Shane - Superlite (#43)

Originally, December 17th was the target day for Trini's Big Day Out. Unfortunately, we hadn't quite gotten things together in time so I was booked and paid up with nothing to ride. Typical. So Plan B was dusted off and I gave Paul a call. After a good chat I had a bike to ride on the day.

Tuesday, I picked up the wife from work and we headed for Jonno's. After getting some petrol and stopping at Quasi's for some gloves that a couple of others wanted I rang Jonno and said it was going to be Chinese for dinner. Which, of course, meant we turned up with KFC. Logical really ...

We murdered the KFC. It was one of the packs they do where they put a bit of everything in. Brilliant really. Five different ways of frying Chicken, all in the same meal. We also had some soggy coleslaw and potato and gravy that tastes like a reheated cup of tea that's still got the tea bag in it. After a meal such as that whatelse could we do but wander out to the shed and take a look at the bike.

After wheeling it out we pulled the bits of straw etc out of it, decided that not trying to get the dust off was much easier and quietly ignored the cobwebs. Thankfully, Jonno had pulled it out of the shed a few weeks back and done lots of stuff like clean up the brake pistons, checked over the fluids and took it for a run. So despite providing the spider population with a home it didn't actually need anything doing to it. So all I did was check to make sure the oil wasn't full of moisture and stuck it back in the shed.

Next day after work I went to Pak n Save to get supplies for the next day. Lots of fluids, lots of Muesli Bars, a big bunch of bananas and a packet of Sultana Pasties. From there I headed over to Brent's because I'd forgotten my tie downs. A quick chat and I shot over to Quasi's to pick up some gloves a couple of people were wanting and then it was out to Jonno's to pick up the bike.

We hooked the trailer up, tied the bike on, stood there admiring our handy work and then I thought I'd better grab a couple of stands before I left!! After piling those into the car I left Jonno to his own devices. A mistake in retrospect but who could've known. But that's not my story to tell (he's alright although somewhat the worst for wear).

Next morning I was wide awake well before it was time to leave. Knowing it would be a waste of time getting up early I elected to snuggle up to my nice, warm wife and pretend I was sleeping for a while. Eventually I got out of bed and started to get my arse into gear. That's when she reminded me that the car registration has expired and I'd better do it before I left. Arse.

I don't know why but in the mornings my internet connection runs at the speed of something really slow. I'm happy to blame the teenagers downloading pr0n using their olds credit cards but that's probably being a bit mean. Eventually the stupid thing is done and I'm now 15 minutes behind schedule. Seems I really should've gotten up early.

Hitting the road I pulled a banana out of my supplies and munched on that, washing it down with some blue Power Ade. It was an uneventful drive down while listening to those idiots on The Rock. That new bypass on the out skirts of Taupo is gonna be the shit when it's finished. A straight run to the track without having to go through town or dodge trucks the other way.

Filled the petrol can up and checked the tyre pressures in the bike then trundled over to the track. After signing in I found Nicki and Frenchy so decided to camp out in their shed. The old CBR really was a sight in bright daylight. The layer of dust had a layer of dust protecting it and bits of straw collecting where straw had no right to be. At least I could see through the screen.

Nicki had her ER6 Pro Twins bike there for it's first outting and Frenchy and Gah were teaming up for the upcoming Endurance Race. Tom had his Pro Twins SV there and Steve didn't know any of us but had been the first into the shed. After lots of chatting and buggering around a single bike went out and did a few laps. Even though he was just doing a recce lap he still would've kicked my arse. Anyone who does Redline Track Days will know that was Fred Merkel, twice World Super Bike champion and three times AMA Super Bike champion.

As soon as Fred came in it was time for the riders brief. A quick blast through what was happening, what was expected, a warning that lots of Ambulance staff were on holiday before the Christmas crazy season so we wouldn't have an Ambulance at the track for the day so don't balls it up. Once the briefing was over it was time to fire up.

After pulling my gear out and climbing into it I found that I didn't have any gloves. Luckily, I had a bag full of brand new gloves that Quasi gave me so someone could try them out. I pulled out the biggest pair I could find and they were tight, real tight. I thought I'd give them a shot and see how they went anyway because I didn't have much choice. We got out there and I just followed Nicki around while I eased back into things. It'd been a year since I'd ridden the bike and it'd been longer than that since it'd seen new suspension fluid etc. Surprisingly it felt very good and didn't drop it's guts everywhere the first time the rev counter climbed over 14,000rpm. Nicki was taking it very easy because she'd never ridden a bike like the ER before.

After a short few laps we both headed in. She was having trouble with the back wheel locking up on down changes so after a quick chat I wound the idle up a little bit for her. I then went hunting for some other gloves, Frenchy being my saviour. After a fiddle with the front suspension I was back out there to do a few more laps. I was really surprised at how much quicker I was on the bike this time seeing as I hadn't been on a race track for almost a year. It seems that all of the studying and theorizing I'd been doing about riding style was bang on the money and the changes I'd made to the way I ride, both in my head and on the actual bike meant I was considerably faster first time out than I had been the entire previous track day a year earlier. It's truely amazing what a few simple changes can make.

The second session gave me a short, sharp reminder to keep my mind on the job. I was in the left hand sweeper heading for the A1 corner. Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and saw the photographer taking photos and thought "cool". I looked back in time to realize I'd just missed my marker. I cranked it over anyway, a good 5m away from the apex of the A1 corner with no hope of making it around so I stood it up and went for a ride through the grass. At that point I thought it prudent to end that session so I headed straight in. After a while Nicki asked why there was grass poking out the bottom of the fairing. I told her what had happened and we had a bit of a laugh about it.

It was starting to get really hot and I was definitely not handling the heat. At the track I always keep my fluids up and make sure I have a steady intake of Muesli Bars etc. So the heat wasn't affecting me like it normally would, but I could only do about 10 laps before I had to exit the track cos I'd start making mistakes as I got hotter and hotter.

After a quick lunch break it was time for the practice race starts. There'd be 3 practice starts with everyone forming up at the end of each lap. We headed out for 2 laps warmup and I felt my chin strap flapping around. I stopped where the other track splits off before the A1 corner and did the strap up then got back out there. I turned up second on the grid but decided I didn't want to be at the front so stopped quite a way back. Seems others thought the same idea and I ended up with a group in front of me and a equal sized group behind me. I'd never done a race start before so I thought I'd see how I go and stay well out of the way at the first corner. I got an alright launch considering I'd never ever tried a race start before, especially not on that bike. We all charged around the first lap with me swearing most of the way because I kept finding myself off line and making a bit of a mess of it all. But we all got around fine. Forming up for the second race start I got a better launch and even passed a couple off the line. However, I backed off early for the first corner again cos it wasn't a race. I got around the first corner and see a cloud of dust go up then the group of bikes in front of me splits and there's suddenly bikes everywhere. One of the guys had gone down, skittling at least one other and forcing the pack to take emergency action. One of the guys was down for quite a while and they had to ring up the ambulance to come and get him. After a good half an hour break we were back out again. The dude seemed ok but he was definitely going to hospital to make sure.

Lots of tweaking the suspension and some advice from Kerry Dukic saw the front end of the CBR feeling real nice, with the back end better than it was but out of adjustment. Guess that's what happens when you ride a bike that was set up for someone 25kg lighter. Kerry said he could fiddle the rear shock so it was better but that would mean pulling it out of the bike and I simply couldn't be arsed doing that. Besides which, it wasn't my bike. Twiddling the dials is one thing, pulling bits out for a quick rebuild is something entirely different.

After Stevie had high sided Johan's Ducati, he offered me a blast on the ZX6 so I hauled my gear on and went out for a few laps. It felt really strange compared to the CBR. The ZX6 was way better at turning, braking, accelerating and had better feedback, but the seat/pegs/bars triangle was all wrong for me. I couldn't actually change gear unless I slid all the way back on the seat, lifted my whole leg up then slid forward again. After 5 laps my legs were cramping really badly so I heading in even though it was a fun bike to ride. The main difference is on the CBR you're leaning way forward with the bars spread wide. On the ZX6 it felt like I was sitting on top of a bar stool with really narrow bars and my feet tucked under my arse. I always want wider bars and on the CBR I end up with my little fingers actually off the end of the handle bars cos I keep moving my hands further and further out, so the ZX6 felt really wierd.

Eventually it got to the last session so I followed Nicki for a lap while I warmed up the tyres. It looked like she was starting to get the hang of riding a 650 twin but she still had lots to figure out. Because she's a tiny wee thing she can't muscle a bike around like us boys can. In the pit shed she's at least 25kg lighter than the next lightest and with more spinning mass in the twin it was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to ride it like the 400 (which had the alternator etc removed and was running a total loss system). So Nicki needs to ride it alot like Danni Pedrossa does, lots of body English but also lots of counter steering, more counter steering than she's ever used before and lots more than anyone else on the track uses. Also, the forks need to go up through the clamps to shorten the trail up a bit and help speed the steering.

So I came in feeling absolutely knackered but on a high cos I hadn't achieved so much in a single days riding before. While packing up my arms and hands kept cramping up from the heat, loss of necessary minerals etc and over use. But it was great.

A quiet trip home, picked up the wife and we shot out to drop the bike off and see how Jonno was after the previous evening. A quick dinner and then it was home to a shower and a couple of beers. All in all, the best days riding I've had for a very, very long time and probably the best day for acheiving things I've had so far.