in the wave in front of us.

On the first lap, there was an SV laying in the grass within a couple feet of the apex of turn 8. I expected a red flag, but we only got waving yellows. By the second lap, the bike had been dragged a couple feet further from the track, and it was finally removed by the third time we came around.