Last Sunday I was lucky enough to fly to Sydney for 4 days of California Super bike School coach training (ill jump on that plug later) arriving in Sydney we drove for about an hour to reach our accommodation – which was just up the road from the track.
We headed to the track at a good hearty 6am to setup, I was told that the smell at Eastern creek depended on the wind – if it was a NW then you were welcomed with a pungent aroma of the Landfill up the way – or a SE brought the sweet smell of the Arnotts biscuit factory… I was told later that if I was lucky we could get a swirl action which mixes both.
The School ran for 3 days, all levels available each day, as I was there to train I didn’t expect to see much track time as the level of theory that coaches need to understand is immense. I did the orientation laps for each levels first time on track – I thought that was quite funny as I didn’t even know where the hell to go!
The end of day 2 I had spent HUGE amounts of time on my theory so Adam the Head ride coach gave me the keys to his new Gixer6 (432ks on the clock new) and said “better give you some time on the track then aye”
As I headed out pit lane on the newer bike I instantly new this thing was far lighter…. The front end felt quicker yet more stable to turn. The brakes, now Brembo calipers up front gave great bite but a weird almost shudder sensation… not sure what that was about but as I didn’t want to scratch it, heavy braking was put way down the list. Eastern creek on paper looks a lot like Timaru….. but the main difference is every corner is either on a incline or decline… sometimes both. Out of the pits T2 is a left hander, slight uphill with a double apex, its witches back to left for T3 which opens as you continue up hill, you then drop down towards the entry to T4 which starts at the bottom of the hill bend right the climbs up hill, the exit is slightly of camber before setting up for the uphill T5 a good Left hander. T6 enters downhill with a kink to the right before snapping left. You climb up the hill and go under the bridge. As soon as your under you snap hard left into T7 which exits down hill (yes it changes that much!) you then setup for the Big T9, its much like Hamptons T5 but it’s a right 180 hairpin….downhill. Then you gas it hard for a slight kink right (t10 kinda) to setup for T11 a quick left, exiting T11 you run wide, REALLY wide right, off the track on onto the concrete berm to get a good angle of attack for T12…. a big left hander that needs HEAPS of speed in and out before cranking down the front straight, using pretty much the whole box. T1 I was told is Aussies fastest entry corner, faster than PI even, the race thous apparently hit it at 290k, the other coaches were aiming for 250 indicated on the stock 6s. You def don’t need much brake, But the entry is blind…. So that makes you want a whole lot of ‘safety lever,’ you run it deep like T1 at CHCH then turn it hard, but unlike CHCH you don’t slow down, you wind on….HARD aiming for HUGE drive out. The Ripple stripe isn’t blue and white; it’s a sky blue of blurry AWESOMENESS. I was entering at around 200 indicated which was too slow…but I was having an issue with getting turned then into position for the mid corner…..(CSS plug coming soon)
After riding the 09-10 bike, it handled good stock, but the newer one does most things better, it definitely feels lighter, it changes direction quickly, quicker than the old bike and holds lines really well. The motor feels like the ZX6r, more spread of usable power with no real sweet spot. It doesn’t have the strong airbox growl of the 09-10 bike and the end can looks terrible but not many racers will be keeping it that way. Ergonomics are good… the whole bike felt softer and easier to do pretty much anything.
I ended up spending the afternoon of day 3 on track – I did lap after lap on the older machine, the track is really really good – tests everything and has more combos of left rights, or rights into lefts… its kinda like Hampton downs, every corner is a bit different, but it has twice the corners and a straight which is straight.
My CSS plug, I was having a issue on left handers, this was identified at Hampton a few months ago, it seems on entry I was doing something that was holding me up, back or both, but by exit the issue would dissolve…. So as I come out it I felt good… Adam watched me in his mirror as I followed him, he picked up that I cross my body up as I turn in, moving my ass off the seat heaps, and kinking my head and spine accordingly to be able to look through the corner, on exit I would change me body position and realign my head and back to exit well…. Yes he saw this in his mirrors as we were blasting around….. It was near the end of the day and Adam had to take off – but I thought id pop out for 10min or so to see if I could try and resolve my turn in issue.
After 1 or 2 laps I realized my left leg was taking some body weight during the entry of a turn, this was backed up but my ass hanging off too much… but how to stop it – I LOVE left handers, always have… I noticed on right handers my left leg took all of the weight and I was well locked on… because my right leg was way more open… my hips were open meaning my spine and head were aligned. The next left hander I could feel my hips were closed but they were also forward…. And my right leg wasn’t locked on well at all…. So next left I moved my ass back, locked on with my right… locked on much better… then when I turned bang… knee hit the deck, and it was time for gas, more gas!! I came out without any body regig or hesitation.. This was REALLY noticeable at T1, not only did I enter faster; I was able to get on the gas way earlier due to being well setup and stable.
Due to the very limited knowledge of the skills from Mr Code, and the experience of the coaches to notice my body position, I was able to do 4 laps on a foreign bike, at a foreign track and work out a riding weakness and solve it – instantly improving corner entry speed. Plug over
The new bike was great, yet another championship winner in the making – the track the same, the weather was 3 days of 24 degrees and little wind. If you are heading to Sydney then check out when the Eastern creel ride days are on www.easterncreekridedays.com.au funny they are run by the same crowd as the CSS….
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by CHOPPA
Bookmarks