Brands Hatch: I'm a survivor!
Moderators: Aladinsaneuk, MartDude, D-Rider, Moderators
Brands Hatch: I'm a survivor!
I made it in spite of:
-my bike being vandalized the day before;
-old, bald and stock Metzelers MeZ3;
-my DIY airbox chop mod;
-this being my first trackday ever;
-Gio not being there to hold my hand (I will never forget... :smtp002);
-and the last but not least: the rain.
The rain started shortly after the first session commenced. Greasy, greasy, greasy. One bike down (not me ).
I felt exactly how the rear tyre gives up on exits, stepping outside (kinda 'snaking', a bit like on a flat tyre). The front was gripping fine.
My new X-Lite X-902 fogged completely. Even with a pinlock insert. I know the air was humid but c'mon... Those vents are useless.
I was doing quite well, being one of the fastest virgins. But I was to tense, need to work on relaxing. And need to turn in later! Common mistakes.
I am proud of myself, though. Couple of times I managed not to close the throttle shut in difficult situations: when rear was giving up or when I thought I was going too fast in a corner.
Highly recommended experience! Although scary as hell.
BTW One of the fastest (if not the fastest) rider was on a BMW GS. On dual purpose tyres.
Couple of crappy pics:
-my bike being vandalized the day before;
-old, bald and stock Metzelers MeZ3;
-my DIY airbox chop mod;
-this being my first trackday ever;
-Gio not being there to hold my hand (I will never forget... :smtp002);
-and the last but not least: the rain.
The rain started shortly after the first session commenced. Greasy, greasy, greasy. One bike down (not me ).
I felt exactly how the rear tyre gives up on exits, stepping outside (kinda 'snaking', a bit like on a flat tyre). The front was gripping fine.
My new X-Lite X-902 fogged completely. Even with a pinlock insert. I know the air was humid but c'mon... Those vents are useless.
I was doing quite well, being one of the fastest virgins. But I was to tense, need to work on relaxing. And need to turn in later! Common mistakes.
I am proud of myself, though. Couple of times I managed not to close the throttle shut in difficult situations: when rear was giving up or when I thought I was going too fast in a corner.
Highly recommended experience! Although scary as hell.
BTW One of the fastest (if not the fastest) rider was on a BMW GS. On dual purpose tyres.
Couple of crappy pics:
Yeah, I was quite surprised not seeing the rain on pics. My gloves were wet through out, though (no, I wasn't sweating THAT much) I had to change them for my way home.
Edit: Mystery solved. Can you see a bungee over the pillion cover? It was there on the first session only. The photographer must have been taking pics in the very beginning and then fled when rain started. Looser
Edit: Mystery solved. Can you see a bungee over the pillion cover? It was there on the first session only. The photographer must have been taking pics in the very beginning and then fled when rain started. Looser
I'm guessing it's going to piss down for Cadwell next friday, but I should be ok with the Mez6 boots. How does a circuit compare to a road in the wet? I'd imagine there's plenty more grip and that it's much more consistant?
SHINY BIKE SYNDROME Motorcycle valeting and paint protection specialist.
Aladinsaneuk wrote:andy is having a VERY heavy period
Exactly. No surprises (oil, standing water, filled holes etc). So you've got less grip, but it's there, and you know how much of it you've got.
The worst is when it just starts raining (and the following session). The grip is going down and down.
I forgot to mention the best bit. I strained my back the day before, so that evening I was stiff and hugely sore. I took strong painkillers just to get on the bike. That made me drowsy. So I bought two cans of Redbull to level it all up. Even all that did not allow me to relax my forearms BTW! I was well stoned
The worst is when it just starts raining (and the following session). The grip is going down and down.
I forgot to mention the best bit. I strained my back the day before, so that evening I was stiff and hugely sore. I took strong painkillers just to get on the bike. That made me drowsy. So I bought two cans of Redbull to level it all up. Even all that did not allow me to relax my forearms BTW! I was well stoned
I've noticed Just cannot stop myself from booking another one...Hansie wrote:Watch out Seb: these days are addictive...!
I'm not racing, Hansie (although it is nice to keep overtaking/being-overtaken count positive) It's all about fighting my ill instincts on a bike (going tense, closing the throttle, too early turn-ins etc).Hansie wrote:Still those stock tyres??? Shave off multiple seconds if you ditch them.
BTW: Conti Road Attacks fitted Cannot test though, still totally stiff back...
Gio, stop making excuses.
Glad you had a good day out Sab.
A couple of tricks I've found about ride days, although I'm just a slow poke
for greater feel get some stomp pads for sides of tank or cheat like me and put some duck tape on there, comes off easy and gives a lot more grip to your knees, allowing you to relax your grip on the bars, there only there for steering input not holding on
get your bum back as far as it can go and drop the elbows, there by pushing/ pulling the bars forward or back, not down
if you had sore hands (palms) this is it
if you can do some laps from every position on the track (slowly )
one extreme left one extreme right one center and look around wide screen
see how much track you really have
helps getting to know how much space you really have at each corner
try not to target fixate on other bikes, corners or naked chicks flashing there bits
take note of them but don't shrink your vision by fixating on them, once you've noticed them use your peripheral vision to see them
These aren't my ideas (not that bright )
there from keith Codes super bike school, get his books if you can, I might even take my own advise on that one day
you probably already know alot of this stuff, I just know it really helped me get over my confidence problem in the wet and dry
wont get rid of that nervous piss before the first session though
or the butterflies in the belly the night before
one last thing, yes they are extremely addictive, I'm desperate to get out there again, but got no mulla so I'm currently planing to robe a bank, just got to find one with no security guards with guns, don't no what there problem is, its only money, its not even theres
A couple of tricks I've found about ride days, although I'm just a slow poke
for greater feel get some stomp pads for sides of tank or cheat like me and put some duck tape on there, comes off easy and gives a lot more grip to your knees, allowing you to relax your grip on the bars, there only there for steering input not holding on
get your bum back as far as it can go and drop the elbows, there by pushing/ pulling the bars forward or back, not down
if you had sore hands (palms) this is it
if you can do some laps from every position on the track (slowly )
one extreme left one extreme right one center and look around wide screen
see how much track you really have
helps getting to know how much space you really have at each corner
try not to target fixate on other bikes, corners or naked chicks flashing there bits
take note of them but don't shrink your vision by fixating on them, once you've noticed them use your peripheral vision to see them
These aren't my ideas (not that bright )
there from keith Codes super bike school, get his books if you can, I might even take my own advise on that one day
you probably already know alot of this stuff, I just know it really helped me get over my confidence problem in the wet and dry
wont get rid of that nervous piss before the first session though
or the butterflies in the belly the night before
one last thing, yes they are extremely addictive, I'm desperate to get out there again, but got no mulla so I'm currently planing to robe a bank, just got to find one with no security guards with guns, don't no what there problem is, its only money, its not even theres
The problem with common sense is, its not very common
Good stuff, most quite obvious but hard to implement, like:
No, unfortunately the painkillers killed all the butterflies. I was struggling to stand up straight.
Well try not to fixate on a guy on DR-Z just flashing by you and disappearing 10 seconds laterGtrain wrote: try not to target fixate on other bikes
Gtrain wrote: butterflies in the belly the night before
No, unfortunately the painkillers killed all the butterflies. I was struggling to stand up straight.
Good advise, I'll definitely try that!Gtrain wrote: for greater feel get some stomp pads for sides of tank or cheat like me and put some duck tape on there, comes off easy and gives a lot more grip to your knees, allowing you to relax your grip on the bars, there only there for steering input not holding on
3 months later
Another Brands evening:
- back not hurting
- Contis Road Attack (great tyres)
- stomp pads a'la Gtrain (cheers!)
- just a tiny drizzle from time to time (not to let you forget where you are )
Result: fek that was fast! I was absolutely sure I would crash as I new I couldn't ride that quick! Didn't though, had huge fun!
After my first track evening my hands ached, this time my thighs are sore (I take it as a good sign - using legs to lock on the bike instead of hanging on bars).
I was definitely one of the fastest guys there, overtaking nearly everyone, being overtaken by just a few bikes (R1 - on straights, GSXR - braking zones) but I was giving them hard time You can be proud of me guys this time, I was confident in bends and relaxed, overtaking lots of bikes on the outside on Druids, Clearways, everywhere actually
It's a great fun, highly recommended!
- back not hurting
- Contis Road Attack (great tyres)
- stomp pads a'la Gtrain (cheers!)
- just a tiny drizzle from time to time (not to let you forget where you are )
Result: fek that was fast! I was absolutely sure I would crash as I new I couldn't ride that quick! Didn't though, had huge fun!
After my first track evening my hands ached, this time my thighs are sore (I take it as a good sign - using legs to lock on the bike instead of hanging on bars).
I was definitely one of the fastest guys there, overtaking nearly everyone, being overtaken by just a few bikes (R1 - on straights, GSXR - braking zones) but I was giving them hard time You can be proud of me guys this time, I was confident in bends and relaxed, overtaking lots of bikes on the outside on Druids, Clearways, everywhere actually
It's a great fun, highly recommended!