Preparation

I've spent the last several weeks trying to get my motorcycle ready for it's track day in November.

I hemmed and hawwed about how I should paint the fiberglass racing body. Should I try my air sprayer and use real automotive paint? Should I go to a professional painter? Should I use aerosol spray paint? I spent about a week trying to decide. In the end the cost of the equipment and materials was just too high to justify the automotive paint. (I bought the fiberglass in order to save money after all.) Ditto for getting a professional paint job. So rattle can it was.

In the end spray paint was definitely the right choice. The paint job wasn't limited by the quality of the paint, it was limited by quality the bodywork under the paint. Clearly I need more practice. In the end the paint job came out ok for a track bike but it's not hard to see the flaws. I invested about $100 and 20 hours into it. I still have a few odds and ends to clear up but once I finish I'll post some pictures.

This weekend I've tried to finish the other prep work. Mostly removing stuff I don't need or want at the track. This is the first time taking the Ducati apart so it's been slow. (I could track-prep the Daytona in about 2 hours.) Everything from finding and removing fuses to pulling off the license-plate bracket. Hopefully it will be easier next time.

I had hoped to spend some time this weekend sync-ing the carbs on the Suzuki. (Since I'm going to the track day alone with a trailer big enough for two bikes I figured I'd bring the Suzuki along.) Unfortunately that will have to wait for another time. Probably next weekend.

I ordered two sets of Dunlop 208GP tires. (Since Dunlop is one of the sponsors of the track school I can get a pretty good price.) So far both rear tires have arrived but niether of the front tires. ... I'm considering just using the OEM tires for the track days since I don't have many miles of them (and no miles on the edges).

A piece of advice if you have a Ducati: Buy the shop manual. At first I was a little disappointed that they come on CD instead of a hard copy, but so far I've been impressed with the content.

Another piece of advice if you have a Ducati: Don't live in Seattle. The riding season is clearly already over.