stewarth
Scooter
I was originally signed up for the ARC 1 course with Tony's Track Days, but when that was canceled I defaulted to the normal Track Day. Something I thought I would do eventually, but it came sooner than I expected. I'm not into bike racing, although I'm a racing fan in general with Formula 1 being my thing, so I didn't really know what to expect. I did love watching Mike Doohan on his 500. My objective was to learn to ride the C14 with more grace, smoothness and skill than I currently do, in a controlled environment, which seemed in-line with Tony's stated mission.
Preparation was key, I replaced my chicken stripped OEMs with new PR3s. Then proceeded to figure out how to disable the rear brake light by pulling the fuse. Last was finding a way to secure the oil filter, they didn't require the oil drain bolt to be secured. So I learnt about safety wire and the cool tool you can buy to wind it up (was cheaper than a spool of wire on its own). But in trying to find a place to secure the oil filter, I ended up finding a pre-driller drain bolt that was magnetic as well, killed two birds. See attached photo.
Rode up on Sunday taking the long way to get there and spent the night in Tilton using Hotel Points, cheap. Arrived at the track at 6:45am to find plenty of people already their getting their bikes ready for inspection. I guess most had slept the night at the track, as plenty of riders still arrived later. Taped my mirrors, pulled the brake fuse, removed license plate....and I was good to go. I plan on writing up my experience in more detail if my creative juices get flowing for an article for the COG Mag, well wait and see.
Besides my C14 a C10 there as well, otherwise most other bikes were sport bike of various pedigrees and vintages. From the I just want to ride bike, to some serious hardware. A great group of people and I made several connections in Mass for a few rides.
All I can say is this is well worth the money. My highlights are....Tony runs a very professional program which is well organized, I dialed in my suspension with expert advise (www.computrackboston.com) and received copious amount of feedback from the instructors on my riding. Several times they followed me on track and then proceeded to lead to show me the line etc, and debrief afterward. They said I could ride, which I took as a complement, but I know I'm well withing the limits of the bike.
Per the photo below, the PR3s held up well. I arrived at the track with them set to 42/42 and dropped them to 38, but after talking to several riders, instructors and the Pirelli guys, I dropped them to 35. This is the 1st time I noticeable worn the edges and I felt well within the limits of the bike. Pegs scrapped a few times in some tight corners where there was a change in elevation.
Lastly, I fitted my Contour GPS camera to the bike which I normally use for Skiing with the family. I posted one of the later sessions unedited with the Camera facing the rear. The battery went flat, and I think the very last session was my best. But this gives you a good feel for it, please excuse my lack of gear changing, I was focused on lines and not speed. Anyway the cool thing about not editing the video is it retains the GPS data, so you can follow the bike around the track. One day I will figure out how to overcome that and add some music etc.
http://contour.com/stories/new-hampshire-speedway-track-day-concours-14-rearview-unedited
I'll post some more photos on track when they arrive in the mail
Enjoy.
Preparation was key, I replaced my chicken stripped OEMs with new PR3s. Then proceeded to figure out how to disable the rear brake light by pulling the fuse. Last was finding a way to secure the oil filter, they didn't require the oil drain bolt to be secured. So I learnt about safety wire and the cool tool you can buy to wind it up (was cheaper than a spool of wire on its own). But in trying to find a place to secure the oil filter, I ended up finding a pre-driller drain bolt that was magnetic as well, killed two birds. See attached photo.
Rode up on Sunday taking the long way to get there and spent the night in Tilton using Hotel Points, cheap. Arrived at the track at 6:45am to find plenty of people already their getting their bikes ready for inspection. I guess most had slept the night at the track, as plenty of riders still arrived later. Taped my mirrors, pulled the brake fuse, removed license plate....and I was good to go. I plan on writing up my experience in more detail if my creative juices get flowing for an article for the COG Mag, well wait and see.
Besides my C14 a C10 there as well, otherwise most other bikes were sport bike of various pedigrees and vintages. From the I just want to ride bike, to some serious hardware. A great group of people and I made several connections in Mass for a few rides.
All I can say is this is well worth the money. My highlights are....Tony runs a very professional program which is well organized, I dialed in my suspension with expert advise (www.computrackboston.com) and received copious amount of feedback from the instructors on my riding. Several times they followed me on track and then proceeded to lead to show me the line etc, and debrief afterward. They said I could ride, which I took as a complement, but I know I'm well withing the limits of the bike.
Per the photo below, the PR3s held up well. I arrived at the track with them set to 42/42 and dropped them to 38, but after talking to several riders, instructors and the Pirelli guys, I dropped them to 35. This is the 1st time I noticeable worn the edges and I felt well within the limits of the bike. Pegs scrapped a few times in some tight corners where there was a change in elevation.
Lastly, I fitted my Contour GPS camera to the bike which I normally use for Skiing with the family. I posted one of the later sessions unedited with the Camera facing the rear. The battery went flat, and I think the very last session was my best. But this gives you a good feel for it, please excuse my lack of gear changing, I was focused on lines and not speed. Anyway the cool thing about not editing the video is it retains the GPS data, so you can follow the bike around the track. One day I will figure out how to overcome that and add some music etc.
http://contour.com/stories/new-hampshire-speedway-track-day-concours-14-rearview-unedited
I'll post some more photos on track when they arrive in the mail
Enjoy.
