track day and superbike lessons

[aussieidiot]

just wanted to share my last track day fun.

it was on the 14 november and i took my dad out to eastern creek raceway.

problems were it absolutely pissed down on the day before and then came out hot as hell on the day. made the track a little less grippy especially since 2 days earlier a rotary shit itself on the straight dumping oil and catching on fire. five bikes dropped. pretty much one an hour till we left.


my dad is 63 and had a great time. even got up to 170km/hr on his Z750

i maxed at 240 but took it easier after a guy dropped in front of me and dad on turn one. the dopey bugger tried to go 200+ through a high speed corner at the end of the straight on the first lap of the session. kindy put me off a bit.

while we were there they had the aussie version of the california superbike school (they ran the day and had tutorials) giving free lessons. worked out that i'm too big to fit my bike and the position they wanted me to adopt on the bike was far from comfortable or even physically possible. i was supposed to have my ass as far back as possible to enable my torso to drop further down behind the screen. this made the angle of my arms more effective on countersteering. problems is my body doesn't bend so good and while in this position i couldn't even get my head back enough to see properly.

its taking ages to upload the photos so i'll do more later

[jeffcoslacker]

Sounds like a good time AI!

I wish to hell I could ride a sportbike, I'd really like to try a few things on one, but my body simply can't conform to that posture anymore...I tried out a Buell 1200 Firebolt at the dealer once, and found I couldn't even crane my head back far enough to see where I was going without discomfort. Same when I tried out a neighbor's GSXR750....[sigh] I'm just a "gorilla humping a football" style rider, I guess.

Guess if I kept the front off the ground the whole time, I'd be OK

Maybe that's those Supermotard guys' problem

I'm all about free anything. Earlier this summer, I was over at the park and saw the police had proficiency training for motor officers going on. They were on the big Harley FL's, had to come down this lane defined by cones real fast, with a quick "lane change" jink, then into a series of back and forth switchbacks with varying lengths of run between them, the final was a 180 with just enough room to fit the bike through if you did it perfect, countersteered with the floorboard and the lower pipe gratching the ground loudly the whole way (all about throttle/clutch control finesse here), then roll on the power to stand it up, and ride out of the course...can't put a foot down or you start over, had to complete three times clean to pass.

Watched as they all either ran wide through the cones or stalled the engine and flopped the big FL on it's side (and learned the proper way to pick up a dropped bike too, BTW...back to it, use the knees, etc) a few times, but pretty soon they were all doing it easily, once the instructor's directions sunk in...

I learned a few things from watching...and was able to apply them the next time I rode...like I said, I'm always learning, even after all these years of doing...if I ever think I know it all about riding, that will be the day I get killed by making a mistake, most likely...

[Z_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by aussieidiot

i was supposed to have my ass as far back as possible to enable my torso to drop further down behind the screen. this made the angle of my arms more effective on countersteering. problems is my body doesn't bend so good and while in this position i couldn't even get my head back enough to see properly.

How is that possible, when I tuck/crouch down, my elbows get locked, and there certainly is less leverage going than sitting up. Isn't that the whole point, to reduce unwanted countersteering instability at triple digits and reduce wind drag. And with gears on, going far back as possible, I could never get my head under the windshield, it's not painful, but I just don't see how without stripping gears and get my ass on the passenger seat. You're not the only one.

But don't get a hayabusa aussie!

[aussieidiot]

this is the only side on shot i got. see how my ass can go back a bit more. as it is now my gut hits the tank and stops me from getting behind the screen.










and heres one for the ladies, an awesome shot of my ass!!!!!!

[Z_Fanatic]

When you're going through those turns, did it feel like you're carrying a lot of speed and bike was being leaned to the ground? Or was the photographer taking pictures at his convenience?

Your bike looks much smaller than mine, so I understand the grief.

First pic, looks like you were braking or something. Although your gut get in the way, I think you could scoot back and bring down torso as much possible. Or lose that gut, lol. j/k. I hear ya.

I like the 3rd pic. 4th pic, hard to tell, either you're about to corner or exiting.

lucky #13 is also nice touch.

[aussieidiot]

all but number four of the shots were around a low speed hairpin. i hate right hand turns. speed isn't an issue as much as getting the line right. having to deal with traffic meant that every lap was different. i was coasting around mostly, using the torque of the motor rather than going up and down through 2nd to third. leave it in third and i could still go quick enough despite the revs dropping to 6k

i video'd 2 of my sessions. more to get my dad's experience on video than mine. that showed my speed to be around 60k's i think

the photographer was taking as many shots as he could but would move around the circuit for different sessions. all my other shots had dudes in the background.

as for #13, i tried to tint my headlight protector and stuffed it. painted it black and thought, eh why not go for the complete dickhead look, it all helps to get the photographers attention.

[Z_Fanatic]

why not upload rest of the pics? and the video too, you can register youtube.com or something and upload there.

[aussieidiot]

the photos are about 6mb each and are in the same position ans corners, and the videos are about 500mb each.

i couldn't be bothered. i can post you a copy if you really want

[richtazz]

13 is my lucky/unlucky number too. Always used it in sports and such. I like the black fairing, and the licence plate, nice touch.

[Z_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by aussieidiot

the photos are about 6mb each and are in the same position ans corners, and the videos are about 500mb each.

i couldn't be bothered. i can post you a copy if you really want

Nah, that's alright . Although, you could use an application to compress the vid to much smaller file.

As for US area suburbs/residence, it really depends state/city by city. I used to live in Miami, which is more like sydney, a huge bustling metropolis full of traffic jams and houses, apartments everywhere, as well business districts, and skyscrapers. So imagine all cars in the road, without the realiable mass transportation like subway. We have public bus, but it's not always on time. Only in the downtown areas, there are monorails.

If you move toward small town, it's sorrounded by rural area, ranches, or empty lands. The suburbs there are smaller, and widely spaced, with private houses and backyards. The downtowns are usually tiny, and life isn't as busy as metropolitan areas. Living there is relatively boring. Some beaches around. The heavy traffics are only around shopping malls and business complex. There are no skyscrappers or bus or train available.

However this is just in Florida. Life in Ariziona is different, plenty of sand around because of outback desert. California is another huge state with wider lifestyle, you have the Hollywood in LA, but then there are countryside with mountains. New York city is like all the downtowns of the world combined, very busy and trendy.

I could take some shots if your interested, at least around my area/FL.