Round 5: Prep

My over-exuberance from Round 4 left me with quite a bit of stuff to repair and replace.  Time to avail myself of some discounted products from my sponsors – Rocky Mountain Kawasaki for the damaged stock parts and a new helmet, Woodcraft for the lost shift bushing, a spare shift rod, and a foot peg, and after talking with Gregg Spears, a couple of disable/lockout plugs – one to allow removal of the side stand lockout switch, and one to eliminate the left handlebar controls. 

Gregg also reiterated what I had now heard several times, that after even a minor crash it is important to relax and tighten all of the fasteners on the front end of the bike in order to allow any stressed suspension parts to realign themselves. He further opined that it was very possible that I had managed to warp my front brake rotor, either from the crash or simply from heavy use, and that this could be the source of the front-end chatter that I was experiencing. He strongly encouraged me to determine whether or not I had damaged the rotor, and I took this to heart.   

By the Saturday after the race, the first round of parts from both Woodcraft and Spears were in my hot little hands and I got out to the shed to get busy.  The electrical eliminator plugs were short work after following Gregg’s installation hints.  I made a crude evaluation of my brake rotor and decided that it would be good to replace it.  I took this opportunity to order an aftermarket BrakeTech rotor from Spears, and it is a thing of beauty indeed.  I realized that I was lacking necessary lubricants and adhesives to finish the job, and had to go back to Amazon for another round of purchases for shop supplies.  Long story short, I got everything installed by Thursday night before the race weekend, but had enough loose ends that while I got to the track Friday, I didn’t get there early enough for any practice.