Chennai xBhp Track Day - 22 Feb '09 - The Discussion and Pics thread

[karthik_R]

The alarm rang at 2:45 in the morning and i woke up with a loads of excitement which was 5 hours and not to mention 300 odd kms away..yes the track event that i ve been so eagerly waiting for. Minutes later, Joe called up,"hey macha where r you?" when i was fresh out of my bath and getting clad in my jacket..I assured him i ll make it there in another 10 mins. Reached the point at 3:20 , joel and my newest acquaintance kushanth (in full race leathers ) were waiting patiently there. Quick round of introductions and we started munching kms stopping occasionally to sip hot tea and rest...Kushanth kept asking joel to take his turn and ride the zma, joel says,"poda, mad or what, i"ll freeze to death in this cold"..later he turns around and asks ," hey have you ever been on my bike" for which i shook my head..here's when we traded our bike and boy o boy , it was one hell of a zma..I didnt open her up past 120kmph, the damn mosquitoes started to annoy my windshield..20-25 kms into the trip we again swapped our rides...i was feeling funny aboard my r15 after being ridden the monster.

300 kms into the trip or 4.5 hours later, I see the watch towers of the track and a red r15 sweeping a corner..Glad i made it to mars from home Wonderboy was doing the paper work for all the riders there..kudos to you wonderboy.. the 3 of us proceeded to our fav adda pit #10. Got rid of all the luggage and rested for about 10 mins. I checked my bike for any loss of pressure in the tyres, happy with the conditions , me and kushanth started making some quick laps...15 mins later we made it back to the pits...I can get used to this, was the thought running in my mind. Joel borrowed my ride, i warned him about a slight wobble in the front wheel. And he took off..He must have made 3-4 laps on it when he headed back to the pits. I asked him about the wobble, to which he answered," hey, no prachane pa..after a long time riding a good bike ".

Me and kush again decided to play cat and mouse.He took a head start and disappeared, no wonder..but he was braking a lil early around the corners and i always brake late, so i ended up almost running into him..So i slowed down a bit and started following his line..At all the corners I would be a safe distance from him.@c8 a black 200 had taken a spill(literally) oil was leaking from all around the bike..helped him get up and free the handle bar from his pants.. 4 to 5 laps old, kush gave up getting chased. I continued in my normal pace and made it to pits only not to find Joel not in pits. He was on keerthi's ride.. I watched him for a few laps.

Then's when I hear a distinguishable 2 stroke mill rev like crazy..A drag prepd bike. No sooner I hear a inline rumble..there they were, 3 sbks...so these are the guys who rode all the way from amchi mumbai..no words..

After getting some much needed hydration, i decide to follow joel's lines and was waiting near the track's famous arch on my r15..There he comes, knee down on the orange zma exiting c1..i signal my entry into the track and waste no time..after i exit c2 i found joel exiting c3...A few more corners and joel keeps progressively disappearing... I return to the pits...

Even thoug I wanted to take some rest , the racer inside me wanted to capitalize on every minute of the track day..this is the first mistake i committed...

To be continued..

[wonderboy_tm]

I think its Pradeep Reddy. He owns the FI
@wonderboy : Nice writeup buddy. Hope first-trackday wipeouts aren't a common phenomenon.
Was guru riding super-slowly on the Uni..?
If yes, probably that's the attitude to follow on one's first trackday right..?

i cannot say that riding super slow is the first-timers attitude. Some take it slowly and and go up step by step. And a few learn only after they crash. My first time at the track, i ran off the track at c2 alone, four times. And crashed twice. Then slowly i've been visiting tracks and frequently crashing at the track too. I am not proud of it, but people who learn it my way would feel 'what an a$sho1e i was in the past'.

However, once a person rides on the track and tries to slow down on the public roads it would be difficult. So his outlet becomes the track. I bet on one thing, almost all the riders who attended the track session would want to come back and ride again on the track. Just because the track is a constructive vent for the aggression. And once people start racing, they learn to control that aggression.

On the whole, once the person gets to ride around the track at a decent pace, he or she wouldn't be foolish on public roads. The level of ego would come down drastically instantly iterating himself/herself to a better human being. Long live Bikism. I am forever in debt to biking !!!!
NO wonder Biking is considered a religion !!!!

I guess my point is clearly conveyed.

@all :I don't know about others. I will be at the track whenever i see fit. 3-4 months gap is too much. People who feel who want to ride at the track can call me anytime. Atleast 2-3 times i am at the track every month. So gimme a call and i will accompany anyone anytime.

[wonderboy_tm]

Why all the heat bro ?

When i wrote '50 bucks for the mechanic alone' in my previous post, i was replying to praveen. He posted about making arrangements a mechanic + medical support for around 50 bucks. This i think is possible when a good number, say at least more than 30 riders sign up, we had less than 10-15 riders, most of them didn't even bother responding to the post in the t-day thread. And you make it look like i single-handedly killed the mech. plan.

And, about our convo. on YM, I remember telling you that i was okay with something around 50 bucks for the mech.

i wrote back 'you make the call ..but IMO 100 bucks won't be accepted well' and 'people like me who're on a tight budget might have a prob shelling out 100 bucks' (this from my YM archive).

I did not say NO, i was just telling you how much i was ready to pay.

and yes, getting water was a good idea.

I guess my sense of humor was'nt visible through text... clearly misunderstood, un-emoting is the right word i guess.....

anyways... i did my part there.... .
question answered

[gurumurthy88]

I did propose about a mechanic, and i also was in a verbal agreement with him. But EL LOCO DIABLO, INSIDIOUS and GURU had a problem in shelling out 50 more bucks as they felt it was "un-necessary". I was also in a verbal agreement with a physician, but due to the poor responce from the crowd i did not bother to take it a step further.


Do you intend to have a mechanic free of cost. Since you brought this off-forum discussion, i remember mentioning if the rider turn out is '10', then we had to shell out 50 - 100 bucks. The person i was referring to had racing experience for 3 years in both riding and tuning. So a person like himself with a helper agreeing to come and help us was very sportive of them. AND IT IS VERY UN PROFESSIONAL TO ACTUALLY ASK TO GO BACK HOME WITHOUT EARNING ANYTHING. Bro, you cannot get an ambulance for 50/ head charge.

For a start water was arranged.

Why all the heat bro ?

When i wrote '50 bucks for the mechanic alone' in my previous post, i was replying to praveen. He posted about making arrangements a mechanic + medical support for around 50 bucks. This i think is possible when a good number, say at least more than 30 riders sign up, we had less than 10-15 riders, most of them didn't even bother responding to the post in the t-day thread. And you make it look like i single-handedly killed the mech. plan.

And, about our convo. on YM, I remember telling you that i was okay with something around 50 bucks for the mech.

i wrote back 'you make the call ..but IMO 100 bucks won't be accepted well' and 'people like me who're on a tight budget might have a prob shelling out 100 bucks' (this from my YM archive).

I did not say NO, i was just telling you how much i was ready to pay.

and yes, getting water was a good idea.

[prabhubravo]

I would say, than a mechanic a physician is more important. So atleast proper first aid can be given also he can guide us to the right hospital in case of emergency.

PS: Well am not saying a no to a mechanic though

[wonderboy_tm]

I'm very glad to see that the track day went on well and a lot of people want it to happen again. No offenses meant, I would like to highlight a few things.

1. First aid and emergency arrangements need to be made.
2. A mechanic would be quite a handy person.
3. A small session on the basic dos and don'ts for the beginners.

To have all these, it will be quite expensive for the person who is arranging the meet. I recommend that, anyone who arranges, roughly estimates how many people would be making it. After that, it is required to work out the cost of all this and calculate the share per head. This will be mandatory and must be paid by all. The track day expense might end up to be Rs. 450 or so instead of Rs. 400. But I believe it will make a lot of sense to pay it.

Very well presented praveen.
Honestly, we did have a briefing session as soon we entered the track. I did tell them a few points which came to my mind. But i guess only a few riders gave heed to it. A lot of the riders had their own ideas. But still, stopping some where inside shouldnt be a problem for track days. However, next time it should be implemented.

I did propose about a mechanic, and i also was in a verbal agreement with him. But EL LOCO DIABLO, INSIDIOUS and GURU had a problem in shelling out 50 more bucks as they felt it was "un-necessary". I was also in a verbal agreement with a physician, but due to the poor responce from the crowd i did not bother to take it a step further.

post in your views mate...

Varun was trying to bring his mechanic along to the track this time, and he quoted around 50-100 Rs. per rider for the mechanic alone. But, there was no proper response, so he dropped the plan. But, i'm sure everyone'll agree to pay for an ambulance at the track.

Do you intend to have a mechanic free of cost. Since you brought this off-forum discussion, i remember mentioning if the rider turn out is '10', then we had to shell out 50 - 100 bucks. The person i was referring to had racing experience for 3 years in both riding and tuning. So a person like himself with a helper agreeing to come and help us was very sportive of them. AND IT IS VERY UN PROFESSIONAL TO ACTUALLY ASK TO GO BACK HOME WITHOUT EARNING ANYTHING. Bro, you cannot get an ambulance for 50/ head charge.

For a start water was arranged.

[Fury]

@joel: Sorry for that...but I thought I had been careful especially when entering from the pitstop....guess I was wrong

Also ppl, it would have been nice if someone was there to guide the beginners like myself. What say all???

[neil.jericho]

Wow that was quite an exciting read. Hopefully the next time there is such an event I will be able to join it. 1 doubt - did the guys from Blore ride down ?

[Joel]

A few things that I noticed during the trackday.
The beginners were all by themselves stopping by the track, riding pillion, entering the pits the wrong way etc.
The crashes could have been avoided if everyone followed the lines instead of just testing personal limits.
No proper riding gear. I saw a few of them riding with just T-shirts and no gloves too.
Most of the SBK guys were slowing down dangerously at corners and causing panic situations to faster riders behind them. I almost ran into an R1 or so at C1 coz from some 150kmph, he came down to 70kph and I'm coming flat out.
Please pick the pace slowly and avoid over speeding on straights.
A lot of them were entering the track from the pits without noticing riders approaching from C1, a lot of the fast guys had to go through a braking drama. I almost again rammed into our fellow member Fury who entered the track from the pit without any look-out and I also honked at that point.
Like I've said earlier in the previous thread, our errors can always endanger the lives of others.
Its a race track, not a street and please ride with more responsibility.
Also please remember to make way for faster riders, else its seriously dangerous.

[Joel]

@sajiv

Nice pics,there. Who is that RTR Fi rider?

That RTR Fi rider in the pics by Sajiv is me

[xinfii]

Varun was trying to bring his mechanic along to the track this time, and he quoted around 50-100 Rs. per rider for the mechanic alone. But, there was no proper response, so he dropped the plan. But, i'm sure everyone'll agree to pay for an ambulance at the track.


@all: People who plan to ride on the track regularly should consider becoming a MMSC member. The hire charges for members is 200 bucks according to the site.

Any members here ?

the Outstation Annual membership is the lowest level - 500 Rs. per year and a one time entrance fee of 500 Rs.

Associate Annual membership - 500 Rs./year and 1000 Rs. Entrance fee.

Need to confirm if members at these levels are given the track hire discount.

True, Varun did try to arrange it. The better option would be to impose them straightforward and request people to join only if interested. Safety isn't something we can take a chance with, and the price to pay to be prepared isn't much.

[gurumurthy88]

I'm very glad to see that the track day went on well and a lot of people want it to happen again. No offenses meant, I would like to highlight a few things.

1. First aid and emergency arrangements need to be made.
2. A mechanic would be quite a handy person.
3. A small session on the basic dos and don'ts for the beginners.

To have all these, it will be quite expensive for the person who is arranging the meet. I recommend that, anyone who arranges, roughly estimates how many people would be making it. After that, it is required to work out the cost of all this and calculate the share per head. This will be mandatory and must be paid by all. The track day expense might end up to be Rs. 450 or so instead of Rs. 400. But I believe it will make a lot of sense to pay it.

Varun was trying to bring his mechanic along to the track this time, and he quoted around 50-100 Rs. per rider for the mechanic alone. But, there was no proper response, so he dropped the plan. But, i'm sure everyone'll agree to pay for an ambulance at the track.


@all: People who plan to ride on the track regularly should consider becoming a MMSC member. The hire charges for members is 200 bucks according to the site.

Any members here ?

the Outstation Annual membership is the lowest level - 500 Rs. per year and a one time entrance fee of 500 Rs.

Associate Annual membership - 500 Rs./year and 1000 Rs. Entrance fee.

Need to confirm if members at these levels are given the track hire discount.

[xinfii]

I'm very glad to see that the track day went on well and a lot of people want it to happen again. No offenses meant, I would like to highlight a few things.

1. First aid and emergency arrangements need to be made.
2. A mechanic would be quite a handy person.
3. A small session on the basic dos and don'ts for the beginners.

To have all these, it will be quite expensive for the person who is arranging the meet. I recommend that, anyone who arranges, roughly estimates how many people would be making it. After that, it is required to work out the cost of all this and calculate the share per head. This will be mandatory and must be paid by all. The track day expense might end up to be Rs. 450 or so instead of Rs. 400. But I believe it will make a lot of sense to pay it.

[MavericK46]

@Maverick46: Check this post for my track experience... I took it super-slow, i mean... so super-slow that, i've been breaking my head the last three days about how i could've ridden a little bit harder and had had more fun. The bike was brilliant like i said, you should consider holding onto your Unicorn for track days and such stuff even after you get your Karizma..

Read your write-up mate
THe Uni ain't going anywhere man. We're selling the P150 instead. Always knew the Uni handles brilliantly for the hardcore commuter oriented riding position.

There's nothing better than a well designed chassis to have fun on the track i guess

[Fury]

@pranay: thanks for the compliment dude......its vega's latest motocross helmet....not that gr8 for touring since the cap like portion fidgets around in high speed...but manageable....good thing is it gives a cockpit like feel which I just love....

@samyaza: That was my second round in the tracks.....first round I had some gloves on but my hand didn't feel sensitive enough for throttle control.....guess I do have to practice with gloves on....

@wonderboy: just craving for the track.....ready to go any day.....