Back on track... Literally RC8RS @ HPR

[Transnone13]

Took a couple spills and spent a lot of money in repairs, but here I am back out there almost 4 hours straight. I'm the one in white being followed on the 2011 KTM RC8RS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrgUxBJ4q_Q

My bike:

[ZLTFUL]

Nice vid. I miss hanging out with the BMS guys at HPR. Those guys have all the cool toys.

Although, the RC8R is definitely on my short list of next track bikes. Tried to convince the wife to let me buy a 1199S for that duty but she wasn't under enough anesthetic at that point and said no.

For the time being, I am relegated to the shooting pics for friends at trackdays and races. :-/

[Transnone13]

I actually just financed one of those. Not sure what I think about it. I think Ducati took a lot of short cuts, but overall the bike is amazing. For how much I paid, I am very disappointed on the following things:

Aftermartket/OE Part Availability
Paint and Plastic Quality
Compact Design Leads to Poor Component Location (EVERYTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET TO!) Want to fill your coolant res? Prepare to take the lower right, upper right, inlay, AND upper off! Oh yeah, that means mirrors too!
The rear wheel is impossible to get off without impact gun.
Hot, but I can handle this.
Quality Control (I had an allen bolt come out in my oil pan at 625 miles. It Appeared to have been dropped in there during assembly).
Stock SC tires are garbage, I have a set of Power ONE/CUP tires waiting .
Price in regards to feature set.
Adjustable, maybe I'm spoiled by the RC8R, but NOTHING is adjustable!
Want to look like a dick? Try starting the bike in hot weather, lol.

PS
You should come to round 5 at HPR and rep EOCF lol.

[pheonix991]

That's awesome man!

[ZLTFUL]

Originally Posted by Transnone13

I actually just financed one of those. Not sure what I think about it. I think Ducati took a lot of short cuts, but overall the bike is amazing. For how much I paid, I am very disappointed on the following things:

Aftermartket/OE Part Availability
Paint and Plastic Quality
Compact Design Leads to Poor Component Location (EVERYTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET TO!) Want to fill your coolant res? Prepare to take the lower right, upper right, inlay, AND upper off! Oh yeah, that means mirrors too!
The rear wheel is impossible to get off without impact gun.
Hot, but I can handle this.
Quality Control (I had an allen bolt come out in my oil pan at 625 miles. It Appeared to have been dropped in there during assembly).
Stock SC tires are garbage, I have a set of Power ONE/CUP tires waiting .
Price in regards to feature set.
Adjustable, maybe I'm spoiled by the RC8R, but NOTHING is adjustable!
Want to look like a dick? Try starting the bike in hot weather, lol.

PS
You should come to round 5 at HPR and rep EOCF lol.

I noticed a bunch of QC things with my Multistrada. Especially when I started taking it apart to add the hard wire kits for GPS and radar detector. And some engineering WTFs. And I don't think I have owned a bike that likes to toast my left thigh as much in stop and go traffic.

That being said, the Multi has been an amazing bike. Quite literally the best all around street bike I have ever owned and there have been a lot of bike in that list.

I am on my way out to Denver then on to Ouray next Wednesday afternoon. Riding out and back with a couple of days of R&R in Ouray and the rest of the SW corner of the state.

If I had something to tow with, I would probably be at HPR every weekend they had an event. I like the track enough to drive the 9 hours. Heck, it's 5+ to Road America and those are always mid week events.

Ducati Omaha handles track days at Mid America Motorplex and Motorsports Park Hastings but I don't think anyone has been racing there.

And then of course, Brainerd runs CCS and is always worth the trip but the no tow vehicle thing has me jonesing more than anything.

I took the Multi to Iowa Speedway last weekend for a NESBA track day butended up only doing 3 sessions once I discovered that the Multi is not much fun on a track that is under a mile long. Of course my buddy's TE510 supermoto was a flipping blast but I only did one session on it before heading back to the paddock for beer and steaks.

Probably my favorite track of all though is Putnam Park in Indiana. It is just such a fast flowing track and I favor right handers so having 8 right and only 2 lefts makes for a fun weekend for me. Of course I end up burning through right sides of tires long before the lefts are even fully scrubbed hehe.

Absolutely LOVE those Power One Cups. Hell even the regular Power Ones are more than sticky enough for my slow ***. Once I get back from Colorado, if I end up going to Indy for MotoGP, I am going to swap to a set of Pilot Road 3s. But I still haven't decided if I am doing it or not...4000+ miles in 8 days isn't as much fun as it sounds.
I also ordered a set of Continental TKC80s in sizes for the Multi. Gonna see what the pig will do with proper off road tires on it.

[Transnone13]

Ride down this month, you can just tape your stuff and bum some tape from me. Last time I slept at the track so down't worry about a hotel either lol.

My launches are one of my strong points though.

I also realized, because I do this consciously, my elbow is over the gas tank. I can't lean any further over with my torso! My chest is also pinned to the tank...

[ZLTFUL]

Pretty good form in that second picture. And I can tell you open up your inside arm by gripping the throttle with your thumb and index finger. Sort of rolling the throttle like a booger between the two (don't laugh, that's how it was explained to me and I picked it up from that description!)

I think your head could be down a bit farther...kind of like I explained in the PM...face as close to where the mirror would be as you can comfortably and safely do.

But I also do things a bit different with my eyes too. If I look through the turn, I tend to drift wide but if I keep my eyes on the inside line or edge of the track about 10 feet in front of the bike, I turn better. If I feel like I have blown a turn though, looking through has kept me from crashing many times.

Your outside arm should always be relaxed (I rest my outboard arm on the tank on the Gixxer). Your outside leg would be planted into the tank with your foot tipe-toed on the peg pressing your outboard leg up and into the tank.
I try to keep a little gap between my chest and the tank but then breaking those ribs made it tender for a few weekends so I adjusted to it and actually felt better doing it that way.

My inside foot is always a ***** to me. Sidi loves me because I have to buy toe sliders for my Vortice Airs after every weekend. I wear a size 45 to getting my foot turned out for the turn results in part of it hanging out farther than it should. The chicane at Road America sees my toes touching down before my knee.

I guarantee you are faster than me and not just because of the bike. I tend to be a lot more cautious because at my age I don't heal as fast. And don't take the risks that I used to. Although, stuffing someone on the brakes at the end of the front straight at virtually any track is my favorite activity.