Improvised Supermoto Device.

Well readers, the best laid plans of amateur motorcycle racers can sometimes go awry. They did for me last weekend. SoCal is currently in one of its three main weather seasons. Those seasons are cool, hot and wildfire and this time of year is wildfire season. As such, the races I planned to attend last Saturday were postponed a week due to a nearby wildfire and the concern for air quality at the races. To my current knowledge, the fire is still not under control. We'll see if the postponed race will go on this upcoming weekend. What's a guy to do when you have your plans change unexpectedly? How about hit the local kart track for some supermoto action. I did just that and here is my story of having a great time with my versatile CRF 450. Enjoy! 

I have detailed my numerous trips to Adams Motorsports Park for Supermoto classes and track days with my little ninja race bike. Since moving south to Oceanside from Ventura, I have another local kart track become much easier to access. Apex Racing Center is only about an hour from my house and is located next to the Perris Auto Speedway dirt track where last year's AFT finale was held. I have wanted to get out there for some time, but just haven't managed get the timing right. With the race postponement my schedule cleared so I decided to give it a try.

I learned of the race schedule change Friday afternoon. After getting back from a last day of summer trip to LegoLand with the family, I got out to the garage and reattached the front brake set-up to the CRF. I've done this a few times and it only took about 45 minutes to get done. With the 19" flat track tires on the bike, the brake looked a little bit undersized. I was a tiny bit nervous about doing some supermoto riding with that little brake. I was also a bit hesitant about how well the flat track tires would stick to the asphalt. Looking at the track picture on the right, there were some areas that didn't have any run off should I lose traction or blow a braking zone. When I arrived at the track, the staff told me that bikes go counter-clockwise while karts go clockwise. This meant I would only have one hard right turn to deal with. Bonus! I would be able to really practice my flat track body position with those left hand turns. The weather was cool-ish at 9:00 am, but promised to get warm. After setting up in the pit area and suiting up I waited for the bike session to begin.

At eye level the track surface looked pretty good. Without the freeze and thaw cycles that many Northern states have, these tracks stay in decent condition for quite some time. There are the usual patches and seam snakes to contend with, but nothing too challenging. Since the day promised to stay under 100 degrees, the parking lot began to fill with karts and bikes as soon as the gates opened at 9:00 am. I unpacked the bike and my gear and made my way to the pit area. This is the first time I've been to a track where the pit area and my truck parking were no co-located. This just meant that I wouldn't be breaking out much more than my leathers and my bike. I got suited up and warmed up the bike. The karts hit the track first, but soon it was my turn. I was the first bike on the track and I was glad I had time to get to know it before other riders showed up. After a few laps I was used to using the front brake again. I got the hang of the track layout quickly and started to rip up some fast laps. There are two slow corners and one medium speed one. The rest are fast flowing sections. There was lots of kart and bike rubber on the track to show me the fastest way around the course.

So how well do flat track tires stick to asphalt? The answer is "holy crap!" I had absolutely no traction issues with these tires what so ever. As a matter of fact the opposite problem of too much traction occurred when I would haul myself down from speed using the front brake. If I was in first gear I'd get a lot of chatter from the rear brake as the back tire lifted from the ground slightly. I had to feather the clutch and work on getting the braking done quickly. That way I could let off the rear brake and fine tune my deceleration using the front lever. I used supermoto style of riding and would push the bike down through the turns with my inside leg out in front of the engine cowl. I was close to scraping pegs through some of the tighter sections of the track. I never had one single time where the front tire tried to tuck on me. The rear tire stuck so well I couldn't back it in like you see supermoto riders do. If I had a big brake kit on the front, I might have tried hanging off the inside of the bike more like road bike style of riding. I used the time to work on my body position. Specifically getting my inside arm straight down and my outside elbow up while sighting as far through the corner as I could. By the time I was done the tires were melting like candle wax.

Some of the other bikes that came out to play. There were several 65cc two stroke minis that looked like fun. As well, one of the guys brought along a couple of spare bikes. I guess when you can fit three bikes in the bed of your small pickup truck you might as well bring a spare. He had two Honda NSR50's to go along with his 65. One other rider had a Husqvarna 450 Supermoto bike. All told we  had 6 people on the track at once which meant lots of room to practice and have fun. I would like to get a bigger front brake for the bike to do this type of riding again. I'd also like to upgrade the master cylinder and maybe add some hand guards too. If I could pick up a spare set of flat track tires and wheels, I could keep my tires rotated between fresh ones for the dirt and old ones for the kart track. I'll have to see what Craigslist has to offer.

I made the best of my day. Hopefully the races don't get postponed again. I have a very full weekend planned with lots of motorbike action headed your way. I will be attending two races this weekend if nothing changes from my current plans. I will be racing flat track on Saturday. On Sunday I have volunteered to be a flagger for a supermoto race at this very same track. It should be a great weekend! Until then, ride safe friends!

Blue