Posts
394
Joined
10/20/2011
Location
Honeoye Falls, NY
US
Edited Date/Time
10/19/2017 6:55pm
Yesterday, Sunday November 15, 2017, I did another race on my 2017 Alta Redshift MX, my 12th race of the year on it. 750+ miles and 60+ hours on it and no top end rebuild in sight.
How did the race go? Pretty well, especially thanks to some guys checking out my Alta before practice got going. They noticed that a couple bolts in my triple clamps were loose, and one of my forks had pushed up about 1/2". Oops! I quickly got on my mechanic (me) for missing this; idiot. This could have been ugly.
I did three laps of practice, with my forks now securely in place, and the track was mint. It was one of those race days where the track rutted up real nice, the traction was good, and you didn't need to use the pressure washer on the bike between motos. Cato is known as the fast track, and it is. It has some long straights where I am pinned in, um, uh, well, I have the bike pinned in map 3 and it seems like I am going 100mph. It would be interesting to look down at the display to see how fast I was going... and maybe discouraging when I saw my actual speed, but I am hanging on for dear life and don't have enough nerve to look at the display.
I signed up for +40B and +50, the fastest and most competitive classes offered, as I convey to my non-moto friends. My latest approach with the Alta is to start in map 4, and then after the first corner, switch down to map 3 for the rest of the race. Each of my motos were 4 laps, and lap times were probably 2 1/2 to 3 minutes long. Also, I started doing one of the bigger jumps that I didn't do in my last race here. I was proud of myself. Like most big jumps, once you do it the first time, it seems easy, and you wonder why it took you so long to do it. I even yelled "Did you see that?!" to the flagger who was by the jump, and I am sure he heard me, because he cheered me on in future laps.
Here is how my motos went:
+40B - I got a decent start, running in 3rd, and then a few corners in I tipped over on a sharp left hand corner. I was pinned under the bike for what seemed like forever, but then the Crossfit kicked in and I got out from underneath it and picked it up. I reached down for the kickstarter to get it started again, and then I realized that it didn't have one. I just twisted the throttle and off I went, now at the back of the pack. I passed a couple riders before I got to the checkered flag.
+50 - I got another good start, running in 3rd, and towards the end of the first lap, 1st and 2nd place, right in front of me, took each other out! "Thank you!", I yelled as I went by and acquired first place. I led for a couple laps, and then got passed by a local legend around here who still hauls the mail. I ended up in second.
+40B - I started in map 4, twisted the throttle to the stop, and WooHoo! Holeshot! After the first corner I switched to map 3. I led for a few corners when I got passed - the local legend again! When he was passing me he yells, "Man, that thing is quiet!" I yelled some obscenities back, but his loud 4-stroke drowned it out. I hung with him for a few corners and then I tipped over in a sharp left hander. Dammit! And Deja Vu! Didn't this same thing happen in my first +40B moto?!
+50 - My last moto of the day and I was getting tired. I thought I had the holeshot but got slightly edged out right at the last moment. Depending on where they call the holeshot, it could have gone either way, if they were giving out awards for it. Going into the 2nd corner, I was 2nd though. I held onto 2nd place for a lap, and got passed on my 3rd lap. On my 4th lap, I got passed again, and it pissed me off. I said to myself, "Self, suck it up!' I picked up my pace and I didn't lose any other spots, and started pressuring the 3rd place guy, but I couldn't get him by the end of the moto.
I went 2-4 for 2nd overall out of 14 riders in +50, good enough for a sweet trophy. As I have written before, always take the trophy, because it will your kids something to remember you by, when they take them to the dump after you are dead. In +40B, I went 6-7 for 7th overall out of 9 riders, good enough for nothing except for scratches on my new plastic and graphics, because my +40B moto to crash ratio was 1:1. I gotta work on that.
Here are a few pics from the day:
After 1 moto from a full charge. No problem getting it back up to a full charge between motos.
More and more people are impressed with the Alta but a few are still skeptical.
Refueling between motos.
How did the race go? Pretty well, especially thanks to some guys checking out my Alta before practice got going. They noticed that a couple bolts in my triple clamps were loose, and one of my forks had pushed up about 1/2". Oops! I quickly got on my mechanic (me) for missing this; idiot. This could have been ugly.
I did three laps of practice, with my forks now securely in place, and the track was mint. It was one of those race days where the track rutted up real nice, the traction was good, and you didn't need to use the pressure washer on the bike between motos. Cato is known as the fast track, and it is. It has some long straights where I am pinned in, um, uh, well, I have the bike pinned in map 3 and it seems like I am going 100mph. It would be interesting to look down at the display to see how fast I was going... and maybe discouraging when I saw my actual speed, but I am hanging on for dear life and don't have enough nerve to look at the display.
I signed up for +40B and +50, the fastest and most competitive classes offered, as I convey to my non-moto friends. My latest approach with the Alta is to start in map 4, and then after the first corner, switch down to map 3 for the rest of the race. Each of my motos were 4 laps, and lap times were probably 2 1/2 to 3 minutes long. Also, I started doing one of the bigger jumps that I didn't do in my last race here. I was proud of myself. Like most big jumps, once you do it the first time, it seems easy, and you wonder why it took you so long to do it. I even yelled "Did you see that?!" to the flagger who was by the jump, and I am sure he heard me, because he cheered me on in future laps.
Here is how my motos went:
+40B - I got a decent start, running in 3rd, and then a few corners in I tipped over on a sharp left hand corner. I was pinned under the bike for what seemed like forever, but then the Crossfit kicked in and I got out from underneath it and picked it up. I reached down for the kickstarter to get it started again, and then I realized that it didn't have one. I just twisted the throttle and off I went, now at the back of the pack. I passed a couple riders before I got to the checkered flag.
+50 - I got another good start, running in 3rd, and towards the end of the first lap, 1st and 2nd place, right in front of me, took each other out! "Thank you!", I yelled as I went by and acquired first place. I led for a couple laps, and then got passed by a local legend around here who still hauls the mail. I ended up in second.
+40B - I started in map 4, twisted the throttle to the stop, and WooHoo! Holeshot! After the first corner I switched to map 3. I led for a few corners when I got passed - the local legend again! When he was passing me he yells, "Man, that thing is quiet!" I yelled some obscenities back, but his loud 4-stroke drowned it out. I hung with him for a few corners and then I tipped over in a sharp left hander. Dammit! And Deja Vu! Didn't this same thing happen in my first +40B moto?!
+50 - My last moto of the day and I was getting tired. I thought I had the holeshot but got slightly edged out right at the last moment. Depending on where they call the holeshot, it could have gone either way, if they were giving out awards for it. Going into the 2nd corner, I was 2nd though. I held onto 2nd place for a lap, and got passed on my 3rd lap. On my 4th lap, I got passed again, and it pissed me off. I said to myself, "Self, suck it up!' I picked up my pace and I didn't lose any other spots, and started pressuring the 3rd place guy, but I couldn't get him by the end of the moto.
I went 2-4 for 2nd overall out of 14 riders in +50, good enough for a sweet trophy. As I have written before, always take the trophy, because it will your kids something to remember you by, when they take them to the dump after you are dead. In +40B, I went 6-7 for 7th overall out of 9 riders, good enough for nothing except for scratches on my new plastic and graphics, because my +40B moto to crash ratio was 1:1. I gotta work on that.
Here are a few pics from the day:
After 1 moto from a full charge. No problem getting it back up to a full charge between motos.
More and more people are impressed with the Alta but a few are still skeptical.
Refueling between motos.
BTW, got any GoPro vids?
HOLY MAC TO THE FUTURE!!!!!!
1) semi-retirement. I now work part-time, 20 hours a week
2) having a quiet bike and being able to ride it behind my house - something I always dreamed about when I was younger.
Red141, thanks, and funny you mentioned a GoPro. I actually borrowed a friend's GoPro and was planning on filming one of my motos. I had my son wear it for his 85cc moto, and when I looked at the footage afterwards it was clear at first, and then it got really cloudy. I think there is moisture underneath the lens so I didn't use it for any of my motos. I will get some footage soon.
The Shop
Regarding the TRAK shock. I forgot to mention that you'll need to add about 1/2" of bumper to the shaft. The stock Alta WP shock has a bit more than 3" of travel and the TRAK shock a bit less than 4" (assuming it's from a KTM 490mm eye-to-eye. Without the extra bumper the rear will bottom hard on the fender (it already does with the stocker!).
The Alta has an unusually (by todays standards) high initial leverage ratio, hence the short travel shock and a very heavy 6.3 stock rear spring. the idea is to slow the shock shaft velocity down. There's all sorts of pros and cons regarding shock shaft velocity so I'm not going there. Heck, for all I know Alta simply got a good deal from WP on those short travel shocks and designed the linkage to suit!
Also, don't forget to tell your tuner about the difference in linkage, they'll need to compensate the valving for the slow shaft velocity.
You sponsored be Alta yet?
Keep up the good work for us mortals who maybe one day might have a chance to buy one (if they decide to ship'em over here!).
P.S. whats the Dog's name?
mark911, thanks for the heads up.
61.1 hours and 769.5 miles on it as of today. Gonna try to hit the century club (100 hours) by Thanksgiving!
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