K Squared Racing

Last weekend was the first practice weekend I scheduled for the 2011 season. I picked up my bike with the rebuilt motor on Wednesday. I finished up the last modifications to the trailer and got on the road Friday night heading down to Buttonwillow. The drive was fairly uneventful, as I reached the hotel and got about 6hrs of sleep. When I got up in the morning the weather was sunny and beautiful. I got to the track and had my pit set up with plenty of time to leisurely get ready for my first session. The first warm up session went well but when I got back to the pit I found fluids all over my left boot. I found what appeared to be coolant all over the left side of the motor, and after cleaning and running the motor several times I located a clamp on one of the coolant lines that needed to be tightened down. Unfortunately after doing this and running the bike around the pit again there was fluid in several more places and pooling up in the middle of the motor were it is difficult to get at and diagnose. It took a few hours to determine where exactly the oil was coming from but in the end I determined that it was seeping out of the crank case breather manifold and with some gasket sealer I was able to get it to stop. With this I got in the second to last session as well as the final short session of the day. I also did the 3 practice race starts for the new racers school which were a lot of fun. The two sessions at the end where just enough to know that the leak was sealed and that the suspension needed some attention. I was ready to go for the next day and was looking forward to a complete day on the track. Unfortunately a family emergency necessitated that I head home that Saturday night and was not able to run the second day. Well I will head back down to Buttonwillow next Monday and will also have the Friday test day before the first AFM weekend begins. Let’s hope the next day’s run more smoothly.