Motorcycle Forum / General / Sportbikes / May 2007

Started off a pisser because the gates were supposed to open at 7AM,
and a whole bunch of us arrived plus/mins 10 minutes of that, and the
gatekeeper didn't show and the track admin didn't get the gat oprn
until 7:45.

Things went smoother after that.  Registration and tech inspection
were quick and professional, and the rider's meeting was mercifully
brief, although it did meander a bit.

Four groups, intermediate and advanced street, as well as amateur and
expert licensed racers.  Since I hadn't been to the track this year,
plus I was going to be riding a very slow bike that I had never ridden
before at all  - on the track or on the street - I signed up for the
slowest group, intermediate street.  Luckily, they ran the morning
session in reverse group order, so the fastest guys went out first.

After getting the pit set up, taping up the street bikes (George
brought his 916 ex-race bike, I brought the S4Rs Monster and the new
620SS, while Tom had his street 996SPS) and applying numbers to all
but George's bike, we had plenty of time to get into our gear before
the first slow session of the day.

That's when I "remembered" that I hadn't lost the weight I wanted to
lose to fit my new, used, leathers properly.  Ugh.  I could get into
them, but not particularly comfortably.  Oh well.

Went out on the 620SS.  Typical Ducati race replica riding position.
I had NOT been able to convert the bike to GP-shift before the event,
and it was B.A.D. bad, trying to shift the damn thing with a street
pattern.  The shifter is too close to the footpeg, and it was damned
hard with new Sidi boots to get by toe hooked under the damn shifter
for upshifts.  I missed a bunch of shifts, and with so little power on
tap, each missed upshift was an agony on the track.

Still, the bike - totally stock excepting the removal of lights, horn,
mirrors, and passenger accomodations - accelerated cleaning (if
slowly), slowed well, and turned in predictably and securely on its
new Dunlop D208/D209 GP compound DOT race tires.  EVERYBODY was
passing me like I was a stone.  Mainly because I was.

Second session was more of the same, although I turned up the wick
everywhere, limiting the passing to the main straight.  It's awesome,
tucked in at top speed in 5th gear (122 mph indicated; wierd to have a
speedo on the racetrack!) and have some guy on an R1 go flying by you
with a good 30-35 mph in hand!

Third session I went out on the S4Rs and just passed everyone on the
track except George, who was lapping everyone on the track except
me.   The new steering damper made a huge difference in my confidence
exiting corners hard on the gas.

When we came in,  the track announcer made a public address that
anyone in the first group who felt that they were "fast enough" was
welcome to promote themselves into the second group.  We rode up and
asked the event organizer if he meant us, and he just smiled and
nodded.   So from then  on, we rode in the "advanced street rider"
group.

During lunch, my old friend Steve trimmed a 1/4-inch off each end of
the shift linkage rod of the 620SS, allowing room for clearance on the
clutch slave cylinder when I flipped the linkage to turn it into GP
shift pattern.   A  brief test ride around the pits confirmed that it
was shifting properly.

After lunch, I went back out in two sessions, and actually began
catching and passing a few of the "advanced" street riders.  I got
passed several times on the main straight, but got most of those back
under braking for turn one.  It's just not that intimidating braking
from 115-122 mph.  The bike was MUCH nicer to ride with the GP shift
pattern, and I started scuffing in the new knee sliders on my still
tight and uncomfortable race leathers.

I then took a break and chased Steve around on his Ducati 944SS while
- at his request - riding his Ducati 750SS.... my old Flamin' Duc
racebike, much modified.  Good times, the 750ss had better brakes,
suspension, and engine than the 620SS, but it was MUCH less
comfortable for my short armed physique.

My final session on the 620SS was the best, and I actually felt like I
was going at about 90% for the first time all day, and had the fun of
catching and dispatching riders on much, much, much faster bikes.

One final ride on the S4Rs reminded me of why I don't want to ride a
bike with that much horsepower on the racetrack, and then we were done
for the day.   No crashes, no bad moments, great weather, and lots of
cameradery.   Can't wait for the next one!