SuperDave

Well, I raced at Brainerd over the weekend. I haven't raced there since 1997, and I haven't seen the track since 2003 when I was a consultant for Safety First Racing.

But, honestly, the track is pretty much the same as it has been for a long time. The first time I raced there was in 1988 on my 600 Katana race bike. In 1989, WSB came to Brainerd, and they changed turn nine, which was scary; it used to be a third gear corner that had a steel barrier two feet off the track. At the end of the turn, the barrier ends, but the bridge begins.

I took the wife, kids, and the dog. That's kind of different for me because I just have so much going on with the business side of racing that it's hard to take them places. But with school being out and all, I invited every one to come.

We left Thursday evening, and it was a warm drive. The AC in the bus has been down since about 2003, and the system is kind of strange being a shuttle bus and all. We made it to the track around 11PM, and we picked out our spot in the dark for the weekend. Friday is practice, like Blackhawk. There was a threat of rain all three days, and, honestly, Brainerd is spooky in the rain; you use WFO for about a mile. It's fast.

I started the morning with my Blackhawk gearing, 17/42. I'm not sure if that's the right Blackhawk gearing yet, but it's what I've ran. Stock is 17/40. The track really didn't require me to learn much as I've been there, but I needed to remember where some of the bumps were. I did run out of gear. Turn one is WFO in sixth with your knee hitting the ground. I changed to a 17/39, and I think I started running speeds of around 174 or so on the speedo, so it's probably 157MPH or so. The rain did come in the afternoon, so we sat around. I went out in the last session to try 17/40, and I liked that a bit more than 17/39.

We ate at Famous Dave's that night, and we watched "Invincable" on the small screen in the bus.

I thought that I had both my raced on Sunday, but found out that I had Heavyweight Supersport on Saturday. That did help me out in that we'd be able to leave sooner on Sunday. Supertwins was the first race on Sunday.

I started to jack with the suspension a bit. With the track being so fast, the movement of air has a tendancy to lift the chassis and increase trail when you don't what it to be increased. So, I started by adding some rear preload, then taking out front preload. Ended up taking the rear preload out of the back in the end to just keep the bike a little lower so I could get through two a bit better, fifth gear with your knee on the ground.

I couldn't do anything better than a 1:49 for a lap time. The SV1000 just doesn't have any poop all alone. I can't keep up with a decent rider on a 600 in a straight line I was going to line up for the Heavyweight Supersport race with 30 other guys on GSXR750's and all the other 600's. The start kind of goes as planned from row three. I start and then we start shifting, and I move back. I still make up some space and I think I'm inside the top ten. I have a little thing with a guy for a couple laps, but I dispose of him. Inspite of the power and weight of the SV, it works well enough for me that my advantage is mid corner speed even over a lot of 600's. There's a group ahead of me, but they just provide me with a hole in the air to move through. I finished seventh with times in the 1:47 range. Suzuki should pay me for the finish in Heavyweight Supersport too, which will be nice.

Overnight, I replace my front tire. It was finished on the right side with all the fast, rough stuff. I really cleaned out the front calipers with some Simple Green to get rid of all the front brake drag, and that helped a ton. Additionally, I ground down the stop on the front brake lever so that it would rest further out and, hopefully, not putting on a little bit of front brake. I put on an old tire for Sunday morning practice, and saved my PR3 that I ran in HWSS for the race.

Practice went fine. I don't like the way my bike transitions from left to right quickly. Really, I think it needs more rebound in the front, but with the stock forks, it just won't do what I want it to do. So, I went back to my original settings. The Supertwins race was uneventful. I got a good start, and I led every lap.

I'm not sure how quickly Suzuki is paying on their contingency anymore, but I'll cover some of my expenses, then I'll donate the rest to the Ride For Kids pediatric cancer program.

Gateway, this weekend.

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Super Dave Rosno
Super Dave's Race Against Childhood Cancer
Visionsports Riding Schools - Team Visionsports' Racing

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ND4SPD

Great writeup Dave. Thanks for sharing!

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Hammer

Sounds like you and the family had a great time.

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RAH-VFR

Super write up, Suoer Dave.

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seamus

Great job, SuperDave. And congrats on the win and the moolah.

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SuperDave

Thanks, everyone!

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Super Dave Rosno
Super Dave's Race Against Childhood Cancer
Visionsports Riding Schools - Team Visionsports' Racing

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CBRVFR

Good writeup, good result, and good deeds.

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maxib

I would have gone up to watch had I known you were going to be there. Congratulations!

Will there be another race at Brainerd this season?

Oh, and very nice gesture with donating to a good cause.

SuperDave

Thanks! I've been doing the pediatric cancer thing for a few years now. I enjoy it. I've got the Kansas City Ride For Kids on July 22nd. Always looking for donations...

Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation - Super Dave's Race Against Childhood Cancer - KC

I've got to get up to speed on my end actually. I've been accumulating some money, and it's time to mobilize it...LOL!

I'll be racing again at Brainerd August 24-26,

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Super Dave Rosno
Super Dave's Race Against Childhood Cancer
Visionsports Riding Schools - Team Visionsports' Racing

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maxib

That's the group I thought you meant. I've actually named them in my will as a beneficiary.

I'll see if I can get up to Brainerd in August.

tigerblade

Something I probably wouldn't have thought of...

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Seems that doomsday's come early this year

SuperDave

I'll be there in August. Look me up. Red SV1000, number 261 at Brainerd. PBTF...just nice people. I think I'm going to speak in KC again this year.

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Super Dave Rosno
Super Dave's Race Against Childhood Cancer
Visionsports Riding Schools - Team Visionsports' Racing

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