Turn 4 on the first lap, and...
Turn 4 on the first lap, and Bradley is already in tenth position from the fourth row of the grid.
In our last issue, we detailed the building of our Harley-Davidson XR1200 project bike and developing it to enter a round of the AMA Vance & Hines XR1200 series (“The XR Project”, Aug. ‘11, or visit
www.sportrider.com/magazine/1109). With the build complete and a handful of test days completed to sort out the details, our intrepid crew headed to Infineon Raceway for the West Coast Moto Jam. A dropped valve at the last test outing and some last-minute changes left us busy right up until the departure day, but we felt we had everything sorted and were primed for a good result. But how quickly things can change…
The original schedule for the weekend included XR practice on Saturday morning, qualifying Saturday afternoon, a warm-up session on Sunday morning and the race on Sunday afternoon. We arrived at the track on Friday morning ready for a leisurely day attending to the bike and pit setup, but a dodgy weather prediction for Sunday had prompted the AMA to push everything forward a day. We would be practicing that afternoon, qualifying Saturday morning and racing Saturday afternoon. That would mean just two on-track sessions before the race rather than the scheduled three. In a way the compressed schedule suited us; the XR1200s had not raced at Infineon previously, and Bradley was one of just a couple of Harley riders that had practiced at the track beforehand. Still, we had some setup issues to sort through and needed the track time to get the bike dialed in.
Dave Behrend of Fast Bike Industries, who provided the suspension for the XR along with plenty of support for the project, was at the track and after some discussions about setup we decided to change the front fork oil before practice. When we went to disassemble the front end, however, we found the front axle stuck in the fork tubes. Evidently if the axle is over-tightened it swells and sticks — a common problem according the Vance & Hines people at the track. As we found out on reassembly, this had caused the front suspension to bind significantly and the fork worked much more smoothly with that issue resolved. On the one hand, it was a relief to find what had been giving us some grief with the setup, but on the other hand it had enough of an effect that we would be starting from square one all over again with regards to the front end.
They’re smiling now… While...
They’re smiling now… While Bradley (center) rode the XR, at Infineon we had part-time SR test rider Eric Nugent (right) and Bradley’s father Curtis (left) helping out. Eric built the bike and spun wrenches at the track for us, while Curtis provided valuable setup assistance. The Geek, in charge of the whole project and keeping these three from coming to blows, should have been in the picture but rolled out early to make happy hour at the hotel.
After a couple of pit stops early in the first practice session to make changes to the fork and shocks, Bradley looked to be settling into things, lapping more than a second faster than he had at the practice day almost immediately. Bradley’s father Curtis was on hand to help, as he had been at the earlier test days, and the two worked well together to sort out the suspension quickly. But then the bike stopped on-track, ending our practice early. Bradley’s original thought was that another dropped valve was the culprit, as the sound and timing of the failure was almost identical to what had happened at the practice day. Back at the pit, to our great relief, we found a broken spark plug and blown ECU fuse; with those replaced, the bike ran fine up and down the pit lane — an easy fix, or so we thought. Things were still looking promising, as even with just two timed laps Bradley was the 9th fastest rider (of 15), albeit four seconds off the quickest rider, Chris Fillmore.
We prepared for Saturday qualifying by mounting a fresh set of tires to the XR and discussing a game plan for setup changes during the session. But no sooner had Bradley rolled out of pit lane at the start of qualifying when the ECU fuse blew again. Bradley pushed the bike back to the hot pit, and with wishful thinking we changed the fuse for a second time only for the bike to make it to turn 2 before stopping yet again. This time the bike was irretrievable and we had to wait until the end of the session to look for and fix the problem. Our qualifying session had ended practically before it even started; not only did we miss out on valuable practice, we were in danger of not making the grid for the race as we didn’t complete a single lap for a qualifying time. In the meantime, the rest of the field went faster than on Friday, with Fillmore qualifying on the pole at 1:47.775 — almost six seconds quicker than Bradley had gone at that point. As a reference for how quickly these Harleys are capable of being hustled around the track, Fillmore’s qualifying time was within the 109 percent necessary to qualify for the Daytona SportBike race — with about 130 pounds more weight and 50 horsepower less than a typical 600.
Just a hog grazing in the...
Just a hog grazing in the field. This is where our bike spent most of practice and qualifying. A chafed wire from the ECU was shorting out on the frame, and while the bike would run fine in and around the pits, under load a fuse would blow.
Chris Fillmore (55, RMR Bruce...
Chris Fillmore (55, RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing) fought Michael Barnes (34, DRAG Specialties) for the victory at Infineon, with Fillmore winning his first-ever AMA race. Steve Rapp (5, Parts Unlimited) finished third.
With the XR back in the pit, some closer examination revealed a chafed ignition/injector power wire under the seat that was shorting out on the frame — but shorting the circuit and blowing the fuse only under load for some reason. With the wire safely insulated, this time we made doubly sure the bike ran properly by checking it on the AMA dyno. As far as actually qualifying for the race, competitors in the Vance & Hines XR1200 class must post a time within 110 percent of the fastest rider’s best lap in order to qualify, but there are considerations given based on the size of the field and the rider’s times posted in other practice sessions. Thankfully, AMA officials allowed us to start the race from the back of the grid. The bike was fixed and ready to go, and we had a spot on the grid, but yet another setback had arisen: Bradley’s new leathers had been tight on his arms on Friday, causing arm pump. And even though Josh Bennett from Pilot had modified the leathers that evening, Bradley’s arms were still bothering him.
Eric waits with the bike behind...
Eric waits with the bike behind pit wall for the race to start. We found Pit Bull stands (877-533-1977,
www.pit-bull.com) to be plenty sturdy for the Harley’s weight. Note, however, that the front stand’s posts are nestled under the brake calipers rather than in the correct position under the fork legs, as the bottoms of the fork legs are too rounded.
Our bike waits in AMA tech...
Our bike waits in AMA tech with the other top-10 finishers after the race. Each bike was run on the dyno and given a visual inspection. Anything amiss (such as an abnormally high horsepower reading) would be cause for a teardown
Bradley prepares for the start...
Bradley prepares for the start of the race while Eric and Curtis distract an AMA official from examining the bike. Even from this angle you can see Bradley looks a bit stressed — it was, after all, his first AMA race. Thanks to Pilot Leathers (800-299-9651,
www.pilotusa.com), we were all quite snappily dressed for the occasion.