Monday 29 September 2014

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: 







Saturday 20 September 2014

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. :(



Friday 19 September 2014

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. 




Monday 8 September 2014

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. 


Saturday 6 September 2014

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.