Actually I don't think I did throw a wobbly, but I can't say I wasn't somewhat disappointed at the end result.
After almost a year off racing after my accident & operation I had been looking forward to this event & jumping through hoops to get my medical clearance & then licence back along with getting the bike ready & various issues along the way, one of which I now think contributed to the bike falling on it's face on the start line.
Pretty much I had a shitty weekend from start to finish with the Ironic exception of ~ two laps into the race where I'd convinced myself not to give up an unwinnable race & was just enjoying riding the bike on a track (well the unpatched bits were better).
Keihin carbs are very sensitive to float height. Mikunis you just adjust them till the dribble & then back a bit & they don't care. I'd adjusted it on the dyno & it worked fine, but a test ride at Kaitoke had shown it was pants. A quick tweak had fixed that, but it appears not enough & the launch of the bike flooded it. The bike loaded up & wouldn't clear for what seemed like a minute. Every one was long long gone & I had pushed the bike off the track. Finally it took & I was off. In such a short race there was no chance I would ever catch up.
All that time, & blew it just there. Oh well that's racing. But it would have been better if it was a race. Nat was apparently pretty quick, but I have no way of really knowing. Timing sheets apparently said I was going slow, but last year they had me doing a reasonable time for F1 on my 50 so I don't really give them much credence esp as I was dead last in an odd place it could have screwed things up. I was actually feeling like it was going ok (did have a couple minor bogs though).
Then I jumped on the borrowed 100, & at this point I would like to say thanks to Jason for lending it to me. I can't say I'd been in the best mood & the chance of getting the bike with no set up & riding it well wasn't likely with only one practice (used the other for the 50) on sat & one on sunday. It was a pleasure to work on; every spacer etc fit perfectly & was well thought out.
The bike was missing it's forkbrace & every time you used the brakes it wound up & released making it feel very dicey. Further I'd changed the shock to one of mine & I think that was the wrong thing to do. It also needed rejetting but I changed the pipe as well into the equation. I've ridden this bike before & it was a heap better handling & a lot sharper/faster. The more I rode it the more I thought with my luck that day I'll end just end up crashing it & I really didn't want to rebreak anything having only just got some ability to ride back.
Time to quit while I'm still in one piece. There was a long drive ahead & I took the chance to go & be home in time to see my son before he went to bed. Fist time I've been away over night since he was born. You kinda get attached to these little guys.
Ohh some healthy food a real bed &
anyway. Next year. . .
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Originally Posted by F5 Dave
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