Back to the shop on monday for clean-up and repair.
Gary
Saturday, January 29, 2011
WERA in Vegas....
Well, This will likely be a short entry as my weekend was cut short. Had a little low-side in turn one during Friday practice. As the bike slid off the pavement, the Right side engine protector caught on a rock and ripped off the cam sprocket cover. Hopefully the motor was not still spinning when the cam sprocket became disengaged from the crank.
Back to the shop on monday for clean-up and repair.
Gary
Back to the shop on monday for clean-up and repair.
Gary
Monday, January 24, 2011
2011 Daytona Tire Test
And so it begins!
The official beginning of the 2011 season for the San Diego BMW Motorcycles powered by Lee’s Cycle team was the Daytona Dunlop Tire Test Jan 18-19.
Riders Jeremy Toye and Gary Orr are competing in the 2011 AMA Superbike season.
Since Daytona is the season opener and the most unique track on the schedule, Hauling 3 bikes and all our gear 4860 miles for a day and a half of track time almost sounded reasonable. The decision was made Monday to attend the Dunlop Tire test and the bikes were prepped and Sprinter was loaded just in time for volunteer driver, and all around irom-man Seth to leave on Thursday evening. Riders and crew flew in on Sunday and were greeted to an unloaded van at 8 am on Monday morning. The track was wet from some overnight rain, but we were still optimistic that it would clear up.
Dunlop brought plenty of tires. Each Superbike rider had an allotment of about 12 tires, and had different compounds and construction options to choose from.
Day one was a total washout. The rain started slow and steady just after we arrived. Unlike most tracks, the Superbike class doesn’t run in the rain at Daytona. Dunlop was not there to test rain tires anyway, so the decision was made around noon to send everyone back to the hotel.
Day two didn’t start well, but the rain died down by 9am and the Jet Dryers were sent out to dry the track. We didn't make it on the track until a little after noon on the second day. As this was officially my first time out with the AMA Superbike field, I took AMA Race director, David McGrath’s advice to heart. He said to “sneak up on it”, and I tried to do just that. The first 6 or 8 laps I felt like I didn't belonged out there, but I tried to learn the track and learn where I could find speed. The banking is unlike anything else. It feels as if you are riding on a wall, and if you were to slow down too much you would surely slide all the way to the bottom. I admit I was intimidated, but by the end of the session I was getting out of the chicane and accelerating all the way through. I was seeing 186 on the Speedo at the start finish line, but I was still slow in the infield. The tires that are used at Daytona are Hard. Stiff and hard means not nearly as sticky as the Dunlops we are used to running. Going fast in the fast parts of a track is the easiest way to reduce lap times, so I was concentrating on getting a good drive and learning the best lines on the banking. The infield is certainly important too, but the bang for the buck is up on the banking, and the BMW really shines there. The S1000RR motor is strong, and it held it’s own with the factory superbikes. I was starting to feel a little better about the track by the end of the session, and it is obvious that getting on to the banking correctly will be important.
Jeremy spent his session fighting with the front end of the motorcycle and even had the bike slide on the banking. It was determined that something failed internally in the aftermarket fork we were testing. We will tear it apart and find out what failed when the truck gets back with the bikes. It is still in Texas…. Jody and Jason quickly swapped the fork for the Ohlins units we had and we readied ourselves for the next session.
Unfortunately, it started raining again before our second session, which eventually happened at 5:15 pm. The track had oil on the banking and all the way through turn one, so better lap times were impossible for most of the top-level riders. A couple of us new to this track were able to decrease our lap times relative to the earlier session. I made a respectable 1.6 second improvement, but was still over 4 seconds off the fast guys pace as we were all forced to tip-toe through the oil in turn one. I worked on the infield and felt like I made some progress, this time running with the traction control on and felt like I was quicker everywhere except entering the banking. Jeremy spent most of the session dialling in the new fork and was only slightly off his first session pace. Which represented improvement for him as well considering the oil.
All in all, it was a lot of time and expense to go to for relatively little track time, but it was valuable track time and I know we will be that much further ahead with bike set-up (and track knowledge) when race day rolls around. There is a lot of work to do before the March 11-13 season opener. Wish us luck!
Gary Orr
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Introducing new line of S1000RR kit parts after Macau Success!
Coming off the heels of a top three finish at the demanding and highly technical street race on the Guia circuit Lee’s cycle is releasing the line of kit parts that helped get them there. Among top level international competition the San Diego based team had what it took to run at the front, and now you can too!
The engine department at Lee’s Cycle, headed by Quinten Robles, has developed a set of high compression pistons along with kit racing cams for the new BMW Superbike. The very same ones that allowed Toye to blast past WSBK spec bikes on the long straights Macau are now available. In addition to hard parts, Jody Scheuring (Lee’s top engine builder) has also mastered a series of refinements to push the horsepower numbers even higher while still keeping the torque curve flat and useable.
On the other side of the shop, Jason Turner (team engineer), has been working/testing with Toye this season to make the already competitive chassis of theS1000RR even better. With the proprietary LCR linkage, and adjustable swingarm pivots the team has landed on a setting that can run at the front amongst world class riders. The LCR linkage has been tested by other top level racers with unbelievable results including three lap records in the past few weeks at various Southwestern tracks.
For more information please contact Lee’s Cycle at (858)541-2080 or on the web at www.leescycle.com.
The engine department at Lee’s Cycle, headed by Quinten Robles, has developed a set of high compression pistons along with kit racing cams for the new BMW Superbike. The very same ones that allowed Toye to blast past WSBK spec bikes on the long straights Macau are now available. In addition to hard parts, Jody Scheuring (Lee’s top engine builder) has also mastered a series of refinements to push the horsepower numbers even higher while still keeping the torque curve flat and useable.
On the other side of the shop, Jason Turner (team engineer), has been working/testing with Toye this season to make the already competitive chassis of theS1000RR even better. With the proprietary LCR linkage, and adjustable swingarm pivots the team has landed on a setting that can run at the front amongst world class riders. The LCR linkage has been tested by other top level racers with unbelievable results including three lap records in the past few weeks at various Southwestern tracks.
For more information please contact Lee’s Cycle at (858)541-2080 or on the web at www.leescycle.com.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Macau, a David vs. Goliath Type Story.
Macau Moto GP 2010 from Toze Soares on Vimeo.
Nov. 18 – Breakfast at the buffet and then off to the track. The bike was almost ready to go, but we still had to be there to fuel it up and get the warmers on about an hour before the session. It’s something else being minutes away from our first International session with the real bike, the one we’ve been working towards since April (far beyond the Laguna disaster). It was a success! By the end of the first session, in which we were sitting second most of the time, we were in third right behind Michael Rutter and Stuart Easton. These are two of the biggest names in street racing, and probably the two best here this weekend. Of course there was way more time to be had, and there were some mods to the bike, but we knew it was going to be one of those better weekends.
Our next session was going to be at 330, so Jeremy, Jody, and I split to debrief and get the game plane for Q1.
The clutch, tires, shock, and a few little nick nack things were put on the “To Do” list. It wasn’t supposed to take too long, but we did manage to waste a bunch of time trying to mount the tires on possibly the worst machine ever. Regardless, we got it done and had a bite to eat before Q1.
The improvements helped and Jeremy ended up 3rd for provisional qualifying with a 2:27.3 (faster than he’s ever gone here before). As before we came up with a new game plane for Q2 (at 730AM). There was still plenty to do that night so Jody and I were in the garage until 10, but it all got done.
Nov. 19 – It’s 730 and were back at the track for final qualifying, but I have to say it really makes no sense as to why they have bikes on track before any of the cars, especially after seeing all the dust that was lofting off the ground in the first laps of the session.
The craziest part is that even in dirtier, colder conditions almost every single rider went faster, way faster! Rutter and Easton were trading the lap record in the 23s, while Jeremy dropped his best time even more to a 26.3 and will be starting from the front row in P4.
It was an early day for us because there was only the early qualifying session, and nothing in the afternoon. We had a pretty darn good race setup at this point so we decided to try something. From the qualifying lap charts we could see that the place we were losing the most ground was in the twisty top section. We decided to try the bike with a new offset in the front for more of a different type of steering characteristic. Tomorrow is Race day!
Nov. 20 –I can’t explain it exactly, but when I woke up wayyyy to early this morning, about 450AM, I had a really good feeling about how the day was going to play out. Unfortunately the first practice didn’t follow. The change that we made to the bike with the trail actually ended up hurting the turning characteristics in Sector 2. Instead of aiding in the delay it actually took away feeling and caused Jeremy to have to wait even longer for the bike to do what he wanted. We finished the session down in 9th position with a bad feeling. I told Jeremy that it was going to be ok, and come race time we were going we’re going to give him the best bike he’s ever ridden.
Our race start was pushed back about thirty minutes throughout the day because of all the crash happy cars that were on track before us. I think we saw more red flags then a Fastrack Riders trackday before a WERA weekend! Regardless, we were on the grid at 1515 for the start of the warm up lap. It was a cluster getting out there with all the media, teams, and aux personnel, but what an experience. Standing on the front row of an international grid like that was eye opening.
The sirens kept sounding, 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute. The start was getting close. People cleared the grid. Tire warmers came off. Bikes were started, and visors were dropped. After the warm up lap the riders again took their grid positions with only their bike keeping them company. Man and machine awaited the lights. The scream of the 30 1000cc engines amplified, and when the lights went out the screams turned to howls as thousands of horsepower was poured onto the tarmac.
Jeremy got a great start and ended up 3rd into Lisboa, the first breaking right hander at the end of the straights. Before the end of the second lap Jeremy had already made a shot at Rutter with the horsepower of our S1000RR. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to hold the line and the number six quickly took back second place and built a gap. The race was settling in nicely with Rutter and Easton clearing off out front while Toye, McGuiness, Johnson, and Andrews battled for third.
On lap 7 of 15 the red flag came out for a fallen campatriot. Chris Peris, on a much harder tire that he was used to running, lost grip and put him off line right into a wall. The sight of him motionless on the tv as he lay there helpless with the bike on top of him was heartbreaking. He was transported to the hospital and minus a bruised lung, back, and a concusion he was ok. The bike on the other hand was a different stroy. It looked like someone planted a small charge of C4 in the frame right at the steering head as it was completely separated from the rest of the motorcycle. I know it sounds cliché, but those parts can be replaced. There wasn’t a person in the garage who was more interested in the bike than Chris’s well being.
On the other side of the American Team’s garage we were deciding on what to do with the tire situation. We had a soft qualifying tire on the spare rim for a short restart, but the officials decided that it would be a 9 lapper. There was no way that the soft tire would hold up for 36 miles so we put the USED race tire back on and accepted the hand we were dealt. Jeremy was going to have to make the best of it and he certainly did!
The start of the second race was almost an exact replica of the first with Rutter and Easton slotting into first and second and the number 57 landing in third. After a few laps the electronic gremlins that we’ve been dealing with all year started rearing their ugly head. With the bike cutting in and out amongst Armco barriers Toye was forced to slow. He was passed by Andrews on the other Paul Bird prepped Kawi. With Toye falling back and Andrews quickly pulling to a two second gap things weren’t looking good, but that wasn’t the end, far from it.
On lap 6 of 9 things started going the other way! The bike cleared its throat of whatever it was that it was choking on and Toye was given full control again. Knowing that we’ve come too far, and put in way too much time he decided to put his head down and make a run for Andrews who was still two seconds ahead.
Overtaken by the red mist Toye kept reeling off laps quicker than he had ever gone before, first matching his qualifying time and then besting it by over a second. On the last lap of the race the 2 second gap was now just over half of a second, and he was right on him. Through the fast bend in the first sector Jeremy blew past Andrews like he was tied to a post, and breaking for Lisboa pulled out every motocross and flat track skill he had. Backing it in and making himself as wide as possible there was no way past for Andrews. The monitors around the track were more interested in covering Easton’s final lap and we didn’t get to see the battle for the last podium position on screen, but our eyes were glued to the last turn. First Easton… then Rutter… and then… a lapped rider (that one freaked us out), but finally the battle for third came into view and blasted across start/finish!
Toye had grabbed the final spot on the podium, and his best result ever here at Macau. As a matter of fact it was the first time an American had been on the box in 10 years when Mark Milled did it back in 2000. Everyone was so excited, but we had no idea where we were supposed to meet the rider. When we walked down to the pit entrance, the marshal told us Jeremy would meet us back at the pit box. When we walked back to our garage the teams were telling us that he would be at Park Ferme, so we all ran down there. Still no Toye…
Aparentely there was a mistake form a track worker when the riders were coming in and he led the podium finishers to the wrong place. Never the less I grabbed my camera and a spot in front of the podium presentation. Jody and I were so excited to take it all in and when Jeremy walked out to take his trophy there was a lot of emotion. We’ve worked insanely hard this year with a lot of highs and lows. It’s nice to know it hasn’t been in vain.
This year we built one hell of a motorcycle! It was really almost like a David vs. Goliath type story. For just being a small shop in San Diego we stuck it to a strong field of international competition. There were many other teams there who have been well supported and running bikes all season. The bike that Jeremy beat out for 3rd was a Paul Bird World Superbike for Pete’s sake! Hopefully this means everything I think it means for the success of this program.
After he was done with the press conference he came back to the garage to see his bike being swarmed by fans. Of course Jody and I gave him a big hug and everyone congratulated him for his strong ride. One belated smoky burn out and a few tears later we were ready to go out and celebrate properly! I don’t remember a whole lot of that story, but I will say the level of celebration definitely was on par with the achievements that day!
San Diego BMW Motorcycles at the WSMC Series Finale
San Diego BMW Motorcycles at the WSMC Series Finale
Some say the world’s easiest job is Weather forecasting in Southern California. “Sunny and seventy, Just like yesterday and tomorrow.” The weather at the November round of Willow Springs Motorcycle Club Races was anything but predictable. Saturday started out with a wet track from the overnight rains. The only rider to venture out for the first round of practice ended up coming back on the crash truck without completing a lap. The morning only got worse as more rain clouds rolled through.
With Jeremy and the rest of the team racing in Macau China, I was at Willow Springs primarily to ensure I kept my points leads in the Formula 40 class and Top Rookie overall. I also had in mind to try to better the Formula 40 lap record, but with the temperature almost 70° colder than last time we were here it seemed unlikely to have the traction to run at that speed. I did however get out in one practice session on Saturday afternoon. The track was still cold and the wind was blowing hard, but I was able to get the fastest lap time of any rider for the day.
Sunday Morning got off to a slightly better start. The track was still wet from more overnight rains and the wind was blowing even harder, but the rain did not return. While the wind made the day uncomfortable, it did help to dry the track out quickly and blew the clouds away. With temps in the forties and 30 MPH winds, it also blew the spectators away. Race one, Open Modified Production, may have had 5 die-hards in the bleachers. I got off to a decent start and was third into turn one. I passed Reno Karimian into second and was chasing the New Number One plate holder, Karl Lowery, when the red flag was thrown. The restart went slightly different. I was still third going into turn two but first two positions had reversed. This allowed me to make a pass on Karl going into turn three and we both passed Reno on the first lap. That’s when it got interesting. The rear tire had been spinning a lot through turn two on both starting laps. I assumed it was due to the cold temperatures, but on the second lap with Karl all over me, it really let loose and I got thrown out of the seat. I barely managed to keep it on the track and lost the lead to Karl. I immediately realized why the tire had been spinning. I had pulled a rookie mistake and forgot to check the rear tire pressure. The rest of the race was like riding with a bowling ball for a rear tire. It was all I could do to hold onto third behind Matt Quiqley on his Kawasaki.
The Formula 40 race went a little better. I adjusted the rear Dunlop’s pressure and put a new Slick up front. I took the hole shot and never looked back. I ran some respectable times, but not close enough to beat the record on an icy cold track. Frankly, I didn’t think I would be able to run that quick with the weather, but in the Premier class I found more speed and actually ran considerably quicker than the record. I did complete my main goal for the weekend though; this win clinched the Formula 40 Championship, and the Top Rookie Classification. I was relieved to have the pressure off, especially after how close I came to making a mess of it in the first race.
As I mentioned the Formula 1 class is the premier class. It is only open to those riders who have qualified as Pro level with WSMC, and it draws the best riders from all classes. I have only raced it twice before, as this is my first season on a liter bike. I only had time to install a new rear Dunlop between races, and this time managed to remember to check the tire pressure. On the out lap I noticed we had a new rider added to the starting lineup. Bobby Fong was joining the grid on his Ducati. That meant I was not gridded last. You see, in club racing, a riders position on the grid is decided by the current championship points of each rider in that class. Since that was Bobbies first time competing in this class, he had fewer points than I did. So he was last on the grid. Lot of good it did me though, as on the start I went into turn one right behind him. I was able to get around him and Reno on the first lap and crossed the line at the end of lap one in fifth position behind Lowery, Higby, Prince, and Duran. I had lost a little ground to the leading pack in the first lap, but was able to reel them back in and to get around Higby as he faded back due to the blistering pace and the relative lack of power with his Buell. So at the end of lap 3, I was 4th and had caught right up to the pack. Duran had passed Prince, and I was able to use the power of the S1000RR to get by him as well. I ran third from lap 4 through 9, trying to find a way around Duran, all the while Duran was trying to find a way around Lowery. You could have thrown a blanket over the four of us. I tried to get up the inside of Duran on lap 10 in turn 8. 160 mph, knees on the ground, tires sliding as I surged forward into turn nine. Duran had the better line and closed the door leaving me very close to touching his rear wheel with my front. I had to check up to avoid hitting him and lost the drive. This allowed Prince to get by and I was relegated to 4th. The three of them all posted their fastest laps of the race in lap 11 making it impossible to make up the lost time.
I was thrilled with this finish. I would have loved to get on the podium, but finishing fourth was three positions better than last month and my best finish in Formula 1 so far. I had bettered my best lap at the track and ran well under my goal for the weekend (albeit in the wrong race). Also, Lowery, Duran, and Prince finished in the same positions in the WSMC over-all points as they did it the race, so they will be the guys to beat next year.
With one more race left in the day the weather began to worsen. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped down to 44° before the Open Superbike Race. The grid was smaller that it should have been, as some competitors opted to pass on the last race of the year, but I was just not ready to quit riding yet. I was wishing I had heated grips on my race bike though. I got the hole-shot and lead into turn three when I saw another red flag. Turns out Prince had high-sided in turn one and injured his foot. On the restart, I was second into turn one but led out of it and just enjoyed the last laps of the season. I had a sizable lead at the finish, and had secured third position in the Open Superbike Championship.
For Me, (Gary Orr, Owner of San Diego BMW Motorcycles), coming back to the competition of racing has been amazing. After more than a 15-year layoff, to return with a Stock bike that truly is competitive with the best super-bikes is a dream come true. The S1000RR has consistently been the best bike on the grid this season. After just 7 months of development (including a lot of rider on the job training) I have won Two WSMC Championships (Formula 40 and Solo GTO), a California State Championship (Formula 40), and the WSMC Top Rookie Award. Perhaps most importantly we have a truly competitive team in place for next season. I plan to take the next step in competing with the Formula 1 class next year. That of building a Super-Bike engine to go with the platform we have developed.
I would like to thank everyone for a great year, starting with thanking God for keeping me safe. I can’t thank our staff at San Diego BMW Motorcycles enough for covering for me at the shop and doing such a great job while I was away. My new friends Jeremy Toye and Lee’s Cycles have helped me in so many ways. They helped me to set up the bike, allowed me to see that the bike and I were capable of more than I thought possible, and helped to develop the rear suspension components I am using. (They are also building the engine I will use next year). Also, thank you to Tim Chin and X-Dot Racing for building the front suspension, and for making this same fork kit available through our service department. Jason Turner worked tirelessly to set-up my bike and made it absolutely the best for me, and he did this in addition to managing the entire team and designed several parts in the process. Finally, I want to thank my wife Heather and Brother in Law Michael for allowing me to take the time away from our shop and our personal lives to participate in all these races.
Some say the world’s easiest job is Weather forecasting in Southern California. “Sunny and seventy, Just like yesterday and tomorrow.” The weather at the November round of Willow Springs Motorcycle Club Races was anything but predictable. Saturday started out with a wet track from the overnight rains. The only rider to venture out for the first round of practice ended up coming back on the crash truck without completing a lap. The morning only got worse as more rain clouds rolled through.
With Jeremy and the rest of the team racing in Macau China, I was at Willow Springs primarily to ensure I kept my points leads in the Formula 40 class and Top Rookie overall. I also had in mind to try to better the Formula 40 lap record, but with the temperature almost 70° colder than last time we were here it seemed unlikely to have the traction to run at that speed. I did however get out in one practice session on Saturday afternoon. The track was still cold and the wind was blowing hard, but I was able to get the fastest lap time of any rider for the day.
Sunday Morning got off to a slightly better start. The track was still wet from more overnight rains and the wind was blowing even harder, but the rain did not return. While the wind made the day uncomfortable, it did help to dry the track out quickly and blew the clouds away. With temps in the forties and 30 MPH winds, it also blew the spectators away. Race one, Open Modified Production, may have had 5 die-hards in the bleachers. I got off to a decent start and was third into turn one. I passed Reno Karimian into second and was chasing the New Number One plate holder, Karl Lowery, when the red flag was thrown. The restart went slightly different. I was still third going into turn two but first two positions had reversed. This allowed me to make a pass on Karl going into turn three and we both passed Reno on the first lap. That’s when it got interesting. The rear tire had been spinning a lot through turn two on both starting laps. I assumed it was due to the cold temperatures, but on the second lap with Karl all over me, it really let loose and I got thrown out of the seat. I barely managed to keep it on the track and lost the lead to Karl. I immediately realized why the tire had been spinning. I had pulled a rookie mistake and forgot to check the rear tire pressure. The rest of the race was like riding with a bowling ball for a rear tire. It was all I could do to hold onto third behind Matt Quiqley on his Kawasaki.
The Formula 40 race went a little better. I adjusted the rear Dunlop’s pressure and put a new Slick up front. I took the hole shot and never looked back. I ran some respectable times, but not close enough to beat the record on an icy cold track. Frankly, I didn’t think I would be able to run that quick with the weather, but in the Premier class I found more speed and actually ran considerably quicker than the record. I did complete my main goal for the weekend though; this win clinched the Formula 40 Championship, and the Top Rookie Classification. I was relieved to have the pressure off, especially after how close I came to making a mess of it in the first race.
As I mentioned the Formula 1 class is the premier class. It is only open to those riders who have qualified as Pro level with WSMC, and it draws the best riders from all classes. I have only raced it twice before, as this is my first season on a liter bike. I only had time to install a new rear Dunlop between races, and this time managed to remember to check the tire pressure. On the out lap I noticed we had a new rider added to the starting lineup. Bobby Fong was joining the grid on his Ducati. That meant I was not gridded last. You see, in club racing, a riders position on the grid is decided by the current championship points of each rider in that class. Since that was Bobbies first time competing in this class, he had fewer points than I did. So he was last on the grid. Lot of good it did me though, as on the start I went into turn one right behind him. I was able to get around him and Reno on the first lap and crossed the line at the end of lap one in fifth position behind Lowery, Higby, Prince, and Duran. I had lost a little ground to the leading pack in the first lap, but was able to reel them back in and to get around Higby as he faded back due to the blistering pace and the relative lack of power with his Buell. So at the end of lap 3, I was 4th and had caught right up to the pack. Duran had passed Prince, and I was able to use the power of the S1000RR to get by him as well. I ran third from lap 4 through 9, trying to find a way around Duran, all the while Duran was trying to find a way around Lowery. You could have thrown a blanket over the four of us. I tried to get up the inside of Duran on lap 10 in turn 8. 160 mph, knees on the ground, tires sliding as I surged forward into turn nine. Duran had the better line and closed the door leaving me very close to touching his rear wheel with my front. I had to check up to avoid hitting him and lost the drive. This allowed Prince to get by and I was relegated to 4th. The three of them all posted their fastest laps of the race in lap 11 making it impossible to make up the lost time.
I was thrilled with this finish. I would have loved to get on the podium, but finishing fourth was three positions better than last month and my best finish in Formula 1 so far. I had bettered my best lap at the track and ran well under my goal for the weekend (albeit in the wrong race). Also, Lowery, Duran, and Prince finished in the same positions in the WSMC over-all points as they did it the race, so they will be the guys to beat next year.
With one more race left in the day the weather began to worsen. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped down to 44° before the Open Superbike Race. The grid was smaller that it should have been, as some competitors opted to pass on the last race of the year, but I was just not ready to quit riding yet. I was wishing I had heated grips on my race bike though. I got the hole-shot and lead into turn three when I saw another red flag. Turns out Prince had high-sided in turn one and injured his foot. On the restart, I was second into turn one but led out of it and just enjoyed the last laps of the season. I had a sizable lead at the finish, and had secured third position in the Open Superbike Championship.
For Me, (Gary Orr, Owner of San Diego BMW Motorcycles), coming back to the competition of racing has been amazing. After more than a 15-year layoff, to return with a Stock bike that truly is competitive with the best super-bikes is a dream come true. The S1000RR has consistently been the best bike on the grid this season. After just 7 months of development (including a lot of rider on the job training) I have won Two WSMC Championships (Formula 40 and Solo GTO), a California State Championship (Formula 40), and the WSMC Top Rookie Award. Perhaps most importantly we have a truly competitive team in place for next season. I plan to take the next step in competing with the Formula 1 class next year. That of building a Super-Bike engine to go with the platform we have developed.
I would like to thank everyone for a great year, starting with thanking God for keeping me safe. I can’t thank our staff at San Diego BMW Motorcycles enough for covering for me at the shop and doing such a great job while I was away. My new friends Jeremy Toye and Lee’s Cycles have helped me in so many ways. They helped me to set up the bike, allowed me to see that the bike and I were capable of more than I thought possible, and helped to develop the rear suspension components I am using. (They are also building the engine I will use next year). Also, thank you to Tim Chin and X-Dot Racing for building the front suspension, and for making this same fork kit available through our service department. Jason Turner worked tirelessly to set-up my bike and made it absolutely the best for me, and he did this in addition to managing the entire team and designed several parts in the process. Finally, I want to thank my wife Heather and Brother in Law Michael for allowing me to take the time away from our shop and our personal lives to participate in all these races.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
WSMC Back to the Streets
The racing season has come to a close throughout most of the country, but in Southern California we still have a couple months of warm weather left. The Willow Springs Motorcycle Club races 11 months out of the year. The penultimate round of the series, and last of the three held at the 1.8 mile long “Streets of Willow” track, was on Oct 17-18. The San Diego BMW Motorcycles team showed up with a variety of machines and a lot of excitement as the points race has tightened up significantly.
At the start of the weekend, Gary Orr, Co-owner of San Diego BMW Motorcycles and self professed “Old Guy - Fast Bike” racer was one point behind in the Formula-40 class championship and a few points ahead in the Top Rookie class. Formula-40 is literally a “run what you brung” class, with the only rule being that all competitors are at least 40 years old. It may seem like a contradiction for one person to be leading this class and the Top Rookie overall class, but Gary had not held a racing license in more than 15 years, and as such was forced to start over as a rookie and in the novice classes. This has not held him back however, as even though he missed scoring points in the first few rounds of the season. He has quickly moved up to the Pro class with WSMC.
This weekend started out a little rough though. The team acquired a new “back-up” bike, which took a little longer to get prepped than expected. This resulted in the team arriving at the track on Saturday morning, skipping Friday’s practice. After a one lap first practice discovered a problem with the “A-Bike” it was decided to swap the suspension with the new “back-up bike”. This meant Gary missed most of the morning. Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon “pro-practice” rounds were shortened by a barrage of first-lap crashes; none of which were ours. This meant Gary had less than one full session of practice on the new bike all day. Sunday morning was not much better as one of the two practice rotations were cancelled due to crashes and ambulance availability.
Luckily, Gary didn’t need a lot of practice, as this is a track he knows well and one that really suits his riding style. Formula-40 was race five and Gary was forth through turn one, but second through turn two after taking two positions on the brakes entering the second turn. “Following Ken Kramer #4 for a lap was a lot of fun”, said Orr. “Ken is not a regular in this class, and the last time I raced with him, he passed me twice. Once on the start and then after receiving a Black flag for jumping the start.” Gary has gone a lot faster since then, and one lap was all that he was planning on following. He tried him up the inside in Turn one, and Ken slammed the door shut forcing Gary to let off. “I knew I had lots of motor on him, and was just as fast through the technical parts of the track, so I was not worried about being able to pass. I just wasn’t sure where I would get by him. Towards the end of lap three I set him up on the back straight. I used the motor of the S1000RR to force myself into the single line chicane before he could get the line and this time Ken was forced to let off.” From there, Gary was able to pull a second a lap finishing with a 3 second margin, and resetting the Formula-40 lap record for this track.
Race 8 for the weekend was Open Superbike, and Gary got off the line in forth place behind #91 Scott Tillery, #3 Chris Duran, and #48 Reno Karimian. Worried that Scott might get away from him while he fought with Chris and Reno, Gary made a couple of aggressive passes on the first lap and followed Scott closely across the line at the end of lap one. Once again, Gary used the power of the S1000RR to nip passed Scott and his GSXR 1000 on the back straight and took the lead before the end of lap two. Chris Followed Gary past Scott, but could not catch up to the San Diego BMW Motorcycles sponsored S1000RR, eventually finishing three seconds back of Gary.
With one Race weekend left, Gary now has a 5 point lead in the Formula-40 championship, a 19 point lead in the Top-Rookie Overall, and has won the Solo GTO championship (a five round endurance race which ended last month). Not bad for an “Old Guy”, good thing he has a Fast Bike.
The racing season has come to a close throughout most of the country, but in Southern California we still have a couple months of warm weather left. The Willow Springs Motorcycle Club races 11 months out of the year. The penultimate round of the series, and last of the three held at the 1.8 mile long “Streets of Willow” track, was on Oct 17-18. The San Diego BMW Motorcycles team showed up with a variety of machines and a lot of excitement as the points race has tightened up significantly.
At the start of the weekend, Gary Orr, Co-owner of San Diego BMW Motorcycles and self professed “Old Guy - Fast Bike” racer was one point behind in the Formula-40 class championship and a few points ahead in the Top Rookie class. Formula-40 is literally a “run what you brung” class, with the only rule being that all competitors are at least 40 years old. It may seem like a contradiction for one person to be leading this class and the Top Rookie overall class, but Gary had not held a racing license in more than 15 years, and as such was forced to start over as a rookie and in the novice classes. This has not held him back however, as even though he missed scoring points in the first few rounds of the season. He has quickly moved up to the Pro class with WSMC.
This weekend started out a little rough though. The team acquired a new “back-up” bike, which took a little longer to get prepped than expected. This resulted in the team arriving at the track on Saturday morning, skipping Friday’s practice. After a one lap first practice discovered a problem with the “A-Bike” it was decided to swap the suspension with the new “back-up bike”. This meant Gary missed most of the morning. Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon “pro-practice” rounds were shortened by a barrage of first-lap crashes; none of which were ours. This meant Gary had less than one full session of practice on the new bike all day. Sunday morning was not much better as one of the two practice rotations were cancelled due to crashes and ambulance availability.
Luckily, Gary didn’t need a lot of practice, as this is a track he knows well and one that really suits his riding style. Formula-40 was race five and Gary was forth through turn one, but second through turn two after taking two positions on the brakes entering the second turn. “Following Ken Kramer #4 for a lap was a lot of fun”, said Orr. “Ken is not a regular in this class, and the last time I raced with him, he passed me twice. Once on the start and then after receiving a Black flag for jumping the start.” Gary has gone a lot faster since then, and one lap was all that he was planning on following. He tried him up the inside in Turn one, and Ken slammed the door shut forcing Gary to let off. “I knew I had lots of motor on him, and was just as fast through the technical parts of the track, so I was not worried about being able to pass. I just wasn’t sure where I would get by him. Towards the end of lap three I set him up on the back straight. I used the motor of the S1000RR to force myself into the single line chicane before he could get the line and this time Ken was forced to let off.” From there, Gary was able to pull a second a lap finishing with a 3 second margin, and resetting the Formula-40 lap record for this track.
Race 8 for the weekend was Open Superbike, and Gary got off the line in forth place behind #91 Scott Tillery, #3 Chris Duran, and #48 Reno Karimian. Worried that Scott might get away from him while he fought with Chris and Reno, Gary made a couple of aggressive passes on the first lap and followed Scott closely across the line at the end of lap one. Once again, Gary used the power of the S1000RR to nip passed Scott and his GSXR 1000 on the back straight and took the lead before the end of lap two. Chris Followed Gary past Scott, but could not catch up to the San Diego BMW Motorcycles sponsored S1000RR, eventually finishing three seconds back of Gary.
With one Race weekend left, Gary now has a 5 point lead in the Formula-40 championship, a 19 point lead in the Top-Rookie Overall, and has won the Solo GTO championship (a five round endurance race which ended last month). Not bad for an “Old Guy”, good thing he has a Fast Bike.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Boom!!! In more ways than one...
I myself am an engineer, and if I can consolidate how everything went for a test or design in just a few words, everyone is better for it. So, if you are like me and want the weekend in a nutshell, here it is;
- 4 bikes (3 to Willow, 1 to Bonneville)
- 3 riders (Jeremy Toye, Gary Orr, and Andy Sills)
- 2 crashes
- 1 twisted knee
- 1 busted ego
- 1 run in with a bird at 120 mph
- 2 locked motors
- Lots of tires
- 4 wins
- 2 lap records
- 1 world record
- 2 Championships
Now, if you are also like me and become interested when the results of a test or weekend are so dynamic, keep reading!
This was going to be Gary’s first ride back on the S1000RR since he had finished his 10 n’ 10 rally, and it was going to be the first time both of the riders had a chance to try out the new Turner Curve (T.C.) suspension linkage at Big Willow. The first ride on the new parts felt good for both riders. Orr noted that the bike felt more comfortable, while Toye loved the feeling through turn 8 and the turn in characteristics. That was pretty much it for the day! With the Trackdaz event being so popular the amount of traffic in each session was too much for putting in consistent fast laps. Aside from that in the third session of the day another rider’s bike had a seal fail and oiled the entire track from turn 6 all the way to eight.
Luckily neither rider was involved, but Jeremy’s B bike was. Chris Ulrich was working on a press intro from Pirelli, and borrowed Toye’s spare bike since all of his equipment was in Alabama for this weekend’s final AMA round at Barber. Ulrich spotted the mayhem ahead of him when coming down the hill in turn 6, but due to the lack of attention of the flagger, ended up rolling right through the oil, losing the front end and damaging the bodywork on the bike. It wouldn’t be so bad if this were all that happened, but Chris tweaked his ankle pretty bad and because the bike was on its side while running the motor hydrolocked and destroyed itself.
At this point team Toye decided with the traffic, track conditions, and an already positive feeling from the bike we would take the rest of the afternoon off. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that close by there was a pretty fun motorcross track, and Toye just happened to have his dirtbike in the back of his truck. Gary hung out and did end up making some progress in the last session of the day when the track started to come back in. So now we could look forward to some positive track time on Saturday, or so we thought.
Turns out that wouldn’t be the case. As Toye took to the track with the slightly used race compound tires he noticed a major issue with edge grip in turn 2. The same problem wasn’t evident anywhere else on the rest of the track leading us to believe it was a geometry issue. This situation was made even worse when we found that the practice sessions were also going to be cut short for the endurance race that was going to be held in the afternoon. Many different settings were tried in order to get the grip back that we had last month, but to no avail.
It wasn’t until well after practice was over and the team had a few hours in the think tank that a theory had formed. With the introduction of new parts comes new things to keep track of, and what basically happened is a shock measurement was set incorrectly based on how we modified the bike for the new T.C. linkage at Fontana (the previous round). Before we left for Jonny Corino’s (one of the team’s favorite places up in Palmdale) we made the necessary adjustments and kept our fingers crossed for Sunday morning practice.
Was it going to work, was it the right theory? All of the team’s questions were answered when Toye blasted a 1:19.861 in first practice on the hard compound race tires! That is unheard of in recent years and gave the team great confidence for the second practice to put in a few good laps on a new tire, but it wasn’t to be.
In any manufacturing industry, like the auto industry for example, not every single run is perfect (i.e. lemons). Well in the world of motorcycle tires it is the same, and not everyone is going to be a ringer. You’ve probably even heard about it before when Spies or Hayden would say in their interviews that their first “Q” wasn’t quite there, but the second tire was much better. Unfortunately the same thing happened to the number 57 when we sent him out for his second practice, and instead of him having the chance to run laps faster than he ever had before he ended up in the dirt.
When the bike came back in Toye said the tire just wasn’t there, “It spun like crazy in places I’ve never had a tire spin before!” The worst part of the crash was that there was only 30 minutes to get ready for his first race, and when the bike fell over on Jeremy it tweaked his knee. After further discussion with the team, we were going to try making the race and he was going to give it his best riding.
I kid you not when I say that the final bolt was going in right at the very last second before he would be able to make the warm up lap, but SD BMW had made the grid. The worst part for the team was that right after the green flag flew and the riders disappeared from sight the race was stopped. A rider had fallen down in turn 2. The seconds it took for all the riders to return to view seemed to pass like days, but both Gary and Jeremy made it out unscathed and returned to the hot pit. Gary was doing fine and Jeremy said the bike was ok.
Now it took Jeremy a few laps on the restart to really get back up to speed. One would have to understand that he needs time to make sure he’s going to be ok, the bike is going to be ok, and start to trust the grip from the tires. On lap five Toye was back, and let everybody else know by setting a new Open Modified Production lap record of 1:20.580! He won the race, but Orr didn’t fare so well.
While breaking for turn one at over 160 MPH the engine locked up on him, and was forced to retire from the race with a DNF. When he returned to the pits in the crash truck everyone was please to see that he was ok and the chassis was clean. The technicians tired to find what caused this lock up, but didn’t have any luck. For at least this day the number 517 was down and out. It would be the 57 machine that served as the teams work horse for rest of the day!
Toye’s a bike was used by Gary in Formula 40 to win by a country mile and wrap up the California State Championship. Jeremy hoped back on for races number 7 and 13 later to take a win/lap record in Open Superbike of a 1:20.142 and then lead every lap of the F1 race, and put his stamp on the premier title for the California State Championship!
For the full teams last stateside event it was nothing less than exhilarating. Over the next month and a half one part of the team will be getting ready to return back to the Streets of Willow with the number 517 to continue demonstrating the BMW S1000RRs race prowess while the other side of the garage will be hopping on a plane aimed for Hong Kong! Jeremy has received another invitation to the Macau Grand Prix that takes place on the 18th – 21st of November. Eager for some international competition we’ll be making 100% sure that all our ducks are in order with some extensive testing, new parts and preparation of a 220+ hp power plant!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Testing leads to domination in Sunday’s WERA West Races for Toye and the San Diego sponsored S1000RR!!
Autoclub Speedway saw clear skies and high temperatures for this past weekend while WERA was in town for their sixth round of the season. Aside from the unusually warm temps (108°F on Sat) the conditions were perfect for the team to get in some much needed testing. With new parts fresh out of the engineering department the team needed time to evaluate each component.
On Saturday we started out with a setup very similar to that of Infineon as there is a lot of very hard breaking at Fontana (see fig. 1).
Figure 1: Turns 3, 5, and 12 are some of the hardest breaking zones you'll find!
At this point breaking has always been an issue for us. From as far back as Buttonwillow and Miller we’ve been dealing with the S1000RRs unruly characteristics on the binders. Toye couldn’t feel exactly where the rear tire was and if it did step out it was a slap in the face when it came back in line for corner entry. That is exactly what we were trying to address this weekend with the new linkage.
In the first session we were on too stiff of a shock spring as evidenced by the notorious headshake that Jeremy was getting on the back straight between turns 9 and 12. So after a quick spring change Jeremy had a safe motorcycle again and we could get to work. The next session out we were able to dial in gearing and focus on the areas that really make a good bike at Fontana. Here, not only does a bike have to be ubber stable on the breaks, but it also has to be up for ultra quick direction changes and pulling the trigger as hard and fast as possible. After a few sessions in the morning we had a good overall setting on the stock equipment and it was time to start testing the new parts after lunch.
The picture you’re looking at is a 3D model of the modified linkage assembly that our team engineer has developed. Although they perform the same function as the stock components the dimensions and angles of the new parts SHOULD make the S1000RR even better! The keyword here is, should. If there is one thing that we know it’s that something may look great on paper, but until you put it in a real world application (in our case that’s on track) it’s just a crap shoot. Lucky for us it worked just as well on the bike as it looked on paper!
It did take us the rest of the afternoon to get the dampers and the geometry to work with the new ratios in the linkage, but the bottom line is the results. Sunday morning when we put Jeremy out on new tires he flew! Now with the power of the BWM S1000RR rocketing him off of the corners he also had the feel and confidence to bring it down on the binders like he’d never had before. The bike was fun for him to ride again, and it showed.
When it was time to race Jeremy took the holeshot in both of his races and never looked back. By the end of the first race he had a 19 second gap back to second, and that’s in just six laps! The S1000RR owned everybody on the banking and now that Toye had a bike underneath him that is, “by far the best it’s ever been” he owned everybody in the turns too. A lot of the fans stopped by the pits to talk to Jeremy and the team after such a dominating performance. We had a lot of fun, and are looking forward to the final round of the CA State Championship in two weeks at Willow Springs. Did somebody say lap record…
On Saturday we started out with a setup very similar to that of Infineon as there is a lot of very hard breaking at Fontana (see fig. 1).
Figure 1: Turns 3, 5, and 12 are some of the hardest breaking zones you'll find!
At this point breaking has always been an issue for us. From as far back as Buttonwillow and Miller we’ve been dealing with the S1000RRs unruly characteristics on the binders. Toye couldn’t feel exactly where the rear tire was and if it did step out it was a slap in the face when it came back in line for corner entry. That is exactly what we were trying to address this weekend with the new linkage.
In the first session we were on too stiff of a shock spring as evidenced by the notorious headshake that Jeremy was getting on the back straight between turns 9 and 12. So after a quick spring change Jeremy had a safe motorcycle again and we could get to work. The next session out we were able to dial in gearing and focus on the areas that really make a good bike at Fontana. Here, not only does a bike have to be ubber stable on the breaks, but it also has to be up for ultra quick direction changes and pulling the trigger as hard and fast as possible. After a few sessions in the morning we had a good overall setting on the stock equipment and it was time to start testing the new parts after lunch.
The picture you’re looking at is a 3D model of the modified linkage assembly that our team engineer has developed. Although they perform the same function as the stock components the dimensions and angles of the new parts SHOULD make the S1000RR even better! The keyword here is, should. If there is one thing that we know it’s that something may look great on paper, but until you put it in a real world application (in our case that’s on track) it’s just a crap shoot. Lucky for us it worked just as well on the bike as it looked on paper!
It did take us the rest of the afternoon to get the dampers and the geometry to work with the new ratios in the linkage, but the bottom line is the results. Sunday morning when we put Jeremy out on new tires he flew! Now with the power of the BWM S1000RR rocketing him off of the corners he also had the feel and confidence to bring it down on the binders like he’d never had before. The bike was fun for him to ride again, and it showed.
When it was time to race Jeremy took the holeshot in both of his races and never looked back. By the end of the first race he had a 19 second gap back to second, and that’s in just six laps! The S1000RR owned everybody on the banking and now that Toye had a bike underneath him that is, “by far the best it’s ever been” he owned everybody in the turns too. A lot of the fans stopped by the pits to talk to Jeremy and the team after such a dominating performance. We had a lot of fun, and are looking forward to the final round of the CA State Championship in two weeks at Willow Springs. Did somebody say lap record…
Friday, August 27, 2010
Off to the Machine Shop, machine shop!
Let's see, this project started back on April 23rd. So, that would mean if I do my math correctly we've been at this now for 4 months. In that period of time we've managed to test;
- three different kinds of fork cartridges (Ohlins, Traxxion Dynamics, and X Dot)
- two differnt shock absorbers (Ohlins, and Bitubo)
- three different types of exhaust (Akrapovic, Devil, and Yoshimura)
- Stock and flashed ECUs
- Stock, driven, and alpha clipons
- Stock, PVM, and BST wheels
- Stock, SBS, and Vesrah Brake pads
- Stock, BMW, and Attack Rearsets
- Stock and Attack Triple Clamps
- Stock vs. HT Moto Seats
- Three different Lee's Cycle engine configurations
during our racing endeavors at 6 different tracks;
- Buttonwillow Raceways Park *
- Miller Motorsports Park
- Streets of Willow *
- Infineon Raceway
- Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
- Willow Spring International Raceway
We've managed to take ownership of 2 lap records (*), and win 6 out of 9 races.
The bike has been thrown down the road three times, had the frame cracked once, destroyed one set of carbon fiber wheels, and taught us that SBS brake pads might not be the best option!
The team has invested a lot of resources, traveled thousands of miles, hundreds of hours into the development of the BMW S1000RR. We're always zeroing in on the best combination of parts from aftermarket vendors, BMW, and in house. That's right in house!
Currently we have another batch of prototype parts at the machine shop in order to further improve on the parts we've made already. These include but are not limited to an adjustable shock linkage with a new progression ratio, new swing arm pivots, and ... Believe me we're always turning the screws here to see how we can make this package lighter, faster, and more comfortable for the rider.
If you're reading as a current S1000RR owner, then congratulations. You own the best sportbike on the planet! Not only has it blown the doors off everything else bone stock, but this Superbike has taken a seasoned AMA Pro rider around every track he's been to thus far faster than he's ever gone before!
Keep checking back for more results and updates, were looking forward to it and hope you are too!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Wanna Go Racing? Tight Budget? Got A Dual Sport Bike?
Hey Everyone and welcome to another fabulous post to the San Diego BMW Motorcycles blog! Today I'm going to highlite this past Sunday's events held in the Qualcomm stadium parking lot.
First a little background:
A close friend of San Diego BMW Motorcycles, Cesar Gannod, owns and runs Fastkeys (www.fastkeys.com) a key, locksmith and engraving service right around the corner on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. We use Cesar exclusively for his key cutting services on our exceptionally tricky BMW ignition and luggage keys and locks. Cesar it turns out is an avid Supermoto (or supermotard) enthusiast with friends throughout the motorcycle industry in San Diego and beyond. Cesar rides a Suzuki DRZ400SM that he's tricked out with all the right toys. We mentioned to him that we were building a G450X into a proper supermoto bike for our race team and track days. Needless to say his interest was peaked and he's kept steady tabs on the project's progress. The bike is near completion completion but a few suspension and brake components still needed some tweaking so the G450 was out of the picture for Sunday.
Enter the greatest dual sport bike man has ever created! That's right kids, I still had a Bridgestone Trailwing 21 inch front tire and a Bridgestone BT45 Spitfire 18 inch rear mounted on the mighty G650X Challenge from our Buttonwillow track day last month. Saturday night I loaded the SDBMWMC pop-up, some water and my leathers in the shop truck. Sunday morning 0800 I met Cesar in the "pits" set up at Qualcomm stadium.
The races are organized by the San Diego Karting Association (SDKA). The kart guys have been using the stadium parking lot one Sunday a month for the last five years since El Cajon speedway was closed. The SDKA invited in the supermoto bikes 2 months ago as a trial run to curb some of the massive costs associated with using the Qualcomm parking lot and insuring their racing. These karts I'm talking about are NOT the typical go karts you see at family fun centers across the country. They are purpose built racing karts with zippy little 2 stroke engines rocketing the drivers around the 1.1 mile course in just over a minute! That's about a 60MPH average speed. There are small children that pilot the 50cc machines, medium children that pilot what looked like 80cc machines, and large kids (in their 30's, 40's and 50's) that shred around the track in 100 and 125cc machines. The racing is pretty spec'd meaning the karts are all VERY similarly built which provides for some really tight racing action. Between the races competing drivers scurry about the pits offering tools, parts and a helping hand to their competitors! It's a real sportsman type environment which also keeps the "intimidating" feeling for newcomers like myself to a minimum. After signing up for the street legal class and a quick riders meeting where to explain ho things would run we retreated to the shade of the pop-up. Local photographers, kart drivers, bike riders, spectators, children and passers by all circulated through the pits and stopped to say hello.
At 0930 the street legal bikes got to take our first of three 5 minute practice sessions. We all pushed out bikes to the staging area and once the grid boss waved us onto the track it was legal speeding for everyone! The track is marked by chalk and cones which takes a little getting used to at first. Once I figured out how to leave the cones in my peripheral vision so they'd sort of melt into an orange line at speed I was fine. But on the initial 2 laps it must have looked like I was practicing the slalom out there. Something like this:
Left turn, Right turn, Tight left turn, CONE! Sweeping right tu...CONE! Straightaway, left turn, CONE, oops...hit that one...oops...almost hit that other rider...CONE!
But after 2 laps the course markers began to make sense and I was cruising around very comfortably on the parking lot tarmac.
We got another two practice sessions over the course of the morning followed by a break for lunch. The first heat race was at 12:50. Each rider pulled a number out of a hat and this was your starting position for the qualifier. Your finishing position in the 10 lap qualifier determined your starting position for the 15 lap main event. My number put me exactly middle of the pack on the start. Cesar was lucky enough to draw the absolute last spot on the grid...jokes were made.
The starter held the flag up in the air, waited a second, then dropped his arms and we were off. I got a great launch (ok, most of the field was riding bikes 450cc's or less) and was 3rd going into the first turn. As we shot down the front straightaway Pete, Cesar and I lead the pack in that order. Over the next 6 of 10 laps Pete gapped us a bit while Cesar and I traded positions countless times. The G650 was quicker getting out of the turns and down each of the 2 straightaways but Cesar is BRAVE on the brakes! He was able to grab the binders later in essentially all over the hard braking zones. This, from my vantage point, was awesome to watch. These more skilled supermoto riders go into the turns as fast as possible then at the last second sit up, drop the bike 2 gears, dump the clutch and SLIDE the bike crossed up into the turn. So you can imagine as I'm setting up for a direction change Cesar comes flying past on the inside, handlebars at near full lock the wrong direction, smoke and dust trail coming up off his rear tire. It took some mental doing to not target fixate on his "controlled crash" of sorts every time we rounded a corner. This cat and mouse routine last till about lap 8. I settled in behind Cesar on his DRZ and as we rounded an off camber chicane at the far end of the track I saw a bit of smoke further up the track out of the corner of my eye. A second later Pete was in view laying on the ground having low sided his DRZ. "Hey! I'm in second place!" my brain shouted inside my helmet. Out of another chicane and across the start finish line on the fastest straight on the track. I tucked in behind my locksmith friend as we rocketed south. Again I sit up before Cesar and begin hauling the BMW down from 80MPH. This time though he started his deceleration just a little too late and after sliding, locking up and sliding again he overcooked the left hander and missed the turn threading the needle between 2 cones as he exited the track. I'm in first place now! Cesar meanwhile saw the track was clear over his shoulder and re-entered but with only a lap to go there was not time to pass me again. The might G650 and I had won the 10 lap qualifier!
In the cool down zone there were congratulations and fist bumping going all around and I was phyched. We walked our bikes back to the pits were Pete was checking out a couple new scratches on his DRZ. We took a minutes to make fun of him throwing away what would have been a sure.victory. We took a few more minutes to make fun of the new scratches on his bike. Then a few more minutes still to re-make fun of throwing away the victory.
So at this point it's 2:30pm and our main event (which I and the mighty G650 have pole position for) is not until 5:15pm. It's Sunday and I've been at the stadium since 0800. Hmmmm, there were a few things I wanted to do today. Well, I live 4 miles away in North Park SO:
I traded out my leathers and boots for shorts and flip flops, hopped in the truck and headed home. In the two hours the kart guys were finishing their qualifiers I did a load of laundry, gave my hound dog a bath:
Stopped at the grocery store to pick up steaks for dinner and headed back to Qualcomm. You can't do THAT from Willow Springs!
Once back I put my leathers back on and about 20 minutes later it was time for our main event. I lined up on pole as the others fell in at their respective starting positions. Once again the starting official raised his flag then threw his arms downward sending us drag racing to the first turn. The G650 motor once again pulled me to the first turn in first place but as I exited turn one both Cesar and Pete shot past on the inside. This was shaping up a lot like the qualifier. I settled in behind those two hoping for a repeat of my earlier fortune as it was evident there was no way I was going to be able to play the late breaking game with them. Unfortunately, lady luck was busy elsewhere this race. Pete and Cesar battled back and forth for the first 10 laps or so while steadily pulling away from me. On lap 12 Cesar over cooked a turn which allowed Pete to check out. Then, on the last lap, just as I was putting the final touches on my podium speech from inside my helmet Ross from San Diego House of Motorcycles came out of nowhere and blew past me on the inside of turn 5! I tried frantically for the rest of the lap to get back around but no dice. I think he was sand bagging the earlier moto's!
So, all in all, I had an absolute blast. 75 bucks very well spend. We got a ton of track time, I made new friends and people were pretty impressed with the mighty G650. Huge kudos to the SDKA for bringing us moto guys on board and taking every opportunity to make sure we were happy with the way things were running. SDKA really catered to the supermoto riders and were outstanding hosts the entire day. I'm 100% in for next month. Also huge thanks to Jon Litchfield for taking all these great pictures:
http://www.wix.com/DirtyhuckerPhoto/Litchfield_Shutter_Works
Facebook/dirtyhuckerphoto
and Matt Finley, matt@amusingscribe.com, www.amusingscribe.com:
-Thanks for reading,
Sean DeAngelis
First a little background:
A close friend of San Diego BMW Motorcycles, Cesar Gannod, owns and runs Fastkeys (www.fastkeys.com) a key, locksmith and engraving service right around the corner on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. We use Cesar exclusively for his key cutting services on our exceptionally tricky BMW ignition and luggage keys and locks. Cesar it turns out is an avid Supermoto (or supermotard) enthusiast with friends throughout the motorcycle industry in San Diego and beyond. Cesar rides a Suzuki DRZ400SM that he's tricked out with all the right toys. We mentioned to him that we were building a G450X into a proper supermoto bike for our race team and track days. Needless to say his interest was peaked and he's kept steady tabs on the project's progress. The bike is near completion completion but a few suspension and brake components still needed some tweaking so the G450 was out of the picture for Sunday.
Enter the greatest dual sport bike man has ever created! That's right kids, I still had a Bridgestone Trailwing 21 inch front tire and a Bridgestone BT45 Spitfire 18 inch rear mounted on the mighty G650X Challenge from our Buttonwillow track day last month. Saturday night I loaded the SDBMWMC pop-up, some water and my leathers in the shop truck. Sunday morning 0800 I met Cesar in the "pits" set up at Qualcomm stadium.
The races are organized by the San Diego Karting Association (SDKA). The kart guys have been using the stadium parking lot one Sunday a month for the last five years since El Cajon speedway was closed. The SDKA invited in the supermoto bikes 2 months ago as a trial run to curb some of the massive costs associated with using the Qualcomm parking lot and insuring their racing. These karts I'm talking about are NOT the typical go karts you see at family fun centers across the country. They are purpose built racing karts with zippy little 2 stroke engines rocketing the drivers around the 1.1 mile course in just over a minute! That's about a 60MPH average speed. There are small children that pilot the 50cc machines, medium children that pilot what looked like 80cc machines, and large kids (in their 30's, 40's and 50's) that shred around the track in 100 and 125cc machines. The racing is pretty spec'd meaning the karts are all VERY similarly built which provides for some really tight racing action. Between the races competing drivers scurry about the pits offering tools, parts and a helping hand to their competitors! It's a real sportsman type environment which also keeps the "intimidating" feeling for newcomers like myself to a minimum. After signing up for the street legal class and a quick riders meeting where to explain ho things would run we retreated to the shade of the pop-up. Local photographers, kart drivers, bike riders, spectators, children and passers by all circulated through the pits and stopped to say hello.
At 0930 the street legal bikes got to take our first of three 5 minute practice sessions. We all pushed out bikes to the staging area and once the grid boss waved us onto the track it was legal speeding for everyone! The track is marked by chalk and cones which takes a little getting used to at first. Once I figured out how to leave the cones in my peripheral vision so they'd sort of melt into an orange line at speed I was fine. But on the initial 2 laps it must have looked like I was practicing the slalom out there. Something like this:
Left turn, Right turn, Tight left turn, CONE! Sweeping right tu...CONE! Straightaway, left turn, CONE, oops...hit that one...oops...almost hit that other rider...CONE!
But after 2 laps the course markers began to make sense and I was cruising around very comfortably on the parking lot tarmac.
We got another two practice sessions over the course of the morning followed by a break for lunch. The first heat race was at 12:50. Each rider pulled a number out of a hat and this was your starting position for the qualifier. Your finishing position in the 10 lap qualifier determined your starting position for the 15 lap main event. My number put me exactly middle of the pack on the start. Cesar was lucky enough to draw the absolute last spot on the grid...jokes were made.
The starter held the flag up in the air, waited a second, then dropped his arms and we were off. I got a great launch (ok, most of the field was riding bikes 450cc's or less) and was 3rd going into the first turn. As we shot down the front straightaway Pete, Cesar and I lead the pack in that order. Over the next 6 of 10 laps Pete gapped us a bit while Cesar and I traded positions countless times. The G650 was quicker getting out of the turns and down each of the 2 straightaways but Cesar is BRAVE on the brakes! He was able to grab the binders later in essentially all over the hard braking zones. This, from my vantage point, was awesome to watch. These more skilled supermoto riders go into the turns as fast as possible then at the last second sit up, drop the bike 2 gears, dump the clutch and SLIDE the bike crossed up into the turn. So you can imagine as I'm setting up for a direction change Cesar comes flying past on the inside, handlebars at near full lock the wrong direction, smoke and dust trail coming up off his rear tire. It took some mental doing to not target fixate on his "controlled crash" of sorts every time we rounded a corner. This cat and mouse routine last till about lap 8. I settled in behind Cesar on his DRZ and as we rounded an off camber chicane at the far end of the track I saw a bit of smoke further up the track out of the corner of my eye. A second later Pete was in view laying on the ground having low sided his DRZ. "Hey! I'm in second place!" my brain shouted inside my helmet. Out of another chicane and across the start finish line on the fastest straight on the track. I tucked in behind my locksmith friend as we rocketed south. Again I sit up before Cesar and begin hauling the BMW down from 80MPH. This time though he started his deceleration just a little too late and after sliding, locking up and sliding again he overcooked the left hander and missed the turn threading the needle between 2 cones as he exited the track. I'm in first place now! Cesar meanwhile saw the track was clear over his shoulder and re-entered but with only a lap to go there was not time to pass me again. The might G650 and I had won the 10 lap qualifier!
In the cool down zone there were congratulations and fist bumping going all around and I was phyched. We walked our bikes back to the pits were Pete was checking out a couple new scratches on his DRZ. We took a minutes to make fun of him throwing away what would have been a sure.victory. We took a few more minutes to make fun of the new scratches on his bike. Then a few more minutes still to re-make fun of throwing away the victory.
So at this point it's 2:30pm and our main event (which I and the mighty G650 have pole position for) is not until 5:15pm. It's Sunday and I've been at the stadium since 0800. Hmmmm, there were a few things I wanted to do today. Well, I live 4 miles away in North Park SO:
I traded out my leathers and boots for shorts and flip flops, hopped in the truck and headed home. In the two hours the kart guys were finishing their qualifiers I did a load of laundry, gave my hound dog a bath:
Stopped at the grocery store to pick up steaks for dinner and headed back to Qualcomm. You can't do THAT from Willow Springs!
Once back I put my leathers back on and about 20 minutes later it was time for our main event. I lined up on pole as the others fell in at their respective starting positions. Once again the starting official raised his flag then threw his arms downward sending us drag racing to the first turn. The G650 motor once again pulled me to the first turn in first place but as I exited turn one both Cesar and Pete shot past on the inside. This was shaping up a lot like the qualifier. I settled in behind those two hoping for a repeat of my earlier fortune as it was evident there was no way I was going to be able to play the late breaking game with them. Unfortunately, lady luck was busy elsewhere this race. Pete and Cesar battled back and forth for the first 10 laps or so while steadily pulling away from me. On lap 12 Cesar over cooked a turn which allowed Pete to check out. Then, on the last lap, just as I was putting the final touches on my podium speech from inside my helmet Ross from San Diego House of Motorcycles came out of nowhere and blew past me on the inside of turn 5! I tried frantically for the rest of the lap to get back around but no dice. I think he was sand bagging the earlier moto's!
So, all in all, I had an absolute blast. 75 bucks very well spend. We got a ton of track time, I made new friends and people were pretty impressed with the mighty G650. Huge kudos to the SDKA for bringing us moto guys on board and taking every opportunity to make sure we were happy with the way things were running. SDKA really catered to the supermoto riders and were outstanding hosts the entire day. I'm 100% in for next month. Also huge thanks to Jon Litchfield for taking all these great pictures:
http://www.wix.com/DirtyhuckerPhoto/Litchfield_Shutter_Works
Facebook/dirtyhuckerphoto
and Matt Finley, matt@amusingscribe.com, www.amusingscribe.com:
-Thanks for reading,
Sean DeAngelis
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