Garmin Virb Elite, Supercorsa V2 SC1, and Rosso Corsa

Decided to give up on the hype of the GoPro and go for something that would be more useful to the type of video recording I'm looking into doing.  Luckily I had a friend willing to buy my Hero3 off of me, for enough cash for me to throw back into the action camera market.

Garmin Virb Elite

The Garmin Virb Elite, with built in GPS, altimeter, G-sensor and the ability to connect to other ANT+ devices like temperature sensors and heart rate monitors.  I plan on getting a heart rate monitor soon as well, but these were the devices I had to order to my mom in American, to be shipped to Japan.  The cost of the virb was nearly twice the price in ¥!

I can't wait to make a video with a speed speedo, heart rate, temperature, g-force, gps overlay but I'm going to have to wait until March 8th when I have my next track day.

While I was at it I ordered Pirelli Supercorsa V2 SC1 for my NSR and Rossa Corsas for my Ninja.  These will be the first Pirellis I've ever used, but I'm sure they won't disappoint.

Shout out to AFG Motorsports for the tire hookup~

Sodegaura in Februrary

I got a chance to try out my NSR for real this time.

Also got the chance to use my tire warmers and sexy fairing for the first time.  The course had a bunch of water spots so I couldn't go all out, but I got a general feeling for how the bike rides and got to practice my full throttle acceleration and harder braking.

My friend Keme also met me there.  He is a seasoned racer and had lots of pointers for me.  Keep your head down, full throttle on the straight, etc.  The sessions at Sodegaura are a little too packed together and thanks to him I was able to make it on time with all the moving of tire warmers and fumbling with the bike without using the kickstand (which is related to me taking off the kickstand sensor only partially and having to tape it up).  I'm glad he was able to make it out all the way to Chiba, and to take the time to re-explain things many times in Japanese to me.

During my sessions there were these two 600cc bikes that were significantly faster than me but kept waiting for each other and going slower than me in the process.  It was pretty disorientation and dangerous and glad that the last session was only me and two other guys who were always on the other side of the track.

Video coming soon!

アイス

日本語でいうとアイスはアイスクリームなんだけど、英語で言うと氷だ。

なぜかアイスクリームフロートを頼んだときに氷が入って、マコに「アイスクリームフロートなんてアイスいらねぇ」って言ったけど、「アイスクリームフロートなんて氷いらねぇ」って言いたかった。

間違えた単語のアイスの文書の通り、アイスクリームフロートってアイスがないと意味ないよね。

NSR fixed!

So after the crash I went to my friend Keme's workshop and he helped me:

Change my tires to Dunlop Alpha 13's
Replaced the radiator with one from Yahoo Auction

Put on new clip-ons

Put on new rear-sets

I took the bike into a 2-rinkan Driver's Stand and got the clutch shifter linkage sawed off.  I attempted to remove it myself with a screw extractor but as you can see from the clean hole in the screw below, I failed miserably. It only cost about ¥4,000 and took about 20 minutes, not too bad.

Got my Magical Racing cowel fasteners in, and put aluminium insulation to protect the fairings from exhaust chamber heat.  I still need to put more insulation towards the back, but for now this is okay.

Finished off the work by:
Drilling holes in the fairings to affix to the bike
Setting the position of the clip-ons
Added non-slip seat pad
Attached clutch linkage
Built a stay to connect the exhaust pipes to the subframe (drilling involved)
Added tank pads for grip
Added a rear tail light for Tsukuba family license
Replace all the radiator hoses and flush the system with water (starting the engine to make sure no leakage)




I was actually planning on going to Tsukuba today but the snow storm caused me to cancel my reservation.  I guess I have to wait until next time.