| Author | Message | ||
     Lake_bueller |
First let me start by thanking Buell and Private Track Time for putting on a first class event!!! The personnel from both sides were great to deal with. Here's my quick review of the day: While the temperatures climbed into the low 90's, the breeze helped to keep you somewhat cool. But then again, the breeze DIDN'T help make the Road America Straight any easier. Once you climbed the hill to the pit entrance, it felt like you hit a wall of wind. I rode in the intermediate class and thought the pace was great. Because the track is so big, you had plenty of space. The only times I got passed were in the straights (mainly Road America Straight and Kettle Bottoms). There were still the "corner parkers" in the intermediate group. It seemed that I passed the same guys that just passed me going into turns 5, 6, 7 & 12 (Canada Corner). The GSXR was my bike of choice for the day. Prior to getting that bike, I never really enjoyed Road America as a track. But the 750 was the perfect balance of torque, HP and handling. A few of us took some demo Buells out with the novice group. I rode an XB12SS. The first thing I noticed was a complete lack of ground clearance (oh yeah...no wind protection either!!). I was dragging just about everything (footpegs, toe pegs, toes, knees, sidestand). But it was fun mixing it up with guys on idential bikes. It kinda reminded me of IROC racing  I only saw 2 bikes with damage and 1 in the kitty litter in Canada Corner. Andy (Appleton Buell) was taken out in an ambulance. I heard it was only some bumps & bruises. Overall....it was a great day! I can't wait to get back on the track (oh yeah..another one on Monday  ). I'll be back at RA on July 12 & October 9. I hope to see some of you there!! | ||
| Buellerandy |
My bike actually made it to the kitty litter? I thought it was just me | ||
| Budc |
Hey Andy, Glad your alright. I was too far back to see what happened. Just bumps and bruises I hope. How did the bike fair? Speedy recovery. BudC | ||
| Coolice |
Great time for sure! THANKS TO THE DEALERS, PTT AND BUELL! Lots of riding for all, and the demo rides all day. I rode the TT, wow fun bike. Maybe a Uly to TT conversion soon? (hey Bud, you forgot to give me something....) | ||
| Rasta_dog |
Me and my buddy drove up from Cincinnati on Wednesday, hauling my black 06 XB12SS with magnesium stripe, and his brand new black 07 R6 with aftermarket plastic for the track. We were both in the novice group. It was my first track day, and my buddy's fourth. I was sure nervous the night before when it was miserably cool and rainy, but the weather Thursday turned out just fine. The spread that Buell & PTT had at the track was great...coffee, water, juice, and doughnuts for breakfast(if you weren't to nervous to eat, or worried about fitting into your leathers, or both like me). They also had a lunch spread for us. It was great. My lack of mechanical skills shown through first thing in the morning when it was time to get my bike to tech, and nothing happened when I turned the key. The first thing I thought was that I had left the key in the on position inside the trailer all night and the battery was dead. I was so mad inside thinking I put in all this money and preparation, and now I wouldn't be able to ride my bike at Road America. Freaking unbelievable! Well Illinois Jay and his buddies, who were pitted next to us, had a battery charger so I threw that on and kept my fingers crossed, with about 45 minutes until the first novice session. After about fifteen minutes, I walked to tech just before it was closing to explain my situation and they were great. They showed me were they were pitted and said I could come by anytime once I was running to go through technical inspection so I could get out on the track. They also pointed me towards the James Gang Racing crew who checked the battery right away to find that it was not the problem. Well, after about ten minutes the James Gang crew determined that, while tinkering with the fuses to not run head lamps & tail light during preparation of my bike, I had placed a 15v fuse in the wrong spot. So thanks to them, I was able to make it to the track for the first novice session. From there, things went fast, or at least tried to. The novice group was the largest & the slowest of the groups, which is both good, and as it should be. There were about 30-40 riders in our group. Ten of which thought they were Jay Springsteen or Nickey Hayden, ten of which were out for a leisurely ride and didn't want to feel hassled or intimidated because of it, and ten somewhere in between. It seemed to me, with the help of the coaches and instructors from PTT, that everyone co-existed really well on the track together. I was given #39, which I scratched out the 3 because I wanted to be Jay Springsteen. So at the start of my first session ever, we are in pit lane, and I am in the middle of the pack, we get the green flag and...everyone putts away at about 35 mph. Well I clearly remember in the meeting that we were instructed to get up to speed immediately, so I roll on the throttle and get up to 90 mph, and I'm in front of everybody going into turn one...at Road America...on my first track day. Well, to my surprise, this last all the way through turn 5, at the end of a straight away which I had just gone 110 mph, as fast as I had ever been on motorcycle, and this is my first lap. Well then I'm shooting up the hill after turn 5 and I see the Toyota bridge over the track at the top of the hill, and for whatever reason, I'm thinking that the track continues to run straight, but as soon as I get up the rise, the track blindly turns left...Whoa shit! I grab a hand full of brake and then lean the bike over into the turn. I think that I'm about to have my first crash in turn 6 of my first track day. The bike drifts out to the rumble strips, I catch just a patch of grass as I exit the turn, two bikes pass me before turn 7, and I settle back in and decide to follow an instructor to study their lines the next four laps of the session, and for at least a couple of laps in the rest of the morning sessions. Boy, I got lucky I didn't crash with my over enthusiasm at the start. By the end of the day, thanks to some good coaching and my sweet handling Buell, I got up to 132 mph down the back straight, and was taking the carousel at 90 mph. Not only was it a freaking riot, but it was quite a grueling workout. The rest of the summer will be dedicated to the family & work, but I'll be heading to the Buell Inside Pass track day at Mid Ohio in October. Hopefully I'll be an improved mechanic, and remember to harness my enthusiasm at the start of novice session one! | ||
| Ceejay |
Rasta-Cool! I'll see you there at Mid-O. I took the wifey to the Grocery the other day and while waiting around did some loitering of the magazine isle. Can't remember the mag(sport rider-maybe) but they had an article about buell's inside pass. The two writers didn't even show up with bikes but stated that they had a blast, it was well run, and got to ride whatever they wanted, buellwise. It sounds like it's that way for everyone. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
Rasta - A couple parts of your story have me worried. Your ability to know what your spedo was saying in the middle of a turn, and the speed you were traveling at the end of a straight. I strongly recommend that during your next track event that you tape over your speedo. If you are looking at that, you are not paying attention to something far more important.........the track. (I realize this was your first day, and I'm not trying to be harsh......only wanting to look out for a fellow rider and hope to keep you safe.) You would be supprised how many track stories I have heard from someone that just crashed, yet they know the exact speed that they were traveling......usually not a coincidence. | ||
| Schmitty |
I absolutely agree with X1! If you're busy looking at your speedo at Road America or any track especially in the novice group you're making a huge mistake!! I was in the novice group that day also, and there seemed to be a few people who were more concerned with how fast the bike was going in a straight line than hitting brake markers consistently, or ripping corner apexes. This was evidenced by more than one corner that was an absolute parking lot. Thank god they opened up the passing rules after lunch!! Otherwise, this was an absolutely top notch event. It was very well run, and the accommodations were great. Let's hope Buell keeps this program for a while!! Schmitty | ||
| Rasta_dog |
Points taken. Like I admitted, I was, in my own estimation, a little over exuberant at first, but I couldn't help to glance down occasionally on the straight away to see how fast I was going. I mean, the profiles on this very website ask what your top speed on two wheels is, and at Road America, it was a closed course situation. As far as checking my speed in a corner, the only corner I checked it in was the carousel, again with no other bikes around. Now that corner has to be at least 1/8th of a mile long. Maybe longer. It seemed to go around forever...like a carousel! I rode with every intention of making it home to my family without a scratch, but I paid the money and drove eight hours to have some fun at Road America. I was simply attempting to re-tell the tale of my first track day with a little style.  | ||
| Coolice |
Rasta- Don't worry about it, you did it and the track IS the place to find out how fast your bike can go. Glad to help with your fuse! Enjoy the memories and go again, and again, and again.... | ||
| Budc |
Hey Schmitty, I hope I wasn't one of those guys! I actually taped up my speedo so I wouldn't look at it. However, this was only my second time on a track so I may have caused a traffic jam or two-sorry. You looked pretty good out there. Sure was a great time. I think I got the "Monkey f*&$#@g a football" look down pretty good by the end of the day-see!  I can't wait 'till October! BudC | ||
| Schmitty |
Thanks Bud! This stuff is all about track time and experience. Since it was your first time on the track, as long as you didn't dump it you learned something. Hey Rasta, I'm not trying to rain on the parade, so don't take that as harsh criticism. Maybe just a friendly suggestion for next time.  If this was your first track day, I know I'll be seeing you again 'cause it won't be your last!!  | ||
| Lake_bueller |
I couldn't find any of my on the demo XB12SS. These are my GSXR:   | ||
| Gearhead |
Ha, Ha, ha, my day didn't start off well at all! I was all cranked up about getting the race bike out on the track to set it up for the races during Homecoming. I've done several track days and forgot the golden rule, "take it easy on lap number one". Lap one, turn 5, my first low side, right into the gravel trap!! The bike only lost it's oil cooler scoop and some scratches along with some scratches on my leathers and fortunately no helmet damage. It was harder on my ego than anything else. The rest of the day was great, except for a slight miscalculation on turn 6 during one of the sessions, but that's why I was there, to test the water and find my limits. I pretty much got walked on all day in the advanced group but as Paul James told me, "You won't learn how to go fast in the slower groups." I did learn alot but wished I could have ridden with my friend Troy in the intermediate group at least once.  Probably one of the coolest things during the day was meeting the young guy pitted next to us and seeing his excitement after every session of his first track day. Later we learned that his bike's suspension settingswere way off. So after explaining how and why the setting should be right, Troy and I got him fixed up. He came in after that session with a huge grin, he finally got what Buell handling was all about!! I hope I run into him again, he's hooked!! | ||
| Buellerandy |
I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing everyone here again on the next track day I absolutely can't stand riding on the street anymore. After Thursday, I rode up to Wabeno to see how the Uly handled in off road conditions and HOLLY COW! For a guy who had no off road experience on a motorcycle, it took about 10 miles of the 250 mile route to get used to handling it and kicking it out around gravel and deep sanded corners. Of course this added to my tenderness, but it was absolutely worth it. Even wrecking at the track day was a hoot. Now to just fix the bike | ||
| Reepicheep |
Heres a thought.... what about taping over the speedometer, and stashing a GPS set to log somewhere that I cant see it or get to it. I could then "play back" my day later at the laptop. | ||
| Xb9 |
Had a great time! First time to RA, took a few sessions to nail it down, and lucked out with my gearing was spot on. Drove in from Cleveland, Ohio, and I'll be at VIR and Mid-Ohio later in the summer. Thanks to Buell for all the good food and the Demo ride on the Super TT. I couldn't believe they let us take those Demo's out on the track and wail on them like that! Best way to Demo the capabilities of a good sportbike though.   |
