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Talladega GP trackday on the NC!

TacomaJD

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Worked my arse off today finishing getting the bike ready (fresh brake fluid, yes!), loading everything on the trailer and in the truck, making sure I have enough snacks, water, and so on. Oh! Can't forget sweat towels! Gonna be a hot one in this Alabama humidity tomorrow! Not looking forward to getting up at 5am, as my usual bedtime is somewhere between 1am-3am. I'm gonna get to see how out of shape I am tomorrow.

October will be 10 years since my last track day, I don't care if I'm the slowest on the track tomorrow, it's a big day for me. Personal accomplishment, as I never thought I'd get to ride on track again after crashing and losing my leg. Man I am so pumped, ain't gonna be able to sleep a wink tonight! Got a Gopro Hero 4 Session mounted on the NC. Still learning everything about it so maybe I can at least get a quality vid of a track session or two. I will also snap some shots of the paddock area and some cool track bikes if I get the chance.

I'm hoping someone lets me bum an outlet on their generator or venue power supply so I can plug my fan up and cool my fat arse down! Might have a heat stroke out there Lol.

Will update throughout the day tomorrow. Hopefully no crash updates will be necessary...but I am bringing an extra helmet just in case! Also my gut feeling is the highway peg may be an issue and restrict me somewhat, but just gonna wait and see.

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Coolest gas can ever....

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And had to make me some one legged underpants! Haha

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94 degrees forecasted - sure to be hotter on that track. Have fun. Be safe. Share the pics. I’m gonna be enjoying the AC...:cool:
 
I never woulda figured the NC for a track bike... it will be fun to see what she’ll do under someone with the know-how..
 
94 degrees forecasted - sure to be hotter on that track. Have fun. Be safe. Share the pics. I’m gonna be enjoying the AC...:cool:
I'm sure I will opt to sit in the truck and turn the AC on more than once! Bringing a canopy, so at least I will have some shade.

Also, pro tip....when changing brake fluid, I bought a large bottle of Dot4 so I would have plenty to flush through the system....don't do that. Buy multiple smaller bottles so they are easier to pour and not make a mess! Dear lord, I was like a toddler playing in paint....never mind that its corrosive and was spilled all over the exhaust mid pipe, rear foot peg, front reservoir, and whatever else it touched dripping down the bike. I tried to wipe it off with a rag and wd40...maybe it will be ok long term!

I never woulda figured the NC for a track bike... it will be fun to see what she’ll do under someone with the know-how..

It's certainly not ideal but its lighter weight and agility, coupled with 17" wheels (good tire options) gives it a good start. Depending on whether I decide to keep it instead of trying to adapt another bike to my needs, the suspension will definitely need some work, fork rebuild with new springs and aftermarket rear shock. All that can come later, not worried about killing lap times, just want to have fun like old times. As for power, it's about the same as any of the 300cc sportbikes, and it seems there's been several trade their 600/1000's off for something like an R3 or Ninja 300. I guess dealing with less power presents more of a challenge and makes you focus more on skill to be quick. Doesn't accelerate between corners as much, but that also means you don't have to slow down as much going into corners. Brake later, carry more corner speed. There's also always some super new riders in Novice, so I'm sure I'll be passing a few, but then there will be several that has ridden in Novice a few times and are close to getting bumped up into Intermediate that will be passing me.

A buddy of mine is going to do his first trackday ever on his GSXR 1000 in September with me. That was originally going to be my first day back on track too, but I am impatient and going by myself tomorrow. It's likely I won't know a single person there, but the staff with Sportbike Track Time always consisted of great folks, so I'm sure I'll make a few friends before the day's over.

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On the road! Man it's early...got about 4 hours of sleep. I'm gonna be gassed by the afternoon sessions lol

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Very cool. Have a great time and fill us in later!

I got to ride a track day at Daytona on my ST1300. Daytona's turns are banked 31 degrees and it took minimum 90 mph to stay up on the banking. Talladega's are banked 33 degrees!

 
Nashville Superspeedway used to have an infield course that tied into the NASCAR track and I rode it a couple times, it was awesome. This track is not at the NASCAR track in Talladega, it's actually in a neighboring city and is called Talladega Gran Prix Raceway, here's a video from a WERA race there.

YouTube

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Sure is warm sittin here in these leathers. Lol

Someone crashed and got injured in Advance Group, so we haven't went on track yet, but are up next.

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First session was guided, single file. 2nd session, veteran novice riders (3 of us lol) got turned loose to ride at our own pace. Man how great this feels! NC does VERY well on track! Except for passing power, hard to get around slow riders on fast bikes. But handles great and the Q3+ stick like glue! Highway peg has not touched so far, which is awesome. Drug my boot/peg on right hand turn, but knee is not going to touch on either side. This is mainly due to my riding position with the highway peg. I can still hang off the bike sufficiently on both sides, less so on the right because of my foot being forward on the other side, but overall I am very pleased with the NC's performance! I may just keep it!

Oh, and downshifts (or lack thereof) piss me off. Would be nice to have higher redline and ability to downshift earlier. I understand why it is the way it is, but it sucks trying to gear down to 3rd and it not letting you til it gets below 70 mph. Top speed on long straight is around 85. Brakes are fine because I am going into fast turns around 70mph so there's only 15 mph to slow down vs slowing down from 120+ to 70 on a big cc bike.

Long lunch break now, going to fire up the gopro after lunch!

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Sweet baby Jeezus it's hot. I am going to ride 1 more session and load up and head home. Looking forward to an ac'd ride home in the truck. Lol

There's a couple guys in novice that have ridden other tracks but first time here, and they are faster than me, also helps they have bigger engines. I've only been passed by 3 or 4 ppl. Been stupid fun! The NC has definitely exceeded my expectations.

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man those tires look like they held up well, got some good lookin' wear on'em...sticky! :{)
They looked a lot better by the end of the day as I got faster :D Judging by the wear on the front of the tread grooves, that suggests rear suspension is not right. Front tire wore uniformly, so as far as I can tell, the front forks are actually not as bad as I figured them to be. I probably won't tweak them any, but eventually a new rear shock is in order. I was really surprised by the wear, there's only one right hand turn on that track so it's hell on the left side. I would be doing good to get one more track day out of that side of it. Will probably flip it before the next track day to keep wear even.

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I got hit with some heat exhaustion after the last session and loading all my stuff back up. Got dizzy, headache, etc. 4 hrs of sleep didn't help either. That heat is intense wearing all that gear. Riding hard takes a lot out of you too. Definitely one of the most physically demanding things I've done since losing my leg.

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I got hit with some heat exhaustion after the last session and loading all my stuff back up. Got dizzy, headache, etc. 4 hrs of sleep didn't help either. That heat is intense wearing all that gear. Riding hard takes a lot out of you too. Definitely one of the most physically demanding things I've done since losing my leg.

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I have only done one cone track day. The leg work was so intensive that my muscles were still sore days afterwards. Sounds like you had a great time. Now that you have had a taste on the NC and some conditioning...imagine the next one :)
 
I got hit with some heat exhaustion after the last session and loading all my stuff back up. Got dizzy, headache, etc. 4 hrs of sleep didn't help either. That heat is intense wearing all that gear. Riding hard takes a lot out of you too. Definitely one of the most physically demanding things I've done since losing my leg.

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Years ago I did one of those NASCAR Driving School Experiences (highly recommend it, by the way!) and came away with a whole new appreciation for how much WORK it is mentally and physically to go around those tracks on the edge of the envelope time after time. And that’s on FOUR wheels. Doing it on two puts one in rare company. Too old to give that a try today - but my hat’s off to those that have done it.:cool: And can still do it..!
 
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Kudos to you Tacoman, I am genuinely impressed sir! How did the DCT function for you, i'm presuming you used the daylights out of the manual over-ride in an attempt to force the downshifts...? I do not know that anyone else has ever done what you did with your DCT today... heh heh! :{)
 
Kudos to you Tacoman, I am genuinely impressed sir! How did the DCT function for you, i'm presuming you used the daylights out of the manual over-ride in an attempt to force the downshifts...? I do not know that anyone else has ever done what you did with your DCT today... heh heh! :{)
Used manual mode and controlled upshifts/downshifts myself the whole time. I do the same when riding twisties on the road too. The DCT in Sport Mode works pretty good, but it would be impossible for it to be good enough to always predict when to gear down or not gear up.

You'll see when I get the vids uploaded, ghe shorter straights I was banging off rev limiter in 3rd right before reaching the corner, longer straights had me banging off it in 4th. I learned to watch my rpm's so that I could stay in the gas at around 6k rpms instead of winding out to the rev limiter, as it causes moderate loss of power when the limiter kicks in. It took a little while to get used to the gears and the parameters the DCT has in place regarding downshifts. By the end of the day I had a plan of attack for each straight and corner and my pace smoothed out a lot.

Also, it was so darn hard to get around slow riders in the straights, even a couple on R3's! The R3's were literally pulling on me a little in the straights. Only way I could pass was out brake them into a turn. I have watched about half the footage I got and about half of each vid consists of running a snail's pace behind slow riders trying find a safe point to overtake. They slow as ever in the corners, but wide open in between them lol. You will be able to see how quickly guys on the 600's and 1000's go by me in the straights too Lol. Maybe I can upload them in the morning.

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I have only done one cone track day. The leg work was so intensive that my muscles were still sore days afterwards. Sounds like you had a great time. Now that you have had a taste on the NC and some conditioning...imagine the next one :)


I'll be honest, I'm glad the next one is a month out. So much work and prep goes into it, loading unloading loading and unloading again. And the physical drain. Ready to ride my big comfy bagger back and forth to work a couple times this week now, and leave the NC parked. Ha!



Years ago I did one of those NASCAR Driving School Experiences (highly recommend it, by the way!) and came away with a whole new appreciation for how much WORK it is mentally and physically to go around those tracks on the edge of the envelope time after time. And that’s on FOUR wheels. Doing it on two puts one in rare company. Too old to give that a try today - but my hat’s off to those that have done it.:cool: And can still do it..!

I never have been much on driving fast in cars, too easy to lose control and can't correct. I know that doesn't apply across the board, I just feel more comfortable on motorcycles. The ZX10R I had would top out at 189mph on new tire amd 191 on semi worn out tire (less circumference - same speed), and I did that numerous times back in the day. To compare, I had a 2002 Z06 Corvette for a few months (seriously did not need one of those lol), and fastest I got it up to was 140mph. And it felt way more crazy than 190 on a bike, to me....and I know those Vettes can cruise at 140 like it's nothing.

It would be fun to do tho. Barber Motorsports Park (stupid nice track close to me), has the Porsche Driving School I've always thought would be cool to do. However the cost to interest ratio just isn't there for me.

The mental side of it all is crazy though. If you aren't on the gas you are on the brakes, and monitoring EVERYTHING. Definitely mentally taxing.

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129 Photos shared one of their pics of me on their Facebook page, so I got to keep that one for free! Lol debating on buying the others. $75 for a day's worth of pictures is a lot, but it was sort of a special day for me. In the meantime I just screenshotted a few.....ha!

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