I just came into the house and washed up after spending a rather relaxing evening in the garage working on the ZX-7R. With a steady deluge of rain falling straight down in vertical sheets all afternoon and night, I figured wrenching can sometimes be an adequate substitute for riding. So I opened the garage door, turned on some tunes, poured myself a glass of Pinot Noir, and proceeded to disassemble, clean, wax, and change fluids for the next 4 hours.

I actually got quite a bit done. I flushed the Green Meanie’s radiator, changed the oil, re-bled all of the hydraulic systems with fresh fluid, buffed the entire bike to a glowing shine, and then put it all back together again -- all of these tasks accomplished in the cool, refreshing air that only an autumn rain shower can provide.

I almost put a fresh coat of wax on the ZX6R, as well, but was feeling a little tired. I guess there’s always tomorrow night. Although the rain will have been long gone by then.

Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is that rain isn’t always a bad thing for a motorcyclist. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I don’t live some place like London or Seattle, but I enjoyed the evening nonetheless. It was just me and my bikes and a taste of the grape -- as fine a Sunday evening as a biker could ask for.

LEAVE A COMMENT

This is a bad thing:

"PPIR announced last week that the track had been sold to International Speedway Corporation and that the new owners would be shuttering the track at the end of October."

I must admit that I have my own reasons for taking this report as bad news. Namely, PPIR is the closest AMA venue to me personally. Also, it is where my favorite racer, one Eric Bostrom, seems to kick the most ass.

The past week, from beginning to end, consisted of one unexpected change after another. Firstly, our CD release party -- which was scheduled to happen Saturday night at Riley's -- was cancelled due to a contractual obligation that would not allow the club to cancel the band they were going to bump for us. That effectively means that we will most likely be having the party at Hot Shots on October 14 or 15. No big deal, really, because it freed up another Saturday night for racing.

Which brings me to the next unexpected change. I got a call from The Knee Draggers on Tuesday, telling me that the Renthal sprockets I ordered were on a one month back order. So in order to get chainwheels by the weekend, I had them drop-ship me a Vortex set. Too bad for Renthal, because the Vortexes are just as high in quality, and were cheaper. By 3 p.m. yesterday, I was regeared.

Wow, what a difference. I went up two teeth on the rear sprocket and down one tooth on the crankshaft, which shaved 0.4 seconds off my average pass. I'm 3 hundredths away from being in the 7.40s and sped up about 4 miles per hour.

I raced GSXR750s all night and only lost once when I got loose on a launch:

PIC

Oh, and here's one for Reekyite Ari Rankum, who chastised me for previously not wearing my full racing leathers. It was hotter than a biznatch, Ari, but I got all power-rangered-up just for you:

PIC

The grearing is perfect. Now begins the search for more horsepower. If anyone has a set of flat slide carbs off of a 7RR for sale, send me an email.

LEAVE A COMMENT