It's that time, o Yeah.

[afm199]

Well, tomorrow is a track day at Sears Point.
:)

I learned many years ago to not work on my bike(s) the day before a track day. Among other reasons, you need the sleep and it is REALLY hard to find parts on a Sunday when you drop a 56 cent o ring into a crack somewhere and it disappears forever. I do my work way before the bike goes on the track. This week it was fresh rubber on the front, a new rear slick on my spare wheel, and change the spare sprocket to a 46 tooth so I can experiment with different gearing for the new T1. Adjust chain tension, check fluids, clean the bodywork, and replace brake pads and fluid. It's so much easier a week before.

Today I just have to load the bike on the truck, drive down and put a bunch of $3.50 gas into the bike and cans, and load up tools and race gear. That's so easy. All my gear is in a duffle bag except my leathers. I have a punch list I ALWAYS scratch out when the stuff is actually loaded onto the truck. I have left helmet, keys, leathers, boots, wallet, and clean underwear at home over the years and learned what a drag it is to get an hour from the house and turn around and drive back.

Once loaded the truck is parked and ready to go, in the driveway. I might even wash it today.
So tomorrow I get up at 5:30, brew fresh coffe, throw some in a thermos bottle, and have a light breakfast and leave the house at 6:30. I show up at the track, call my friend Rino so we can pit together ( we raced together 15 years ago or so) and bim bam. Ready to roll, bike fully prepped, plenty of gas, all my stuff prepped and loaded.

The only part I missed is that I will probably sleep 4 hours tonight. i almost always sleep poorly before a track day or race day. It's always been that way. Two in a row, no problem. One day? I show up nervous and scared. I am scared till I get on the track and twist the throttle, or on race day until the green flag comes down. Then I turn into a purpose built machine, with one goal, go as fast as possible and pass everyone in front of me. Well, on race days anyway. On trackdays I just cruise.

Ernie

[DaveToo]

Good for you :)

Me, I leave for three days at Thunderhill tomorrow night, and I've still got to swap out my warped rotors for straight ones, and assemble/install new front brake lines. And then try to finish the bullet cam mounting. And then put the bodywork all back on, and then start packing :)

[Mick-e]

Originally posted by afm199
The only part I missed is that I will probably sleep 4 hours tonight. i almost always sleep poorly before a track day or race day. It's always been that way. Two in a row, no problem. One day? I show up nervous and scared. I am scared till I get on the track and twist the throttle,
Ernie

I have the same problem. I've found that one Excedrin PM helps me turn off my "inner monologue" and I can get some rest.

[XXshawnXX]

damnit i hate no being able to afford lots of trackdays im so envious of you guys

[Zerox]

Originally posted by afm199
I have left helmet, keys, leathers, boots, wallet, and clean underwear at home over the years and learned what a drag it is to get an hour from the house and turn around and drive back.

One of my dirtbike buds and I drove 2.5 hrs to the mountains awhile back for some mud slinging. On the way there we were laughing about how he had forgotten his boots on a previous trip a month earlier.

We got to the parking area, started unloading, only to discover he had AGAIN left his boots at home. :laughing

[DaveToo]

I drove 6 hours to Reno-Fernley and left my helmet at home. I had to run back to Reno and buy a helmet for the weekend.

(I've abandoned the brake line plan for this trip....)

[Dar25]

Good write up Ernie. Have fun tommorow.

[afmotorsports]

Ernie, that was great! I think I'll go to bed now, but I still gotta load up the tool box and the R1 in the morning before I drive to Infineon... :laughing :laughing :laughing

[Yody]

its 5:30 and I'm just about to head out to thunderhill. I usually work on my bike for about 2 hours changing over the stock plastics and wheels for my race plastics and tires/wheels, have all my stuff set out to grab in the morning and relax all day the day before.

But this time my friend is doing his first day and I have basically held his hand all the way through the process. Of course he doesn't listen and thinks its okay to wait until the last minute even though I told him 10,000 times over and over how important it is to plan and get ready etc. I'm depending on him for the ride since he has a truck. Well to make a long story short we were up till 12:00 last night getting all of our bikes and crap loaded up becuase he decided till the last minute to have his stereo put in his truck THE DAY BEFORE OUR TRACKDAY and doesn't get his truck back till like 8:00 PM. What a fuckin tool. Not only did we have to rush the entire time it was like having to get prepared for 2 people.

Never again I'll tell you, never again :(

[afm199]

Originally posted by yody
[
Never again I'll tell you, never again :( [/B]

Man that's the racer's motto :laughing .

So it's 6:29, I'm outta here in few seconds, slept well for at least four hours, ending up dreaming I was sleeping well and woke up then. My dog's lying next to me keeping warm. Went back to sleep and then heard the alarm go off. Her I go :p

[afm199]

Man that SUCKED. First session of B group a certain un named rider oiled the track in places from T6 to T7 and then a solid line all the way from T7 to the exit at T11. What a nightmare. What carnage.

Actually only one rider went down initially, but the grease sweep and oil pflug pretty much ruined the day, slipping and sliding everywhere.

Then last session before lunch, at a SLOW pace going through the carousel the front end tucked totally, on the gas and not even carrying huge speed. I can only guess I hit some fluid. Nice lowside off the track, and I slid off on my back, no tumbles, bike damage cosmetic, my new leathers hardly scraped at all. My back and neck hurt but not a bad crash. Helmet never touched the ground.

When I got up this morning a voice said: "Stay in bed.

Should have listened.

[Snoggin]

Yeah it was kind of a bummer. I was ranting about some b- newb not checking and securing theyre oil filter/ bolt but it turned out to be an instructor with lots of experience. he tightened the thing but the o ring developed a hernia and shot a perfectly aimed stream of oil right out thru the hole in his bodywork. he felt terrible and I felt empathy for that.

I have to say that was the most magnificent oil spill I have ever seen on the track though. Right ON the line for at least six turns and then out into the parking lot.

I have heard kinda bad things about the o rings on k& N oil filters so i intend to stay away. this is certainly a reinforcement fo that view

[Lebowski]

Sorry to hear about the off Ernie.

I was on my out lap when the oil spill occurred this morning. There was a tremendous/unbeliveble amount of oil from 7 through the esses, 9,10, all the way to the damn pits. It was pretty astonishing how much oil got "sprayed" onto the track.

I came through and saw the shine and knew it was going to be bad. Definitely a tough one for the rider whose bike it came from.

Snoggin, did they determine 100% why that happened? I'd like to know so to avoid a similiar scenario in the future. I know about double o-ringing snafu's and all, but I don't think that's what happened in this particular case did it?

[afm199]

I went over and looked. The oil filter blew the oring out the right side of the filter. You could literally look into the fairing cutout and see the filter and oring sticking out. The tire was not even oiled on the left side, just the right.

I NEVER saw one bike drop that much oil. I thought someone had popped a fuel line there was so much fluid on the track.

[Lebowski]

Originally posted by afm199
I went over and looked. The oil filter blew the oring out the right side of the filter. You could literally look into the fairing cutout and see the filter and oring sticking out. The tire was not even oiled on the left side, just the right.

I NEVER saw one bike drop that much oil. I thought someone had popped a fuel line there was so much fluid on the track.

Wow, that's crazy. So basically it was a freak thing? You could tell the way the oil was on the track that it was sprayed and not just dropped.

[Zerox]

Sounds like a tough situation for everybody. Chalk it up to mechanical failure? You positive it was a K&N oil filter?

[Snoggin]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by afm956
Sounds like a tough situation for everybody. Chalk it up to mechanical failure? You positive it was a K&N oil filter? [/QUOTE

positive!!]

[Hooli]

Yanno, I was so anxious to get out onto the track with you guys. But after this incident I think I'll just wait until later this spring/summer, when all the track n00bs are shaken out. :p

[afm199]

Bodywork removed glassed and bondoed, ready for final sanding and primer. Motor and bike cleaned up, straightened bits, replaced footpeg, ready to mount bodywork on and put back on track. I'm getting better at this.

[jb]

Man, I get back from the sighting lap, running slow (because I'm a B- Newb to the track), dealing with my suspension feeling fucking ODD (mostly fixed by taking some pre-load off of the front), just to.. sit and wait.

For an hour.

The only good thing about that oil slick is being able to see what lines it made folks use (including me). And having the 'correct' line painted in a nice brown strip down the track through 11.

Sears Point definitely makes me feel like an utter pussy and newb (both are true, but why have it rubbed in?)

[Snoggin]

Originally posted by jb
Man, I get back from the sighting lap, running slow (because I'm a B- Newb to the track), dealing with my suspension feeling fucking ODD (mostly fixed by taking some pre-load off of the front), just to.. sit and wait.

For an hour.

The only good thing about that oil slick is being able to see what lines it made folks use (including me). And having the 'correct' line painted in a nice brown strip down the track through 11.

Sears Point definitely makes me feel like an utter pussy and newb (both are true, but why have it rubbed in?)

We all pretty much feel that way ct the start. I know I did. It does get better.

[Yody]

I just finished taking my friend to his first trackday. While helping him change out his antifreeze for waterwetter, I told him to check his drain plug and oil filter. He told me that they were fine and it was no big deal. Well I checked and sure enough his oil filter was on very loose. It took like 4 turns to snug it up good.

[jb]

Originally posted by Snoggin
We all pretty much feel that way ct the start. I know I did. It does get better.

It wasn't the "newb" feeling that got to me, honestly. First time at any track does that.

It was the near constant feeling that something was "off" and I couldn't get my finger on it.

It cleared up late in the afternoon, but not soon enough for my tastes.

As it is, I need to talk to a suspension expert and look in to getting the R6s shock rebuilt.

[DaveToo]

Originally posted by afm199
I went over and looked. The oil filter blew the oring out the right side of the filter. You could literally look into the fairing cutout and see the filter and oring sticking out. The tire was not even oiled on the left side, just the right.


That sounds pretty much exactly like what happened up here at Thunderhill in the A-group sighting laps. O-ring blowout on a dealer-serviced filter, I heard. This one took that bike down, though, and only that bike. (But I had a little two-wheel slide in the aftermath a couple of sessions later.)

[Dar25]

Originally posted by yody
I just finished taking my friend to his first trackday. While helping him change out his antifreeze for waterwetter, I told him to check his drain plug and oil filter. He told me that they were fine and it was no big deal. Well I checked and sure enough his oil filter was on very loose. It took like 4 turns to snug it up good.

Thank you for double checking. You've saved him and possibly many others from potential very unpleasant experience. :thumbup