the bb trackday thread.
Discussion
Tribal Chestnut said:
Thanks guys, feedback much appreciated.
The tyre was fitted new last summer, I’d have to check but as it’s a Road 5 it won’t have been sat for ages, has done about 3500 gentle road miles, two days at Lydden Hill, then 2.5 sessions at Bedford yesterday, so nothing I’d have thought significant.
All at novice pace, no idea on lap times. Ride there and back, when I can, so no tyre warmers.
FZ1 with stock suspension, so rear preload is at it’s max firmness and rebound is 1 click off max.
Just dawned on me as I type this that I forgot to drop the pressure yesterday, so would have been at about 38 PSI cold....however, it wasn’t warm & I’m only going at novice pace.
Is it worth swapping the rear (& front) before my TD next Monday? I’ve always just changed either when they start to square off from commuting or when the tread is going. Don’t have a durometer to hand (might now buy one for the toolbox), but I’ve a repaired PR4 or R5 (can’t remember which) sitting at home with about 1500 miles and a handful of TDs on it I could swap over...
Alternatively, I could get something ‘better’ ahead of Monday.
From the picture though, it's looking a bit 'second hand' The tyre was fitted new last summer, I’d have to check but as it’s a Road 5 it won’t have been sat for ages, has done about 3500 gentle road miles, two days at Lydden Hill, then 2.5 sessions at Bedford yesterday, so nothing I’d have thought significant.
All at novice pace, no idea on lap times. Ride there and back, when I can, so no tyre warmers.
FZ1 with stock suspension, so rear preload is at it’s max firmness and rebound is 1 click off max.
Just dawned on me as I type this that I forgot to drop the pressure yesterday, so would have been at about 38 PSI cold....however, it wasn’t warm & I’m only going at novice pace.
Is it worth swapping the rear (& front) before my TD next Monday? I’ve always just changed either when they start to square off from commuting or when the tread is going. Don’t have a durometer to hand (might now buy one for the toolbox), but I’ve a repaired PR4 or R5 (can’t remember which) sitting at home with about 1500 miles and a handful of TDs on it I could swap over...
Alternatively, I could get something ‘better’ ahead of Monday.
Perhaps the Road 5 is a little wet weather orientated for TD use, even at novice pace. The sustained cornering will generate far more carcass heat than usual road riding which might explain the physical characteristics visible on the tyre.
Regarding suspension settings, I'd be wary about the preload and rebound being so tight. Rebound especially if too slow will really affect grip due to the tyres inability to track the surface. Road pressures as well won't help the situation.
And squaring off can be a n issue as the bike transitions over the 'crown' created at the edge of the road wear onto the unused shoulder. This is a bigger problem and may be a contributing factor as the normal constant radius of the tyre is now a diminishing contact patch until you cross the squared crown and onto the shoulder...
Those have haven’t squared from commuting, as the sudden ‘drop’ from a square rear is too scary for me, but I’ve ordered a new pair anyway.
Should give me a bit more confidence & won’t leave me doubting the tyres, regardless of anything else.
Tempted to wind the suspension back to the settings I had before, though it felt ok for the earlier sessions, not that I know what I’m feeling half the time...
Thanks for the advice.
Should give me a bit more confidence & won’t leave me doubting the tyres, regardless of anything else.
Tempted to wind the suspension back to the settings I had before, though it felt ok for the earlier sessions, not that I know what I’m feeling half the time...
Thanks for the advice.
Finally managed a dry day and our first time proper sessions on the bike this year at Pembrey.
First time running Dunlop'a KR108s (205/60/17 and KR106s on the bike, silly levels of grip tbh, even on a cold track, felt as good if not better than V02s.
Massive amount of fun was had, improved my times too which was nice, the I2M dash was bloody brilliant, just worked, felt like a factory rider when the display changed in the pits to the BOX mode 🤣
Bit of a gap now until the next one on the 4th of July, everywhere seemed sold out which is annoying, hopefully I come across some for sale slots.
Bike is in need of some oil and brake fuild change, some fresh pads and a few other bits, but it performed flawlessly.
First time running Dunlop'a KR108s (205/60/17 and KR106s on the bike, silly levels of grip tbh, even on a cold track, felt as good if not better than V02s.
Massive amount of fun was had, improved my times too which was nice, the I2M dash was bloody brilliant, just worked, felt like a factory rider when the display changed in the pits to the BOX mode 🤣
Bit of a gap now until the next one on the 4th of July, everywhere seemed sold out which is annoying, hopefully I come across some for sale slots.
Bike is in need of some oil and brake fuild change, some fresh pads and a few other bits, but it performed flawlessly.
jock mcsporran said:
Yeah, Friday apparently for the big reveal on the colour map. I’ve already got 10-15 days messing about to get back from Qatar depending if we remain red or not so another 5 days of isolation doesn’t really make to too happy and I’m not sure how NL could justify keeping it running if we have to isolate on return.
Email received from No Limits giving us the option to bail out with a small admin fee and them hanging onto the balance as a credit for a future event co-organised by No Limits & DG Sports.We’ve taken them up on it as it seems quite fair from all sides. You need to get back to them today before 4pm.
Spa next year it is then!
moto_traxport said:
jock mcsporran said:
Yeah, Friday apparently for the big reveal on the colour map. I’ve already got 10-15 days messing about to get back from Qatar depending if we remain red or not so another 5 days of isolation doesn’t really make to too happy and I’m not sure how NL could justify keeping it running if we have to isolate on return.
Email received from No Limits giving us the option to bail out with a small admin fee and them hanging onto the balance as a credit for a future event co-organised by No Limits & DG Sports.We’ve taken them up on it as it seems quite fair from all sides. You need to get back to them today before 4pm.
Spa next year it is then!
Edit: she got back pretty quick so I’ve taken same option. Cheers for the heads up
Spa or Le Mans next year hopefully. Edited by jock mcsporran on Friday 14th May 14:13
jock mcsporran said:
Haven’t received anything from them so I’ve emailed Jeanette as I’d rather take the option to drop out than go through more quarantine.
Edit: she got back pretty quick so I’ve taken same option. Cheers for the heads up Spa or Le Mans next year hopefully.
Cool, glad to be of help. My mate got the email but I didn’t so I thought they might have missed a couple others out as well. Edit: she got back pretty quick so I’ve taken same option. Cheers for the heads up
Spa or Le Mans next year hopefully. Tribal Chestnut said:
Tomorrow is looking a bit miserable for Silverstone.
Trackdays are supposed to be fun, so if it’s raining like this in the morning I’ll be going to work instead.
Forecast looks ok until about early afternoon, after that, it's crap Trackdays are supposed to be fun, so if it’s raining like this in the morning I’ll be going to work instead.
Silverstone's good and grippy in the wet anyway
Tribal Chestnut said:
Tomorrow is looking a bit miserable for Silverstone.
Trackdays are supposed to be fun, so if it’s raining like this in the morning I’ll be going to work instead.
Are Benetts there today running the trials for the 6 competition finalists to win a ride on Brookes' BSB Ducati?Trackdays are supposed to be fun, so if it’s raining like this in the morning I’ll be going to work instead.
airsafari87 said:
Are Benetts there today running the trials for the 6 competition finalists to win a ride on Brookes' BSB Ducati?
I went to work. Looked crap out of the window this morning. Didn’t relish getting soaked before even going on track. Looking out of the window now though it’s bright sunshine, albeit I’m in Mayfair.Brands on Thursday, so at least I don’t need to take another day off to repair the bike ready for that.
Ilikemotorbikes said:
They're at Donny and it's 5 finalists.
I'm gutted they didn't pick me to be one of those 5 but nevermind! Just very envious of them all
I was close I'm gutted they didn't pick me to be one of those 5 but nevermind! Just very envious of them all
Looks like a bit of a Ballache to get on it though.
There was a track assessment
Media suitability assessment
Test on your BSB series knowledge.
Plus a few other tests to go through as well.
One thing that did jump out to me when it was first announced was that there did seem to be a high importance placed on you being a current Ducati owner.
Deranged Granny said:
StuB said:
Deranged Granny said:
Finally got my first trackday booked, and have got my second one booked too - in for a penny! Snetterton in May and Donington in June, both with smallboy. Looking forward to scratching the itch.
Two really fun fast tracks. You're renting a bike from Smallboys then?I'm slightly limited by what weekend dates are available, and don't fancy the likes of Lydden Hill for my first time out.
Booked with NoLimits, but renting from Smallboys both days as I am in the process of selling/replacing my ZX6R and want to make sure I am not bikeless if I haven't found a replacement by then - don't fancy a trackday on my V-Strom and it makes sense with a bit of man maths to rent...! And I get to feel what a properly sorted bike feels like.
Doing the 650 Ninja at Snet and then the ZX6R at Donny. I know Snet is a bit of a power circuit but thought it would be fun to warm up on the twin first, and I will hardly be pushing either of them anyway!
It's hilarious comparing my onboards to BSB footage on youtube though. I genuinely thought the video of Shakey Byrne's record lap on YouTube was sped up Anyway, a great day and great service from Matt at Smallboy. I think an expensive habit is forming, roll on Donington next month - hopefully I will be able to locate the racing line at some point...
Edited by Scorched yellow on Monday 17th May 23:01
Finally got my pics from oulton on 5th. Cracking track but was all in the wet. Couldn't remember it all but felt pretty good towards the end
It's actually really grippy I found in the wet. Definitely want to go back in the dry but it's a pig of a drive for me
I'm also proving here you can still get your knee down with long enough knee sliders basically bolt upright
It's actually really grippy I found in the wet. Definitely want to go back in the dry but it's a pig of a drive for me
I'm also proving here you can still get your knee down with long enough knee sliders basically bolt upright
Finally last post for today from me. Snett yesterday and pics up within 24hrs
Track was wet and bloody slippery in the morning but by third Moto started getting dry parts but still wet in places...I like riding in the wet - probably more than in the dry but I HATE it when the track is in that in-between part. I had 1 naughty rear slide and locked the front coming into Oggies
Pictures were from 3rd sesh when I was still on wets
Video here is from 5th sesh (2nd sesh on slicks) https://youtu.be/xFUl11didOk
Track was wet and bloody slippery in the morning but by third Moto started getting dry parts but still wet in places...I like riding in the wet - probably more than in the dry but I HATE it when the track is in that in-between part. I had 1 naughty rear slide and locked the front coming into Oggies
Pictures were from 3rd sesh when I was still on wets
Video here is from 5th sesh (2nd sesh on slicks) https://youtu.be/xFUl11didOk
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