redkow97

that is one of the dumbest MC 'sayings' I've ever heard. Crashing a bike isn't some kind of right of passage; it's usually rider errror. Admitting that you have gone down, and talking about your mistake to (hopefully) help others avoid a similar mistake is admirable, but "you're not a real rider until you've wrecked" is a total invalid statement. The OP has been overly enthusiastic with some of his posts, but if you actually read the original post in this thread, I don't see even a hint of malice. As for "outing" someone on wrecking, I agree that the polite thing to do is to either get permission from whoever wrecked to talk about it publicly, or give them a few days to post up and "out" themselves, but the less severe the wreck, the less this applies. This thread was started to find out how Imprez was recovering; not to flame Ringo for stupid shit he may have posted in other threads.

if his knee is that big, I'm not sure a week off will be enough to get HIM back to the track. Unless it's a rare part, 4 days to ship and a day to reassemble should be plenty.

are there classes, or just run what you brung? I took the restrictor plate of the red dragon; she's not exactly street-legal, so keep that on the down-low.

well that would be why he hasn't returned my PM about whether or not he needs a spot on my trailer for next weekend. I'm going to guess "no." ...and sucka's be worryin' bout crashin' at the track?

link to whatever I missed, please?

^ that's what I'm saying. It's not bad, but friends of mine over-hype it a ton. I went to Daytona Beach (love that shit hole) with some friends during college, and we were destroying pitcher after pitcher of Yeungling, because they were obsessed. By day 3, I had switched to Icehouse, which was $4/pitcher cheaper, and had far higher alcohol content. Man that was a fun trip. I had sex in the ocean. I firmly believe that would not have happened if I'd stuck with Yuengling.

Unless you're going to do a lot of riding at Nelson, i wouldn't use that track as a place to get a "baseline" setting anyway... Nothing else is going to be that bumpy, so you'll end up 'off' at every other track.

I find testing bikes to be enjoyable, but I rate them all on value... I've done demo rides on a bunch of Yamahas (Raider, R1, FZ1, R6) but I always evaluated them based on bikes I owned. The Raider (all 1800cc of it) was cool, but only a couple tenths quicker than my EX500 in a straight line. I liked it, but there's no way I could justify buying one. The R1 and R6 got similar results... Great bikes; amazing really, but not worth triple or more what I paid for my (used) 600RR. Even the first time I rode the '08 R6 (in 2008, when my track bike was a '93 F2) my reaction was, "i'll probably get one of those in 2015 when it's not so expensive." borrowing bikes is where it's at. You can have your fun, and then go back to what you want to live with daily.

i'm a 'beginner' brewer. Mr. Beer kit for now. And yes, I plan to be at Nelson unless it's total crap conditions. I have 2 brews in my fridge right now, but i've gotten really lax with documenting what they were, and how long they fermented, conditioned, carbonated, etc. the one w/o the label is decent, and the ones with the Christmas Ale label is drinkable, but not my first choice

2nd ride = trackday? stay safe and enjoy every minute of it. You're in the honeymoon phase with the bike, the conditions, etc. All will be right with the world for a while, so enjoy it while it lasts!

i like Yuengling and all, but I don't understand why people are so obsessed with it. It will be nice to have it as an option, but I don't think I'll buy it religiously or anything. I drink it when I'm in PA, but I don't miss it when I'm not... Perhaps I just spend too much time at the Great Lakes Brewery. I'm there about 3 times a month. I didn't think I purchased it in bottles very often, but a quick inventory of my home-brew bottles suggests otherwise... 200+ great lakes bottles collected in less than a year :-/

I agree with "don't question it," I was just impressed with an easy-to-understand explanation using the stick. The full physics are a lot more complicated, but the basic concept isn't. There's a guy testing/patenting reverse rotating brake rotors as well. He claims it will eliminate a lot of instability. http://www.reverserotatingrotors.com/ In theory, I hear where he's coming from, but if there was that much to his idea, I would have to think the big 4 (plus Ducati, Aprilia, etc.) would be knocking down his door trying to buy the technology.

for the race school? Depends on where you are in Ohio. Grattan and BeaveRun are both coming up pretty soon. If you're in SW Ohio, Grattan will probably be closer. Anywhere Columbus or East though, BeaveRun is probably closer. I will be racing at BeaveRun.

Now think about the fact that you're that impressed with a bike designed 10 years ago, and how far sportbikes have come since then. According to the internets, an RC weighs a clean 440 dry, and puts down 133hp. That means its power output is about the same (probably lower) as a modern GSX-R 750, but it weighs 60+ lbs more. I love the idea of the RC, but I just don't think I could ever live with one... Iconic bike for sure though.

I think we're both making a pretty good case for anything newer than '04 being mainly a fashion statement in most riders' hands.

I wanted to race sunday, but it just wasn't worth it... I'm a competitive person, but this racing thing is mostly for fun. Without rain tires (not in the budget), I wasn't going to be competitive, and being one of two riders on the grid putting around in the wet wasn't even going to be fun either. I have no shame in the orange shirt, so I'm not in a huge hurry to get rid of it.

Complicating it with all the minute variables and details complicates it beyond comprehension for your average joe. The point (for me) was demonstrating why the front wheel must turn the opposite direction from which you want to turn. the front of the bike has to turn left so that the center of gravity (which most won't realize is higher) will fall right.

^ that would get you to Nelson next weekend. Just sayin'....

I have heard and seen a billion people try to explain the physics behind counter steering, and while I have always understood the basic principle, it was explained to me in a new way this past weekend that makes a ton more sense than it ever has before. Hopefully I do this justice in writing... I take it as common knowledge that a moving motorcycle wants to stay upright (due to the gyroscopic effect of the wheels, and the rotation of the crankshaft). So it should be equally obvious that you have to "upset" the bike's natural tendencies to get it to turn at speed. What I think most people fail to grasp is why you have to turn the bars left (albeit an imperceptible amount) to make the bike fall to the right. Tom (WERA race school Tom) held up a stick (corner worker flag) and set it upright on the table. He said, "if this is a motorcycle, the wheels are on the ground, but the center of gravity is somewhere around here" (in the middle of the stick). "So in order to make the stick (bike) fall to the right, you can push the top to the right, OR, you can push the bottom to the left, from below the center of gravity." At speed on a motorcycle, you have very little leverage to push the top of the bike either direction. You have nothing to push off of. But you have COMPLETE control over the front wheel. You can essentially "push" the wheels out from under the bike, and force it to fall. Maybe other people have easily understood that for a long time, but that was a total "lightbulb" moment for me, all because he was holding a damn stick, and rotating it from the center, instead of the base.

Yeah, I'm not upset, but if anyone is thinking, "damn, $100 for race school, $110 for the license, and then more money for the transponder," it removes that second (or third) excuse. Now that I've actually spent a full weekend in the WERA paddock, I wish I'd done it sooner - and I didn't even race on Sunday.

disappointing that Eboz is out, but good for JD. Big jump from riding in the young guns class to American Superbike though!

cool. I'll have to check that out. I know I can go quite a bit quicker than "just don't crash" pace p.s. - my new alias is Martin Lally, bike #378. Gotta try to get in touch with that guy and avoid paying $40 to transfer the transponder!

I overheard at registration that provisional novices now get to 'rent' a transponder for free. That means you can save $120 on your first two weekends, and/or avoid buying a $200-$415 transponder for a little while longer. At the rate I'm going, I may not have even needed to buy a transponder this season. That $200 (and I got a pretty good deal) would pay for another set of tires, or a full day at almost any track in the country...

hahahaha - the first couple of pics must be from our first lap of the day. in pic 2 of me, you can still see the sticker on my front tire! and I also learned that I know jack-shit about how I ride. I just posted on the WERA board that I think I use 3 fingers on the brakes. Pic 8 shows otherwise. good to know.

I think it's a joke that they're reporting on what was "likely" in the first place. Either there is evidence, or there isn't.