Part I : Preparation and Other Events Leading up to the Track Day
I have been to track days at Circuit of the Americas the last two years, and I wasn't planning on going this year. However, when it came around again, TBK and I signed up. So over the next few weeks it was time to slowly get everything on the bike ready.
The throttle was feeling a little choppy lately, so I changed the spark plugs:
The rear tire was definitely ready for replacement:
I got some new Q3's, and decided to add a little white detail before installing them:
I took the wheels off and went over to TBK's house to change the tires. He has a Harbor Freight motorcycle tire changer setup, and I got a MojoLever that we use with it to keep our rims scratch free and looking nice! Back home I installed new front brake pads and put the wheels back on:
I ordered and installed some TechSpec Snake Skin tank grips which I had been wanting to try for a while now:
The weekend before the track day, I went for a ride (which almost began in disaster) with my friend, Alejandra. We had just gotten the final piece of her 2014 R6 back together three months after she had low sided it. She came by the house, we installed the bar end insert and mirror, then we headed out. As we were pulling into a gas station to fill up, I felt something hit the back of my bike. I glanced at the mirror to see her and her bike falling to the ground behind me! I put the kickstand down and ran back to help her.
She was okay, thankfully, but the left foot peg had snapped off. We also noticed that the clipon was loose. There was no damage to my bike other than a bent license plate (the left side of her bike basically glanced off my license plate and fell on top of my rear tire). Whew, that could have put a damper on the track day plans.
I'm not sure if her brakes were not working properly after setting for 3 month, or what, but she said it felt like it wasn't stopping when she came up behind me. We went back to her house and installed another foot peg she already had, fixed the loose clipon, and then we headed out again for what was a great ride in the hill country!
A few days later I gave her a bath and cleaned and lubed the chain:
I also made a tether for the GoPro I mount on the swingarm:
After seeing the GB Racing clutch protector save Alejandra's clutch cover from getting cracked this time, I decided to get my set of GB Racing covers before the track day.
I called around and RevZilla matched (beat actually) the lowest price I could find for the set with 3 day shipping so they could get them to me before the track day, which was only 4 days away! When I got the tracking number, I noticed it was actually sent 2-day, and I had them in my possession 2 days before the track day! Loving RevZilla!
So, I went home for lunch, installed the GB Racing covers (it took about 20 minutes) and rode the bike back to work. After work, I rode over to TBK's house where we would finish prepping the bikes for the track day and load them up on the trailer.
Well, on the way to TBK's house, I noticed that at stop lights and stop signs the instrument cluster was going out. Then, I saw in the reflection on the back of the car in front of me that my headlights were not on. Well crap, I thought, is my stator going out again!!??
I kept an eye on it the rest of the way and maintained higher revs. I made it to TBK's without the bike dieing. Then I turned the bike off and tried to start it again... and... nothing. It wouldn't start. We checked the battery voltage and it was ~10.5 volts, and the stator wasn't functioning properly, so we connected a charger/tender to the battery and proceeded to prep the bikes. This Shorai battery is also designed to work in a total loss system, so with all the fuses for the lights pulled, and the battery fully charged, it should be fine for the track day!
I pulled the appropriate fuses, removed the license plate/rear blinker assembly, removed the mirrors, taped up the headlights, tail light, and front blinkers, then we loaded the bikes up on the trailer:
To Be Continued...
.
