Harris Hill Track Day Report

[Hellgate]

The last time I went to the track, 20 years ago, I was hit by another rider at about 120 mph, high-sided and spent a nice amount of time in the hospital hooked up to tubes and wires. Well today I got back on the horse, so to speak. After eight 30 minute sessions, for a total of 150 miles, twenty years off the track has been erased.

I rode with Elite Track Days at Harris Hill Road and had a blast. It was an informal/structured school and allowed the rider to figure out the track as opposed to auto schools were you are punished for being off line. The goal here to be safe and explore.

The first couple of sessions were slow but god it felt fast. I had the bike over further than I ever had on the street. By session three both knees had been down and by four pegs was clipping and we could finally pass. I guess the track is like riding a bicycle, you never really forget. I was also cooked at the end of session four and needed a long lunch break to rehydrate and EAT! Man I was starved! For the day I had seven 16 oz bottles of h2o, one coke and one gatorade, and I'm still dry as a bone.

After lunch we couldn't pass again and I had to sit on a few choo-choo trains. As session eight approached I considered not riding as I was really beat. Well I geared up and headed out. By this time of day many people had headed out and for about 15 laps I had the track to myself and we could pass where ever we wished! Woo Hoo! Game on! By being able to pass and keep my speed up lap times dropped and my braking got harder and later, more parts kept dragging and I had a blast.

Only one scare for the day, as I was slowing for a rider in front of me, going into one of there sharper corners, I had to go off line and wide as he slowed even more than I expected. Well that put me on the very end of the enterance of pit lane, and there was this painted white line....All of a sudden the rear wheel stepped out, the front wheel pushed and I began to feel the high-side flick coming! The little Fizzer recovered and we kept the throttle down and kept going! Damn!

Couple of obervations about the FZ, 1) it is geared WAY TOO HIGH! I rode the entire course in third gear, there was not reason to shift, 14,000 and brake. 2) The footpegs are WAY TOO LOW! GrrrrIIInnnDDD! If you go to the track take off the curb feelers, the kickstand and the centerstand. 3) The FZ is FAST! Only a new CBR1000 and a Duc 998 got past me. 636s - no problem, Trick/track SV650s - no problem, CBR600s - no problem. What I noticed is that riders will not commit to the line and booger it all up, so you ride the line, drive the apex and blow by, too fun!

All in all I had a great day, met some great people and had a ton of fun. If you want to fully explore your bike try out a track day. What you learn will help you in the street.

Oh for you Austin riders. One of the fastest guys for the day is an Austin PD motor cop. He rides an ST1300 for work, don't even think of running!

I'll have some great photos in a few days, stay tuned!

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^^^These are NOT the great photos. Michael Coker, aka: "The Photo Ninja" was there snapping shots. Check out his blog and web site, this guy is an outstanding photographer. http://www.mcoker.com/

 

[sideshow_downs]

Glad you had a good time out there Pete.

I will be looking forward to the pics. :thumbup:

 

[DefyInertia]

Now you gotta get out there with some other peeps who are fast/predictable like you and then the fun really begins. Really glad to hear it went well. :thumbup: :thumbup:

 

[Cali rider]

Nice report. I'm sure that the biggest difference between todays FZ and whatever you raced 20 years ago is the quality of the brakes now (No fade, predictable bite and still enough trail to allow for corrections).

Any other differences worth pointing out?
And, lets see the pictures!!

 

[Steph]

I know absolutely nothing about track days, but your post explained some of what goes on. Thanks. Sounds like you had a blast!

 

[fz6nick]

Like they say, the older you get, the faster you were.

Sounds like you still got some get up in ya tho. That must a been awesome passing all the young hotrod on there full blown sportbikes huh.:rockon:

 

[CHEMIKER]

Sounds amazing Pete! Glad you were able to get back out there; it sounds like everything clicked and you had a blast!

 

[Nelly]

Top Job Pete,

I am glad that you had a blast. Nice to put those old skeletons to bed to.

Nelly

 

[Red Wazp]

Nice report. I took Reg Pridmore's Class at Infineon Raceway last year-too cool. Agree the peg feelers are to low but seems the only time I drag them is on the track.
Waiting for pics.

 

[Hellgate]

Nice report. I'm sure that the biggest difference between todays FZ and whatever you raced 20 years ago is the quality of the brakes now (No fade, predictable bite and still enough trail to allow for corrections).

Any other differences worth pointing out?
And, lets see the pictures!!

Actually the brakes on the FZ seemed on par with my RZ. The RZ was about 75 to 100 lbs lighter than the FZ; now keep in mind that time does fade memories!

This track was a very unique one. It wasn't very technical but there was not place to rest on the course. With the exception of three short straights I was always turning and either trailing throttle or rolling on throttle the entire lap; that is the reason I was in third the whole time. I'd brake, the motor would be at 5,500 to 6,000, pitch the bike over, add a bit of throttle to the apex, apex and get on it harder. At the end of the straights I was at 12k to 14k, do it all over again, kind of odd. I spoke with the instructors and they said they only used 3rd and 4th on their sport bikes with a closer range transmission. Also going from turn 1 to 2, and other sets of corners, is a double apex and being leaned over it was easier to have the bike overgeared than shift in the middle and upset the chassis; so it worked out, just odd.

For this track if I had a much narrower range of gears, rearsets and GP style shifting I could get more drive out of the corners; or just practice more, as I'm sure I'm not using the FZ to its full capability.

 

[Kilbane83]

Heh yeah man that is a nice track. I really enjoyed it when I went. Pretty technical, makes it easy to keep up with litre bikes since they can't open it up on many straights. Can't wait to go again. Hopefully they'll offer trackdays all year round, we'll see though.

I professionally threw my bike around corner 7 (Mustang I think it was) at about 50 mph. :thumbup: It had just started drizzling, and there was a bit of oil in the corner from a cbr that'd gone down earlier that day and cracked his sump. Was a nice easy lowside. No damage to me and just some rashing on the bike. LSL framesliders ftw. They let me keep riding after checking me and the bike out and reviewed why it happened. They said since there was no way I could have seen or avoided the oil they'd let me keep riding. I thought that was pretty cool. At most other places your day ends when you go down regardless of the reason and your shape. They say it's because you'll probably crash again worrying about why you crashed the first time.

 

[Hellgate]

The photographer is beginning to post a few shots.

Here's one. This kid Brandon is 11, not 14, my mistake. He was the Formula 4, 85 cc, champion this year. The bike he is on here is a Honda NSR125 GP bike. Yes a real GP bike. This kid smokes 95% of the riders on the track. But at 60 lbs I could too!

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This shot is a guy on a 1098s. He had all the toys, matching leather, helmet, gloves, underoos...

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[azoomm]

Pete,

I'm SO glad you had a good time! It appears as though our wishes of people bringing like-and-kind out to our little paddock in the hills is working. GREAT "crowd" out there on Sunday, though I don't really know that 57 people make up a crowd.

I don't mean to intrude on the forum, just dropping in to say hello. I'm Moira - and I own Elite Trackdays. While I have currently sold my soul to Ducati and a few of their motorcycles - I do this for a love of motors.

Brandon is actually 12, he was denied entry to the Red Bull Rookie's Cup this year based on his age. Minimum age is 13. That is because the minimum age to compete in the races varies between 13 and 14 (in the spring). We have hopes for him next year. Last CMRA race of the year he not only took the Formula 4 championship, but had his first FIRST PLACE podium in Formula 7.

The Ducatisti were out in force - the Ducati Performance trailer (with the cappuccino machine on the diamond plate interior) actually had TWO 1098S' inside. The next one we have a Desmosedici coming out to play as hard as the last. I believe THAT is the fun part - they aren't out running for coffee, they are out there to throw it around and use it for what it was intended -dreamy.

Pictures take a bit of time. That is simply because he has a *real* job, and over a thousand pictures to process. But, they are right-click save-as free. I just ask that you give him credit (thank you) and drop him a dime if you feel he's worth it. I do - just hope everyone else does too. He is my photo-ninja, and I appreciate what he does.

You're welcome back, anytime. In fact, hope to see you again and again.

~ride fast, take chances - that *careful* will kill you...

 

[Hellgate]

Hey Moira! Thanks for dropping by. Again much fun was had. Don't worry about the Photo Ninja props, they'll come, along with a few dollars.

I'm trying to work my schedule to see is I can come out and ride again in November.

Thanks again for running a smooth operation this was great way to get back on the track again.

 

[DefyInertia]

Bill, where do you live? Check out my sticky in the trach/technique section for information on how to find track days in your area.

Pete, any pics yet? I'm bored.

 

[Hellgate]

Not yet Nate. Here's were they will post at: Michael Coker Photography

If you are bored check out his work very, very nice.

 

[FZ6771]

I was there too on sunday for about 1 hour sorry I missed you, I would have like to meet you and check out your bike. I don't have any health insurance now and the rules say that you must have insurance to ride on the track. The owner let me take a one lap back in april it is a nice track and only 20 minutes from home. Maybe I'll make it next track day.