http://www.castatechampionship.com/video.php
This is beautifully edited footage of the first round of the CA State Championship, where Toye took his S1000RR to it first of many wins! Check it out!!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Willow weekend race report
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=40901
Another Lap Record Falls to Toye and the S1000RR, while Orr ups his game!
1: Photo provided by RPMGear.com
Friday
We showed up on Friday to set up in typical blustery Willow conditions and give this S1000RR its first shakedown at the tight and twisty Streets of Willow Springs during the Motoyard trackday. It really is a good thing that we did too because the setup that we had on the bike was from the Pahrump test the week prior and didn’t translate very well. Thanks to the information from the 2D data logging system and Jeremy’s rider feedback we were able to deduce where the problems were and adjust accordingly.
We started off with some simple damping adjustments to get the suspension working with the bumpy sections of the technical Streets course and once the bike was rideable, gearing was selected and we could focus on geometry for turn in, direction change, and rider feel. By the end of the day we were well on our way to a good base, but still had a few issues with the bike being harsh over bumps on acceleration and a bit abrupt on the front end. These were all things that we had a game plan on fixing that evening, but would never get around to. It turned out that we would instead have to pick up and move our entire operation to another location in the pits because the places you can park for a trackday and a race weekend are entirely different. This is fine when one is pitting out of the back of their pick up, but when it involves two motor homes, bikes, canopies, carpets, tables, vehicles, and miscellaneous things like tool boxes and chairs you can see how an evening’s worth of work gets pushed back!
Saturday
A few of our team members bit the bullet the next morning, getting up with the sun to finish the “To Do” list. This included swapping the Ohlins forks for the AK Gas forks, making a spring rate change in the shock, and changing the gearing. Practice that day was spent fine tuning the gearing and feel of the motorcycle to match the increase in speed that Jeremy was able to carry as the bike became more comfortable. Gary Orr was also able to improve throughout the day on his bike with the new Attack triple clamps, SDBMW link, and Attack rearsets.
That afternoon both riders were entered in the 20 lap Solo GTO race, but for entirely different reasons. Jeremy went out to put his setup to the test in a race simulation for the 12 lap main event the next day, whereas Gary was there to win! Launching off the line Jeremy was not only able to open up a massive gap, but he was able to smash his own lap record on the second lap, after that he was already into the lappers! Gary got a decent start, but had some work to do as he was caught behind some other fairly quick riders.
Once the 12 laps were up Jeremy pulled off so the team could collect the data and make improvements to tomorrow’s setup, leaving Gary in 1st position! Towards the end of the race Matt Quigely did start to close the gap, but in the end was no match for the S1000RR and Gary took his first win since returning to expert racing!
2: Photo provided by RPMGear.com
Sunday
Fine tuning in the morning warm up saw some more forward progress and eagerness to get racing for both riders. The first race of the day for both riders was the Open Superbike event. Jeremy again launched off of the line and won the race handily after getting the hole shot, with Gary rounding out the last step on the podium. Gary won Formula 40 in style by not only lapping the entire field, but also setting his personal best time of a 1:16.4 allowing him to sit and watch Jeremy in the F1 race with a grin on his face.
F1 started off slowly due to a wearing clutch, and Toye went into the first turn in 4th position. However, the number 57 made quick work of Karl Lowery coming out of the bowl turn on the first lap and set his sights on the two leaders Jimmy Wood and Shawn Higbee. Once he had reeled them in he displayed patience and confidence following for a few laps to see their weak points. Jeremy made the pass for the lead exiting the bowl turn with the great drive of the S1000RR. After that he put his head down and stepped the pace up to a new lap record at a 1:13.5. From there he only had to look back one time to see how big of a wheelie he could loft across the finish!
Jeremy Toye Interview:
Q: Alright you just got back from the Streets weekend and it seems like every time you roll out this bike for a weekend the results all turn out pretty darn good or you’re at least able to go very, very fast. Is the bike always ready to go right when you roll out? Tell me about the weekend in general.
A: No, this bike is definitely not track ready the second we go out because of being so brand-new and everything being so brand-new; bike, suspension components wise. There is a big learning curve and so far it's changing quite a bit from track to track and I think it will keep changing, but I think the base platform is so good on the thing that that's the reason the outcome is leaning towards the same result. You know a good result at the end of the weekend so I think that’s the deal.
Q: You guys say that you’re learning new stuff on the motorcycle. What have you dealved into thus far? Is it a lot of engine work, or is it something that has to do with a suspension mainly. Tell me a little bit about that.
A: Very minor engine work, the things very capable out of the box. We’ve made some minor rider comfort level mods such as the clutch. It’s more of a rider preference thing, but power wise is it's not really in need of that much other than possibly a little bit of tuning, a little bit of smoothing out, but the output is plenty. Chassis wise though, and that is for sure rider preference thing, is getting chassis to relate to the rider's input for comfort and for stability. Right there we’re fighting a little bit of both each weekend because it's so new it’s seems like we can make it a comfortable or stable and you don’t get both. So, that's where were spend most of time and finding more things out every weekend, and I think every weekend come across with a more even dramatic setup between the three weekends or three racetracks so far and that’s what is kind of interesting. I'm wondering if it can keep evolving and having to have a wide set up, or we’re just slowly creeping towards the… not the ultimate setup, but the base set up for this particular bike.
Q: Now with your history of riding you’ve spent a lot of time on Japanese manufactures motorcycles. Do you think the fact that this is a German superbike has anything to do with it being much different or needing that development compared to Japanese manufacturers you’re usually on.
A: Yeah, I think yes! This bike tends to do everything quite different. I think theres 10 routes to leave your house make it to the post office and if you’re Japanese or German they’re going to take different routes and they did the same thing with this motorcycle. In the end the things got two wheels, its got some forks, and a shock and there’s only so many combinations you can do to that, but it is definitely not the same as the Japanese stuff. Some of it better, some maybe not as friendly, but it’s a give-and-take and the weekend result is either a finish or a lap time and this S1000RR is producing both of those.
Q: Well it’s very apparent you guys are managing to work through the weekend quite well how do you feel the bike was prepped come Sunday?
A: Sunday was good! I mean when we started off the thing, as it had in the previous two weekends, started kind of slow kind of out of the ballpark as far as a good fast safe race setup would be, but by Sunday the thing was comfortable to go fast and we're getting more information. When I say more information I mean the thing is I translating more information to me in order to go fast. I don’t think you ever find the ultimate setup because it’s always give-and-take, but by the F1 race we had a comfortable chassis and able to go that pace at a very comfortable level where we weren’t to stepping over the limits.
Q: The F1 race was significant; you had to work for a little bit. Off the start I think you were 4th into turn one, tell us a little bit about that race.
A: Yeah, we’re not racing Willow as much as I have in the past so our starting place was second row on the outside, and on top of that I didn't quite get the best start so made it a little more difficult for myself. I was starting behind a couple of the series frontrunners, Jimmy Wood, and Sean Higbee on a pretty well-developed Buell if there is such a thing. But, anyways those are guys you probably don't want to let get away too quickly. The start wasn’t that great had to work our way through a couple guys, and I hadn’t really rode with anybody during the week so the pace and lines took a little bit to get used, but once I got by everybody the feeling of the of the bike we had prior came back and it was game on!
Q: Now during that race, in the first few laps you exercised quite a bit of professionalism and patience. Even though you weren’t in front you just watch them for a little bit and then once you did make the pass for the lead you just got shot out of a cannon. You set a new lap record at 1:13.5, almost the eighth tenths of a second faster than your previous lap record. Did you think you were going to be going that fast on this bike when you showed up that weekend?
A: No. I figured that we…you know my target was pretty much was to get into the 13’s and I knew that was possible. They changed the track a little bit, the track is probably a tick faster than it was and definitely safer in one area that that they did work on. It’s still a lot of work to get around that place and the bike we showed up with definitely had it in the crosshairs, but we went about a half second faster than I expected to.
Q: We’re definitely looking forward to more good results. As a project for Roadracing World you see parts come in the door almost every week. What are your plans for the development motorcycle now?
A: Just doing more homework, more homework, more homework. Go out and do more laps and figure more stuff out because obviously like I said the platform is a great base, but getting it comfortable with me and what I'm looking for is going to create even better finishes. Actually next month we are hoping to go up against so of the big boys next month and give em’ a run for the money maybe bully somebody around!
Q: I think we’re all looking forward to Laguna round. I’m sure with this effort is a lot of people that you want to say thank you to, or people are helping out with the project why don’t you go ahead and do that.
A: That list is getting big and we really appreciate all of those individuals. I want to thank Seth with Locust Storage who started this whole concept, Jody and Ricky from from Lee’s Cycles for putting the thing together and keeping me safe out there. I have to say thanks to Gary and Jason from San Diego BMW they’re taking care of all the race procedures and the organization which is huge, Dunlop tires for keeping us glued to the ground. Roadracing World is giving us a lot of help with a big push on this project bike. Brock’s Performance is supporting us with a little information some nice superlight BST carbon wheels. I’d also like to thank my personal sponsors; SIDI, Maxima Oils, Shoei helmets.
Gary Orr Interview:
Q: Alright back from The Streets of Willow Springs and a very, very successful weekend, arguably the most success you’ve had in your a new racing career. Tell us a little bit about how you felt on Saturday.
A: We showed up for Saturday practice and it was a little on the sketchy side. It had been a couple months since we've been at this track with this bike and it felt that little upset. It wasn’t changing directions quite as quickly as I wanted to and it seemed like we were lacking in rear grip. We made some changes during the day to improve that, but when I looked at the lap times I realized why it was lacking in rear end grip. We were lapping 6 seconds a lap faster than the last time here. With some suspension changes and new tires the bike came in even better later in the day.
Q: Saturday afternoon you were entered in the Solo GTO race, which I believe was your first expert class win as well. Tell us a little about that 20 lap event.
A: That was a lot of fun actually. I didn’t get the best of starts so I think I was in 3rd in turn one. Got around second place and caught up to Matt Quigley. Matt is a pretty quick rider so I didn’t want too wait too long to make a pass, so I just took the first opportunity I had and snuck by him and was able to open a gap. The bike felt good with better traction off the corners and I improved some lines that I was using allowing me to get through the bowl turn better. I concentrated on my riding technique, trying to pick the bike up over some of the bumps and carry as much speed as possible over the back of portion of the track.
Q: Excellent, definitely congratulations are in order for your first victory there! You weren’t stopping there, on Sunday you came back for yet another win in Formula 40 and two more rostrum finishes in Open Superbike and Mod Prod. Now did you make any modifications on Sunday or was the bike ready go?
A: We did raise the front one notch in the morning and I think that I came back and said that it didn’t make it worse, so we’re going to run it. We also put a slightly softer tire up front and back. As I recall in Superbike I got off to my typical mediocre start and Jeremy had checked out. Matt and Scott were running right with each other early in the race and I chased them down. We came across a lapped rider going into the fast bumpy section on track between eight and nine. Scott and I got by on the right, but Matt made the wrong choice and went left. When I got around Matt I was able to run down Tillery and got up pretty close on him but just couldn't make a pass on him. Formula 40 was a lot more entertaining because I got a decent start that and put my head down and get a couple of second gap in the first lap on everybody. I was able to run away with that. Other than passing a few lapped riders, I had the track to myself which was fun.
Q: Yeah, Gary is sure looked like a lot of fun turning a best lap of a 16.4 I believe, and obviously your other team rider Jeremy Toye set a new lap record at 13.5. This bike seems be evolving quite a bit with you getting up to speed superfast on it. He's gone fast on it everywhere you go. Is there more to be had in the evolution of this bike and what are your plans for the next event you guys are doing?
A: I definitely think there's more to be had from the bike. Right now we’ve done zero tuning to the motor. This bike is completely stock, we just bolted the pipe on. I think there are a couple suspension improvements as well that can still be made and I know that we can get another eight to nine horsepower out of it relatively easy. I'm looking forward to the big track obviously. Willow Springs is notorious for high-speed and the bike definitely has the speed so that should be fun. I’m also looking forward to Infineon next month because that is the second round of the CA State Championship. It’s a track I’ve never been to and I hear it’s a real physical track and those are the kind of tracks I like.
Another Lap Record Falls to Toye and the S1000RR, while Orr ups his game!
1: Photo provided by RPMGear.com
Friday
We showed up on Friday to set up in typical blustery Willow conditions and give this S1000RR its first shakedown at the tight and twisty Streets of Willow Springs during the Motoyard trackday. It really is a good thing that we did too because the setup that we had on the bike was from the Pahrump test the week prior and didn’t translate very well. Thanks to the information from the 2D data logging system and Jeremy’s rider feedback we were able to deduce where the problems were and adjust accordingly.
We started off with some simple damping adjustments to get the suspension working with the bumpy sections of the technical Streets course and once the bike was rideable, gearing was selected and we could focus on geometry for turn in, direction change, and rider feel. By the end of the day we were well on our way to a good base, but still had a few issues with the bike being harsh over bumps on acceleration and a bit abrupt on the front end. These were all things that we had a game plan on fixing that evening, but would never get around to. It turned out that we would instead have to pick up and move our entire operation to another location in the pits because the places you can park for a trackday and a race weekend are entirely different. This is fine when one is pitting out of the back of their pick up, but when it involves two motor homes, bikes, canopies, carpets, tables, vehicles, and miscellaneous things like tool boxes and chairs you can see how an evening’s worth of work gets pushed back!
Saturday
A few of our team members bit the bullet the next morning, getting up with the sun to finish the “To Do” list. This included swapping the Ohlins forks for the AK Gas forks, making a spring rate change in the shock, and changing the gearing. Practice that day was spent fine tuning the gearing and feel of the motorcycle to match the increase in speed that Jeremy was able to carry as the bike became more comfortable. Gary Orr was also able to improve throughout the day on his bike with the new Attack triple clamps, SDBMW link, and Attack rearsets.
That afternoon both riders were entered in the 20 lap Solo GTO race, but for entirely different reasons. Jeremy went out to put his setup to the test in a race simulation for the 12 lap main event the next day, whereas Gary was there to win! Launching off the line Jeremy was not only able to open up a massive gap, but he was able to smash his own lap record on the second lap, after that he was already into the lappers! Gary got a decent start, but had some work to do as he was caught behind some other fairly quick riders.
Once the 12 laps were up Jeremy pulled off so the team could collect the data and make improvements to tomorrow’s setup, leaving Gary in 1st position! Towards the end of the race Matt Quigely did start to close the gap, but in the end was no match for the S1000RR and Gary took his first win since returning to expert racing!
2: Photo provided by RPMGear.com
Sunday
Fine tuning in the morning warm up saw some more forward progress and eagerness to get racing for both riders. The first race of the day for both riders was the Open Superbike event. Jeremy again launched off of the line and won the race handily after getting the hole shot, with Gary rounding out the last step on the podium. Gary won Formula 40 in style by not only lapping the entire field, but also setting his personal best time of a 1:16.4 allowing him to sit and watch Jeremy in the F1 race with a grin on his face.
F1 started off slowly due to a wearing clutch, and Toye went into the first turn in 4th position. However, the number 57 made quick work of Karl Lowery coming out of the bowl turn on the first lap and set his sights on the two leaders Jimmy Wood and Shawn Higbee. Once he had reeled them in he displayed patience and confidence following for a few laps to see their weak points. Jeremy made the pass for the lead exiting the bowl turn with the great drive of the S1000RR. After that he put his head down and stepped the pace up to a new lap record at a 1:13.5. From there he only had to look back one time to see how big of a wheelie he could loft across the finish!
Jeremy Toye Interview:
Q: Alright you just got back from the Streets weekend and it seems like every time you roll out this bike for a weekend the results all turn out pretty darn good or you’re at least able to go very, very fast. Is the bike always ready to go right when you roll out? Tell me about the weekend in general.
A: No, this bike is definitely not track ready the second we go out because of being so brand-new and everything being so brand-new; bike, suspension components wise. There is a big learning curve and so far it's changing quite a bit from track to track and I think it will keep changing, but I think the base platform is so good on the thing that that's the reason the outcome is leaning towards the same result. You know a good result at the end of the weekend so I think that’s the deal.
Q: You guys say that you’re learning new stuff on the motorcycle. What have you dealved into thus far? Is it a lot of engine work, or is it something that has to do with a suspension mainly. Tell me a little bit about that.
A: Very minor engine work, the things very capable out of the box. We’ve made some minor rider comfort level mods such as the clutch. It’s more of a rider preference thing, but power wise is it's not really in need of that much other than possibly a little bit of tuning, a little bit of smoothing out, but the output is plenty. Chassis wise though, and that is for sure rider preference thing, is getting chassis to relate to the rider's input for comfort and for stability. Right there we’re fighting a little bit of both each weekend because it's so new it’s seems like we can make it a comfortable or stable and you don’t get both. So, that's where were spend most of time and finding more things out every weekend, and I think every weekend come across with a more even dramatic setup between the three weekends or three racetracks so far and that’s what is kind of interesting. I'm wondering if it can keep evolving and having to have a wide set up, or we’re just slowly creeping towards the… not the ultimate setup, but the base set up for this particular bike.
Q: Now with your history of riding you’ve spent a lot of time on Japanese manufactures motorcycles. Do you think the fact that this is a German superbike has anything to do with it being much different or needing that development compared to Japanese manufacturers you’re usually on.
A: Yeah, I think yes! This bike tends to do everything quite different. I think theres 10 routes to leave your house make it to the post office and if you’re Japanese or German they’re going to take different routes and they did the same thing with this motorcycle. In the end the things got two wheels, its got some forks, and a shock and there’s only so many combinations you can do to that, but it is definitely not the same as the Japanese stuff. Some of it better, some maybe not as friendly, but it’s a give-and-take and the weekend result is either a finish or a lap time and this S1000RR is producing both of those.
Q: Well it’s very apparent you guys are managing to work through the weekend quite well how do you feel the bike was prepped come Sunday?
A: Sunday was good! I mean when we started off the thing, as it had in the previous two weekends, started kind of slow kind of out of the ballpark as far as a good fast safe race setup would be, but by Sunday the thing was comfortable to go fast and we're getting more information. When I say more information I mean the thing is I translating more information to me in order to go fast. I don’t think you ever find the ultimate setup because it’s always give-and-take, but by the F1 race we had a comfortable chassis and able to go that pace at a very comfortable level where we weren’t to stepping over the limits.
Q: The F1 race was significant; you had to work for a little bit. Off the start I think you were 4th into turn one, tell us a little bit about that race.
A: Yeah, we’re not racing Willow as much as I have in the past so our starting place was second row on the outside, and on top of that I didn't quite get the best start so made it a little more difficult for myself. I was starting behind a couple of the series frontrunners, Jimmy Wood, and Sean Higbee on a pretty well-developed Buell if there is such a thing. But, anyways those are guys you probably don't want to let get away too quickly. The start wasn’t that great had to work our way through a couple guys, and I hadn’t really rode with anybody during the week so the pace and lines took a little bit to get used, but once I got by everybody the feeling of the of the bike we had prior came back and it was game on!
Q: Now during that race, in the first few laps you exercised quite a bit of professionalism and patience. Even though you weren’t in front you just watch them for a little bit and then once you did make the pass for the lead you just got shot out of a cannon. You set a new lap record at 1:13.5, almost the eighth tenths of a second faster than your previous lap record. Did you think you were going to be going that fast on this bike when you showed up that weekend?
A: No. I figured that we…you know my target was pretty much was to get into the 13’s and I knew that was possible. They changed the track a little bit, the track is probably a tick faster than it was and definitely safer in one area that that they did work on. It’s still a lot of work to get around that place and the bike we showed up with definitely had it in the crosshairs, but we went about a half second faster than I expected to.
Q: We’re definitely looking forward to more good results. As a project for Roadracing World you see parts come in the door almost every week. What are your plans for the development motorcycle now?
A: Just doing more homework, more homework, more homework. Go out and do more laps and figure more stuff out because obviously like I said the platform is a great base, but getting it comfortable with me and what I'm looking for is going to create even better finishes. Actually next month we are hoping to go up against so of the big boys next month and give em’ a run for the money maybe bully somebody around!
Q: I think we’re all looking forward to Laguna round. I’m sure with this effort is a lot of people that you want to say thank you to, or people are helping out with the project why don’t you go ahead and do that.
A: That list is getting big and we really appreciate all of those individuals. I want to thank Seth with Locust Storage who started this whole concept, Jody and Ricky from from Lee’s Cycles for putting the thing together and keeping me safe out there. I have to say thanks to Gary and Jason from San Diego BMW they’re taking care of all the race procedures and the organization which is huge, Dunlop tires for keeping us glued to the ground. Roadracing World is giving us a lot of help with a big push on this project bike. Brock’s Performance is supporting us with a little information some nice superlight BST carbon wheels. I’d also like to thank my personal sponsors; SIDI, Maxima Oils, Shoei helmets.
Gary Orr Interview:
Q: Alright back from The Streets of Willow Springs and a very, very successful weekend, arguably the most success you’ve had in your a new racing career. Tell us a little bit about how you felt on Saturday.
A: We showed up for Saturday practice and it was a little on the sketchy side. It had been a couple months since we've been at this track with this bike and it felt that little upset. It wasn’t changing directions quite as quickly as I wanted to and it seemed like we were lacking in rear grip. We made some changes during the day to improve that, but when I looked at the lap times I realized why it was lacking in rear end grip. We were lapping 6 seconds a lap faster than the last time here. With some suspension changes and new tires the bike came in even better later in the day.
Q: Saturday afternoon you were entered in the Solo GTO race, which I believe was your first expert class win as well. Tell us a little about that 20 lap event.
A: That was a lot of fun actually. I didn’t get the best of starts so I think I was in 3rd in turn one. Got around second place and caught up to Matt Quigley. Matt is a pretty quick rider so I didn’t want too wait too long to make a pass, so I just took the first opportunity I had and snuck by him and was able to open a gap. The bike felt good with better traction off the corners and I improved some lines that I was using allowing me to get through the bowl turn better. I concentrated on my riding technique, trying to pick the bike up over some of the bumps and carry as much speed as possible over the back of portion of the track.
Q: Excellent, definitely congratulations are in order for your first victory there! You weren’t stopping there, on Sunday you came back for yet another win in Formula 40 and two more rostrum finishes in Open Superbike and Mod Prod. Now did you make any modifications on Sunday or was the bike ready go?
A: We did raise the front one notch in the morning and I think that I came back and said that it didn’t make it worse, so we’re going to run it. We also put a slightly softer tire up front and back. As I recall in Superbike I got off to my typical mediocre start and Jeremy had checked out. Matt and Scott were running right with each other early in the race and I chased them down. We came across a lapped rider going into the fast bumpy section on track between eight and nine. Scott and I got by on the right, but Matt made the wrong choice and went left. When I got around Matt I was able to run down Tillery and got up pretty close on him but just couldn't make a pass on him. Formula 40 was a lot more entertaining because I got a decent start that and put my head down and get a couple of second gap in the first lap on everybody. I was able to run away with that. Other than passing a few lapped riders, I had the track to myself which was fun.
Q: Yeah, Gary is sure looked like a lot of fun turning a best lap of a 16.4 I believe, and obviously your other team rider Jeremy Toye set a new lap record at 13.5. This bike seems be evolving quite a bit with you getting up to speed superfast on it. He's gone fast on it everywhere you go. Is there more to be had in the evolution of this bike and what are your plans for the next event you guys are doing?
A: I definitely think there's more to be had from the bike. Right now we’ve done zero tuning to the motor. This bike is completely stock, we just bolted the pipe on. I think there are a couple suspension improvements as well that can still be made and I know that we can get another eight to nine horsepower out of it relatively easy. I'm looking forward to the big track obviously. Willow Springs is notorious for high-speed and the bike definitely has the speed so that should be fun. I’m also looking forward to Infineon next month because that is the second round of the CA State Championship. It’s a track I’ve never been to and I hear it’s a real physical track and those are the kind of tracks I like.
Monday, June 14, 2010
BREAKING NEWS: Alpha Racing allowing customer orders
From now on San Diego BMW will be allowed to sell the same racing parts it is using from Alpha straight to customers! If there are any questions please email us at parts@sdbmwmc.com or give us a call at (858)560-2453.
Definitely Successful, maybe...
So we just got back last night from a day of testing in Pahrump. We were intending to shake down the 2D data aquisition software before our first race with it this coming weekend at Streets of Willow Springs. If one were just to look at the data it would be easy to say mission accomplished, but being the perfectionists we are it's about more than just logging squiggally lines.
In this game we call roadracing, technology has leapfroged itself time and time again, but all the tech in the world is no good unless it helps make the bike, team or rider better, or all three for that matter. At our test day we were missing a few bits and pieces (i.e. GPS and lap timer) so finding where Jeremy was on track required recognition of input traces (i.e. throttle, break, etc...) and then making sense of what the bike WAS doing and what it NEEDS to do. This combination along with good rider feedback can formulate a very potent weapon for getting the bike set up in a very short amount of time, but just as with learning any new language it takes total immersion and time. Luckily we have people on the team who've been staring at plots, charts, and tables for the last eight years and love every minute of it!
We're going to spend this next few days going over the new information with the team and putting a game plan together for the race. By then we should have all the channels working correctly on the logger, and be able to speak and read 2D a bit more fluently.
Until then you can have a go! See if you can tell what turn Jeremy is in here! I'll give you a hint, in this shot he does cross start finish.
In this game we call roadracing, technology has leapfroged itself time and time again, but all the tech in the world is no good unless it helps make the bike, team or rider better, or all three for that matter. At our test day we were missing a few bits and pieces (i.e. GPS and lap timer) so finding where Jeremy was on track required recognition of input traces (i.e. throttle, break, etc...) and then making sense of what the bike WAS doing and what it NEEDS to do. This combination along with good rider feedback can formulate a very potent weapon for getting the bike set up in a very short amount of time, but just as with learning any new language it takes total immersion and time. Luckily we have people on the team who've been staring at plots, charts, and tables for the last eight years and love every minute of it!
We're going to spend this next few days going over the new information with the team and putting a game plan together for the race. By then we should have all the channels working correctly on the logger, and be able to speak and read 2D a bit more fluently.
Until then you can have a go! See if you can tell what turn Jeremy is in here! I'll give you a hint, in this shot he does cross start finish.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Where does the time...
It's been almost two weeks since we've returned from Miller in Utah, but I tell you it fells like it was just yesterday. Since then we've been working on;
- logistics for the Laguna AMA round in July
- a new trailer and canopy
- new website
- organizing our track day at Buttonwillow on the 21st (hope to see you there)
- getting engine specialists the parts they needed to move forward
- shipping both sets of forks to Ohlins and AK respectively for adjustment
- installing the kit radiator
- kit fuel tank
- kit wiring harness
- 2D data logging hardware and software
Then there are the misc. parts like clip-ons and frame sliders from Alpha that are more like icing on the cake. I'll try to get some pics up later today so you can see where we're at with the project. But, if any of you are going to be out in Pahrump this weekend we'll be at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch with Take it 2 the Track for an initial shake down on the electronics before our race next weekend at the Streets of Willow Springs.
- logistics for the Laguna AMA round in July
- a new trailer and canopy
- new website
- organizing our track day at Buttonwillow on the 21st (hope to see you there)
- getting engine specialists the parts they needed to move forward
- shipping both sets of forks to Ohlins and AK respectively for adjustment
- installing the kit radiator
- kit fuel tank
- kit wiring harness
- 2D data logging hardware and software
Then there are the misc. parts like clip-ons and frame sliders from Alpha that are more like icing on the cake. I'll try to get some pics up later today so you can see where we're at with the project. But, if any of you are going to be out in Pahrump this weekend we'll be at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch with Take it 2 the Track for an initial shake down on the electronics before our race next weekend at the Streets of Willow Springs.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Evolution: Suspension, Part 1
I guess in order to have true knowledge of where you’re going it would be best to really know where you’ve been. As it sits on the showroom floor the stock Sach’s suspension on the S1000RR is damn good. The components inside the forks are stout, high quality, and purposefully engineered. The shock also had great build quality along with supple characteristics when we rode it for the first time. It would only seem logical then for you to ask, why in the world would we bother going to an aftermarket suspension? Well I’ll tell you.
In the world of motorcycle road racing time is always in short supply. Every new race weekend seems to come up almost immediately after the previous, and every new track presents different challenges. For these reasons a successful race team needs to be highly adaptable, so much so that it is actually the main reason we’ve started with the Ohlins suspension components on both Gary’s and Jeremy’s bikes.
A set of 30mm fork cartridges for the front and the latest TTX shock for the rear went in each bike. The Ohlins Company has been around for so long, and has so much data that is made the adaptability we needed possible with hundreds of available spring rates, an almost infinite number of shim stack possibilities, and quick ride height adjustment capability. 
At our first official test with the bike at Buttonwillow Raceway Park we had the suspension adjustability we needed, but found a little something missing in the process. In the current world of sportbikes there is one five letter word that can cause more raised eyebrows and confusion amongst new riders than any other, TRAIL. What does it do? How do you measure it? Do I have too much, too little? Addressing all these points would be another installment by itself for now I can just refer you to an informative Wiki piece I found some time ago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_geometry). To make a long story short we’ve found that the S1000RR has a relatively large offset (approx. 32mm) leaving a small trail number. At Buttonwillow this was causing certain feel issues that needed to be addressed. Thanks to Attack Performance we were able to do just that. Being able to adjust offset/trail Jeremy was able to get the feel he needed to push the bike to lap record pace.You’d have to say in our first race weekend with the bike we found a great setup. After all, the first race lap he turned on the thing was a lap record, but in fact everything wasn’t great. For starters the bike was giving the rider great feel, but it was only when he was on the suspensions limit (in the bottom of the stroke where the fork can be very abrupt). I don’t know a rider out there that wants to ride every lap of a race having to wonder which side of the fine line they’re on. Secondly the shock displayed some undesirable characteristics. Much in the same way that a fork has the compression and rebound damping tied together by design; this TTX was acting the same way. However, the whole design background of the TTX is to eliminate this dependency. This along with the shock’s lack of consistency over race distance was no good. Damping was strong for the first 2-3 laps, but past that point the rear tire control was dropping with every corner. Our goal for this project is to go racing in the AMA, so this problem will have to be dealt with one way or another. In our commitment to development on this bike we wanted to see if there was something better. Is there something out there that would give us the same feel with a better safety margin? Is there something out there that could give Jeremy better feel? Yes, yes there is… (to be continued)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Black Rock Bites @ Miller...
The Lucas Oils Superbike Challenge GTO class was designed to allow up-coming pros and local fast guys to show off their talent in front of the media fire-storm that is World Superbike. Racing on the same day as the big guns guaranteed a large audience. Normally the stands at a “club” race will have two dozen spectators, most of which are related to someone in the race, but the GTO class ran right after World Supersport and between the World Superbike Round One and Two. The stands were packed and the Fans were really into the race.
To say that the racing went as planned would be an overstatement. The San Diego BMW Motorcycles, Lee’s Cycles Racing, Locust sponsored, Roadracingworld.com project S1000RR was certainly up to the task. Lead development rider, and uber fast guy, Jeremy Toye was fastest in the first Practice session and on top of the board in the first qualifying session as well. He was over a second ahead of the second place rider and was the only rider to break into the 1:51 lap times. To put this into perspective, He was fast enough to qualify for the World Superbike Gird, on a completely stock engine. The Last qualifying session was dramatically shortened due to some clean up from the previous session, and the fast times from the first session held up to give the San Diego rider the pole. San Diego BMW Motorcycles owner and team “B” rider, Gary Orr managed a personal best lap time in qualifying and ended up mid pack on the grid right behind Kurtis Roberts! (Yes King Kenny’s kid.)
The S1000RR project had Jeremy testing several new parts this weekend and trying to get the bike up front in the process. New fork cartridges from AK Gas, Carbon Fibre Wheels courtesy of Brocks Performance; we even had new engine protectors from GBRacing. (We really were impressed with how much lighter the engine covers were, but we didn’t really want to test the abrasion characteristics just yet…More on that later).
Many people think that getting a “new” part means bolting it on and going faster, but there really are a lot of changes to make with each added piece of the puzzle. Adjusting for the forks was relatively easy, and Jeremy felt like the set up we came up with was the best yet. Adding the Super-Light carbon wheels required a bit of adjustment as well, as the front save 2.5 pounds of un-sprung weight. That is an enormous difference and each change means a new set of adjustments to the bike. Add that to the level of competition from guys like Taylor Knapp, Geoff May, and David Anthony, and Jeremy had a big job to develop and race competitively. The Aforementioned “B” rider Gary has it a little easier since he is riding a stock bike with minor changes; suspension and a pipe. It really is a testament to how good the bike is that it can be so competitive in totally stock form, but racing is all about development. Starting with the best “stock” bike makes it easier, but you still have to do the work.
The race started with quite a melee in turn one, when four riders came together and tested their protective gear. Jeremy, who was out front, was disappointed to see the Red flag come out, but Gary who was behind the incident was not that upset. “I got a terrible start the first time, got held up even more by the crashes, and was happy to get a chance to do it again, unfortunately the second one wasn’t much better.” On the restart Jeremy showed the power of the BMW as he was again first into one. He went on to build a small lead over AMA regular Geoff May, but once Taylor Knapp got around Geoff into second on his Ex Matt Mladin Superbike, He began to close on the BMW. By the 5th lap Taylor had closed the distance and was right on Jeremy’s tail. The lap times were slightly higher than in qualifying, and Jeremy felt they had a little more in reserve. He was pushing hard into the Black Rock Hairpin, when disaster struck. Jeremy tucked the front on the brakes and slid into the gravel. Up and OK, Jeremy re-entered the race in 15th position and finished in 14th place on the track. Unfortunately, due to UTSBA rules, Jeremy was disqualified for failing to return to the pit before continuing in the race. Meanwhile, Gary was having a battle further back in the pack and managed to pull off a last lap pass to move into 18th position.
Despite the crash in GTO, we have learned a lot about how to make the bike work better and how to get set some fast lap times. We expect to do more testing between now and our next round of WSMC at: The Streets of Willow. Jeremy is the lap record holder there and we expect to do well. Who knows maybe Jeremy can beat his old lap record. Photos Courtesy of Latebreaker.com