i told you it was the tyre

finally we went back to the circuit for the last ride before the season opening race this weekend at Tsukuba International Circuit. i got a new set of tyres so i really wanted to go below 1min4sec which i never had. and then what?
i got 1min3.280sec!!!! with new tyre, everythig went good. now i can feel the benefit of the andrews#1 camshaft. xr1000 is running faster at every part of the track. i'm very happy but the brake is becoming the bottleneck... squeezing so hard. i don't know if my right arm can last one race?????? Harley Davidson's stock brake... definitely not for racing.

blame on tyres

just to see how far i got with the front tyre... my front tyre was not really holding the ground and i wasnt sure if it was because of me or tyre. so i decided to blame on the tyre and ordered a new set. now i can see the different between new and the accused one. i will go to the track one more time before the race in May. if my lap time doesnt improve, i will be blaming on suspention... or brakes...

the bear is on the move

this was the moment when i wanted to have better camera.
it is less than a month to the first race in this season. we are almost ready... i guess.

Oh... Mr. J.V.

what on earth people do such thing... thank god nobody was hurt. oh, mr. J.V....

since i saw the "the world's fastest indian"

when i tell people that i have never been to the states, they are quite surprised. just because i ride harleys and speak english doesn't mean that i have been there. But, of course, i would like to visit one day. since i saw the movie "the world's fastest indian," i really want to see the bonneville during the speed trail week.
so as one of my students... he just went there and got me the key chain and post card. it was february so the lake was dampy and he couldn't drive on the salt he said but i envied.
today my friend and i took our racing harleys to our home circuit for the first time this year. the new set of andrews #1 cam seems working good. it accelerates faster than before. my friend said it didnt sound like xr1000 anymore... it got too fast so i ended up in the gravel at the first corner! it was a great fun.

10yrs and 4months

i bought the xr1000 in october 1999. it had 5,500miles on it.
it hit 50,000 mile mark yesterday on my 40th birthday... it had been a commuting bike than nothing else until i started taking it to track rides. it is definitely not a comfortable bike to ride but once you get used to, you kinda enjoy the "discomfort". i'm looking forward to see the odometer goes back to 00,000.0mile... maybe in 10yrs time.

a little detour...

the weather's been pretty funny lately... i thought it's gonna rain whole week but got sunny today so took my xr1000 to meet a customer. on my way, i took a little detour to see special plum blossoms in Okuyama-kogen.
mercury went up over 20c degree again, it was way too warm to ride with my winter jacket. i tried to hit 5,000rpm a couple of time when i stopped at red light. it definitely got power but it needed a lot more gas. i had to open throttle more than i used to... larger jet in my carbs, or lift the needle up for another clip...