My new favorite blog

http://spanjer-classic-endurance.blogspot.com/

Training for Belguim has intensified

On board at Spa

A guy going around Spa doing 3 minute laps on a Ducati 996. Top endurance guys lap at 2:47. On pre 1981 bikes with 18" wheels. Click on the link below:

On board Ducati laps

Re-assembly (again)

New clutch, powder-coat, general tidy up and another attempt at cleaning up the wiring.

Mike Rich

Without giving too much away twin plugs and some extra porting suit the Guzzi. They have given a healthy 5% peak power gain and a 12% increase between 7,000 and 8,000 rpm. Now if I could only put a fire up my arse I might get quicker too !!

Final tear down.

The track day went well as did the dyno testing on Friday. The weekend was spent doing a final teardown and check. The rear drive pinion teeth have seen better days and will be sent to Charley Cole. for a new set. Frame is off to be powder-coated. New rod bearings will go in the engine. Then all back together and to the shippers in 3 weeks.

Chuckwalla trackday

Drove out to Chuckwalla Raceway on Friday night with Rick and Beth (Rick will be my riding partner at Spa) to do a 2 day track day to shake down the Guzzi. I smelt gas while loading the bike but didn't think anything of it. Prepping the bike on Saturday morning I found that the gas tank had a leak. The tank had been brazed previously and somehow the braze had cracked. Time to break out the JB Weld Kwik. Couple of coats and in about 30 minutes it was fixed.

Saturday am session the bike felt horrible. Chuckwalla is really bumpy and the Guzzi was shaking and shimmering the whole way round. After doddering around and learning the track we had done a best lap of around 2.40 min. Useless!!

After some inspirational cereal eating I set about trying to go faster. Slowly I was able to relax and get more aggressive which definitely seemed to do the trick. Beth commented that the Guzzi needs a firm hand, just like some ladies..... her words not mine.

Rick was able to tap into his abundant talent and was soon nipping at my heels time wise. At the end of Saturday we were in the 2:18 min range. Not bad. We had figured the way around a bit better and learnt to accept that while the Guzzi would protest in the bumpy sections it wasn't going to do anything unpredictable.

Sunday was more of the same. The bike felt great, Saturday's worries were gone and we got on with going faster. Sunday's best time was a 2:15. Which was what we were shooting for so we came away happy. More importantly we didn't crash and had a great time.

An honorable mention should be made here for Rick. An endurance racer from 20 years ago who came up with Colin Edwards and the Hayden boys he has probably the most natural riding talent I have ever seen. He jumped on a bike that he had only ever taken around the block at my shop and proceeded to hold his own. Rick will be a great asset at Spa.

Brackets for making a racket

Last year for Spa I mounted the mufflers using wide but thin aluminum brackets which flexed too much. Combined with solid mounting of the mufflers to the crossover this created stress and on the last lap the crossover broke. This could easily have happened 10 laps before which would've meant an end to our race. We got lucky!!

The new version utilizes steel tubing pressed at the ends which are much more rigid and the mufflers will be joined to the crossover with springs. Also the H part of the crossover has a slip fit on each side. This should allow some movement but not place too much stress in any one area.