Pacific Track Time: Infineon - April 24th 2009

Another successful trackday under our belts.  Pacific Track Time hosts another awesome session even though the B+ class was frought with crashes.  Recover well gentlemen, we hope to see you out on the track again soon.  Above is a picture of Eric, myself, and Shawn with our machines (photo by Mrs. Hobbs and loyal asst. Hayden)

Some of the day's highlights were:

• Infineon Raceway itself - this was my first time riding this track and as the "big wig" Ken Casey from Race Ready Motorsports put it, "[Infineon's] easy to learn but difficult to master."  The challenge in the morning made the faster afternoon sessions much more rewarding
• Dr. Hobbs' Helmet Video Camera - showing a high degree of care and compassion for his fellow trackday compatriots (Shawn and myself), Dr. Hobbs bought and installed a helmet camera so he could film us on the track!  If only I could stay in front of him for more than 3/4 of a lap!  Check out his video on YouTube (note my mini wheelie at the start 0:05 - 0:08):
  
  
  
  
• Complementary Lap Timers - apparently, Pacific Track Time is the first trackday program to offer complementary laptimers powered by RFID (Radio Frequency ID).  Similar to "FastTrak," riders wear a small decal on their helmet that has an electronic chip and antenna which communicates to a base station that tracks when the chip passes a specific point on the track.  Riders after each session can simply take their helmets to a beacon connected to a display computer and instantly see their laptimes from the previous session.  TOO COOL!  This laptiming system is apparently the first of it's kind in the world but I expect it to catch on with any racing community.  An article about the system is on bayarearidersforum.com (go to article).  My fastest lap time: 02:03.596
• New Arlen Ness 1 piece leather suit - As the aging connection between my top leather jacket to my bottom leather pants fatigued, the fear in my brain about what my back, stomach and other body parts might look like if I were to hit the pavement served as the impetus too buy new leathers.  Size 54 with room for a good size back protector, this new suit has a great feel.  I'm 6'4" 170lbs and I typically have difficulty finding leathers that fit properly.  These were a good fit at a great buy; thanks again Race Ready Motorsports!
• Dito's GotBlueMilk.com photos: There's like 3 guys who are riding w/the number 9 but check out the one's at the end with my new suit!  So SICK!! (link to gotbluemilk.com)

As we rode Infineon for the first time, here were some observations that were made (see figure if you get lost in the descriptions):

• It's a highly technical track; less top speed, more complex cornering and braking (anyone who watched me hit turn 9a and 11a could describe my troubles.
• The B+ class (or the middle group) tends to crash more than the A and the C.  Speculation is that C class riders know they're learning, thus they ride cautiously.  The A class riders are just damn good and know exactly what their doing 99% of the time.  And B (or B+) riders believe they're "good" so they can go in the faster group, but that belief is often skewed by ego, peer pressure, and cold tires.  All those things combined create high-sides, low sides, and any other unfortunate way you can crash a motorcycle.
• TURN 1 is best handled by rolling off the throttle at the Start / Finish and dipping left into the corner at the turn marker (today it was a T-shaped piece of tape).
• TURN 2 up the first hill allows you carry some additional speed.  Careful though as it's an off camber right hander
• TURN 3 is a sharp left, again, going up a hill so speed is okay
• TURN 3a is just on a crest so you'll need to pick a landmark so you know when you're headed the correct direction down the hill.
• TURN 4 if taken late allows you to merge TURN 4 and 5 together so you can carry as much speed as possible. 
• TURN 5 heading into the carousel is fast and for me was in third gear.  Then, rolling slightly off the throttle entering
• TURN 6, I upshifted to 4th gear  and hugged the corner with a cushion of about 5 ft.   Leaving TURN 6,  you're on the gas and waiting for the wide corner in TURN 7.  I was able to pass people on the outside of TURN 6
• TURN 7 was a turn where I often got passed on the inside.  The tendency is to start from a wide left and swoop over to the right, but people get inside you easy and boom, you're passed.  The long semi-straight path where you're hard on the gas, makes your front end prone to a "schimmy."  Thankfully the pitch and balancing of my Honda CBR F4 is well designed and thus my front end damps this unstable non-linear oscillation often caused by road bump (impulse) or hard acceleration (lightened front end load).  Often times riders fix these problems by using "Steering Dampers" manufactured by companies like Scott, Ohlins, and others.  (picture 1, picture 2)
• TURN 8 and 8a are fast corners.  Just keep up speed cause someone's probably hot on your tail.
• TURN 9a gave me the most trouble during the day.  I just didn't quite figure out the hard braking into that chicane.  And if you get through the first right and you're chicaning over to your left, there is a piece of mended asphalt which can get your rear wheel spinning unintentionally.
• TURN 10 is straight forward and finally, 
• TURN 11 is again a hard braking followed by a tight right hander in 2nd gear.

Verdict:

Infineon w/PTT was awesome!  I was timid at the beginning of the day but by the end I was getting more comfortable on the track.  My fastest laptime was in the low 2mins but I'm awaiting a response from PTT to find my official times online.

5 more track days to go!  WooHoo!!

Prepping your sportbike for the track

There many ways to prep a sportbike for the track.  I'll mention three:

1. OCD-you tend to rebuild your engine between each track day, you've polished your chromie valve caps, and you've ironed your underarmor
2. The Responsible One-you print out the checklist, you make sure you have everything on that list.  You probably have adjusted your chain, washed your bike, and done a thorough inspection.  Then you bring the fun stuff for yourself: digital camera to take a picture or two of some of the OCD people's bikes.  Overall, this person has balanced the right amount of time and effort to have fun on the track.
3. Me-my version of inspection is to ride it and if nothing falls off, tech inspection complete!  Now now, don't worry, I did print up the sheet, and am making sure I have everything on the list but I didn't look too hard at my brake cables, nor did I do anything about the slightly overfilled and dirty oil (probably should have changed it after I installed that new race clutch).  Lets just say that at my last track day, the first session out, we were all suited up, mounted on bikes, engines running, and I was saddled up, tightening one of the bolts on my fairing.  Literally on the bike wrenching, seconds from being on the track. Yikes!

 

In the top figure, you can see the portion of the headlight with the blue painters tape.  This is to keep the glass from shattering all over the racetrack; when and if I fall.

Definitely going to bring the tools, tons of beverages, and faith that it will not rain!  Looking forward to Pacific Track Time's offering of lap timers.  If anyone wants to donate an Apple iMac 20" or other Mac computer product, I'm looking to develop some iPhone applications relevant to motorcycle riding.

I look forward to posting my trackday performance soon!

When it's foggy out, ride above the fog

While it's never wise to ride your motorcycle when you're emotional, sometimes a good, focused, even quick motorcycle ride can help clear a mind.  After starting the motorcycle, you instantly begin to focus on all the subtleties: the slight chatter of valves asking to be tuned, the initial sponginess of the brakes followed by precise, surgical grip, and the tightness around the knees and lack of blood flow due to the jeans under leathers.

Wait, wasn't I worried about making one of the million deadlines, meeting with one of a hundred people, concerned about where I was going to eat dinner?

The motorcycle calls for your unfettered attention and with that focus, a rider can truly enjoy a fun, safe, and exciting motorcycle ride.  Becoming aware of the road, it's variables, and everything else is priority one on the bike.  Determining why you're mad at your girlfriend, or how you're going to get the deliverables have little room on the motorcycle.

Thus, the motorcycle allows you to ride above the fog:

This little ride also served as the prep run for this weeks TrackDay at Infineon Raceway.