Surprise…

Let’s say you’re flat-out and under the paint on your 916; counting down the distance ‘till you can bang down a couple of gears and peel into Grattan’s back straight…  The last thing you expect is a pair of vintage F1s snapping at you heels.  But that’s been the recurring theme this summer as I continue to shake down the new Loud Bike.  It started at Le Circuit in Mt. Tremblant, Quebec – where I began to get a sense that the 853 f1 was way faster than it felt – and continued as I mixed it up with Ken Livingston on his ex-WSG ’89 GSXR at Mosport. 

By the time I hit Grattan, I’d rebuilt the front forks, lowered the rear ride height and settled on a 15/39 gearing combination and the bike was feeling much more developed.   I was more comfortable on the machine and beginning to explore the limits of a new pair of Pirelli slicks.  On Tuesday, it was a BCM-tuned, highly modified and lightened ST4.  I don’t know who was more surprised – the ST4 rider or me – as I pulled past the other bike in 5th on the front straight…  Then it was a somewhat prearranged match-up with Clayton on Alex Ortner’s brilliant GP Due.   (More on the GP Due in my next post)  Clayton and I pulled onto the track together and spent the next 10 corners warming-up the tires – heading up the hill and into the left-hander onto the front straight with Clayton in the lead.  I short-shifted just before the crest of the hill and grabbed a handful expecting Clayton to run away and hide – and initially, the GP Due pulled ahead.  But when I shifted into 4th, I began to gain on him and when I hit 5th gear I went by…  Amazing.  We mixed it up for about 15 minutes, and on one lap, passed each other 4 times between turns 1 and 4.   The bottom line though, was that the Loud Bike had the motor on the GP Due (admittedly, with the less-than-lithe Clayton in the saddle).  The loudbike fan club (Mike Cecchini, Sal Scaba and Bob Berger) were over the top when I pulled into our garage – with high fives all around.

The following days (I was at Grattan for seven) were brilliant – with excellent weather and great rides on the Loud Bike and the Cadillac.  The Caddy  continued to be a treat to ride, but I started whacking the header on the pavement towards the middle of Day 3.  On Friday around mid-morning I returned to our garage on the Caddy to find a very tidy and race-ready yellow F1 parked beside my F1.  The surprises continued…  Gary Palmer of Byron, Ill owns, races and developed this beautiful piece and we began chatting about each others bikes as soon as I was out of my leathers.

The bike is a 790cc 1988 F1S  with his own fiberglass seat, tank and bellypan as well as a rising-rate rear end that he fabricated.  He also tucked the front end in a couple of degrees (about 24 degrees final rake) by moving the bottom of the steering head in about a half inch.  I’ve built a Photo Gallery for Gary’s bike which includes the full specs and riding impressions, but the net is that this bike is built to the gills with high-zoot heads, crazy cams and big compression and is campaigned very successfully in the CCS Ultra Lightweight and Lightweight classes.  Gary had a keen interest in my 853 motor as he wants to bump up a class but can’t run with the hot-rodded SV 650s.  “No Problem!” was my reply, given the performance of the loud Bike so far.  I figured (and stated) that I felt my bike would run away from his.  We went out together in the next session and without the careful warm-up that I’m used to (Gary’s a hard man) we hit the left hand rise leading to the front straight much harder than I had all week.  I couldn’t pass Gary’s 790.  I was shocked.  Lap after lap I tried different and more aggressive approaches to the front straight to no avail.  To make it worse, Gary’s a much better rider than I and I had to put on my race face to keep up with him in the infield.  I thought that my bike was feeling softer, so I did a carb synch and plug check – ditched the air filters and went up a size on the mains.  We went out the next day and I might have had a tiny bit more than Gary. 

We chatted at length about the different approaches to the two bikes and the relatively soft state of tune that my motor is in compared to his.  There was a mutual sense that higher compression, more aggressive cams and dyno tuning might get the power he was looking for out of my engine.  Gary was keen to explore the possibility of moving to the 900-based 853 platform, and I was curious about the handling package Gary had put together, so we agreed to a bike swap the next day.  Once I stopped marveling at how cool my bike looked an sounded from behind (which of course is where I spent the session) I began to notice how similar two radically different F1s could feel.  I mean, let’s face it – neither of these F1s have much in common with the original item…  Gary’s bike  has far better brakes, a different riding position and a peakier engine, but I felt at ease with the package early in the session.  Which is a good thing ‘cause John Hackett went by us on the GP Due on lap two with a hot 916 in tow and Gary went off in hot pursuit. and I put the dagger between my teeth.  I’d like to say that 4 days of double sessions had me too shagged out to last more than 5 laps with the trio, but the reality is that they’re simply better riders.  I let them go at lap 6 and kept in touch with them for another two laps and then pulled off so I could watch and listen to my bike being thrashed from the sidelines. 

Once again, brilliant stuff.