Witchkraft Racing: The Search for Speed

Marching Ahead

March is here. I've been spinning twice a week for the past month and a half, combining that with working out at the gym three times a week with weights and running. I'm currently doing less upper body exercises and moving more to core and lower body to get ready for the season. In the beginning of the winter when I was doing less cardio and more weights, I bumped up 7-8 pounds. It was nice, but a little more than what I needed for racing. Now as I'm dialing down the weights (and subsequently eating less as a result), I've dropped 3-4 of those pounds and will aim to drop the rest as the season opener approaches. More leg and core exercises are on the agenda, as well as added cardio.

The VIR (Virginia International Raceway) pre-season (for us) race weekend is a scant two weeks away. I'm a bit apprehensive right now on making the VIR event, but I'm trying to remain optimistic, but it's been a bit stressful. Wrobel has the bodywork and is painting it this weekend. We dropped the motor on Saturday and Doug handed it off to Jamie who is doing the Supersport build on it. Most people don't realize how big a role Jamie plays. When you're freshening the motor as often as we do to keep it competitive, it's an added workload for everyone – from us repeatedly dropping and installing it, to Jamie constantly working on it. He's done a stellar job though and I couldn't ask for anything more when it comes to an engine builder. He knows how to build a fast R6.

More prep will be happening this weekend in the shop, with Aaron coming by on Sunday to lend a hand. I'm hoping we can get a fair bit done before the engine and bodywork arrive, although I'm not sure at this point when that will be.

Cheers,

eddie

Friday, March 5th, 2010 | POSTED AT: 5:37 AM
FILED UNDER: General | 2 comments
Eighth Bits

Motion Pro's digital tire gauge is the latest trick in the shop. It's a great tool, as we used it out the other night with the new bike on the table. It measures to tenth's of a pound in pressure so you get the exact reading you want. It also reads digitally for even more precision than a typical analog gauge.

This tool is really quite bad for someone like me who can become overly-focused when it comes to the details. If you see me during final call with the gauge in-hand trying to get the tires to a specific tenth of a pound, please come over and punch me. Other than that, I'm looking forward to using this extremely trick bit this season, although I think Joe and Doug may keep it out of my hands altogether.

Cheers,

- eddie

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | POSTED AT: 5:26 AM
FILED UNDER: General | 6 comments
2010 Yamaha R6 – Arrived

The new machine has arrived at Honda East (or Yamaha East, or Honda Yamaha Suzuki East for those who get caught up on the dealership name). We'll be heading down to Ohio early tomorrow morning to start work on it. Initial tasks will include stripping all the street pieces, followed by breaking the bike in on the dyno. Then we'll be mounting up the Sharkskinz, so Wrobel can take it with him to start painting both sets with some high-quality DuPont ink.

Joe, Doug, Jeff, Aaron (Bagwell), myself and I are all making the trip down for the day. If we're lucky, we'll have the motor out by nightfall.

Cheers,

eddie

Friday, February 26th, 2010 | POSTED AT: 5:49 AM
FILED UNDER: General | 3 comments

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