Well, as most of you know...I recently sold my Busa and got a track bike so that I could chase my dream of road racing.
I picked the bike ('98 GSXR-600) up about a month ago, and have been going over it making sure everything was ready to go for the track. Other than cosmetics (paint), it was set up really well with quite a few spare parts including an extra set of rims with rain tires already mounted/balanced. This will come into play in a bit
My cousin Ronnie and I went to a fairly new track called Autobahn Country Club in Joliet Illinois. I had signed up for both Saturday and Sunday track days so that I could get as much practice as possible on the new bike before I attended my racing school on August 27th.
The weather forcast was calling for "some" rain over the weekend, but I figured we would still get in some good practice between the rainy periods. Well.......Saturday morning the day was delayed an hour while the track was drying out from the morning rain. We did manage to get in two sessions before lunch. During lunch I was getting new tires put on to replace the old ones on the bike.
This is when it started to rain...HARD. I figured that the only way I would be able to ride would be to have the rain tires on in case they opened the track, and after lunch, that's exactly what they did. No timed sessions, no different rider levels...just an open track for those that wanted to practice in the rain.
I figured that since I would be getting into racing, then I needed to see how well the rain tires handled in the rain. This is where the fun begins. Here I am in the beginner group, and I'm asking the Control Riders if they think it would be safe to go out. They said as long as I had rain tires and was REALLY smooth and cautious, it shouldn't be a problem. I went out and started riding in the pouring rain...I was the ONLY one on the track. It was scary at first, but once I got a feel for how the bike handled, it really wasn't that bad, and the rain tires do hold pretty dam good for how wet it was. Every lap I started pushing just a little bit harder.
I managed about 9-3/4 laps before IT happened. Coming into turn 7, I made sure to brake early, then leaned in smoothly, but noticed that I had a "tad" bit more speed than the lap before, so I leaned just a little bit more. This was just a little too much, and the front tire couldn't hold its traction. The front end went out from under the bike and next thing I knew...I was sliding across the track WITHOUT my bike. With it being wet, I didn't slow down much, and left the track sliding though the grass/mud at about 35 mph. When I came to a stop, I checked myself over and then waved to the corner worker that I was okay.
I got the bike picked up. Frame sliders act like a mud shovel when you slide through the mud. I pulled all the mud out of the fairing, and got the bike restarted. I managed to ride back to the pits where I was greated by dam near every NESBA Control Rider. They got me over to a hose and then hosed me and the bike off. It was quite comical. They said I was doing really well, and they went up in the tower to watch, but then I never cam back around.
I called it a day so that I could check out the bike and make sure it was ready for Sunday. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the rain and the crash. I'm glad I got it out of the way.
Sunday was just a typical track day, but did have a few periods of light rain. Not enough to swap tires again though. Overall the weekend was great. I managed to learn quite a bit about the new bike, and gain the confidence in it to allow me to push it harder than before. I should be ready for my racing school now.
The following pics are from this weekend. I had been sanding on the bodywork in preparation for painting it, but after this weekend, I might just wait a while.
This is what most of Saturday looked like...
I picked the bike ('98 GSXR-600) up about a month ago, and have been going over it making sure everything was ready to go for the track. Other than cosmetics (paint), it was set up really well with quite a few spare parts including an extra set of rims with rain tires already mounted/balanced. This will come into play in a bit
My cousin Ronnie and I went to a fairly new track called Autobahn Country Club in Joliet Illinois. I had signed up for both Saturday and Sunday track days so that I could get as much practice as possible on the new bike before I attended my racing school on August 27th.
The weather forcast was calling for "some" rain over the weekend, but I figured we would still get in some good practice between the rainy periods. Well.......Saturday morning the day was delayed an hour while the track was drying out from the morning rain. We did manage to get in two sessions before lunch. During lunch I was getting new tires put on to replace the old ones on the bike.
This is when it started to rain...HARD. I figured that the only way I would be able to ride would be to have the rain tires on in case they opened the track, and after lunch, that's exactly what they did. No timed sessions, no different rider levels...just an open track for those that wanted to practice in the rain.
I figured that since I would be getting into racing, then I needed to see how well the rain tires handled in the rain. This is where the fun begins. Here I am in the beginner group, and I'm asking the Control Riders if they think it would be safe to go out. They said as long as I had rain tires and was REALLY smooth and cautious, it shouldn't be a problem. I went out and started riding in the pouring rain...I was the ONLY one on the track. It was scary at first, but once I got a feel for how the bike handled, it really wasn't that bad, and the rain tires do hold pretty dam good for how wet it was. Every lap I started pushing just a little bit harder.
I managed about 9-3/4 laps before IT happened. Coming into turn 7, I made sure to brake early, then leaned in smoothly, but noticed that I had a "tad" bit more speed than the lap before, so I leaned just a little bit more. This was just a little too much, and the front tire couldn't hold its traction. The front end went out from under the bike and next thing I knew...I was sliding across the track WITHOUT my bike. With it being wet, I didn't slow down much, and left the track sliding though the grass/mud at about 35 mph. When I came to a stop, I checked myself over and then waved to the corner worker that I was okay.
I got the bike picked up. Frame sliders act like a mud shovel when you slide through the mud. I pulled all the mud out of the fairing, and got the bike restarted. I managed to ride back to the pits where I was greated by dam near every NESBA Control Rider. They got me over to a hose and then hosed me and the bike off. It was quite comical. They said I was doing really well, and they went up in the tower to watch, but then I never cam back around.
I called it a day so that I could check out the bike and make sure it was ready for Sunday. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed the rain and the crash. I'm glad I got it out of the way.
Sunday was just a typical track day, but did have a few periods of light rain. Not enough to swap tires again though. Overall the weekend was great. I managed to learn quite a bit about the new bike, and gain the confidence in it to allow me to push it harder than before. I should be ready for my racing school now.
The following pics are from this weekend. I had been sanding on the bodywork in preparation for painting it, but after this weekend, I might just wait a while.
This is what most of Saturday looked like...
