track day anyone? Update: 7/12/09

[Clint]

Hasn't been 15 minutes yet (since last edit). Uploading is slow.

Okeedokee. It's done!

[Thundurburd]

Got it now, thanks.

Some darn nice pics, Vinnie did Ok. I think I'll need to look for a pre-beginner class.

[tricker]

Originally Posted by Clint

You weren't supposed to worry about that!

i know i wasn't supposed to... but I did when i had a group come up on me. Maybe next time i won't have an issue with it.

[tricker]

Originally Posted by Thundurburd

Hmmm... I'm getting a "no files to extract" error. Is this working for anyone else?

downloaded clints... looked at momentum's stuff.. good for comparison, but quality wise.. not a whole lot of difference from my perspective

[frostbitevinnie]

Well sorry about the bizillion photos out of focus, newbie with high tech camera=bad pics. Well at least we got a few good ones? Is that all the good ones Clint or are there more, you did say that out of 2 bizillion I had 1 bizillion good shots. I think I took darn near 700 pics.

Only thing I can think of is that I tried to get you guys coming into the corner, around the corner and then exiting the corner never letting off of the shoot button. Approaching far, approaching close then exiting far.

Got home Sunday and hit Craigslist right away. Found some decent DR's, a couple of Wee Stroms, and some decently priced SV's but $$ are tight right now.

Looked like a lot of fun!! I did find that I can run my hippo in 3rd with no brakes. Started practicing yesterday on the few twisties on the way to work. Found it difficult to gauge when to slow down in the straight enough to make a 20 mph corner without going off road. I'll just plan to keep practicing till I get good at it. If I can't afford another bike I may just strip mine down next year and join y'all. I have it now so that my trunk and bags come off in 5 minutes.

[frostbitevinnie]

Hummmm, THIS looks interesting.

Anyone of you know about this bike?? Rick??

[Rickster]

Sorry Vinnie I can't help ya, but if it's as he says it should be worth his asking price.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by frostbitevinnie

Well sorry about the bizillion photos out of focus, newbie with high tech camera=bad pics. Well at least we got a few good ones? Is that all the good ones Clint or are there more, you did say that out of 2 bizillion I had 1 bizillion good shots. I think I took darn near 700 pics.

Only thing I can think of is that I tried to get you guys coming into the corner, around the corner and then exiting the corner never letting off of the shoot button. Approaching far, approaching close then exiting far.

Got home Sunday and hit Craigslist right away. Found some decent DR's, a couple of Wee Stroms, and some decently priced SV's but $$ are tight right now.

Looked like a lot of fun!! I did find that I can run my hippo in 3rd with no brakes. Started practicing yesterday on the few twisties on the way to work. Found it difficult to gauge when to slow down in the straight enough to make a 20 mph corner without going off road. I'll just plan to keep practicing till I get good at it. If I can't afford another bike I may just strip mine down next year and join y'all. I have it now so that my trunk and bags come off in 5 minutes.

You need to do like Steve said and "turn your stinking head", when you look through the turn it really does seem like your going slower than when you look straight ahead, that's the same problem I kept having with the bus stop turn, when I did it right it all seemed easy, but for some reason the X in that turn kept drawing my attention & I would fix on it and not always be able to look away.

You did a good job on the pictures, thanks.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by Clint

Check it out, boys! Nick hooks up with me at 12:30. I didn't realize he was there so long after I looked back.

DCTC 7/12/09 BEG Group chasing Luke, Clint, few others on Vimeo

Way cool!!!

I showed it to Nels & his wife last night and they both gave you a big thumbs up for your style, Nels said he never considered taking that class because he thought the track was to short & the riding would be lame, but after watching the video he wants to sign up for the next one. I'm sure Nick was well over 100mph when he passed that first guy.

[tricker]

I will for sure be interested in taking the class again.. I'm going to guess minimum of 3x more times at beginner before even considering the next step. I improved a lot, but confidence was thrown out the window after a few idiotic moves on my part.

[frostbitevinnie]

Originally Posted by Rickster

You need to do like Steve said and "turn your stinking head", when you look through the turn it really does seem like your going slower than when you look straight ahead, that's the same problem I kept having with the bus stop turn, when I did it right it all seemed easy, but for some reason the X in that turn kept drawing my attention & I would fix on it and not always be able to look away.

You did a good job on the pictures, thanks.

Yeah, still working on "turn your stinking head". Been trying to do that for a few months now. Brain says turn head, head says NO. I'll get it!!

[Thundurburd]

Looked pretty good to me. Were there any REAL beginners out there?

[Clint]

I've seen plenty of riders who were green. This is the right way to learn.

Vinnie, I ran through the photo set tired as a dog and rated all the four- and five-star shots, then I cropped most of them because you didn't have enough lens reach. Those are the 80ish that I posted. There are probably a couple hundred 3-star shots, but they get pretty redundant. These are a good package, I think. You did really well once you got it figured out. Probably 50-60% of the last 200 were keepers. That's good for a newbie DSLR-er.

Next time, panning to create motion.

Oh, and I'd spend another $500 and get a bike without all the "handiwork". That one looks risky to me.

[Rickster]

Vinnie have you considered getting a low mileage Ninja 250, I saw one yesterday at a local dealer that they were asking $2900 for, but I'm sure you could find one cheaper than that, and as you saw Sunday even a mighty Busa can be beat by a lowly 125 if the right rider is on the 125.

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by Thundurburd

Looked pretty good to me. Were there any REAL beginners out there?

We did seem to have a lot of "returning" beginners this time out, but as Clint said this is the right way & place to learn.

If you were to spend on day like the one we did Sunday, it would advance your riding skills more than 10,000 miles worth of regular street riding, and you would be learning it the right way the first time.

[Porcelina Goddess]

Originally Posted by Rickster

You need to do like Steve said and "turn your stinking head", when you look through the turn it really does seem like your going slower than when you look straight ahead, that's the same problem I kept having with the bus stop turn, when I did it right it all seemed easy, but for some reason the X in that turn kept drawing my attention & I would fix on it and not always be able to look away.

Even with your head turned as far as you can see the end of the turn go, how fast can you really approach a turn or curve?

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by tricker

I will for sure be interested in taking the class again.. I'm going to guess minimum of 3x more times at beginner before even considering the next step. I improved a lot, but confidence was thrown out the window after a few idiotic moves on my part.

Don't beat yourself up Adam, I thought you did great, and as the pictures show your form was way better than mine. We all make mistakes, I went through the grass at the bus stop 3 times & I think Clint said he did it once too. Just keep working on the fundamentals, look where you want to go, shift your weight slightly, and be smooth on the gas & brakes.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by Porcelina Goddess

Even with your head turned as far as you can see the end of the turn go, how fast can you really approach a turn or curve?

What's the difference between a duck? How deep is half a hole?

It takes experience, that's all. I have about 200 miles on a track, and about 30,000 street miles, and I'm far from an expert. Ride with a mind to your limitations and you'll do well.

Adam, those "idiotic moves" are how we learn. You'd never get anywhere if it was all happy and comfortable. I recommend you take the beginner course once, maybe twice more and that's it. I plan on joining you guys in the intermediate group, so let's get on the books as soon as it's up. Mark your calendars for February!

[tricker]

Originally Posted by Thundurburd

Looked pretty good to me. Were there any REAL beginners out there?

It was my first time on a track like that so i'd consider myself a real beginner. You wouldn't want to throw out someone with 1000 miles out there on a bike in my opinion. The learning curve might overwhelm them.

Originally Posted by Porcelina Goddess

Even with your head turned as far as you can see the end of the turn go, how fast can you really approach a turn or curve?

I was surprised how fast i was cooking through some of those turns. Sometimes I think too fast but i did see what my bike could do. In the pictures I think you can see that I'm looking pretty far ahead.

Originally Posted by Rickster

Don't beat yourself up Adam, I thought you did great, and as the pictures show your form was way better than mine. We all make mistakes, I went through the grass at the bus stop 3 times & I think Clint said he did it once too. Just keep working on the fundamentals, look where you want to go, shift your weight slightly, and be smooth on the gas & brakes.

That bus stop ate me up every time cause i really had to trust the bike. I did talk to clint after the first session and that helped about a few issues. So the whole shebang taught me a ton about my riding and what I could do with the Z.

[Thundurburd]

Well, maybe next year now that I have a trailer. Still, if they had a pre-beginner group or a group for cruisers I'd be a happy camper.

And Adam, it looked like you did fine. You didn't look like a beginner to me at all on our ride this spring.