Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Well what a day..

The trip started the night before with packing the van, it was a little interesting as I've never put a bike in a van before and the only reference point I had was a couple of YouTube clips. Still I managed to get the bike and all the other gear in and it stayed put so can't be bad.

Sunday started really early, I was up at 5am and out in the van at 5:30. Then I was very quickly back in the house to get the de-icer damn it was cold. Had a nice easy drive up to Mallory with the minor detour to help a guy out who's best mate was plastered and couldn't walk.

Arrived at the circuit with no time to spare, spotted crazypainters car and trailer exactly where he said he would be. The van was dumped while I quickly said hello to his dad and then made my way down to sign on. After signon the nerves started kicking in a little, got the bike and gear unpacked, warmed up and then over to noise testing. 100db's unbaffled (slightly quieter than the RSV ) then it's time to wait for the first session.

When the shout came over the tannoy the nerves where really hitting hard. I'd never ridden the bike for more than 10 feet and I was about to get on a race circuit. The ride to the line up was a bit wobbly, tyre pressures down and I've never had a bike with a steering damper and I was finding it hard work controlling the bike at slower speeds. A couple of laps into the session crazy had already fooked off round the track somewhere, but I was starting to feel the bike and was feeling a little more comfortable. Then at Gerards I got a wake up, in the form of a CBR600 going round the outside of me dragging a knee and most of the bike on the track

Back in the pits the nerves had gone, tyre warmers on and the bike on the stands. Had a bit of a chat with CP and he gave me some really good tips on lines. As I've never used tyre warmers before he also explained to me the grip levels that you have from the outset. Even with the advice I wasn't ready for quite how much grip you have out of the box.

From then onwards the sessions flashed passed, I was feeling more and more confident with each lap that went passed. I spend time working on my body position and breaking points.

It was also great to see Kwacky, Emma, and Hubby. And it was also really good to see Emma progress through the day and get so much more confidence.

I've still yet to get my knee down, but I'm getting closer.
Thanks to everyone there for making it such a great day. I'me really looking forward to either sneaking in an early day next year, or packing packing everything up for Spain

It was good to catch up.

You're not far away there. You'll have your knee down next time.

Was just thinking back as well to find my favourite part of the track and I think it's the other way round, the only part of the track I wasn't keen on was the hairpin. Gerads is one of the best corners I've ridden and there is something extreemly satisfying about going round the outside of someone there. But the most fun I had was stalking people through the bus stop and then taking a wide line into the devils elbow, taking them on the outside and still having the legs to keep it in front down the start finish straight. My favourite of the lot being the RSV4 that put a smile on my face.

D6Nutz wrote:..I've still yet to get my knee down, but I'm getting closer...

You look well positioned mate ( to my untrained eyes, anyway). I reckon if you're relaxed enough on your next TD, and if it's not too long till you do one, that you'll start to feel that little vibration through your kneesliders.
Trick is not to think about it IMHO, but to continue to simply relax & put the effort into ensuring you are constantly perfecting your body position.

Looking good mate.

StMarks wrote:

D6Nutz wrote:..I've still yet to get my knee down, but I'm getting closer...

You look well positioned mate ( to my untrained eyes, anyway). I reckon if you're relaxed enough on your next TD, and if it's not too long till you do one, that you'll start to feel that little vibration through your kneesliders.
Trick is not to think about it IMHO, but to continue to simply relax & put the effort into ensuring you are constantly perfecting your body position.

Looking good mate.

What he said!

Looking good dude, glad you had a top day out.

Agree with others body position looks fine and should happen asap at next TD.
Sounds obvious I know but I would just keep the same postion and go a little quicker each pass of one particular corner that you feel confident in and it will just happen. I know for a fact I'm slower on track if I purposely try and get my knee down rather than just letting it happen.

Good report as well and sounds like you had an amazing day and become a TD junkie.

Looking through my pics I found this from earlier in the year, it struck me how much better my body position is on the CBR compared to the RSV.
If the Euro trip is in April will the weather be nice enough before then to sneak another TD in ??

Of course you can... I did Mallory in February a few years ago (and crashed in the rain )

Sorry to have missed this thread when first posted, there's a big improvement in your body position between the RSV pic and the CBR, confidence on track is only normally given a piece at a time or confidence overtakes ability.

Looking at that top pic, something about your position will click along with a bit more confidence and you'll knock seconds off your times, corner speed will be up and your knee will touch down (although tbh it's a scare the first time).

I know what CP meant about the tyres out of warmers, it really is a night and day difference in the feel, that in itself is imho confidence inspiring, it also gives you back the first 5-6 mins of a session so you get better value for money as far as track time goes.

nice report,gerrards is great fun isnt it ?