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Posted

and this is the reason I keep telling people (CSS and others) as to why I keep going back riding with CSS. .

 

 

I would rather pay the 475/day fee to get instruction and have a nice safe track day that is well run than deal with the stuff/ego/bumping/politics of these track day orgs (especially prevalent in the Northeast). . In this particular one this is N2 (successor to Nesba) and the control rider/coach is leading a rider (camera bike) that wants to get bumped to "A". . well, control rider ignores the rider that has gone down at the :05 second mark, ignores the red flags that comes out and keeps going causing an accident that takes him and another rider out. Granted the last rider probably should have raised his hand before perhaps slowing down, but if you're an instructor/control rider you should know in your head that a biker has gone down and that red flags are coming out. In this particular case, he said the rider that went down looked to be getting on their feet (not true) and that no red flags were out yet (also not true). Red flag was frantically waving at the :30 second mark of the tape and can clearly be seen.

 

Accidents happen, we all know it. You just want to try and minimize your chances which is why I continue to choose to ride with CSS. I tip my hat off to Trevor who runs a tight ship and is one of the primary reasons why I ride and hopefully minimize chances for idiocy like this one.

 

Not sure if its a good thing, but apparently this video has made it onto Fox News and Good Morning America already. So it might be a black eye on track riding. . ..

Posted

Wow... That was ugly. Any idea if there were any serious injuries? I hope not. I hate to second guess things but it certainly appears that control rider was not on his game like I would expect a control rider to be. It's a good lesson for all of us to ensure we spare enough attention to maintain awareness of our surroundings.

 

+1 on Trevor & the whole CSS crew for their aggressive pursuit of any asshattery. They're all highly professional and that makes for a great riding and learning environment.

 

Benny

Posted

OUCH!

 

Ironically this video made it's way around on some of my Track day forums. Blame was squarely placed on the person in front for "rolling out of the gas suddenly" because of the red flag and not the Control rider that was too close and should have known better. :)

 

The track day groups are not "too" bad if you prepare yourself. If you leave tons of room and expect the unexpected you will be fine. My Trackday group had a massive pileup at Barber. Red flags waving many riders did not back out of their pace and when they needed the additional track at the end of turn 2 they found a gigantic oil slick from a blown engine. It helps when you don't ignore the flags. The Rider on the R6 obviously saw the flag.

 

Posted

since we're posting bad videos - this is the worse I've seen at a track day(at VIR) - skip to about the 1min point. . Thank goodness no one was seriously hurt. .

 

 

 

oh, and in response to the previous video - apparently no one was seriously hurt. a concussion for the high side and the guy with a bike flying at him just has a lot of aches and pains and maybe shouder surgery is what I've read.

Posted

Wow. While I admit to a certain morbid curiosity about these things, I don't really think we want to start a thread of scary awful crashes on this board - as said above, CSS is a place for riding in a safer environment and learning the art of cornering - not the art of dodging flying motorcycles. :)

 

So with that, let's stop here and talk of happier things - here's a question for the crowd/

What is the most helpful / most generous thing anyone has ever done for you at a trackway or school, or out on a street ride? Anyone ever fix your bike or loan you something or bail you out of jail? :)

Posted

I agree with Hotfoot. One of the things I really admire about the school is the way they always look at the positive in everything. That positivity has helped me a LOT!

 

I'll start. I was at a trackday and got some really simple and frank advice from one of the coaches. I was struggling with holding onto to my FZR and was trying hard to work on body position on a bike that was a bad ergonomic fit for me. Possibly the biggest mistake I was making was one of the simplest. He suggested that I actually turn my head to look into the turns. It was amazing the corner entry speed I was able to regain right away and how much easier everything became when I was reminded of one of the most simplest of things I learned at CSS. I was gobsmacked that I was making such a simple mistake. Stress will do it every time. The big take away for me was that all the little things matter in big ways and when you are frazzled you should make sure that you are still paying attention to fundamental things like visuals.

 

One other important thing to keep in mind. It's really easy to look at one simple mistake that someone makes on a trackday and develop a lot of apprehension from it. The trackday groups that I ride with all have the safety of their customers as a top priority. I would not ride with them otherwise. People are human beings and make mistakes. Some of those mistakes can look massive when taken out of context. Trackday riding is overall extremely safe and enjoyable.

 

If you have not tried a trackday you are really missing out. Beyond the actual track time you meet some pretty awesome people in the paddock. I brought my MV Agusta as a backup bike for one trackday and it attracted some interesting friends. On one side I had a group of Italian guys with a bunch of Ducati's and on the other side a very nice gentleman was wheeling out a ultra rare MV Agusta F4 1098 Mamba track bike. I had more fun in the paddock than I did out there on the track with the conversation and camaraderie from people with similar Italian powered passions.

Posted

Hottie;

Great re-direct!

 

Here's my story:

Loudon - LRRS Rookie Race where a DNS/DNF washes out your weekend. It's the first race of the weekend and rookies need to finish the race to get your license and you need a license to ride practice or race from that point forward so it's a big deal.

 

5 minute horn sounds for the "rookie race" so I remove the warmers, the rear stand and mount up to head out. I roll about 10 feet or so and my bike stalls - it won't restart because the battery can't turn the motor. I start to freak out in my helmet because I was there alone and couldn't even dismount because I didn't have a side stand or anyone who could hold up the bike. Out of nowhere, a guy runs up, pops off my side fairing and attaches a booster battery cable and jumps my motor. I had to get out onto the sighting lap so other than shouting a thank you I still have no idea who he was. If he doesn't jump in to help a complete stranger, I pack up and drive 8 hours home without an opportunity to race until the next round three weeks later not to mention the lost expense of going racing without having raced.

 

Rain

Posted

That's pretty amazing. One of the thing that strikes me the most about the kindness of people on two wheels is their willingness to help out anybody. It's quite possible that guy was helping out "the competition" by jumping the battery for you. That probably never even entered his mind.

Posted

It's true, riders are a remarkably generous bunch, an aspect of racing that came as a real surprise to me. The camaraderie has become a really big part of the whole experience for me.

Posted

Way back when, you know when FZR600's were the king of the class.

 

Don't mind me reaching around to pat myself on the back, just a little.

 

In a 5 hour endurance race at BIR, our most feared competitor broke a throttle cable about 2 hours in, national points standings wise we were trailing them by a little. They routinely finished just ahead of us but the racing and points were always close. They limped that thing into the pits and frantically ran around looking for something, I saw the flurry and headed on down the 3 or 4 pit boxes to see what was going on and it seemed nobody really knew exactly the problem.

I did a little investigating and immediately saw the frayed pull cable broken up by the grip, ran back to the truck, grabbed a spare set of carbs with cables and throttle all attached and went to town on changing the works

They only lost 4 laps and were back on track, and I don't know if it was those awesome carbs or the adrenaline that surely was raging but they were mowing down victims right and left beating us every lap by a few seconds and by the time the race ended we finished 2nd and they finished top 10, I want to say 6th, but I don't really remember.

My karma must have been good because when the season ended we took the national title and they finished second just a single point behind.

I got alot of grief for doing that because we could have handily walked off with the points lead by a big margin if they couldn't have finished or would have taken several more laps to get going again

Posted

 

Of the many very decent and kindly people I met at my School recently, most importantly was Chief Mechanic Will Eikenberry. He worked magic on my bike with his Assistant. They both handle an S1K like the Harlem Globetrotters handle a basketball. He and Will flick and turn the bikes on their side stands, front and/or back wheels like I've never seen before and in a way that makes the bikes look like weightless toys. Kevin Kane worked diligently with the two. Will put a re-valved shock on my bike in something like twenty minutes. If you're not familiar with this unusual sequence of events, you'd have to see it it believe it. He pulls the seat. gas tank, the plastic, and a few other odds and ends but the trick is that the tail hinges up and away from the swing arm; The two of them making an image something like a pair of scissors and then the shock comes out of the middle of the mouth of the scissored bike. When the shock is out the tail is perpendicular to the ground. Its a real sight to see. Then it was all back together in about twenty minutes. There is much much more I could say about Will in absolute fact. For now, merely a huge boatload of thanks to him and his staff.

Posted

Nic;

Will's assistant is Daniel Marelich and he is remarkably talented. much of what Will did for you was because Daniel's contributions gives Will the flexibility to be able to help out students with their own bikes.

Rainman

Posted

Rainman,

I should have been more genrous with my praise of you since my back wheel is rolling under your good graces. Thanks for everything! Nic

  • 2 months later...
Posted

Wow. While I admit to a certain morbid curiosity about these things, I don't really think we want to start a thread of scary awful crashes on this board - as said above, CSS is a place for riding in a safer environment and learning the art of cornering - not the art of dodging flying motorcycles. :)

 

So with that, let's stop here and talk of happier things - here's a question for the crowd/

What is the most helpful / most generous thing anyone has ever done for you at a trackway or school, or out on a street ride? Anyone ever fix your bike or loan you something or bail you out of jail? :)

Old story, I know, but it is kinda awesome, so I feel like sharing it!

 

This was my first track day ever and it was in College Station, TX... five-plus hours from where I live. I was going to do it along with a member from zx6r.com and camp with him (we were doing the entire weekend). He ended up dislocating his shoulder that morning, getting his bike onto the back of his truck. I felt there was no way I could have done it alone, all by myself, but I did set out because I couldn't let all of that anticipation fizzle out. It was a horrendous drive, my first time with a trailer and the sodding rain all the way to the track... I had zero clue as to the protocol.

 

I looked for an open spot to pull in, found a few people hanging out next to an empty paddock, walked up to them and told them it was my first time ever at a track. They invited me in to pit with them, offered me a beer, and helped me with registration and unloading my bike. I'd known them for barely five minutes!

Then, as we were about to fold for the night, I decided to sleep in the car, when one of the guys comes up to me and offers me a spot in his trailer to crash for the night. I don't think I've ever experienced such help from complete strangers before. The track is, indeed, a funny place with amazing people out there.

My first weekend at the track would have probably been intolerable if it wasn't for that group of guys... I managed to keep my calm and stay on the bike on what was a cold and wet weekend filled with some crazy crashes.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Trying to add some useful intel here, I've seen a few of those crash videos, for what I can tell:

 

- Inevitably there are number of bikes riding at close range (at least three including the bike with the cam on. Can't remember of track days crash videos with just one bike in front).

- At least one of the bikes produces side swings in an attempt to overtake or maybe thinking to gain a "free" line. This is most visible on the straights (it's the opposite of motogp or AMA races where riders try to take advantage of the draft as much as possible and overtake very quickly).

- Pace is fast but there is something awkward about body positions. You get this feeling of "touring club" or "wolf pack" and some lack of commitment. Perhaps it's because most riders involved are intermediates or novices, or tired.

- Less sure about this but I will list it for debate: looks like the crashes happen more often on the straight than in the corners, oddly enough.

 

Bottom line, when I don't see a clear line of race in front of me or I see "freehand" side moves from one of the bikes, I back up and let them go.

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