| Author | Message | ||
     M1combat |
Well... I finally got to get to the racetrack. Did the www.aztrackday.com afternoon session at Firebird Raceway (The west track) yesterday. What a great time. Saved a highside, the ZTL saved me from a front end washout, Saved myself from rear end sway twice (once from too much brakes over bumps, once from shifting into first when I shouldn't have). The near highside was brilliant fun  . It didn't catch up to me until about 1/2 way down the backstretch and I thought "That coulda been pretty ugly"... As I came around on the next lap and my tires were warm I saw a big 15-20' streak . Brilliant fun. Now if I could just learn to do that on purpose . The near lowside was due to a rough patch of pavement about 3'x5' leading into the oval in a slow speed tight right. It's about 10-14" from the rumble strip and is pretty rough. Ran over it with the front and the tire just stuck like it had glue on it. I saw 3-4 other bikes go down on that same spot for the same reason... The track is a 13 turn 1.2 mile roadcourse. Top speed down the back stretch (which I only checked a few times in the first segment) was about 110. I'd imagine that by the end of the fourth segment I was probably more like 115 or so. Heavy brake zone after that with some bumps. Saw a number of people (even the advanced group) that were caught out by them. The problem is that the bumps are low frequency and don't run across the track at in the same direction as each other. This means that if you aren't on the good line then the bumps are totally different. The ZTL works or no one else knew how to use their brakes. They never faded (Lyndall "HH" pads) but I was only running 15 minute segments... More on the pads later. There are a couple fun turns. There are a couple hairy turns. There are a couple difficult turns. The turn that leads onto the front straight is flat a little ways away from the rumble strip, but as you get closer to it it starts to go off camber. It's also cresting just a tad bit of a hill so you can't see the edge of the pavement for the exit. You come out of that in second and that runs into a short straight (well, you never go level but the track is straight). Then a right hand kink. That kink is a tad hairy because there's a dirt berm at the inside of it so you can't see around it... at the exit they have some small cones placed and a few times they had been hit, leaving them in the track for a lap. So, you just put your head down and go like stink and hop that there aren't any cones on your exit line... Works for me  . The cones are to the outside of another short straight and that leads you to another right hand kink. This one's pretty good as far as shape and all that, but there's a patch of pavement at the apex. Upsets the bike just a tad. Feels like it's got mabe 5% less grip that anywhere else in the turn. You've clicked up to third mid turn in that first kink and your getting towards the top of third exiting this one (provided no one got in your way) so you come into the next turn at about 90. This one's an off camber 100 degree turn that looks like a tightening radius turn, but the ruble strip is in the right shape it's an opener. It's also an EXCELLENT place to pass on the brakes. Coming out is an excellent place to pass as well. All in all, it's a pretty cool little track and really seems to suit the Buell well. The 1000's were getting by on the longest straight but that's it. The 600's were pulling away by about 10' down the long straight but I would have that back after the next turn or sometimes two. That said... I was out there with the super street group so it's not like I was running with the pro's by any means. During the first two segment I was coming around those two kinks at what I thought was a pretty good clip. I asked my girlfriend about it and she said "You're nowhere ear as fast as "those" guys through this turn or that one". "Those" guys being the advance groups that was out at the time. I "humphed" and kept watching. I let a couple pounds of air out of my tires before the next segment and went at it again. This time I took to the track second in line right behind a CBR1000RR. I got by him on lap 2 and no one got around me until two laps from when they threw out the checkers. I thought I had done pretty well in that segment and asked the girlfriend about it. She said "You were going a lot faster, and probably about as fast a few times as the intermediate group." The last segment I just concentrated on being smooth and consistent. I wasn't running as fast of a pace, but I was putting the bike exactly where I wanted it every time so that's good... I'm pretty sure this is going to get expensive... Oh yeah.... The brakes. I didn't like the Lyndall Golds at all. They faded on my in a canyon (I was riding pretty hard and for quite some distance, but they shouldn't have faded anyway). The "HH" compound seemed to work well. I suppose they could have a little more initial bite but I can probably get that with a replacement of my brake fluid. It's been in there a while. The overall grip was great. Good enough that a few laps coming off the backstraight I was hard on the front, light on the rear, modulating with the clutch and pedal and could hear both tires squealing into the turn (Did I mention trackdays are a blast?) just before healing it over hard in third and rolling in the gas going into the loose chicane. They weren't over bitey mid turn or anything. I did stab the brakes on a corner entry once (on accident when blipping for a downshift) and they're plenty bitey, but not overly so. The only thing I didn't like about them so much was that they left some very ugly deposits on the rotor. I'll certainly need to get a rotor hone and take care of that. The performance was great though. I should have pictures pretty soon, and video if my GF can figure out how to get them on her computer. | ||
| Firebolteric_ma |
you one lucky-mo-fo! Sounds like you had a great time! Good on you!  | ||
| Blake |
Sounds like too much fun. Way to go Don! Suggestions 4 U... Try the Nissin 804 pads for the track. Replace and bleed your brake fluid. Get a lap timer or at least a stop watch for your GF. | ||
| Xb9 |
"I'm pretty sure this is going to get expensive..." lol, that could be an understatement. But then again, get a couple of tickets on the street and watch your insurance rates take off, it may be cheaper. Let the addiction begin! Glad you had a great time, nothing compares to track riding or racing. Especially on an XB. | ||
| M1combat |
I don't care what anyone on some other board says... The Buell seems to be very fast in the superstreet group on that track (it's a little tight) and I'd bet dimes to dollars it can hang with the guys in the amateur class once I figure out the finer points of the track and gain some confidence. I never got a knee down but I never tried. One thing Leesa mentioned is that "the guys in the faster group seem to hang their legs out a lot farther than you do. You don't seem to at all." I try for the elbow . I don't have a steering damper and didn't feel that I "needed" one, but the second to third shift down the backstretch produced a wiggle every time... I don't know why... It doesn't do that on the street. I suppose there are some rolling bumps down the back straight and maybe I'm shifting right as the front comes off of one. There were a couple times coming out of second gear turns where if I really got it hooked up it would get the front a little light at a decent lean angle and I could imagine one happening there. I need to take an 1/8 of a turn out of my rear compression damping to get it to always hook up a tad better, and I'll take another pound out of each tire so maybe then? I'll find out . The bike already has 30K miles on it and it took the trackday like a champ. I didn't really give it any quarter at all. The only place would be down the back stretch where I would shift into fourth at about 5900-6000 instead of 6300-6500 like I was going into third at. Two places on the track are perfect second gear turns and it gets to about 6700 twice per lap. Took it all like a trooper. A number of people would watch me come into the pit lane after each segment (well, OK, after the last three because I didn't know which way the track went in the first) with a look on their faces that said "Wow... Those things actually work...". I don't know how many 600's and 1000's and 999's and 749's and Aprilia's and Monsters and TL's I passed right in front of the spectator area . I know a lot of people would make excuses for that but you know what... It was my first time on the freaking track (aside from a decent bit of kart stuff just before I got the Buell) and the damn thing just worked. When I entered the track in the first segment I let everyone go by me and then went out last. It worked OK but I got caught up in the slower groups a little and it wasn't too long before the guys that went out first were coming by and I still didn't know which way the track went. I went out about mid-pack in the second segment and did alright. I got passed a few times and made a number of passes myself. The third one I left the pit lane second and got around the guy that left in front of me after two and a half laps. Clean track for a few laps and then started working through traffic. It seemed like there were much smaller groups that were traveling faster at that point so it wasn't to much trouble to get by on the inside or outside coming out of turns (or on the brakes or mid-turn for that matter). The fourth segment I left about 2/3 back in the pack and I got by a lot of people and I don't really remember anyone getting by me anywhere other than people I had just passed getting back by on the backstretch, but I always got back by with enough room to spare by the time we got back around to it... WAY too much fun . I'm hooked. I'll be signing up for the next one in the middle of the month . I'll be needing a set of rims/brakes/etc so I can get a set of softer tires for the track and use MEZ6's for street riding. I'm sure I'll just get a set that comes with a salvage titled bike... | ||
| Crashm1 |
Don you are in SOOOOOO much trouble. This is gonna get expensive for you. Did you get any instruction today or were you just turned loose? I did two track days this year on a little 1.1 mile course and the first timers needed to go through a mini version of the CA superbike curriculum. It helped keep me focused on proper technique. Oh yeah you're probably gonna be sore tomorrow. My legs were killing me the next day. I had no idea there was a muscle at that spot above my knees. It's fun passing those "superior" bikes ain't it? | ||
| M1combat |
It is going to be expensive... I decided a while back that I will start racing. This was the first major step. I already bought all of the personal gear I need except for a good set of race boots. I've just gone through my finances until June... I'm reasonably certain I can get a track bike by the time the race season rolls around in February. I may not be able to get it track worthy by then, but it depends on what I start out with. I have a couple lines open on that subject. I'll definately be registering for the next trackday. The trackday was yesterday but I'm not sore . I had the advantage of having put on 18K of the 30K miles on the bike riding a GREAT canyon road here in Northern AZ. My road drops me off at the middle of turn three . I just head out of my subdivision and take a right . 11 miles of twisties each way. I used to run it 3-4 times a day on weekends. I went up to the classroom that they had for the beginners but they just talked about flag meanings and track etiquite and all that stuff. The organization seems reasonably professional and they said that if I'd like they'll have a professional follow me and give me pointers. I've been a race fan my whole life so I know that stuff pretty well. I figure I'll do one more trackday to learn which way the track goes and then ask them to follow me and see if I can be moved up with the faster guys so I can really start learning. I had my GF try to take pictures from straight ahead and straight behind so I could analyze my technique. I've also been going over certain situations that took place in my head... Only the good ones though. The bad ones I go over once or twice and decide what I did and then forget the incedent. Practice makes permanent whether it's real or mental so I focus on what I was doing that was right. | ||
| Brineusaf |
Awesome report - I cannot wait to get on the track once (Hockenheim). |
