Leong
26th January 2006, 22:19
HRCNZ Track Day
Moving from VTR250 to SV650S
Yesterday morning I left for the Honda Riders Club Track Day in Taupo at 5am, hoping the weather would improve. I had bought a one piece rainsuit the previous day, and this and some cheap plastic gloves over my riding gloves from the $2 Shop kept me warm and completely dry in the light showers I had on the way. Compared to my previous trip on the VTR 250, this trip was far more relaxed. The SV650S is so much more stable at any speed, and though still running in, there was plenty of power to overtake. The bike is also far more stable in crosswinds, thankfully as I passed thru Matamata and saw the trees that had been uprooted during the night. The fairing makes higher speeds much more comfortable. Although there wasn't heavy rain the roads were wet, and overtaking trucks was tricky because of the spray of water they throw up, both reducing visibility because of the mist, and getting on your visor. Not much fun, but a good learning experience. Got to Taupo on one tank of fuel, refueled and headed for the track, on time.
Turning up at my first Honda Riders Club event on a Suzuki wasn't as out of place as I might have imagined. The mix of bikes was the usual you might see anywhere else, except for the lack of gixxers. After a short briefing we were driven around the track on a truck and shown the lines, and the changes from the previous track days. My first time there and I'm not sure whether changes were done after the last KB track day, but the sweeper is now in a bit closer, to give greater run off area and not banked, and the hairpin is also not banked. We were split into three groups and being my first time and a nana I picked the slow group. In our group were a Z1000, Fazer 1000, CB1300, GN250, a new CBR250(?) and me. Our first run was on a damp track, following the instructor...Hayden Fitzgerald around single file at slowly increasing pace.... Fortunately I was one of two who kept pace with Hayden, unlike the rest, stuck behind the GN250, and not allowed to overtake. Didn't take too long to get used to the idea of being on a racetrack, but found it strange not having mirrors to look in. Our next run was on our own, with Hayden in the field observing and showing the way, etc as necessary. Good to have more practice time on a now dry track. Next run was a no brakes run to encourage smoothness and judgement of speed. I seemed more comfortable with this than the rest of our group as I managed to pass the three bigger bikes and lap them. :first: Passing was only allowed on the straight which was a pain as the two 250s were much slower then the rest. Highlight of the day was in this session when it was my turn with Hayden, and he led me going faster and faster till I got my toe down for the first time. :devil2: Tried to get me to get my bum off the seat too, but I wasn't really at that level yet. The next two runs were free runs and following this rain arrived and after one wet run I decided I'd had enough. I'd learned a lot already, and wasn't keen to push my new bike any further in the rain. I was happy with my decision to run the SV rather than the VTR. Although I would have probably lapped at virtually the same pace in the VTR, I'm sure I have accelerated my learning of the new bike. It would also have been far more difficult overtaking the bigger bikes down the straight on the VTR.
Coming home today I had all day, so waited for the roads to dry, then headed up Poihipi Road and then thru to Te Kuiti, up SH3 to Otorohanga and turned off there to go to Pirongia and Ngaruawahia. Up SH1 to Rangiriri, off there to 22, then to Mercer where the new overbridge over SH1 to Koheroa Road to Mangatawhiri was open. Home via Hunua. The road through Benneydale to Te Kuiti was in my opinion, much more entertaining than going the shorter way thru Te Awamutu, and I would prefer to go this way next time if time wasn't an issue.
With more than 1600km on the SV's odo, the break in was over, and I explored the upper regions of the tachometer on the way home. I said motorcycling was fun in a previous post. :niceone: But it's much funner now, and from reading VTWIN's recent posts about going from a SV1000 to a gixxer, there's more fun to be had perhaps, in the future. But for now, the SV650 is plenty for me. I love the instant power, no matter what gear, and overtaking is so easy, that traffic doesn't bother me to anywhere near the same degree. ( Coming out of Tirau on the way down, there were four truck and trailer units and three cars and where I might have given up before and just followed, I got past them all without any real risk before the passing lanes into Putaruru ). I have found that unlike the VTR250, cars tend to pull over to let you pass... not that they need to. (I still have a standard zorst BTW so it must be the black fairing or my approach speed). One thing I have to re learn is changing gears when under near full throttle acceleration. With the bike taking off and me trying to hold on, it's more effort moving forward to reach the clutch lever, and it's also harder to put your left toe down after changing up so the next gear can be selected. If you don't do this, you pick the same gear, instead of the next one up.... not a good look or sound, lucky I don't have a loud zorst to make mistakes even more obvious!! :argh: I suspect the trick may be to grip the tank more with your legs, but if any experienced riders read this, any tips would be appreciated!!. An unexpected difference I've noticed is the increased wind noise, due to my height and the fairing height. Earplugs are necessary on all but the shortest trips.
The SV's handling in standard form is confidence inspiring. The Pirelli Diablos must help too. I have found that I'm now even attacking downhill right handers, and today attacked the downhill right hander that I had my little off on in September last year. But I do have some issues with the rear suspension. Currently the preload is at its standard setting at the front, and on it's minimum setting on the rear to reduce the ride height so I can get my feet on the ground. At speeds over 80km/h any mid-corner bumps can unsettle the suspension and it becomes quite "floaty". Any suggestions/comments?
The SV650 has now done 1875km, ( in 8 days ). Covered in bugs and dirt, it got a good clean this afternoon and now looks better than when I got it!! Tomorrow it'll get the polish it deserves. I love it!! Life is good, and motorcycling is FUN!! Oh, and if there's still room, I'm coming to the next KB track day!!:done:
Moving from VTR250 to SV650S
Yesterday morning I left for the Honda Riders Club Track Day in Taupo at 5am, hoping the weather would improve. I had bought a one piece rainsuit the previous day, and this and some cheap plastic gloves over my riding gloves from the $2 Shop kept me warm and completely dry in the light showers I had on the way. Compared to my previous trip on the VTR 250, this trip was far more relaxed. The SV650S is so much more stable at any speed, and though still running in, there was plenty of power to overtake. The bike is also far more stable in crosswinds, thankfully as I passed thru Matamata and saw the trees that had been uprooted during the night. The fairing makes higher speeds much more comfortable. Although there wasn't heavy rain the roads were wet, and overtaking trucks was tricky because of the spray of water they throw up, both reducing visibility because of the mist, and getting on your visor. Not much fun, but a good learning experience. Got to Taupo on one tank of fuel, refueled and headed for the track, on time.
Turning up at my first Honda Riders Club event on a Suzuki wasn't as out of place as I might have imagined. The mix of bikes was the usual you might see anywhere else, except for the lack of gixxers. After a short briefing we were driven around the track on a truck and shown the lines, and the changes from the previous track days. My first time there and I'm not sure whether changes were done after the last KB track day, but the sweeper is now in a bit closer, to give greater run off area and not banked, and the hairpin is also not banked. We were split into three groups and being my first time and a nana I picked the slow group. In our group were a Z1000, Fazer 1000, CB1300, GN250, a new CBR250(?) and me. Our first run was on a damp track, following the instructor...Hayden Fitzgerald around single file at slowly increasing pace.... Fortunately I was one of two who kept pace with Hayden, unlike the rest, stuck behind the GN250, and not allowed to overtake. Didn't take too long to get used to the idea of being on a racetrack, but found it strange not having mirrors to look in. Our next run was on our own, with Hayden in the field observing and showing the way, etc as necessary. Good to have more practice time on a now dry track. Next run was a no brakes run to encourage smoothness and judgement of speed. I seemed more comfortable with this than the rest of our group as I managed to pass the three bigger bikes and lap them. :first: Passing was only allowed on the straight which was a pain as the two 250s were much slower then the rest. Highlight of the day was in this session when it was my turn with Hayden, and he led me going faster and faster till I got my toe down for the first time. :devil2: Tried to get me to get my bum off the seat too, but I wasn't really at that level yet. The next two runs were free runs and following this rain arrived and after one wet run I decided I'd had enough. I'd learned a lot already, and wasn't keen to push my new bike any further in the rain. I was happy with my decision to run the SV rather than the VTR. Although I would have probably lapped at virtually the same pace in the VTR, I'm sure I have accelerated my learning of the new bike. It would also have been far more difficult overtaking the bigger bikes down the straight on the VTR.
Coming home today I had all day, so waited for the roads to dry, then headed up Poihipi Road and then thru to Te Kuiti, up SH3 to Otorohanga and turned off there to go to Pirongia and Ngaruawahia. Up SH1 to Rangiriri, off there to 22, then to Mercer where the new overbridge over SH1 to Koheroa Road to Mangatawhiri was open. Home via Hunua. The road through Benneydale to Te Kuiti was in my opinion, much more entertaining than going the shorter way thru Te Awamutu, and I would prefer to go this way next time if time wasn't an issue.
With more than 1600km on the SV's odo, the break in was over, and I explored the upper regions of the tachometer on the way home. I said motorcycling was fun in a previous post. :niceone: But it's much funner now, and from reading VTWIN's recent posts about going from a SV1000 to a gixxer, there's more fun to be had perhaps, in the future. But for now, the SV650 is plenty for me. I love the instant power, no matter what gear, and overtaking is so easy, that traffic doesn't bother me to anywhere near the same degree. ( Coming out of Tirau on the way down, there were four truck and trailer units and three cars and where I might have given up before and just followed, I got past them all without any real risk before the passing lanes into Putaruru ). I have found that unlike the VTR250, cars tend to pull over to let you pass... not that they need to. (I still have a standard zorst BTW so it must be the black fairing or my approach speed). One thing I have to re learn is changing gears when under near full throttle acceleration. With the bike taking off and me trying to hold on, it's more effort moving forward to reach the clutch lever, and it's also harder to put your left toe down after changing up so the next gear can be selected. If you don't do this, you pick the same gear, instead of the next one up.... not a good look or sound, lucky I don't have a loud zorst to make mistakes even more obvious!! :argh: I suspect the trick may be to grip the tank more with your legs, but if any experienced riders read this, any tips would be appreciated!!. An unexpected difference I've noticed is the increased wind noise, due to my height and the fairing height. Earplugs are necessary on all but the shortest trips.
The SV's handling in standard form is confidence inspiring. The Pirelli Diablos must help too. I have found that I'm now even attacking downhill right handers, and today attacked the downhill right hander that I had my little off on in September last year. But I do have some issues with the rear suspension. Currently the preload is at its standard setting at the front, and on it's minimum setting on the rear to reduce the ride height so I can get my feet on the ground. At speeds over 80km/h any mid-corner bumps can unsettle the suspension and it becomes quite "floaty". Any suggestions/comments?
The SV650 has now done 1875km, ( in 8 days ). Covered in bugs and dirt, it got a good clean this afternoon and now looks better than when I got it!! Tomorrow it'll get the polish it deserves. I love it!! Life is good, and motorcycling is FUN!! Oh, and if there's still room, I'm coming to the next KB track day!!:done: