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[Specter]

Let me add one quick note.
I CAN confirm that a standard charger 15 amp, 240 volt CAN pretty much keep up with a normal track day's rompings.  The 40 minutes you have off is enough to keep the bike charged up to run.  I was going to about 92 percent capacity per charge.  I wanted a little room on the top end so that my regen was working nice and strong.  I use it a lot when running and don't want to be playing around with it at reduced ability given that's how I normally run and don't want to be changing inputs I don't need to.

Also, as anyone who has used it can attest,  CCS can be a pain in the ass sometimes, especially when playing with cables that can handle 100 amps, ie HEAVY and BULKY.  it don't always want to start first run because you didn't have it plugged in juuuuust right or whatever, and if you time out on some sorts of errors, you have to cycle bike power to get it to reset right / reset the charger right to try a new session.    Using AC to charge makes all that crap go away.  Plug and Play Baby!

Aaron

[Specter]

Racing again today, will probably spend the entire weekend up there.  Im dead, don't want to see how I feel after 4 days of racing in a row, ugh.

Getting my speeds up quite nicely now, and getting a lot of my issues stomped out here.  A lot of folks are just super helpful giving me all kinds of advice, showing me how to do better, etc.  Also helping me get the suspension dialed in just perfectly too.  Having some minor issues on some hard turns and thinking it's the rebound,  but we are on it!

I think I need to change my name to Bug Magnet because I swear those fkn big fat grasshoppers just hover and wait for me to come by to splat on the face shield.  Then that shit dries on and just ick.  the turtles / snakes and alligators crossing the track are a ton of fun too.  The turtles, every lapf or about 4 laps,they are a little further along until they finally clear, or someone nips one and turns it into a gamera clone and sends it spinning off at warp 8.

The bike, not sure but it's almost like the accel is dampened a bit at the low end, which I could see, you don't want to be hitting the throttle and be in a constant wheelie if you are trying to race or run the track, its like once you break 100 mph the bike is like, "Oh so the little boy wants to go fast?  well HOLD ON !!! and really kicks up the acceleration, problem is, by that by the time you are up that fast, you are running out of runway fast to be going that fast,so it's probably best that it does not accellerate faster, id probably be tempted to try it and end up in a pickle.  Don't get me wrong, it still takes off like a scalded cat, but just seems like once you hit 100 to 105 it goes into like turbo mode.

My fastest speed was 132 on the back end, and I think I need to call that a plateau for now until I get some more technique down, because doing that run I was very close to the outer edge of my skill set and starting to need a bit more braking than I really like to use.  I was able to hone it down a bit but at those speeds, timing becomes a LOT more important, and far less room to fix up a F up.  A slight change in the apex approach in 2 I think will help a bit and hitting the regen a bit earlier and getting into the lean a bit faster to enter 3 - 4 - 5 will definitely help shed the speed too and not need to rely on harder braking.  It's just so amazing how you can fix one problem and it turns into something else a bit down the track, or you find that a fix is 3 turns prior to an issue!  I think I am going to be using tire warmers too, even the ones that say you don't need them, after several cycles, they don't grip that  good anymore.

Another thing that is kind of crazy when you think on it is, I have only been to the track now with this bike, oh geez. 5 times? and I already got 300 miles on it just track running.  Then you look at the tires, a set of street tires will last you 10k miles or more normal riding, track tires, 300 and they are dead! hell they were pretty shot early to mid 200's  It sure is a lot of fun but man you can burn up money almost as fast as you can burn up tires if you are not careful!

Aaron

[Specter]

and at the track again today.  Yep, I got the sickness 

Set some new personal records today, really getting to be one with the bike, feeling stuff I didn't really before and a lot more confident.  This is something I need to be careful about.  Came out of turn 2 accelerating  and hit the throttle a bit harder than I should have and brought the front end up in a lean angle, was heading for 3 digits, luckily I was not near the seam in the pavement so just skittered a little and got my attention on that one.  A few times was coming around corners perhaps a bit too fast and wayyy leaned over and felt the tire slide a little bit, but luckily just a little off the throttle and im back on good ground.  I have a different tire in front since the one I wanted was not in stock, the Continental Road Attack 2,  I got a medium up front and it's a bit finicky until you get it good and warmed up. I better start running tire warmers, even though you supposedly don't have to.  Actually I need to get the tire that works better is the smart move, WHEN they are back in stock, in 6 to 8 weeks I am told

Stupid ?  I have the Alpine Star full ankle / calf boots for the track. Ill have to look at what one it is, its upstairs in the fan now drying out.  Anyways, the toe sliders... are those replacable?  Mine is taking a beating.  I am trying but I don't get out of the seat very good,  my leg just does not go out very far, I got my ass off the seat and am pulling the bike over but the leg is not pointing out too much, it just don't move that way very well.  Because of this, my lean angle is all the way,basically, and instead of grinding my knee on the pavement, im tapping the toe of my boot around the really sharp turns.  YES I do have them all the way back on the pegs, ive been paying close attention to that, as it's a bit distracting when it does happen. Im just bringing the bike down that low.

With this being said it looks like I am going to be tearing up toe draggers instead of knee draggers until I figure something out here.  Is this something that is replaceable on a boot, or do they make a boot where it is replaceable?  Tires are expensive enough I really don't want to go thru a few boots a season as well.

Aaron

[Pard]

The guys at the track will give you some ideas, but if you cannot reposition your foot to avoid scraping toe, you may consider raising the pegs.  They sell offset adapters so you can just raise the pegs without putting on new rearsets.

something along these lines: https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/puig-relocation-brackets-for-adjustable-footpegs?srsltid=AfmBOopjDxUu5yFb-VEWLq6o5dTlORbSKW89TstxX7WY62YxrPv1F_5KQBc&sku_id=10037615

Dragging toe is bad, it can cause your foot to get pulled off the peg.  Address that issue ASAP.

Enjoying your posts.  Keep em coming!

[jotjotde]

With this being said it looks like I am going to be tearing up toe draggers instead of knee draggers until I figure something out here.  Is this something that is replaceable on a boot, or do they make a boot where it is replaceable?  Tires are expensive enough I really don't want to go thru a few boots a season as well.

Someone said to me that racing is one of the most effective ways to burn money 

I guess for all Alpinestars boots are toe sliders available for replacement. I know for sure for SMX5 and SMX6 at least.
BTW Dainese have screw-ons, plastic and for some boots even metallic.

[Richard230]

With this being said it looks like I am going to be tearing up toe draggers instead of knee draggers until I figure something out here.  Is this something that is replaceable on a boot, or do they make a boot where it is replaceable?  Tires are expensive enough I really don't want to go thru a few boots a season as well.

Someone said to me that racing is one of the most effective ways to burn money 

I guess for all Alpinestars boots are toe sliders available for replacement. I know for sure for SMX5 and SMX6 at least.
BTW Dainese have screw-ons, plastic and for some boots even metallic.

I think that owning a boat or private airplane could be an even more effective way to burn money than racing.

[Specter]

Richard, I DO have a boat.  Not quite as bad, but yah it can get there.  I would say not quite as fast as racing can but it can sure try !
Toys, yah both hobbies have their burn pits, but luckily for my fishing, I have a commercial license, so can sell some of the fish I catch and get some money back that.  Bike, not so much.

Both have consumables -
Boat - Bait, Beer, lets say 50 bucks a shot.  then there's gas.  Off shore, a LOT expensive, puttin around the river, creek crawling, not so bad
Bike - Tires, Track Fees - 250 ish a shot, then there may be gas. Puttin around town, not as bad, track, can be VERY bad.

Rods, Reels, Hooks, Safety etc - mandatory gear, reusable, does not count just as Gloves, Helmet, Boots don't really count, reusable

Now if I could figure out a way to use the boat to take the bike places to ride at.......

Aaron

[Specter]

So, ran monday too, 4 days in a row, wow, that's a lot of work.  My body is letting me know this!!  FK it, I don't plan to die young or healthy.

I got moved up into Intermediate, and man what a difference.
I used to hear people say, when you ride with faster people YOU ride faster and better.  I used to think that was mostly in YOUR brain, that the desire to go fast is there already, it's YOU holding it back.
Yah, I sure got a reality check there.

No.... riding in the faster group DOES make you a faster rider.  Main take away,  NOT having to worry about what the clown in front of you is going to do is a MAJOR plan improver.

Ok, so Im riding with someone, is he better than I am, well lets see.  If I keep up with him, awesome, lets see if I can KEEP keeping up.
Ok, so Im riding with someone, is he better than I am, well big YES.   As he pulls away I can SEE why and try to be more like him.
Ok, so Im riding with someone, is he better than I am, NO, ok, so I pass him at the next opportunity.

That last one is the key.

NOT having to worry about what he is going to do is huge on me being able to concentrate on what I want / need to do.
Ok, I need to pass him, ..... and here it is.....
With him, being in Intermediate, I KNOW, that he KNOWS NOT to do stupid shit. (In theory)  I KNOW that if I go wide, or go inside that I can get around him, and he'll continue safely, I can continue safely.

NOT having to worry about what the guy in front of you is going to do, lets me work on and hone what I need to do.  I don't have to wait and see what he's setting up to to, he's predictable, I already should know, and have my plan for ME to continue.

Im going to pass him in turn 8. 
Novice - Ok Ill wait until we get into it, so I can see what track he is going to take, how he's going to hit 8 and then make my move.

Intermediate- Ok Ill go a bit wide pass him and since 8 is wide, ill pop a bit late into 9 so I can shoot right to the setup on 10.  Because I already KNOW he's going to take 8 off the arrow and narrow.

Only having to worry about what YOU are going to do, and not having to worry about the guy in front of you, is a game changer.

So I am increasing my speeds, now I have to do things differently.
Well that flip flop in 3/4/5, I really can straight shoot that if I watch my line carefully.  But I was using that lean to bleed speed, ok so need more brake now, brakes are VERY powerful on this bike, just touch them Aaron,.. so getting the finesse down to feather the brake .vs. throttle input, to pull it back into 5.  Push forward to 13, ok inner wall is no longer working, you really need to FULL arrow and shoot for apex, find the proper braking point and do it, watch the lean into 14 and don't over slow.  This is another kind of blind corner, so need to trust your skills as you run into final turn, you won't see the washboard right away, shave inner edge and you'll be lined up for a nice finishing lean to get bike straightened back up to hammer it in the straight away.

Basically you don't fix problems, you only push them down 50 yards or so.  Once you got a lap running smooth, you bump your speed a bit, then new issues arise, and wash rinse repeat, fix them /push them down the track, get lap tidied up, bump speed and do it all over again.

Interestingly enough, I approached today with the goal of, ok im not going to worry about my speed, lets use today to hone my body position skills and movement... once I get that, the speed should kind of happen on its own.  It is BUT.. and here they are again... the buts.  im finding one of the problems WITH my body position and  movement is my leathers are a bit squeaky across my seat, they grab a bit.  Now this I am sure is a good thing when normal riding, but when trying to do a fast side to side, is an issue, it upsets the bike a bit when I transition so Ill need to figure how to do that with a bit more finesse.  Maybe if I pull my head out of my ass, it'll slide easier because it won't be so bumpy 

We shall see.

Aaron

PS with a flip, I can get 4 days out of a set of tires, so tires are a hundred bucks a day... ehh not too shabby no???

[Curt]

When I used to ride track, one of the promoters said the Intermediate (B) group is where all the carnage happens. About 1 in 14 riders will crash on any given track day. I did a total of 28 track days, and crashed... twice, so he was spot on!

It's good you're feeling the rear wheel begin to slide. I didn't seem to have that skill, or my bike with excessively large Brembos may have interfered, because twice I slid out the rear wheel. One of those times totaled my bike and broke a collar bone. It was fun while it lasted.

A guy at work would take his Tesla to track days. The limiting factor was always the motor or battery overheating. The car would throttle itself down after only a couple of laps. That was 10 years ago though, so maybe the cooling is improved by now.

[Specter]

On the wrecks, yah, I see that, novice it's mostly run offs,  often followed by a tip over.
intermediate, not too many, that  I have seen so far, some run offs, one read bad one, ended with a life flight, he hit someone.
 it seems it's the experts who bring on the first wreck of the day, in the first two laps of the day, its like they forgot their tires are cold and/or the track is cold it's MORNING.  They may have tire warmers on but the track does NOT, it's cold, it's damp, YOU are starting a brand new day, adrenaline is all drained out, coffee still kicking in, stiff from day before etc,  take a sanity lap first before slamming it... just my thoughts on it.

Intermediate a lot complain about, it's a thunderdome, and yes I can see that, they are being assholes, but at least, more predictable assholes, ok he cut me short, BUT he stayed on line and took off,  that is easier to deal with over the novice  he passed me got right in front of me, got into the turn then grabbed a handfull of brakes as soon as he got in front of me.  THAT is dangerous, especially when they want to play that when there are 3 or 4  grouped up.  Next thing you know people are crossing back and forth all over the place, and im trying to fall back  a bit and let the mess sort itself out and try to not run straight into it.  That's about the time ill pit in for a 20 second breather, let the gang get way ahead of me and go out again.

That's probably an accurate number on overall crashes.  Sooner or later it will come.  So far Ive been lucky, but unfortunately I know that my day is ahead of me, one of them... and hopefully I have the skill to minimize the damage as much as I can.  So you lowsided, well it's a hell of a lot better than a highside I guess.  Id rather slide out then be thrown over the bike any day, if I absolutely must leave the bike against my will

Jennings is also an incredibly grippy track too, so you probably get a bit more warning that you are pushing it too hard, than you may get at other tracks and have that point or two of lean - leniency before you start to waltz. 
I was having issues with my front tire getting squirrely on me, and not sure if it was self induced due to 'thinking on it' too much, or just the tire was cycled too much and not gripping as good as it could. I started out with a harder tire to begin with because the Conty Street Attack was not available in my front wheel size and I had to settle for a medium up there. 
The times I was slipping a bit in the rear, there also could have been a bit of an acceleration issue as well. giving it a bit too much gas on the maintenance, straighten up.  Also if you are deep into a turn and feeling that you need a bit more throttle to keep stable, you may have overslowed a bit, and the front wheel is wanting to dive a bit, that right there can cause a bit of a bump in the throttle, which could give you a whuuurp on the back wheel. 
One of my main issues in this entire chat here is I need tank grips period. That will help me a ton, that EGO is a slippery bitch, and it's large too, so I am using significant handlebar to stay on the bike and it's not helping my riding at all.  I can't really grab very well with my legs to hold on / maneuver the bike, so any grip on the handles can easily be turned into an input. 
I am also realizing now that I am at faster speeds overall, yah, I DO Need tire warmers.  They will just make a life a lot easier, not having to take a warmup lap or two.  Yes certain tires you can get away with not having them, but you STILL .. do better / more consistent when you do warm them up, so just keep them warm!

I tell you what though, 4 days in a row,  FULL days... man I am not doing that again, I can't.  Right now I can not sleep because I inflamed something in my neck / spine / shoulders i don't know where but I am waking up with my hands literally on fire,  it will come in waves and feels like I am holding a burning coal in the palm, and getting stung by a huge ass hornet on the back of my hand.  my two middle fingers are stone ass asleep, thumb kind of, and it's running up the inner side of my arm a bit.   Unlike a normal you slept on your arm, where I get up, walk around for a minute or two moving my arm and it goes away, this one can last a half hour or more and start throbbing coming in waves.  It's getting slightly better after 2 days but yah, I can't be doing that.  Already have nerve issues and shit, don't need to be causing this kind of grief. As I type this, my inner fingers are still somewhat numb, Ive been up an hour already, yah I inflamed something alright.

Problem with nerve damage / pain is, pills don't work.  The arthritis, swollen, hurtful, no porblem,  I got some wonderful pills for that,  this stuff, nothing really helps.  Gaba does not really do much either...  time,  rest, whimper and hope it goes away and I don't end up with more lumbar / cervical  shots.  Getting old sucks but you know what, I gotta have some fun,  just maybe not so much in fun a row

Aaron

[Grauteufel]

novice it's mostly run offs,  often followed by a tip over.
intermediate, not too many,

My observations match what Curt has heard, the novices might have dumb offs, or minor lower speed contact, but all the really big crashes especially caused by dick measuring happen in the intermediate group. My theory is that their confience doesn't quite match their skill. Novices aren't confident, and experts usually have the skill.

Id rather slide out then be thrown over the bike any day, if I absolutely must leave the bike against my will

Nice line

I tell you what though, 4 days in a row,  FULL days... man I am not doing that again, I can't.  Right now I can not sleep because I inflamed something in my neck / spine / shoulders i don't know where but I am waking up with my hands literally on fire,  it will come in waves and feels like I am holding a burning coal in the palm, and getting stung by a huge ass hornet on the back of my hand.  my two middle fingers are stone ass asleep, thumb kind of, and it's running up the inner side of my arm a bit.   Unlike a normal you slept on your arm, where I get up, walk around for a minute or two moving my arm and it goes away, this one can last a half hour or more and start throbbing coming in waves.  It's getting slightly better after 2 days but yah, I can't be doing that.  Already have nerve issues and shit, don't need to be causing this kind of grief. As I type this, my inner fingers are still somewhat numb, Ive been up an hour already, yah I inflamed something alright

Dude, you're just getting old, I've heard it happens. Do not sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you need to keep moving around/gentle exercise. Ice packs (20mins max) and compression wraps on any particulaly sore spots help. I've a friend that does all the recovery work with the state fire service (average age of firefighters in aus is surprsingly high) and she treats injuries from when these guys push themselves too hard, similar to a weekend of trackwork! Remedial massage for the muscle injuries, short term heat/cold treatment, longer term ice joint injuries, light exercise and they bounce right back to do it all again...

[Specter]

I've heard others say that a lot of the Intermediate issues tend to be from the ends of the group.  The Upper ones thinking they are experts, and will go faster to prove it to you!  and the ones just in there, shell shocked by how fast they really ARE in there, and the speed differentials are what causes a lot of the contact wrecks.  Ive seen some good ones in the blend area.  It's like bro, you SEE him coming on, you KNOW he's going slower than you, you couldn't move over just a bit?  Novices aren't that confident UNTIL... they want to be moved up to intermediate, then will go fast to show you they belong up there.    I think another issue with the new I's is they can now pass in more places, and don't have those skills honed yet... and couldn't really practice them in the Novice group either because inside passing and in certain turns is not allowed.

I get the dick measuring thing but Id rather do that in the privacy of my own home, NOT in the ER as the doc is trying to figure out which size staple to use to re attach it!

Not feeling sorry for myself really, am moving around, out in the yard, doing all the work that did NOT get done last weekend , that's the only thing that really helps is keep stuff moving as you said.  If you sit around and do nothing, it just stiffens and thats really way worse. I do know I tore something up though, this isn't just getting old aches and pains, so do need to be more careful next time.  Or maybe instead of 4 days in a row, only do 3.

I did find out something by mistake, well, maybe should say, tested something someone said a bit back.  Bee Venom can help with cramps and stiffness and possibly nerve issues.  Was moving supers and got snagged on one and tore a glove.  This hive was not happy with me to begin with because I dropped the top of the honey super down on them to begin with, so, wasted no time in finding that tear in my glove   got popped about 4 times in the hand. It swole up a bit, it generally does after a few hours when I get lit up, but the pain lessened quite a bit in the hand / wrist afterwards.  I really do not like getting stung, but it did help.  If my hands are still burning tomorrow, I may try a few stings on the other hand to see if this is repeatable.  I still got half my hives to tend to.  Normally do them all at once per session but man it got hot out quick and I was sweating my ass off so had to call it early.  My only concern is, what if this DOES work and im on to something.  HTF do you administer bee stings?  Just sounds Darwinish to me.  Then again, so does injecting botulism into your face to look younger but people do it all the time.

Another interesting thing, riding my street bike, feels all different now.  Been on the track for 4 days, and finding myself with my feet all crunched in on the street bike, feeling the framework move and stuff against my foot when I hit bumps and such.  Just a different feeling.  All crunched on the gas tank area now track like instead of more relaxed like normal street.  Also the brakes, the race bike is very sensitive, you GENTLY bring in and bring out the brakes, they are very powerful.  Street bike needs a bit more. it's like ooh?  where'd my brakes go, oh wait, not the same bike!

Eventually though I am going to change stuff over on the Ribelle to make it more like the EGO so these differences are not so much, and to keep my spare parts pile down a bit. I'll put the bigger brakes on the Ribelle as an example, so that way my tires / wheels are completely interchangeable between the bikes.  tires that are getting too worn for the track, I may be able to use on the street bike for a bit (not slicks of course but the DOT's), and when I DO do tire swaps, it's just swap the wheels, the tires are already mounted, this will save some time possibly when actively running especially when there is a line at the tire shop, you can leave them there for a session or two even, and not miss any race time.  But for now, my next purchase is tank grips. Will browse and see what's out there that looks decent on the Energica's.

Aaron