motobob
14th April 2014, 20:24
For those that don’t know of me, I was involved in a nasty bike crash 7 years ago that left me paralysed from the chest down to my toes.
On Sunday I was lucky that the Auckland Motorcycle club let me enter my R6 in their ART day. After my initial test ride of 10 X 4.2 second laps around the turning circle of my driveway on Saturday arvo, it was off to Hampton Downs on Sunday.
Entered the Novice group since I had no idea how the day would unfold and also cos I would be riding with a group with no pretentions on their riding abilility.
Before continuing, a brief description on the mod’s to the bike to allow me to get around the track. Mix in one 2006 Yamaha R6 track bike, drizzled with a Translogic Powershifter to enable gear changing on the left handlebar. Toss in a set of new road tyres and then cover in Velcro to stop the rider from falling off.
Kept the mods to a minimum in case the whole project ended in tears. Other disabled riders use retractable training wheels to start off and stop but those are for pussies. Of course my catch and release crew think otherwise.
So the day starts off with a sighting lap to see If I can follow my plan. First thing is that my back protector pushes my helmet over my eyes as I slow at the first turn. On the small straight the wind pushed the open visor upwards but slowing caused the helmet to drop leaving me with 3 metres of vision. Great start! I can’t adjust anything cos I can’t stop. Eventually wobbled my way back to the pit road only to nearly crash into the wall that slows vehicles before entry to the pits. Pulled over to my crew who caught me before the bike topples.
Luckily Neil Martin finds me a replacement BP and we are off at the back of the Novice group. Wow what a buzz to finally be able to ride. The R6 is awesome, the throttle and clutch are nice and smooth making things nice and easy. The bike turns for me like it’s on auto. Catch up to one of the instructors and learn the lines round the circuit. Looks a lot wider when you can see where to go. Hairpin is the only dodgy corner for me. Keep the R6 to a max of 10,000 rpm to keep out of trouble and the session seems to end way to early.
Back to the pits for some adjustments on the powershifter. Stay on the bike till the next session as getting off and back on is hard work even with assistance. Out again and the fun begins, start taking the turns faster, play with one of the instructors as he speeds up. Start passing the others in the group which is not easy since you have to give them a wide berth and also instructor and the bike(s) in front of him is like passing a truck. Can’t believe my change in attitude, I am actually being considerate when overtaking others rather than carving them up. My gloves are proving to be a handicap as they are making shifting akward and worse the transition from off throttle to trail braking is getting dodgy. Benefit though is a rethink in my approach to the turns. Just keep to a single gear from turn 2 thru the exit of the hairpin. Still have to look at shifter to ensure I select the correct button. End the session a lot more confident.
Session 3 more improvement even manage to feather the right side of the tyre to the edge. That brings a smile, leaning the bike over is the reason for riding and why trikes and sidecars do not hold much interest. Try leaning the shoulders off the bike but now find this pushes the bike wide in the turns. Countersteering is harder now and shows up the lack of torso muscles needed to balance and brace myself. Gassing it up down (up) the straight shows my knees are positioned to far forward, I cannot use my elbows to grip the tank to improve stability a speed. One of the things I think is needed once my co-ordination is established. Tired now but feel that I have really achieved something. The feeling is that once I can sort through the different challenges I can regain a fair portion of my previous speed but more importantly able to ride safely.
The real reason for the post is to thank the following people for getting me to the track.
Scott and his GF Abby, for setting up the bike and hiding it from the missus.
Jessica, Dan, Kenneth and Scott for helping me out at the track
Gerhard for helping out on the driveway.
Margaret and Steph for support at the track.
AMCC for allowing me to ride and the support on the day.
Qkkid (Steve) for offering to pick up and assist with learning to ride at their facility in Swanson.
Race Supplies for supplying the Powershifter.
Mental Trousers for keeping me updated with his exploits on my old CBR and sending me some video’s of other disabled riders and their achievments.
Velcro for inventing a product to attach me on the bike.
I hope you guys gained a lot of satisfaction for helping an old bugger achieve his dream to ride again.
Thanks Heaps.
On Sunday I was lucky that the Auckland Motorcycle club let me enter my R6 in their ART day. After my initial test ride of 10 X 4.2 second laps around the turning circle of my driveway on Saturday arvo, it was off to Hampton Downs on Sunday.
Entered the Novice group since I had no idea how the day would unfold and also cos I would be riding with a group with no pretentions on their riding abilility.
Before continuing, a brief description on the mod’s to the bike to allow me to get around the track. Mix in one 2006 Yamaha R6 track bike, drizzled with a Translogic Powershifter to enable gear changing on the left handlebar. Toss in a set of new road tyres and then cover in Velcro to stop the rider from falling off.
Kept the mods to a minimum in case the whole project ended in tears. Other disabled riders use retractable training wheels to start off and stop but those are for pussies. Of course my catch and release crew think otherwise.
So the day starts off with a sighting lap to see If I can follow my plan. First thing is that my back protector pushes my helmet over my eyes as I slow at the first turn. On the small straight the wind pushed the open visor upwards but slowing caused the helmet to drop leaving me with 3 metres of vision. Great start! I can’t adjust anything cos I can’t stop. Eventually wobbled my way back to the pit road only to nearly crash into the wall that slows vehicles before entry to the pits. Pulled over to my crew who caught me before the bike topples.
Luckily Neil Martin finds me a replacement BP and we are off at the back of the Novice group. Wow what a buzz to finally be able to ride. The R6 is awesome, the throttle and clutch are nice and smooth making things nice and easy. The bike turns for me like it’s on auto. Catch up to one of the instructors and learn the lines round the circuit. Looks a lot wider when you can see where to go. Hairpin is the only dodgy corner for me. Keep the R6 to a max of 10,000 rpm to keep out of trouble and the session seems to end way to early.
Back to the pits for some adjustments on the powershifter. Stay on the bike till the next session as getting off and back on is hard work even with assistance. Out again and the fun begins, start taking the turns faster, play with one of the instructors as he speeds up. Start passing the others in the group which is not easy since you have to give them a wide berth and also instructor and the bike(s) in front of him is like passing a truck. Can’t believe my change in attitude, I am actually being considerate when overtaking others rather than carving them up. My gloves are proving to be a handicap as they are making shifting akward and worse the transition from off throttle to trail braking is getting dodgy. Benefit though is a rethink in my approach to the turns. Just keep to a single gear from turn 2 thru the exit of the hairpin. Still have to look at shifter to ensure I select the correct button. End the session a lot more confident.
Session 3 more improvement even manage to feather the right side of the tyre to the edge. That brings a smile, leaning the bike over is the reason for riding and why trikes and sidecars do not hold much interest. Try leaning the shoulders off the bike but now find this pushes the bike wide in the turns. Countersteering is harder now and shows up the lack of torso muscles needed to balance and brace myself. Gassing it up down (up) the straight shows my knees are positioned to far forward, I cannot use my elbows to grip the tank to improve stability a speed. One of the things I think is needed once my co-ordination is established. Tired now but feel that I have really achieved something. The feeling is that once I can sort through the different challenges I can regain a fair portion of my previous speed but more importantly able to ride safely.
The real reason for the post is to thank the following people for getting me to the track.
Scott and his GF Abby, for setting up the bike and hiding it from the missus.
Jessica, Dan, Kenneth and Scott for helping me out at the track
Gerhard for helping out on the driveway.
Margaret and Steph for support at the track.
AMCC for allowing me to ride and the support on the day.
Qkkid (Steve) for offering to pick up and assist with learning to ride at their facility in Swanson.
Race Supplies for supplying the Powershifter.
Mental Trousers for keeping me updated with his exploits on my old CBR and sending me some video’s of other disabled riders and their achievments.
Velcro for inventing a product to attach me on the bike.
I hope you guys gained a lot of satisfaction for helping an old bugger achieve his dream to ride again.
Thanks Heaps.