Track Day
For me the BMW Motorcycle Club Cape track training day was the highlight of July. The day before, while filling up in preparation, two BMWs arrived at the filling station and the riders introduced themselves: Cheryl and George. Members of the club and also coming to the track. We arranged to travel up together - though we got so engrossed in chatting that we blocked the garage for almost an hour.
The nifty 650s
Sunday midday we meet at the garage and ride up together in convoy to Killarney. Neither of us had been to a track day before, and we were amazed at the number of other bikers of all shapes and sizes who had just finished a morning of racing. We had the afternoon.
After some administrivia like signing indemnities, Dave kicked off the afternoon by leading us all onto the track for 15 minutes of riding just to '''calm the nerves'''. Once we were settled down back in the pits, we split into two groups - those with track experience and those without.
Dave demonstrates counter-steering
The experienced riders discussed high-speed cornering techniques and other finer points, while us novices discussed counter-steering and the turning sequence:
# brake to desired entry speed, then '''off brakes'''
# '''look''', deep into the corner, to where the apex disappears
# '''lean''', using countersteering to lean the bike into the turn, while you
# '''roll on the gas'''.
Then we were back on the track to try it. At first it feels funny, not looking at where you are going but seemingly day-dreaming around the corner. Eventually you realise that you can really wind it up coming out of a corner, and soon the race is on. After a fairly long session we had refreshments and were given free reign to charge down the track at will until our time was up.
One tip that nobody seems to tell you, is that you should always keep your head level when you turn. No matter what angle the rider or bike, the head stays level.
By the end of the day, Brenda Buttercup had gotten so confident that she was scraping my boots and her footpegs around the corners ;-)
Danie knows what's coming
The nifty 650s
Sunday midday we meet at the garage and ride up together in convoy to Killarney. Neither of us had been to a track day before, and we were amazed at the number of other bikers of all shapes and sizes who had just finished a morning of racing. We had the afternoon.
After some administrivia like signing indemnities, Dave kicked off the afternoon by leading us all onto the track for 15 minutes of riding just to '''calm the nerves'''. Once we were settled down back in the pits, we split into two groups - those with track experience and those without.
Dave demonstrates counter-steering
The experienced riders discussed high-speed cornering techniques and other finer points, while us novices discussed counter-steering and the turning sequence:
# brake to desired entry speed, then '''off brakes'''
# '''look''', deep into the corner, to where the apex disappears
# '''lean''', using countersteering to lean the bike into the turn, while you
# '''roll on the gas'''.
Then we were back on the track to try it. At first it feels funny, not looking at where you are going but seemingly day-dreaming around the corner. Eventually you realise that you can really wind it up coming out of a corner, and soon the race is on. After a fairly long session we had refreshments and were given free reign to charge down the track at will until our time was up.
One tip that nobody seems to tell you, is that you should always keep your head level when you turn. No matter what angle the rider or bike, the head stays level.
By the end of the day, Brenda Buttercup had gotten so confident that she was scraping my boots and her footpegs around the corners ;-)
Danie knows what's coming - 1574 reads
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