Bitten by the track bug! Unfortunate ending 8(

[SeoulMan]

Did my first track day this past weekend at Jennings and what a blast! Everyone there at the track was really friendly and helpful. Here are some pics by the photographer.





I'd really like to get back out there soon and work on my body position, entry speeds, and reference point spotting. Any advice and criticism on my technique would be great. I was trying to keep my arms relaxed,use mainly my legs throughout the day, lay my outside arm on the tank, get one cheek off, and try and drop my inside elbow and shoulder.

Unfortunately my day was cut short in one of the last few sessions as I low-sided in turn 8. I thought I was hugging the rumble strips but one of the corner watchers said I ran it a little wide. There are minor scratches on the side fairing, cracked tail fairing, my asv lever is slightly bent, and the left rearset has been ripped off and the shift rod sheered off.



Waiting right now to see what parts will be on sale during TJ's pry your wallet open week but I'm hoping to get back out there once she's fixed in the coming weeks.

[Disrupt]

Sucks you went down, but thats part of the process. I cant wait to do my first track day next season. Hopefully you get everything fixed up and running. Pretty cool pics. I see you got the gopro, any footage?

[SeoulMan]

I have footage unfortunately I used the suction cup mount and everything is very bumpy. I would post but it would probably make everyone motion sick.


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[SeoulMan]

I wish I hadn't gone down but it being my first time crashing I'm glad it was at the track and in the slowest turn on the course.


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[Godly]

Looks like you had fun out there! Sorry to hear about your off!

[Disrupt]

I think you posted in the thread about gopro 3 saying it was shakey, how was the overal quality of the picture and sound? Sorry for offtopic.

[SeoulMan]

The picture quality is pretty amazing especially when you connect it to your tv through micro Hdmi. As for sound quality I couldn't give a good estimate as I used the waterproof case to cut down the wind noise. I'll try and post up some vids from this upcoming week.


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[Red October]

Originally Posted by SeoulMan

I'd really like to get back out there soon and work on my body position, entry speeds, and reference point spotting. Any advice and criticism on my technique would be great. I was trying to keep my arms relaxed,use mainly my legs throughout the day, lay my outside arm on the tank, get one cheek off, and try and drop my inside elbow and shoulder.

That's a long laundry list to work on. This is the same advice you'll probably receive from any track rider:
Slow down and work on one thing at a time.

Work on reference points first. If your track org puts out entry/apex/exit markers then work using those, they never lead off the track. If not, work with your instructor (feel free to take them over...you paid the $$) by following them lap after lap using the correct line and try to spot any RPs you can. Use your peripheral vision to look for stuff. RPs is something that will improve with seat time on the track. Just SLOW DOWN! Because if you're going too fast and trying to work on BP, what will happen (worst case scenario but since you're a track newbie it's likely if you're going too fast):
- Ok, turn approaching.
- Need to downshift. Ok, clutch in, downshift, clutch out
- Ok, need to start braking, brake brake brake
- Ok, moving butt over, positioning legs right
- OH crap, was I supposed to turn back there?!?!

Next is body position. Don't worry about hanging off like Rossi. The keys are:
- Being able to lock your outside leg into the tank securely by locking the rearset into the heel or the ball of the foot.
- Shift the butt over a bit.
- Make sure you got about a fist distance between your balls and the tank
- Make sure that this is actually comfortable and when you shift the upper body out and lower body is the only thing supporting you, that your inner thigh is hugging the tank.
- Inside hand regrips the grip in a screwdriver fashion
- Which allows you to drop the inside elbow down without bending the wrist
- Kiss the mirror. Don't lead with your shoulders/torso. Lead with your inside elbow down, the rest will follow

Slow down. Work on one/two things at a time. You should not be in a hurry to move up into intermediate/advanced, leave your ego at the door and focus on learning instead, and have fun.

Look online at the Superbike School UK videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt9lB-LErQ4

There are a lot of BP exercises there you can do at home on the stands.

[Rink675]

One thing to add on the speed....it is possible to take a turn too slow and not be able to use proper technique on the turn without it being awkward. In addition to that just go at a speed to where you are comfortable enough to focus on what you are doing but fast enough to take the turn properly.

Pick up some riding books and read them, a lot of the books not only go over the technique but how it relates to the track and why it is used. That helps understand things a lot more rather then just having people tell you to do this do that and do it that way.

[SeoulMan]

Thank you for the tips Red Oct. much appreciated will have to do the body exercises once I get more time after the holiday week. I will have to search a little more for cornering schools here in the south east seems like there aren't many left in this year. I'm all for finding more articles to read on cornering as well. I've read through TOTW 1 and 2 twice and taken notes to try get a better understanding of the science in cornering.