4th of July Track Day at The Ridge

[EternalNewb]

The Prologue: Brake Fluid Woes
Prep for the track began on a fun note. We picked up Saturn from GP Suspension/KFG Racing, where Yakaru had dropped the bike off for some **suspension upgrades** (Ohlins front and rear, full new cartridge for the forks, and a complete swap for the rear), detailed in another thread. The mechanic working on Saturn mentioned the brakes were terrible, an existing condition of which Yakaru was aware, and we promised to bleed and address the issue as soon as we got the bike home. Alas, the matter was not so simply resolved. After flushing and bleeding the front brake system, time and again, we felt little to no improvement. We killed most of the brake fluid in a full bottle, and naturally, none of the open shops had the fluid we needed when we went to get more. After finally hunting down a bottle at a CycleGear, we gave it another go. We pulled the caliper, re-set the pistons, re-seated the pads. The lever remained squishy as all get out, and we were frustrated. To make matters worse, the moisture in the air had begun to thicken, and eventually developed into a light rain, killing any further attempts to remedy the problem. Fortunately, the good folks at OPRT were able to sort us the day before our scheduled track day. Apparently the shop that did insurance work on Saturn (when she was stolen) had bled the brake system completely dry, and air had gotten trapped in the top of the banjo bolt. Michael, from OPRT, worked his mechanical magic (applying blunt trauma to the darn thing), and we watched as the air bubble popped up into the master cylinder. Brakes restored, we thanked them, and headed off to find a room near the track for the following day.

July 3rd means no vacancies
Like with the brakes, however, this ended up being a bit more challenging than we had expected. Driving to Shelton, we went to our go-to spot, only to see a sign in the window stating there were no vacancies. No big. Yakaru proposed we back track and stay at the casino hotel we had passed on our way over. After making our way through the dim, smoky, din of various game rooms, we reached the front desk only to be informed there were, again, no vacancies. Huh. Oh, right. Holiday weekend. Our bad. Eventually, we found a place in Olympia, where we gave Saturn a bath, then set about to detailing her. Fun fact: Yakaru's wheel polish smells like grape soda. Saturn cleaned and stuff secured, we grabbed a fairly light meal and called it a night.

Session 1 (Yakaru follows EternalNewb, warm up)
This was my first time riding with OPRT, and my first time doing a track day at the Ridge (here's a map for reference). I was riding a rented 250R from Premium Rush, who did a fantastic job of taking care of me. It was number 19, and had been the race bike of one of the other riders in a previous life. Yakaru followed me around for session 1, which was something of a snoozefest comprised of sighting laps and such. The first few sets of laps, we were stuck behind a large group of riders, with no passing allowed. Womp-womp. I'm guessing they were with a class, because they exited after a bit, leaving a few bigger bikes to blow by me on the straight. Then I ended up behind another 250R and a control rider. A couple more laps, and the control rider waved us past. Yakaru mentioned later that I markedly picked up the pace around that time. Reviewing the session, Yakaru mentioned that I was going ballistic and not straightening up the track through turn 7, as well as between turns 10 and 11. Yakaru also mentioned that I was taking a wider line through 11 and not treating it like a hairpin.

Session 2 (EternalNewb kind of follows Yakaru)
I still was not double-apexing 6. I think I straightened out 10-11 a little more, but could still use some work. I spent much of the session distracted by other riders and trying to pass them/look for openings. Seemed to have straightened out/ignored 7, but treating 8a/b as a single rather than double apex.
Yakaru noted that the new Daytona Security Evo G3's are definitely better-suited to racing, but also said of them, "I'm in desperate need of a wedge to really ground that feeling." Yakaru also had the following notes about this session. "I'm over-focused on preparing for turn 2 when I'm going into turn 1. That's causing me to brake for turn 1 way early, and way more than I need to. So, I need to figure out the line I can take through that that won't cause me to scare myself, because I know that , every time I'm going in I know I'm going to do it and then I do it anyway. I'm liking my line through 6 a little more. I feel like I could get my upper body off further generally, but particularly in 6 where I've got enough time to really let it lay down. Otherwise a pretty good session."

Session 3 (Yakaru follows EternalNewb. Straighten your lines.)
By session three, were there any doubt before, it became clear that level 1 (novice) was having a solidly crashy morning. Yakaru and I recounted all the crashes and track-offs we saw during that session and the one prior, before moving on to reviewing the actual session. Again, Yakaru followed me around, and noted that I needed to straighten out my lines more, among a couple other things. I recorded the audio of our conversation and have included excerpts of the transcripts below.*According to Yakaru, I got a decent head start at the beginning of the session. Frequently, Yakaru was able to take my passing lines, but when that wasn't the case, I was "able to pull ahead, sometimes more significantly than [ Yakaru ] thought [ I ] would have been able to, and it was largely because [ Yakaru ] was stuck behind somebody who went so slow." This, as Yakaru noted, provided a fun game of catch up throughout the session. This segued into a conversation about the passing rules in levels 1, 2, and 3, since we were spending so much time getting stuck in packs, or behind them. From our understanding small bikes like ours aren't allowed in the top-tier group, but neither of us expressed interest in moving up to level 2 unless bumped up by a control rider or something. We talked about grabbing a coach towards the end of lunch, and I thought to just clarify passing rules for different levels. Yakaru mentioned that while just following and trying to keep pace with me, it was interesting to see that while our lines seemed pretty similar, there were some places they were drastically different. I know we take 11 in way different manners. Incidentally, Yakaru noticed that turn was a lot more consistent on the exit than expected.
Getting stuck behind other riders had me constantly looking for a way around them, and consequently exploring more of the track. At one point I noticed that if you're on the brakes, trail braking, as you enter the complex (turn 13), there's a bit of a divot you can hit, upsetting the front end some. I didn't feel like I was going to lose it or anything, but the 250 is a small bike, and it didn't feel good, so I just made a mental note to be aware that it's something I could hit again, and not to tense up or whatever if I do. The funny thing about using more of the track is that there are some places where I hardly use it, and others where I'm running over the rumble strip, and I know I probably shouldn't be doing that (like around turn 2, coming up the hill). I really need to focus on where to push in and out more, and where to scale it back a bit.

Session 4 (EternalNewb follows Yakaru. Use the whole track, BP)
Following Yakaru around for session 4, I had a few notes about what I was seeing. Some of it echoed our last post-session chat: using more of the track, and braking less for turn 1 and more for turn 2. Some of it was old news that I'm sure has come up at Super Bike School, like body positioning and getting more off of the bike and into the turn. The one note I did have that I was a bit concerned about was seeing the back end squiggle and step out a little while both approaching and entering some turns. I thought that maybe blipping the throttle a little more liberally may help this, but please please correct me if that is off-base or misinformed. I know it's something I have to work on, too, and want to make sure we aren't doing the wrong thing and forming bad habits.

Session 5 (One less ninjette on the pavement)
Yakaru came off after the first lap to turn cameras on and stuff. Pulled back out, came in again because of a strange, no good sound. OPRT and some other guys came and gave it a look/listen, and blown valve. Riding over for the day.
I worked on body positioning, dragged knee through most corners, but still feel a lot of work needs to be done. Another rider (Control Rider) came over and commented that my right side is way better than my left, which is funny since I have way more practice on my left turns. He also offered to show me some better lines and follow a bit, which was nice. ALSO I need to stop making mid-corner corrections. I'm aware of this bad habit, but I still haven't managed to correct it. They aren't just little corrections, they're more like shoves, so I really need focus in and get rid of that bad habit.

Session 6 (Body Position and Braking)
Focusing more on body positioning and braking, I definitely realized I could go a lot faster through many of the turns than I had been for most of the day. Found myself dragging knee going through 13 a little bit, but feeling comfortable doing so. Part of that I'm sure is because it's a small bike, and you get away with more on a small bike. Followed Nate for a lap, then he waved me by. I didn't get to implement what he showed me because I got caught behind a lot of traffic. So he went by me again and let me follow him again, and did some passing while following him because I just stayed on his butt, and was able to implement it more on the next lap out just because I was away from a crowd. Getting more comfortable with passing. Consistently putting my knee down through turn 6 now. Also putting my knee down more on my right handers. Specifically, I drag entering 13... 8 I'm starting to drag on the right hand side more. I'm also consistently dragging through 11, just because I'm getting more comfy with it, but often there's a big pile up so it's hard to get in practice there. I feel like I'm doing better with the body position and not doing as many steering corrections, but steering corrections are still and issue.
I feel like I tend to pass people in 6 more now, because I'm more aware of how much speed I can carry, how I can use my knee as a feeler, but that's made my line inconsistent. I don't even really care about where I exit as much any more, so much as where I set up for the next turn, ignoring 7.*

Session 7 (Body Position and Braking?)
For my last session, I focused mostly on body position and braking again. Unbeknownst to me , Nate was watching again and taking notes, which he was gracious enough to share at the end of the day when we all got off of our bikes. By the end of the day I was finally feeling more comfortable with the bike and the track. I think I could really afford to get off of the bike more and keep it more upright, allowing the suspension to do it's thing and work. As much as I want to work on braking, I'm still getting on the brakes early, I think, and starting my turns with a progressive approach, rather than a decisive turn in. Maybe it's symptomatic of so much street riding, since my bike is my daily, but that's really no excuse. Maybe I can cut and upload some video later, if people want to see, but if not, no big. Just don't expect anything fancy. I'm no techno wizard like Yakaru.*

Dropping the bike off @ OPRT
After a long day, we made the trek back from the track, stopping for grub, and to leave Saturn with the OPRT guys. They were super sweet, and promised to take care of her. Hopefully the bike is repaired and running again soon, so Yakaru can enjoy ripping up the Ridge and taking in the summer weather on two wheels again.

[Yakaru]

Just a few addendums and whatnots:

Michael's trick to get the air out was pulling the reservoir off the bars, holding it upside down, and wrench banging.

Sis and I are both perfectionists. Having us go over each other's work while cleaning Saturn the night before made it a multi-hour task. I only regret not having a super-sunny day that would've made that cleaning job sparkle.

I found it interesting EternalNewb was 'going ballistic' so often as it's usually a trait we'd associate more with me. By ballistic I mean following the contour of the road instead of your own path over it. If you look at the linked map, for example, There's a point where the track shifts direction between 10 and 11 -- Newb was following that contour instead of just cutting across it for a while.


I love my Daytona Ladystars, so I decided to invest in some Daytona trackboots -- specifically the "Security Evo G3"s. I ordered from Helimot in the same size as my Ladystars and included a note about loving how the Ladystar's had the built in 'heel' and if that could be integrated to the G3. They wrote back telling me:
* That I should go up 1 size most likely
* That boots in both my ordered size and the next size up were very rare to have made
* They could not be adapted to the Ladystar heel pattern.

In the end though, we got lucky and were able to track down a pair in the recommended 'one size up'. The boots were wonderful but I found after the first two sessions that I was doing a bit of 'swimming' in them. While the arch and toes were the right size my heel could move up and down a good inch or two which made it difficult to feel secure. I tracked down these on Amazon: https://amzn.com/B00PEOHA28 and have now inserted them. It took some doing to make everything go into place but afterwards doing some basic 'kickstand down move around the bike' tests made it feel much better. The proof will be Monday when I go to CSS. I'll probably bring my LadyStars as well, just in case something becomes problematic; I'd rather have gear I know works for sure.

I really liked having Newb and I swap following each other. Having a trailing rider REALLY shows you a lot 'in context'. Working on my hip flexibility so I can really move off the bike is being worked on. This slow, imperceptible progress thing does not suit my style though

Re: Session 4 'squiggly' rear -- to clarify, Newb and I think this is probably from downshifting as we (I) approach a turn. Blipping more might smooth the process out.

Session 5 was really frustrating for me. First, I was expecting a bit of time to get some things setup as we were gridding up but apparently the announcement for our group to come out came late, because they sent Newb and I out even though there were only 3 of us in the grid by the time the track was empty of the previous session. I planned to just take it easy and come back in to adjust my gear/turn on cameras/etc. but started noticing some odd sounds. After doing the adjustments and going out for lap 2 I became even more convinced something was off and pulled into the pits. Blown valve or other major problem in that area put Saturn out of commission. Thankfully OPRT is associated with a new shop here in town, and they told us to run the Ninjette in after track day and they'd get it looked at. This was a big win since it was a holiday and a Monday, so no other shop would be open and valve problems are beyond my mechanical kin.

I'm compiling my 'wishlist' for CSS tomorrow and packing up. Going to get myself intimately familiar with the Ridge over the next 8 days.

[Yakaru]

And just got a call back from the shop -- it's not a valve, but something in the lower engine that's blown out. They said that tearing it apart and fixing it would be more expensive than just replacing the engine so now I'm without a bike until we can track one down. Very upset.

[RacinNinja]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

And just got a call back from the shop -- it's not a valve, but something in the lower engine that's blown out. They said that tearing it apart and fixing it would be more expensive than just replacing the engine so now I'm without a bike until we can track one down. Very upset.

Oh noes! Probably a rod or main bearing then, if it was making a knocking sound.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by RacinNinja

Oh noes! Probably a rod or main bearing then, if it was making a knocking sound.

Shop said they suspected main bearing.

[RacinNinja]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Shop said they suspected main bearing.

Then they are correct. Probably cheaper to buy a good used motor and pop it in rather than a rebuild.

[Abu_Mishary]

Wish I was there... sounds fun!!!

[EternalNewb]

Thanks. Aside from Yakaru's bike dying, it was pretty productive and cool.

[Momaru]

Guess this puts me two major writeups behind?

Sorry to hear Saturn bit the big one, but at least it wasn't in an off-road fashion, but more of a heart defect that (probably) couldn't have been prevented.

Loved the blow-by-blow... need to take notes on your note-taking style so I can remember more than bits & pieces of CSS later this week...

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Momaru

Guess this puts me two major writeups behind?

Sorry to hear Saturn bit the big one, but at least it wasn't in an off-road fashion, but more of a heart defect that (probably) couldn't have been prevented.

Loved the blow-by-blow... need to take notes on your note-taking style so I can remember more than bits & pieces of CSS later this week...

Newb and I just audio recorded our debriefs, then she literally transcripted it, then she turned it into prose.

[EternalNewb]

Originally Posted by Momaru

Guess this puts me two major writeups behind?

Try three. Soon to be four, perhaps? *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*
No pressure. I'm just hassling you in good spirit.

I ended up buying photos from the track day, so I've attached a few below, albeit compressed/resized smaller for the forum.

Following Ya-chan through turn #11, the thumb.






Hunting. Lol.




And obligatory corner picture.

[csmith12]