Johan's VMCC Round 5
F1 - Ducati 998
I've been struggling with the breaking for quite some time now so for this round I had managed find a new break system coming off a 998r. It included different callipers, pads, lines and a master cylinder with a better leverage ratio. I also pulled out 2kg of dead weight around the crank to make the most out of the available power. I think the flywheel is made to make city riding smoother so it seemed like a cunning plan to toss it out.
With these changes I figured it would be good to try out the bike on Friday's practise.
The breaks were great and as soon as the new pads were bedded in I started to experiment with new break markers. We didn't get too much track time on Friday but I felt optimistic.
The engine breaking was very different without the flywheel so I tried to tweak the slipper clutch to compensate.
I still wasn't happy with feel of the drive out of the corners, so I raised the rear ~5mm to increase the swing arm angle a bit. I felt much better and I kept this setting over the weekend.
F1 Qualifying.
I knew the class was oversubscribed so I couldn't afford another technical breakdown during qualifying. I qualified 22nd, 6th row, after a mellow qualifying session with a lap time of 1:15.8 . It was going to be hard work over the weekend to get any decent points from this grid position.
F1 - race 1.
The bike had turned into a wheelie machine off the line without the flywheel but I got a decent start and started to get a feel for the bike. I could definitely break later and harder without running out of energy in the right hand which came quite handy in the 12 laps races.
I finished 12th and was very happy with the improved bike. Laptimes improved just a wee bit down to 1:14.5, half a sec over my PB, but I knew there was more to come.
LG Superbike - race 1.
I only had time for a quick refuel and rehydrate before it was time for another 12 lap race.
The grid was pretty empty with only the 7 of us.
I had a good race trying to keep up with the faster bikes. The new brakes gave me confidence to try to pass on the inside under braking going into corners. After a few laps it was obvious the other bikes were playing with me as they wheelied away on the straights. Oh well....
I saw the lap times come down to 1:14.2, another small improvement.
Sunday
F1 race 2.
I got a shocking start with the front bouncing around before I could take off. I must have been one of the last bikes to come out of turn one.
I tried to work my way up through the field and enjoyed it before the race was red flagged.
Second start was much better and the race was on again!
As I tried to brake deep into the corners I noticed a low frequency bounce under braking in the front end that hurt my confidence, but I still managed to finish in 10th place with a PB of 1:13.9!
The highlight in this race was chasing a R6 and finally over taking him on the inside going into Dunlop at the last lap.
LG Superbike - race 2.
Unfortunately I missed this race as the race order was changed and as I realised this I had already pulled the forks off the bike to sort out the bouncing issues. There was no time to get ready for the race so instead I got to enjoy watching a good race from the side of the track.
Robert Taylor listened to me describing the front end instability and he immediately diagnosed it to be too much oil in the forks. I took the forks to the CKT trailer and Dennis helped me suck some oil out. Cheers!
F1 race 3.
I was exited to try the forks now. After a few laps I found myself chasing Slowpoke and had to work hard to keep up with him. Eventually I got a good drive out of turn one and managed to keep the speed up all the way through to the hairpin where I passed on the inside under breaking. I was waiting for Spud to overtake me again at the end of straight but somehow it didn't happen and I finished 10th again, this time with a whopping lap time of 1:13.08!
The lapchart showed I was doing consistent low 13's at the second half of the race, so the forks definitely worked much better with less oil, the bike also required less effort to steer into the corners. Thanks CKT!
The two day meetings are great because you get a chance to work on different areas over a whole weekend. The longer races also open up for some good racing with a lot of over taking back and forth.
Lastly, a big thanks to all the people who helped me over the weekend...VMCC, Motomart, CKT, Luke, Sidewinder, Spud, Spud's mom and dad, Peter and the anonymous biker who help me remove the forks. Also the bike shops around Welly where I go to pick up bits and pieces for the Ducati race campaign.
And a special one to my awesome partner.
Thanks for reading all this, catch you all come round six!
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Originally Posted by Tony.OK
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