Wet Track Day

Well I went back today and had a great time slipping and sliding away in the rain and wet. Really a drizzle but wet never the less. Several riders today have a new found respect for wet tar snakes and explored a new career as a mud farmer.

By the afternoon it cleared up, the sun came out and the track fully dried out and the speed went up. Then a cold front blew in the and temp dropped about 10 degrees, to about 63 or so.

I had one off-road expedition today. I was railing away in my favorite corner, and both ends drifted. No big deal, then they drifted some more and finally slipped. My knee was already down so I pushed the bike up. By this time I was past the apex but there was now way to make the corner. So I just stood it up, ran it and ran it off. I was expecting mud, but no, dry gravel. Moto-crossed it back on to the track, looked around, and kept going. I went ahead and pitted out to make sure I was okay.

The next and final session was great, everything was clicking and I had a great dice going on, and then I had another big drift. That I took as a sign from God to pack it in for the day.

All in all it was fun and I'm looking forward to next season. :cheer:

No action photos today as the photog was not there.

Here's a few photos showing how dirty the bike got. I spent about two hours cleaning it and need a couple of more.

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Man, wish I could find time to head up there. Sounds like a blast. You're goin to have to get a new toy you keep pushin the ol'fizzer that hard hah! What tires you running now?

i hope you got pics? well i am glade your ok brother:rockon: how did the rear sets work on the track? sounds like you had fun.

Kilbane83 said:

Man, wish I could find time to head up there. Sounds like a blast. You're goin to have to get a new toy you keep pushin the ol'fizzer that hard hah! What tires you running now?

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The Pirelli Diablos. They work great but it was simply too cool yesterday.

You're right, I do need to get a track only bike in case I do go down, and I could keep stickier tires in it too.

luckyirishboy209 said:

i hope you got pics? well i am glade your ok brother:rockon: how did the rear sets work on the track? sounds like you had fun.

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No photos. The photographer who is usually there is nursing a broken thumb and his Dr. told him not to use it for several more weeks.

The setback plates worked great, no problems at all. I didn't touch down peg at all which was nice.

It was a very fun day. By being forced to begin very slow in the morning I used my time to really focus on learning the line and what body position to use in a given part of the track. So once we were going faster in the afternoon it really came together nicely.

Cool Hellgate! You usually go out there alone?

That's weird your tires did not get the typical track goo on them... I was checking my rear tire throughout the day during my track day to see if I could start bragging about my track goo or not LOL I did end up getting some by the last couple of sessions, when the temperature increased a little...

Glad you managed to keep the bike up on the gravel! :thumbup:

Yeah I drive myself but I've met a few guys that I pit with.

The tires are the Diablos and they got some texture to them but not balls of goo like a track tire will. That last day was pretty cool and we only had two full sessions of railing so they didn't get real hot. I was running about 30 psi, probably cold have dropped them 2 psi to generate some more heat.

Hellgate said:

Yeah I drive myself but I've met a few guys that I pit with.

The tires are the Diablos and they got some texture to them but not balls of goo like a track tire will. That last day was pretty cool and we only had two full sessions of railing so they didn't get real hot. I was running about 30 psi, probably cold have dropped them 2 psi to generate some more heat.

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I was running the Pilot Powers at 35psi both front and rear... it sounds high but apparently they require higher pressure than other tires in the same category... they actually recommend 36-38 but I dropped them to 35 because of the cold... no sliding, no prob at all... I love these tires

I still can't stop thinking about the track heheh :rockon: