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Any serious racing effort relies heavily on knowledge
gained and compiled from previous racing events. In-
formation such as what gearing was used, weather/ al-
titude & jetting, which tire worked best and what sus-
pension settings you used during the day may all be
valuable factors next time you race at that particular
track or one that is similar.
The best way to organize the many bits of information
that led to your best competition effort at a given cir-
cuit under specific conditions, is to record your compo-
nent settings, adjustments and comments in a Mainte-
nance, Tuning & Racing Logbook.
A Iogbook can remind you when necessary mainte-
nance was performed, when it will be necessary again,
and when and specifically what adjustments were made
for particular tracks. Also and most important, whether
or not those specific adjustments or component selec-
tions were successful. A Iogbook can remind you to
change suspension, gearing, tires and jetting to the
settings that worked well in the past at any given race
track. It can even remind you where on the course your
competition was nearly able to pass you on the final
lap, so you'll be forewarned.
Timekeeping
This Manual lists maintenance intervals for every-so-
many races or every-so-many hours of running. Be-
cause all races are not the same, the most effective way
to schedule maintenance is by the hours you have run
your CRF.
An official "guestimate" is close enough for our time-
keeping purposes. You may choose to record your time
the same way aircraft operators do (but without the
benefit of an electrical hourmeter). All running time is
broken down into hours and tenths of an hour (each
six minutes represents one tenth of an hour).
Maintenance Records
Regular Maintenance items you'll want to record in your
Iogbook should include:
•
Dates and Results of Valve Clearance, Cylinder, Pis-
ton and Ring Examinations
•
Patterns for Frequency of Need for Decarbonization
With a Particular Oil
•
When you Last Performed Shock Linkage and
Swingarm Pivot Bearing Maintenance
•
Engine Transmission, Fork and Shock Oil Changes
•
Chain, Sprocket, Chain Guide and Slider Replace-
ments
•
Coolant Changes and Related Component Replace-
ments
•
Spark Plug, Brake Pad and Control Cable Replace-
ments.
In addition, you should record any irregularities noted
in component wear so you'll remember to keep a close
eye on these areas in the future.
Tuning Records
Some of the Tuning Information you'll want to keep track
of in your logbook should include which combination
of settings or components worked best at a particular
location and may again under similar conditions. Items
such as:
•
Basic Track Conditions, Altitude of the event, and
Temperature for practice and each moto
•
Suspension Settings and Chassis Adjustments that
were tested and selected
•
Alternate Gearing choices and which was most suit-
able
•
Tire Selection and Air Pressure
•
Carburetion Changes
Racing Records
Information worth recording for this section of your
Iogbook may include:
•
Your Placing in Each Moto and Overall Finishing Po-
sition.
•
Thoughts on what you could do to Improve Your
Performance next time.
•
Notes on any Patterns noted In Choice of Starting
Gate Positions or In Riding Portions of the Course
as the day progresses that may prove helpful in fu-
ture events.
•
Any Places on the course where you Chose the
Wrong Line and were passed too easily.
•
Notes on Strategy used by your competition or by
riders in another event that are worth remember-
ing.
This is an example of how to keep track of the running
time on the engine and suspension components, your
racing results, what adjustments and maintenance
items were performed and what components are re-
placed on that particular day.
Consider using different color ink pens or pencils to
record specific, important information on specific sub-
jects. For instance, running time could be recorded in
black, racing results in blue, jetting changes could be
in red, and suspension/chassis settings and gearing
selections in green. This will help you identify these
items at a glance.
Resale Value
Although your racing log can be critically important in
the development of your racing endeavors, accurate
maintenance records may also be the deciding sales
point to the next owner, especially if the market is full
of many other used race motorcycles.
10. MAINTENANCE, TUNING & RACING LOGBOOK
