Last weekend I finally dusted off the SV and began to prepare it for my first track day of the season at Laguna. I hadn't even started the poor thing since, uh..., maybe November? In anticipation of some major wubba wubba, I took the seat off and hooked up the battery charger. I was a bit baffled to see the lights on the charger sweep through the cycle all the way to green, indicating a verdict of "fully charged". Muttering skeptically, I unhooked the charger and attempted to start the bike. It took a couple of tries, and some coaxing, but start it did. This is the stock original battery, and I don't know why it won't die. I'm beginning to suspect it contains radioactive material. I can hear Carolyn, she of the repeated and well documented battery woes, cursing my name "Damn you and your atomic battery!" Well, don't worry dear cynics, I shall be replacing it anyway if only to deny it the satisfaction of crapping out on me in the middle of my glorious track day.
The other item that I'll be adding to the SV is some Stomp Grip acquired from While Buffalo Racing. This stuff is a grippy plastic material that sticks to the gas tank allowing you to grip it with your knees better. Last year I noticed a lot of other riders in the paddock had this stuff on their bikes, and after nearly crushing my "Special Purpose" under hard braking a couple of times I came to appreciate how useful some added friction at the knee/tank junction might be. It also helps when you're hanging off in the corner holding on to the bike with one knee, while attempting to drag the other knee on the pavement. <grin>
(Sunuvabeetch, sheet! I just accidentally hit a button in my browser and lost this entry. Everything up to this point I had to rewrite. Argh!)
An update on the Tuono seems appropriate at this time. I've been riding the Tuono every chance I get, including a couple of somewhat rainy commutes. I just can't get over this bike. I adore the Suzooks, we get along great, but the Tuono has a character that I find endearing to such a degree that I'm almost embarrassed to describe it. I recall from childhood memory that I had a similar attachment to my '79 Honda XR80, and I thought perhaps with age I had lost such emotional capacity. I'm delighted to have been proven wrong.
The Tuono rolled over the 2000 mile mark this week, and there have been no mechanical issues. I did notice the clutch fluid turned dark very quickly, which I suspect is from dirt working it's way past the slave cylinder seal. Not an uncommon occurrence in my experience. A popular upgrade that may address this issue is a billet replacement part from AF1Racing.
That's it for now. Look for a post soon with thoughts on the start of the racing season.
The next time you get out to one of your glorious track days you should get some footage with a Twenty20 cam. Check out www.twenty20camera.com. They're right up in your neck of the woods aren't they? I just got one and I took it out trail riding, the footage was awesome and the kit is super small.
Posted by: JohnJohn | March 04, 2005 at 03:36 PM
Wow, JohnJohn, your employee compensation package must really suck if you're working for twentytwentycam and all you got was the lousy camera.
Thank you so much for your unpaid and obviously impartial view. I'm impressed though. When you sold out your humanity for a quarterpenny an annoyance, did you sign a separate clause to tailor all your spam comments as much as you did this one?
Posted by: Stephanie | March 06, 2005 at 08:35 PM
Hey, how'd I miss this entry before? Damn you and your atomic battery! :D
Posted by: carolyn | March 10, 2005 at 11:06 AM
Ouch! until I read this post, I was afraid it was the lap-timer. We need to watch a lot of superbike soon!
Posted by: zink | March 15, 2005 at 11:04 PM
C'mon, we want the full report, ankle-boy!
Posted by: Ceej | March 16, 2005 at 05:01 PM
Wow Stephanie, yunno sometimes you get excited about something and write a commercial on accident. Upon second look it does seem like a would work there huh? Well, gladly I work somewhere else (I spam poker links by trade j/k), and they pay me in money instead of cameras! To be honest I think this blog has good pics and stories and could use some video. If you want me to be a commercial I'll post links to other sites/blogs that do have video, but the writing isn't as good.
Sorry...I guess.
Posted by: JohnJohn | March 25, 2005 at 05:04 PM