Pukie this Friday 19 December

[CHOPPA]

Hope it was just the slipon and didnt damage ya coating..

Na man all that coating is f*&ked, i dont have the heart to tell HPC.... Dont know what to do now though, wanganui is next week and no one will have an exhaust in stock!

Yeah I wondered what happened there...part of the risk of track riding i suppose...I think he ended up with a buggered thumb from what Speedi was saying.

Thats no good! Yeah i saw the ambo, was not really anyones fault he obviously didnt see me and i certainly dont try to take people out probably should have gone and seen him but neither of us was prob in the mood....

[Brett]

Thats no good! Yeah i saw the ambo, was not really anyones fault he obviously didnt see me and i certainly dont try to take people out probably should have gone and seen him but neither of us was prob in the mood....

Yeah for sure... these things do happen. I mean it is a track day, it was the Fast group so overtaking on the inside was permitted...shit happens. Just sucks that you know have a buggered bike just short of Wanganui and he has a buggered thumb...not really a win win situation at all...

[fixer]

Hi Choppa. Sorry to hear about your exhaust. I hope you can get it fixed in time for Wanganui. I'm supposed to be racing in the bucket GP at Taupo at Chris Lawrence's Road Race Spectacular just after Wanganui but that definietly won't be happening. I spent the weekend in Middlemore so they could put the pieces of my thumb back together. Hopefully I'll be okay for the next round of the AMCC bucket champs in February.

It was interesting to read your side of the story. I have to admit I've been thinking dark thoughts about you all weekend. Brett was wrong of course. It wasn't actually the fast group. The last session of the day was "all in" with slow, medium and fast riders running. And it IS a track day, not a race, even for the fast group. It is very much the responsibility of passing rider to avoid the guy in front. That pass was just too tight for a track day. You came up on my outside very close to the corner and your bike was only half a bike length ahead when you started to turn in. I have your rear tyre marks all down the right thigh of what were nice new Kushitani leathers to prove it.

That said, I can see that I need to change the way I enter the hairpin. After coming out of the kink I need to get to the left of the track earlier before I hit the picks so that someone coming up behind me will know where I'm going. I really needed a 150m marker at the hairpin. Because there isn't one, I was using the end of a skidmark about a third of the way in from the left side of the track as a braking marker but then I had to get more towards the outside of the track to get a decent line into the corner. I will try to handle the hairpin differently in future.

I guess I'm not used to guys coming up behind me that fast either. I've been riding track days for 5 years now, mostly at Taupo, on the same bike that I bought new in '03, and I'm usually among the faster riders at any event. There have been a handful of scary moments, of course, but never a dent in the fender till now.

So, maybe we can agree that I'll be more careful at the hairpin, if you'll watch out for guys like me at track days.

Tim Fraser
Alstare Corona Suzuki GSR-R600K3

[Brett]

Hi Choppa. Sorry to hear about your exhaust. I hope you can get it fixed in time for Wanganui. I'm supposed to be racing in the bucket GP at Taupo at Chris Lawrence's Road Race Spectacular just after Wanganui but that definietly won't be happening. I spent the weekend in Middlemore so they could put the pieces of my thumb back together. Hopefully I'll be okay for the next round of the AMCC bucket champs in February.

It was interesting to read your side of the story. I have to admit I've been thinking dark thoughts about you all weekend. Brett was wrong of course. It wasn't actually the fast group. The last session of the day was "all in" with slow, medium and fast riders running. And it IS a track day, not a race, even for the fast group. It is very much the responsibility of passing rider to avoid the guy in front. That pass was just too tight for a track day. You came up on my outside very close to the corner and your bike was only half a bike length ahead when you started to turn in. I have your rear tyre marks all down the right thigh of what were nice new Kushitani leathers to prove it.

That said, I can see that I need to change the way I enter the hairpin. After coming out of the kink I need to get to the left of the track earlier before I hit the picks so that someone coming up behind me will know where I'm going. I really needed a 150m marker at the hairpin. Because there isn't one, I was using the end of a skidmark about a third of the way in from the left side of the track as a braking marker but then I had to get more towards the outside of the track to get a decent line into the corner. I will try to handle the hairpin differently in future.

I guess I'm not used to guys coming up behind me that fast either. I've been riding track days for 5 years now, mostly at Taupo, on the same bike that I bought new in '03, and I'm usually among the faster riders at any event. There have been a handful of scary moments, of course, but never a dent in the fender till now.

So, maybe we can agree that I'll be more careful at the hairpin, if you'll watch out for guys like me at track days.

Tim Fraser
Alstare Corona Suzuki GSR-R600K3

I stand corrected...you are right, it was an all mixed session...I forgot.
Really sorry you had to spend the weekend in middlemore, hope the thumb heals asap. Tried to chat to the guys about makign sure yuor bike was stored safely etc. for the night with you obviously out of action, offered them my garage for the weekend...not sure what they did with it in the end...hope you got it back safely...

Anyway, was nice to meet you in the morning...hoep to see you out there again soon. Heal up well.

[fixer]

Hi Brett,

Thanks for looking out for my bike, and for the offer of your shed. Steve gave me a number for Gary who apparently has the key to the shed at Pukekohe where my bike is currently being kept. I haven't managed to get hold of Gary yet, but I'm hoping the bike will turn up in due course.

I am optimistic that the bike will be functionally ok because I saw Steve riding round the carpark on it from my vantage point in the ambulance. I will be a bit sad if the Corona fairings have taken a real beating, but I've had 5 good years without a scratch, and I never expected it to last this long.

What were you riding by the way?

[CHOPPA]

Hey man, im real sorry to hear about your injurys and bike! Yeah your right its totally up to the guy thats doin the passin, it is prob a good idea to brake in a straight line but dont let me tell ya what to do! Its hard to get track time compared to mx so i usually do all the track days possible but im having a big rethink on the whole track day idea!

[Brett]

Hi Brett,

Thanks for looking out for my bike, and for the offer of your shed. Steve gave me a number for Gary who apparently has the key to the shed at Pukekohe where my bike is currently being kept. I haven't managed to get hold of Gary yet, but I'm hoping the bike will turn up in due course.

I am optimistic that the bike will be functionally ok because I saw Steve riding round the carpark on it from my vantage point in the ambulance. I will be a bit sad if the Corona fairings have taken a real beating, but I've had 5 good years without a scratch, and I never expected it to last this long.

What were you riding by the way?

I was the bloke who you chatted to for a while at the beginning of the track day on the GSXR 600 - Black...on a trailer behind a white corolla.

Your bike seemed fairly ok...from memory just fairing damage and not too bad at that. Might be wrong...but that is what a cursory glance seemed to show. I am sure it can still be ridden as is, fairings (except the front wheel guard) all seemed pretty ok.

Choppa...don't give up onthe track days...it is valuable for those of us less experienced to have you racer sorts around to give us advice!

[fixer]

Yeah ... thanks Brett. And thanks Speedie. Unless some surprise infection strikes, I'm hopeful that my thumb will make a full recovery. I believe the operation went well. And it feels ok as far as I can tell (bearing in mind that it's still in a cast and have a belly full of painkillers and antibiotics). :-)

I'll try to track Gary down today. I might even just go down there with the trailer and camp out at the track until I find him. Do you know if he's a Pukekohe local? Does he work at the track or in Pukekohe?

[Biggles08]

Well I had a blast on friday....did my pb around Puke and sorted out a few different lines and gear selections. Bugger about the bike fixer :-( I did see a helmet being thrown around after the incident when i came around the hairpin...you looked pretty upset!

I understand both sides of the story really because before I went racing I used to hate 'racers' getting too close to me at a track day....now since I've been racing its a normal thing. When your racing you tend to trust people around you more and hence get closer to them...its hard to remember to change your riding style for a track day scenario when you have been used to other riders being so close.

Anyway Chop....don't give up on track days...it was fun trying to keep up with you (with little success of course) and i don't think I would have done a PB of 64.44sec if you were not lighting a firecracker under my arse :-D

[fixer]

Latest update on the bike recovery front (especially for Speedie)...

Have driven to Pukekohe and spoken to Gary. Not sure why he doesn't answer his cellphone. Maybe I have the wrong number. Unfortunately he didn't have the keys to the shed with him (apparently the first time in 20 years that this has happened), so my mate and I will be heading out there again tomorrow. Excellent.

But we will get there in the end.

I'm coming to terms with the situation and, quite frankly, apart from the last few minutes of the last session, it was a brilliant track day! Thanks to Steve for organising it and Murray for his advice and Rob for not actually being ill when I showed him my thumb. And special thanks to Speedie for picking me up and for looking after all of us bozos who repeatedly put ourselves at risk for the sake of a few fast corners.

Tim

[prettybillie]

Choppa...don't give up onthe track days...it is valuable for those of us less experienced to have you racer sorts around to give us advice!

I totally agree with this!

[fixer]

Woo hoo! Bike retrieved. Mostly cosmetic damage. Only a broken gear lever appears to prevent it from actually being ridden. We live to "rash magnificently"* again.

Happy Xmas all.

Tim.

* Quote from the inside of my old Nankai leathers.