Racing is a chance to clear my head and shake out the cobwebs. All month long I think about the track, the turns, my lines, and what I need to improve upon. When the race weekend finally comes, I get up early Saturday morning, hit my local 7/11 for a coffee, and hit the road. As a member of the Willow Springs Motorcycle Club, or WSMC, I race there every month. The drive to Rosamond, where Willow is located, isn't bad, about 2 hours, and it's a chance for me to catch up on what my daughter is listening to. I usually get there around 7:30, and get the bike into tech by 8, which leaves me another 40 minutes or so to get my act together before my first track session.

I race Twins. I am currently competing in the Heavyweight Battle of the Twins class, occasionally the Formula 2 class, which is anything under 750 cc twin and 650 in-line 4's, Middleweight Twins, Formula Twins, which is basically an open class race on bikes that have to have two cylinders to be legal, and Formula 50, which is basically any bike, but you have to be 50 years old!.

CURRENT BIKE INFO:

DUCATI 1098S
I kept the motor stock, the usual additions of a power commander, Race ECU and exhaust but that was it. I put the Kyle Racing rear shock linkage on, and adjusted the valving and spring accordingly. Front was stock, but I added 10CC of oil to each fork. This bike runs great, and I have finally gone faster than ever before. Unfortunately, some guy with something to prove took me out on a practice start Nov09, and so the 2010 season was a bit rocky trying to get the bike back together. It's back though, better than ever with nice new bodywork and a paint job courtesy of Ron Mousouris at the Benly Shop. I really like this bike.

DUCATI 748RS
This bike has died and been ressurected many times. Currently it is used mostly as a test platform for new motors. It has been the recipient of many donor parts, and is currently getting a new 853 motor that I am building. Suspension has been sorted by Dan Kyle and I have gotten a lot of help from Ben Fox at Fox Performance on the motor and Guy Martin at Martin Brickwood Performance for valves and collets.

The Ducati Race Story:
I started riding the Ducati 748RS in 2003. It actually was sold as an R, but it has an RS motor originally built by Jeff Nash of AMS. I bought it from an ex-Pro-Thunder racer when that class was killed by the AMA. It's not that the Buell was slow, but that bike was FAST. I got the bike and just started racing it. I had heard that these bikes are picky about valve bits and pieces, and it is all true. It ruined the half-rings at every race, and then almost dropped a valve. With the goal of making it more reliable, and getting all I could out of the motor, I reworked the heads and installed MBP collets. Guy Martin rocks! Once I got it set up, added a Power Commander, and broke it in, it dynoed at 110 bhp at Willow Springs, which is about 2500 ft elevation. That equates to about 118 bhp at sea level, which for a 748cc twin is quite admirable, almost astounding! In addition, I checked it after every outing for five events, including the October race, (Sat/Sun) the November Race, (Sat/Sun) and a track day at Sears Point (Infinion). The valves have not moved even 0.001" since the collets were installed. I am happy, and the bike is fast.

In 2004 the bike got totalled, (See the Ducati Racing link). I re-built it but it took a long time and I learned a lot about bikes and motors. In October of 2005 I retired the bike and bought the 999S new in hopes of getting a trouble-free season. BUT, I am having to do myself what came already done on the 748. Setting up a race bike takes a LOT of work.

After frankly struggling with the 999 setup for two years, I made progress but decided to move on. I raced the 1098S the first time in March 2009, and in only my second race I went consistently faster than I ever did on the 999 . I think I learned a lot about set-up working on the 999, and I wish I could try the things I did on the 1098 on the 999, but it's gone now.

DUCATI 1098 2009 - 2012?

DUCATI 999S 2006 - 2008

DUCATI 748RS 2003 - 2005, 2009 - ??

Buell S1W Jan 2003-Apr 2003

Buell S1W Oct 2001- Dec2002

My goals for 2011

1. Run 1:27 consistently, get into the 26's on the Big Track. See if I can get into the low 20's on the Streets. (Or Steerts now since we are running it backwards!)
   SUCCESS! Got into the 1:26's and did a 1:21 on the streets.
   
2. Get to more tracks. Got to Laguna with the AE Racing Track day, see if I can get to Infineon and Thunder Hill. Maybe Fontana, and Chuckwalla too.
   PARTIAL SUCCESS - Sort of, Got to Laguna at least
   
3. Get in the top three in every class I race.
   PARTIAL SUCCESS - Won Bott HW and F-Twins Championships, but got a 2nd in F50 and 4t in Bott MW.

My Goals for 2012

1. Find a new club to race with. Sadly, the WSMC is belly-up. Looking at WERA for April, maybe AFM too. Need to keep my license active...
   
2. Get to more tracks. May not have much choice on this one. We are looking at Miller (WERA), Las Vegas, (WERA) Fontana (WERA) Buttonwillow and Infineon (AFM).
   
3. Get the 853 motors done!
4. Get the new 1150 motor done. This is a project where I am putting a 1198 crank in a 1098 motor, with various other goodies.