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This is the first of what I hope to be a series of articles about racing in 2008. I have been doing track days for some time, but have not raced in any way. Since 2002, I have been riding Triumphs, and rode them on the track as well as the street. I had a TT600 for four years and enjoyed it thoroughly. Those bikes had a terrible reputation, but it was fine for me, and I had a great time surprising people on the track with it. When Triumph came out with the Daytona 675, I had to have one and signed up to buy one of the first. I have been riding it for two years, including taking it to the track regularly during the summer. But, because it is the first new bike I ever owned and only the second new vehicle of any kind, I am not willing to sacrifice it to the gods of speed easily enough to take it racing. I already sacrificed it enough with a lowside at about 80 mph in a corner at Pacific Raceway. Parts can be challenging for a relatively uncommon bike like a Triumph, so I missed a track day while putting it back together. Had the parts been available, it would have been a straightforward repair job.
So, that leads up to my decision to buy a previously prepped race bike. I had been looking for an SV650, since a number of friends ride them. The track is as much about friendship as it is about competition, so it would have been great fun to race with them for bragging rights. None of us is going to be the next Valentino Rossi, so it is all about having a great time. But, a well prepped GSXR 600 came along at a price I could pay, so I bought it. It is similar enough to the 675 and certainly more powerful than the TT600 ever was, so it won't be as much of an adjustment in riding style, shifting points or gear selection as an SV650 would have been. And, as I have discovered, a 675 riding friend will be doing his novice season on his Triumph this coming summer, so I will have a friend to race for bragging rights after all.
Preparation is half the fun, as I have learned over the years. The GSXR is still covered with last year's bugs, and I don't know when its oil was last changed. It is covered with its previous owner's sponsors' decals and has his paint scheme on it. I have selected an easily duplicated paint scheme of dark blue metallic and school bus yellow rattle can paint from the local auto parts store. Having painted a number of things with rattle can paint, I know it can be done and look very good with enough preparation and care. The bike will look good when it takes to the track for the new racer clinic in March. With any luck, I will have a number of sponsors.
Speaking of sponsors, Panolin has become my first sponsor. I hope to represent them well and help their growth in the United States market. If nothing else, I plan to use their oils in my motorcycle crank cases in the future. If I continue racing, I hope to keep the relationship with Panolin no matter what other offers come along. Being the first to offer me a sponsorship means a lot.
Right now, the excitement is overwhelming, and there is snow on the ground outside. I haven't even been able to ride the street bike for a week or so. As it warms up, I probably won't write nearly as much. When the season starts, I will write less, because bike maintenance, preparation, track days, and races will take up a lot of time. Time in the garage is always quality time. Any time you can block out the world and concentrate completely on the moment you are in, it is a joy. It can happen while doing routine maintenance, during a martial art, or on the track. If you are really lucky, you get the same level of involvement at work and get paid for it.
I know what lap times I did at Pacific on the 675, and I have a pretty good idea about where I was slow and where I was fast. Getting and out of corners was my weakness, although I can carry as much corner speed as anybody once I am in the corner. Braking too soon and getting on the throttle again too late are where I lose time almost every corner. There are two corner sequences I have not found "my" line thorough yet. Consistency is something I have been working on, and even in traffic, my times are within a second or two of each other. So, this season, track days will be about practicing lines and experimenting, as they always are. Racing will be about trying to put it all together into five of my best laps each time I go out.
To be continued as the season approaches. I hope to have the bike sanded and painted soon, and once I have it back together, I will post pictures.
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