Track day, Taupo, 31st may, Full track

[kiwifruit]

shit the back strait on the track is long what Gear do the 1000's get into & what speed?????

Its not that long :P
i get 250-260ish, top of forth, sometimes change into 5th
fast guys prolly 270+

[kiwifruit]

Awesome photos man, making me really jealous. Will be there for the next one so long as I have enough warning, should have a shiny new tyre to scrub in too. Good effort with your lap time too Allan.

Thanks Ben
the improvements i made this time were mainly due to watching and chasing Death,
he showed me a few tricks, ie: you can lean that far and still stay on,
and few nice lines etc
thanks also to 2much for helping me push myself

BTW Death, that 750 of yours is very quick innit!? (750?)
is there something your not telling us? wasnt pulling you in fark all down the back straight WTF!!
jolly good show

will try to give as much notice as possible next time guys
be good to have even more of you there next time

[WRT]

Had a great day there, thanks heaps Kiwifruit. My best time on the day was 2.04, so a fair bit off the pace there, but I also timed the factory rsvr in the fast group doing a 2.04 so perhaps not too bad for someone without knee sliders. Definately felt the bike (and possibly me) could go quicker, but had the constant thought in the back of my head . . . "slow down buddy, you gotta ride this thing home . . . "

Also had a drag with a GSXR1000 down the straight trying to overtake him, I got much better drive out of the corner and just about made it past him but with his extra power we wound up going neck and kneck most of the way, with him backing off earlier at the end. Looking back over the speedo readouts, the bikes now got a registered highest speed of 230kph (and I've checked the speedo against the road side signs as well as the 5k test on the southern so I think its pretty accurate). I think that was in fourth too. Wasnt braking as late as I could have, and some one with better lines and more power could easily get a fair bit more I reckon.

All in all, was pretty happy with my riding, much moreso than at the KB track day. Had my toes touching down on most corners, despite having my feet pulled well back on the pegs. Was still having trouble getting the braking right on the front straight tho, will blame that on stage fright with everyone along pit lane watching!

Also timed LB for a few laps, most 1.49's, 150's, but in the last session before I left got a 1.48. He seemed to be about the fastest on the day (unless I missed someone who was quicker), but the standout rider was a dude on a supermotard, I think a YZF450 - timed him at 1.55. Pretty impressive since I doubt he would be making anywhere near the high 200's of the thou's down the straight, but saw him ride around A LOT of sports bikes in the corners. Well done, dude.

And did anyone get any pics of me on the day? Red/silver aprilia in group 2.

[justsomeguy]

Thanks Allan, Allan's mum, Chris Mitchell, Magnum, Death and Loosebruce for an awesome day and all your tips and help.

Managed to get in some decent track time and do what I think were a few 2min 15sec laps. It went all well until the last session where I put in a 2:20 and then ran almost completely out of brakes on the front straight on the next lap......no complaints though - I really didn't expect the pads to last that long

Perfect weather and some very good riding from all present with hardly any bins given the amount of track time.

The rider of the day was Loose "The Muppet" Bruce who managed to lap the back markers of the fast group twice in one session and did it pretty much every session. Followed closely by Death for his gravity defying lean angles and firework displays.

Frosty - mate it was great to see you out and about so soon. Hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did.

Duckaddict thanks for coming along and help me share the costs.

[loosebruce]

Was a good day for sure, meet a few new faces out there, had a blast in the first 8 laps or so until i fell off, handful of brake into a left like i alwasy do and lost the front, hmmmm, got up bike was still mint as ever (for me) dusted it off and took off back to the pits, to clean her up, only to find one incredibly fucked front tyre, damn, again! Really got to look at my front set up, and throw some money at it, or get rid of the bike for something better and faster, i got my leathers even dirter which was cool, gald i didn't bother cleaning them.
The rest of the day i pretty much putted round, i've been down to 1.43's at a previous day quite happily, but i couldn't brake into a corner without sliding the front, if i got off the power mid corner it'd load up and push the front again, it wasn't nice feeling, i didn't feel like falling off again, so i basiclly mucked around pulling wheelies everywhere i could and the odd stoppie, i barely even dragged my knee in the last session let alone whats left of my boots and pegs, was taking it real easy, so bit of a stink day in the end for me, not the crash thats all good but the tyre was a bummer, i dont really go to track days to have fun, i go to push myself into going faster and i couldn't.
Death INC, welcome to team muppet, nice off haha, fuck you need a new bike mate, you might be able to hang on then?
Kiwifuirt, wow noticed a huge improvment in your riding on the day, sure you will get faster and faster mate, keep it up.
r4q2, shame you couldn't get out there, good to see Cajun, hey how'd that rear go in the end, did you get it sorted?
Not too many crashes so that always good, everyone was well behaved, the weather was supurb, the track was good, slippery off the line (dusty and various other bits of shit) and the day was well organised, congrats to those involved, you did well.

[Matt Bleck]

I'm pretty sure SlickD got a pic of ya WRT.

[WRT]

Sweet, be keen to see that pic. LB - you were still about the fastest out there on the day, and it cool seeing the wheelies down the front straight. There was another guy on a silver GSXR that was using the front straight for wheelie practice, he improved heaps during the day. Could see in the morning that he was struggling to find the balance point, but in the arvo he had it cracked. Wish I could wheelie like that . . .

BTW - LB, were you bouncing it off the rev limiter down the front straight? Heard it a few times as you went past.

[Matt Bleck]

There was another guy on a silver GSXR that was using the front straight for wheelie practice, he improved heaps during the day.

That was 2much

[WRT]

Ah, I see I see. Well done 2much, you were looking pretty smooth out there by the end of the day.

[emaN]

so many photos and so little time

wa-hey! there you are!
congrats on finally posting!!

[loosebruce]

BTW - LB, were you bouncing it off the rev limiter down the front straight? Heard it a few times as you went past.

Haha yea that was me (personally bikes on the limiter sound fucken cool and flames too mmmm flames), by the time i hook 4th gear it time to change down into 3rd again, and i was having chatter problems into the corner, so i just left it in 3rd hit the limiter for a bit and brake, really wanted to go 1 tooth up on the front to get slightly more revs to use, and maybe make it easier to hook 2nd for the slower corners, but after falling off and seeing my front tyre the way it was, no point in trying to push to go fast so i didn't bother.
Oh if you're wondering why i'm in such high gears, i have dropped my gearing a fair bit, down 2 on the front and up 3 on the back, i find my self top of 6th gear down the back straight almost on the limiter, dont ask me what speed it is cause my speedo reads 299kph most of the way down???

[Cajun]

Yeah bruce the rear starting to feel better, i took it out in final session, did half on the 400, then half on the 600, damn it felt big and heavy after the 400. took me a few laps to get use to it again. but made better, i might have to still do a bit of tweaking.

Got a bunch of stuff i gotta change on the 400, before it goes out again eg tighten engine mount bolts(don't know where the bolts gone, have to get some of those too) and put the stock shock in, t he vfr400 one in moment is stuffed its leaking.

But over all not to bad, for the rangi special

[WRT]

I figured it must be to save you changing up then back down again. The prob I had with the front straight was picking a braking marker and sticking to it. There was a couple of times when I braked too early, and others where I came in too hot and wound up trailing the brake into the corner. Just couldnt get comfortable with it.

[loosebruce]

I figured it must be to save you changing up then back down again. The prob I had with the front straight was picking a braking marker and sticking to it. There was a couple of times when I braked too early, and others where I came in too hot and wound up trailing the brake into the corner. Just couldnt get comfortable with it.

Trailing the brake into a corner is not a bad thing by any means, just need some trust in your front end and a good degree of feel.

As a general rule i use the 100 board on the right for my braking marker, and not being rude but i'm prolly carrying a lot more speed down the straight then most people are/were, in saying that i do brake heavily right up until the apex of the corner, alot of people have problems trusting the front end cranked over and still hard on the brakes, this is prolly whats killing my tyre, so suspension needs to be looked at for me, i would say you easily could use the 100 board or the cone before the 100 board with the speed you are carrying, it's just a matter of practice and putting some turst into yourself, give it a go next time, the prilla has a good front end on it and should be more than upto coping with it.
Also another thing with braking is i'm positioned hard right on the track when i start my braking, giving me a more sweeping line into the apex which allows me to keep the bike more upright for braking, if you position mid track or more to the left, you have to brake earlier because when you get into the corner you have a lot tighter turn to make to get around, you have more chance of running wide and or losing the front, under racing although you may want to consider staying midway between half track and right hand side, this should cut off any chance of some muppet going up the inside of you, and it's a long way around the outside.
FYI: I dont use the rear brake at all either.

[kiwifruit]

great tips bruce
thanks