Trackday! Willow Springs - Friday the 13th

[Wavex]

Thanks everyone! I haven't had much time to write back yet (family time!), but the little one and mom are napping right now... let's see how much time I have!

:Flip: Oh man! I wanna get out there!
Great pics. and thanks for sharing! You guys are doing it! :rockon:

If you have ever considered going to the track, DO IT!!!!! seriously, it's a complete blast on many levels... it is a very satisfying experience on a personal level, but also in the bonds you make with the friends you go with, and the ppl you meet there!
And if you like speed, and wish you could really explore the real potentials (these that cannot really be discovered on the streets) of your bike, along with your own limits, this IS the place to do it.

I personally cannot really write about how happy I am after a trackday... it makes my whole life seem better. Yes, it makes me a better person! (I know it sounds pompous, but it's true for me!) :cheer::rockon:

 

[Wavex]

Damn, that looked awsome. Who took the pics? That Parker dude was hilarious, he was passing everybody up. Must have been a pro racer.

Thanks VR! I took all the pics off the racetrack, and the ones of John, Phil and me racing were shot by Michelle's sister (Michelle is Phil's wife).
She took a LOT of them, but hmmm, I don't think she knew how to operate the 300mm lense :spank: we got a few good ones though, so I am very thankful to her!

Parker was insane indeed... I was going 120mph on turn 8 (the lonnnnng sweeper on the far East the track), and as you can see on the video, I think he goes in at around 150mph!!!!! wtf!

A couple of ppl mentioned he should try racing...

 

[Wavex]

Wow! Nice David! You've shown an amazing amount of improvement! Way to get off the seat. Good form!

Thanks for sharing. Glad to see that track bike getting use so soon!

Thanks Eric! I was surprised to see that my form is not too bad after all! :rockon:

I did not really know before these pics, especially that it was my first time riding a supersport machine hard... I had tried John's R1 in the canyons for like 15min (going very slow!!!), and a couple others in the past on 15min test rides, but that was it!

 

[Wavex]

Looking good guys. Wish I made it out there, like I had hoped to. Unfortunate circumstances prevented me from doing so. Car ended up in the shop from damage from a tow earlier in the week, leaving me without transport... Looks like I missed a great day!

You did miss an awesome day! No worries Why was your car towed in the first place?

 

[Cali rider]

David, you forgot the best picture of all:

 

[Wavex]

So how did you like the bike????? Tell us about it!

Awesome pictures and I'm glad you guys got such good weather. I'm dying to get out on the track...it's been almost a year!

Looks like you were giving those pilot powers a workout. Nice. How did they treat you? I bet John was shredding his 002RSs as well.

Didn't get to watch the vid yet but I'm looking forward to it.

The bike... O.M.G the BIKE! Well first let me say that the timing from buying it to getting it ready could not have been tighter... it was basically finished and ready for the track the morning in the hour of pit time we had before the beginning of the sessions (I had my front tire mounted the wrong way so it had to be fixed, and I also had my suspension setup properly by a pro there)... so yeah, I cut it close!

Again, I would also like to THANK JOHN (Cali_Rider) for all his help and his great friendship... I am honored to know and ride with you!

So the bike.... well the day started rough for me, with a very tiring -physically and mentally- first session... I was not comfortable on the bike and everything was new to me: first time riding a supersport hard, first time riding this bike, first time on this track (only my 2nd trackday), so it took a lot of concentration... especially that I was in group B (thought I was going to be on the Buell when I signed up), so I had to be extra careful making sure to ride consistently, with predictable lines for others to pass me safely... so when I got to the pit after that first session of 6 or 7 laps, I was beat and a bit anxious about the rest of the day...

Well, it only took one session for me to start having fun... 2nd session went MUCH better and each session after that got sweeter and sweeter! I quickly got comfy with the bike's ergos, and everything fell into place naturally... the gixxer was definitely built for the track!

So the next step was to get to know the track and figure out the lines (a couple of them are quite tricky, turn 4 and 9)... By the afternoon, I my muscle memory had picked up the track and most of the lines that worked for me (except 4 and 9 which took me all day to figure out... kinda!), so I could start increasing the speed incrementally!

That's when the fun really starts, now you can play with the throttle a bit more, open earlier a bit earlier coming out of a turn or delay braking points coming in turns... the gixxer's engine is amazingly flexible across the rev range... from very low rpm to the 15.5 red line it will comply with your input no matter what gear you're in... of course you want to keep that needle as high as possible at all times, which I really struggled with throughout the day... I was definitely not optimizing the shifting mainly due to the fact that it took me a few sessions to also get used to going from the v-twin to the I4 again... I thought it would be easier to swap, but it really isn't (especially compounded by the fact that I never had any street time on this bike to get to know it a bit better).

Anyway, I love the bike, and the feeling you get when you see that needle climb through the tach (for what seems like a never ending crescendo) while hearing that amazing high-pitch F1 sounding engine, is simply unexplainable!!! there is really no substitute for that and I hope to hear it OFTEN on the many track days to come :cheer:

The Pilot powers felt great all day and I really like their neutral feed-back and stability... they did slide on me a couple of times (coming out of 9 for the front straight and out of 2), but it was predictable and due to my average form... I will go with the 002's though next time since they're cheaper!

All in all, I couldn't be happier about my new toy... I love my gixxer

 

[Wavex]

Pancho passed? When? Where? The guy was nice. Soft spoken too for a guy of his stature.

Sadly yes... on 2/28/09 on the 150.

 

[Wavex]

David, you forgot the best picture of all:

HA! that's funny it looks like I we posted it at the same time :Sport:

Juliette just woke up!!

 

[DefyInertia]

Thanks for the additional write-up. I love your gixxer too. I forgot to mention earlier that the sticker you put on there is really cool...I bet he'd dig that and now he gets to keep doing track days :thumbup:

 

[maverick1970]

Awesome and thanks for posting Wavex. I'm all signed up for my 2nd track day as well at Road Atlanta April 12th. I should have my Rizoma rear sets and Vortex clip-ons by then

 

[Stumbles06]

Awesome and thanks for posting Wavex. I'm all signed up for my 2nd track day as well at Road Atlanta April 12th. I should have my Rizoma rear sets and Vortex clip-ons by then

Cool. Hope you will be taking a video.

I only know the track from playing Forza Motorsport 2 on the xbox, would love to see it from the riders perspective... Great track.

 

[Wavex]

Awesome and thanks for posting Wavex. I'm all signed up for my 2nd track day as well at Road Atlanta April 12th. I should have my Rizoma rear sets and Vortex clip-ons by then

Nice! I hope to see lots of pics :rockon:

 

[Chris]

Wow! Love the photos! Next time you have to get a pic with your knee down though Thanks to you and Wolfman I'm thinking about doing some trackdays myself now. I don't have funds for a trackbike so I'll have to take the FZ6.. Don't want to mess it up though.. We'll see what happens come summer

 

[MarinaFazer]

awesome video...saw you get passed but you had great form! I can't wait to go back to the track. But Willow Springs...the big track....129mph in the turns and faster? I think I'll stick to Streets of Willow...LOL

 

[Wavex]

Wow! Love the photos! Next time you have to get a pic with your knee down though Thanks to you and Wolfman I'm thinking about doing some trackdays myself now. I don't have funds for a trackbike so I'll have to take the FZ6.. Don't want to mess it up though.. We'll see what happens come summer

Thanks! go for it, take your FZ to the track and ride your ride... you'll be fine :thumbup:

Putting a knee down is the last of my priorities right now... it'll happen soon enough, but I don't want to think about that when I ride. Plus it doesn't mean much....

 

[Wavex]

awesome video...saw you get passed but you had great form! I can't wait to go back to the track. But Willow Springs...the big track....129mph in the turns and faster? I think I'll stick to Streets of Willow...LOL

You indeed need big cojones to do Willow Springs it's crazy fast...



Here are some more shots from Cali Photography:

On the grid:

John in the background:

Me in the pack:

That's a woman in front of me... she was pretty fast! I stayed behind her for a couple of laps before passing her eventually...

John's form:

 

[Wavex]

Turn 9:

 

[oso2k]

The turn 3-4a-4b-5 sequence was my favorite. Scared the crap out of me when I scrapped my left toes and peg feeler on 3. 4a-4b feels like you're accelerating to launch and the dip into 5 feels like you're jumping off a cliff.

 

[Chris]

Thanks! go for it, take your FZ to the track and ride your ride... you'll be fine :thumbup:

I highly suspect that I'll end up doing just that! Hopefully you'll be right about the being fine part

Putting a knee down is the last of my priorities right now... it'll happen soon enough, but I don't want to think about that when I ride. Plus it doesn't mean much....

You're absolutely right of course. I just love those high def, mid turn shots with the knee scraping along the asphalt.. Don't know why..:don'tknow:

 

[SovietRobot]

Thanks! go for it, take your FZ to the track and ride your ride... you'll be fine :thumbup:

Putting a knee down is the last of my priorities right now... it'll happen soon enough, but I don't want to think about that when I ride. Plus it doesn't mean much....

The whole purpose of putting your knee down is to know when you're at your lean limits.
Just trying to drag your knee without much thought or practice is a bad idea.

You could've been draggin easily if you weren't straddling the bike so much, but who cares :rockon: You had good form and IMO it looks more badass if you're at the same lean angle without your knee down.