Day 302: More Philip Island Prep

Pete dropped his bike over today so we could load it up with mine and they'd be ready for us early next Saturday morning, we loaded his and mine into the trailer and then started working out where to tie our stands and my wet weather wheels down. I like to take the wet weather wheels when going to the track, it usually works well to keep the rain away and when it doesn't I have them there ready to use.

I like having the two Daytonas in the trailer side by side, they are essentially the same bike with only a couple of years difference in age and one having a fancy red R after the 675. The real difference comes down to the one on the right being completely as it rolled off the factory floor and the one on the left being a fully race prepared version. Pete's bike, the right, is certainly the prettier bike but for now I still prefer my one on the left.

Day 300: New Hoop

I'm going to Philip Island with Pete & Andy next weekend and part of my preparation in the lead up was to replace the rear tyre of the Daytona. The old tyre was a few few track days and one race-your-mates at Wakefield old, it had also been fairly well chewed up due to the suspension setup being less than optimal.

Laurie Smith made some adjustments to the existing setup of mismatched spring rates and valving (the front was very hard and the rear was far too soft) before my last ride but it still didn't feel right. Since then I've had both the front and rear suspension removed and re-sprung so they are better matched and next weekend will be my first go on the bike with the new setup.

It will be interesting to see how the new tyre wears now that the suspension has been sorted, going on past experience with Laurie, the bike will feel much better and the tyre will wear a lot more evenly.

Day 214: Perfectly Packaged Parts

A little parcel arrive for me today, in it was the Triumph QuickShifter I ordered to replace the one that broke while Pete was riding my bike at Wakefield a couple of months ago.

I'm pretty impressed with how these are packaged from the factory, they come in a sturdy little plastic case that is lined with the spongy foam that you can see the unit sitting on in todays photo. The case has a pair of little clips that secure it closed, pinching the Quickshifter firmly between the layers of foam. It's got me wondering what else I could use the case for after I fit the part, I'm sure I'll find something to use it for.

Day 150: May Task - A Number

I don't have a favourite number so I've chosen a number of numbers for today's photo. Going in a clockwise direction from the top right I've chosen the following:

#69 - The number that's been on my cars for the last 3... or is it 4?
#1 - Part of the name of my road bike, the YZF-R1. The 1 also denotes the 1 litre engine capacity.
#450 - The engine capacity and model of my dirt bike. It's a TE450 which predictably has a 450cc engine
#675 - Similar to the dirt bike, this is the engine capacity and model name of my Daytona 675 race bike.

I guess there's a bit of a theme with my numbers... more so in the last 3 than the first, but they are all vehicle related.