foreigneRS

me and 'the original' did our 4th trackday, our 1st at cadwell park last friday and loved it. thought i'd share some pics and vids with you

on the way there, stopping in the flatlands of lincolnshire in the early morning for a comfort break. not an unusual sight to see at least one of us in that pose tbh



stu by his R6 on the left



me by my aprilia



we got there and had the safety briefing by pete boast (often appears in BIKE magazine) and then each group (novice 1, novice 2 which we were in, and then cars) had a 3 lap familiarisation session behind the instructors. lining up in the holding area waiting to go on we were a bit surprised and intimidated by some of the other bikes around us, particularly the ducati 1098 with carbon fibre wheels etc

we learnt the circuit a bit during that 3 laps, but you are going so slowly that you don't really get a feeling for the rhythm of the lap or what speed you can go. as we were going round we were chatting to each over bluetooth intercoms (http://www.interphoneuk.com/products.html) but they unfortunately had to be removed before starting the trackday proper for 'safety' reasons. we also had to remove our tank mounted cameras

first time around the circuit and we came up to the infamous mountain section. obviously we knew that the racers take off here and we didn't expect any of that, but thought that a wheelie might be on the cards. neither of us are any good at wheelies having not practised them (that will change this friday when we go to jimmy fireblade wheelie school ) so we were both extremely shocked to find that even a whiff of throttle over the first crest had the tank flying up and slamming into our chests

we went down the road to the nearest garage to fill up and anybody that knows it will recognise it when i say it's like going back in time 30 years.

back to the track and ready for the first session. we somehow got down to the holding area first so had everybody else behind us and were sat there nervously expecting everyone to come piling past pretty quickly. we were let loose and stu led us out around the circuit for the first free lap. halfway around and coming up the hill just before park bend i looked back and to my surprise couldn't see anyone even as far as the exit of the previous bend, so we relaxed into our rhythm and got on with enjoying ourselves. coming over the mountain we were both wary about giving it too much and ending on our arses so took it easy over there, even leaning right over the front wheel to keep it down as the R6 can get quite a headshake going when it lands.

coming towards the end of the session and i am following closely behind stu into hall bends, a right-left, right-left, hairpin right sequence all strung together. stu goes piling into the first right and suddenly thinks he's going too fast for the left and puts on his front brake. that takes him wide onto the dirty line where he tries to turn and brake before going on to the grass but the front end tucks under. i see him fall off to the left of the bike and both him and bike slide onto the grass before i have made it around the corner and disappeared out of sight. having been told in the briefing not to stop on track anywhere, i continue with the rest of the lap as fast but safe as possible to get round to the pits to see how he is. i pull into the pits and rush down the side of the track to opposite where he has crashed and find him to be alright but with a slightly damaged bike and kit. it will be alright, the day is not lost and it will all go again.



indicator lens somehow broken off and embedded into fairing





front fairing broken (again, i did it for him last year when i landed it on that side after highsiding at snetterton )



crash bung did it's job though



jacket had seen some sliding action







helmet little bit damaged and visor scratched



we patched the bike up with gaffer tape and replaced his visor with a spare dark one that i was carrying (lucky it was a sunny day) and prepared to go again. although i had to remove my tank mounted camcorder, i also have a bullet cam mounted to my fairing that records to an SD card recorder mounted under the seat. i plugged that in ready to film the next session but was disappointed to find that the light was not on when i pressed the record button. we went out for the 2nd session and had a brilliant time, although stu had lost his mojo a little, especially through hall bends. but as the session went on he soon found it again and picked up speed and were passing everybody including the carbon fibre ducatis. bit of a case of 'all the gear, no idea' i think. but it was possibly their 1st trackday whereas it was our 4th and we probably need to look at going to intermediate level now.

back in the pits and i remove my seat to investigate why the camera was not working and get it working for the next session. the recorder is plugged into a cigarette lighter extension cable that i had wired in, but had somehow managed to confuse a 3.0A fuse with a 30A fuse the short circuit somewhere along the line therefore resulted in this mess, rather than just a blown fuse





melted right through the underseat area



it's only later that someone said he thought he saw steam coming from the back of my bike, and i was lucky to escape without a fire. new underseat panel has been ordered at only about £50 so i will return the bike to mint condition when that arrives next week.

we had a couple more sessions before lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the track and the weather and then spent the lunchbreak attaching our cameras to the rear of our bikes where they were allowed and got the following footage from the last 3 sessions of the glorious sunny day:

stu on his R6 as filmed from my RSV R

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP519jSPtSI

me as filmed by stu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0jWqziUrb0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J2jxVrXKzY

thanks very much to stu for the brilliant birthday present can't wait for the next one as my confidence has returned fully after my highside and broken collarbone. where next? rockingham, mallory or cadwell again?

Richie.

iTrader: (5)

Sounds like you had an eventful day


Love Cadwell, but unfortunately its over 7 hours from sunny Plymouth

Had a great time when we did it about 3 years ago even if i did have a couple off slight offs Onto the grass out of 'Barn' (with a clap from the marshall for keeping on it ) and a tripthough the hay bales instead of through the chicane .


How did the Mille perform ? Are you happy with the gearchange now ? Mine has started playing up since you asked


New mod coming is airbox conversion http://www.rsvzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6045

foreigneRS

mille was brilliant. great drive out of the corners and gearchange is mint since doing the mod. it was good before changing gear, but now neutral is that bit easier to get. would recommend doing it.

i've got an air filter and akrapovic (with chip) to go on mine. it's due the 9000 mile service now, so might put them on at the same time. don't want it to end up too loud for trackdays though.

what do you know about crash bungs / frame sliders whatever you want to call them. the previous owner helpfully fitted r&g bar ends, fork protectors and swing arm protectors but no main bobbins. r&g do 2, a pair for the rear that bolt through the frame, and a pair for the front that require a hole to be cut in the fairing. i have a dmaged rhs fairing coming for a fiver to put on with bungs for on track, just need to source a lhs one

will have read of that (very long) thread, thanks richie

Richie.

iTrader: (5)

Good to hear you enjoyed it. You on standard gearing still ? I'm on 16/44 and its awesome, makes it want to wheelie everywhere, not just over the mountain


Got R&G uppers and lowers fitted. Only thing i will say is the lowers annoy you a bit as they are close to your shins ( as you are tall like me ).




I have a few spare panels in the loft, just need to check if 99-00 is same as 01-03. Also have rear wheel spindles ( they seize if not greased), pegs and rear set brake/gear selector levers. And have Ventura luggage system if you go abroad

foreigneRS

don't think i'm on std gearing, i believe martyn changed it as there is a shiny gold talon sprocket on the rear. perhaps he might see this and post

just checked on apriliaparts.co.uk and there are some common upper fairing panels between 2000 models and 2003 e.g. LH upper fairing red ap8148916

Red16

Looks like you both had a great time until the R6 went down, at least it should be a quick/cheap repair

I'm still yet to do a trackday but im hoping that will change this year

foreigneRS

repaired already

don't just hope, make it happen and book it today improves road riding no end.

Red16

I will do one soon, just not yet, need tyres and tax first i can imagine it'd improve everything about your riding as well as be immense fun

just a shame all the decent tracks are down south