August 19, 2008

Burnin’ Rubber, Part 1

Jon Blaicher is the product manager for ATV and Snowmobiles here at Yamaha Canada but his passion for motorsports goes beyond snow and mud. He is also an avid sport bike rider (after graduating from the cruiser ranks). Following is the first installment of Jon’s experience during several ‘tack days’ aboard his R1.

- a Calabogie track day.

So you have a sport bike, been riding awhile and might be wondering… now what?

You may want to go faster, lean over further, brake harder, get your knee down, etc… but that really isn’t safe on the street.

Well… if you haven’t already, you MUST try a track day. But I’ll warn you. It can be addictive!

You just can’t beat a track day for sheer thrills, especially on a modern sport bike. But one of the best things about a track day are the people. Everyone there is a motorcycle enthusiast. I have several friends that I only see at track days. We usually pit together and share stories, food, tools, advice, and even some spare parts.

I try to do 3 or 4 track days every summer, and my first one in 2008 happened to be hosted by Pro 6 Cycle at the relatively new Calabogie Motorsports Park. What an amazing place! With 20 turns in just over 5 km, it is a fairly long track that can take awhile to learn. I had been there once in 2007, but a year later couldn’t remember much except where the pits were.

Now before jumping in the car and heading over, a little bike preparation is required. Not much, but there are a few things that need to be done.

Required:

• Change anti-freeze coolant to distilled water
• Remove mirrors and turn signals
• Tape over headlights and tail light

Optional:

• Safety wire oil drain bolt and brake caliper bolts
• Change gearing
• Change tires

I will post another article with more detail on the above items, but for now we’ll talk about the track day itself.

Even though I’ve been to a bunch of track days, I always get a little nervous unloading the bike. Calabogie is far enough away for me to stay over night, and when I initially arrived (the day before) it started to pour rain! A storm blew in fast and strong, taking a few tents with it! But by 7am the next morning it was 17 degrees, the sun was shining and all of the water had dried up. Perfect start!

First thing you have to do is sign-in and get a tech inspection done on your bike. This does take a few minutes, and it’s best to pre-register and get there early to avoid line-ups. This is when you pick your riding class, of which there are three: Green, Yellow and Red… or as Sandy would say; “Fast, Faster, and Fastest… because we’re all fast.”

At Calabogie you also have to pass a sound test. Easy if your bike is stock, but can be more difficult if you have an aftermarket exhaust system or silencer. Last year I passed… barely. But this year the limits became more strict and my bike (with the same modified exhaust as last year) failed the sound test this year. Thankfully Pro6 Cycle carries a supply of “dB Dawg” silencer inserts. My R1 went from 113 decibels (dB) down to 97dB. That’s a huge difference! Cost about $80.00 for two dB Dawgs but worth every penny to keep tracks like Calabogie open for track days. And with an R1, I’m certainly not worried about missing a few HP.

Once through tech there’s a riders meeting to review the rules, flags and etiquette. Sandy and his crew run very professional track days, and are always working hard to keep them as safe as possible. Of course you must be willing to accept some risk, even though a track day is the safest place to push your limits and those of your bike. But it is still only a track day… not a race. As Sandy is fond of reminding us, “We’re all here to have fun. Please respect others out on the track.”

After the riders meeting, it’s time to suit up. Each session is approximately 20 minutes. So you usually get one session per hour, with 40 minutes in between to rest. With tire pressures set, it’s time to go.

Since it’s been a year from my last Calabogie day, I try to take it easy for the first few sessions. This is one long and technical track with many multi-radius corners, some of them blind. So the first few laps are spent learning which way to turn… left or right. By the end of the first session I’ve got the direction changes figured out, and I’m starting to work on lines while picking up the pace. This is where it really starts to get fun.

The pavement at Calabogie is beautiful. A special polymer modified asphalt, it is not the same stuff you find on the street. It is super smooth yet still abrasive, and while there’s lots of traction it is predictable. This translates in to confidence, and as the tires heat up you can lean the bike over further and further.

By the third session I’m starting to use 100% of the throttle on corner exits. With the gearing change (-2 teeth on the front), the R1 accelerates so fast it can be hard for the brain to keep up. Gear changes happen fast, and the speed is incredible.

With most of my lines figured out, I’m starting to feel more confident. Down the front straight speeds can exceed 200 km/h. Turn 1 is very fast. You don’t have to brake super hard going in, and you can skim the curb at 140 while accelerating towards turn 2….

Next week Jon will give you the blow by blow cornering technique as he learns the intricacies of the demanding Calabogie circuit

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