Today was my first dry track day.
My local club does things very well, some exercises and theory before starting to do laps.
We had the opportunity to have an instructor following us, offering advice. That's when it started to develop for me.
It was like living Lee Park's book.

I consentrated on a few things at a time - that worked very well.
Started out as one of the bunch and ended up going faster than everyone in my group (after the track experts).
I stayed within my boundries all the time, didn't scare myself and was able to learn the whole time.

I'm very happy with the way my new suspension works - that helped too.

Guess if I'm more or less in love with the Ducati riding experience after this - you only get to guess once


Girls in leather



Club Board member going fast



Me before I began to lean over and going much faster



First in line for another 20 minutes. 20 on, 20 off for 5 hours.

 

Quote from: stopintime on May 11, 2009, 12:36:38 PM
First in line for another 20 minutes. 20 on, 20 off for 5 hours.

that's a buncha riding!  usually you'll get 20 minutes out of every hour.

Sounds like a great day! 

wow that looks great
so jealous right now 

Wow, that's a whole lot of track time. I'll bet you were sore the next day.

Quote from: tufty on May 12, 2009, 05:36:03 AM
Wow, that's a whole lot of track time. I'll bet you were sore the next day.

Not at all Maybe a little in the neck, but didn't really notice. Far too busy having fun [moto]

I have four more track days coming up - can't wait My only "fear" is that this whole experience ends up up putting me on a superbike

NICE!   Inspiration also, tks!   

gonna be hawt for this girl in leather Sunday 

Quote from: stopintime on May 12, 2009, 05:15:36 PM... My only "fear" is that this whole experience ends up up putting me on a superbike

with  upcoming track days...

I bet you will have a superbike by August.

I rode a Triple 9 at VIR on the North Course and was wishing I had my Monster there at the time...I woulda much rather been railing my Monster where I know it comfortably and carried more cornerspeed with it as apposed to the 999....there were other factors in the difference as well, but overall, I can say it isn't about the bike, it is about how you use it...and almost always, unless you are a very well seasoned person, a bike is almost always capable of more than a rider gives it credit or usage for...

Quote from: zooom on May 18, 2009, 09:19:46 AM
I rode a Triple 9 at VIR on the North Course and was wishing I had my Monster there at the time...I woulda much rather been railing my Monster where I know it comfortably and carried more cornerspeed with it as apposed to the 999....there were other factors in the difference as well, but overall, I can say it isn't about the bike, it is about how you use it...and almost always, unless you are a very well seasoned person, a bike is almost always capable of more than a rider gives it credit or usage for...

I agree I was very excited about my new skills and proud to learn so fast, but I know that my humble Monster is still a whole lot better than me. I need to stay concentrated and work on my rhythm, breaking points, riding position, viewing and so on ....  After all it was my first track day and I don't expect to reach the bike's or my limits quite yet

There's also a safety perspective about doing track days - when I hit the backroads now, I know that I won't/can't/shouldn't push to the limits like I will be able to on the track. My riding is probably as fast as before, but everything happens with a higher degree of confidence, better flow and more relaxation.

Quote from: NekkedChic on May 15, 2009, 09:32:42 AM
NICE!   Inspiration also, tks!   

gonna be hawt for this girl in leather Sunday 

Pictures? 

Quote from: Mr Bread on May 18, 2009, 08:22:28 AM
with  upcoming track days...

I bet you will have a superbike by August.

I know I won't    Money 

Could very well trade the Monster for a 916/996, but with the riding I do these days a SuperBike would be wrong. I think it would be boring 95% of the time, at least if I want to keep my license. When/if the time comes and I can afford it, I think I'll go for a dedicated track bike and keep the Monster. You see, we pay about a 100% luxury tax on street legal bikes here (plus 25% VAT)(my S2R 800 was US$ 19,000) Dedicated track bikes are cheap compared to that, "only" the 25% VAT.

Well, as you see, I've already started thinking about the next step    For now, I'm happy with things as they are, but we're allowed dreams, right? [moto]

dedicated track bike, excellent idea.

dedicated track bike that's a ducati... unless someone's paying you to ride it, not really cost effective.  get an SV or any japanese 600.

Quote from: gm2 on May 18, 2009, 01:45:54 PM
dedicated track bike, excellent idea.

dedicated track bike that's a ducati... unless someone's paying you to ride it, not really cost effective.  get an SV or any japanese 600.

But, but ...... but,    I want a Ducati 

you may want a ducati.  what you don't want is to pay for crashing your ducati.  and it's gonna happen on the track, eventually.

+1 on the SV...cheap(er) parts aplenty found just about everywhere.

Quote from: gm2 on May 18, 2009, 02:37:21 PM
you may want a ducati.  what you don't want is to pay for crashing your ducati.  and it's gonna happen on the track, eventually.

my track Monster hasn't cost me alot in regards to those issues...yeah it's been down...but not horribly and haven't missed much track time when that did happen...a good set of fixed pegs either on stock rearsets or aftermarket ones are cheap insurance in that regard...

now a SBK on the otherhand is a whole different ball of wax...and of course the other key is if you do your own wrenching or pay to have it done of course...