FULL REPORT REQUESTED!!! POST UP!!!

[bigred875]

Let's hear the real deal guys...none of this 2 line summary...we want dirt...

How was it...who did what and how...etc...let's hear it...

How bad does Mr. E suck?...Kham?.... lol...j/k

[Awesome]

I went fast. Very fast, had great lines, and had lots of fun. What details would you like? I'm addicted. 'HesSoGood Racing'? Who wants to join the team?

[bigred875]

Originally posted by hessogood
I went fast. Very fast, had great lines, and had lots of fun. What details would you like? I'm addicted. 'HesSoGood Racing'? Who wants to join the team?

lol..great thanks...hesosucksatwritingaracereport

[benVFR]

Hehe... you said full report...

Here goes... all the details.

I packed up and rode up Wednesday night rather than trailering. Got to the Red Roof and thought there would be a bunch of NESR people hanging around. Apparently it was full of old fogeys going to a golf tournament. There were like 3 Triumph guys there, that was it, and I missed them in the lobby so I got to go eat by myself.

Got to the track at like 7:30 or so and got my bike taped up. Got annoyed once again by the fact that the VFR starter is on the same circuit as the position lights, so you can't get all the lights disabled for the track.

Being in a hurry I didn't relax the preload on my rear shock. I thought I'd see how it felt with it cranked up. (I turn it up when I have the bags loaded up). Went out for the follow the leader session, the track was a little damp but not real wet. Noticed it was harsh. It started raining while we were in the follow the leader session, instructor brings the group in early as it was getting VERY slippery. I immediately went to go loosen the rear preload as it felt horrible once the track got wet.

I have BT-020s on the most touring oriented tire I've ever gone to the track with. They turned out to be pretty crappy in the rain. I had gone with 30psi front and rear at the start, but they weren't heating up enough. Ended up going with 34 front, 32 rear and that was a little better but I was going pretty slow and getting pretty spooked until it started drying up. Much slower than last year in the rain when I had D208s.

After lunch it was finally dry and after following Degsy for a couple laps I started speeding up a lot, to the point where I was passing people almost every legal spot every lap, and I kept having to go back into the hot pit to get separation from the pack of riders that would get stuck behind the newest riders. I notice my bike is "wallowing" coming out of 10 after I hit the bumps. Talk to a few instructors and I put in just a teeny bit of extra compression damping on the rear shock and it fixes it. Woohoo!

In the 2nd session after lunch, I went into the hotpit towards the end, and the corner worker had the red flag up. He said he was putting the checkered flag up in one lap, but I could go back out. So I get out, and there is only like one person on the track besides me. I go around once, get to the start. I get my left knee down in Turn 2... Whoa! Big grin on my face. I remind myself to be careful and not get distracted. Bam... right knee down in Turn 3. Come back in with a huge grin and ask Ken if I can move up to the fast group as I noticed a huge difference when I got in the rythmn without having to slow down.

Next Blue group Heath takes me out to make sure I'm OK. (Thanks!) I follow him around and immediately notice a few things he does that I can work on. Get passed by a bunch of people but no big deal as they don't stomp on the brakes in front of me like in the slow group. Rye flys by me on the rumble strip going into the Bowl. :O Heath tells me I need to work on my throttle coming out of the corners as I keep getting the rear of the bike squirming. I try really hard to concentrate on this in the bowl last session and it works.

Last session I go out with the fast group and I get passed by everyone but I'm totally in my rythmn and doing really well. I end up dragging my knee again in turn 3 and then in turn 1a as well. I have lots of work to do on my hanging off, braking, and downshifting though. I really start noticing this after moving up to the faster group and being able to really get moving. I REALLY want to get my knee down in Turn 1 some day. Ended up having my best luck with 32 psi front, 30 rear with these tires.

After the track day is over I ended up following Degsy and a few other people to Longhorn Steakhouse in Concord. After a nice dinner I head home pretty exhausted. Welcome back to Massachusetts Biker Trash! Pretty soon after I hit Massachusetts it starts to rain. 93 has absolutely zero safe spots to pull over and put rain gear on in the dark. Every bridge you could hide under is at an on ramp where the cars are trying to merge on. I get off the highway and pull into an office parking lot. After putting half of my raingear on I feel like I'm in a microwave oven and the rain has completely stopped. I take the raingear off and get back on the highway, blowing past a group of Harleys that looked scared shitless to be out on a wet road at night. 5 minutes later the rain is coming down like mad. I just tuck in and blast home. Leathers got a little wet but not bad at all. Yah 70mph indicated in the rain at night is really stupid but I've done it a lot now and never had an issue.

Ben

[benVFR]

Originally posted by Mystery Squid

Friggin' gear though, I HATED riding with those Ballistic pants... I swear I would have done a ton better had I been able to wear jeans. My legs felt completely immobile. It was like wearing a fucking snowsuit.

Hmm... did those fit you? My ballistic pants feel like pajamas compared to leathers. You'll get used to them. You may want to get yourself some better pants than the Joe Rocket ones when you do buy your own though. The better ones do fit better.

Leathers are going to feel like a straitjacket compared to that joe rocket stuff... at least until the leather is broken in.

The joe rocket ones shouldn't be restricting your movement at all compared to jeans though.

Ben

[Awesome]

my pants were TOYT, very toyt. I got them from a friend of mine that's about 5-6 inches shorter than me and at least 20 lbs lighter

[bigred875]

Originally posted by benVFR
Hmm... did those fit you? My ballistic pants feel like pajamas compared to leathers. You'll get used to them. You may want to get yourself some better pants than the Joe Rocket ones when you do buy your own though. The better ones do fit better.

Leathers are going to feel like a straitjacket compared to that joe rocket stuff... at least until the leather is broken in.

The joe rocket ones shouldn't be restricting your movement at all compared to jeans though.

Ben

Great report Ben

Joe, I gotta tell you I'm not a huge fan of the pants I just got..the 4.0's...they are hot as balls....althought if I dont wear pants under them they seem ok..I wore them once with pant..forget it. That won't happen again.

My leathers are much more comfortable to wear.....

[bigred875]

get some leathers imo... That may seem hotter but they have vents and perfs....and once the break in you hardly feel'em. I'd wear mine all the time if didn't look like the stay puft marshmellow man in them..lol..

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by bigred875
get some leathers imo... That may seem hotter but they have vents and perfs....and once the break in you hardly feel'em. I'd wear mine all the time if didn't look like the stay puft marshmellow man in them..lol..

Leathers are more comfortable than textiles at high speed, cuz they don't flap around, yeah they're warm but you're only out on the track for what, 20 minutes at a time? And you're moving, that makes a big difference from your average street stop-n-go ride.

IMLE what you wear under your leathers is of big importance. It was pretty hot and muggy in the afternoon of the 11th, but I found myself quite comfortable, more so then in may, because I'd opted to wear my polyester shirt under my leathers, which held the sweat away from my body so I didn't feel all slimy under the leather. And of course the poly socks ("coolmax" whatever that is) were 100x better than cotton socks, I won't ride without those ever again they were excellent, kept my feet dry the whole day and that's a bigger effect on comfort than you realize. No chafing either, I don't know about the experiences people have had with polypro socks but whatever this stuff is it's comfortable enough to wear from 6am - 6pm, I can attest to that.

[bigred875]

holy chit Honclfibr agrees with me..lol mark this date down...

[Kham]

short report:

went out couple laps in the morning with Degsy and others to get a feel. it was wet, slippery, weird, funny, etc. so i pitted in.

afternoon;




















































to be continue...

[benVFR]

Hey Joe..

Those Ballistic pants are actually really awesome in cold weather. They aren't really hot weather gear per se... You've seen me riding around in them when it is in the 30s and 40s of course.

But whatever you get, you are going to be wet, hot, sticky, and smelly after getting off the track...

My leathers were soaked inside by the end of the day. My leather gloves were as wet as they get in the rain.

Motorcycling isn't really compatible with being worried about getting sweaty or smelly like a

Ben

[Kham]

yea Ben but who wants to ride all day in a rain like you.

[bigred875]

Originally posted by benVFR
Hey Joe..

Those Ballistic pants are actually really awesome in cold weather. They aren't really hot weather gear per se... You've seen me riding around in them when it is in the 30s and 40s of course.

But whatever you get, you are going to be wet, hot, sticky, and smelly after getting off the track...

My leathers were soaked inside by the end of the day. My leather gloves were as wet as they get in the rain.

Motorcycling isn't really compatible with being worried about getting sweaty or smelly like a

Ben

I suspect I will like my pants in the cooler weather....I was dying that day at the dyno.....

[Awesome]

I'd rather be wet and riding then dry and driving.

(with the exception of having to keep sliding through turn 2)

[TheIglu]

I had my Ballistic's up there. I woulda worn them had it rained. They can't be beat in the cold/nasty weather. Just not that great on hot days.

Throw down for a full set of leathers.

[Kham]

Originally posted by hessogood
I'd rather be wet and riding then dry and driving.

(with the exception of having to keep sliding through turn 2)

i rather not.

[bigred875]

Originally posted by Mystery Squid
What about the folks I saw with perforated leathers? How are those in hot and humid conditions?

more then fine..but suck in cooler weather..

Get reg. leathers and wear under armor underneath them...so I've heard...still need to get some...

[legalspeed]

Originally posted by Mystery Squid
What about the folks I saw with perforated leathers? How are those in hot and humid conditions?

Outstanding.

In the cold, I wear longjohns underneath and a Gortex shell on the outside.

[bigred875]

Originally posted by legalspeed
Outstanding.

In the cold, I wear longjohns underneath and a Gortex shell on the outside.

ya? nice....sounds like a better choice for me

[gixxer6]

Yup..started the day slow as hell..ended the day using no brakes at all, and ripping the turns apart..now I need a new bike cuz mine is the titanic...and she's a sinkin!! Oh yeah..did some instructing too..All you guy's did a hell of a good job out there!!!

[Kham]

hey for those that i followed or followed me, who are you? and tell how i did.

like i said i was playing on the safe side. still not use to the bump at #3 but i love the bowl.

i thought the corner guy was gonna black flag me out when i went by the 2nd time on one wheel. he had it in his hand. all the rules. honestly i thought i was on 2nd gear when in fact it was on 1st and it just came up.

[HBerry]

Originally posted by Kham
hey for those that i followed or followed me, who are you? and tell how i did.

like i said i was playing on the safe side. still not use to the bump at #3 but i love the bowl.

i thought the corner guy was gonna black flag me out when i went by the 2nd time on one wheel. he had it in his hand. all the rules. honestly i thought i was on 2nd gear when in fact it was on 1st and it just came up.

Yeah thats what he told the cops on the way home too

[Awesome]

I didn't find a good line in the bowl till later in the day when I asked an instructor to critique me. You basically headed striaght at the cone on the outside then hammered the bike down, slide right past the apex cone on the left and head for the next one at the top. When you hit the right line it worked great. I noticed just about everyone coming into 9 way to far to the right, the line heads from the treehouse straight to the opposite side of the track where the corner is. And Kahm, I was hitting that bump in the section of pavement in turn 3, if you took a tighter line you can get past without hitting it. Focus on the rumble strip on the inside of the corner and cut really close to that then shift your site to the chunk missing out of the pavement coming up the hill and so on. It all has to do with what you're looking at and when you're shifting your referance points. Also coming into the last 5 turns before the straight a lot of people were way to far to the right. You can run a straight line and make those first 3 turns into a single one.

[Awesome]

Originally posted by Mystery Squid
legalspeed gave me the groove analogy...!

do share with the rest of us please.