Man, all I've got to tell you is..."Oh, My God"...it was more fun than you can believe....I learned more about performance driving in one day than I could possibley absorb. Only a few scary moments when I hopped the rear wheel at 60 miles an hour on a downhill section before entering the curve...caused by downshifting and not blipping the throttle to raise the rpm to match engine speed with road speed. Who would've known? But the two scariest events of the day was the first lap of the day when the tires were cold and the track was cold..it was only 9 am so the sun had not heated the asphalt up yet. Coming into one of the corners the rear wheel started to skid and I nearly soiled myself...luckily I had time to stand the bike up and hit the breaks hard...messed up the corner pretty good. The afternoon session everyone was feeling more aggressive and confident. Went to pass a person on a right hand negative camber downhill section that you couldn't see until you passed the crest. The rider ahead of me took his line way the heck outside pinning me to his outside and no where to escape since my front wheel was already at his hip. At 70 miles an hour approximately( felt like 200 mph if I used the squirt of adrenaline to judge the anxiety/fear/quesy stomach in ratio to speed) I knew I was going off the track into soft dirt. Okay, I said, I'm in the poop now. Don't panic...don't hit the breaks...don't try to turn. My goodness, I thought my heart was going to break right out of rib cage. Slowly applied brakes and kept the bike under control...Got back on the track and learned another lesson...at novice level expect that the guy in front of you is just as lame as you are..expect him to screw it up.
As the day progressed, confidence increased, we were all hitting 130 mph on the straightaways. There is something about the sound of high performance motorcycles, that high pitch scream that just makes me quiver inside. Hope you enjoy the pics. Just wanted to share my experience with my friends. Needless to say the hook was set very deep yesterday...I need new magnesium wheels (to reduce gyroscopic effect...you knew that didn't ya...ha ha ) because they are much lighter, steering dampners to take that nervous inducing headshake away, revalve and respring the front suspension...don't you just hate a mushy front end on anything...ha ha ..Ohlin upgrades on rear suspension...and most importantly more and more trak day....I will retire broke or die by murder by wife...ha ha ...love you all...alan
As the day progressed, confidence increased, we were all hitting 130 mph on the straightaways. There is something about the sound of high performance motorcycles, that high pitch scream that just makes me quiver inside. Hope you enjoy the pics. Just wanted to share my experience with my friends. Needless to say the hook was set very deep yesterday...I need new magnesium wheels (to reduce gyroscopic effect...you knew that didn't ya...ha ha ) because they are much lighter, steering dampners to take that nervous inducing headshake away, revalve and respring the front suspension...don't you just hate a mushy front end on anything...ha ha ..Ohlin upgrades on rear suspension...and most importantly more and more trak day....I will retire broke or die by murder by wife...ha ha ...love you all...alan
So many days, so FEW track days. Can't wait 'till my next opportunity!
