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JBall SV1000 racer - intro
The Race Story - Part 1 (Jennings GP)
The Race Story - Part
3 (Grattan Raceway)
The Race Story - Part
3 (Grattan Raceway)
The Race Story -
Part 4 (Finally got it painted!)
The Race Story -
Part 5 (Race Report Nelson Ledges....and crash!)
The Race Story -
Part 6 (Finally got it back together)
The Race Story -
Part 7 (My Road Atlanta.......)
The Race Story -
Part 8 (Going to Daytona...2005 season is near)
Some facts and figures
(2004 season)
By
JBall 01/04/2004 After the
building of the SV1000 through the winter (see previous post on
building a SV1000 racer), it was finally time to put it on the
track. The event was the first WERA National Challenge event which
was held at North Florida Motorsports Park which is also known as
Jennings GP. Our team, Pure Sports Design, assembled on Thursday
morning in Cinncinnati and hit the road for the 14 hour drive to
northern Florida. A trailer electrical repair added an hour to the
ride and we go into line to enter the track at about 4 AM Friday
morning. We went through the entry process and after I installed the
front brake rotors which had been out being straightened, I fired
the bike up and took it through technical inspection. The ride to
tech was actually the first time the bike had rolled under its own
power. I was proud of my build process in that I passed tech with
flying colors.
 Our weekend would consist of Friday practice, a six hour endurance
race on a SV650 on Saturday, and then sprint races on Sunday where
the SV1K would make its debut. This track was new to me and with a
new bike, my basic goal was survival. I needed to learn both the
circuit and the bike and do it with a lot of fast guys around. My
ride for the last couple of years has been an EX500 which practiced
and raced in the lightweight classes where I was one of the faster
guys. Now with a 1000, I get to practice with the Experts on big
bore bikes including GSXR1000's, and R1's which are ridden by some
of the fastest riders in WERA, some of who are competitive at the
AMA level. This includes guys like Mike Smith, Larry Pegram, John
Jacobi, Mark Junge and Tray Batey.
I got four sessions in on Friday and the lap times slowly came down.
One of the first things I learned was the bike is both big and fast.
At the end of the straight (which is really a series of three high
speed kinks, all to the left) I saw an indicated 153 MPH. You don't
look at the speedo long though because a braking zone and a snake
section are coming up FAST. The back section is about eight fairly
tight turns where you really have to throw the bike around. At some
point I will look at dropping the front end a little more to try and
quicken the steering a bit but this weekend was mostly about riding,
not adjusting. The nice part about the bike is with about 115 HP on
tap, gear selection in the tight stuff is not too critical. There
were a number of times where I got the back end kicked out with some
very controlled slides. Even at about 5 to 6 grand the thing pulls
hard. There was one big moment when one of the Team Suzuki bikes
bounced hard off my right leg and the side of the bike while the
rider was attempting a pass through the esses. He gave me the
"sorry" sign letting me know it was his fault.
Saturday morning started with a flat front tire. I went to the tire
guy and put a new Dunlop on in place of the Pirelli that had been
mounted there. Then I got in about six or seven laps on the 650
endurance bike where I dropped about a second off of my best 1000
lap time. With a lighter bike and less power it was a little less
intimidating and I was able to hold it open through a couple of the
fast corners where I had to crack the throttle on the big bike.
We started the endurance race and our first rider was making some
decent lap times. There was a red flag at about a half hour in with
four bikes going down in a an oil spill but our guy made it through
OK. He restarted and after about six laps or so we saw the crash
truck go out. When it came back the endurance bike was in the back.
It looks like it dropped a valve, and the endurance run was over.
Several of the 2003 650's had motor trouble so it will be
interesting to see their longer term reliability. The motor is going
to be rebuilt with higher compression pistons and Carillo rods and
Pure Sports Design endurance will be back for the next event.
Sunday was the sprint races. I was signed up for Heavy Weight Twins
Superstock and 750 Superstock. First I had to repair another flat
front tire. It turned out there was a crack in the wheel which had
been straightened. I borrowed another wheel from a GSXR600 and
swapped out the brake rotors. A new Dunlop was also mounted on my
spare rear wheel in preparation for the races. During the second
practice I had the second butt pucker of the weekend when I rode off
the track out into the sandy infield. I straightened it up and
slowly rolled off the gas. It seemed like it was a long trek and
just when I was about stopped I hit a little ditch and a hump of
dirt where I did a nice motocross jump. I some how saved it and
slowly rode back to the track. I was looking at one of the officials
for a point back out and re-entered but it turns out I got the
signal wrong and entered fairly close to a couple of bikes at speed.
I got chewed out for that episode by the race director after the
session was over.
The first race was Heavy Weight twins. I tried to get a good start
but it did a monster wheelie and I was about tenth off of the line.
I got to race with one guy till he rode off and I passed him and
then it was mostly by myself. I got lapped by the leader, Tray Batey
on the second to last lap but was glad just to make it through. I
was last in class but did manage to get some Suzuki cup points out
of the deal. There was a completely new handling problem which had
materialized however. The only change which had been made after
practice was over was the new rear Dunlop had been installed. Going
through the second back kink at about a buck thirty or so there was
a huge high speed wobble which was not cured by the steering damper
which I turned up a couple of clicks on the starting line after the
hot lap. It scared me so much during the race that I put the old
rear tire back on.
When I went out for the second race the wobble was gone, so it had
to be something with the difference between the Dunlop and the
Pirelli rear tire which was used in practice. I will do some
measuring of the diameters of both tires and attempt to make a ride
height adjustment to compensate. The second race was actually fun.
Although I started near the back and got dusted by the 750CC four
cylinder bikes, I ran the whole race with one of my team mates who
was on a GSXR600. We swapped places a couple of times until there
was a red flag which ended the race.
Overall I was pleased with the weekend. In the first race of the
year, on a new bike at a new track, after not riding since October,
I had dropped about six seconds off of my lap times and managed to
keep it off the deck (and I did beat my 650 time). There are some
steering and geometry issues to address but there will be time for
that in the upcoming races. The motor was great and the Power
Commander mapping seemed to be about right on. I think when we get
to some of the tracks I have been to before (and I take my dress
off!) I will be able to make some progress. Everyone on the team was
walking and talking (always a good thing), although Jerry was bummed
about his 650. Our long ride home to Ohio was filled with tales of
the races and plans for the next weekend which will be Nashville on
May first.
Hope everyone enjoys the stories of the race.
Rubber Side Down,
JBall
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