Erik Buell Racing Fan Page Yes, congratulations to Shawn Higbee winning F-1 at Willow Springs today! An East Coast and West Coast weekend for Erik Buell Racing!
Long story short. Had to change forks due to lack of setup time. New brakes would not work with Traxxion forks. Ha to use brake from Higbee 1125. Contamination in fluid caused complete loss of front brake. Amazing save by Shawn, but had to drop out. Hairball moment. New fluid, bleed, all good. Details will be in videos.
Well done Rob, came across your story a few months ago and had alot of admiration of your mission to become a bike racer, watched the video of your first wet race and thought it took alot of balls.
Seem's like the combination of you, Shawn and the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS could be the making of a new "Dream Team", keep up the good/hard work and continue to prove the doubters wrong......!!
Here's a quicky Highlights clip of the first and last laps of the Formula 1 Roadrace that Shawn won.
Starting from I think the 3rd row, he gets into second place around the first turn, has a pucker moment shortly after, then goes into the lead before the second lap. By this time the announcer is calling him Shawn "The Hammer" Higbee and praising the E B R 1190RS!
Outstanding race, Shawn! We're proud of the effort you, Rob, Stacy & the pit crew put into it.
The forks were 1125r with Traxxion Dynamics AK GAS internals. Shawn was integral in the development of the forks and knows exactly what he needs to get maximum traction. It was a tough choice to make as we had to sacrifice the super light weight new front wheel for the heavier one. But the #1 priority is to keep the front tire connected to the pavement and we just did not have the time to get the Ohlins set up properly. The track is ROUGH! So we made the call and never looked back. The results speak for themselves. I should say that I am talking about a level of precision that one would only feel if one were demanding 100% of the potential traction, 100% of the time. I, for instance, never felt what Shawn was feeling. I simply don't go fast enough. Also we want to get back to the original front end as soon as possible as we know that we will unlock even more potential with that super light front wheel and ducted brake. We just need setup time.
from the brief "movie clip" - the race was run in the opposite direction (anti clockwise)from what is normal for a track day at the "streets" (clockwise). In the anti-clockwise direction: a) the first turn is actually a skid pad. b) then up through a wicked "S" turn spitting you out into a set of rumble strips if you choose to run over them to set up for a short straight c) into a bowl (a double apex turn) d) up into some uneven paving/turns e) down into a off camber rt turn and up into a sweeper (left) f) finally down the "front straight" (with a kink to the left) and the start/finish line...it's more of a street type lay out with a street type finish to the pavement. see here for an aerial shot.
it is the "dark" track in the lower rt...click on it for more details it is very "tight and twisty" (even when running the "outer most circuit" with elevation changes...you can see how tight it is when compared to the "Big Track" on the left.
GREAT JOB GUYS!...Hope you have plans to race monthly in 2012!