svttim
Well-Known Member
Sounds like its time for some rains.Road America After-Action Report - Round 1 of the "Rode Hard & Put Up Wet" tour is in the books!
Friday night in the paddock - something wicked this way comes (storms!!!).
The Big Deal -
First things first - the newly paved track surface at Road America is going to be awesome..... someday..... just as soon as it gets "rubbered-in" and seasoned. It's billiard table smooth and the original curbing was left in place, so turn-in, apex, and track-out markers that were not on the pavement survived last October's resurfacing. But, since it's soooooo green, the grip level isn't there yet. Braking resulted in lots of ABS intervention and both braking and turning surprisingly caused the Pirelli slicks to sing soprano.
Add in a bit of precipitation - well, ok.... maybe more than a bit - and the Mule and I decided to sit out Saturday morning.
Running of the Mule -
We made it out for just one of the afternoon sessions - the only one that was pretty much dry - but it was more of a recon mission to check things out. Unfortunately, sprinkles returned and I had a loose shift knob on the MGW that required a run to the store for a very thin wrench to tighten the jamb nut, so I missed the last session of the day.
Sunday morning brought more rain around sunrise and the track was still soaked when the first session was headed out, which was my group. So, we sat that session out, as well.
By mid-morning, though, the sun was out and temps were on the rise. More importantly, the track was dry!!! The Mule really hit its stride. With my 220+ lb nephew on-board for a ride along, I ran a couple of back-to-back 2:36.7 laps - a personal best. Somewhat of a surprise, as we really weren't pushing too hard.
Crackin' Me Up -
The only real problem of the weekend was just before the last session of the day when I discovered some cracks forming on the right rear tire. In the session before that, I had a slight wiggle from the right rear under trail braking, so I'm wondering if I rolled the sidewall over a bit or put too much stress into it due to the new track surface.
The cracks look somewhat like freeze cracking or dry rot, but weren't present when I washed and inspected the wheels / tires before heading out to the event last week. Of particular concern is how this small area of tiny cracks spreads out (see red arrows in pic) to be a full circumferential crack just below the shoulder mold lines. Based on this, I called it a day and loaded up for the haul home.
Otherwise, all is well with the Mule. The replaced clutch, which I did a bunch of on-road break in with last year, was no problem and the alternator / voltage regulator issue seems to have been resolved. The "Service Charging System Now!!!" warning is gone and there were no DTCs or "battery" icon lighting up on the dash.
So, with that, we'll call it a successful first outing of 2023.
One satisfied Mule getting some well deserved rest.....
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