CVM Yeah!

After several weeks of puttering around the garage and doing a few Sunday rides in the hills near the house, I finally got back out to the track. I was eager to ride the bike with all of the ergonomic adjustments I had completed before my move and just plain eager to get out and run laps. The Chuckwalla Valley Motorcycle Association started its 2017-2018 race season this past weekend. I loaded up the truck and trailer and made my way out to Chuckwalla Raceway for the first time.

With it being a race weekend, TrackDaz holds Friday track days before the CVMA full weekend races. Unlike other race organizations, CVMA races Saturdays and Sundays so you can really get in some time around the track between the three days of events. As such the paddock was packed. Many of the racers came for the track day to test, tune and shake off the rust for the start of the race season. Many of them arrived Thursday night to camp out and get set up for the weekend. The variety of rigs and set-ups in the paddock was all over the map. Full semi-truck rigs and 40' RV trailers to guys towing lightweight trailers with hybrid sedans. There were tents, tarps, canopy areas filled with kids, dogs and families. BBQs got fired up for lunch and the general roar of bikes on the track, generators in the pits and people all doing their own thing really gave the day a feeling of a traveling circus camp before the big show.

My own modest pit set-up ended up being a nice walk from everything else in the paddock. I left my house at 4:30 am to get to the track. Traffic, construction and my trucks TPMS warning lights slowed me down and my teacup sized bladder didn't help either. I didn't get to the gates until 8:00. I had just enough time to register before the 8:20 riders meeting followed by the "C" group meeting, followed by tech inspection, followed by the finally being able to get to the bathroom before my first session. I hate being rushed. I get very antsy waiting for the 12 different people to say their piece at the riders meeting followed by the exact same info at the "C" group meeting. The "chime-in" group always makes me grit my teeth as well. You know the type, people that have to chime in to add to what an instructor or organizer has to say making a whole group wait on them when the leader of the talk has clearly indicated that the talk is over. Yeah I was kind of annoyed when I finally got to get back to my bike with barley enough time to gear up and get out to the track. Good thing being on the bike calms me down.

The next few pics are all courtesy of CaliPhotography. They had their photographer out in thew corners and I finally got some pictures that I liked so I went ahead and sprung for the pics. Once I was finally able to get on the bike and get settled in, all of my annoyance evaporated as we took our follow-the-leader sighting laps usually required in the beginner groups. I had watched a few videos of track days and races at Chuckwalla, but nothing could prepare me for how wide the track is in real life. Buttonwillow and The Streets of Willow are older tracks and as such are a bit more narrow with asphalt that is a little more weathered. Chuckwalla being a relatively new track incorporates many lessons that have been learned in track design that have happened over the years. I found that I had to look harder through the turns to stay on line as the turns were more open and flowing that the other tracks I've been to. The speeds were higher, at least for everyone else. I was clearly the back marker of the "C" group so I just tried to ride predictably, stay in the center of the track when not tipped into a corner and concentrate on learning the fast lines all while being strafed by the bigger bike fighter jets like a Blue Angles Air Show.

When you look at the two pics above you can see an issue I have with the little Ninja 250. My form could be described as "a circus bear on a tricycle" or in more impolite terms "a monkey F-ing a football". I'm trying to get low and really felt like I was low over the tank and hanging off the sides through the turns. My knees were still a foot off the ground and thanks to my kid sized bike,  splayed out like a frog. The new clip-ons helped to give me some room in the front. The rear set plates I fabricated get my weight transferred better to the pegs (I think), but they add to my splayed out lower body. At this point I think I need to work on the seat to raise up the portion where my butt goes so I can slide my torso back a bit giving me more room. It should also help me to transition from cheek-to-cheek in rapid left-right turns a bit easier as well.

My Blue Steel pose for the day. I got five solid sessions in before I had to pack up for the day and make the 3 and a half hour drive home. My recent move got me much closer to Chuckwalla, but it still is a decent trek to get there. Now it is about 3.5 hours to get to any of the tracks in the SoCal area. Camping at the paddock the night before sounds like a better idea, especially when I think about doing the CVMA races.

I already signed up for the next CVMA TrackDay track day in late October. I think a riding buddy will be able to join me at Chuckwalla for a November track day which will be cool. I have only done solo track days, it will be cool to have a buddy along. If I get both of those days, I will have made 5 track days this year at big tracks along with a trip to Adams kart track. My goal is to get six track days a year minimum at big tracks along with some trips to the kart track. Another year of that and I might be fast enough to feel comfortable racing. I've got some shop work to do this upcoming weekend and maybe some new parts for the Ninja soon. Stop by again for more My Motorbike Obsessions!

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