New to track day but still do street rides

[NinjaDoc]

I just want to take a moment to thank @TimTheAzn and @Jester_ for pulling into track days after nearly 9 -10 yrs since last track day. Without tim making the day easy to sign up and join etc i would never have been able to join. Whats with these asian guys helping you to make your first track day easy - must be a culture thing. Hi ...  How you doing.... let’s go for a track day   ? ( @jbot )  Last year end on a cold fall day got to do one in PIRC. Wanted to do one more with you guys before i left But i couldnt. But i really enjoyed the day, less stressful and lot of fun all because you guys and big timmy and others where there. And i went ahead and did one more this summer here in NC and just wanted to share a brief write up. Even for this one, tim made it easy by arranging sign up all the way from ohio

 

short review of track day day I did before the blistering summer heat started. This first para for who ever dont want to read big wall of text: 

I will never  be a track junkie , will always enjoy street ride. I don’t have the competitive edge or aggressiveness or the desire for high velocity straights, but corners.... man corners I love them. And the big difference is i think i will slow way down in the streets and enjoy the destination and travel and leave the speed and adrenaline to the track where it was safer. Is track costly, repetitive and boring for a street touring fan,  yes if you look at it that way. But if you look at it in a way where you pay speeding ticket money up front for a max speed licence and pushing your limit with as much protection as possible. Exorcism of your speed demon in a chapel meant for it.   Big win 

 

long version 

The track : NCCar is all about smooth flat rounded ones. There are tricky ones like double apex decreasing ones and my favorite an almost 360 non stop circle. A very high horse power liter bike friendly track.

Covid difference: I can almost say this was perfect place to be for a covid time entertainment. every one is restricted to their own  individual canopy spaced at least 10 feets apart and carrying your own food. The rider meeting was open space short and spread out. Few including me still wore a mask and plus the quintessential funny look due to that from few. Otherwise there is never a moment where you interact or have contact with others, except the bathrooms where you have to be careful. 

The rider: The bike handled so beautifully that after couple warm up session I am literally passing everyone in novice without even trying. Esp on the outside of the long 360. (the only place where they allowed corner passing) Destroyed the pucks by the end of the day, again remember I am no track junkie and this technically first track day in a year and first time in this track in this bike. Still the bike gave me so much confidence and it’s so fluid. Body position is difficult compared to full sports bike but manageable. Race tuck and straight ways I will need suspension adjusted for me and a heavy oil mod for steering dampener. A set of adjustable rear set might help, I was able to improve my bad habit of toes sticking out a bit by the end of the day still not 100% confident in these rubber pegs and still dragging end of toe sliders. 

The bike: Tires full grip from power cup2 front and Michelin GP rear. Pics of the tires at the end of the day attached. Ran a higher cold pressure of 31 33 and it still gripped well and didn’t get destroyed. No mechanical issue, heating never went above 4 bars. The small screen definitely helps me. Brakes never faded but I hardly used it except for the long straights. But thats mainly due to the track layout. Everywhere else it was almost throttle play to keep it smooth. QS works best in this high speed high rpm Environment. Flips through the corners Easy, transition in S turns is a breeze, late brake into corners inside other high power bike and still no panic and can make the corner without running wide. All in all, makes it enjoyable and not intimidating to do a track day.

Logistics: just a short word on this, bike is so light that this is the first bike I felt comfortable loading on to the back of truck. Very easy to just push it around and work with it. At the end of the day when your dead tired this was quite helpful.

Final verdict: this bike just went from 10/10 in my favorite list to 11/10. it made me love something I never thought I would like, ... track days. Now I am kind of hooked. Definitely this bike made it a very enjoyable experience. Will be making at least a handful of track days if schedule and budget allows.

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by NinjaDoc

[NinjaDoc]

https://youtu.be/WOGANNYaiwk

[TimTheAzn]

My guyyyyyy 👍

[F4iguy]

Looks like running the track in reverse (CCW).

[NinjaDoc]

1 hour ago, F4iguy said:

Looks like running the track in reverse (CCW).

Yes, I was lucky they Did that since I wanted to work on my left handers the most  

[Jester_]

See you there next weekend?

[Uncle Punk]

Nice video and good riding.

I completely understand the desire for them to have your speedometer covered up but that desire should be secondary if it means that the tachometer needs to be covered up. Stupid policy.

[NinjaDoc]

11 hours ago, Jester_ said:

See you there next weekend?

If at all there is a chance I will try to make it, 👍

[NinjaDoc]

5 hours ago, Uncle Punk said:

Nice video and good riding.

I completely understand the desire for them to have your speedometer covered up but that desire should be secondary if it means that the tachometer needs to be covered up. Stupid policy.

Thx UP, i could still see the rev counter light up. The video doesn’t pick it up. Sometimes I wish the speedo was not covered, just to review the speeds on Play back for learning points and comparisons etc. easiest way to get data without needing other apps and softwares etc 

[Pauly]

11 hours ago, NinjaDoc said:

Thx UP, i could still see the rev counter light up. The video doesn’t pick it up. Sometimes I wish the speedo was not covered, just to review the speeds on Play back for learning points and comparisons etc. easiest way to get data without needing other apps and softwares etc 

You don't have an app that records max speed, lean angle, acceleration g-force, deceleration g-force, etc?