So, I hit the track at Buttonwillow yesterday as a sort of experiment
with steering geometry day as this is what I've decided to blame my
lame Thunderhill performance in October on.

I had my forks raised 22mm above the top triple clamps at T-hill and
Phil Douglas was impressed that I could even keep the bike upright
that way. He strongly suggested never raising them more than 15mm on
the Ninja 250 and said that most people liked 11mm (he prefers 8mm
for his bike). So, I set 'em to 10mm and hit the track.

Buttonwillow moved the corner worker's station in the truck stop to
the opposite side of the track which was kind of sureal for a couple
laps. They also repaved from the esses to just past turn 11. Which
was pretty nice! They hadn't repainted the berms yet which made 'em a
little harder to see but gave 'em alot more traction for the straight
shot through the esses (except my rear tire was squirming a bit on
the exit) and that horrible patch in turn 11 is gone! Yehaw.

Trackdaz was experimenting with 30 minute sessions this time which
worked out to about 12 to 13 laps a session at my pace. The longer
sessions, while being a little more exhausting, were nice because it
gave me alot more time to to experiment and, obviously, more cool
down time back in the pits. Their 20 minute alternating sessions were
always something of an endurance test to make every single one.

The 10mm worked pretty well for a couple of sessions. But I
lowered 'em to 8mm, added a litle preload on the shock and went back
out. This resulted in the front end chatter I used to get/love a max
lean angle but the real tire was feeling a little more squirmy.
Still, I was getting close!

Dick Rossi was there on a FZR400 and he'd pass me in the straights
and I'd get him back in the corners. This carried on for a couple of
laps before he finally fell far enough behind that I started focusing
on this 748.

In 3b, the rear end swung waaay out. More than I thought was possible
to recover from.

"Damnit, this just sucks."

Just as my elbow was about to hit the ground the rear end hooked back
up, turning my embarrassing lowside into something much more
exciting, and I was thrown into the air.

"Ulp, this is worse!"

Now I know the coolriders' have this tradition about crashing
whenever possible but, when I hit the ground, I was quite surprised
to notice that the bike was still upright and that my hands were on
the handlebars. I don't know if I caught 'em on the way down or never
lost hold of 'em at all but, suddenly, there was hope!

Due to my awkward position I had the throttle pinned wide open and
the bike went flying down the track with me dragging next to it.

"I wonder if i can't get my leg back over before I hit the dirt?"

Nope, the bike and I launched over the berm and went flying out into
the dessert. Eventually, I got back on the bike and managed to come
to a safe stop, but the track was just a spec on the horizon by that
point. For some reason my right hand was locked into full throttle
mode and it took awhile for me to talk it down. You gotta love that
Buttonwillow run-off.

So, I made the long haul back to the track and re-entered at the bus
stop. Coming down the front straight I noticed that the windshield
was cracked up pretty good but, I finished my session anyway.

Back in the pits I frankenstien'ed the windscreen back together and
helped Joe(?) and Mike Solis load up some guy that had been
transported earlier's van when they called my next session.

I suited up, checked the gas (it was low) and rode out to the pre-
grid. I was grumpy 'cause I didn't think I had enough gas for a full
session and I had wanted to try a little less preload in back.

As I turned left, exiting the pit lane, I noticed that the handlebars
were in their favorite 30 degrees off from straight position but,
since it may have been the last session for the day, I decided to
suck it up and ride anyway.

The rear end still felt squirmy and a couple of laps into the session
it stepped ot on me again. Only this time it was in the banking
(riverside). it hooked back up smoothly and I decided to pull in
before I hurt myself.

It was starting to get dark so, I hazzarded that we weren't gonna get
another session so, rather than pull the bike apart, I started
loading up. I need a new windscreen and have to take the front end in
to be straightened again (I wonder if a fork brace would help?). The
boots also get to go back to the repair shop (again).

...But I won a set of T-Handle wrenches at the lunch time raffle!

-Rick