But dear, it followed me home...

[nhbubba]

By the way, you're doing it wrong.



Just sayin'...

[GingahNinjah]

thats a goldwing engine isnt it?!

[nhbubba]

Do we know of any other Hondas with an H6?

[jasnmar]

I've seen this one.

It's not just a GL engine. It's pretty much a GL. Frame, Motor, and rear suspension (well, swing arm anyway) are all stock GL stuff. They've modified the "top" part of the rear shock mount, as they've removed the entire rear subframe. Front end looks completely re-done as those seem to be inverted forks. No idea where they came from, but the rake looks terrifyingly short given the overall length of the bike. Rumor is that it was a "project" from a couple dealership mechanics.

The problem, that I don't think they solved was one of lean angle. They have removed the engine guards (that are what I scrape on first after pegs), but seem to have perhaps made the ground clearance issues worse with the routing of the exhaust, although it is hard to tell from a side only photo.

Other issue with this bike is that even though it has a 1.8L engine, it's still only going to produce about 100HP. No custom tune available. Torque curve is great (up to about 5500 rpm, where the rev limiter kicks), but as far as HP, as 600 will do just as well.

[jwm2k3]

Do we know of any other Hondas with an H6?

Ya, a Valkyrie.

[gumby]

I think that is one of cbrchick's bikes.

[jasnmar]

The original valk had a GL1500 engine that was repurposed. The valk rune, I've not been close to, but it seems to have the same bore and stroke as the GL's 1800.

[G21forme]

I think that is one of cbrchick's bikes.

Oh she gonna slap you!

[gumby]

Oh she gonna slap you!

lol... if it says Repsol, I think Jenna would want to add this bike to her stable.

[G21forme]

lol... if it says Repsol, I think Jenna would want to add this bike to her stable.

She knows better...

[nhbubba]

Ya, a Valkyrie.

Shows what I know...

[jasnmar]

Updates...

So, having just done my first track day on this, I figured it was time for an update...


Things that I did to get ready.
Pulled off the speed-o-healer, sold it on fleabay.
Pulled off the blue "ground effect lighting".
Found a cheap set of track plastics on eBay. They, for the most part, fit right up with minimal cutting (I did some minor surgery to the tail to work with my street undertail and had to drill the rear sub frame a bit).
New rubber from Pirelli. I went with their track day Diablo Rosso Corsa, from Mike and Tony at Mtag. Tony asked "Had you been riding on those things?"
Braided stainless brake lines all around (a bit pointless on the rear, I know, but I felt that they should all be replaced anyway, so meh). This, of course meant a fluid swap as well.
New brake pads all around. EBC HH's in the front. Versa's in the rear.
Replaced the Automatic CCT with a Manual one from Krieger. Seems to work fine.
Pulled the carbs to get the CCT in (probably could have done it without removing them, but...)
While in their check the valve clearances. Replace the valve cover gasket which was weeping a bit.
Spark plugs, cause, well, I was in there.
While either removing or reinstalling the carbs, I managed to break one of the fuel tubes between carbs 1 and 2. That meant I got to separate the set. Borrowed 'bub's extremely cool balancer to balance them.
Frame Sliders from Woodcraft.
Oil and Filter + Air Filter
Throttle cables. I was having trouble with them sticking... I didn't think it was the cables themselves, but on inspection there were a few places that had "rubbed through" the outer casing, so I just replace them.
Front springs came out and were replaced with some 1.0 kg/mm racetechs. While there refreshed the bushings, seals and oil.
A few random hoses and clamps while in there. Replaced almost all of the fuel line. Installed a motion pro quick disconnect there as well. Bought a 2nd quick disconnect and hooked it to a long bit of fuel line so that I can put the tank on a bench of to the side and still have fuel.
Swapped anti-freeze... While pulling down the radiator found a big tear in the rubber heat shieldy thing. Replaced it.
Started drilling for safety wire... Drilled oil drain plug. Put it in and filled with oil. Got down there with the wire and noticed the whole wasn't where I had previously measured. Figured out I left out the damn crush washer. That'll cause a crash for sure.
Drilled and wired the right side of the front wheel (not including the brake caliper) before I got bored Will do more on this. I can't safety wire for shit, but, everyone starts somewhere.

I'm probably forgetting a handful of things, but that covers most stuff.



Now, first track day. I got a good deal on the June 18 date from Shawn, so I hauled the bike over the evening of the 17th. No drama. Bike even started once I arrived at the track. Did the track walk with Trouble and the rest of the Red group (this was interesting... Tony's actually separated the track walk by groups Tuesday).

Found a reasonably out of the way spot for the trailer and went home. Fortunately I'd only slept about 2 hours the night before so I was extremely tired, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep at all. Woke up before my alarm, fixed some lunch and headed to the track. I arrived before I think anyone was awake. Carried in my new onesie (http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/...=1#post1273390), boots and hat, tools, and drinks. Amazingly I traveled much lighter this time than last, and still brought too much stuff. Waited around for people to start stirring. Waited some more .

People start to stir. Tony's crew starts to collect. More people stirring. I'm still waiting anxiously. Finally Tony gets on the PA, around 7:00 I think and announces tech is open. I'm the 2nd one there. No problems in Tech. I'd been back and forth about whether or not I was going to do the follow the leader lap, and forgot that I had to have made a decision by now, so I decided to be a chicken and do it, so no Red sticker for me at this point, which is fine.

I pull out of tech and I just have to check... Yes, the bike still starts. That's a big plus. Pull back into my spot. Check tire pressures (keep in mind, Mr. Kurtz mounted the tires, I've ridden it up and down the drive (mostly) at this point). Shit, what pressures should I be running? Pirelli says 2.21 Bar front, and 2.48 Bar (32 front and 36 rear). I say bull. Keep looking. I find http://www.trackdayriders.com/index....n=tirepressure which gives me a range. I use the bottom of the range, which was 31f, 28r. Was it right? Who knows. (Feedback on this is more than welcome).

I help a few random people who are arriving with unloading their bikes from trailers / pick-ups. This took up all of 3 minutes... Waiting.

In the mean time, clouds have begun rolling in. As the sun was coming up skies were clear, but not so much now. This does not bode well. I busy myself doing nothing for a while.

Finally the call comes for the rider meeting. After the intro stuff at the rider meeting I head off with the noobs to the classroom. Ken does a nice job covering the basics for us. We start to hear the sound of bikes whizzing by on the straight. In the mean time, the sprinkles are starting... Ken sends us out to get suited up for our follow the leader lap.

I end up behind Geno (no, not that one, the other one). There were only 6 noobs, so we each got our own control rider. It gave me a few minutes to get familiar with the bike, as well as gave me a refresher on how different things look from a moving perspective than it does from the track walk. I purposely did some braking in places I didn't need to. Purposely went through some gears I didn't need to. I'm actually very glad I decided to be a chicken and did this.

Back to the classroom for a debrief. Nothing really unexpected, but this is my 3rd time through the noob class, so I'm starting to finally catch on.

(Memory is a bit fuzzy here, so I could have some things out of sort) I think I came out to the track sessions being on hold due to the rain. Waited around a few minutes... Decided to push the bike over to the GMD garage to have clickers clicked. Surprisingly I had preloads reasonably close. Of course about the time I have him start, the Tony calls for a combined Red and Slow Yellow group, as we're going to be combining some sessions due to the rain. I end up missing almost all of this session. . I got 1 lap in before either a red flag or checkered flag ended the session.

2nd session, I get out there "on time". Still raining and wet. I'm really slow. I'm really not at "track speed" at all. I really really suck in turns 3 and 4. I've normally really liked 3-4. Not today. I'm all screwed up. Going wide up the hill, knowing I shouldn't be but unable to fix it. The hill feels fine. Even at my slow pace I'm slipping in 11. I had a scary experience in the rain, in the past in 2, so I'm really "touchy" there as well. There's at least 1, and I think 2 red's during this session as well. Just really discombobulated.

3rd session. Still wet. Rain is at least lighter, may have stopped. I think this was the session where we actually made it 25 minutes without a red flag. Pace is starting to increase, but I still don't feel great. 3-4 still a disaster. Getting better on the hill. 11 still slippy. I making a few passes, but when I see the "large group" coming I just pit and wait for them.

Talking w/ John in the classroom between session, and 3-4 comes up. I "know" how I should be doing it. I just can't. He just asks me what I'm doing wrong. I say I think I'm just not looking up the hill after 3 and not getting my head around to that next set of cones. I'm looking at the X in the corner. That could be it.

Next session I think is a drying track. 3-4 is much better, yes, just ignore the "x" at the intersection and look up the hill. I'm not getting quite deep enough into 3 (because I'm not carrying enough speed), but going up the hill is much much better. Drying track makes me much more comfortable. Starting to get some decel popping going into 6 (and I'm still a weenie on the throttle going down the hill) that I'll have to investigate, but who cares for now. Staying off the brakes to go into 9. 10 feels great, better than it has ever felt on the wing. I'm able to get much closer to the curb (as I'm not as worried about catching a peg on the curb) so much smoother. 11 has quit being slippy. I still suck at 12a. Not a good drive out of there. I think I just need to quit being such a chicken on the throttle.

Next session... More of the same, just pushing things a bit further. Brake markers are getting a little later. Track is fully dry. 3-4 still getting better. I'm still a chicken down the hill into 6, I could carry a lot more speed way later. Same is true into 1. I'm braking too early. I end up using some additional throttle after the orange box as I'm too slow going into the tip in. I'm still a chicken out of 2, which on the last lap off the session causes me not to complete a pass going into 3 as early as I would have liked. I did manage to keep my line into 3 and just brake a little harder (which was good), all ended up fine. Hi Gino

I “think” it was here where we had the body positioning clinic. I figured out some things, like I always do there. My side to side movement had been reasonably good. I always have trouble trying to “grip” the bars too much, I know that.
Next session. It's raining again. Track is wet. OK. Do the same things, just slow down a bit. Work on stuff that you learned in BP clinic. Think smooth. Mostly this goes OK. I'm quite sure that my dry pace is about where I should be in the wet, but I also know I'm not there yet. Session went fine, but I never really pushed anything. I did get my ass back in the seat and did get my head down better. I’m still a bit grippy on the bars (it’s wet, that scares me, I know in the wet is when I should be even less grippy, there’s knowing and there’s doing… they aren’t the same) I think this is the one where my pit mate crashed coming out of 2. He had mentioned earlier in the day that his rear was slipping out of 2. I said, yes, it’s very slippy there. Likely too much throttle too quickly. Eventually it got him. Low side, but broken shift lever ended his day.

Last session... I consider not going out at all, as I don't like the "one last run" idea in general. Hell with it, I'm going. Rain has stopped track is once again drying. Many people had bailed. Track is largely open. This was my favorite session of the day. Getting my head down so my off side arm is actually resting on the tank (like it should be). Staying on the back of the seat. Significantly less grippy. It’s amazing how much that reference point on the tank reminds you to relax your grip as well. Starting to feel reasonably smooth through more spots on the track. From 3-10 feels great. I’m a bit confused about entrance into 11. I seem to be braking way later than most people. Not sure what’s going on there. My drive out of 12a still sucks. I’m still a chicken on the straight, and I’m braking too early into 1.

Track walks with John, Roland, and the rest of the smallish group was good. I picked up some additional things, like every time I do a track walk.

Now for my dumbass move of the day. Bike makes it through with no tip-overs. No drops. No problems. I’ve got it on the trailer. John stops by to say good-bye, questions me on hauling it with the side stand down… I explain that I know, I’m still getting it centered it’s fine… So, I attached the straps on the left first, so that as I’m doing the right side straps I won’t pull it over. Great idea. I’ve strapped it a little short on the left, so have to walk around and loosen it. Fine. I do that, I even make sure that the rachety thing is re-engaged. One more pull on the right side… Bike topples. The strap had pulled out of the “center” of the rachety thing. B E A Utiful. I managed to do some minor damage to the right side of the lower. Such is life.

Other than my legs, which 3 days later, are still incredibly painful, no major damage done and I enjoyed the hell out of my first day actually riding this thing.

[Rada]

Great write up Jason.. I'm happy you got a chance to shake a leg on this thing finally. I'm disappointed that I did not get to watch you ride it though....

It sounds like you are getting the wet thing figured out...

Next time will be even better!!!

[nhbubba]

Like a bed time story for track addicts!

[Stoneman]

Great write-up Jason! FWIW-I've learned more about my bikes riding in the rain, including on the track. That type of experience is priceless...

[jasnmar]

Ummm. Happy Birthday to me?

[carsick]

I feel a little guilty. I should have told you to run. It's too late now... But anyway that looks sweet!

[jasnmar]

Yea, I'm pretty much beyond hope at this point.

[nhbubba]

Don't listen to this guy. He was warned.

I have to say, the Elkas are way more blingy than most everything else out there. Except maybe the Ohlins stuff.

[jasnmar]

This is one of those "scarily good" fleabay deals. We'll see how good it actually is if I ever receive it .

[nhbubba]

For serious though: Happy birthday! Hope to see you trackside with that rolling banana before the year is over.

[cbr_chick_nh]

lol... if it says Repsol, I think Jenna would want to add this bike to her stable.

I wouldn't turn it away if offered up for free -- but I surely wouldn't buy that thing.
She sounds too slow for my taste

[jasnmar]

For serious though: Happy birthday! Hope to see you trackside with that rolling banana before the year is over.

http://www.tonystrackdays.com/catego...-hampshire.htm

Join me

[nhbubba]

You just have to post this shit, don't ya.

This.

I don't think I can commit (read: pay) until next pay cycle. Effin' mortgage always bringin' me down.

[jasnmar]

LOL .

Wifey got me a gift certificate.