[niterydr]

Better a late update than never:

Well the first race weekend is in the books. It was a challenging first weekend but at least I completed it. It is always good to get a benchmark. No crashes, finished all races I started. Long post as this is a brain dump. I did have a good and fun weekend overall!

First off I'd like to thank the crew that came up to help. Ryan Etheridge, Kyle Schroepfer, and Jamie Gustafson. Your help this weekend was HUGE.

Not far behind I'd like to thank the business partnerships and vendors that help me along the way.

Autoworks Collision Center Inc. for the awesome looking body work, even if the rider was "off" the bike looked good.

AXO for the protective gear. Thankfully I didn't have to test anything new but the boots/gloves/back brace work great and are comfortable.

Bel-Ray Company, LLC for the motor oil as the bike motor performed flawlessly and I was punishing it all weekend.

Engine Ice Hi-Performance Coolant on the coolant. No temperature issues at all, awesome product.

Trackside Labs for tires, suspension rebuilds, advise, and just general awesomeness. Trackside and Michelin help support the CRA and are always there at every event. From the initial setup advise, to constantly helping with tire pressures and suspension issues Brandon's help is huge.

Farrell Performance LLC for the awesome tune on the bike, it ripped so much better than last year.

To start off I had originally signed up for 4 races and I was really excited to see what the changes to the bike and rider in the off season had accomplished for the new season. Changes to bike included new Pro-Tek rear sets that moved my feet back and up 1" respectively, Kawi OEM velocity Stacks, Dynojet Power Commander, and a 14T front gear.

Saturday practice was uneventful, just getting used to the track in the cold temperatures (31 degrees Saturday morning when I hit the track) and getting familiar with the track. Bike felt a bit bumpy and my legs were cramping a bit due to the rear sets; but I chalked that up to rider in both cases.

GP3 Trophy dash was an eye opening experience. 18 laps are a bit rough to start the season with. I had troubles (mental) going left all weekend but the first few laps out were decent. Then fatigue and leg conditioning started to set in and I just had to scale it back and grind out the race. I finished so that's always a plus, but 22nd overall is nothing to write home about. Highlight of that race was riding out a 2nd gear power wheelie on the start, haven't done that before; so at least my starts with the new lights were okay overall. I also learned the fast guys are stupid fast in comparison.

Sunday was a new day and it was warmer (we started above 40 degrees!). I decided I needed more track time so signed up for HW GP and HW Superbike.
During Sunday practice I got sick and tired of having to shift so much (standard shift, no quick shifter) so we decided to switch back to the 15t front sprocket. That cut down multiple shifts and was a change for the better. I was still having a bit of bumpy feeling as my stock forks are spent I believe.

First race of the day was the first overall race of the day. Sportsman/Supertwins. This is a weird one as there are multiple bikes out there and multiple classes/rider skill levels. Officially I was entered as a middleweight sportsman novice. This race went a bit better; except I screwed up bad in corner 10 on lap 6, clipping a cone with my left knee down (only time I got down this weekend in this corner) which nearly caused me to get tossed off the bike, I also hit the cone enough to toss it up and into the belly pan/front tire (or so it felt). Calmed the bike down from its headshake and tossed it into 11 and limped across the start/finish line.
Now the lap before I thought I had seen a white flag but didn't see a checker this one. Still sore and going slow I was uncertain if the race was over until a bike came ripping around me on 13, then I knew it was still on. Tried my best to recover for lap 7, and got back up to race pace lap 8. Overall this was my best race with a 7th place finish overall, 2nd in the novices entered. Fastest lap of the weekend was here 1.52.523. Still off last year's mark, but making progress. Learned that my apex point in turn 10 is about 6-12" from where I did it that corner and to start to count laps better when riding.

The suspension felt stiff and choppy as did my left knee after that race. Brandon from trackside came over and we looked at the forks, he decided they needed to come off. He tore them down and cleaned them up/changed fluid to the best of his ability and it did feel better for the next race for a bit. He did notice that the valving was probably damaged. Honestly I probably did that on accident this winter when I changed out the fork oil and didn't put the caps on correctly (I didn't back out the adjusters upon reinstall, so I probably crushed the valving). Rookie mistake, I'll own it.

Next scheduled race was Middleweight Superbike Novice- DNS as I was icing my knee and we were doing suspension adjustments.

Next race out was Heavyweight Superbike. I was optimistic that things were better, well it wasn't stiff now the bike was chattering nearly everywhere in that race. Scary to where I had to get off the bike pretty far (farther than I am used to) in turn one to keep it "down" in the corner. I got bounced up to the top of the corner 1A a few times unless I popped a knee down coming into 1. This race ended early due to a crash and I ended up 25th overall, nearly the back marker.

Made some adjustments for Middleweight GP, still slow, still chattering, but I can at least take 1 kind of normal. Got knee down in turn 2 for the first time, 29th overall. At least my "parade/my bike is broken/I am rusty as all heck" pace is now under 2 minute laps....

Last race of the weekend, Heavyweight GP. I am tired at this point, the bike is fighting me still, I am fighting the bike, I just grind this one out. Back marker for me, 16th place.

Bike changes needed:

Overall I need to get the front forks rebuilt. I also need to do something about the rear sets as I didn't feel comfortable all weekend with pivoting my knee out (my right knee started to shake REALLY BAD on Saturday due to the angle) and shifting was a pita. I also need to flip to GP shifting as getting under the shifter at speed is a pain, a quick shifter would be nice but isn't needed.

Rider:

I need to get out of my head and trust the tires. My confidence in the suspension was shot obviously, but I was still missing brake markers and I was lazy tipping in most of the weekend. More conditioning this next month as I need to get more knee endurance and lose some weight.

Still, no injuries other than the stiffness in my left knee and I know what to work on for June.

Thanks for reading. One step at a time, only way from here is up.
-Josh