SMRI round of State Championships

[Roger@ASMA]

Ivan, Kevin, Phil Allison and I will be meeting up tomorrow at noon here at the track to head up to Albq for the first SMRI round of the State Championship series. Sergio is driving his car up and I know Micky is planning on going up. I'm not taking my bike (the 750 is down for paint and maintenance and I won't be racing the 650 anymore except for the spec series and Mid Ohio, so I'm going as pit support for whoever needs it.

Anyone else planning on making the trip?

[Ryan]

If I had a running bike I would have. Oh well. Have fun up there. I hope Ivan represents well! Would be cool to have someone push him though.

[furr57]

Andy

You can race my 650

[Ryan]

Thanks Pat, but I already did last race weekend! Thanks...

The Ti rods on the Ducati got re-sized (they were beaten up pretty bad) and we should have them back this weekend so I can put the bottom end together. I really need to do that or I'd go... I'm not so fast on those 650s anyway. I think the Ducati is more my type of bike.

[furr57]

Speaking of broken Ducatis, my main crank bearing was split in two and I may need new engine cases.

I sold the 749r

I can't wait for the new bike next summer.

[Ryan]

I thought you got a new bike, the 750? I really want to check one of those out. If this Ducati doesn't work out (or maybe even if it does), I might want to get one of those or even a Triumph 675.

Is this what happened to your bike?:



That's the steel insert that goes into the case, then the main bearing goes into that. This is the flywheel side bearing, and that steel insert broke right at the oil passage. The main bearing walked outward, and then we have major knocking like you heard at Firebird.

What I found out was, the crank was likely preloaded to .011", and this is Ducati's new spec (actually .012", or .3mm). I've heard of other engines popping like this as well, maybe yours was one of them. Although, you're putting out lots of power, it might just do it anyway... But still, it shouldn't happen. That ring shouldn't break. The old spec was .006", and my dad did the math on it and at operating temperature, the case expands more than the crank and you should end up with just about 000 or maybe .0005 play or so, if everything works out right.

I'm sure you and Art could rebuild it, but it's kind of a PITA. I know first hand... I probably know more about Ducati bottom ends than I really wanted to by now.

[Ryan]

This is more like what that insert is supposed to look like, even though it's still broken:

[furr57]

I sent the bike to Mark Sutton at Duc Shop in Atlanta. He should have it done in two weeks.

There is a CCS/ASRA race at Barber on August 11-13. Atlanta is only two hours away. I'm thinking about flying in a racing at Barber.

[Google Adsense [Bot]]

I'm thinking about flying in a racing at Barber.

I thought about flying in and EMTing at barber, but my schedule just won't allow it!

[Burntrubber]

I'm thinking about flying in a racing at Barber.

I thought about flying in and EMTing at barber, but my schedule just won't allow it!

You might want to set a more 'flexible' schedule Jay....

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I'm thinking about flying in a racing at Barber.

I thought about flying in and EMTing at barber, but my schedule just won't allow it!

You might want to set a more 'flexible' schedule Jay....

LOL, I'll try harder!

[Roger@ASMA]

That trip was fun!

This was the first time I had ever done a road trip with Ivan, definitely a good time even though our results weren't exactly what we were hoping for.

Kevin took a couple 3rds in his first two races, he tried running his old tires for his first race and couldn't get hooked up, ended third. Put new tires on for Sunday and he ended up with the same result. His final race of the weekend, he put it all together, holeshot and pulled a two second gap in the first few laps, then held it until his front fender disintegrated in the 100mph turn 6. It spooked him and he lost his gap but he kept it together until the final corner, when someone made it up the inside, but Kev squared the corner and got the drive to the line first. Great job.

Ivan lead the GTO race on Saturday but couldn't stop a very smooth and fast Ray Thorton from taking the win, Ivan finished 2nd. He then took 2nd behind Mike Shreve in the 600 Superbike race and 4th in ULGP after a wrong tire choice. Not what we're used to from Ivan, but considering his previous results at Sandia, a good weekend.

Micky Rupe got run off the track in one of his races, got back on track only to lose the front in the nascar turn (turn 1) the same lap. Fortunately, neither Micky nor his bike was hurt so he was able to continue.

I ran 2nd to Ennis King on his RC51 for most of the Supertwins race until Kirk Potter came blowing by me on his RS125 at around the halfway point. I could keep the pace but lost a little ground and had nothing for them. In the Club Sport race, which is the State Championship class along with our LW Superbike, I got the holeshot and led for a few laps before Kirk once again outbroke me in the final turn and pulled a gap. I thought I had 2nd wrapped up until Jason Webb passed me on the back straight with his RS125!! Both Kirk and Jason rode really good and are able to carry awesome cornerspeed on those bikes. In the double apex leading onto the back straight they could gain 5 bikelengths on me! Daryl Wichern and I rode our asses off on our 650's to stay close but congrats to Kirk for kicking our asses!

After the races we stayed for the trophy presentation and our group all went to dinner before heading home. All in all, a fun weekend and I hope we can have a bigger ASMA turnout next month.

I don't have the results yet, but my head tells me ASMA racers are currently leading all the state championships after round 2 of 4. (Ivan Garza in both 600 and ULGP expert, Kevin Edgington in 600 and UL Superbike Amateur and myself in LW Superbike/Club Sport.

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Sounds like a good weekend overall! Congrats to everyone!

[Francis [Bot]]

Thanks for the congrats Jay. Like Roger said, it turned out a pretty good weekend for the AMSA riders. I have to admit, I struggled with terrible luck of being stuffed in the hairpin on my first race, only to recover and overdrive turn 1 (the banked Nascar style turn) in my frustration of trying to catch up to the pack. Total rookie move on my part. Loss of focus, No clear cut lines for the corners, and frustrated at being stuffed. I did manage to get my stuff together for my second race (Formula 40) and managed a 3rd place finish. Unfortunately it's not part of the State Champ series. Then the 3rd race was a slip sliding adventure due to my tires being totally shot by that time. Still, it was an enjoyable weekend, I learned so much towards a better showing for next month.