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**Carlitos** · 06-22-2011, 01:16 AM

Originally posted by kachhhing View Post

that makes the 2 of us ha ha
but promised myself to go on track as soon as winter is over

awesome bike and looks like u had tons of fun, coming out of corners with the 1198 mst have been awesome man, with pulse afer pulse of torque generated by the engine

Phew i have company

Yeah the Duc just feels different in corners. I remember how planted it felt when i test rode the 1098S. Had it not been a test bike, i'd have been more than willing to crank it over a lil more on one side. Plus coming off an R6, which revved like a mapcap, i was having a tough time with the enormous amounts of torque the Duc produced so early on

.
It was absolutely mind boggling.

AsimB, how long did it take you to get used to a twin?

**vbhingarkar** · 06-22-2011, 02:00 AM

Originally posted by AsimB View Post

I'd totally recommend it, as long as you ride within your limits you should be fine. Plus itl make you a safer street rider, you wont try anything unnecessary on the streets

It took me the longest time to track my bike too (1.5yrs), constantly thinking of the consequences. But these bikes belong on the track, thats where they perform the best.

truly and rightly said. I was thinking of getting a track only bike since somehow I cannot bring myself to take my first ever liter bike to the track. How much of a hassle was it for you to take it back and forth to the track plus getting it prepped for it? Thanks in advance for the info.

**AsimB** · 06-22-2011, 03:02 AM

For reference

My first track day - Thunderhill 6/11 - a set on Flickr

This was my very first track day and the anticipation was killing me. Me and a few guys put our bikes on pickup trucks and drove to the track the night before and stayed at a hotel.
Setting up my bike for the track required no time at all, since the bike comes with stock Ohlins, Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP tyres, steering damper, traction control, data acquisition system (DDA), brembo monoblock calipers (best brakes on one of the lightest bikes). Since Im not tall (5’6) I didn’t feel the need for aftermarket rearsets. The aftermarket double bubble helped a lot though. I just had to remove 2 fuses for the headlight and taillight and I was good to go. Though those fuses interfered with my dash and I couldn’t adjust my traction control and switch-on the DDA. So I used electrical tape instead and put the fuses back on :P you can see that the pics are with and without the tape.
So we got to the track at 7am and got the bikes inspected to ensure there were no funny fluids leaking from the bikes.
There were 3 categories of riders – A. Advanced, who race professionally. B. Intermediate riders with several trackdays under their belt. C. Beginners with a few or no trackdays. Each group was assigned 20mins every hour. I signed up for group C where we were assigned an instructor for the group and personally if required. I preferred to get personal lessons for a couple of my sessions.
The instructor (was a lady) taught me the track and followed me to study my lines and body position.
She provided very useful feedback and mentioned the bike has more clearance that most other bikes and I could afford to lean a lot more. From here my laps just got better.
After the first 20min session I had such an adrenaline rush that I thought I might puke

Track time (see attached track map) -

I loved how the supercorsas buildup heat very fast (1 warmup lap and youre good to go) and they use a fairly sticky compound. The grip was incredible.
Turn 1 was a very fast turn, at about 90mph after coming down the straight at ~145mph (see my last 2 pictures), nice wide turn but a small elevation drop between turn 1 and 2 makes it tricky.
Turn 3 was the worst, it had reverse banking and the turn was completely blind. You have to start leaning in about 10meters before the turn starts so all youre looking at is something like the edge of a cliff before you commit to the turn at about 50mph. Took some practice. One rider right in front of me rode straight off the track at this turn and that distracted me. I almost followed him out :P but managed to correct my line on time.
Turn 5, the cyclone, was like a mini corkscrew (laguna seca). It was a right hander with a steep 3 story drop. Pretty intense. The first time I stared down turn 5 I was ready to pack my bags and head home But as I attempted it over and over again it got comfortable. All you need is the right line and right speed and then it’s a piece of cake (maybe after 20 attempts :P)
Turns 6,7,8 were fun starting off on 2nd gear and shiting to 3rd just before turn 7 and leaning completely through turns 7 and 8 reaching about 120mph before braking hard for turn 9.
Turn 14 was the most fun, but it took me 4-5 attempts to get it right. I’d hit about 125mph on the straight and would have to brake hard and shift down from 3rd to 2nd gear to reach a little below 40mph. Here is where I wished I had a slipper clutch. Aggressive downshifting here caused my rear to lockup and slide for almost 20 odd meters. Getting the downshift just right and to keep the slide very controlled before turn 14 took some time.
I did 3 20min sessions with my suspension set to the street to see if I feel any difference. After the 3 sessions I had about half an inch of chicken strips still left on the tyres. Then I got the suspension setup for the track from one of the suspension specialists there (thank god for the fully adjustable ohlins). One 20min session after that and I could feel a world of difference, there was so much more feedback from the rear tyre, pushing the bike into turns got more intuitive and the turn 14 slide was very easily controlled. The chicken strips were annihilated :P
I took a second instructor session after lunch and they asked me to join group B since I ended up passing a lot of 250s and 600s. The last couple of pics (with the tape covered headlights) are from the end of the day where I got more comfortable with my body position.
Trackdays burn you out big time, I realized how unfit I was :P After every 20min session I downed a bottle of water or Gatorade (and took a long piss). It was about 85F and I was sweating like a pig. It was physically and mentally draining.
I used to have a 696 before this and the 1198 has been around for 1.5yrs and Ive managed about 3500mi of canyon rides before I attempted the trackday. I think that made it easier. That’s where I practiced body positioning at slower speeds, It helped. Though I must admit the bike with its low weight all its goodies did make things much much easier for me. The acceleration coming out of the turns takes time to get used to though, but the torque is a blessing. Even if youre a gear too high the bike will still pull like a beast. All I need now is a slipper clutch.
When I looked at the DDA data after coming home I realized I readlined the bike too many times, something to improve on next time
I hope I managed to answer everyones questions

**cbr600** · 06-22-2011, 04:19 AM

Great writeup. Good for us track aspiring guys.

**TenHut** · 06-22-2011, 05:22 PM

Originally posted by AsimB View Post

Youre right about anchoring the outer leg. The position of that leg got better as the day progressed, but I wasnt 100% comfortable with the grip from the tank, need some tank guards

Grips yeah. Like tank stomps or something.they help but tear through the suit sometimes so I refrain from using them since I ain't racing.

Reading the whole thing that u penned down was wonderful.
Many don't realise that track riding is physically very very demanding. Like u said..the adrenaline alone almost made u throw up.
The last time I was down chennai I managed to pull off 5 straight track days with the cali school guys. Temperatures under the sun were soaring to 40 degrees celcius.
Morning 7am to 5pm in the evening, and every evening when I returned to the hotel I had something the local track junkies call "track fever". Waking up the next morning made me realize that I was running some decent fever in the evenings. Put a smile on my face..made me feel like a man haha.

**atul_chang** · 06-22-2011, 06:56 PM

Originally posted by AsimB View Post

One rider right in front of me rode straight off the track at this turn and that distracted me. I almost followed him out :P but managed to correct my line on time.

wow reminds me of my first day at track. I overshot the C10 and landed in the grass, because I was looking at it. I guess the trick is not to look at the danger but the way out.

Very well written, got the adrenalin rush just by reading it.

Originally posted by TenHut View Post

Morning 7am to 5pm in the evening, and every evening when I returned to the hotel I had something the local track junkies call "track fever". Waking up the next morning made me realize that I was running some decent fever in the evenings. Put a smile on my face..made me feel like a man haha.

Tenhut, you missed the part about sleeping at 8pm each evening. We should just find some billionaire biker and ask him to make a track somewhere between mumbai and Pune.

**TenHut** · 06-22-2011, 07:42 PM

Originally posted by atul_chang View Post

Tenhut, We should just find some billionaire biker and ask him to make a track somewhere between mumbai and Pune.

U r the billionaire biker I was gonna request that to

**mbharat** · 06-22-2011, 10:15 PM

Originally posted by AsimB View Post

Did you take any other course (advanced rider course etc.) or just go straight onto the track day? Just curious.

Ride safe, later.

Bartman

**AsimB** · 06-22-2011, 10:42 PM

Originally posted by TenHut View Post

Morning 7am to 5pm in the evening, and every evening when I returned to the hotel I had something the local track junkies call "track fever". Waking up the next morning made me realize that I was running some decent fever in the evenings. Put a smile on my face..made me feel like a man haha.

Man thats insane! I went for the trackday last saturday and had the option of staying for sunday but I was messed up :P there was no way I wouldve lasted another 20min session, forget another whole day.

**AsimB** · 06-22-2011, 10:49 PM

Originally posted by mbharat View Post

Did you take any other course (advanced rider course etc.) or just go straight onto the track day? Just curious.

Ride safe, later.

Bartman

I wanted to do an advanced rider course before the trackday but this happened last minute and just decided to go ahead with it.

If youve been riding a while I think a track day with just some basic lessons last minute should be sufficient. You'l learn enough about riding on a track to make the most of any advanced lessons in the future.

**Carlitos** · 06-22-2011, 10:53 PM

Great write up man. Am definitely signing up for a track day once i get significant miles on the R1.

**mbharat** · 06-22-2011, 11:34 PM

Originally posted by AsimB View Post

If youve been riding a while I think a track day with just some basic lessons last minute should be sufficient. You'l learn enough about riding on a track to make the most of any advanced lessons in the future.

Thx., good to know your quick track session did wonders. My plan is to take the advanced rider course and the Level 1 Lee Parks course at Elkhart lake, WI (Road America) in September. I am actually waiting to see IF the MV Agusta 675 comes out next year, then the ZX will be my track bike

. Then again I may not pay $12,000 for a 675cc motorcycle, I may just get a used bike for the street.

Ride safe, later.

Bartman

**AsimB** · 04-10-2012, 05:45 AM

Got another trackday under my belt. It's been a long wait! This time it was at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County a little north of San Francisco. The track is very technical, all turns were either uphill or downhill turns nothing flat. It took a toll on my body, been sore for a couple of days now

but its totally worth it.

This time I went better prepared, added a few race accessories like the pirelli diablo rosso corsas (very very sticky), adjustable Pazzo shorty folding levers, full woodcraft adjustable rearsets, woodcraft open clutch cover (to let the clutch run cooler), changed out the coolant with engine ice, stomp grips and the very cool competition werks fender eliminator LTD. Will post pics of the mods soon.

**mbharat** · 04-10-2012, 05:57 AM

Originally posted by AsimB View Post

This time I went better prepared, added a few race accessories like the pirelli diablo rosso corsas (very very sticky),

Did you change the tires yourself? Any tips on balancing them? Thx.

Bartman

**AsimB** · 04-10-2012, 06:03 AM

Originally posted by mbharat View Post

Did you change the tires yourself? Any tips on balancing them? Thx.

Bartman

Oh no, I took them to a tire specialist, I dont have the equipment to change tires. I managed to do most of the other things myself with a decent tool set.

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My first track day on the 1198s

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