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Old November 17th, 2017, 10:42 AM   #27
Mechanikrazy
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Name: Al
Location: Orange County, CA
Join Date: Dec 2015

Motorcycle(s): Thruxton R, R6 450 triple, EX300 (sold)

Posts: 263
Quote:
Originally Posted by JacRyann View Post
Sorry, on Phoenix visiting in-laws. Only doing Monday & Tuesday.
Hope you had a great time in Phoenix and at Laguna. Hopefully will run into you at some point next year.


Laguna Seca
I have a soft spot for this place. My first ever time on track was California Superbike School level 1 at Laguna way back in 2007. I have never been back since that day, until this past weekend. I still remember that day was so fun watching Elena Myers lapping everyone in her riding group.

Onward, it was my first time with Keigwin's and my first time back on the 300 since April.

West v. East
Some trackday groups on the West Coast have red flags mean track stoppage whereas East Coast red flags mean everyone pits in. I actually like this rule as it probably significantly shortens the time to roll the ambulance and gives at least a fighting chance before permanent damage if there is heart stoppage.

New toy
Honda EU2000i because one of the premier tracks around doesn't have electrical in the paddock.....

Anyways, onward to the trackday. I had friends renting the FLAP Ninja 300s, so we were able to grid up together and have a blast out there. Even if we were getting blitzed on the straight, it was fun to be buzzing down the straight in a pack of 4-5 drafting 300s.

I have always favored right hand turns, which worked out fine on the East Coast where almost all of the tracks were clockwise. But this meant I was giving up a lot of ground in turns 5, 6, and the corkscrew. We'll slowly work on it next year.

And had a baby front end slide moment in T3 that scared me a ton. First time I've felt the front end go loose, pressure increase on my knee, and then feel the front end track again. Yes... I've felt the front end go loose before... and then have the bike separate from me... Heh.

Body position-wise, I'm pretty happy with my lower body after my CSS revelation last year. But I'm still finding I'm not screwdriver handing and relaxing over the tank consistently enough, so most of my photos have my head position fairly high up.

Ran a day best of 1:58.2. Considering that Keigwin's asks for 1:48 to 2:00 for all size bikes in B+ (also, what is up with this Stanfurd grade inflation to A/B+/B- from A/B/C or A/I/N (sorry, not sorry, rivalry Big Game week)), I'm pretty happy to be within the time on a 300.

Still, meeting some fast guys and AFM riders, I was reminded of all the work that I still need to do for my riding.

2018 Goals:
Learn the west coast tracks.
Get an MX bike and learn front end feel
Lower my upper body position

My favorite photo of the day and a video:


Link to original page on YouTube.


Last futzed with by Mechanikrazy; November 21st, 2017 at 10:23 AM. Reason: red flag correction
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