AFM 103 – Greg McCullough

Team racing!

Once a year, AFM holds a 4 hour endurance race, featuring multiple bike classes, 2-5 riders for each bike, with pit stops for fuel and rider switches.  When Brian Davis (of MotoShoes) asked me to be part of a team riding his ‘03 R6, I said sure.  Honestly, I didn’t see the allure of riding to the point of exhaustion without knowing how you’re actually stacking up against the other teams.  But, I figured it’d be a good chance to get to know the track better and build some consistency.

I was completely blown away by how fun it was.  Despite putting almost zero thought into our strategy, we managed to figure out some basic signals to scribble on a whiteboard to allow the pit crew to tell the rider how long he’d been out there.  With pitting strategy a more significant factor than laptimes, we were all watching the clock, prepping the next gas can with the right amount of fuel, running to the wall with the pitboard, staying hydrated, or watching others do their furious pit stops.  4 hours went by like it was nothing.

Brian’s bike served us very well, despite Jason crashing it in Friday practice at about 80mph.  I managed to run some 1:48.0s while riding about an hour and 10 minutes.  For being an unfamiliar bike that wasn’t set up for me, that wasn’t too bad.  It’s 1.5 seconds faster than I’ve ever run on the SV at that track, and it’s not a horsepower track.  I’m definitely picking up a 600 or 750 for next year.  I really like the way inline 4’s behave.

To top it off, we finished 5th in the 600cc class, which was quite respectable.  Only some really serious teams with fast riders and planning beat us.  Cool stuff.

Regular racing

Friday practice had been a bit weak… with a late oil change/clutch problem wasting one session, and riding Brian’s bike taking up another session.  The front end never felt very stable in turns, and I had was fighting with it to turn in some spots.

Sunday morning’s 1 practice session made me realize just how bad the handling was.  Compared to Brian’s, which I’d been riding so much the previous day (while very tired, in particular), the SV was steering like the Queen Mary.  I had to hammer the brakes to get the front end to turn in the turn 8 Esses.  No such issues with Brian’s bike… I’d just roll off the throttle a bit.  I took the SV over to Dave Moss for a little adjustment, where he pointed out that my fork oil was shot, and I was bottoming out the forks.  Some pre-load and rebound adjustments later, I threw on the tire warmers and went to the riders meeting.  Formula IV was the first race of the day.

Formula IV

Continuing a bad trend with my first race of the day, I got a really weak start, losing spots to at least 5 riders before turn 1, and a few more before turn 4.  Ugh.  This sucks.  I put my head down, but didn’t find much help from the adjusted suspension.  Turn in was slightly better, but the front end didn’t feel stable mid-corner, so I totally chickened out in the carousel, entering it really slowly, not carrying much corner speed, and not tightening up my line for the drive out – lap after lap.  To top it off, the transmission started jumping out of gear as I tried to upshift in a few corners… exits of 7, 8, 9, 11.  What the hell!!!  We just rebuilt this damn thing, and I switched it to GP shift so I could hit the shifter harder and make the shift stick.  Why won’t it stay in gear!?!?

I let the handling and shifting get the better of me, and didn’t manage to make much headway through the pack.  I ultimately finished 15th, with a best lap of 1:49.9, no better than last round at Infineon.  On the bright side, not having good corner speed or drive, I found I could brake much deeper into 7, 9 and 11 than I ever had before.  Every challenge is an opportunity to learn, but at the time, it’s pretty disappointing.

650 Twins

Between races, we backed out a bit of preload on the suspension, since I wasn’t using the whole suspension travel after Dave’s initial adjustment, and I tried to loosen the front axle to fix some front wheel drag.  Most importantly, I got my head back in the game a little bit.  Time to start well, and push hard to the end, regardless of bike issues.

It wasn’t to be.  As the green flag dropped, I got a pretty decent jump, but when I went for 2nd gear, I got nothing.  Right back to first gear.  Crap!  1 row of riders goes flying by.  I shift again.  Nothing.  Another row goes by.  Again. Clunk.  Ok, we’re in gear, but what the hell just happened?  I’ve never had it miss a shift to 2nd gear.  I only make that shift a couple times a weekend.  The gears should be in perfect condition.  No time to theorize.  Let’s go.  As I make my way through the first few turns, picking up positions, the bike misses another shift, then another, and then 2 in a row coming out of turn 7.  Crap.  Keep riding.  You can’t change it now.  I make up all my positions on the brakes through the next couple laps, and eliminate a few shifts and just lug the bike around turns 2/3/4/5/6 in 4th gear.  Better to stay in gear and be slower than to miss shifts and be an unpredictable hazard to the guys behind me.

4th lap.  I briefly consider pulling in, since the gear jumping is getting worse and I’m swallowed up by guys 2 at a time trying to find 4th gear, then take them back 2 at a time on the brakes.  It’s not pretty, and I’m sure they’re getting pissed off, but I can’t voluntarily not finish a race when the bike’s still rolling.

5th lap.  As I come out of the carousel, Ari Henning makes an outside pass on me, but I drift wide before I see him, and we collide.  Ok, no big deal.  Just a little bump.  We’re both still on the gas.  He throws up a hand to acknowledge the iffy pass, and I nod and wave back.  No problem.  Bumping happens.  I tuck in and give chase, intent on getting him back on the brakes into 7.  I get up next to him and go for the brakes…  I go for the brakes again… shit.  I look down, and there’s no brake lever.  110+ mph.

It’s amazing how fast your brain thinks sometimes.  I flash back to yesterday, when Jason Butler’s bike had brake problems and flipped right in front of me going into turn 9.  I’d avoided him with some heavy braking that time.  My brain tells me this one’s not going to go as well.  There’s a mental blur as I shoot through 2 or 3 riders braking or turning into 7.  Straight ahead, avoid the concrete barrier to the right, and shoot through the opening into the giant parking lot out beyond 7.  Downshift, downshift, light on the rear brake.  Incidentally, rear brake at 100mph doesn’t do much.  Finally the bike slows down, and I turn it around and I head for the cornerworker’s station. 

I hammer the bars with my fist, my first reaction being anger at being sidelined with a broken bike.  2 seconds later, I remember just how close I came to colliding with another rider or a wall, and realize just how well things went.  Time to watch a race from the sidelines.  I don’t get any time to do so, as the race is redflagged due to another incident in turn 11, and I ride slowly back to the pits.  Oddly, I’m recorded as finishing the race, as it was redflagged before a couple riders behind me could complete a lap more than me.

I was going to ride 600 superbike, but without a functioning bike and happy to be in one piece, I headed to the stands to root for Jason instead.  The 600 superbike race was redflagged on the second lap, as Shawnery and Brian (my endurance race teammate) collided in a very messy crash in turn 8.  That saga has been chronicled elsewhere, so I won’t re-itterate it, but thankfully both of them will be fine, although it’ll take Shawnery a bit longer.  It’s tough seeing friends hit the ground hard.

As I write this, the forks are at Aftershocks getting new oil, and a new shift star and other related parts are on their way in from Suzuki.  1 more race this season.  This bike needs to work.