My report for SOW (Group C) on Saturday 11/20. Took a couple of CSS levels previously but this was my first real track day. I was really worried that my day was going to be ruined by rain with the forecast looking so bad. Fortunately it rained in the morning and cleared up in the afternoon.

I was having a blast in the afternoon but many times I found myself being passed my larger bikes in the straights only to catch up with them in the turns. My initial reaction was I too am ready for a larger bike but since I've had a couple of days to reflect, I realized that if I had the right skills, I could probably could pass some of those riders. For example, I'd enter the corner right behind a rider at the same speed as him/her and then try to pass on the outside. Sometimes I'd pass them but many times I just didn't have enough acceleration. I think I need to keep more distance behind the rider and start building up speed before hand. then at the moment of turn, my speed is greater than the other rider and I should have more momentum to pass. It's stuff like this that made me realize I don't need a bigger bike right now.

Back the track day. Its the 2:40pm group and the checked flag was waived. I'm going into the Bowl (turn 8) with a slower rider in front of me, thinking I'm going to pass this sucker. Well, it turns I was the sucker. I don't know what exactly happen but here is what I think happened. I was on the outside and I think I tried to tighten the turn more by counter steering. I now remember in CSS they told us once the lean angle is set and you are accelerating don't increase the lean. But I'm not sure if this is what happened. So there I was trying to pass on the outside and I hear metal scrapping. My mind registers that something is scrapping then the back end goes out. I'm certain that it was the muffler, as I scraped the muffler when I took CSS. Luckily no injuries, just slid on my butt. Bike is not too bad, pics at the bottom.

My new Christmas list
1. Muffler that wouldn't scrape.
2. BT-003 RS ( Currently BT-045 )
3. A real track suit

( Maybe start looking at suspension as well )

Pics:
I took the muffer off.
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff440/sniegows/Picture005Medium.jpg

Bent clip-on.
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff440/sniegows/Picture003Medium.jpg

Scratch Fairing
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff440/sniegows/PictureMedium.jpg

Me :)
http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff440/sniegows/Nov-20-Ti2TTGroupC150pmCLN_3203Medium.jpg

Nice photo of you. Welcome.

Yeah, that stock muffler scrapes really easily, so there's a good chance that's what you were dragging. Still scares the bejeezus out of me whenever that happens. I've almost crashed both in the bowl and on the skid pad more than once thanks to over leaning and dragging that stupid oversized can, but thanks to bridgestone and the mighty Lords of motorcycling, I've been lucky:
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/7724/exhaust089.jpg
^This is how I can justify buying a new exhaust. I didn't have any problem with it after getting my suspension stiffened up in the back though. I'd recommend twiddling with suspension next time for sure, since it really does make a world of difference. Might want to remove the front turn signals too, just for the record. Those things are expensive from a dealer :)

That said, I <3 the hell out of Streets. The forecast and funds kept me home last weekend, but it sounds like it wasn't that bad. Definitely stick with the 2fiddy for a while and you'll eventually find yourself passing bigger bikes at least in C group with relative ease (Although some of the guys on here can more than hold their own in B group, and probably roll with A no problem on 250s, so it's pretty capable with the right combination of skills and cajones). And then people'll come up to you in the pits and be all like- "Nice! That's the 650, right? " and you can smile from ear to ear and say "Naaaaaah, fool. 250". It's a strangely awesome feeling :p

Good stuff. Maybe I'll meet you out there next time.

Yeah, absolutely crank that rear shock preload up to max if you're going to the track, beginner or not.

Yeah, absolutely crank that rear shock preload up to max if you're going to the track, beginner or not.

Good advice. I didn't know enough about suspension so I left it on the middle setting.

sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident, but glad your ok. The BT-45 tires are fine for the street, but if your going to the track, new tires are a must. You can get a set (BT-003RS) for under $200 and they are by far and away the best bang for the buck upgrade for the track. Any track vendor will tell you this.

From what I read its hard to tell what actually went wrong, but it sounds like a good learning experience. If you actually heard scraping before the back end came loose (sometimes it happens so quickly you can't tell) then the exhaust became a pivot point and you lost it. Easy fix, get you weight shifted more into the turn and the bike will be more upright. The last picture of you looks good flying through the turn, but you can shift your body a whole lot more.

nice pics though...good luck next time. BTW, you will love your new tires.:thumbup:

Yeah, absolutely crank that rear shock preload up to max if you're going to the track, beginner or not.

I know u use a gsxr shock. Does lowering the bike in height make it scrape more things?

I know u use a gsxr shock. Does lowering the bike in height make it scrape more things?

yup, by lowering the bike you are bringing everything that can touch down and become a pivot point closer to the ground. not a good thing.

yup, by lowering the bike you are bringing everything that can touch down and become a pivot point closer to the ground. not a good thing.

this would be true if the spring rates and damping rates were the same, but they're not.

I found that the gsxr rear shock actually scrapes LESS than the stock shock, because there is actually compression damping going on, and if you're heavier than me (150 lbs) you can still crank the preload higher than you ever could on the stock ninja shock.

But... it still scrapes, dangit. Instead of thinking of it as a problem, consider it an enforced upgrade haha

lucky you got clip-ons, so you dont need to buy a whole new handle bar, or even potentially replace the triple clamp

Glad you have fun. Sorry about the crash. You track with stock plastic? Expensive. Get a track fairing.