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Ducati999 · August 6th, 2019, 07:45 AM

Hello again, back so soon?

We just returned from another incredible learning experience at Palmer Motor Sports Park on Sunday Aug 4 and Monday Aug 5, 2019. I have to thank @adouglas, @Kaola, my wife, TTD and many others for an incredible 2 days doing what I love! We had a small incident which @adouglas can explain better than I, but otherwise a great trip. Below I will relate how my trip went but I would like to give a little insite to what I observed with my fellow paddoc mates.

@adouglas: The best description may be "Iceman" from the movie Top Gun. He learns all the rules and procedures, practices them and rides with precision. I have watched as his speed and precision on the track has steadily improved to the point that TTD nearly had to force him into the faster Blue group. He has helped me much over the years and is well respected at the track by many of the riders. This trip was his lap times dropped down to 2:08! which is hauling A$$!

My Wife: She is not a member on this forum but is the reason I am a member since the 250 is her bike. She had an operation approx 2 years ago and has not ridden much since. When we all planned this trip, she decided to go along and began to ride her Ninjette once again. I replaced the tires with Pirelli Sport Demons and got her a set of grips with a throttle cam allowing her to hit full throttle with much less turn of the grip. She has always done exceptionally well at the track and loves Palmer so it was no suprise she did quite well again. She is looking forward to next season with hopes of a new, bigger CC bike and hopefully many more trips to the track! I would not be able to spend as much time or money on this sport if it were not for her!

@Koala: This weekend was her first real track trip. She has just under 500 miles of riding experience total in her life including this trip and did exceptionally well. Her first day she was taking things slow but after learning the race line, a little advice from @adouglas and lots of courage, she steadily improved. You should read about it in her own words elsewhere on this forum. She did great--enough said!

@csmith12: You all know him well. He had planned to attend with us but was not able to make the 14 hour drive to attend. We missed him being there but his help and guideance over the years have helped me and many others ride faster and safer than we ever would have without him.

@everyone else who has helped: @Misty, @Sireff and many others have read this thread and given me advice. I really appreciate all your time and Knowledge and ask that you dont change a thing. Please let me know what you think of my video and I want all the criticism as my only goal is to improve. Thank you all.

@Ducati999: Finally, I must address myself. I am super happy with the issue I resolved this weekend. When you read thru the above thread, you will see that I have had a real problem describing the issues I was experiencing yet a single slow rider cutting me off at turn entrance showed me the "root cause" of most of my trouble. I will do the best I can to describe what was wrong and what fixed the problem but the video I will attempt to attach should show that lots of the issue is resolved. I have lowered my lap time around Palmer to 2:17/18 but the video will show my lines are much better and smoother and that my entry speeds and corner speeds are within 1-3 mph each lap. WWWWWaaaaayyyy better than ever before and my throttle control is so much smoother. Enough now to the issue and what I leanrned.

I do not have video of this event but will do my best to describe what went down at turn 7 (same turn I crashed in years ago--go rewatch).
Turn 7 is a down hill left turn. You crest a hill with a kink right at turn 6 then downhill into a huge sweeping left hand carousel where you cant see the apex until way late in the turn. Normal "good" entry finds you on the power over the crest/kink of 6 straight lining into 7 fairly fast. I had begun taking a much tighter line to the inside as before I would run out approx 15' from the curb. Comming down the hill just as I began to tip into the tighter line, a slower rider went from the outside right into the curb causing me to roll off, brake and have to tighten my line more to the curb on the inside of the turn. I was pushed froward on the seat due to the sudden deceleration and this changed how I was "locked on" to the bike. I did not think I had an issue with how I "locked" my knee into the tank before this but with the new position I was able to control the bike much better and finished the turn much better than the last few laps. The next turn is an uphill kink left taken under power so I did not notice anything there but once I set into the U turn that is turn 9, I was back to having the same issue with difficulty getting the bike to turn how I wanted. I went thru turns 10-13 and the front straight working out how and why turn 7 went so well but then the issue came right back. Twist of the Wrist 2 says "bikes dont do anything once in a while" so it had to be me not the bike. Turn 1 is a uphill sweeping 90 degree turn taken at "high speed" with knee (nearly) on the ground. As I approached turn 1, I realized that I was not locked into the outside foot peg as well as I had been at turn 7 and that was forcing me to use the bars for some additional support. Once I had this thought and started to support my core better, everything changed. I will let the video (provided I get it to load) speak for its self. Please let me know what you think, I am not afraid of negative feed back.

I did not get a chance to edit the video so you will have to FF to approx 10min for start.

I am trying to load to YOUTUBE as every attempt to upload here-FAILS. I will add linky ASAP!

https://youtu.be/eyCbFbw4m1Y" TARGET="_blank">Link to original page on YouTube.

August 6th, 2019, 07:45 AM	#197
Ducati999 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Ant Location: Wooster Join Date: Dec 2013 Motorcycle(s): Ducati 999 2012 Ninja 250r Ducati748 Yellow finally running 2003 SV650 S (SOLD) Posts: A lot.	Hello again, back so soon? We just returned from another incredible learning experience at Palmer Motor Sports Park on Sunday Aug 4 and Monday Aug 5, 2019. I have to thank @adouglas, @Kaola, my wife, TTD and many others for an incredible 2 days doing what I love! We had a small incident which @adouglas can explain better than I, but otherwise a great trip. Below I will relate how my trip went but I would like to give a little insite to what I observed with my fellow paddoc mates. @adouglas: The best description may be "Iceman" from the movie Top Gun. He learns all the rules and procedures, practices them and rides with precision. I have watched as his speed and precision on the track has steadily improved to the point that TTD nearly had to force him into the faster Blue group. He has helped me much over the years and is well respected at the track by many of the riders. This trip was his lap times dropped down to 2:08! which is hauling A$$! My Wife: She is not a member on this forum but is the reason I am a member since the 250 is her bike. She had an operation approx 2 years ago and has not ridden much since. When we all planned this trip, she decided to go along and began to ride her Ninjette once again. I replaced the tires with Pirelli Sport Demons and got her a set of grips with a throttle cam allowing her to hit full throttle with much less turn of the grip. She has always done exceptionally well at the track and loves Palmer so it was no suprise she did quite well again. She is looking forward to next season with hopes of a new, bigger CC bike and hopefully many more trips to the track! I would not be able to spend as much time or money on this sport if it were not for her! @Koala: This weekend was her first real track trip. She has just under 500 miles of riding experience total in her life including this trip and did exceptionally well. Her first day she was taking things slow but after learning the race line, a little advice from @adouglas and lots of courage, she steadily improved. You should read about it in her own words elsewhere on this forum. She did great--enough said! @csmith12: You all know him well. He had planned to attend with us but was not able to make the 14 hour drive to attend. We missed him being there but his help and guideance over the years have helped me and many others ride faster and safer than we ever would have without him. @everyone else who has helped: @Misty, @Sireff and many others have read this thread and given me advice. I really appreciate all your time and Knowledge and ask that you dont change a thing. Please let me know what you think of my video and I want all the criticism as my only goal is to improve. Thank you all. @Ducati999: Finally, I must address myself. I am super happy with the issue I resolved this weekend. When you read thru the above thread, you will see that I have had a real problem describing the issues I was experiencing yet a single slow rider cutting me off at turn entrance showed me the "root cause" of most of my trouble. I will do the best I can to describe what was wrong and what fixed the problem but the video I will attempt to attach should show that lots of the issue is resolved. I have lowered my lap time around Palmer to 2:17/18 but the video will show my lines are much better and smoother and that my entry speeds and corner speeds are within 1-3 mph each lap. WWWWWaaaaayyyy better than ever before and my throttle control is so much smoother. Enough now to the issue and what I leanrned. I do not have video of this event but will do my best to describe what went down at turn 7 (same turn I crashed in years ago--go rewatch). Turn 7 is a down hill left turn. You crest a hill with a kink right at turn 6 then downhill into a huge sweeping left hand carousel where you cant see the apex until way late in the turn. Normal "good" entry finds you on the power over the crest/kink of 6 straight lining into 7 fairly fast. I had begun taking a much tighter line to the inside as before I would run out approx 15' from the curb. Comming down the hill just as I began to tip into the tighter line, a slower rider went from the outside right into the curb causing me to roll off, brake and have to tighten my line more to the curb on the inside of the turn. I was pushed froward on the seat due to the sudden deceleration and this changed how I was "locked on" to the bike. I did not think I had an issue with how I "locked" my knee into the tank before this but with the new position I was able to control the bike much better and finished the turn much better than the last few laps. The next turn is an uphill kink left taken under power so I did not notice anything there but once I set into the U turn that is turn 9, I was back to having the same issue with difficulty getting the bike to turn how I wanted. I went thru turns 10-13 and the front straight working out how and why turn 7 went so well but then the issue came right back. Twist of the Wrist 2 says "bikes dont do anything once in a while" so it had to be me not the bike. Turn 1 is a uphill sweeping 90 degree turn taken at "high speed" with knee (nearly) on the ground. As I approached turn 1, I realized that I was not locked into the outside foot peg as well as I had been at turn 7 and that was forcing me to use the bars for some additional support. Once I had this thought and started to support my core better, everything changed. I will let the video (provided I get it to load) speak for its self. Please let me know what you think, I am not afraid of negative feed back. I did not get a chance to edit the video so you will have to FF to approx 10min for start. I am trying to load to YOUTUBE as every attempt to upload here-FAILS. I will add linky ASAP! https://youtu.be/eyCbFbw4m1Y</a>" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> https://youtu.be/eyCbFbw4m1Y" TARGET="_blank">Link to original page on YouTube.