03tlrmo Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I had my first trackday on the west track at pheonix firebird. I would like to thank this forum and Keith Codes articles for making my first experience a great one. I was on my new 01 600 gsxr race bike(it's new to me) and I was the fastest beginner on the street lapping 1000cc in the session. I am trying to put money away so I can get to a class. If reading totw2 and keiths articles helped me that much I can't wait to see what the class does for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodan Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Congratulations! The West track is short, but has some good technical parts that can really help you work on your skills. I believe Keith is coming to AZ again in the fall. Are you going to be out there with TeamAZ this coming weekend? (12th) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03tlrmo Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 No, I will be out on the 19th on the east track. I plan on timming myself if I score a 1 minute or less I will go ahead and start racing. Since the top amature scored a 1:00 and the top expert a 00:56 I will be able to compete. I passed amature racers on the trackday but I seen the races and I know they are slow I don't want to just be in the race I want to compete. I lucked out though I bought a 01 600 gsxr for a fairly decent price (cheap as hell considering the mechanic from emgo suzuki put it together). I mean the bike rails through the turns the only time I felt a wobble was when my foot and peg scraped the ground and I have my rearsets all the way up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodan Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Did you get any lap times on West? I'm assuming you were running with AZ Trackday, which group were you running in? If it was your first trackday, I'd guess either beginner or super street? 1:00 on East is VERY fast. Lap record was just reset at the last race at :54 and change. Most of the intermediate level trackday riders run 1:08-1:12, beginners 1:15-1:20+. If you're just starting out, 1:00 is a pretty lofty goal! I wish you luck, but get a baseline and then set reasonable and progressive goals. Remember, going from 1:05 to 1:00 is a lot harder than going from 1:10 to 1:05. Don't try to get it all at once, or you'll hurt yourself! I've been running trackdays monthly at FB for about three years now, and I'm currently in the 1:02s on East. 1:00 is my goal as well, and I can tell you if you get there, you're probably in the top ten riders at any given trackday, including the racers. BTW, are you on the PSC (Phoenix Sportbike Club) board? I'm Rodan over there as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03tlrmo Posted March 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 I was there when the lap record was broken he was flying. I was in beginners it was my very first trackday I will be at supersquid next session, hopefully not to long there as it was the class with the most crashes. I am cautious with 1:00 goal but I believe in momentum. I ended the day with an instructor saying he tried to catch me but couldn't and for me to go ahead and go up to superstreet next session along with the instructor I was trying to catch. I never forced the issue the biggest thing that slowed me down was consistency. I'm not on that board never heard of it I am on this one and southwest racing as tlreese I need to change since I am trying to get rid of my tlr and focus on racing in that league. I didn't time myself but probably will at east since that is where I have a comparison who knows maybe I'm as slow as butter but I really don't think so. They told me at the beginning most people don't drag their knee on their first trackday and I did. I'll tell you one thing relaxation if your not relaxed and confident youll never get faster. Are you going to be out there next week? What do you ride? Do you live in Pheonix? I live in Tucson if your gonna be out there in 2 weeks for a trackday I'm on a black and white gsxr introduce yourself I don't know anyone out there but my wife (crew cheif). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodan Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 I will be at West this weekend with Team AZ. I cornerwork for them, so I don't attend the AZTrackday events. I'm currently riding an '06 GSX-R1k, previous track bike was an '03 ZX-6R. I live in the Prescott area. I read the RRSW forums, but am not registered there at the moment. I had intended to start racing this spring, but for various reasons had to put it off. You can get involved with PSC at www.phoenixsportbikeclub.com. It's a private forum, so you will have to request to join. My best advice for you is to work with the instructors that are available, and work on one thing at a time. Reading Keith's books will help, and attending a school is even better! Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03tlrmo Posted March 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Keiths book is probably the reason why I did so good for my first trackday. I read that book forward and backward, it's memorized. The biggest thing that stuck with me was, get braking and body position done before you enter the turn. It works so all day I worked on getting that process faster and deeper into the braking zone and I got faster every time I rolled on the track. How is team az trackdays? I like the way aztrackdays are set up but I need as much practice as possible. Plus I turned into a track junkie. I have a tlr that I wrecked and was going to fix so I can keep riding in the street, but I get to much tickets I don't know how to go slow. I'm trying to sell it or part it out I need my own suit and back protector but nobody likes the tlr don't know why it's a powerful bike. Check it out not bad for a first timer and someone who has only been on a bike for a year period. By the end of the day my knee was dragging. If you see anything please say it will give me something else to think about IMG_2733.bmp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodan Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I have ridden with both AZTrackday and Team AZ, and prefer Team AZ. I do cornerwork for them, but I had the opportunity to do that with either organization. I'll be happy to tell you the reasons over a cup of coffee sometime, but don't want to get into it in a public forum. That's been done enough already. Let me just say that there are some fine people working for both organizations. The TLR was a good bike in its time. The biggest problem was considered to be the rear suspension w/ the funky rotary shock. They've kind of been overshadowed by the SV1000, which is a better bike. That's not to say the TL is a bad bike. For the right price, I'm sure you can find a buyer in the Valley. Your form looks pretty good from the picture. That looks like the second left in the carousel... It's pretty hard to critique from a single picture, unless something is obviously out of whack. The attached pic is a pretty good example of a common error. That's me on the silver ZX-6, and if you look at the guy on the CBR600 in front of me, you can see the angle of his spine is nearly vertical, even though his knee is on the deck. It's important to keep your spine aligned with the bike to keep the center of gravity to the inside. This will decrease the lean angle required for a given speed/turn radius, and will also get you closer to the bars which will keep your elbows bent and help you be loose on the bars. Keith talks about this in either Twist II or Soft Science, but I don't recall if it's covered in Twist I. The pic is from the first left in the carousel before the strait at West. I'll look forward to seeing you at the track. I'm more than happy to give any help I can to an enthusiastic newcomer. If it wasn't for folks who did that for me, I wouldn't be riding at the level I am... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
03tlrmo Posted March 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Thanks! yeah it's a funky angle to take a picture at. Your right it's the carousel what you don't see is my problem I move over on the bike but when I go to put my knee down it pops right back up. I don't lose stability in the turn but I know proper form the knee should come down. I went to that website but it says you can't post until you go for a ride or something. Problem is that I no longer have a streetbike it's a wreck and thats followed with no license suspended tags the list goes on and on. The main one is that I just don't belong on the street I got in trouble so to speak on the trackday they didn't say no names but I know it was pointed at me. I kept passing in the corners and in begginners your not supposed to do that. The people were going slow they riding completely upright I'm not losing tracktime because somebody is a fartknocker, I paid $160 I wanna go fast. how can you learn if you don't try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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