Stockton "Shakedown" (Supermoto)

Well, as some of you may have already read, Lineaweaver racing (Dale) completed the installation of the new slipper clutch, and the new "quick shifter" electronics. Naturally, as soon as I got it back the weather went south (who sang "it never rains in California"?) so it was a few days before I could see for myself what difference(sa) they made. I thought Id kill 2 birds with one stone and take Dale and Kenny Noyes up on their invitation to run a track day at the Stockton Supermoto track. A little background first. The bike ('05 FS650c) is with the exception of Dale's magic carb work, prototype breather mod., and an Akrapovic pipe is basically stock. The slipper clutch changed the bike from an angry Brahma bull ("chatter" doesn't come close to describing it, more like JACKHAMMER!) backing into corners into a pussycat. I can bang down multiple downshifts and dump the clutch and the slipper just does it's job PERIOD. It's so cool to be able to not have to ease that bad boy in while manually doing what the slipper does on it's own, for ANYONE that is running supermoto on a large displacement bike, a slipper should be a PRIORITY, it will lower you lap times and increase your consistency like nothing else will. Under "normal" operation the unit feels like any other well adjusted clutch, the only difference is a slightly harder lever pull at very high revs. I can't recommend it enough, I found myseld going deeper and deeper (oooppps, TOO DEEP a few times!) into turns, and freeing my concentration up for other things, form, body position, whats for lunch etc. The quickshifter was !00% Dale's idea, and as always, he knows what the bike and I need. The unit does EXACTLY what he designed it to do. I can (and did) hold the throttle WFO on my upshifts and NEVER missed a shift, flawless. I traded bikes with Kenny a few times, and listened (eavesdropped actually) at the fence trackside and several people were commenting on the speed the bike shifted and carried down the start/finish straight (a direct result of the speedshifter) It actually took a few laps to adjust by mental "markers" on a familiar track as I was actually carrying noticeably more speed into corners. Once again, I can't recommend the mod enough, what other modification can you do to a race bike that will cut serious time off your laps, give you quicker acceleration, all with the same horsepower you have now, and with zero decrease in reliability? Even Kenny who has spent the last few years on world class machinery just kept shaking his head saying "sweet...." All in all a great day in the California sunshine, made a few adjustments, ate up a set of soft slicks and a bunch of gas and went home very happy, WELL DONE DALE! Let the season begin....

kelsow said:

That's great!

Any idea as to how much slower your lap times would have been on your previous setup?

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Hard to say, as the track was SUPER slick due to the rain the previous 2 days brought up the oil from the cars and carts on the track. I was also continuing to try different suspension/tire combos. I would venture to say that all else being equal, the slipper/quickshift combo should be good for 1-2 seconds a lap, HUGE! (I'm a little reluctant to post too much, as ya never know who may be logged on, but we're all family here right?) The clutch is more a tool for consistency, the shifter will really help to drop your times. Looking at Dale's data logging on 2nd gear roll ons to 110 mph (what the bike is currently geared for) it was OVER 3 SECONDS FASTER! Do the math....if you "only" pick up 1/10th a lap it's worth it.

HUSABOMBER said:

Great write up Rocky, thanks for that. Those mods sound fantastic 8O :shock:

So what was Mr. Noyes riding?

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A CRF450, some oriental machine, it was red, I think they make cars too..... :roll: