Last Puke Open Day of 2004

[Drunken Monkey]

I don’t have much memory of the crash, I just woke up on the grass wondering what I did wrong. Did anyone see how I messed up? I don’t want to make the same mistake again .

Glad to hear you're ok. I saw you come off, I was just exiting the esses. There was a puff of smoke from a tyre, but I can't remember if that was before or after you low-sided. You had the bike well over - if I were a betting man I'd go with 2smoker's guess = a peg in the ground might have caught on some rough stuff and lifted your back wheel...
I can't remember much more than that, sorry, even thought I saw it, I was kinda looking down my own line and caught it all out of the 'corner of my eye'.

750Y rode your bike back to the pits, it was still straight. He reckoned it rode mint, so you probably only have to worry about the expensive cosmetic bits

[CBobR]

Thanks KK, I do remember a nice sounding, distinctive looking pair of VFRs out there in the group. My 250 definitely has a lot more to teach me, I‘ve been wanting to do a Track-Time day for ages but I suck at organizing things. I’ll try a lot harder to make it to an instruction day when I have a working bike again.

400s are something I will think a lot about after seeing yours flying TS. Do you know if 400cc sportsbikes generally have better ground clearance than their 250cc versions? I was thinking about getting some rear sets made for my CBR but I think the exhaust isn’t very far behind grounding after the pegs anyway. I will definitely be at the track days next year, probably hanging off like a chimpanzee to keep my bike as upright as possible though .

Cool, thanks for that DM. It is a lot nicer knowing it is a problem with my riding style that can be fixed, although I was kind of hoping for a hidden oil puddle to blame . I just want my frame, tank and instruments to be okay, everything else can be fixed with a generous amount of duct tape . And thanks for getting it back to the pits safely for me 750Y. Gary is looking after it for me until I can get back down there to collect her.

[Two Smoker]

[QUOTE=CBobR]
400s are something I will think a lot about after seeing yours flying TS. Do you know if 400cc sportsbikes generally have better ground clearance than their 250cc versions? I was thinking about getting some rear sets made for my CBR but I think the exhaust isn’t very far behind grounding after the pegs anyway. I will definitely be at the track days next year, probably hanging off like a chimpanzee to keep my bike as upright as possible though .

I dont know whether it has different ground clearances.... On that day i was scraping the peg, and the fairing was hitting the ground which was pushed up against the exhaust...... A stock standard 400 should be able to do (with good tyres and set up suspension) do 1:09's.... so you can benefit and learn far more on the 400.....

[curious george]

Hey, I stoped with Guy and lifted you into the middle of ther track.
Jeez, you were so out of it, do you remember anything?
From what I remember, people said you were riding really well, but leaned way way over, so perhaps you hit your foot peg, or just slipped of the edge of the tyre?
Another comment was your tyres probably weren't up to the spped you were giving them, something to check next time?
How did you get your bike back, and your self? You had a way to go (Russel)?
You really gave Guy a fright, especially the second time you fainted!!!
I was trying to get hold of you at Middlemore, but couldn't remember your name, sorry!
Anyway, glad to hear they patched you up OK

[That Guy]

Hey there - good to hear you were ok. George is right when you flaked out on me I was thinking "oh crap - I'm gonna have to do CPR on this guy with mad ejiots only a metre away from me!" Thankfully you woke up! I was following you when you crashed (after you passed me something wicked leaned so far over I was expecting you to lie down before then to be honest!! ) you were only 20 metres or so in front of me and yep you low sided (then the bike stood up and went over the other way too with you having a high speed argument with the armco)...it looked like you simply rode off the edge of the tyres.....happened pretty quickly.

See you at the next track day!

[CBobR]

Wow thanks Curious George and That Guy (and others that helped, I don’t know your names sorry), you fellas are legends! I probably won’t recognize you guys if I see you again (my memory is bad even without concussion), but if you see me at a future trackday please introduce yourselves so I can buy you guys lunch or something. To answer your questions George, I don’t remember the crash itself. I remember waking up on the side of the track and trying to crawl to the wall, then I found a clutch lever, realised it wasn’t mine and fell over. The next thing I remember was people helping me across the track and sitting me in the infield so I could see my bike across the track, I vaguely remember everything from that point on. I think TS’s snagged peg theory is probably what did happen. I had a near new matching set of Michelin Pilot Sports that were giving good grip and wearing nicely on the day, I think they had about 1mm chicken strips front and rear after grounding the pegs in the earlier sessions. I am back in the Bay of Islands in time for work tomorrow (thanks for the lift home mum ), hopefully I can get back down to Puke in a few weeks to bring my bike home. Thanks again, you guys really went beyond what I’d expect.

Hrrmmm, food for thought TS thanks. Does the extra power of a 400 mean you have to be gentle on the throttle over the mountain? I am full throttle pretty much from the hairpin exit to the end of the sweeper on my 250, and feel like I’m missing out on learning some throttle control, is a 400 much better here?

[Kwaka-Kid]

Bob (is it?), for what its worth (possibly not too much as ive got some of my own learning to do) I dont know about the peg theory! Depending on if you had hero blobs in or out? I personally am dead against hero blobs, they are a fine point and yes can snag - although i dragged my originals over pukekohe and never had trouble! and also Castrol IMHO is the smoothest unless you hit your peg on the ripple strip, but found i got a smoother softer feel out of taking them out and just grinding the alloy peg itself away - its a soft metal and even thru bumps on the ground it doesnt do squat! the pegs are spring loaded and made to kick up, and they do exactly that when they hit the ground. The 400 is a bit harder to hit pegs then your current 250, however i did eventually throw some Coerce rear sets on the 400 (ONLY because they were free) if they werent free i would have stayed scraping the stockers, although i cut mine down to half length on one set just as a trial(its an allright idea, stops you from being distracted by the peg scraping noise)

400 power vs 250? Out of the hairpin according to the guys that are doing it properly you should be able to be on the power from the start of the hairpin right thru to jennian, however im yet to experience this fully, i can only do it by short shifting for the hill and running lower revvs so not full power thru the back wheel - if i sit in a lower gear i slightly ease back the throttle just hitting the crest of the hill as i swing wide, then nail it as soon as i tilt the bike up a tad.

oh and about learning throttle control - castrol is about the place you learn it, number 1 thing that makes a difference in back straight speed is how early your keen to get on that throttle! (aswell as rolling into castrol fast) just dont Premature Ejectulate yourself like i did.


Meh- just go have fun dude, 400 or 250, its all fun!

[Two Smoker]

Hrrmmm, food for thought TS thanks. Does the extra power of a 400 mean you have to be gentle on the throttle over the mountain? I am full throttle pretty much from the hairpin exit to the end of the sweeper on my 250, and feel like I’m missing out on learning some throttle control, is a 400 much better here?

The one to talk about that would be KK, i had a couple slides on the hill when i was full throttle, so yeah there is some throttle control required..... not as much as a 600 or a 1000, but enough to learn alot..... The 400 has points on the track where you can't go full throttle or you have to back off a little...... Next time im there, you can have a go on the ZXR (should be a fully fledged race bike by then) thats if you already havnt gotten a bigger bike by then.....

[k14]

I had a moment on my cbr a few weeks ago at ruapuna. Going through the kink on the back straight at around 120ish the left peg dug in and made me have a little wobble, so that could be the reason it happened. Might be able to see better when you get your bike back.

Glad to see you're not too badly hurt after what sounds like a fairly bad accident.

[CBobR]

Yep, no hero blobs that day KK. Maybe just too much weight supported by the peg rather than the rear tyre, too far from the clean grippy line? Might have concentrate more on weighting the outside peg more next time, to allow the grounded peg to give more easily?

Looks like I’m going to have to ride a few 400s soon. Thanks very much for the offer TS, I’ll have to see if I’m feeling brave enough to have a go on someone else’s bike next trackday after what I did to my bike last time. I was keen on an RVF400 about 2 months ago, but I had a go on a very dodge one at a dealer that hadn’t been through their inspection scheme yet, put me off temporarily.

Thanks K14, the accident sounds a lot worse than it felt, I think I was just a bit unlucky to go off in an area where the wall was so close to the track (can’t ask them to move the railway track just behind the fence though ). I really hope no one has been put off by my accident, I’ve had more than enough fun at trackdays to offset a bit of time in a cast, and the skills I’ve learnt there have probably saved me many times on the road already.

[curious george]

If the crash bags are already there, do you think Gary would let us put them out?
If 5 of us got out early, it would take about 10 mins max to make castrol safer.
I don't think there is anything at the john deer rise thingy, or is there?
Whadda ya say? Who's in?

And the next track day isn't untill March-April???
Any bets?

[CBobR]

Whadda ya say? Who's in?

I not sure what the reason for not using the crash bales on open days is (anyone know?), but if it was feasible to put them out, I'd be keen to help out.

[magnum]

hey bob glad to hear you are ok,shame about the off.everyone was a bit worried for ya.just came right from a broken arm and know how you feel,the last 2 weeks are hard as you cant wait to get the bugger off. all the best and hope you have a good fast recovery,and will see ya on the track next year.

[scroter]

Yep, no hero blobs that day KK. Maybe just too much weight supported by the peg rather than the rear tyre, too far from the clean grippy line? Might have concentrate more on weighting the outside peg more next time, to allow the grounded peg to give more easily?

Looks like I’m going to have to ride a few 400s soon. Thanks very much for the offer TS, I’ll have to see if I’m feeling brave enough to have a go on someone else’s bike next trackday after what I did to my bike last time. I was keen on an RVF400 about 2 months ago, but I had a go on a very dodge one at a dealer that hadn’t been through their inspection scheme yet, put me off temporarily.

Thanks K14, the accident sounds a lot worse than it felt, I think I was just a bit unlucky to go off in an area where the wall was so close to the track (can’t ask them to move the railway track just behind the fence though ). I really hope no one has been put off by my accident, I’ve had more than enough fun at trackdays to offset a bit of time in a cast, and the skills I’ve learnt there have probably saved me many times on the road already.

i would say definitly pegs but what would i know if you got chicken strips on your tyres still then theres no way your rolling off the edge of them however they still might lose grip. but more likely pegging down too much. once your peg goes down if you lean any further your rear suspension works backwards and in extreme cases will lift your back wheel right off the deck. you dont need bumps to do it but they help. anyway good to here your ok. shit it was bloody worrying for everyone to see you liking there KO'd for 4 whole laps and nothing done apart from the guys that stopped to help you.