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View Full Version : Wet Pukie Day - 21st May 07



Toast
24th May 2007, 16:11
After the disaster of VMCC Round 1, I was left with a great hunger to get my monthly bike fix.

Luckily Kiwitrackdays had my back, with Pukekohe Park Raceway booked out for us to enjoy.

The forecast was for rain, and the race tyres on my bike weren't really ideal for that, but I thought 'fk it', I wanna ride, and I've always thought that riding in the rain was good practice.

Got out for the first two sessions on tyres which weren't really up to temp, and didn't even begin to push it. Even at nana speeds though, the bike was moving around over every little bump on the track (makes you realise just how many little bumps there are on the tarmac there). Full throttle down the front straight in 4th gear only led to masses of wheelspin, so I learned to back off a bit there.

By the 3rd or 4th session there was much less standing water, and I managed to get out with warm tyres. I've gotta say that I was absolutely loving the challenge of riding in the wet out there. Not only did it require a very smooth throttle hand, but the slower pace (more time to think, I guess) and lower grip made me focus on my body position a lot more, and I felt heaps more confident on the bike.

The wet fun was somewhat spoilt by some bloody classic bike dumping oil on the racing line around the entires track (for about 3 laps running until his engine seized).

After lunch the track had mostly dried, and good, fast fun was had on Puke. One dude on a Gixxer binned it, but other than that there were no tears shed.

Cheers to Steve and the KiwiTrackDays crew.

I normally pack a bit of a sad if it's not nice, dry weather for a track day...but really, wet riding is quite good for developing skills (I guess in the same way mx-ing is), and is a ball of fun in its own way. So next time it rains, there will be no frowning from my corner (unless some museum piece drops its guts all over the track again).

Drunken Monkey
24th May 2007, 17:47
One dude on a Gixxer binned it,

LOL, that was me. Rode it home sweet, just needs a bit of a tidy up.

Leong
26th May 2007, 12:15
Good to see you Monday Phil. Kiwitrackdays are cool eh - You get so much track time that there's no time to chat!!

So I had a custom map for the power commander done on the dyno at AMPS on Monday morning. Rode straight to the track after and arrived bout 2pm to a relatively dry track. Paid a small amount of cash to Steve and got to go out in any session I wanted. Two objectives for the day - break my 220km/h barrier at Pukie and check out the difference the custom map made. Still some damp patches on the track, and oil at the hairpin. Got to 240km/h by the kink without pushing too hard at Castrol, and eventually did 250 without having found a braking point, and with oil at the hairpin so was satisfied. :whocares: (me only) As for the power commander, noticeably more power from 4000 to 15500. Felt more like the 07 CBR600RR I rode recently. This was more obvious on the way home via Hunua etc.

Should just put a plug in for Steve. He runs an awesome trackday ( he has no control over weather or bikes dropping oil on the track ). ALWAYS plenty of track time, and less time between sessions. He would have lost money again this time, :bye: and would have to stop running these events if he doesn't at least break even. He risks losing money in the thousands each event. We may lose $100 if we prepay and choose not to ride in the rain. I think of prepaying as a way of saying thank you to Steve for taking that risk, and as support for him to continue running these events that I enjoy.

Steve has 3 very attractive events planned for June. :yes:

Friday 1 June (Taupo): Next Friday. Is the day before Queens Birthday Weekend so why not take the whole family to Taupo for the weekend, and do the trackday as well!!

Sunday 17 June (Manfeild): Is a Sunday, so no need to take time off for many. Also is the day after 2nd round of VMCC. So make a weekend of it. Watch the racing Saturday and have a go yourself on Sunday when you're all keen!!

Saturday 30th June (Taupo): Again a Saturday, and also the start of the school holidays. Taupo's a great place for the family. The kids can go to the AC Baths when they're bored of watching you at the track!!

No I have no ties with Steve, and he has no idea that I've written it. :dodge: I just enjoy his events, like many of the regulars and would like to see them continue!!

blueblade
28th May 2007, 13:22
Couldnt agree more Leong. Steve runs a very good track day and you always get heaps of track time. No doubt I will be seeing you again this Friday. I dont have any problem prepaying, but then a wet track is not quite such an issue on a Motard eh:sunny:
No doubt you enjoyed last Friday. That was also a very well run day. I think we were all pretty well satisfied with the amount of track time.