standard track shot..belly pan looks pretty low! Will have to check that out. unedited ride by video. A few from just before turn 1 and a few thru the s turns right after. 40 degrees at the track yesterday! Totally drained me! Each session I would drop in my chair. Damn Canadian weather! Uk expat had a wicked union jack flag painted on his bike..will put a pick up later (even though its not a duc)
Been pretty quiet for the last couple weeks but still busy. I use a Dion Device brake guard on the bike. Sadly they take up a little extra room and the Duc didn't have it on the clip on. I got my hands on some aluminum tubes and cut them to length and swapped it out. What would normally be a 15 min job took me all damn night! Marking new holes was a royal pain and the notch in the tub at the clamp was not much fun. Added bonus was the throttle cable being too tight on a full left lock. Messed around with it forever but finally got everything on, working, and buttoned up. I'll have to take a pic, its a pretty piece of kit. Testing day tomorrow and racing endurance Saturday, also qualifying with the Duc in Twins, race Sunday. Busy few days ahead! Tight track and the layout isnt good for big bikes but its fun to wear down the knee pucks! I'll try to get some pics and a report up but I'll be on vacation right after the race for a week.
Great write up. I've used my 1198s on Trackdays for the last 5 years. It's fast and furious, keeping the front wheel down is always a challenge. I'd be very careful with the quick shifter, the gearbox won't take poorly timed changes and are very expensive to fix. Too much torque... Have fun, you deserve it after all the work and effort you've put in. Neo
Had a fun race weekend. I finally got to run the 1198 in the sprint race. Ran twin hwt class. I had a Friday track day to set up and run the race layout. Felt great on the bike. Decided to turn off the quckshifter. My shifts were way smoother and less issues. Although I did have a ohshit moment when I hit a false neutral going into a corner. Ended up so far off track but luckily kept the bike rubber down. First race of the year for me so I grided last for qualifying. Pretty much total crap start (I'm still afraid of goosing it). Caught up into the first set of turns and was able to pick up a couple places. Was right behind another rider when we ran out of laps. Later on the Saturday we did our endurance race (onboard a gsxr600). Race was going well, until the bolt that holds the shifter sheered off. We lots some time as we had to get a replacement from our cold pits. Finally got it back on and back on track. Then about 1/2 way thru the race the clouds moved in and the rain started. Managed a few laps on slicks then we decided to pull in and get the rains on. It was the right call as the rain didn't stop until well after the rain. No quick change equipment for us so it took us about 10 min to swap the wheels. Not bad when done in the rain wearing leathers. We ended up finishing 3rd in our class, 10th overall (out of about 30ish bikes) My sprint race on Sunday went about as crap as could go, without wrecking the bike I guess. My start was even worse than the day before. Almost stalled!! I was still at the start as the pack went thru the first turn. I didn't do any better thru the entire race. False neutral into a big sweeping corner, messed up my lines and braking points. By the end of the race my ears were hurting from swearing at myself in my helmet. Lots to work on, but I'm glad the bike was running great.
Round 5 this weekend. Weather is calling for some really crappy stuff to roll in tonight and hang out for the day. No rains on the Duc and not willing to throw it down the track yet. So I've decided to suck out and not run her this weekend. I'll be running the GSXR600 in the 3 hour endurance (we'll be rain prepping her tonight). The poor GSXR has been thrown down, cartwheeled, lowsided more times that we want to count. Rain doesnt scare her anymore. Have a good weekend!
So I bailed and didn't take the Duc because of the lousy weather forecast. Duh. Rain Saturday morning early then once everyone started going out for practice it cleared up. Stayed dry until the last session of the endurance race in the afternoon (5:30 ish). Sunday ended up perfect weather. Oh well. It made packing up a lot easier. Endurance race went well. Gearing on the GSXR was perfect. I wish I had the duc for this layout though. Nice long straight. Would have been cool to see what I could have gotten out of her. We finished 6th overall, 3 in our weight class. Our bike is way underpowered for our class now. We're up against a pro level R1 and getting smoked. Fun race none the less. No scary moments..other than draggin knee, toe and peg on a couple corners (suspension will have to be looked at). 2 more weeks until the last race of the season. Some of my buddies are talking shit for me not taking the duc. Sure hope the weather is good so I can give them a spanking!
Last update. Weather was calling for crap all weekend. Cold with off and on rain. The Duc stayed home, but the GSXR was in play for the endurance race. We were in 3rd place. 1st or 2nd messed up bad and we could sneak up in the final rankings. Woke up at the track on Saturday and it didn't disappoint. Wet, off and on rain and cooold! Everyone started swapping out slicks for rains before the riders meeting. 1st practice sessions were all wet, then like clockwork the rain stopped and the track began to dry. Rains off slicks back on! Endurance race started just before 3 and the day was looking great. Warming up, dry. 1st session seemed to go well, until as we did a rider swap the rider told me the brakes were acting funny..and really crap. That does not instill confidence as you hop on the bike! I went out and sure enough the first turn I brake into, the brakes went nuts. At first very weak, then after I let off and began tipping into the corner they surged to almost full braking for a split second...just enough to almost flip me. Very uncool. I did the rest of the lap saying to myself this bike is trying to kill me! I went around again thinking maybe it was me and I was being sucky...Nope..end of a straight the same thing happened...then as on the same lap again even worse. I said screw it and pulled into the pits..hopped off and told the team what was going on..We quickly went to work checking the usual suspects until the pit marshal came over and asked about the brake guard...is it a cheap chinese one he asked..of course it was..we took a closer look and sure enough the lever guard had flexed and was making contact with the brake lever. It got tighter the further the lever traveled so at full braking it would grab and not release! A couple quick bends and curse words and we were back in business. The rest of my session went without a hitch. Just before my second session the weather started to take a turn for the worse. Light misty rain. As I jumped on the bike for the next swap the rider told me to watch out..track is getting slippy. Of course this meant to me that I should go as fast as I could to feel where its letting go..and off a I went. I pushed it in every corner and the traction felt fine..until a sweeping right hander in front the pits. As I turned in the front lost all grip and went over. I slammed hard on the side and the bike and I slid for a good 30 meters. I was told it was impressive and there were lots of cool sparks! After the initial contact the bike flipped and we we both tumbled I remember reaching out and pushing the front tire away from me, and seeing lots of sparks. When we hit the grass the tumbling really started! I remember sky, grass, sky, grass. I kept wanting to get up but knew I was still tumbling. Finally stopped..ran back to the bike and tried for a second to get it back up...Wasnt gonna happen. I cleared myself from the impact zone and waited for the cart of shame to take me and the bike back to the pits. By now it was raining pretty good and we started to check out the damage to see if we could continue. We figured we could get the damage fixed (rideable) and rains on but by that point the race would almost be over..A better idea was suggested...single malt Scottish in the pits! We packed up what we could and headed back. Celebratory drinks while the race continued. We ended up finishing 3rd overall for the season. Stiff and sore from my crash. Leathers will need some love to fixed the crash damage but didn't need an ambulance ride so I score it a bonus! Can't wait to get the duc on the track and start pushing it next season!
