Heading to Monticello to check it out! Who's coming with?

[The Crashing Tomato]

Tony ..... very fair observation.

[noxin]

I had fun.

That corner you mentioned, the double apex, was one of my two problem areas all day. Had fun exploring the inner dirt bike in the Bandit, but didn't drop it.

The other was actually turn 2, mainly due to the quick transition between 1 and 2. Finally got both of them semi-decent towards the end of the day.

[OreoGaborio]

Awesome! Sounds promising Lookin forward to hearin all the other reviews!

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

The place is awesome, It flows it real easy to get a good flow going. In the morning nobody knew where the hell they were going. we were all sort of creeping around. then after a while I relized your are only reaching for the front brake 4 times per lap. at the end of the day we were flying.

As far as saftey goes. I felt safe but I dont look at walls and other stuff I really just look where I am going, not where I dont want to go.

I will Ride there again for sure, I do not think I would want to race there

[madkaw]

I wish I was able to make it around and intro myself to some of you. All I saw was the back of Denno and some dude with www.tonystrackdays.com stitched on the back of his suit. Anyway, I had a great time and I look forward to running this track again. Hopefully everone here had a fun time as well.

Jeff B. (#137)

[TTD]

All I saw was... some dude with www.tonystrackdays.com stitched on the back of his suit.
Jeff B. (#137)

[madkaw]

Tony, keep me posted if you plan to book some events @ Monticello. I don't care who I ride with as long as I get to ride that track again

[TTD]

Tony, keep me posted if you plan to book some events @ Monticello. I don't care who I ride with as long as I get to ride that track again

Will do.

In the long run, I think there will be plenty of options to run Monticello.

I just hope that no serious injury happens before some additional protection is in place.

I know it's hard to look around at the outsides of the track when you're on the bike, but that's exactly what everyone should do when they first get to a track.

I did this and decided there were a few places that I absolutely did not want to go down... and I rode accordingly in those spots.

[FirstDuc-1098]

had a good time. neat little track. very nice facility. strange little town with nothing much. stayed at the super 8 which i wouldn't again the next time.

went down with ku996r(Carlton) and pitted together


Carlton on the track


Akira rode Carlton's bike after his died


me out on the track


some motor club members


the BostonMoto guys


I've got some track photos with the Advanced guys running

[Jim]

the BostonMoto guys

way to angle the camera in the right position to cut me out of the picture

[FirstDuc-1098]

sorry Jim

[FirstDuc-1098]

[Pittenger5]

Aww, lookit CEO and his pretty dirtbike

[CBR929RE]

Let's see...

At NHMS, I believe that Turns 8 and the bottom of 9/10 are the most dangerous.

My reasoning is that these are the high speed areas with minimal run off.

Most other areas that have minimal runoff (12/2/3) are not high speed.

This is similar to Monticello. Some places, if you go down or worse... drive off the track... you're in for a world of hurt.

I certainly saw places at Monticello that someone could get "sucked in" to trouble.

After one session, I predicted to Graham and Ken the first crash (Turn 6? At the bottom of the hill after the left hand sweeper). Sure enough, the second session someone went down there. Fortunately, he crashed on the track and did not reach the barriers. My prediction was based solely on the places that sucked me in during the first session.


The track is very flowing and as we gained confidence...we gained speed.

Several times the ex-racer in me said, twist the throttle! Fortunately, the tires stuck and there were no incidents.

So... I guess I would rate it about equal to Loudon overall.

STT did a good job running their program too. Denno from BM was in a vest, so I assume he had/has something to do with them, and they should all be commended for their efforts and a good day.

I only hope that this is the beginning of the Monticello improvements and trackdays. And I really hope they get a garage area... or it's going to suck there on wet days.

are you saying there's runoff in 3 at NHMS? to me a wall with another turn right on the other side kind of means there's no runoff.

Correction...

I should have said that IF Monticello puts AIRFENCE in a few corners, I feel the danger level would be on par with NHMS.

Right now, I feel NHMS is "safer" by a factor of whatever benefit airfence provides over just tires.

I know its different in person but from watching the videos it looks like Monti is safer than NHMS. I just find NHMS to be particularly unsafe for probably half the track if not more.

of course I have no doubt you are faster than I am and I know you have tons more track experience than I do.

[CEO]

I know its different in person but from watching the videos it looks like Monti is safer than NHMS.

+10000000

see my review in the other thread post #9 (http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...view-here.html)

[knarlydog]

Just a quick note/addition: The entry on the front straight could turn really ugly if the right combination of things happened. While there is some run off there, the wall that lines the front straight is right there as well. The right trajectory could put you into that wall, or worse the abutment for that wall. Just tread lightly there... You crest the rise, it goes slightly off camber and there is a pavement transition. Hit it wrong and you might lose the front end at 100+. The flagging stations need to be looked at. They might work for a car, but you have to look off line to see them well. They don't just jump out at you. The other thing was curbing paint. Its not FIM grade curbing paint, meaning it has a lot less traction then the riding surface. I found it to be pretty slippery in some spots. That said, I would go back in a second and will sign up for the other dates. I gave Dave from STT some feedback about the above and I know he's looking for other feedback as well.

BTW - The south course is just over a mile, I got 1.18 miles on my read out. Its a great small bike and motard track. You'll run circles around big bikes there all day.

[Degsy]

Couple of pics

[Degsy]

Worked on body position all day. End of day got much better.

Big thanks to Scottie for following me around at 90% his pace to take video and to Denno for control riding all day and spotting the one thing that I was missing to help my crossed-up-ness.

[Tricky Mike]

Worked on body position all day.

You actually look a lot better in that shot.

[TTD]

are you saying there's runoff in 3 at NHMS? to me a wall with another turn right on the other side kind of means there's no runoff..

I haven't re read my statement, but I believe I said HI SPEED areas with minimal runoff?

Turn 3 has a pass through if you lose brakes.

If you don't lose brakes and simply crash, you are going slower than 90 percent of the corners at Monticello.

And... after being around for about 1000? crashes in turn 3... I can say for certainty that the turn is relatively safe.

Believe me... I want Monticello to happen.

Having ridden both tracks, I will say with confidence that I'd rather crash at Loudon at most of the corners... mainly because there is air fence in the places that you are most likely to hit fast.

Monticello is fun, and worlds better than when we looked at it in March or April.

Of course... if you stay on two wheels, and if you ride within your limits... it is a blast.

But don't fool yourself... there are high speed corners there where a screw up means being quickly into the tires or armco.

My job as a trackday organizer means planning for the screwup and minimizing the chance of injuries WHEN the screwups happen.

Just about every possible screwup area in NHMS is covered with airfence and most of them with both airfence and tires.

Until I can say the same about Monticello, I will say that NHMS is marginally safer.

I hope the time is near that I can say with confidence that both tracks are equally safe.

In the meantime, if you ride Monticello please take a moment to look on the outside of each corner and decide for yourself where you will end up if you crash... and ride accordingly.

My guess is that other trackdays will be run before airfence is installed.

I've hit Nascar tire walls before at speed and they aren't that bad. I don't know about passenger car tire walls (which is what Monticello has), but I'm hopeful they aren't much worse.

I know for a fact that Airfence is better than either, and that is what I ultimately would like to see for Motorcycle events at Monticello.

[Manny]

Worked on body position all day. End of day got much better.

Big thanks to Scottie for following me around at 90% his pace to take video and to Denno for control riding all day and spotting the one thing that I was missing to help my crossed-up-ness.

what was the one thing?

[CBR929RE]

I haven't re read my statement, but I believe I said HI SPEED areas with minimal runoff?

Turn 3 has a pass through if you lose brakes.

If you don't lose brakes and simply crash, you are going slower than 90 percent of the corners at Monticello.

And... after being around for about 1000? crashes in turn 3... I can say for certainty that the turn is relatively safe.

Believe me... I want Monticello to happen.

Having ridden both tracks, I will say with confidence that I'd rather crash at Loudon at most of the corners... mainly because there is air fence in the places that you are most likely to hit fast.

Monticello is fun, and worlds better than when we looked at it in March or April.

Of course... if you stay on two wheels, and if you ride within your limits... it is a blast.

But don't fool yourself... there are high speed corners there where a screw up means being quickly into the tires or armco.

My job as a trackday organizer means planning for the screwup and minimizing the chance of injuries WHEN the screwups happen.

Just about every possible screwup area in NHMS is covered with airfence and most of them with both airfence and tires.

Until I can say the same about Monticello, I will say that NHMS is marginally safer.

I hope the time is near that I can say with confidence that both tracks are equally safe.

In the meantime, if you ride Monticello please take a moment to look on the outside of each corner and decide for yourself where you will end up if you crash... and ride accordingly.

My guess is that other trackdays will be run before airfence is installed.

I've hit Nascar tire walls before at speed and they aren't that bad. I don't know about passenger car tire walls (which is what Monticello has), but I'm hopeful they aren't much worse.

I know for a fact that Airfence is better than either, and that is what I ultimately would like to see for Motorcycle events at Monticello.

ok I get ya on the low speed/runoff thing with 3.

hopefully they take your advice into consideration at Monticello and get some airfence.

[Crash Dummy Denno]

what was the one thing?

take a look at the first picture: his left arm over the tank has a huge gap of air and is stiff, in the second picture he has relaxed his left arm and its draped over the tank allowing him to drop his head and shoulders...

[scottieducati]

Degsy, it shan't be long before that 90% pace leaves me in your dust. You wound it up nice and easy every session and were cooking by the end... damn near draggin elbows.

I love your Sheene-esque "old school" riding style though, watch the GP's of old and you'll see riders hanging off but their heads are still centered.... watch em now and you'll see most hanging their head out leading the way into the turn. Which is better? That's not for me to say, but it's all about the feel... and you were feelin it by the last sessions!

I'm scared to see the difference once that Gixxer is rocking the "hot setup."

[knarlydog]

Had a blast riding with the BoMo Boys (that should be a decal BTW..) !! It was great no matter when we entered the track, we all seemed to end up together by the end of the session. Look forward to the next trip down or anywhere else when you guys are not working the event I would never have thought I would need to go up another tooth on my Loudon gearing to keep the two-stroke on the pipe. Next time I'll have the gearing sorted a bit better so I don't have to kamikaze all the turns in order keep the aprilia on the boil. When I touched the elbow down in turn 8 (?? double apex right after the long uphill left) a few times, I knew it was time to take it back a notch since I drove out there solo.