Sooo... picked the bike up but he didn't have the warmers or stands with him. Ok no problem, I can make do and just swap out the slicks for some Q2's. Swapped the rear with no problem, went to do the front and one of the brake caliper hex key bolts rounds off on me
. WTF am I going to do with trackday next morning, no time to take it to a shop and I didn't really want to operate on my new bike, and worse make it totally unrideable. I take the other caliper off and it looks like I can get the wheel off with one caliper still on there. yep its a squeeze but it comes off. Change out the slick for the new Q2 and now to squeeze the wheel back in, its frikikin hard trying to keep the wheel spacers on both sides from falling out, while trying to not only squeeze the wheel back in but also hold four brake pads apart while trying to get the damn rotor in between them, and then keep all those parts steady while I line axle up, it really helps to have four hands to do this. Tada, I feel great at accomplishing the juggling feet until I realize I forgot to balance the bloody wheel
Grrrr - take it back apart, balance it and then go through the juggling routine again to get the wheel back on. Phew, track day is saved!
Give the bike a once over, and decided to load the bike up. Put the ramps down and all of a sudden the Youtube Bike Loading Fail compilation runs through my mind, I swear the width of those ramps shrank by 50% as I looked at them. make the beast with two backs it, gun the engine and head for the pickup, line looks good, entry speed is good, I glance down and see the front wheel perilously close to the edge of the ramp, heart rate goes to max, arsehole goes full pucker and before I can scream like a little girl I'm up in the back of the pickup. I even managed to stop without crashing into the cab. Hit the kill switch, wiped my brow and tried to look like everything was in control in case the neighbours were watching. Over the next 60 seconds my arsehole graduating relaxes from full pucker mode to something resembling normal, and my heart rate slowly recedes as well.
Monday morning I'm heading up to the track, when all of a sudden WTF is that on the windshield, is that rain?
Noooo! I press on in the belief that even weathermen are right once in a while, and I am duly rewarded in a short while with clearing skies. Pulling in to the track it looks like it is going to be a great day.
So I put the ramps down and back the bike down and again the front wheel comes way closer than I would like to the edge of the ramp. That does it, note to self, get W I D E R ramps, because apparently after you turn 50 your coordination goes to shit.
Finally, the time comes and out on the track go. It's a new bike to me and it's been a hell of along time since I rode a crotch rocket and the riding position feels totally strange after riding the Monster. Oh well, need to scrub the new Q2's in anyway so take it easy for a few laps and do my best impression of a little kid riding a 50cc round the track for the first time. Ok so the riding position is feeling better, lets step it up a notch so as I head up the straight and give it some gas. Not a lot happens except for the bike getting noisier, it really struggles to pull and acceleration is pretty non existent. Make the rest of the lap and things are no better, crap I just bought a bike with a blown motor. I'm starting to get really pissed, when all of a sudden I remember to look at the tach. Having got used to Monster I was shifting by the sound of the engine, which was about 8,000 rpm. Heading up the straight I drop a gear and open the throttle, it gets noisier and noisier and sounds like it is going to explode when all of a sudden it hits the power band and its just starts screaming and pulling hard.... here we go
After a few more laps getting used to the motor and brakes, I start cleaning up my corners and all of a sudden I realize how much more fun it is to ride a bike with AK-20 forks and a Penske shock. The bumps are still there, but the bike is not getting upset, I'm not trying to hang on for dear life and I'm getting around the track a lot quicker that I used to. Unbelievable how much confidence it gives you, especially on the track I ride which people regularly complain about being bumpy.
I rode almost twice as many laps on this bike as I normally do on the Monster, it was just that much more pleasant to ride and didn't beat you to death. Maybe one day I'll look at doing a Duc track bike, but for now I'm just loving this 636 and keep the Monster for the street.
Now let's see... where did I see that ad for extra wide loading ramps...
