Ducati Monster Forum

Hey gang, thought I would give an update to the beginning of my season. I finished the first race weekend of 2009 and it was an amazing weekend. I made some improvements to the Monster over the winter and so far it has really paid off. I beat my fastest laptime by a second and was able to repeat it several times. In fact, one lap almost got me two seconds quicker! I feel pretty good with this since it was the first weekend of the year and not only did I have to shake off the cobwebs but we had a cold track and high winds to deal with.
I was not expecting the results that I got. Out of five races, I won four. The unofficial results put me in the top 4 expert overall. (Of course it's only May so I will just go backwards from here.) The bike felt incredible and the new front end that I put on really made a difference. I also put in a lightened flywheel which gave me a very nice drive out of corners and made me hit the rev limiter in places that I never could before. It also cut down on the rear wheel hop going into the double downshift/ hard braking corners. It was so worth it! I made some other changes that shed some weight so the bike seemed to have more on the top end too. I weighed the little beast before the weekend and I've got it down to 364 lbs. with about a half tank of gas. Drafting the faster bikes was so easy compared to before. I'll shed even more weight when I start running Chris Kelley's tank...can't wait!
As far as detailed race reports, I can sum them up real quick because they were all the same. My starts are always slow and I go into Turn 1 in 3rd or 4th position. By the end of the first lap, I pass everyone and break away at the front. Once I got into the lead, I never saw anyone again. It's great to win that way but when every race goes the same, it's boring. [cheeky]
In other news, this year I'm instructing with Jessica Zalusky's school (AMA pro). RRW press release here http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=36433 (http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=36433)  Only a couple of dates are listed there right now. Also, I'm going to be racing endurance this year on a 900SS with another of the instructors on that list, Mark Miller. He set the bike up new this year, and we are going to try and race it in MotoGT for 2010. So this is a development year for the bike and hopefully we can get the funding/corporate sponsorship that it's going to take to do it....fingers crossed! I will update my website sometime soon 

And of course thank you to my amazing wife, awesome kids, and very supportive sponsors: Komodo Leathers, Caztek, American Auto Body, Moto Primo, Prostar Mortgage, Studio299, Panolin, Motogirl Studios, Ca-Cycleworks[beer]

(http://i44.tinypic.com/2zscq5h.jpg)

(http://i43.tinypic.com/2a0m0p0.jpg)

(http://i44.tinypic.com/10p7dc3.jpg)

(http://i42.tinypic.com/24wdp4p.jpg)

(http://i39.tinypic.com/zuseid.jpg)

(http://i41.tinypic.com/2vm5wqt.jpg)

Congrats!  [thumbsup]  [clap]

Adam

congrats....now go slap a DMF sticker on it [laugh]

 [laugh]Normally no one gets on there without paying for it but if a couple showed up in my mailbox, they just might find their way on there ;)

Thanks guys!

I'll give ya a buck if ya slap a bp's discount motoscooter transportation services sticker on it   [laugh]

Round or rectangular? [evil]

Not sure what the difference is...what do they look like? The logo at the top of the page? 

Great news.  My first round is this coming weekend.  Wish me luck (especially against the 848's in my class....)!

Please keep us updated on the tank from Chris.  I am interested in trying one myself

KNG

www.ducaticup.com (http://)

Awesome! Good luck and have fun! [beer]

Awesome.  Keep up the good work (and the race reports --- they're a blast to read).   [thumbsup]

+11tyb!!

Very cool, Gabe.    [clap]

Hope your entire season goes this smoothly...   [thumbsup]  [beer]

Thanks guys! [beer]

Pete, I do too. However, I know that it won't so I am trying to enjoy it while it lasts [laugh] Are you going to Italian Night? I might trailer the racebike down there.