There were five 675s at the track yesterday, which is a first for any trackday I have ever been to. Usually there were two or maybe three Triumphs of all kinds. Five similar ones was pretty amazing.
The day before was hectic, not because of bike prep, but because the van wouldn't start. I tore apart the whole dashboard looking for missing connections, pulled and replaced the starter, took apart the shift lever, and found nothing. Then I figured out that the interlock between the transmission and starter is on the transmission, fiddled with it, and the van started. Beats me what made it work, but it does work again. Disaster averted!
Jake and I prepped bikes and loaded up in the evening on the sidewalk across from the house. The old van looked pretty official with two matching yellow 675s in the back. I loaded up a cooler full of water and Gatoraide after dropping Jake off at his apartment. Like the usual distracted person that I am, I forgot to fill my bike's gas tank, so I had to buy $7/ gallon race fuel at the track. OK, no whining from you English people- I am just not used to spending quite that much to fill up a bike!
In the morning, we got to the track plenty early for tech and registration and got our paddock area set up. My brother brought his ZRX, a friend was there with both an R6 and NC30, and another friend was there with his 999. The 999 rider is very fast and has a lap timer, so he was going to be my target to try to pace at some point in the trackday. I had no intention of using the lap timer on the bike, since the starter button is just far enough inboard that it would be a distraction.
My bike had never been adjusted in any way, and a suspension guru was at the track, so I took advantage of that to get a professionally measured and checked setup. As he was setting up my bike, the man doing the work mentioned that he was thinking pretty seriously about a 675 for next year's race season. He had raced a T509 a number of years ago, very successfully, so he is used to making Triumphs go fast. I was surprised at how much preload he put into the rear shock. So much for the factory setup being set for a 170 lb rider.
The first session out was really just a warmup, since the track was still fairly cold, as were my muscles. The bike was happy to go a lot faster, but I sure wasn't yet! By the second session, the air was getting hot for western Washington, and the track was well up to temperature. All the water I had broght was getting drunk up pretty fast. By the third session, I was really beginning to feel the tires and suspension a lot better, and beginning to understand the power delivery of the bike in a way that I hadn't before. I was able to tuck in behind the 999 and pace him for a few laps. He left me for dead on the straights- no surprise there, but I was able to catch him in the corners. If we had been racing instead of just doing a track day, I probably could have passed him in a couple of places. That is a completely new sensation for me! After that session, he told me that his best lap was about four seconds faster than my previous best lap, so I am sure that I was actually going a lot faster than I ever have before.
In the mean time Jake was getting a little frustrated in the beginning group, because there wasn't much passing allowed, and he found that he was quite a bit quicker than a lot of the other beginners. At lunch, Paul, another 675 rider came by and hung out with us under the canopy. That was pretty great. I saw Jason a couple of times over the course of the day, too. The fifth 675 was a red one with white Sharkskinz ridden by a man whose name I can't quite pronounce. He crashed his bike twice during the day and kept coming back for more. His enthusiasm and determination are admirable, but I am not so sure about how fast he learns!
The first session after lunch, the four of us in the intermediate group tried to get together in formation around a corner for the photographer. That doesn't work too well! I got all fouled up in that session and pulled off to let things settle back down again. During the next session, I felt a whole lot better and was able to pick people off on a fairly regular basis. My favorite moments during the whole day came during the afternoon. I was able to line up a Gixxer with race numbers on it going into the bus stop. I had been watching him for a lap and knew that he was taking a slower line through there. I was able to get the drive on him out of that chicane and onto the front straight. He must have been right on my tail all the way down, because he showed me a wheel into turn two on the brakes. I had been passing people on the brakes into turn two all day, so we were pretty deep in the corner. Because it was a track day, I didn't come in on him at all, but instead, just rode around the outside of the corner and left him behind. I never saw him again.
The suspension work and just getting used to be bike meant that I was carrying a whole lot more speed that I am used to pretty much everywhere on the track. It really fouled me up going into turn three all day. Turn three is about 180 degrees after a short, fairly steep downhill straight. It is pretty intimidating, really. I never quite got my timing down on the downshifts, and was taking really wildly inconsistent lines through that corner. It was the only place on the track that I really struggled the whole day. I was still able to outbrake people into that corner, but then I was a complete putz until getting around the corner.
During the last session, I was having a great time stalking people until my legs told me that I had already had enough fun for one day and it was time to stop. Jake and I loaded up the van and headed home. There are only two downsides for trackdays that I can think of. The first drawback is that even when you are done, you are not done until the bike is converted back to street trim. Unpacking and putting everything away would be really nice to dump off on somebody else, but until I have a butler, I have to put away my own toys. The other drawback is that the trackday is over, and you have to wait until the next one to do it again!
Jake is now officially hooked, as is everyone else I talked to all day. He had a whole lot more fun in the afternoon when they opened up the passing rules a little and he was able to really use the bike. He won't be in the beginner group for very long! When
Brandon Bones posts photos, I will post some links here. The buzz hasn't worn off yet.
[ This message was edited by: Will on 2006-07-17 12:00 ]
