Which generators? | Page 5 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Which generators?

"Racing through a trailer park" is the analogy I heard.

Was there last summer, the track at Grand Bend and the facilities reminded me of "that" trailer park on the edge of town. Still it's a track and we had a blast
 
If someone just wants to run warmers on a budget I have a low hours Generac 3250 they can have for $300. Can't believe all the opinions on generators, maybe now we have to move on to oil.
 
ummmmm... is this during an event? with trailers and such just off to the sides?????????? please someone say no!

That's Grand Bend Motorplex.

Jays ghost riding bike almost rode itself into the timing trailer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ummmmm... is this during an event? with trailers and such just off to the sides?????????? please someone say no!

Grand Bend does have some issues but they are and will work on them constantly. The track owner is probably "the" most conscientious owner in Ontario. They have been moving trailers, adding curbing anything they can to make things better. The reverse layout has probably the most issues, the clockwise layouts are pretty good.
But you will not find a more hospitable,concerned owner in Ontario. When you consider the road course is brand new to them,, they have learned a lot in a short time.
 
"Racing through a trailer park" is the analogy I heard.

Was there last summer, the track at Grand Bend and the facilities reminded me of "that" trailer park on the edge of town.

lol

That's Grand Bend Motorplex.

Jays ghost riding bike almost rode itself into the timing trailer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Timing?
 
I wasn't saying racing on Q3. We all know that pretty quick red pace at something like 2-3 seconds slower than race pace makes a huge difference.
It is true, There are also red group riders that are faster than a Rookie racer for example, you being one of those. It was just added information for people to consider when choosing their type of application and use.

Each track has its problems, many people i know wouldn't race/ride at Shannonville due to the bumps, I had a great time there racing last year and really liked the track, the important thing I guess is the willingness of the owners and organizers to make changes and they have been pretty good at that at grand bend, those trailers are a non issue for the regular configurations but definitely not ideal on reverse.

Didn't meant to start a bashing tracks or "trailer parks" thread.

By the way, Ken announced that timing will be up and running for practice weekend at SOAR this year so yeii!

On topic, another advantage of the Champion inverter I have seen is people can connect two of them parallel with a harness. Not sure if yamaha or honda has that.

73500i_parallel_kit_for_Champion_2000w_inverter_generators-315x275.jpg
 
Last edited:
It is true, There are also red group riders that are faster than a Rookie racer for example, you being one of those. It was just added information for people to consider when choosing their type of application and use.

Yep, I know, and I agree with you. Just wanted to be clear that I didn't mean racing or pushing like crazy on Q3's.
 
Didn't meant to start a bashing tracks or "trailer parks" thread.

By the way, Ken announced that timing will be up and running for practice weekend at SOAR this year so yeii!

I hope so, I'll believe it when I see it


And yeah you can connect the hondas together like that, not sure about my Yamaha
 
Dave Noble had a Honda 2000 fail on him, went out with cold tires. it is however the only time I have heard of one failing.

Regardless of the warmers or generator, I take my tires' temperature before i go out. They go on sale for 39 often

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mastercraft-digital-temperature-reader-0574554p.html

I have something similar, but am not really sure what to make of surface tire temperature readings. John Bickle has made the point (pretty convincingly, at least to me), that surface temperature might not tell you much about the degree to which the tire is actually heat soaked. I never understood this point until reading this present thread. I figured, well, the surface of the tire is what contacts the track surface, so that's what should matter. But I understood from John's post above that true heat soaking is what will give the entire carcass enough flex to continue to generate heat on the track. Mere surface heat is likely to dissipate quickly, and then you are on cold, hard tires with poor traction.

Based on this my strategy is going to be, get the warmers on early and be sure I can feel the inside of the rims getting warm before I head out.

Of course sometimes events conspire in such a way as to limit one's ability to heat soak a tire. A lesson I learned the hard way last year is that if I am on rains but conditions are changing, I'd better have my other wheels in the warmers and plugged in, ready to go. During SOAR Round 3 Sunday morning practice I didn't do that, did a wheel change to slicks, and only had time to have the warmers on for about 15 min before I had to go out for the last practice session. Surface of the tires felt warm to the touch, and they seemed to work fine for a couple laps. Then I crashed in Big Daddy for no apparent reason. I think I just now understand why.
 
Yellow Duck,
This just keeps getting deeper and for me as well. The only thing constant in this sport is change.
So I'll try to simplify this .
When you apply a warmer you must heat the tread, then the air in the tire and then the rim. Until you see heat on the rim you have not heat soaked a tire.
Heat soaking a tire all the way through is what ensures the tire flex's as designed.If the tire carcass, side wall' does not flex then the tread surface does not lay proper on the track, or your contact patch may get smaller. When the tire flex's properly the side wall squats and the contact patch gets bigger or as it was designed to be. Your air pressure is what you use to increase or decrease the size of that contact patch or how the tire flexes. Why would you adjust that you ask,, well reducing the size of the contact patch or increasing it will help the tire wear better and grip properly.Discuss this with your tire vendor as to what is best. The best way to describe what happens with surface heat is,, the surface rubber gets soft the carcass is still cold. So the surface rubber grips and gets pulled off the cold rubber,, Cold tearing. Or the surface rubber grips and when it lets go you high side, or tuck the front.
So tire heat is paramount. If the tire is not flexing properly you can not do any suspension mods. Pointless. Because the tire is not squatting as it should ,nor gripping. So you may think you are chasing a suspension problem when it's tires.
Also,, just because the warmers you have ,have a display on the digital box. Don't trust it! Don't trust any warmer. Allways do a random check to make sure your warmer is heating to temp. Feel the rim,, if the rim is hot, there is good chance you have the tire heat soaked. Now check the tire temp. I use a probe style pyrometer so I can see what the heat is in the core of the tire. Infra red pyromters will only give you surface. So check the rim to determine if the tire is heating up all the way through.
I'll say again at 20 C with no wind, it takes a minimum of 45 minutes with our warmers to heat soak a tire, If your warmers have less insulation it will take longer. So how can anybody do a couple laps and say the tires are good to go with out warmers?
This is not an infomercial. But a wake up call for some. Check your warmers ,check all warmers, check the rim temp, check the tire temp. Learn air pressures and spend the time. The faster you get the more critical this becomes,,,learn it when you are slower, develop the discipline so you have it when you need it.
 
Last edited:
On topic, another advantage of the Champion inverter I have seen is people can connect two of them parallel with a harness. Not sure if yamaha or honda has that.

73500i_parallel_kit_for_Champion_2000w_inverter_generators-315x275.jpg




or just buy a 3000W or larger generator and not have to worry about carrying, maintaining and feeding fuel to 2 generators?
 
Depends. Some days I would have 1 set of warmers. Other days I would have 3-4 sets. This setup is versatile.

or just buy a 3000W or larger generator and not have to worry about carrying, maintaining and feeding fuel to 2 generators?
 
Im guessing you were talking about paralleling 2 x 2000w inverter generators together to make 4000w.

guess what, most generators when parallel can only put out about 3200w 'continuous'.


its smarter to invest in a 3000w+ inverter generator instead.


But Im sure you knew that anyway......
 
I have something similar, but am not really sure what to make of surface tire temperature readings. John Bickle has made the point (pretty convincingly, at least to me), that surface temperature might not tell you much about the degree to which the tire is actually heat soaked. I never understood this point until reading this present thread. I figured, well, the surface of the tire is what contacts the track surface, so that's what should matter. But I understood from John's post above that true heat soaking is what will give the entire carcass enough flex to continue to generate heat on the track. Mere surface heat is likely to dissipate quickly, and then you are on cold, hard tires with poor traction.

Based on this my strategy is going to be, get the warmers on early and be sure I can feel the inside of the rims getting warm before I head out.

Of course sometimes events conspire in such a way as to limit one's ability to heat soak a tire. A lesson I learned the hard way last year is that if I am on rains but conditions are changing, I'd better have my other wheels in the warmers and plugged in, ready to go. During SOAR Round 3 Sunday morning practice I didn't do that, did a wheel change to slicks, and only had time to have the warmers on for about 15 min before I had to go out for the last practice session. Surface of the tires felt warm to the touch, and they seemed to work fine for a couple laps. Then I crashed in Big Daddy for no apparent reason. I think I just now understand why.
True but with time you get the hang of knowing if your tires are warm or not. So surface temperature is an indicator, same as the rim being hot or not, the tire air pressure off the warmers, is it cold and windy or hot as hell and did you used cozies (don't know how to spell it) to give it an extra layer of wind protection.

Also how long were the warmers on, I turn mine on at least an hour before practice or a race and if it is may probably 1 hour 20 before. You get a routine going specially after a few incidents related to tires temperature and such
 
Last edited:

Back
Top Bottom