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BlackMK4 posted:I am bike-less right now. Supermoto or a cheap dirtbike.
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Nov 8, 2011 01:11
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Looks like I am on a sinking ship job wise so it'll be a while. gently caress. The track/bike itch is really bad.
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Z3n posted:Supermoto or a cheap dirtbike. Guys at my local track are always selling built non-street legal supermotos that can kill my Husky for around 3k. It really is tops for excitement per dollar. Saga posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej4cQv-K0so I kinda ignored the Nuda because it's more like Husky's take on big bore "motard-like" bikes than a svx killer. Really why the hell can't aprilla get that bike to work properly?
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Nov 8, 2011 15:37
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Gnaghi posted:I kinda ignored the Nuda because it's more like Husky's take on big bore "motard-like" bikes than a svx killer. Really why the hell can't aprilla get that bike to work properly? As a former longtime TRX850 owner, I just like the idea of a big, modern parallel twin roadbike that's more performance-focused than the F800 family (itself obviously inspired by the TRX). Breaking 100hp in a parallel twin is rarely seen. The F engine is also for various mechanical reasons supposed to be exceptionally efficient by design. Something to do with a lot of work put into minimising friction/pumping losses plus the ignition/EFI side. So if the chassis works it could be a great bike. But personally I just don't see a motard type chassis working with a bike that big and heavy, especially with average riding abilities. I mean I'm sure they can find a Fred Guerin or a Ruben Xaus (as with the Hypermotard) to make it look good, but the average Joe or Jane is never going to be foot-out rear wheel steering around his or her local roundabout on a 200kg wet monster-moto.
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Nov 8, 2011 15:51
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This is kinda a dumb question but how removable and reusable are racing number stickers? I'm asking because I'm going to get them for next year instead of using tape but just realized that if I go to a different track run by another organization my numbers might already be in use. I shoulda went with three digits instead of two I guess. Edit: I found an answer, if your number is in use they just put an x next to it. So I'd just be 77x instead of 77. Gnaghi fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Nov 13, 2011 |
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Nov 12, 2011 15:54
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Yesterday I went to a track day at Little Talladega put on by a local guy, 7 riders per group and everyone knows each other. I was in novice which worked well on the CRF since it is lacking a bit on top speed. Worked on passing, out-braking people and different lines. CRF performed flawlessly, tons of torque and the tires (Pilot Power) stuck pretty good. Had them slide a few times when I got on the gas too hard/early but otherwise a very uneventful day. Managed to lift the front a few times coming out of the tighter corners, scared the poo poo out of me but the corner worker said it looked good. Weather was perfect, started around 65 and topped out around 75. Day was cut short by rain as we were finishing up out first after lunch session. Everyone called it a day and started packing up. Looking back I should have gone out and played a bit but I pry saved myself and the bike some scratches. Downside to the day was my gopro. Recorded one of the three sessions I had it on, that session it was aimed too low so I have 20 minutes of tank and top triple with some pavement flying by. Bike sounds pretty good though. Sadly this looks like my last event for the season. Three isn't too bad but I'd like to add a couple next year.
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Nov 15, 2011 19:08
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75 degrees here today at Jennings. We just hung out today -- actually riding tomorrow  
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Jan 9, 2012 00:38
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As my first foray into track riding, I'm hitting up their beginners school day in March, I'm so excited 
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Jan 9, 2012 04:23
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That was legitimately the best track day I've ever been to. 75 degrees and slightly cloudy. I counted 14 people at the riders meeting, so they ran 2 groups with 20 minute sessions in the morning. After lunch they went to an open track -- no groups, enter and exit the track as you please, no checkered flag until 5pm. Dropped more than 10 seconds off my previous times at this track. I'm still absolutely ecstatic about that. I jumped from slow intermediate times up to slow/midpack expert times (depending on the day.). I switched over to NTEC's from Q2's (well, I ran NTEC's my first track weekend ever but I don't count that) and wow, it is simply incredible how good those tires are. It's unreal how soon and how hard you can get on the gas coming out of a corner. The only time I was able to get them to slide was if I was fully leaned over and got on the gas. And even then, the sliding was completely controlled and predictable. Not once did I ever question the tire in the slightest bit. The amount of confidence they inspire is just, wow. AncientTV posted:As my first foray into track riding, I'm hitting up their beginners school day in March, I'm so excited You can go into turn 3 way, way, faster than you think you can. Turning the bike in scrubs a ton of speed and there is plenty of room to make the corner. 4 and 5 is not a turn. You want to make a straight line through those two corners (ie. go through 4 with the right side of your bike hugging the "4" sign, and keep going straight so your bike is hugging the "5" sign when you get to it). Don't flick the bike back and forth through these corners, it just makes your life more difficult. Watch out for 8. It's a decreasing radius turn with very torn up asphalt. A lot of people highside there. Don't worry about riding over the patches in the back section (turns 5-10). They'll stick. The back section is pretty bumpy so be careful not to tense up on the bars. The bike will make it through just fine. Overall I'd say the most important thing to know about Jennings is that you will hardly be using your brakes at all. The track flows very well and relies heavily on momentum. Ride at a pace where you are comfortable not using brakes for a session at least. When you do start using the brake, the only places you should need to use it are 1 and 13 (and truthfully you'll probably find yourself using it in 3, even though you don't need it. just a mental thing.). I'm sure the instructors will go over all of that stuff a lot, since as I understand it there is a lot of class time. But, I just figured I'd emphasize for you a few of the things that can be tricky about the track.
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Jan 10, 2012 09:05
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AncientTV posted:As my first foray into track riding, I'm hitting up their beginners school day in March Just signed up for this, it's on the 23rd  Thanks for all the advice -Inu-, pairing that with videos I've been watching has been pretty useful. And about the bit on carrying as much momentum as possible, I don't think it'll be that difficult on the 250, since there isn't much in the first place  . Talking of which, I'm still a bit torn on going there on the Ninjette, but I feel that the novice-only day won't present a big problem with huge speed differentials. If I get bit by the track bug, I'll probably end up trading over to a SV650 or a 636 anyway.What all should I be planning on bringing as far as odds and ends go? Knowing me, I'm going to remember all my tools, but forget to bring water or some poo poo.
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Feb 23, 2012 19:44
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Ibuprofen for the end of the day. Coconut water for potassium. Ear plugs. I like to bring beef Jerky and almonds for food, as I don't usually eat much more than that.
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Feb 23, 2012 19:49
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It's happened, like the wind and water I finally wore my wife down. She says I can look for a track day or three this year. Any guidance on where to look for a Supermoto track day around central Cali?
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Feb 23, 2012 19:52
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Ponies ate my Bagel posted:It's happened, like the wind and water I finally wore my wife down. She says I can look for a track day or three this year. Any guidance on where to look for a Supermoto track day around central Cali? I'd probably try for the Buttonwillow cart track. Other options are Infineon (far to the north), Riverside (far to the south), grange (far to the south). I don't recall if willow springs has a kart track or not, check their website.
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Feb 23, 2012 21:06
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Z3n posted:I'd probably try for the Buttonwillow cart track. Other options are Infineon (far to the north), Riverside (far to the south), grange (far to the south). I don't recall if willow springs has a kart track or not, check their website. They have Horse Thief Mile, which is used as a kart track IIRC. 
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Feb 23, 2012 21:26
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Ponies ate my Bagel posted:It's happened, like the wind and water I finally wore my wife down. She says I can look for a track day or three this year. Any guidance on where to look for a Supermoto track day around central Cali? Alameda naval base parking lot + cones + track timers = 
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Feb 24, 2012 08:09
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I shot an email to Les Phillips over at buttonwillow and it looks like there's no Motard days there this year. He mentioned getting in touch with Don Canet of SuperTT. I google it and came up with a race series. That's cool and all, but I just wanna go ride track and not have to race. This was the site I found with google: http://www.supertt.com/index.html I'm willing to pay for a riding school or whatever if somebody can suggest one. I also don't have a 1 piece suit, is that an issue? I've got a cheapish armored cycle gear jackets and some Frank Thomas armored pants. I do have good Dainese boots though.. I'd love to go ride Seca, but if I go up there I have to take the wife because she wants to go see the aquarium...
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Feb 24, 2012 20:27
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Ponies ate my Bagel posted:I'm willing to pay for a riding school or whatever if somebody can suggest one. I also don't have a 1 piece suit, is that an issue? I did a California Superbike School one day school and enjoyed it. I may do a Corner Speed school this year, I did Corner Spin two years ago and would highly recommend it. You're going to need a minimum of two piece leathers that zip together. Some will allow aerostitch but one piece leather is preferred.
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Feb 24, 2012 20:36
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I just found these guys on ADV rider, anyone ever run with them? http://www.socalsupermoto.com/
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Feb 24, 2012 20:50
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I know a few guys who ride with them...they're pretty chill from what I hear. Good peeps.
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Feb 24, 2012 20:52
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Z3n posted:I know a few guys who ride with them...they're pretty chill from what I hear. Good peeps. Awesome to hear, so I guess I need to find a 1 piece or 2 piece leather outfit. That's not going to be easy to explain to she who must not be named...
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Feb 24, 2012 20:54
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Ponies ate my Bagel posted:Awesome to hear, so I guess I need to find a 1 piece or 2 piece leather outfit. That's not going to be easy to explain to she who must not be named... WERA classifieds and area forums, never again will I buy a suit new unless I'm getting it custom made.
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Feb 24, 2012 23:20
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NitroSpazzz posted:WERA classifieds and area forums, never again will I buy a suit new unless I'm getting it custom made. A custom suit isn't to terrible right? Around 1k-$1500? I got a quote in '09 when I did Seca from someone down in LA, I think it was like $1295 for a full 1 piece race suit.
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Feb 24, 2012 23:25
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Ponies ate my Bagel posted:A custom suit isn't to terrible right? Around 1k-$1500? I got a quote in '09 when I did Seca from someone down in LA, I think it was like $1295 for a full 1 piece race suit. Around that I think, I should have gone the custom suit route really and will for my next suit. I bought an off the shelf Dianese which is a really nice suit but could fit better. If an off the shelf size fits you good then by all means buy a standard suit but custom is a nice option to have. I think the company I looked into was spartan leathers and one other that were on WERA.
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Feb 25, 2012 02:06
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Do most of those cheapo custom companies still outsource all the work to Pakistan? I've seen some awful panel failure pictures from various companies.
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Feb 25, 2012 02:14
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AncientTV posted:Do most of those cheapo custom companies still outsource all the work to Pakistan? I've seen some awful panel failure pictures from various companies. The guy I met was out of LA and he made the suits with his wife. I really wish I could remember his name. NitroSpazzz posted:Around that I think, I should have gone the custom suit route really and will for my next suit. I bought an off the shelf Dianese which is a really nice suit but could fit better. I feel that buying cheap leathers is a terrible idea. When I hit the track I run hard and I want to be as safe as I possibly can. $2k in leathers is worth far less than my life imo.
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Feb 25, 2012 02:45
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Ponies ate my Bagel posted:I feel that buying cheap leathers is a terrible idea. When I hit the track I run hard and I want to be as safe as I possibly can. $2k in leathers is worth far less than my life imo. True good leathers cost money but I can't really see a reason to spend more than $1k on leathers. For under that you have lots of options for very high quality suits. Over that price point I'm not sure what the advantage is. I've been down 4 times in my dianese leathers. Once at 40-50 mph on the SV, once 30 on the DRZ and twice at around 30 while racing 50's. The suit has held up great with no seams ripping and only minimal abrasion wear. I got the suit for $700 or so on sale.
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Feb 25, 2012 15:37
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NitroSpazzz posted:True good leathers cost money but I can't really see a reason to spend more than $1k on leathers. For under that you have lots of options for very high quality suits. Over that price point I'm not sure what the advantage is. My understanding was the price jump was for kangaroo leathers; lighter and stronger. Plus you can also get more attention to detail and creature comforts. But I agree, diminishing returns... I'm running a two piece suit for now, but I'd like to get a 1 piece next. I'm 6'4" and thin, so nothing stock fits perfect. I've been down a few times, and the elbows and thighs on my alpinestar 2 piece are looking worn; the seams are showing wear, some of the threading was destroyed. Do you guys get your leathers repaired? I can see the seams being an easy fix, but a little hole may be hard...
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Feb 25, 2012 17:20
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Gullous posted:
You can get leathers repaired. I had a stretch panel replaced after my crash when it tore, and I've seen guys with leather patches on their well used suits hanging out at track days. Also as a note on cheap leathers - I went on a ride with a guy in a 'himalaya' 1 piece. He went down at a fairly moderate pace and while he was fine, the single stitching (!) had popped open on a seam on the side of his back. I didn't know how to nicely say he should go to cyclegear and buy something else before his first track day..
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Feb 25, 2012 17:29
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NitroSpazzz posted:True good leathers cost money but I can't really see a reason to spend more than $1k on leathers. For under that you have lots of options for very high quality suits. Over that price point I'm not sure what the advantage is. As someone who spent more on leathers and feels that it was absolutely worth it, I can run down a few things that tilt the scales in favor of customs over off the rack suits or off the rack customs. First of all, there's fit. If you're relatively close to the sizing of an off the rack suit, an "off the rack custom" will fit you well, and this likely isn't an issue. I'm built like a Neanderthal, short legs, long arms, and very long torso, so any suit that was long enough to fit my torso was also super long in the legs, and baggy around the waist and arms. Off the rack customs aren't actually "fully custom" suits, generally. They have a set pattern for your suit, which they then tweak according to your measurements to make the suit fit better. If you have a core incompatibility with the design of their suit, they will never be able to get it to fit right, even if it is custom. My helimot is a custom pattern made especially for me, so I can wear it all day long with no discomfort. Secondly, I generally don't like the padding in most suits. I don't like hard impact protection, as I don't feel like it protects against much of anything. Abrasion is handled by the leather, impact is best handled by soft padding, and hard plastic doesn't really do a lot in terms of protection. The one area where you might end up compromising here is if you catch a footpeg or something, but that's A: pretty rare and B: will make it through most plastic padding pretty easily anyways. There's not much that will protect you from a bike's worth of force concentrated on a footpeg size area. A full custom allows you to pick what you want in your suit. For my helimot, that's a shitload of padding in the shoulders, elbows, knees, and hips. Hip protection is often neglected. Next, there's crashability. This isn't a factor for most people, as when most people crash, their day is done. For someone who's racing, being able to race is important above all, and I only made my first race because my leathers stood up to a ~90mph crash and were ready to come back for more. Needed a bit of duct tape on the stretch panels, but safety wasn't compromised. Finally, there's repairability. The expected lifetime of my Helimot suit is 10+ years, and if it does have a problem, I can send it back to the factory and they will repair it for a fraction of the cost. Was it a tough pill to swallow up front? Absolutely. But in the long run, it's been way cheaper to run a full set of helimot gear, given that I would have gone through 3-4 normal suits by now, and repair costs are typically 10% of the cost of the overall suit, even for extensive repairs. It's been in for repair 3 times, I believe, and the sum total of costs there was about $300-400, that includes 2 new arms at one point, as well as replacing every stretch panel. So...those are the big factors that made me decide on a full custom leather suit over an normal suit or an off the rack custom. They don't apply to everyone, but if you're going racing, or don't really fit normal sizes, a full custom suit can be a good investment.
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Feb 25, 2012 18:37
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Z3n posted:I don't like hard impact protection, as I don't feel like it protects against much of anything. Abrasion is handled by the leather, impact is best handled by soft padding, and hard plastic doesn't really do a lot in terms of protection. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. Hard impact protection distributes an impact across a greater surface area, dispersing the energy and reducing the acuteness of the damage done. Compare slamming the bare point of your elbow into concrete with putting a hard cup (backed by soft padding) over the elbow and doing the same thing. The cup with take the point of the impact, and distribute the force over a greater area of your arm. Soft padding alone does help distribute the force somewhat, but your pointy bits will still find pressure points and experience greater peak impact forces than if you had a hard shell distributing the impact. Cf. body armor. Edit: 
MotoMind fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 20:27
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Signed up for the first track day of (my) season! March 18th @ MSRH with Fastline. This is the track where I crashed last time and my left hand still isn't back to 100% a year later. I am planning specifically on not crashing this time. Switch are you instructing with Fastline still?
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Feb 27, 2012 22:14
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MotoMind posted:This is wrong, wrong, wrong. Hard impact protection distributes an impact across a greater surface area, dispersing the energy and reducing the acuteness of the damage done. Compare slamming the bare point of your elbow into concrete with putting a hard cup (backed by soft padding) over the elbow and doing the same thing. The cup with take the point of the impact, and distribute the force over a greater area of your arm. Soft padding alone does help distribute the force somewhat, but your pointy bits will still find pressure points and experience greater peak impact forces than if you had a hard shell distributing the impact. Cf. body armor. There is no hard armor at all in my Helimot suit. Just 2 layers of leather sandwiching a thin soft pad, and then a thicker piece of soft armor in between the inner leather and the liner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfsBhR-h0cY I did the test half a dozen times trying to get a good video, and my hand doesn't hurt at all. Most of the time, you definitely wouldn't be falling on something the size of a hammer's head, so the force will be more spread out, and the ability of the foam to deform to mold to the shape of whatever body part is hitting the ground is far more important than the additional impact dispersion offered by a hard piece of armor. I wouldn't dream of doing that test with my alpinestars jacket as it's just a hard piece of armor and it'd directly transmit all the force in one area through to my hand. It might spread it to a slightly larger area overall, but because my hand isn't perfectly flat, it's still going to focus that energy in a smaller area overall than my soft armor does, because the soft armor deforms and absorbs energy around the impact point, and also deforms to the contours of my hands, avoiding the impact focusing on one area. The hard armor can only spread the impact in the area that it makes contact with, which in the case of your elbow will still only ever be the tip of your elbow. If you have soft armor, and lots of it, then the armor deforms on both sides, spreading the impact over a wide area on the outside of the leather, and deforming on the inside as well to spread the impact over a wide area there as well. This only works, however, if you have a LOT of soft armor in your suit. Most soft padding in off the rack stuff is simply not thick enough to have this effect as they reduce the amount of soft padding to make room for the hard armor while still having a slim profile. What this comes down to is hard armor can only widen the impact area going one way. If you have a small surface area to take the hit behind the armor, you're screwed. Soft armor, if there is enough, can deform to spread that pressure over a much larger overall area even if you are hitting with a very small part of your body. If you have enough soft padding, the hard armor becomes totally irrelevant. Because the soft padding will do the same job better (as it can deform to any shape you hit, or having any body part behind it), so there's no reason to have hard armor in your leathers at all. Couple that with multiple layers of leather, and you've got impact protection, and abrasion protection superior to any amount of hard armor. It is more bulky, but that's an easy tradeoff for not having to go to the ER.
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Feb 27, 2012 22:42
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Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was comparing soft armor with hard armor with a soft backing (or fancy high-tech soft armor that hardens on impact). Soft armor is superior to a molded piece of hard plastic, but armor with a hard exterior surface and soft interior or hardening properties will be best. This is simply because the hard shell can distribute the force of compression over a greater surface area, which is dissipated into a soft backing material.
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Feb 27, 2012 23:09
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MotoMind posted:Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was comparing soft armor with hard armor with a soft backing (or fancy high-tech soft armor that hardens on impact). Soft armor is superior to a molded piece of hard plastic, but armor with a hard exterior surface and soft interior or hardening properties will be best. This is simply because the hard shell can distribute the force of compression over a greater surface area, which is dissipated into a soft backing material. I have never seen any hard backed armor that had enough soft backing to be comparable to the all soft Helimot stuff. And again, what you say is only true if there's enough give to the soft stuff backing the hard armor that it can deform to prevent pressure points. If you can drive your elbow into a table and feel the tip of your elbow hit through the armor rather than having it cushion and spread the impact around your elbow, it'll do very little. Armor is best when it can deform and spread the impact on both sides, not just one or the other, because the armor can diffuse the impact with both the ground and your body. Hard backed armor can only diffuse on the soft side, if you hit a small ridge with it, the armor will likely snap rather than deform around the ridge. Z3n fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Feb 27, 2012 |
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Feb 27, 2012 23:28
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Z3n posted:And again, what you say is only true if there's enough give to the soft stuff backing the hard armor that it can deform to prevent pressure points. If you can drive your elbow into a table and feel the tip of your elbow hit through the armor rather than having it cushion and spread the impact around your elbow, it'll do very little. Armor is best when it can deform and spread the impact on both sides, not just one or the other, because the armor can diffuse the impact with both the ground and your body. Hard backed armor can only diffuse on the soft side, if you hit a small ridge with it, the armor will likely snap rather than deform around the ridge. And this is why I have built myself a superior helmet made out of pillows and beachballs. Edit: Beachballs made from kangaroo leather, let me be specific.
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Feb 27, 2012 23:38
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NipplesTheCat posted:And this is why I have built myself a superior helmet made out of pillows and beachballs. Theoretically sound, practically retarded. Much like your posting.
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Feb 27, 2012 23:50
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GanjamonII posted:Signed up for the first track day of (my) season! March 18th @ MSRH with Fastline. sorry dude, just read this. been kinda MIA lately. i missed Fastline's first day on Feb 12. i'll be at GSS this weekend though (march 4), and will most likely be at MSRH on the 18th. need to work on a few things, i'd like to make the next CMRA race at TWS by the 23rd. so in short, yes i'm still with Fastline. come say hi this weekend if you're free. dunno if i posted this one or not. nothing fancy, but i like it   stickers!   i also have a bonus picture or Brandon Cleland (local/AMA racer) checking my tire pressure =P
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Mar 3, 2012 03:44
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sooo any Texas/Houston peeps coming out to GSS Sunday? good place to run your motard or mini if you have one.
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Mar 3, 2012 03:58
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Today i signed up for my first trackday in a year and a half. April 6th and 7th at Sepang and thought it best to register for the beginner group. I've only got 300 miles on the MV so far, looks like i'll need to do more riding and maybe some laps at a smaller track closer to me to get familiar with the bike.
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Mar 3, 2012 11:47
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I bought an R6S on the cheap. Oh boy, Oberto! Yesterday I took it out onto the street for the first time. I'm super impressed; the engine revs forever, the felt planted at all times, and the ergos aren't terrible, even at 6'4". I do have a hard time going full tuck though... I dont know if I could every daily drive a bike like this; it's so happy at 2x the speed limit... Western Washington just received a new road course over the winter - 3/24 is the first bike day!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKJGvv4av0Q It gains the name Ridge for turns 13-16 (bottom left), where there is an ~80 foot elevation drop. Apparently it's similar to Laguna Seca! I can't wait! GI Joe jobs fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Mar 12, 2012 |
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Mar 12, 2012 13:48
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