My day at Oulton- with crash pics

[DaytonAndy]

I booked into this late after seeing it mentioned on 675.cc. I hadn't ridden the bike for much recently so decided to book into novice and see how I got on. Arrived early enough to get myself a nice spot in a pit garage, did the briefing, 3 sighting laps and then went to get noise tested- Fail! I knew my bike was loud but having been told getting the bike good and hot helps I tried without the baffle as it runs like an absolute pig with my cheap ass baffle in. Anyway, back to the pits to put the baffle in, sneak to the front of the noise testing and- Fail. Back to the pits and the guy next to me, didn't catch his name but thanks!!!, wrapped some exhaust baffling tape of some sorts round the baffle, back in and off to test- Fail! By this time I'm obviously starting to stress. Novices have gone out for their first session by this time and I'm getting worried. The guy asks his mate and he returns with a big wodge of wire wool which is rammed down my exhaust, baffle back in and- Pass... just! I studied a thread on .cc recently about tyre pressures for track but in the stress I forgot completely about it and didn't touch them. I calmed down a bit and was given some good advice to take it easy for a while. However:
It was a focused events day and although they haven't got the greatest press, they give out transponders and your times are measured over the first two morning sessions and then the groups are adjusted. A really good idea as you are then running in a group of similar pace for the afternoon. Anyway, after I missed the first session, I realised I was only going to get one session to set a time. I wanted to try and move into inters just to see the difference really. so with the "take it easy" advice ringing in my ears, I queued up, and then I went for it lol. For a few laps I overtook just about everyone! Almost every corner saw me passing round the outside of someone. I felt like a legend . Not long into the session I'd noticed my bike was handling horribly which I later put down to tyre pressures. I was on 34 psi cold in the rear and ended up at 28 (I checked them the next day for curiosity, wobbly ride home on low pressures!). The rear tyre would just not settle into a corner and every time I got on the power it would unsettle itself. By this time I had convinced myself my helmet had given me Marquez like powers and I needed to set a good time so I thought I could ride through it. The baffle combined with the wire wool meant my bike was bogging down and had lost all of its pull but still I was overtaking left right and centre and then I got a bit of free track...

[DaytonAndy]

I know I'm odd, but at this point, sliding down the tarmac, I noticed my bike was still running and the tip sensor hadn't turned the bike off so I tried to get up.

[C00kiemonster]

Worth the crash for the pics

Glad your ok though..

[Kwacky]

It's never nice to see a bike and biker go down, but if you're going to do it, get it captured on camera

[Perkles]

front end folded ? proper gp styley !

[DaytonAndy]

As I reached the bike it switched itself off anyway. I picked it up (eventually) and rolled it down the hill out the way and waited for the marshall. He called out recovery but after a bit of persuading, let me ride back to the pits. I got checked out (compulsory) and went for dinner. When I got back, I bent a few bits back and went to check the groups for the afternoon. In my few hero laps I had managed to make Inters Absolutely made up. Inters was much faster than novice, or at least- there were none of the very slow riders that cause traffic jams going into corners. I managed to stay on for the rest of the day and probably ran mid pack ish. I overtook a few and got overtaken by a few. Quite pleased with myself as other Daytonas were just leaving me for dead on the power as my bike was running like shit but I still managed to get past a couple.

I gave the last session a miss as getting pretty tired and crawled home to lick my wounds.

Next stop, new exhaust and suspension or maybe track bike?

[Kwacky]

The suspension on the 675 is pretty good. It would be worth getting it set up to see how you get on with it. If you're still not happy think about changing the front springs to get a set for your weight

[Cavetroll87]

Not nice to crash but at least you got some cool photos of it and you're ok which is the main thing, in years to come you can look at them and laugh about it all I'd imagine

[DaytonAndy]

Kwacky I had the suspension set up at Maxton. Their suspension guy bounced it up and down a couple of times, didn't take my weight or sit me on the bike so I'm taking what he said with a pinch of salt but he said my forks felt like they had had work done on them- he was well impressed. However my rear shock was garbage apparently. I'm inclined to agree as I do seem to destroy rear tyres really quickly.

[Kwacky]

Keep an eye on the race forums for second hand rear race shocks. Therre's usually a few about for your bike.

http://www.motoforum.net/topic/101893-b ... available/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Perkles]

k-tech transformed my previous bike ,it was worth very penny spent .I might get them to do my current bike this winter

[Kwacky]

Perkles, try these who are closer to home and have a great rep

http://www.revsracing.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Deegee]

First off DaytonAndy, well done for getting back up and at it after binning a very tidy looking bike, I've seen blokes go home after a minor off with only a broken indicator and mirror (a shattered ego though). Second, I fully commiserate with your front end folding - it happened to me and was the reason I bought a track bike, life just slows down during one of those.

Re your bike, the suspension on the Daytona is a bit show pony really, the rear shock is utter sh*t and needs respringing and a full rebuild with new shim packs etc just to make it work as it's supposed to, the forks are slightly better but still require new springs and rebuilding for the track, my bike was done at MCT in Suffolk who are in constant demand from the racing fraternity and that cost me £650 including a full set up for me. I also got the set up sheet for reference, anyone working on your suspension should be giving you that as a minimum.
Not sure which exhaust you've got, or what the Db rating for the day was, but it sounds like taking the std can along wouldn't be a bad idea it certainly breathes better than a cheap Db killer stuffed full of wadding and wire wool.

Glad you had a good day other than throwing your bike at the scenery, if you've got the money, space and inclination a track bike is definitely the way to go, but can prove more expensive to feed with nice things than a road bike - I know.

P.S. Great pics!

[C00kiemonster]

Perkles, try these who are closer to home and have a great rep

http://www.revsracing.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And they supply ktech internals.

They did my Daytona trackbike internals they were very good

If you need a Black Country translator, let me know

[DaytonAndy]

Unfortunately that was my second off and some of the damage was still visible on the other side but you can't see it in the photos. That right hand fairing was my one remaining good panel! The left hand fairing is neon rather than Caspian blue but from a distance it looks ok lol!

[Perkles]

Perkles, try these who are closer to home and have a great rep

http://www.revsracing.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And they supply ktech internals.

They did my Daytona trackbike internals they were very good

If you need a Black Country translator, let me know

eck argh

[StMarks]

Gotcha, Spec675... I really should have realised mate.!

[D6]

Unfortunately that was my second off and some of the damage was still visible on the other side but you can't see it in the photos. That right hand fairing was my one remaining good panel! The left hand fairing is neon rather than Caspian blue but from a distance it looks ok lol!

Sounds like this bike is on its way to being a track bike.

Nice pics, shame they were what they were. Glad you seemed to have a good day though, and nice one for not letting it beat you.

[rocket]

Great write up and glad you are ok , another shout for k-tech my zx6 has k-tech re valve kit in the forks

[Godzilla]

This is exactly why I wont do FE transponder days.