Tape Wanted - Reward offered

[Love944]

Daytona is known for draining carburetor floatbowls empty on the banking and causing a fuel starvation stall.
 
A lot of Buell racers used to run auxiliary fuel pumps to keep this from happening. It's another issue to consider. And if that happened to Bryan, there would be no evidence of a mechanical failure.  

I hate to admit it, but you are probably right - Bryan had talked of something like that, when the raxes were going to be 12 laps, he BARELY had enough fuel and said he could feel it sputtering as he was coming off turn 4.  that is probably going to be one of the best bets as to what happened - What do you think Melka?
I really appreciate all of you brainstorming with me, You all are such Good People!

Mark - Thank you for your support, you make my heart swell!


Laura

[Eric Kelcher]

tank vent can also cause problems with fuel delivery.

[clutch]

That is true about the carbs.  I believe circle track race cars like NASCAR use those special circle track carbs I believe.  They are designed a little differently inside to prevent fuel starvation and to maintain better fuel flow.  Figure the G's pulling constantly on the banking is a lot and would imagine it could drain the float boals.  I know this was with a cycle, but call one of the nascar shops and ask them their opinion on the carb situation since they are really experience at Daytona.  Most their shop numbers can be located on line and ask to speak to one of the mechanics.  Robert Yates Racing (RYR), Dale Earnhardt Inc.(DEI), Richard Childress (RCR) and Roush Racing just to name a few.  Long shot, and it is a car, but the theory is the same (fuel delivery system) but always a possibility to think about if you are trying to cover every aspect.  Also try one of the cycle race teams.

[Love944]

Good idea - yeah right that they would take a call from a blonde GIRL wanting to talk about fuel injectors and bankings! lol
No really -it is a good idea.  Thanks

Laura ::)

[clutch]

I used to be a nascar guru..now I am a broke cycle racer  :)  But having fun.

[clutch]

Try these guys.  They make carbs and may be able to offer insight.  May not be the answer, but you may get some info.

www.aedperformance.com/NASCAR.html

[Eric Kelcher]

Bike stays parallel to g force; car is perpendicular IE down to the carb is still down even when on its side due to g forces car has g forces applied to side of car

[TiffineyIngram]

Don't ask me what that means, I'm just married to the guy...

[tshort]

I hate to admit it, but you are probably right - Bryan had talked of something like that, when the raxes were going to be 12 laps, he BARELY had enough fuel and said he could feel it sputtering as he was coming off turn 4.  that is probably going to be one of the best bets as to what happened - What do you think Melka?
I really appreciate all of you brainstorming with me, You all are such Good People!

Laura

FWIW, Laura, you may also consider taking a look at the rear tire.  If there was an engine seize, then you have two possibilities for what happens next - rapid slow down due to sudden loss of power, resulting in rider colliding from behind.  Or rear tire skid, causing a fall (high side), followed by collision from behind.  I'm not an authority on engine seizing, so I couldn't say for sure that the rear tire skid would be a given.  But if the tire *did* skid, you should be able to see some evidence of that  on the rubber - flat spotting is what the car guys call it.  If the bike simply lost power (due to the seize, or due to the carb running dry), you would not have any flat spotting on the rear tire.  

Anyway, I am sorry for your loss - I wish you and the rest of Bryan's family well in finding peace.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

     I had my Jet-Ski sieze up on me while riding a few years ago, turned out I ran out of injection oil (2 stroke) so it wasn't getting any lubrication. The engine would not even begin to turn over after it happened. After I let the engine cool down it turned over fairly well so I added oil and it ran ok, but not as good as before. What I noticed was that it seemed to run alright, but the power just wasn't there like it use to be. Later I tore down the engine and found that the cylinder walls / pistons were scored quite a bit.

     I had my '96 GSXR 750 develop 2 seperate problems back in the late 90's where it would just quite running on me while racing. One of the problems would happen after 1 - 4 laps on the track, that turned out to be an ignition coil that was bad (it only developed the problem after the bike was hot, otherwise it ran fine). The other problem took me a while to find and would cause the bike to lose power then quite all together. I could usually make it thru a sprint race (depending on the track), but I would usually have this happen about mid-way thru an endurance race. It turned out that the gas tank on my new bike was rusting inside! The rust that was laying loosly on the bottom of the tank would get suspended in the fuel as I was racing due to all the moving around that the bike does while racing. These suspended rust flakes would begin collecting on the sock type fuel filter located on the fuel pump inside the gas tank. Eventually they would obstruct the fuel flow enough that the fuel bowls on the carbs would run dry under hard acceleration (especially after a top speed section of track). After the bike would quite it wouldn't restart until it sat for a few minutes (some of the rust would actually fall off the filter once the bike stopped due to the lack of suction from the fuel pump which then allowed enough fuel to make it to the carbs to restart). The fuel bowls themselves didn't really show any sign of the rust, nor did the fuel line filter between the gas tank and carbs. When I eventually found the rust on the filter in the tank I looked inside the tank with a flashight and didn't see any rusting of the tank itself so I figured I had just gotten some contaminated fuel. But to my shock at the next event I had this happen again, even after getting fuel from a different source in a different container. The rust was actually coming from my tank rusting inside, but I hadn't seen it before due to water being heavier than gas, so only the very bottom of the tank was rusting. Looking thru the fuel pump opening in the bottom of the tank, and using a mirror, I was then able to see the rusting surfaces of the bottom of the tank.

     I contacted Suzuki of America and they told me that because I was racing it they would not cover me in any way, even though the bike was less than a year old! I was also told that this is actually not that uncommon of a problem, especially in the northern states where the bikes sit for an extended period of time without being ridden. Contaminated fuel and/or containers were also mentioned as a possible source of the moisture. They also told me that race fuels degrade quickly and allow moisture to form in the tank (not so sure how accurate that statement is though!). I asked why the coating in the tank doesn't stop the rust from happening in the first place and I was told that Suzuki does not coat their gas tanks inside. To solve the problem I ended up having to get some rust neutralizer and sand down the rusting area inside the tank. After that I have never had that problem again.

     I went thru alot of frustration trying to find this problem, so I am offering it here to you as yet another possibility in finding what might have went wrong. I also wonder if there was an issue with the bike being shifted into a lower gear unintentionally?  If he was using a GP style shift pattern he may have accidentally shifted into a lower gear out of previous habit causing the rear tire to deaccelerate rapidly but not completely lock up, still resulting in a possible loss of control. Did he ride any other bikes (track or street) with a shift pattern opposite of this bike? Just a thought.

[Love944]

Shift pattern - I have no idea - his street Ducati was the usual 1 down 4 up.  I have no idea what the race ducati was.
As for the rust in the tank - The Cassell Family is very familiar with gas tank problems - Bryan's RM60 that he raced as a kid was stolen 3 times and always wound up at the bottom of the quarry!

At this point - all your advise is mute as we do not have access to the bike and Heather is not ready to do anything with it.
I appreciate all of your advice and opinions.  When it gets tore down and figured out I will let you all know the outcome.
Thanks Again!
Laura