Last days and 2016 year end reflections.
TL;DR: California Superbike School and EvolveGT are fantastic. Trackdays are fun. Bike is significantly faster than the rider.
____________
NCBike with EvolveGT - Nov. 2016
Takeaway: I still need to drop that inside elbow and get my head lower and more outboard. I'm probably subconsciously maintaining some bar pressure.
Did the last two days of the season at NCBike with Evolve this month. After four trackdays at NCBike, I can safely say that I love that track. The grip level is fantastic and the long sweepers are wonderful for working on body position. The track just flows.
I tried to focus on T1-T4 this time, and definitely improved. I thought I was significantly faster in certain sections, but I only dropped a little over a second on my personal best into the 1:44s. I would like to go racing next season, and the lap record is a 1:36, with the pack running around 1:38-1:41, so I still have a ways to go.
I found myself snicking into 6th gear on the back side, and going down 3 gears clutchless at T11 was problematic. The blips were just slowing me down a bit as I wasn't as hard on the brakes as possible. While I've been riding clutchless everywhere else with 1 or 2 gear shifts, I'm thinking next year I'll need to try both clutched and clutchless for 3 gear downshifts to see how I feel.
Link to original page on YouTube.
Video of the last session of the day. Checked throttle on the straights in the middle of the session, as I was trying to get a tow from a coach on a 300. Turned out he hit a braking zone false neutral and had pitted in already.
________________
2016 in Review
Bike
Overall, the bike was kept fairly stock. I'm trying to see how far I can get, and learn how to "feel" the bike. I want to learn how to get to the limit of the bike before upgrading additional bits and pieces. Black Friday deals on Ohlins were definitely tempting though... Haha.
I did end up buying an ebay-special lever guard set so I can finally get a brake lever guard.
The bike currently:
Catalyst Composite fairings
Woodcraft clip ons
Yoshimura rearset risers with PSR superbike pegs
Woodcraft under fairing sliders
R&G case covers
Hel front brake line/Spieger rear brake line
Two Brothers Full Exhaust
PowerCommanderV
SSR preload adjusters
Planned upgrades:
I've been thinking about a paintjob. Not an upgrade, but just a coolness factor. At the same time, that is money that could be saved...
Rider
I definitely made a ton of improvement after getting back into the sport. Riding the 300 has made me a significantly safer and faster rider than my R6 or CBR600RR did.
This year, I did levels 3 and 4 at California Superbike School and rode a number of days with EvolveGT. Before, I was able to get away with shoddy body positioning on the supersports. But the riding position on the 300 really highlighted issues (I was touching toe/peg before knee initially), and spending two days at CSS really helped sort out those issues. NCBike with EvolveGT was perfect for giving me the time to methodically work on the body positioning changes. On that note, all the coaches at EvolveGT have been amazing this year.
Overall, I am now hanging off the bike better. Thanks to Jon Groom and Dylan Code at California Superbike School in particular for helping show me the light. I went to the extreme at the start of the year for hanging off, and then tempered my lower body at CSS. It wasn't just "do this," but Days of Thunder style. Having me show them what I was doing, and then moving me around while keeping track of certain key measurements was extremely helpful. I ended up with a better knee position while hanging off less and getting a more secure lock on the tank.
I still need to work on getting my head more out to the side and lower (hook turn!) but that's progress for another year.
Goals for next year:
Body positioning:
Relax that inside arm and drop lower on the tank to get the head outboard more.
Visuals:
1) Work on references points for corner entry. I feel like I depend a lot on boards and trackday cones, which can be shifted. Having listened to Kevin Schwantz, he mentioned looking for on-track things more so he's not looking away.
2) Not tunnel visioning on the bike ahead of me, but looking through.
Corner entry:
Working on my visuals and reference points. Some corners, like T2 at NCBike, I would find myself adding lean angle after going in.
All in all, a fantastic year with great people at the track. Bike is in one piece, and still able to learn.