2014 Off season plans!

Nothing too exciting planned for the off season but this is pretty much a summary of what I'd like to do in preparation for next year. 

I downloaded and printed the RACE Superseries Race Book. I'll be going over it in the weeks to come and make a decision on whether or not I want to race next year. I feel like I still have some improvements to make before I can confidently be on any kind of grid. I'll be spending a lot of time at Shannonville next year hoping to make some improvements and may enter in a race round or two depending on my progress. They do require a few modification in order to be race legal such as safety wiring, an oil catch can, no aftermarket wheels and so on. I'll have to have a closer look at the rule book to know exactly what I can and can't use. 

In other news, I decided to put my 750 up for sale and go a different route. I originally wanted to sell it so I can "upgrade" to a 1000 supersport. Having ridden on the track a lot this year, I no longer see the sense of an SS on the roads. Especially since you can't really use them for their intended purpose unless you ride like a complete tool which is never a smart move. 

Looking at getting a street legal supermoto, I still have to decide on what make/model I want but it looks like KTM 690 SMC is on top of the list, however since they aren't released to the Canadian market, looking for a used 2010 may be the only option and a bit difficult since there wasn't many sold back then anyway. 

I'll be at the January Super Show having a look at the different makes/models and if I find something interesting, I might just pull the trigger! 

SMP Long - 2nd of October, 2014. Hosted by Rider's Choice.

I wasn't expecting to make it this day, but the weather was in the high teens/low twenties and I was able to book the time off work. I couldn't ask for a better end to a successful year at the track. "Successful" is a relative term, made some great friends, no crashes/injuries, vast improvements with my body position, dropped my lap times and always made it home in once piece.

For the first time, I wasn't really "on" that day, I wasn't able to keep relaxed/focused and the lack of sleep sure didn't help. I managed to get 3 sessions in and called it quits before I made any bad decisions. I was a little bummed out about that since the weather was perfect and all. But what can you do? If you're not feeling, you're not feeling it. There will always be a next time. Even if it's 6 months from now. :(

On the other hand, it was great seeing Matt McBride passing people on 1 wheel and putting down some seriously fast laps. Made for an entertaining day nonetheless.

As always, Rider's Choice hosts a great day and I'm excited to go back next year. Time can't go by fast enough!

I wasn't able to get any decent footage since my track time was very little but I managed to get some photos. Thanks to Bill Murphy for the great shots and all the effort it takes to make this happen for guys like me.

That's it for 2014 folks! I'll be updating the blog in case I decide to do anything to the bike in the off season. It will be a long long winter... :(  

Photos from SMP on Sep. 18th. 2014 - Thanks to Bill Murphy for the great shots!

A big thanks to Bill Murphy for the great shots and effort it took to get these photos to me. I will be out again on the 2nd of October for my final day of the year,  hoping to get some good videos/photos to post up!

Our pit area:

A big turn out considering the crappy weather: 

Corner 1 - love it:

Corner 4a/b - Still trying to get it right: 

Random spots: 

This would have made a great photo if we didn't have black bikes and black gear: 

Some videos from SMP on Sept. 7th + 18th, 2014.

Here's a video from the 7th: 

My lines were definitely better that day as I was more focused and not as tired, but any track time is better than no track time! 

Here's a video from the 18th: 

Two different clips from two different sessions, lines were a bit sloppy. There's tons of room for improvement and after watching this video several times, my mistakes were made clear and I know what to work on the next time out.

As of right now I'm still waiting to hear back from the photographer that was there on the 18th, but so far no luck. :(

SMP Long - 18th of September, 2014. Hosted by Rider's Choice.

Another great day at the track, despite the freezing morning temperatures, it turned out to be a fantastic day! I skipped the first two sessions as the track was still cold and didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. By 11 am, the sun was shinning, the track was warm and the anticipation was at it's peak.

I gear up and get ready for my first session. I  take the tire warmers off and I remove the front stand, I put the kickstand down, remove the rear stand and as I rest the bike on the kickstand it just flops over due to uneven/broken pavement. No real damage except a couple of small stone chips on the tail. Nothing that a little touch up paint can't fix, I was planning on getting a new paint job/scheme over the winter anyways. No biggie, it did however tick me off a bit. I'll post a picture of the damage some time later today or tomorrow.

Did some good laps, managed to knock off another 2.5 and got down to 2:12.17. It's not fast, but I'm getting there. At this point I need to focus on my braking markers, there are a couple of areas where I let off the throttle/brake earlier than I should. I'm not sure if I'll get out any more this year as the weather is starting to take a turn for the worst and work commitments are also preventing me from taking any more days off.

There was a photographer taking pictures from different areas at the track, hoping to get some decent shots and I'll definitely post them when I have them. Here's a photo from a different photographer:

 Here's a video of my buddy and I, he's riding a Ducati 1098:

I'll have more videos and pictures later on, I'll get around to posting them as I get them. 

SMP Long - 7th of September, 2014. Hosted by Rider's Choice.

It's no surprise, Rider's Choice always hosts great, well organized track days. The weather was perfect, the bike behaved well and I was in the company of some great people - good times!

For the first time, I signed up in intermediate and was able to hold my own. Spent the morning sessions improving my lines, tried working on corner 4a/b as well as corner 6 as they are a little difficult for me to get just right. With help and instruction from Dave Walker from 3 Walker Racing after lunch, I managed to get the hang of them. And spend the rest of the day improving my body position and lines and the result was a 2 second drop from my previous best. Still have a lot to work and improve on but it's all about seat time from this point on. Might be going back on the 12th at another SMP hosted event, but I'm not 100% sure about that just yet.

Track map for reference:

The good new is, Rider's Choice will be hosting another 2 days at SMP before the season is done. It was supposed to be one day left but one of their previous days got rained out, which I have no problem with as I didn't get out as much as I wanted to this year.

Aside from losing a couple of fairing bolts, the bike was an absolute blast to ride. I can't believe how much of a different the wheels made. It accelerated better, handled better and with the new tires mounted it was definitely confidence inspiring.

I'll post a video some time later today or tomorrow following a friend of mine, not sure if I'll get any decent pictures from that day or not but I'll definitely post them if I get them!

Here's a video chasing Sean around for a few laps:

No decent photos came about, so the video will do for now. If all the stars align, I should be out there again this Friday (12th of September) at another SMP hosted event,  hopefully it's not as bad of a mess as it was the last time out. 

New wheels + tires + rotors!

Finally got around to installing the wheels along with some new tires. Since the Marchesini rims use a different sprocket bolt pattern than the standard Suzuki, I needed a new sprocket and my gearing needed a change so I went from 16F + 43R to 15F + 45R. This should help with my exit woes out of the hairpins, I'll be messing with the gearing a little bit more as I visit more tracks but for now this will do, it will be put to test tomorrow at SMP! I originally ordered Driven sprockets but received a gold one instead of the black one I ordered so I sent it back and got a Drive Systems RS8 sprocket since that's all the shop had left in stock. Seems like a solid piece, as of now, only time will tell.

New rotors all around, a lightened rear rotor and the fronts are BrakeTech Axis/Cobra full floaters. Went from a 125/80/17 (7455)  to 120/70/17 (7455) up front and from a 200/55/17 (8477) to 190/55/17 (7455). We'll see how this set up works out, hopefully it's for the best.

Here are some before and after pictures, I kind of like the wheels black, I think they'll be staying that way...

Can't wait to try out the new wheels/tires/brakes tomorrow, time to hit the sheets, it has been a long day.

SMP Long - 25th of August, 2014. Hosted by SMP.

Spent another day at the track and had a blast as usual, however things were a little unorganized this time around. Last time I went to an SMP hosted event, it wasn't too many riders and we only ran two groups, it was easy to keep track of everyone and the sessions were ran smooth enough that it wasn't a bother. This time around it was 50+ riders and a bit of a cluster-f*** for the lack of a better term.

Rider's meeting went well, the person holding the meeting asked the crowd, long or pro track? In which everyone responded by saying "long". Great, I love the long track, it is more technical and really puts you to work. Then she asks "How many groups do you want to run?" - What? There was 50+ riders, all with different riding experience. Everyone said "Two groups" - ok, whatever. now on to the tech part - there was none. One of the first sessions, someone's sprocket shattered into 5 pieces and in another there was a front fender laying in the middle of the track. Both could have been avoided had there been an actual tech inspection.

After the first session they decided to change it to three groups, no big deal. So now we have three groups, mixing the flags didn't help, it was originally blue flag (fast) and green flag (novice), then they decided to switch it up to novice (blue flag), intermediate (white flag) and expert (green flag).
I didn't even know about this until a friend of mine mentioned it.

I've even seen riders going out into two groups to get more track time. I don't think I'll be returning to an SMP hosted event again unless they implement some basic rules. Aside from the great weather and good company, it was a bit of a mess.

Now, onto the good stuff. I probably should have been riding in intermediate, but I felt like novice was a good place to start. These aren't the usual suspects that show up to the Rider's Choice days, so I didn't know the skill set of the people around me and didn't want to cause any traffic or hold anyone back.

I didn't get much accomplished in the way of lap times as there was always someone ahead me running at a slower pace. So I focused my energy on a couple of corners, mainly the hairpins where I needed to work on proper entrance and exit. Finally realized my gearing needed work as I would have a hard time stretching out 2nd gear coming out of the hairpins. That being said, I'll be putting the Marchesini wheels with the new gearing sooner rather than later as the season is coming to an end.

Here are a few pictures from the day, I can see improvements in my body position, the screw driver grip really helped. Still need improvements but not as bad as before:

 Once again, many thanks to Heather Bashow @ DeerHaven Photography for the great shots! 

All in all it was a great day in the company of good people at a place that I love. I'll be going there again on the 7th with Rider's Choice riding in intermediate. 

Hoping to try the new RDT track at Mosport on the 1st for the first time. Good times ahead! 

Latest acquisition!

Found a great deal on a lightly used set of Marchesini forged aluminum wheels and some BrakeTech AXIS/Cobra full floating rotors. I had to find some rotors for the 08+ GSX-R's since the wheels came off an 08 GSX-R600, the 06-07's use a different bolt pattern and instead of spending ~$200 on a set of OEM rotors, I thought the upgrade for slightly a bit more $ is not a bad idea. Both the wheels and the rotors looked like brand new after some cleaning:

Since I got a nice set of lightweight wheels and rotors, i decided to complete the set up by reducing as much rotating mass possible. Titanium bolts for the 3 rotors as well as Ti nuts for the sprocket. Since Marchesini have a special sprocket, I ordered a 520 conversion kit, with Driven sprockets, the rear being hard anodized aluminum as well a DID ERV3 chain. I'll also be changing the gearing from the stock 16/43 to 15/45. Should work well at Shannonville since it's the track I mostly visit. I might add a couple of more rear sprockets down the line but that's not really a priority right now. 

Instead of the stock rear rotor, I ordered a MMR lightweight rear rotor, good for 1 LB savings of rotating mass as well. Can't wait to try out the new set up. 

The sprocket, chain and rear rotor should be here some time this week, can't wait to get it all on and try it out!