[Norton-Motorsports.com]

Here's the full writeup for round 2:
http://www.yamahar3racing.com/2015/10/race-report-cvma-2015-2016-round-2-chuckwalla-valley-raceway-ccw-yamaha-r3-2015/


Some great racing, videos, crashing, and lots of new information learned!

 

[SDR3]

Great write up , read it all and watched all the videos, What was your reason for going from a 600 to an R3?

 

[Norton-Motorsports.com]

Whoops, corrected a typo, I said I started 11th but that was the wrong race, the last race I started 14th and was in 8th when I crashed out...

Why did I upgrade from a 600 to an R3? For fun! Lots of reasons actually. Mainly, the small bike racing thing has intrigued me for awhile, it just seems like a freakin' fun time. It's also considerably cheaper on tires and fuel, which leaves more money for doing other silly things. It's something different and new, which I like. The small bike race grids until now have been full of Ninja 250s. All of those Ninja 250s are eventually going to be replaced by more modern fuel injected bikes, and I think the R3 will be one of the strongest in it's class. I wanted to help lead the charge developing the R3 as a race bike, solve a lot of the problems and answer a lot of the questions to help make it easier for more people to get into road racing and track riding. I also have known for awhile that racing smaller bikes makes you better, a lot better. And I want to get better. I want it to be easy to go fast, to be in total control of my riding, and able to read everything the bike is doing as easy as I can read this post. All of your mistakes and bad habits are amplified when you only have 30-40hp and a 300lb bike. You must be silky smooth, and you learn the limits of the bike and yourself much better. The lighter bike also reacts easier and gives great feedback, and is a little more forgiving of mistakes before you fall down.

 

[Capitalview]

Just curious if the 2" higher riding position changed how the bike reacts. You did raise a lot of weight up higher on the bike than where it had been.

Sounds like you didn't have to do any modifications to get your Penske to fit. Is the reservoir hose running directly out the back of the shock? Or is it facing more to one side.

 

[Norton-Motorsports.com]

Just curious if the 2" higher riding position changed how the bike reacts. You did raise a lot of weight up higher on the bike than where it had been.

Sounds like you didn't have to do any modifications to get your Penske to fit. Is the reservoir hose running directly out the back of the shock? Or is it facing more to one side.

Raising the seat will put my weight slightly higher, but I didn't feel any negative from this as far as turning the bike from side to side or anything. The bike's center of mass is still the same, so it makes sense. Technically it could have been a little more work for me to move side to side, I dunno, I definitely didn't notice it as a negative thing. The riding position felt much better, and because of that, I felt good, at least in the last race, so I'm going to say it was a positive change

 

[Norton-Motorsports.com]

Just curious if the 2" higher riding position changed how the bike reacts. You did raise a lot of weight up higher on the bike than where it had been.

Sounds like you didn't have to do any modifications to get your Penske to fit. Is the reservoir hose running directly out the back of the shock? Or is it facing more to one side.

Oh ya, the Penske dropped right in no problem, easiest shock I've ever installed. I have the hose coming out of the front side of the shock, and it's like the perfect length to line up with the passenger peg mount. At first, I was wishing it came out at a slight angle so I could reach the outside of the passenger peg mount, but after looking into it further, it would be in my way if it were on the outside, so it's good where it is. I have the shock attached with the included rubber spacers and a hose clamp to the bottom of the passenger peg mount. I want to clean this up a little better when I get some time.