Well, I figured I’d give an update as to our Mosport testing. Please forgive my typos as I’m single finger typing today. It was a great morning with temps of 25C in the morning. I went out first session for about 10 laps and I already had several laps in the low 1:31s. After that session, we noticed my front tire was not holding up. So we made some suspension adjustments to try and solve the problem. Keep in mind that these tires were near the end of their life cycles but I don’t normally see this kind of wear. We figure if the adjusments don’t solve it, I’ll switch tires.
Well, that was my biggest mistake of the day. I went out and did 4-5 laps at a slower pace and the front was feeling ok. So I got back on the pace. My goal of the day was to get into the 1:28s. So for this session, I was aiming for a 1:30. The bike felt good and I was getting good corner speed. Then I entered corner 3 in 4th gear and I tought everything was fine and the front just washed out. I then found myself sliding on the track at a very fast speed. Then it was getting warm on my hands and butt so I had to roll. Then the bike starting getting airborn on the track and continued tumbling off the track for probably a total of 80 to 100 feet. I slid for about 40 feet on the track and then tumbled in the field for about 20-30feet. I got up and was just happy to be able to do so.
Ater that session, I had a chance to walk up the track to see where I crashed. I saw a 1-2 foot black strip from my front tire giving up. The track was smooth and nothing around that area caused the bike to unsettle. Unfortunately, the front tire did not get better. And looking at it afterwords shows it got worse and I was basically on marbles. Despite the tire being old, we think it equally had to do with the fact the tire was the incorrect compound for that track and weather. It was later discovered that the fault was probably due to incorrect suspension settings.
As for me, I have a bit of a swollen face on one side, sprained wrist, road rash on a finger, brused butt and soreness from head to toe. With less then a week till my next race round, I will have a crappy week fixing my bike and trying to get better…
Oh and most importantly, the bike had the following damage: bodywork, sub-frame, front brake master cylinder and resevoir, kill switch, clipons and grips, windshield, lower triple (damper mount bent), bird cage, levers, gas tank, gas tank cap, bent forks, rear brake linkage, peg, exhaust bracket and dents in the frame. Well that’s what I’ve found so far…
So the lesson of the day is don’t be cheap on tires. If you have a doubt, change them. 
And bring beer. It really helps when things go bad… Thanks Mario!!! And most importantly, thanks Michelle for not beating me up!