Dragging Knee and Karting Around: Part II

Now that I've covered the Supermoto class part of this two-part post, I wanted to cover the track day portion on its own. I've known for a while that Adams Motorsports Park allows motorbikes onto their track. I've called them at least once to get more information on how I can get my Ninja out there to no avail. I decided to take the opportunity while attending the class to make the day a dry run for a track/race day. I figured it would be good practice for the logistics of getting out to the track.

Welcome to Part II: The Ninja's first track day!

Since officially finishing the Ninja several weeks ago, nothing much has changed with it. I have a work list for it. All of the work is improvements like a quick turn throttle and tank grip pads etc. Other than that she has been sitting here waiting patiently for me while life requirements took hold. I would go out to the garage and start her occasionally just to hear the engine run. I did take the Ninja around the block once or twice just because. The Ninja was ready, but was I?

Being in the military and having been part of a large command logistics department, I can definitively say that any unit that puts operations before logistics is a unit destined to do poorly. With that in mind I planned extensively for getting all of me and my gear to the track. Here is what I took. This is the bare minimum of junk that it takes to run a bike at the track. I found a good checklist on Sportbikes.net and used it to get the pile you see here. I have front and rear paddock stands, a tool box, a box of riding gear, a cooler with food and drink, a tub of miscellaneous other gear and my GoPro tool box. I threw a folding chair onto the pile just in case. If I was going to a real track day I would need to get a 10'x10' pop-up canopy and add my 6' folding plastic table to the list. To really step up my game I'd have to invest in a generator and some tire warmers. Any improvements after that will be in just taking this basic list with low cost gear and slowly getting better gear along the way.

6:00 am on the track day before heading east to Riverside. I borrowed a trailer from my good buddy that is my brother from another mother when it comes to motorbikes. The bike and gear was loaded the night before and with my cup of coffee in hand I started the 2 hour drive to Adams Kart Track. My wife's 2008 Honda Pilot towed the bike very well. The trailer has one of the large tailgates that doubles as a ramp into the box. It acted like a sail dragging the car around even though the weight of the bike and trailer was within capacity of the Pilot. I will be getting a trailer someday and towing my friends trailer was good practice in of its own.

Yours truly getting some texting in while the rest of the class takes a break. All of my Cycle Gear gear from the boots to the gloves with the leathers in between worked as advertised. I did get a chance to test it all with the low side in the first round. I am confident that in the event of a race speed get off I will be ok. They won't do me any good in a MotoGP, 180 mph wreck, but they will work with the Ninja.

They way the pits work at Adams, I didn't get a chance to get the Ninja out on the track until after the class. The last two runs of the day saw me out trying to equate the shifting, braking, turn in and apexes from riding the DRZs to how the Ninja performs. Finally the race bike is on the track! I can call this little foray into the world of motorbike racing successful. A kart track is the perfect size for these little bikes. If you haven't checked out your local kart scene, you should. You just might stumble on a small bike capable track close to home.

It all wasn't roses however. The video above was from the first run. Generally the sessions are about 20 minutes. I got the bike out for half of that. The bike ran well, but I needed work on being smoother with the little Ninja's chassis. The next run I had the whole track to myself. A couple of laps into the run the engine started to lose power and it eventually died on track. I think there is some issue with the fuel system unlike the electrical issue I had on my first Ninja outing. I loaded up the bike and made my way home, but not before getting all of the details for how to make the trip a regular occurrence.

And that is it. It was a successful day even if I didn't get a good operational test of the Ninja in a track environment. For my next post, I will be going international. I am flying out this weekend to Japan and will be taking riding gear with me. I'm going to rent a bike or two and try to get as much motorbike content loaded in my phone as I can. I don't know if I will get anything posted until I return, but stay tuned for some international content. See you soon!

Blue