Signed up for my first track day

[Yakaru]

Got myself a "Level 1" season pass with OPRT ( http://www.optimum-performance.org/home/ ) so I'll be spending a lot of time at the Ridge this summer. 2Fast ( http://2-fast.org/ ) also posted their schedule and I may be trying to add a day or two with them additionally. Finally time to put that CSS training to the test!
I'd love to say hi to any other ninjette members who are going so I thought I'd post and see if anyone else is doing track in the PNW this year!

[adouglas]

Welcome to the addiction!

[Yakaru]

Well I was already addicted to CSS, this is at least significantly cheaper.

[Misti]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Well I was already addicted to CSS, this is at least significantly cheaper.

But you've done it the right way around! You invested in CSS rider training to up your skills and give you a handle on proper technique (I approved you myself )

NOW, you are going to put all that training to good use by rippin it up at track days and having specific and measurable things to work on.

You won't be riding around making the same mistakes over and over again because you will be able to catch yourself when you make a mistake or don't ride as well as you know you can and you will be able to give yourself things to work on each session out; like finding more reference points, drawing the track, or improving on your throttle control because you KNOW what to do and how to do it!

Enjoy the track days!!! I'll see you in Vegas for a pre-season refresher and then check up on you later at the the Ridge

[Yakaru]

Perfect, read my mind. I'm starting to make a list of things I think still need work for us to go over in Vegas as well so we'll see how that goes.

[allanoue]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Perfect, read my mind. I'm starting to make a list of things I think still need work for us to go over in Vegas as well so we'll see how that goes.

Will you share your list?

[Yakaru]

Sure. Draft form, in roughly priority order:

1. Anything Misti notices that takes precedence
2. Stop doing a combination lean and roll on. quickturn then throttle after.
3. Stop relying on the turn point markers for my reference points, learn to find and use reference points that exist on a regular day
4. Body Positioning in general
5. Up the throttle where possible, especially stop letting myself get 'lost' on sections of the track causing me to throttle down. (e.g. at the Ridge I frequently estimate the length of the front straightaway to be shorter than it is, so I roll off and engine brake early into turn 1, instead of waiting for a reference point to tell me the turn is some distance away and being willing to use the brakes)

[snot]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Welcome to the addiction!

this is so true.... my cheap fix is the cart track.

[Misti]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Sure. Draft form, in roughly priority order:

1. Anything Misti notices that takes precedence
2. Stop doing a combination lean and roll on. quickturn then throttle after.
3. Stop relying on the turn point markers for my reference points, learn to find and use reference points that exist on a regular day
4. Body Positioning in general
5. Up the throttle where possible, especially stop letting myself get 'lost' on sections of the track causing me to throttle down. (e.g. at the Ridge I frequently estimate the length of the front straightaway to be shorter than it is, so I roll off and engine brake early into turn 1, instead of waiting for a reference point to tell me the turn is some distance away and being willing to use the brakes)

Excellent list!

Very glad you remembered #2 (which is kinda #1 if i'm not around watching you)! The adding lean angle and throttle combination is a deadly one so yes, Quickturn, THEN roll on the gas once you are at the lean angle you want. :dance cool:

Why is it so dangerous to add lean angle and throttle at the same time?

[Yakaru]

Well, let's cover this from a few angles, because it has several problems. From what I suspect is least to most important:

Rider Input:

Adding lean and throttle at the same time means you're also more likely to not be doing the turn quickly. The slower you are to turn, the longer it takes you to get on line. This means you're probably going wide to start, and will end up at a higher lean angle than the turn required had you gotten leaned over quickly.

Suspension:

Rolling on transfers weight from the front to the rear tire, while at the same time the front wheel is the wheel that 'does' the turning. You're demanding more from the front at the same time as you're taking traction away from it.

Tires/Traction:

More generally than above, you're going to risk out running your traction budget even further because you won't have a steady amount. This is two parts. First, as you lean over you have less and less contact patch to work with; if you're rolling on at the same time you won't have a settled bike with good traction to work with and you risk losing it. You also are trying to get the bike to 'steady out' (adding throttle to settle the line) and 'tighten up' (leaning more) at the same time so you're demanding contradictory uses of that traction.

Overall it's a good way to just run wide or worse have a low (or, rarely, high) side when you run out of tire traction.

Is that about right?

[Misti]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Well, let's cover this from a few angles, because it has several problems. From what I suspect is least to most important:

Rider Input:

Adding lean and throttle at the same time means you're also more likely to not be doing the turn quickly. The slower you are to turn, the longer it takes you to get on line. This means you're probably going wide to start, and will end up at a higher lean angle than the turn required had you gotten leaned over quickly.

Suspension:

Rolling on transfers weight from the front to the rear tire, while at the same time the front wheel is the wheel that 'does' the turning. You're demanding more from the front at the same time as you're taking traction away from it.

Tires/Traction:

More generally than above, you're going to risk out running your traction budget even further because you won't have a steady amount. This is two parts. First, as you lean over you have less and less contact patch to work with; if you're rolling on at the same time you won't have a settled bike with good traction to work with and you risk losing it. You also are trying to get the bike to 'steady out' (adding throttle to settle the line) and 'tighten up' (leaning more) at the same time so you're demanding contradictory uses of that traction.

Overall it's a good way to just run wide or worse have a low (or, rarely, high) side when you run out of tire traction.

Is that about right?

Sounds about right, yes! You've been paying attention