NJMP Lighting Trackday

[He Man]

Just did a trackday with TPM today. Just a video.

Hard to get the lines down. Im running some lines just becasue im getting passed so much. I think im decently fast on the mosnter, but it was a triumph675.net trackday and needless to say, those 675 Daytonas are make the beast with two backsing fast and they blitz by so quick in some turns.


Had ALOT of problems with this track. Grabbed a coach and learned the lines, and he said my big problem is getting closer to the apex, if i come in with a little bit more speed, i can hit those apex much better and drive out harder, but im dragging a lot of stuff on this track. Toe sliders, pegs, and knee pucks on the 1 of the left hander turns.

According to the timestamps, my fastest lap was about 1:35. There was a kid who came with us on a street triple, he had the same lap time as me. but kept passing me. I was watching some of his videos, and man, those 675 engines are make the beast with two backsing powerful. I really busted my ass and gave it damn near 90% just to go this fast. It was my 2nd trackday and first time there. I spent ALOT of time learning it and racked up 165 miles on this track.

enjoy

NJMP.wmv

[ZLTFUL]

What I have learned in my over a year now of doing track days is most riders put their knee where their tires should be at the Apex. Now it is not uncommon for my pucks to have grass stains or actual grass on them and for me to drag my knee over the candy canes.

Amazing what having an AMA Pro coaching you now and them will do for your riding hehe.

[He Man]

that shit is scary. There were a lot of coaches that straight up had their knee picking up sand and throw grass all over the place! and said if you wanted to be fast you have to basically run over the apex.

[ZLTFUL]

The thing I always give Ron Hix (AMA Pro 975) shit about is when he says you HAVE to run the race line to be fast, I always come up with pics of guys in the mix of a battle running any and every line. He tells me to shut up at that point hehe.

I am far from fast but I am A LOT faster than I was last year at this same time. Correcting my lines, fixing my body position and adjusting my rearsets made a HUGE difference.

[Statler]

holy shit that looks like a fast track.  I have to start going there as it's 1 1/2 hours away versus VIR at 6 hours.

thanks for the vid post.

[He Man]

holy shit that looks like a fast track.  I have to start going there as it's 1 1/2 hours away versus VIR at 6 hours.

thanks for the vid post.

this is my friend on the same track on a 250 2smoker. if you havent been to lightning, do it. Its a really easy simple fast track.

NJMP 07.25.10 Lightning w/Cru Jones

[zooom]

I like the song in the 250 Vid...been a while since I had heard that... "Supernaut" by "1000 Homo DJ's"

[fasterblkduc]

HeMan, I would not say that you were having "a lot" of problems for your second trackday. You're doing fine warming up to the new sensations of speed! I hope that your instructor gave you some feedback about your smoothness and consistency, because you are riding smoothly for this being your second time out.

You are riding more midtrack, because that's a comfort zone for you. It's fine for the speeds that you are carrying now. As you get faster, it will be necessary for you to get your turn in, and apex right or you will run really wide out of the turns and have to tighten your line to stay on track. I'll give you a drill to start on. Start going into the corner and turning in just a little bit later. Don't change your entry speeds, just go slightly beyond that turn in reference point that you are using now. So, turn in slightly later, and be very solid with your steering input. In other words, turn the bike in harder. You want to be at apex later than you think. Turning in later and forcing the bike in harder is necessary to hit that proper apex. The apex is not at 50% of the turn, that's rare. For most turns, it's after the 50% point. Start going into the corners farther to the outside of the track as well. Going in mid track, will normally cause you to apex early.

If you keep running the same line, turn in at the same time, and hit the apex too early, you will run real wide. This will happen as your corner speed increases. So, getting into this habit before you pick up the speed will help you later. It will be weird at first, and may not make sense until you try it, but give it a shot and it will help you out in the long run. 

[He Man]

thanks fasterblkduc,
here is my 3rd track day @ Thunderbolt, i was working with the instructors and they all said to hit the turning point a little before the cone. So  What is the big different between early and late apexing anyway?


Ducati Thunderbolt Trackday

[ducpainter]

thanks fasterblkduc,
here is my 3rd track day @ Thunderbolt, i was working with the instructors and they all said to hit the turning point a little before the cone. So  What is the big different between early and late apexing anyway?


Ducati Thunderbolt Trackday

Go a little faster...

the difference becomes evident...as you're pointed in the wrong direction.

Maybe FBD can explain it better.

[fasterblkduc]

Go a little faster...

the difference becomes evident...as you're pointed in the wrong direction.

Perfect...100% spot on. First off, going faster makes it easier to hit your turn ins and apexes. I find that people have an easier time with that after they pick up speed. When going into corners slower, you tend to turn in too soon and early apex. Hitting good reference points is key and the thing that ties it all together is vision. If you are using your vision properly, you will be able to hit your spots and be consistent. There are three vision reference points that you use when cornering. In time, you will learn to widen your vision and the transition with your eyes from one reference point to the the next becomes one smooth action.

The reference points are 1. Your turn in point. This can be a brake marker, seam in the pavement, or whatever you use for that turn.  2. apex. This is what you want to be looking at as you are making your steering input. As you approach the first reference point, you are already moving your eyes towards the apex of the turn and starting to look through the turn.  As you approach the apex, your eyes are already up and looking through to,  3. The exit point. This reference point is where you are driving towards as you roll on throttle and countersteer out of the turn. Sometimes it will mean looking all the way down track to the next turn but you will need to be paying attention to the outside of the track because as you get on throttle, you will be driving to the outside. These vision points should be used wisely. Without them, you will struggle. Get your vision down then choosing the best line and hitting the apex correctly will come easier.

You asked about hitting the apex wrong. If you apex early, you are going to have to tighten your radius to complete the turn. If not, you are on a path that will take you off the outside of the turn. You don't want to make midcorner corrections. Try to visualize it. If you hit the apex too soon, can you imagine the radius that you are on? I don't have time to try to figure out how to draw it and post so you will have to imagine it. You will have to tighten your line after the apex. This is wrong because you should be on the throttle and driving towards the outside at this point.

Remember, we want to try to draw as straight of a line as possible through the corner. Imagine using the entire track. Start on the outside, turn in later, give it a good hard steering input and aim for that later apex. Start trying this as a drill and see how it works for you. As you get faster, it will be critical to pull this off. Your first few trackdays are about getting comfortable with going into corners quickly. In time, you will go in later, faster, trail the brakes, and you will have to have better lines or you will run out of track. Right now you can pull off the lines that you are riding because you are not going fast yet. It's the same with a lot of techniques...take body positioning for example. You can get by with crossing over your tank, leaning the bike too far and not hanging off, etc only for so long. When you ride like this, you are compromising your traction so as you go faster, that traction becomes more important.

I have not watched your second vid. yet...I'll check it out.

[fasterblkduc]

Ok, I just watched it. You're looking good! Much better! Your getting into the corners a little faster it looks like. It looks like you are also getting closer to the apexes. As I said above, as you get faster, it will be more important to get those lines right. You're still mid track a lot and you won't be able to do that at higher speeds.

looking good!