| Author | Message | ||
     Wolfridgerider |
I just had my first day on the track and I am HOOKED! I have been doing a few "search" for info about what it takes to get on the track..... safety wire.... number plates.... drip pan.... I have found good info on all of them. I need to get a good steering damper that I can order from my local dealer. I wanted to order the one that comes on the XBRR but when the local parts manager called about getting me one he was told it wouldn't fit on the Firebolt and that every one they had shipped out got sent back. Any info you can give me about a good steering damper and how to get my bolt race ready would be great....... Just don't tell my wife! She is freaked out enough as it is that I'm getting on the track at 40+ | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
This is the write up I posted on the quick board about my first track day I just finished my first track school at Nelson Ledges in N.E. Ohio. I wish I would have found this type of riding long ago. I am sore as hell today but its all good. I drove up on Sunday to camp the night before thinking there would be some other riders there to BS with. NOT. I was the only one there. I set up my tent and got the bike off the trailer. I was riding it around the infield when one of the track workers asked if I wanted to go on the track. DUH!! I said hell yeah. I signed a waiver and I was on the track for a few get to know the track laps. It was getting dark so I parked it and watched the track workers get ready for the next day. Monday. I woke up at 3am, 4, then 5 finally I get out of the tent around 6. I just couldn't sleep. Between being stoked to ride and all the damn birds making noise, sleep wasn't coming easy. I wipe the dew from the bike and get some breakfast via the cooler and wait for other riders to start showing up......... Much to my surprise I was the only Buell getting on the Track. The big 4, BMW, Triumph, Ducati and even a Sportster came to play. We all take our bikes to tech. to be inspected and then have out first riders meeting. You slow, you fast. They split us up in 2 groups, "A" group is the fast, been on the track before guys and "B" group is full of the "I'm testing the water" riders. A lot of the "A" group are looking to get speed certified so they can start racing and get on the track with no instructors. The B group is FULL of people like me. "I want to ride better" The Classroom. We go over all the rules of the track, flags and get split into groups by riding style and bikes. They tried to put me with the Sportster rider but I cried and they put me with a SV650. We get geared up and head for the track. The Track. Nelson Ledges is about 2 miles + or - and smooth as silk in spots and rough a cob in others. It has 13 turns and two long straights. Turn 4 is a decreasing radius nasty bastard and turn 13 is tighter than anything on the Dragon. The ride. We start off slow following the instructor to learn the line. We do this for a 20 min. sessions, increasing speed with every lap followed by classroom instruction. We go over parts of the track and add things like getting off the seat and choosing target points on the track to keep the same line with every lap. FASTER and FASTER. The SV rider and I are pushing the instructor to go faster and we do. Now its our turn for the instructor to follow us to see how we are doing. We have been passing the other groups all morning and now its time to drop the hammer. The SV rider is first and I follow behind the instructor. We are hauling ASS!! After a few laps behind the SV we pull into pit row so the instructor can tell him what he needs to work on. Its my turn. We head out from pit row to turn one. I give it hell but try to work the turns the best I can. The Buell loves it but the SV isn't happy.... We go back to pit row and I get the thumbs up & "We may put you into the A group". I must be doing OK.... Its the SV riders turn again. We go out and pass a group on the back straight and I get left behind. Its against the rules to pass in the turns so I think I'm screwed. I drop the hammer every chance I get to get caught back up. I didn't see that my group went to pit row and my instructor pulled in behind me. I'm going as fast as I can to catch back up to the guy that is behind me the whole time. He passes me in turn 12 and motions for me to pull into pit row. I think I'm in trouble but he has a big smile on his face and says "You are going to the A group" YES!! The A group. I get a warm welcome from one of the instructors. "Watch out boys, Harley is here to show us how its done" It was a statement made in jest and I took it with a grain of salt. He was riding a custom Ducati that looked and sounded like nothing else on the track. We head out for our 20 min. run and it was GREAT. The "A" group was much smaller and a LOT faster. I didn't get passed by any students, only instructors got around me. The ban on passing in the turns was killing me!! I could roll up on a Speed Triple on ever turn and passing him there would have been easy for the Buell but that was a "NO NO". We head back to into pit row and the Ducati riding instructor comes up to me and can't believe how long the legs are one the Buell. "I thought you would hit the top end sooner, but you just kept going". That was followed by how impressed he was with the Buell and my riding. My head was starting to swell. He then asked how many track days I had done. When I told him it was my first he couldn't believe it. My head swelled more. I almost couldn't get my helmet back on for out last 20 min go around. After we finished and I was about to fall over from the ass kicking the track had given me, my "A" and "B" instructors had a talk and I got the big thumbs up to be "SPEED CERTIFIED". Now I can get on the track with no instructors and practice all I want. Here goes more money! I will post what pics I have later. Get on the track!! It beats the ass of any street riding you have ever done and makes the Dragon look like child's play. Plus its SAFE SAFE SAFE! NO rocks. NO cars. Nothing but a great time! | ||
| Slaughter |
There's been a bunch of discussions here but I strongly recommend NOT going Storz. I've been using one and it has bent every time I've fallen. Adds $100 to the costs of every one of your crashes. Oh - add enough $$$ to your budget to cover a couple tip-overs a year. LSL makes one but I'd talk to a racer who has used one to see if it fades with time - small body can heat up with aggressive use. Give Al at American Sport Bike a call (though he's at the track today on a track day) Don't worry about the age thing, I did new racer school at 49. First podium at 51. Oh - and often overlooked... GET GOOD INSURANCE!!! If you EVER have to deal with HMO when needing critical treatment by specialists, you will regret EVER trying to save money on medical insurance. | ||
| Buellrcr |
with a little mods on a firebolt a xbrr steering damper will work i got one on one of my race bikes | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I just ordered my belly pan. I didn't think about the fact that I have a Drummer on my bike. Is this going to be a problem? I'm still on the hunt for a damper. | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Belly pan needs to be trimmed to fit anyway. With the Drummer might be tricky with the single outlet, but it is shorter than stock, so it may not be too difficult. I did mine over the winter with the Buell race muffler and to get it how I wanted it, it took about 4 hours. Coolice on the Badweb here came up with a nice way to mount the pan and it works out great. I'll take some pics latter and post them. | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Also make sure you stop by us Buell racers at Homecoming!! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I'll be there!! Look for my custom t-shirt!!  | ||
| Peterr |
Thats a great write-up.  The track can be real addictive, and it's possibly the best fun you can have legally with your clothes on, and involving motorcycles... Hillbilly Motors, in Germany have an excellent catalog, see it on www.goetz-motorsport.de, and use the LSL damper. I ran an LSL once, and never had any problems. The öhlins for the XBRR will fit with a bit of modding, but if the bike is going to be exclusively a track-weapon, thats not such a problem. The Buell geometry is great too, so the damper doesn't need to be the most expensive. I'd be curious to see if anyone has fitted a Scott, or the similar öhlins top-yoke damper. Storz have a cheapish kit as well for the Buell, and Matris are good quality gear, and may be interested in helping out, they don't yet list a damper kit for the XB series... Look at reducing a bit your steering lock, too. Too much lock means that the brake pads can get knocked back in a tankslapper, and unless you rear-wheel steer everywhere, you don't need much lock on the track ! The XBRR 8 piston caliper kit, with a GSX-R or Brembo PR19/18 or 20 master-cylinder is also a good mod, with three of the springs from behind the disc removed to give the disc a bit more float (stops it warping so fast..) There is a wealth of cool race stuff out there to help you push the performance envelope, the only disadvantage is that it usually involves pushing the money envelope into someone elses hands...  Stay sunny-side up !! |
