gone racing...

if all goes well, we'll make it back. if all goes superbly, we'll make it back without incident. if all goes to hell, we'll have more stories to tell. either way, all bleeding stops eventually.

good lord, what is all this garbage?

not even counting wrenches, paperwork, and "normal tools" we have the just-in-case stuff: one extra motor, 3 intake tracts, 22 jet sizes, 2 complete sets of top-end gaskets, 1 extra piston, 3 different drive gears, 7 extra spokes, 5 different exhaust gaskets, several sized axel spacers, 2 extra coils, 1 extra CDI, 1 extra stator, a spatula, my ex-room mate's thong, number paint, 2 extra throttle cables, 2 extra clutch cables, 1 extra throttle twister-thingy, another clutch lever and perch, shift lever,  master links, spare chain, an assortment of pre-mixes and a mess of extra sponsor stickers.
okay, i think the first tool box is packed...

makes me shutter...

waiting just another moment...

making hot-laps.

a run was made under the wire this weekend and the results were encouraging. i think i got up to almost 70mph with the easy gearing installed; i would have gone faster but my brakes are just decorative fixtures and the sun was not quite up yet. with this new development coupled with being able to cram some gnar'd fingers into a glove, its time to pack.

presenting a new segment...

i would like to start putting together a new segment here, unfortunately my riding season was a piss-poor one this year so i am hoping my co-conspirators will contribute. i present to you "sketchy-ass hard tails". 

s'mor beartooth rally pics...

what's this?! a beaver-fur-covered hoola hoop?!?!

'why' was not the question of the moment....

 the real question was: is chris gonna git down with the git down on this lady who was heaving sizable boulders in his direction? i am sworn to secrecy, but...

 after feverishly scrubbing his hang-down in a port-o-crapper, i found chris sobbing under this van.

way to blow it jackass

yeah, thats my hand. small accident at work turned into a few hours at the Belgrade Urgent Care Clinic. with a little under 3 weeks till race day and a ton of tuning to do, i now have 13 stitches and one broken finger. now things are a little complicated. it hurts a bit but what concerns me is getting my gloves on to wrench and race. i should be healed in time but to be safe i have Dylan on standby as the pinch-hitter. lessons learned: make sure your best friends are about the same size as you, so when they have to be you, they can fit into your tight leather suit. i'm sure there is another lesson to be learned but one a day is enough for me. f this day. 

IT LIVES!

considering the intake never completely closes, i feel like the motor actually running is a huge win. although, when i was thinking it through, i am sure glad that we have extra reed petals. i couldn't wait to start it till the next day, my world would have come crashing down. so i closed the garage door and started kicking.

its so down to the wire.

things over here are deep in the crunch. i very recently got my motor back from the Porter and the inside is a thing of beauty, the ports are so smooth that they feel a little sticky. he went all-out on this and consorted with several "dudes who know their shit" and has incorporated several ideas that should work. emphasis on the 'should'. this is racing after all.    

 he also called in several favors from back in the day and tracked down a bounty of NOS parts in addition to getting a few other dudes on board with the project: Chris Carson Marine
our new dude hooked me up with 3 sets of 3 different weights of reed valves custom cut to fit my cage! i will put up picks of the motor's internals later.

 fortunately the boss was away for the week and i was able to set up in a sanitary spot to measure the port angles and such.

 sneak-peek

 one major problem from last year's race was clutch slippage. a call to Barnetts solved that with man-sized springs and all new disks.

 and now the down side: spark. i tore the whole thing down for paint and to install the new motor. when i put it all back together electrical activity came to a standstill and i have yet to remedy the issue. i had tested everything prior to disassembly and it all checked out, now who knows. i can read a multimeter as well as i can read Brail so things are a bit tense. some parts are on order but this is a make or break thing.

 still on the list is to finish the fairings and dial in the exhaust...

oh and the chariot that was to carry me to glory (the big stinky van) has decided to throw it's 2 cents in and blow the brake master cylinder. FML. so if i am not around, you know what i'm doing and updating this blog is not a priority within this mix of tasks. unlike many other idiots on the innerweb, we actually wrench.