AFM RACE REPORT: Matt Weathers

Saturday day morning started off very slow. I went out for my 1st session and felt like I was fighting with the bike. Being the stubborn person I am, I never asked for help and figured it was just me. Saturday practice was my 2nd day on a bike since August of 2007 so I know I had some bugs to work out before I was going to run the pace I know I can run. During the 5 sessions I ran on Saturday I felt stronger in the slower sections than I did in the fast ones such as Riverside on down to the sweeper before the esses. I knew I could go faster through that section but the feedback from my 2005 GSXR 750 was not giving me much confidence. The day started with lap times above 2:00 and ended @ a 1:58.

I went faster than that 3 years ago, so finally at the end of the day, I decided to come see you Dave, over at Catalyst Reaction. Dave has always been a huge asset when it comes to set up and suspension tuning. I wish I had gone to him from the beginning of the weekend. Saturday afternoon after practice Dave took all of my sag measurements and noticed I was in the ballpark and that no adjustments were needed there. I discussed the Rake and Trail numbers I had adjusted (@the end of the day) by lowering the rear of the bike and he agreed. I was riding all day Saturday with way too steep of a fork angle. The back of the bike was jacked way too high and the swing arm angle was above 13 degrees, whatever that means. Point is, again, I could have been there with the correct setup Saturday morning. After looking at the wear on the rear tire Dave adjusted the rebound and prepared me for Sundays races.

Sunday morning comes along and I'm ready to test the changes made the afternoon before. I immediately felt more comfortable in the faster sections. I'm not sure if I went any faster in Sunday morning practice but the bike was feeling much more stable.

I went out for Open Superbike starting in 24th. The class was the 2nd wave on the grid. I got a good start and ended up in about 16th or 17th position after turn 1. I was feeling much more confident from the changes made to the rear end and was able to get on the gas much sooner when exiting the corners. Riverside came and went without any issues on the 1st lap and so did the rest of the back half of Buttonwillow Raceway. I was having fun again! As the race went on I made more passes and settled into 12th with no surprises. The bike was feeling much better through the faster sections and under braking. This allowed me to concentrate on what I wanted the bike to do rather than planning for what it was going to do and waiting for that to happen. I finished in 12th spot and my best lap was a 1:55.9.

I then took the bike back over to Dave to check on the rear tire wear and Dave made another adjustment to the rebound for me. The funny thing about it is that you (Dave) looked at the tire and from the wear you know which direction to go with adjustments. We're not talking about a tire tearing or anything. The tire was fine. Its things that Dave notices like this, that makes me wonder why I didn't go to him from the beginning. I'm done trying to sort these things out myself.

The next race was 750 Production and I was 6th on the grid. I was feeling good from the changes made from before and knew I could go faster. I got a poor start and ended up in 10th or 12th position. Somewhere around there. I lost the front group who I was hoping to get a tow from and learn something. I finally got into a groove around Riverside again and started climbing back up the charts. The bike was working well when exiting the faster sections and under braking too. I felt much stronger running deeper into the sweeper before the esses and then getting a good drive into and out of the esses. The bike just felt much more predictable and I was comfortable when it was moving around. I finished 7th and dropped to a 1:54.9. With that being my last race for the day I was happy with my finishes considering where I was the day before.

Dropping 3 seconds in 1 practice and 2 races isn't bad. It was my 2nd weekend on a motorcycle period since August or September of 2007, so its ok. Now I'm going to continue to work with Dave for the rest of the season and have some fun.

Dave, Thanks again for the help! I look forward to seeing you soon.