A kink

Round 4/Round 5

Round 4 was to be held at Thunderhill in June. However, this year we have received record rain and our winter lasted into the summer (local ski resorts had good skiing on July 4th!!). This extended winter made round 4 nonexistent. I spent the money on gas, hotel, food and not going to work (yes, that is a cost); however the bike never left the trailer. I spent two days sitting in a cold rainy paddock waiting for the weather to give us even a glimpse of hope. It was definitely a kink in the plan to make the struggles of getting there worth it.

A little fly-by at Thunderhill

Round 5 came a month later, back at Infineon.

This round was to be my zenith of the season, and likely a few seasons to come. This round landed on my 31st birthday weekend and I had family and friends all coming in for a camping/BBQ/race weekend to celebrate. As opposed to staying in a hotel Friday and Saturday night as we normally do, Georgia and I decided to get a tent, blow-up bed, and propane grill. This would allow us to stay at the track for not only this race weekend but all to come in order to cut down on hotel costs.


Going into the July round at Infineon, I knew it was going to be the largest opportunity I had to walk away with some serious points and podium finishes. The clubman classes this year have some serious talent along with some powerful motorcycles. Before the clubman became a full-fledged championship with contingency payouts, the pace was around 10 seconds a lap slower than it is now. But now we have talent so deep that two of the novice racers also race in the Formula Pacific class, the fastest of the fast in American club racing, and a few others which could jump into the class also. The times I am running now would have DOMINATED the clubman races only a short time ago, but now it is a new world.

Because of this depth of talent and bikes which are making significantly more power than me, this would be my last chance before moving up into the expert only racing next year to make a podium and maybe even take a win. In the expert classes, I would have a chance this weekend of pulling top ten if I can get a good opening lap. Infineon is the tightest of our courses we race and being down on power doesn't affect me as much as the high speed track of Buttonwillow and Thunderhill.

In the long run of the season, this round was also important because if I can get enough of a points buffer from good results, my expected lower points to be earned at the upcoming Thunderhill rounds could be negated.

Needless to say, a lot was riding on this weekend.

My brother secretly put this on my tail

Friday morning I noticed a problem with my front left caliper; this was the first kink in my plans.

My bike always felt like the brakes should be a little better. Ever since I bought the bike, I noticed it seemed to be a pain to bleed out all the air of the system. At a trackday between rounds 3 and 5, I noticed that a little bit of air would get into the system and figured there was a problem with the bleed nipple.

So on Thursday before the race weekend I changed my bleed nipples, hoping to fix the problem. When replacing the nipple, I looked down into the left caliper and noticed the surface material where the nipple seals the brake fluid has been damaged. It appears as though one of the previous owners had tightened the bleed nipple to tight, too often. I installed the new nipples, hoping that it would be enough to fix the problem, at least for the weekend.

Early Friday morning I walk out to the bike and look at the caliper; there is fluid leaking from the base of the nipple. I grab the lever, and it has gone from normal to completely useless. The lever now goes all the way back to the bar, I couldn't stop this bike at pit lane speed if I wanted. I get onto the local motorcycle forum, BARF (BayAreaRidersForum.com), and put out an SOS.

I was fortunate enough that someone had an extra caliper, I was even more fortunate that another AFM racer, Yuri Barrigan, was able to grab the caliper from down south and bring it to the track for me to change it out Friday night and be ready for Saturday. Of course, to do this I need to show to the track early enough Friday night.

The plan was to leave right after work and head to track, giving us enough time to set up camp and relax before bed; this was the second kink.

We get going later than we wish and shortly thereafter realize that I had left my helmet at home and we would have to turn back and get it. We get on the road again, and after getting some gas it dawns on us that we left the bedding at home also. After about 45 minutes from stopping to get what we needed to sleep, we experience some electrical problems with the car. While going through Hayward, the lights on the trailer and car suddenly go out. We pull off the freeway and I pop the hood to discover a fuse has blown. I replace the fuse with a spare and get going again. But 10 minutes later, "POP" the lights go out again.

At this point, we can either pull over, unpack the car, pull out my tools and discover what is causing the problem. Or, we can trudge through with only headlights. We decide on the second option. We tuck in with a convoy of lit vehicles to protect us from someone possibly slamming into the back of us. This slowed us down quite a bit, and we get to the track just as they are closing the gate.


Even laying down to sleep brought a kink in the plans. I had no idea that Infineon would leave the bank of spot lights on all night, lighting up our tent like being on the face of the sun. This led to Georgia and I trying to sleep by covering up our faces with t-shirts to block to light. However, it turns out that a majority of AFMers who camp at the track don't have a sense of common courtesy and decide that yelling at 3am is OK, or slamming the door at 4am is no big deal. Even my ear plugs couldn't block out the sound of idiots throughout the night. Georgia and I got only about an hour's worth of sleep.

I get up early and begin to unpack and set-up knowing I likely won't be able to make my first practice session. I picked up the caliper from Yuri and was just able to make it out to the second session in time. My practice sessions went well, the brakes were feeling fantastic and I was really just focusing on re-learning the bike, but I was feeling tired and overwhelmed. I didn't even get a chance to take a nap during lunch.

I went out to the first race with all this on my mind, but during the warm-up lap my mind cleared and I was ready to race. The green flag drops and I wheelie up at the start. I pull it back down in time to see someone go around the outside of me. I step on the gas and quickly catch up to the pack. Exiting turn 6, I see the usual pull away of others as their power kicks in, but I enter into 7 fast and make-up a lot of ground. Going into nine I debated a pass but backed off and decided to have a go in eleven. I get a strong run out of nine and ten and go into eleven mid-track making an easy pass for forth place and a good run up across the start/finish line. Never before have I been so close to the front at the end of the first lap. Knowing that I get faster as the race goes on, and others get slower; I was primed to have a good finish.

Turn 5 in the distance

Then came THE kink, turn 5. I got a good drive out of turn four and went into turn five, a relatively fast and easy kink style turn which I have never had even a "moment" at before. Leaned all the way over through the turn, I suddenly saw my bike in front of me sliding and sparking. As I hit the dirt I began to toss and tumble, realizing that I had somehow wrecked. I got up and ran to my bike which has slid all the way to the wall. I kicked the wall in anger and watched the rest of the race.

When I got the bike back to my pit spot we quickly fixed the right handle bar and began working on the master. My buddy Josh and I started trying to figure out how we could fix the master cylinder which had broken in the crash. After seeing there was not going to be a quick fix, I knew I would not be able to get the bike fixed and get re-teched in time to make my next race. The master was broken and after only a lap and a half, my weekend was over.

I could have scoured around for another master cylinder to use for the races on Sunday, or even had a friend grab an extra from my house, but I couldn't afford to buy another. However, I was so defeated from the crash that I threw in the towel for the weekend. I was simply so worn down and distraught about ruining my results in the main classes, I couldn't bring myself to finish the weekend. We packed up and went home followed by some beer. When I got home I discovered my left side of back was swollen, giving the the left side of my back an area which is puffed out about 2 inches. My lowest rib is also very sore, but not too bad.

I want to thank Arlen Ness for setting me up this season with a suit, gloves, and boots. It is great to know that I can wreck at such high speeds slide and tumble and walk away unscathed. Not to mention the fact that the gear its self didn't burn through, tear, or have any other structural damage.

Thank you also to Shoei for producing a helmet as great as the x-12, I smacked my head a few times in the tumble and didn't even feel more then what would be being slapped with a magazine by a mad girlfriend.The investment in quality gear is always cheaper than the investment in a trip to the emergency room.

I knew going into this season that my budget was so tight, that a single wreck was likely to end my season. It looks as though this may be true. I am going to try to find some sponsor money to make it out to the rest of the season, but right now everything is up in the air.

To help raise some funds I will be holding a 50/50 raffle. I will be selling $5 tickets, or 5 tickets for $20. This will give the winner of the raffle 50% of the funds raised and the other 50% will go to getting me out to finish the rest of the season. This will hopefully raise the revenue needed to get me the parts and safety gear I need to replace in order to race again this year. I will have details shortly, please subscribe to this blog or email me at saleen555@yahoo.com if you are interested in getting a ticket or two. I will send out and email with all the details and the tickets will be sold electronically. It is a good way to help get me back on the track and a good chance of you winning some good money for as little as $5.