The FJR's little brother

Some of you might know already, but a friend of mine convinced me to get out on the track this year. I've been riding little sportbikes since I was 19 but never went onto a closed course before this year. I've been trying to convince Bugnatr to join me since the track is only about an hour from his house but I haven't got him to join in yet - he'll probably embarrass me when he finally shows up, but for now I can do the razzing

Anyway, here's a little video I made of my last day of the season at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. The track is in fantastic condition - the asphalt is smooth as its not torn up with bunch of drag strips or other courses where you end up with a lot pavement transitions and such. I've worked my way down to 2:20 as my best lap - just for reference the fast guys do something like low 1:50's so I'm still an absolute turtle, but I'm riding in the B group and seem to be somewhere in the middle. I've been a little surprised how many "more mature" guys are out there. I'd say that maybe as much as 25-30% of the people riding seem to be 50+. Interestingly there are also quite a few women riding as well - probably shows you what a chauvinist I am, but it did surprise me a little bit.

For those of you interested, I'm riding an '06 Ninja 636 all gussied up in Chinese race fairings off of eBay, painted with stuff called Auto Air Colors - very easy to work with and they have tons of colors. You need to clear coat with a urethane to get anything close to a smooth finish - since its water-based pigments you can't wet sand it.

Anyway, hope you like it....

No wonder I can't keep up with you. You never get passed!

Seriously though, looks like a blast.

Thats freakin awesome..... you need more cameras on that thing though.... hahahhah

Great Video - and looks like your having tons of fun on that super cool track.... !!!

thanks for sharing

Russ,

Welcome to the track day addiction. As one of the track day addicts in the 50+ age group, I've been of the mind that with age comes the funds to indulge in the activity. After doing this for about 15yrs I've probably gotten about as fast as I'm going to go but we still have a great time. I was at Thill in early September and had my first crash at the track. Had just finished my best lap of the morning and had the rear slide out exiting T5A. It was uneventful for me (bruised elbow and ribs) but when the bike slid off the track it hooked up and barrel rolled a couple of times (according to the on board video). I'm riding a '06 R1LE that I picked in 2008 for my 50th B-day, with the wife's blessing. I'm about 3/4 of way through rebuilding it after the crash. I'll be back on the tack next spring.

Here's my fateful last lapping ending with the tumble at T5A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfrMioZU1rk

Stay safe and enjoy.

Regards,

Gary

Nice vid, Russ! B)

I did a track day several years ago at Buttonwillow and really enjoyed it... a good friend of mine was our coach (ladies' group) and he'd take us out on the track on the back of his Wing and talk us through the track/turns/etc. via intercom before sending us out on our own bikes. He said he liked coaching women much better than the guys because they actually listened to what he had to say... :lol:

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="wheatonFJR" data-cid="1104824" data-time="1383583842"><p>

No wonder I can't keep up with you. You never get passed!<br />

<br />

Seriously though, looks like a blast.</p></blockquote>

That's the joy of being the star, director, producer and editor all in one. Actually watching the fast guys pass me like I'm standing still would get kinda old so I took some artistic license

I swear on a stack of bibles, if their were a track within an hour of me I'd own a dedicated track bike.

The most fun I've ever had with my clothes on and completely, totally addicting. Mind you, I ride like an old fart on the street.

Warpdrv said:

Thats freakin awesome..... you need more cameras on that thing though.... hahahhah
Great Video - and looks like your having tons of fun on that super cool track.... !!!

thanks for sharing

Click to expand...

Actually its only 2 cameras - a GoPro and a Polaroid cheapy (XS-100). I move them around to different locations in the different sessions then stitch them all together into a single clip so it looks more elaborate than it really is. I don't know how much faster i'm ever gonna be, so I'm thinking more about the camera work now trying to figure out how i can make it look more interesting.

st4gary said:

Russ,
Welcome to the track day addiction. As one of the track day addicts in the 50+ age group, I've been of the mind that with age comes the funds to indulge in the activity. After doing this for about 15yrs I've probably gotten about as fast as I'm going to go but we still have a great time. I was at Thill in early September and had my first crash at the track. Had just finished my best lap of the morning and had the rear slide out exiting T5A. It was uneventful for me (bruised elbow and ribs) but when the bike slid off the track it hooked up and barrel rolled a couple of times (according to the on board video). I'm riding a '06 R1LE that I picked in 2008 for my 50th B-day, with the wife's blessing. I'm about 3/4 of way through rebuilding it after the crash. I'll be back on the tack next spring.

Here's my fateful last lapping ending with the tumble at T5A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfrMioZU1rk

Stay safe and enjoy.

Regards,

Gary

Click to expand...

Wrecking at that turn on the off camber is something I think about every lap. i see some guys really push it there to pass on the outside but I'm pretty conservative there - I'd say convervative everywhere compared to the speed you seem to be carrying. Lookin' good!

Tyler said:

Nice vid, Russ!

I did a track day several years ago at Buttonwillow and really enjoyed it... a good friend of mine was our coach (ladies' group) and he'd take us out on the track on the back of his Wing and talk us through the track/turns/etc. via intercom before sending us out on our own bikes. He said he liked coaching women much better than the guys because they actually listened to what he had to say...

Click to expand...

totally believe that. I for example, won't ask for directions even when I know I'm lost.....

That's a lot of work putting those videos together, thanks guys!

Awesome Russ, thanks for sharing the day with us. Watching your vid makes me want to give it a try one day...hopefully I don't put my eye out!

--G

escapefjrtist said:

Awesome Russ, thanks for sharing the day with us. Watching your vid makes me want to give it a try one day...hopefully I don't put my eye out!
--G

Click to expand...

G, you should definitely try it at least once... it's a blast!! B)

Russ, Russ Russ. You suck, your bike sucks, Thunderhill sucks. Damn it! I wish I could have been there but as you know I was riding in Minnesota.

Looking real good my friend, do you have a full lap on the bike uncut? I would like to watch that.

2014 I will join you from the back with the SMT.

That was the coolest thing I've seen in a long thing at any price and free makes it awesome! Thanks for sharing! I wish I could...

A: Afford a track bike and...

2: Live somewhere near a decent track!

st4gary said:

Russ,
Welcome to the track day addiction. As one of the track day addicts in the 50+ age group, I've been of the mind that with age comes the funds to indulge in the activity. After doing this for about 15yrs I've probably gotten about as fast as I'm going to go but we still have a great time. I was at Thill in early September and had my first crash at the track. Had just finished my best lap of the morning and had the rear slide out exiting T5A. It was uneventful for me (bruised elbow and ribs) but when the bike slid off the track it hooked up and barrel rolled a couple of times (according to the on board video). I'm riding a '06 R1LE that I picked in 2008 for my 50th B-day, with the wife's blessing. I'm about 3/4 of way through rebuilding it after the crash. I'll be back on the tack next spring.

Here's my fateful last lapping ending with the tumble at T5A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfrMioZU1rk

Stay safe and enjoy.

Regards,

Gary

Click to expand...

Gary, nice vid. Isn't Thunderhill a blast? I have only been there a couple times but loved it.

You were carrying some nice corner speed. I agree with Russ about the off camber business in T5.

What do you think caused the front to wash?

Bugnatr said:

What do you think caused the front to wash?

Click to expand...

Looks more like the back washed.

Bugnatr said:

Gary, nice vid. Isn't Thunderhill a blast? I have only been there a couple times but loved it.
You were carrying some nice corner speed. I agree with Russ about the off camber business in T5.

What do you think caused the front to wash?

Click to expand...

The rear end came around on me. After watching my previous 6 laps on video, I was in the same gear/RPM and the same line. I think it was a marginal tire. It had 3 days on it already and I had debated about changing them before the event. I had a set of tires with me and planned to change them after the Saturday event, before riding on Sunday. With hind sight I wish I had replaced before leaving home. Or I simply ran out of the limited talent I possess for riding at the track.

Tyler said:

escapefjrtist said:

Awesome Russ, thanks for sharing the day with us. Watching your vid makes me want to give it a try one day...hopefully I don't put my eye out!
--G

Click to expand...

G, you should definitely try it at least once... it's a blast!!

Click to expand...

It wouldn't take much more encouragement after watching the vids. If the kid doesn't begin riding his Ninja 650 more, I'll turn it into a track bike!

--G