Linga
Well I just finished the maraton effort of getting my SDR down the track.
For those that don't know I bought this bike off Smokedu in October last year as the same model in Australia costs $17k-$21k.
Don at Scuderia West advised me to just buy it as his wife is South Aussie and "we'll just sort importing later". He was amazing and put up with many bumbling emails asking for bits and pieces, and if other stuff has arrived.
Danny Boyd then took the bike and Ported and polished her aswell as fabbing up a strengthened swingarm, all over the holidays and while having a lot more important stuff going on. I can't reccommend the guy enough, and if any of you Cali side guys are thinking of engine work or frame mods I hope you will consider him.
Dr Swade dropped off 2 bellypans and a load of "Goodies" including a shirt which will have to go up in the Bar as, due to my beanpole like physique, it looks like a large Kahki flag.
Due to this being my first importation of anything and my glaring lack of intelligence, I managed to make most of the mistakes that I possibly could (even leaving my wallet behind at the freight depot )
I finally got her Tuesday night and have stripped her and race prepped until 1am on the friday night. This included a 6 hour return trip to Bunbury (including Dyno time) to check if the fuel was OK.
Tod from Patterson Ducati was amazing, and squeezed me in quickly on Thursday and as usual did a stellar job, and was keen just to get another enthusiast going. Tod and his father Wayne are very much into the Drag racing scene here in WA and have on of the fastest Ducati's going around. He has also just completed development of a new type of shifter that is Patent Pending and I'm sure the world will hear more about.
http://www.ducatibunbury.com.au/SuperSportTurbo.tpl
I managed to get to Collie with only a few last minute things to do to the bike. Tyre warmers on and first use of the Motomfg stand... Let's get some track time and dial her in...
First session out and I am trying to get the feel for her and the steering damper has a failure, Collie is a very small and a little bumpy track, so I was struggling to hold on especially over the back section. That turned out to be the last of my worries as the bike started to cut out violently, especially on cornering.
I managed just 6 Laps untill the final session trying various different things on the bike, but as sessions were only 10mins each, I could only try one thing at a time.
I found the front Coil mounting bolt had worked it's way loose and also due to the lack of mounting (and time to fab one) in the mask the tip over sensor was to blame, also the fuel tank rear breather hose now in a catch can was causing a vacuum and making the bike die. Each time I thought I had fixed something, I found that I had not and there was something else!
Despite these things, I set a fastest lap of 52s and decided to do a trip to Perth for another steering damper and to get a secong TOS glued in the "I'm fine" position. This turned out to be unnessesary thanks to some timely info from Jody.
I got back to Collie early in the morning and got the bike ready with fingers crossed, heading out to practice with a little nervousness and no seat time.
All worked well and gave me enough confidence to wring her neck for the Qualifying and set a time of 49.4s (thunderbikes Lap Record is 47.8s)
This put me second on the grid and more than I could have hoped for.
I was very rusty and made heaps of errors (off track, highsides not moving enough) as well as still battling with nasty headshake around the back of the track. Also the seat position is too high but I had no time to fab another.
The michelins held up well but the SDR needs a 190 on the rear for serious racing.
The long days and 2500kms driven started to take their toll and struggled to maintain focus but still had a blast.
I race 3 I also may or may not have had the bike in neutral on the start line
I was laughing into my helmet as everyone flew by... Moron!
I finished with 3rd, 2nd, and 6th respectively and took out the win for the Thunder bikes class, but over all is where I'm aiming (although not awarded).
Next time I can get on the track is a race in May so I hope to perfom well also.
The bike got heaps of attention and I hope to keep her looking good for then. I'm looking forward to getting pummelled by some more Sportsbikes.
I think there will be another 3 SD's at that round so it should be very fun indeed.
Here are the 3 races if you want to check em out. They are only sprints and very short. As the day goes on I start to apex earlier and earlier as I get more tired. Hopefully next time I'll have a more relaxed build up.
For those that don't know I bought this bike off Smokedu in October last year as the same model in Australia costs $17k-$21k.
Don at Scuderia West advised me to just buy it as his wife is South Aussie and "we'll just sort importing later". He was amazing and put up with many bumbling emails asking for bits and pieces, and if other stuff has arrived.
Danny Boyd then took the bike and Ported and polished her aswell as fabbing up a strengthened swingarm, all over the holidays and while having a lot more important stuff going on. I can't reccommend the guy enough, and if any of you Cali side guys are thinking of engine work or frame mods I hope you will consider him.
Dr Swade dropped off 2 bellypans and a load of "Goodies" including a shirt which will have to go up in the Bar as, due to my beanpole like physique, it looks like a large Kahki flag.
Due to this being my first importation of anything and my glaring lack of intelligence, I managed to make most of the mistakes that I possibly could (even leaving my wallet behind at the freight depot )
I finally got her Tuesday night and have stripped her and race prepped until 1am on the friday night. This included a 6 hour return trip to Bunbury (including Dyno time) to check if the fuel was OK.
Tod from Patterson Ducati was amazing, and squeezed me in quickly on Thursday and as usual did a stellar job, and was keen just to get another enthusiast going. Tod and his father Wayne are very much into the Drag racing scene here in WA and have on of the fastest Ducati's going around. He has also just completed development of a new type of shifter that is Patent Pending and I'm sure the world will hear more about.
http://www.ducatibunbury.com.au/SuperSportTurbo.tpl
I managed to get to Collie with only a few last minute things to do to the bike. Tyre warmers on and first use of the Motomfg stand... Let's get some track time and dial her in...
First session out and I am trying to get the feel for her and the steering damper has a failure, Collie is a very small and a little bumpy track, so I was struggling to hold on especially over the back section. That turned out to be the last of my worries as the bike started to cut out violently, especially on cornering.
I managed just 6 Laps untill the final session trying various different things on the bike, but as sessions were only 10mins each, I could only try one thing at a time.
I found the front Coil mounting bolt had worked it's way loose and also due to the lack of mounting (and time to fab one) in the mask the tip over sensor was to blame, also the fuel tank rear breather hose now in a catch can was causing a vacuum and making the bike die. Each time I thought I had fixed something, I found that I had not and there was something else!
Despite these things, I set a fastest lap of 52s and decided to do a trip to Perth for another steering damper and to get a secong TOS glued in the "I'm fine" position. This turned out to be unnessesary thanks to some timely info from Jody.
I got back to Collie early in the morning and got the bike ready with fingers crossed, heading out to practice with a little nervousness and no seat time.
All worked well and gave me enough confidence to wring her neck for the Qualifying and set a time of 49.4s (thunderbikes Lap Record is 47.8s)
This put me second on the grid and more than I could have hoped for.
I was very rusty and made heaps of errors (off track, highsides not moving enough) as well as still battling with nasty headshake around the back of the track. Also the seat position is too high but I had no time to fab another.
The michelins held up well but the SDR needs a 190 on the rear for serious racing.
The long days and 2500kms driven started to take their toll and struggled to maintain focus but still had a blast.
I race 3 I also may or may not have had the bike in neutral on the start line
I was laughing into my helmet as everyone flew by... Moron!
I finished with 3rd, 2nd, and 6th respectively and took out the win for the Thunder bikes class, but over all is where I'm aiming (although not awarded).
Next time I can get on the track is a race in May so I hope to perfom well also.
The bike got heaps of attention and I hope to keep her looking good for then. I'm looking forward to getting pummelled by some more Sportsbikes.
I think there will be another 3 SD's at that round so it should be very fun indeed.
Here are the 3 races if you want to check em out. They are only sprints and very short. As the day goes on I start to apex earlier and earlier as I get more tired. Hopefully next time I'll have a more relaxed build up.