Still learning, a crappy track day.

Hello again, as promised here is a bit more content to come out of the Holiday month. This one isn't as positive as the last, but it is all part of the greater goal that I set for myself back in late 2015. I told my buddy that I wanted to go racing. I didn't care how or what, I just wanted to get out on the track. I wanted to do it for stress control and to improve my outlook on life in general. I wanted to do it so that I could get myself off the couch and get into the shop. I wanted to do it to make myself a better motorcycle rider. 

I  mapped out a training and practice plan that would get me used to the track environment. I bought a project bike to turn into a track bike that wouldn't break the bank. I saved and spent wisely to get me enough gear that I could have a comfortable track weekend. So far it has been a very successful endeavor. I have made it to a track at least once a month since September and have had some great successes in improving my riding skills. With all of the hustle of December mostly behind me I eagerly headed out to the kart track the day after Christmas to get some knee down action. All was not roses and unicorns however. Sit back and see how I made the most of a bad track day.

Straight to the point. On the first lap of my first session I low sided in a tight left hand hairpin that was the last turn before completing a full lap. Yep, in front of the whole post Christmas track crowd, I was that guy that couldn't handle the track and binned it. The air temp was a balmy 58°F and I knew my tires were cold. I had measured my pre-start tire temps in the mid 60's so I was taking it easy around the track trying to get some heat in the rubber while staying out of the way. It wasn't enough.

I was completely unhurt as my gear took the brunt of the fall. All I had were some scuffs on my leathers and a hole in my left glove in the leather covering the plastic knuckle guard. I picked the bike up and got it back to the pits to assess the damage. The worst of it was the bent shift lever in picture #1. The rest is some minor road rash detailed in the rest of these pics. I removed the lever and got it situated enough to be workable for at least 1st and 2nd gear which was all the tire temps could handle.

I couldn't get the bike to start up and got as far as packing up the whole mess when I chatted with another rider that was walking by my pits. She had a few wise words and I resigned myself to let the bike sit and to try to start it again after a quick break. I pulled the body work off to get a look at the bike under its skin and found nothing wrong. With nothing left to lose since all my pride and dignity were smeared on the track I hit the starter. She fired to life and I was able to make it back out on the track without even missing a session. I motored out of the pits and gave a friendly wave to my impromptu track mentor so that I could try to make something of the day. Unfortunately the day didn't improve much thereafter.

It was a busy day for the bikes. I counted about 12 bikes on the track of all shapes and sizes from mini-motos, a Grom-asaki, a couple of big sumo's and a guy that was just shredding his R3. I was slow since I had no confidence in my tires or front end feel. I was trying to stay out of the way with all of the traffic around me. I made a few poor line choices as I was figuring out everyone's riding style. I got settled after a couple of laps until an asshat stuffed me on the inside of one of the bigger turns that is a late apex right hander that requires an outside-inside set-up to be able to crank the bike over to the left for a left-right chicane. I hit the turn well and hit my desired apex when all of the sudden I hear a full size sumo on my right with the rider yelling "WTF!" as he hit dirt since I was on the extreme right track edge as I planned. This same jackass did it to me one more time on another session in another turn and on the session after that came passing by me on the main straight with his front wheel sky high just to show me how big his genitalia was. Coupling this dude's attitude with a couple of guys on minis that would rip it for a couple of laps and then suddenly slow to crawl for a few more laps kept me off my game and just extracted all the fun out of the day.

I packed up and went home. I vented my frustrations to the wife when she asked how it went. After chatting with a buddy, he said I should have talked to the asshat guy and he was right. I did learn a few things about my riding and about the bike. Tire pressure is huge. I have no bike set up data other than what I took from these last three kart track sessions to go off of. I was guessing when it comes to tire pressures needed for the track conditions. I will do some research before heading back out. Tire temps are vital. If the air is cold the tires will be too and my DOT rubber needs optimum conditions to be safely used on the track. I need to be more consistent so that the riders around me can predict my lines and work around me when I'm the designated track back marker. Lastly I need to make sure to man up and talk it out with someone if we are having issues sharing the track.

I learned a lot and didn't have fun doing it. I have some repairs to make before the next track day and some research to do before I put rubber to asphalt. Hopefully this story is helpful to others. It helps me just to get it off my chest. I have a few projects in store for the next set of posts and I have some time to get to them before works gets busy in the new year. Swing on back by for more Motorbike Obsessions content soon!

Blue