Great finale despite no new top speed at Maxton for me. After sorting out some shifting/bodywork issues on my Ducati 996, thanks to KC from Casper for the grinding, I went back out Sunday morning to give the new bodywork another run under much better conditions. I ended up backing out and making a 146 pass after the bike was pulling hard to the right. I knew that the unfinished front chin of the body wasn't helping, as Todd from Twin Jugs also noted, but something was nagging me. I seemed to remember the bike pulling to right when I took her to the drag strip without this bodywork to practice launches last year. I had attributed that to bad form but mentioned it to Ducpond when I took her in last week to correct various issiues and add a few upgrades for next season.
Turns out pulling right wasn't bad form. The spacer in the right fork had cracked a weld and the cap was crushed leading to no tension on the spring. Lesson learned. Even if I think something might be due to my lack of experience still mention it to your mechanic/shop if you aren't DIY! The shop had heard of these failures but had never seen one in person before this. I still plan to get the bodywork straight but at least I now know it didn't result in that much pull on its own. Hope everybody has a great offseason. I am working the shop quick to beat the line up of road racing bike work for next season. I retired my yellow helmet and boots so I will blend in a bit more next season though that loud clutch will still let you know I am coming!
