loudbike

VIR Redux...

It’s funny how the further I get into Southern Virginia, the more it looks like home.  Well, tobacco farms aside.  Hardwoods give way to fir and pine and the sky opens up a bit more.  But rolling through the gate at Virginia International Raceway, you know you’re in America.  There’s just nothing like this grand old facility in The Great White North and every time I ride the North Course, I fall further in love with the layout.  Granted, I’m still fighting the track rather than working with the natural flow – but during this second visit, I could see the potential for big fun and a high grin per lap factor. 

The Mid-Atlantic Ducati (MAD) club put this 2-day event on every October and with Cornerspeed running the show, the event is nicely organized and runs about as smooth as a guy could ask for. 

Setting up my pit with Gene in one of the garages, one of the first members to pop in and visit was Bill Deitz, anxious to show me his old F1 racer that he’d brought out to the event.  It’s another one of those old Leoni-built machines from way back that Bill’s raced with considerable success both as a modern (back in the day) and vintage bike.  The bike’s set-up for battle and sports most of the bits that were the hot set-up back in the late 80’s.  Sounds brilliant and although Bill says the motor’s tired, it went like a scalded cat.

   

While the golden sunset light was still happening, Gene and I took the Hypermotard out into the middle of the pit area to snap a few shots of the bike in its still pristine state.  I really enjoyed looking at the results of the project – although I still have stuff to do over the winter (paint the triples, re-mount the tail light, mount turn signals, buy and mount Rizoma reservoirs, wire in the GPS, re-route the rear brake line…).  It seems like I’m never done, eh?

 I chose the F1 for my first morning session and found myself running a decent pace but still searching for answers in just about every corner combo on the track.  Wonderful to be back on the bike with the open pipe and even more so with the promise of a pain-free day. 

The second session was another matter as it was the inaugural run on the new Hypermotard and this time I was quick to assure myself a spot in the hot pit line with Mike and Gene so I’d be able to let their pace keep me up to speed while I figured out the bike.  Although I’d spent some time setting sag and rebound, I knew I’d be struggling initially with seat height and suspension travel having just come off the F1.  But within 4 laps, I was still running with them (in fact, I’d passed Gene) and adapting my inputs to compensate for the different game and really enjoying the new bike’s power delivery and handling. 

 Gene wasn’t happy though.  Running close behind me on the front straight, he found himself dodging the stick-on white sixes that were flying off my seat and threatening to attach themselves to his far less slippery face shield.

 As I was warming up the F1 for my third session, Bill was coming in from the Advanced session on his 900Ss and told me he was gonna grab his F1 and join me.  I chased him for the first 3 laps and enjoyed the pace he was setting – one that had me comfortable but pushing past my earlier lap times.  The turn of speed from his F1 was a surprise and it took a concerted effort to get a drive onto the front straight that let me nail him just before the kink.  Bill’s a fast guy – faster than me – and the only thing that worked in my favor was his baked tires. I had to put my head down and really focus to stay in front which meant that the knee was finally on the pavement in a few corners and the track rhythm was beginning to reveal itself.  We swapped places a few times over the balance of the session, but within a few minutes of the close, my right hand had gone numb and I reluctantly packed it in.  That session turned out to be the last time I’ll run the F1 at the limit before the full tear-down planned for the winter.  I’ve been finding very thin sections of crank shim material on the drain plug magnet for the last two seasons and the vibration’s telling me that I’ve hit the “Best Before” date.  One of these days I’m gonna take the next exit off the high road and go on a rant about Guy Martin’s engine building track record, but today’s not the day.

The balance of the day was spent swapping between the F1 and the Hypermotard and running easy laps with Gene and Mike that gave me time to fool around some more with different lines and develop more feel for what the Hypermotard was doing.  But to be honest; by the end of the day I think I was just putting one foot in front of the other.

As usual, lot's of hi-rez photos here.

Although I had to skip Tuesday and get back to work, it was an excellent close to an otherwise crummy season that was defined by the nagging injuries from the accident in May.  On the upside, the back pain was virtually gone and my only physical problems were due to being out of shape.

So, once the Gran Canyon wheels arrive and the lift is free, the F1 comes apart and the motor goes off to Kyle at BCM.  Once complete, I’ll head up to New Hampster to do the install and finally get the cam timing and carburetion dialed-in on the dyno.

Fall has fallen this week.  This afternoon, they’re calling for sunny and 14c.  Yikes!  Just like home..  Good day for a short but invigorating thrash on Son of Hyperstrada.

Content: 2008 Ducati Hypermotard, Ducati 750 F1, Bill Deitz, Steve Munro, Virginia International Raceway, BCM Motorsports, Kyle Thompson, Mid-Atlantic Ducati

 

Win a 696...

I got this in a week ago from Lowell at Pro Italia (still time to buy a ticket..)

Pro Italia is raffling a new 2009 Ducati M696 to benefit the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. Tickets are $25 each (or buy 5 chances for $100) and limited to 500 total.
Tickets are available in our online store or in our Los Angeles showroom.

Tickets are available now until October 24th. The winner will be announced on the 26th of October at the annual Love Ride in Pomona. The first prize winner will win a 2009 Ducati Monster 696 (MSRP $8,995) and the second prize winner will receive an America leather jacket from Vanson (a $550.00 value).

http://www.proitalia.com

Son of Hyperstrada...

The final stage in the creation of the latest loudbike began last week with a nine and a half hour run up to Laconia, New Hampshire – home of BCM Motorsports.  And I think I’m getting truly weary of nine plus hour drives – this being my 5th one of the year.  It’s not like the Passat wagon is a crummy place to hang out for that amount of time (actually, it’s mighty fine), it’s the traffic.

Traffic is probably the biggest of the bad things I’ve been trying to get used to in my move down here from The Great White North.  And on the run up to BCM, there was really no getting clear of it until I got up into the “Live Free or Die” state.   A 5PM departure from beautiful downtown Bethesda kicked off the trip in fine bumper-to-bumper style and established a rhythm that would define most of the evening.  Ah, well – I put my faith a few hours of loud Zappa followed by a few more hours of equally loud Bela Fleck and the Flecktones before I had to load two back-to- back Zero7 cds just to calm down enough to start looking for a hotel.  I ended up in a sketchy area of Stanford, CT ; happy that my trailer was empty.

I rolled into BCM around noon on Thursday and started unloading 2 months worth of eBay parts acquisitions, bodywork fresh from Ottawa Valley Custom Paint and the S2R1000 exhaust that Gary’s Custom Cycle had buffed to a finish that looked more like chrome than any prior work I’d seen.  The Hypermotard is the second bike I’ve built from a Photoshop exercise and like the Hyperstrada, I did most of the work from the Ducati parts manual and patterns I’d made up during my brief visit to BCM in July.  So, it’s kind of like a mini-biker-build-off when I’m finally staring at my rain and road-grime soaked bike surrounded by eight boxes of tools and parts.  Miles had graciously offered to break the bike in for me and had done so during the tail end of a tropical storm that had hit the Northeast just prior to my visit, so before getting the bike on the lift, it got a detailed wash and blow-dry.  Between the visiting with Leslie Grossman, Kyle Thompson, Miles and the staff and getting my stuff out and organized, it took the better part of Thursday just to get the exhaust on – remarkably, the bracket I made back in Ottawa fit perfectly.   Sadly, that would be the last thing that went together without some sort of filing, grinding, drilling or light bashing.

Friday was spent mostly in the dyno room with Kyle – or alone with the bike in the dyno room; bolting more stuff on while the bike cooled off.  I must be getting mature in my old age, ‘cause normally I’d be slapping on the easy bling; you know – going for the easy hit.  But this time, I took a more methodical approach, and resisted bolting up the body panels and fairing until the fender mounting job was complete.  By the end of the day, Kyle had pulled an even 95HP out of the engine – but more importantly, he had the bike delivering over 70FTLBs of torque as low as 3,500 RPM.  Just the way I like it.

 

I had the tail, fender and exhaust installed by the end of the day.

BCM is an old-time shop with a steady stream of customers rolling through the showroom, parts area and even the shop throughout the day.  Some I’d recognize by voice as they came in (Robbie Nigle, Bruce Myers) and others by bike – most not at all.  But everyone made a point of stopping by my lift to comment favorably on the new bike – particularly with the bodywork coming together.

I was straightening my area up at the end of the day when Leslie stopped by to check in on me.  We chatted while he went over all the details and then he stopped at the right side fender mount; pointing out how the leading edge of the fork slider would whack part of the fender on full compression.  Always good to have another set of eyes on your work – always sucks to have to redo brackets from scratch.

I rolled into the once upon a time but no longer fairly decent Landmark Hotel a tired and somewhat demoralized man.

But Friday morning I discovered a way to modify the fender bracket and with the problem solved, I was able to rip though the balance of the bits without too much of a hassle.  By 4PM I was done enough to be done and the rain had stopped long enough for the roads to dry.  I suited-up and rode the bike over to the gas station, but even Laconia, NH has a Friday afternoon rush hour, so I returned to the shop to snap a few pics and bolt on the Pazzo levers.

It wasn’t ‘till Sunday, having unpacked the bike, bits and tools and installed the new bars and mirrors that I finally got to go out and put a few miles on the bike.  The first run showed the suspension to be way too harsh, but the motor and light weight to be intoxicating.  I zipped home and took out all the compression and ran back down to McArthur Road and although I still find the forks to be too harsh, the thing is an animal.  This is a motor that hits hard from 3,000 and keeps at it with a linear rush up to 7,500.  The handling is lively, but confidence inspiring.

I like it.  The Hot-blooded Mexican likes it.

I can tell that the forks are going to live up to their reputation (unfortunately), and I imagine it will drive me to re-valving.  I still need to mount some turn signals and paint the triples black, but for the most part – with the oil changed and the important bits lock-wired – we’re ready for VIR (next Monday).

What came from where:
• Tail Section – Desmo Challenge from Italy; likely to imported to N. America this winter by DesmoWorks
• Hugger – Ducati Performance (front mounting hole 10mm off)
• Chain Guards – ShifTech
• Billet wheel nuts and socket – eBay
• Rearsets – Desmo Challenge from Italy
• Powder Coating – wheels and sub-frame  –
• Paintwork – Ottawa Valley Custom Paint
• Anodizing (brackets, rear set plates and rear wheel spacer) -
• Exhaust buffing – Gary’s Custom Cycle
• S2R1000 exhaust – Arrow – BCM
• Spun aluminum velocity stacks and K&Ns – Salt Lake City Motorsports
• DP cams, ECU and racing seat  – BCM
• SpeedyMoto belt covers, billet clutch cover,  filler and drain plugs – Motowheels
• STM billet clutch cover – Eurocorsa
• Spider clutch stabilizer – eBay
• Pazzo levers – eBay
• Woods Low bend bars –
• BMW 650 X-Moto fairing – Battley’s Cycles
• 2008 Ducati Monster 696 fender - BCM

I can’t thank Leslie Grossman enough for opening his shop to me and making me feel at home.  Kyle Thompson has developed into a helluva mechanic/tuner/racer and continues to impress me with his talents.  Miles is of course, the best Ducati parts guy in the known universe.

There are a bunch of hi-rez pictures HERE. 

Worth the nine-hour drive each way?  Yup.  In fact I’m going to make the trek again in December to leave Kyle the F1 motor for a freshening-up.  While I’m there, we’ll dial-in an FIM chip for the new motor that’s going into the Gran Canyon.

Content: 2008 Ducati Hypermotard S, loudbike, Steve Munro, BCM Motorsports, Kyle Thompson, Ducati