Track day-viewed from the other side.

**FROSTY:Me** · 11th April 2005, 23:41

This track day for me has to go down in the books as one of lifes big highs.
Started out from work and headed towards taupo for an early night.
Best laid plans etc were totally stuffed by a van motor going very loudly CLACK CLACK Ktishhhhhh.
Heart in my boots thinking I'd let everybody down I phoned BJ,quazi and AJ
-Well blow me down -2 minutes later Im told the rescue wagon in the shape of Mycrisis and his crew -followed by mrs micrisis in her car. The SV-all the track day stuff and mine and douggies riding gear were loaded in the truck whilst Mrs Micrisis ran The pillion back to Aucks to pick up her car and come back and pick us up.
We arrived in Taupo around 1.00am totally shagged.
Up at sparrows fart (6.30) We headed off to sighn all the paperwork and get the track keys.
Got the place unlocked and left the unloading to everyone else. (ok I got shit for that all day) Headed off for a slow lap of the track.-Ohh shit a bit of a mess--sand all round the high line on the sweeper,standing pools of water into the sweeper and the hairpin and a heap of sand on the aproach to the sweeper.
Once again the A team swung into action. I found brooms and they said leave it to us-Off they trundled to clear up the mess.
Scrutineering on the whole went bloody well with the standard of gear mostly. being higher than I expected.

I think only 2 guys had clothing issues and 3 bikes failed for minor issues-easily fixed thanks to the great Kbers who helped em out.

I was really suprised at the number of gixxers with leaky fork seals

I did a quick marshalls brief and RT check and handed the marshalls over to SP man.
Riders brief went semi smoothly with everyone chomping at the bit to get on the track.
Wohoo time to do some riding.
I led everyone out on the track for the slow laps -what a fantastic sight--40 odd bikes in a line round the track -Shit i wish I had a pic looking back down the back straight looking at you all.
The morning went by in a blur of questions and training sessions with only one crash (Hope ya ok Rainbow wizard).
A few late arrivals meant scrutineering etc for them.
Kawa kid turned up with his new race bike -desperate to get some laps on his new motor. Unfortunately the tank and airbox ? were just rattling around unsecured in the frame so in typical EBR fashion a tie down and a ton of duct tape made it secure in the frame.
I reallly enjoyed helping people out on the track with ol mella yella totally in his element.
Lunch break gave me a chance to have a few quiet laps on my own-experimenting with different lines around the sweeper and hairpin -Not the good fast line more the -ok well that'll stuff em up type lines.
Im still bloody slow going into the sweeper --Hmm must glue myself to TS's ass next time.
I know it isn't a sighn of speed but I felt myself loading up my knee scraper more and more as the day wore on -able to load it up to counteract the sliding back tyre.
The "emergency braking" session went really well with some spectacular "accidental front wheel lifting" and "front brake testing'
The crowd really loved it.
The afternoon session and I spent more time on the track watching the slow and touring group. with the skill and confidence levels getting pretty high.
I did half a session with the fast group watching Two smoke hurtling around at really incredible speeds.

**FROSTY:Me** · 12th April 2005, 01:11

I was totally blown away by just how many of you improved your riding as the day wore on.
Bugjuice--I know I give ya shit dude but your riding steadily improved all day.
I steadily sped the pace up to 3/4 speed and you were still keeping up with me

Paparatsi--Mate you are riding the wheels offa that thing.
stroker gurl-good smooth riding once you got your confidence up.
Draco -Im sorry i couldnt move ya up a class -you needed it -next time.
Too many others to mention. sorry I diddn't get time to talk to all of you.
Pillion all but begged me for some laps on the back of a bike.Thanks to stroker gurl for the loan of your bike.
I was really impressed by everybodys common sense. a couple of minor issues were easily sorted.
I had a fantastic day meeting old freinds and new.
FUCK YOU LOT ROCK

**BNZ** · 12th April 2005, 07:20

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Too many track day posts!!! I think we need to change it to www.kiwitrackday.co.nz

Good work Frosty, glad to hear you had a great time despite all the pressure. You did a sensational job, so you can take the week off before planning the next one

**bugjuice** · 12th April 2005, 22:28

ahh cheers mate. way back atcha. You did an outstanding job on that, it's definitly one for the books. Shame about your truck, but on the bright side, if that was the worst thing to go wrong, tisn't all that bad really.

Thanks for the encouragement too. Main reason for the improvement on the day was getting to know the track (never ever been there before), and getting to know more about my bike (tyres, suspension, brakes etc). Thanks to Quasi for the tips and adjusting the front, helped a heap, so might play some more with that. Don't think I could balls that up too much really.

I think 2 things that would instantly make me a touch faster would be some decent leathers and possible better tyres, even slicks may be.
My gear restricts how far I can get off the bike. All the pics show that I'm nowhere near the floor, but I know that I could reach it, if my pants didn't web across the tank like they do. So that'd help me a bit.
The other thing on the tyres, all day I felt a little unsure about them. They just never gave me a heap of confidence. Not sure if it was just me being stupid, or they really weren't gripping as well. I guess get some leathers on, get to know the track a little better, then have another go. I do like the tyres I have at the moment, but I just didn't feel the confidence to push it all the way. And I've never been too sure about how much warning I'll get before they let me down.
and as for the shit, I love winding you up, cos it's funny. I know ya don't mean it, plus I need someone to kick my ass to push me a little more.. Give me sliders/leathers, and I'll be aiming for sub 50s. Some goes for Puke

Anyway, all in all, fukin loved it, and I'm still there in my head. We should do that again some day

cheers frosty, ya rock dude..

**Mr Skid** · 13th April 2005, 00:38

Originally Posted by bugjuice

I think 2 things that would instantly make me a touch faster would be some decent leathers and possible better tyres, even slicks may be.
My gear restricts how far I can get off the bike. All the pics show that I'm nowhere near the floor, but I know that I could reach it, if my pants didn't web across the tank like they do. So that'd help me a bit.
The other thing on the tyres, all day I felt a little unsure about them. They just never gave me a heap of confidence. Not sure if it was just me being stupid, or they really weren't gripping as well. I guess get some leathers on, get to know the track a little better, then have another go. I do like the tyres I have at the moment, but I just didn't feel the confidence to push it all the way. And I've never been too sure about how much warning I'll get before they let me down.
and as for the shit, I love winding you up, cos it's funny. I know ya don't mean it, plus I need someone to kick my ass to push me a little more.. Give me sliders/leathers, and I'll be aiming for sub 50s. Some goes for Puke

Someone with more experience will be able to comment further, but from my short experience, if your not feeling confident in your tires, you not going to gain from trying to push on through that concern.

Did you have much of a play with pressures? I found dropping 2psi in the front the difference between it pushing wide, and gripping.

Also, how do your tires feel at their limits? I find if something happens suddenly, such as when I jump on the back brake to slide it on gravel too quickly I tend to stop doing whatever caused it. If I progressively brake the rear I can keep it sliding.

I think it's the same with tires, if they suddenly let go, you'll get a shock, but if they let go progressively, then you can feed in a bit more power and keep it sliding until you're pointing in the direction you want to go.