So I went to check out a disused airfield nearby (in the header) with a view to doing some sort of top speed run, as legally as possible, on level ground.
And whilst it’s a great moody spot (especially in the mist) and it might work for head-to-head over an 1/8 mile or something like that, unfortunately it wasn’t really smooth enough to even be thinking about trying to get near triple digits like i’d been hoping to.
Which sucks, I was really hoping it would be suitable as santa pod is such a looong way away.
Well, dismayed I went back to check out if any other options had magically presented themselves, and in fact they had!
Last year I booked in to an event at Dakota Raceway which was then cancelled at short notice, and given they’d cancelled all events for the rest of the year after that, I thought it was game over there.
But apparently they’re back, which is awesome. and they have a RWYB event on the 16th August….so….
BOOKED!
Unfortunately it’s also only 1/8mile rather than 1/4, so we still won’t be hitting top speeds and will need to gear right down, and it’s likely to be as rough as the other airstrip, but it’s organised racing with (presumably) proper timing gear and any racing is fun so hell tf yes. Plus I bet they have an ambulance on standby which is a lot more than we’d have out in the wilderness by ourselves.
No-prep, not no prep:
So given I’ve been kinda flat out with moving the last couple of years, i’ve not really done a whole lot to the bike. I was very lucky in that I was able to just build the current engine, put it in and it *relentlessly*worked*great* for a couple of years, despite much adverse weather and circumstance. Nonetheless, I still wanted to give her an at least cursory going over to check there weren’t any glaringly obvious issues pending which might escalate when being run repeatedly down some rough concrete. I also wanted to just listen and feel and check that what I’d been observing while out riding was actually grounded in reality.
Dyno time
Whilst my dyno still doesn’t really give reliable power readings (yet!), so i can’t really say “it has x hp” with any certainty (at all), it does let me observe the bike closely while it’s under load, which is something I don’t usually get to do (e.g. when riding).
Whilst I’ve been working on the 2019/gen3 i’ve been kinda spoilt since the Tuneboss ECU works over bluetooth so I was able to keep my phone connected the whole time and either watch the map or be datalogging or whatever the whole time – it’s been rather convenient.
However, this bike is built using “prev-gen” technology so it’s all laptops and USB cables to talk to the PCV, flashing ecus (very slowly) with a spaghetti of wires and a half-hour round-trip to make a single change (and risk bricking your ECU)..arg. I’m realising how easy i’ve had it on the gen3 xD.
Since i can’t fit a laptop on the fuel tank, I also can’t usually have the PCV software hooked up when it’s in gear and under load so being able to see the AFR values and just generally how it’s doing whilst feeding it different throttle situations, is pretty useful (again, on the gen3 the AFR gauge on the dash let’s me keep an eye on that while riding).
I’m sure I’ll figure the dyno thing (not being able to get truly comparable/repeatable results) out in due course, and in fact i have thoughts on this so I’m trying to not be too annoyed that it hasn’t worked perfectly like I expected right out of the gate, but instead am trying to use the roller in ways I *can* apply and are still helpful… like being able to see what the bike does at 60mph.
Power readings or not, that’s still incredibly useful from a diagnostic perspective. Imagine being able to observe, prod and poke your bike while it’s at speed and hooked up to monitoring gear? Very handy.
I had a few modifications planned for the bike and was hoping to get them done before Dakota but actually my takeaway from today’s session is “it’s great! don’t mess with it, go race”, so I’m going to do just that and give myself a break for once.
Forced modifications, vibrational harmonization:
The modifications mentioned above are neither whimsical nor through choice.
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