Just had a little 1000 yamaha on my tail this afternoon. I kept on zipping up between cars so I could get some distance on him. Stupid jerk on a bicycle crosses the lane I'm in. Yeah, he has no light, nor right of way lane. He has to obey the same laws as a vehicle. Just a piece of shit low life garbage can hunting clown on a bike kind of attitude moves in front of me. I slam the front brake with a couple of pumps. I wonder if that yammy in the back saw those two smoke signals? We are talking punishing hard I saw him too late like he could not judge my timing, plus that idiot behind me forcing him to catch up if he wants to hang at this speed and here I'm trying to get away from everyone.

And you wonder why I practice like a ninja? Just for something like that clowntown 'braking the law.' Try to listen to the engine up and downshifts. There is minimum move. Think, premium throttle moves. Run clean up gears like an automatic transmission. An automatic does not blip going up in gears. Lose that guy or you'll spend way too much time not cracking the smooth part. There is a fluid transition when shifting. Check the slowest or the last skid. Right before you leave the tarmac, it looks like you can see you plowed upright.

shifts sound smooth but that music, hub, I don't know where you get that stuff. Is that off the freebee, no copyright rack?

NOw the slomo of me is almost as scary as the real thing. You can see the moment I gave up on making the corner and just headed offtrack.

Well, it looks like a deceiving corner if everyone is popping off that side. That's the fun part. You'll nail that corner like probably the best one to take out others. It's a learning process for sure. Every time you go out, it's a natural event you go faster and faster. It never stops.

That is why records are broken. That was one speed, but someone comes along and finds more speed. It's not the bike. It's you. Going off into the weeds is a good thing. Shows you gots some fast. Now, simmer down, think line, not speed. And yeah, that music is from ccMixer. OTT uses it a lot. The lyrics sounded like this is what I'm doing with my life is leaving rubber marks on paint and flying off a rise in the road. Typical day for me.

OK this is the end for now. I can see the thread is dieing. This one is kinda long with photos and pit scene clips. hopefully this will give you the idea of how the first day went.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/23/2011 @ 5:00 PM *

rook it says vid is private

oh-

Thanks Scotty, for telling me.

This should help.

lol now its blocked in our country

WTF? Are you serious? Well I will try one last thing.

http://youtu.be/sUogbkZzlxc

Let me know if the link works, please. Also I will try the embed again because I have made the vid public.

YouTube is blocking me. I am trying Facebook which means that you may be the only one who sees this, Scotty....you and Kruz.... Unless there is a a way to embed or link to FB.

still says its blocked in our country

ill look for it on fb

Ya, it's up on my FB page now but the quality is not high enough for a full screen. This sorta sux because I worked my off on this getting no sleep for a couple nights and then some. Oh well. You and Kruz can check it out when you guys get a chance. Thanks for following the thread.

WOOOHOOOOO!!!The Rookster!!!!Man,just saw this post...(sorry).Friggin bitchen bro...you did SO FRIGGIN GOOD my man.(Yer bike looks WAY badazz compared to those others).Shit man,don't sweat the weeds deal...you kept er upright...VERY NICE!!Funny thing about these 14's(maybe others,IDK)...but man,when ya "misjudge"(and I aint sayin ya did),but when I(that's what I should have said!)"misjudge" corner speed,ya,then try to reel her down...that scare deal kicks in.The wigglin backend...ya...that won't build yer confidence level either!You did JUST GREAT!!!!I've gone off a couple of road curves here...same type of scenario.LUCKY there wasn't some sort of like obstruction to my trajectory and all.VERY LUCKY for me.Embarrassing as well...even if I'm the ONLY one who saw it!My solution(and I shouldn't be saying this concerning riding on the street probably)...but....my solution has been to dig in deeper and trust my tires....THAT takes some serious commitment(for me anyway).I also found out(by watching and reading)that getting off the seat and REALLY leanin over the side,hooking my outside leg on the tank deal...that REALLY makes a big difference in how the corner feels and how I'm perceiving it.The more I can hang off,the less I have to grab the bars "harder" if that's the right word.Relaxing my arms REALLY helps to "calm things down" while apexing and all.

I'm REALLY glad you posted your vid there Rook...really glad you had such a great time...and REALLY glad you kept yer cool in that offroad deal there.EXCELLENT!You did just fine Bro!Someday...maybe I'll get to a track...but I'd probably wind up losin it along the way....

BTW...if no one told ya...you're a very good rider IMO!

I gotta ask...it's hard sometimes to judge speeds with these cams....what was your average corner speed?(if there was one?).Friggin back tire got got!

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/24/2011 @ 1:45 AM *

LUCKY there wasn't some sort of like obstruction to my trajectory and all.VERY LUCKY for me.Embarrassing as well...even if I'm the ONLY one who saw it!

That's the nice thing about track riding---you can push twice as hard and if you go too far, you pare a lot less likely to get hurt. The embarrasssment is still the same because there ARE a lot of people there seeing it I was not the only one who went off though. Also, one of the expert riders with my group crashed his ZX-10. No shame there.

My solution(and I shouldn't be saying this concerning riding on the street probably)...but....my solution has been to dig in deeper and trust my tires....

The more I can hang off,the less I have to grab the bars "harder"

I will need to edit together clips of different angles and different situations. That is what the latest video shows but I am not able to show because youtube has blocked it. Have to redo it without the music sound track some day.

Thanks for the compliment on my riding, blue.

I gotta ask...it's hard sometimes to judge speeds with these cams....what was your average corner speed?(

Never looked at the speedo once in the corners except on the slowest which is the one right after the straightaway. That corner is ~40mph. 45 - 50 is too fast on that one . I saw ~130 on the straigtaway.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/24/2011 @ 4:28 AM *

Cool Rook.Ya...I was just curious bout yer speeds there(thanks BTW).

I wrote the Pirelli site about 3 weeks ago...told em (nicely)that the Angels didn't give me the mileage I assumed they were supposed to do...going by what they advertised on their info.Anyway...got a response yesterday(I was pretty shocked!).Guy told me the "latest" news from their testing with a Concours 14...9600 miles.(rear).Sorry....NO WAY is a guy on a 14 gonna pull down that kind of mileage street riding.Their "tester" musta been ridin at 60 mph,with minimal shifting and MILES to brake and accelerate!I aint buyin it!.No...he didn't offer a new set....(didn't expect him to anyway)...but he "put the blame" on me....tellin me it was "probably" tire pressure.(to go along with your statement about lowering your tire's psi).Hey...I filled em to the "recommended" pressure.41/41 cold.......I did not mention that in my assessment when I wrote em(which he reminded me of natch).2600 miles is a FAR CRY from 9600.

Anywho...his recommendation to me was....33-34 rear,32 front.SHEESH!That's a hell of a lot less than 41!In all fairness though...when my mech installed my new Diablo here a few weeks ago....I checked the pressure after I got home and it cooled off.35 psi...something right around that.So I guess I'm gonna start ridin with these lower pressures from here on out.I figured he just didn't get it "right"...turns out...it was ME...not him.(He does know his shi$).So I'm lowering mine today to the Pirelli guy's values.Maybe this will actually minimize the slight "wiggle" I sometimes experience in hard fast deep curves?We'll see.

You mentioned about "getting your foot off the peg"...you know...my last few rides,I did exactly that just to see how it cornered and felt.Holding on the outside with my knee against the tank,and leanin in and over the inside.Foot off the peg.It actually felt REALLY stable and good....she seemed to really like to track with the load off the seat,and down inside.Amazing....My cornering speed definitely went up(the wiggle definitely stopped).I did look at the speedo...hmmmm....I'll just say...it went up by a pretty fair amount!20 more at least.Hard to get that on the street...not knowin if there's gonna be a Highway Patrol or somethin comin round the bend...But....sometimes ya just gotta say..F..it!!!!!!

Honestly can't imagine YouTube locking your vids....they recently "upped" my load size to basically "anything" I wanted.I didn't ask...they just did it!Which of course means...the 100.00 Video Program I bought is now...useless.I don't need to cut anything or make clips.I can upload an hour's ride nonstop if I want!!!!SHWEET(never liked that editing shi^ anyway.... )

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/24/2011 @ 8:22 AM *

Honestly can't imagine YouTube locking your vids....they recently "upped" my load size to basically "anything" I wanted.

Try this for me , blue. I set the preferences for "anyone can view." I'm sure you can do it if you are a FB member but maybe anyone with this link will be enabled? Give it a try. or anyone else reading this-and let me know if it works. This actually is not too far from the quality of Youtube.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1694002364726

bg figured out how to embed facebook vids. It is possible to embed video with "borrowed" sound tracks.

I didn't have the time to read the whole thread, but it's great to see that you completed a track day! I've been going to the track since 2007 and I am thoroughly addicted. If you ever get out east, let me know. I am a track coach with Roger Lyle's MotorcycleXcitement Track Days and Roadracing School.

The best thing you can do if you are going to do more track days is to get a 600 supersport bike. Don't get a 1000. Get a 600. Trust me, you'll learn so much more. A used track bike or retired race bike are your best bets. Don't put any money into the engine either. If anything, put money into top quality suspension and good tires. You won't need DOT race rubber until you start doing track days in the faster advanced classes.

If you need any more track day advice, just let me know. I hope to see you at a race or a track day soon.

Jeff

Hey Rook,

Great video, congrats on your first track day.
Don't know if you've every read "A Twist of the Wrist" series by Kieth Code?
I know it helped me a lot when I started road racing.
The books are a bit dated, but I believe the principles still apply.

PM me for a link to download the books. (Don't know how BG feels about me posting the link here?)

And, for god sakes get them leathers zipped together.
If you go down, you jacket's gonna peel off like a banana, or worse yet get hooked onto the bike and take you with it.
I've gone down on the track several times, you want to separate yourself from the bike as soon as possible, the bike will travel (slide) a lot farther than you will.

(Don't know how BG feels about me posting the link here?)

No problem at all.

I'm kind of partial to Nick Ienatsch's "Sport Riding Techniques", though... -bg

No problem at all.

The link I have is for a "free" zip file containing 4 books:
-A Twist of the Wrist I
-A Twist of the Wrist II
-Sport Riding Techniques
-Soft Science of Roadracing Motorcycles

Being a semi-pro photographer, I struggle with the copyright infringement issue.
But being I have purchased these books, it's kind of like I'm sharing them with a few friends.
So, I will not post the link, but I will share via PM to few that are interested.
But then again, it's already out there posted by someone else, IDK?
I'm sure if you do a search, you can find it.

* Last updated by: CycleJunkie on 6/29/2011 @ 8:03 AM *

If you ever get out east, let me know. I am a track coach with Roger Lyle's MotorcycleXcitement Track Days and Roadracing School.

And, for god sakes get them leathers zipped together.

I see TOTW vol 1 and 2 is downloadable online separately but not as a group. Thanks for the tip Cyclejunkie.

I could grab Rook, smack the back of his head each time he pulled more cable than needed, I'd be strapped on the back. He'd be smooth as glass I'd be done with that train wreck of a glazing! Homie don't need no book! Oh Look! INCOMING!

Great job on the vid, Rook!
My woman wants to know, what song is that? Sounds like it's off of the Donny Darko soundtrack???

She also just told me that I need to start doing track days... I said only if I get to use her 600... She said OK... Uh Oh!

If you read the reviews, Nick is not saying much? Don't look all body english being safe keeping the bike upright and you can still run that body all slow ass molasses over the seat. Hell, I do. Keeps the bike well planted, stable, AND!; Dose sea dough in your hands does she handle well even better!

Way too many riding lessons. Some will limit you... I rather your first bike be a 14 and now get on the track lettuce "show them how it's done!" And I didn't say that. I left the pits and heard that comment addressed to me, you she?

BRING IT!