well guys , the weather was astounding! i was less as i lowsided her at Combes ! i guess it was meant to be.. i think rider error as i got pritty close to the inside kerb and the front lost it as we both slid into the Kitty litter... damage is : punctured tank, right side clip on broken, head fairing gone, and the usal scratches ... other side is perfect! well, i m no litter virgin anymore and i Always knew it could ( so would ) happen. it got me thinking... is guess we'll end up with the front settings as they were and a stiffer spring... i mnot sure the change was a win and this event did little to improve on condifdance... i' ll post some pics soon... i'm fine apart from a bruised finger a bit stiff... now i know wht we carry leathers and a helmet...
tx lads , as glid says , it goes with the territory! the bike will be back in top shape will focus on getting her riding again as too many days planned and paid for.. I will get her all nice again this winter... grtz
There's something about falling off high-performance motorbikes. It must be one of the fastest ways to burn cash, at several thousand ££ per second of slide. I know that sound of scraping aluminium and smashing plastic (or carbon, I suppose) only too well. It's like hearing a cash register going Ker-ching! for several seconds. And then you have that sensation of wondering if there isn't a button somewhere where you can rewind that little bit of the film and erase it and replace it with a happier outcome where you make a different decision. I haven't found that button yet. When you watch GP racing on the TV and they bin it, they get up all pissed off with a sort of "dammit dammit dammit" body language, but you know that the bent bike isn't their problem and it's not going to bend their wallet to fix it either. How different it all is in the real world...
LOL , very accurate way of describing the experience... was big a dent in the day ... especially when i saw fuel dripping from the tank as i realised it was punctured... oouchhh... picked up a set of plastic racing fairing to conclete the season with... found an adress to fix the tank, ilmberger happen to have some racing fairing L/R/top having in stock... so she should be ok by the end of september.. again it was my mistake, clipping the cerb by 10 cm too short... lessons are that i'll go back to the previous setup , stiffening up the suspension, hightening of the damping ( in and out ) to slow her down. Strengthen the rear spring and drop the pivot at - 4... this should calm her down a bit... ultra flickable is good but a bit less flickable and more steady is better... .. the impact of setup is huge as i had done a 2:52 without realising it. Now had the pro pipe which is defenatly and improvement and thought to have done well below 2:50.; only to find out that i did do 2:53/54.... so not good. she felt much more nervous.. the pipe is a big improvement. it carries the Moto Rapido setup they had at Knockhill when they won.. the throttle is super mooth and even though it pulls very hard, it does not kick like the uncontrolable mule any more. It's all designed to make yards now... Luc dropped his time another 2 seconds quit easily.. tx to Steve Moore for a top job...pics show a nice start to a fab day, an unscaved left, and some destruction in the right.. got it on gopro so i'll humiliate and give myself some lashes soon ... thanks for your sympathy ...
Oh no Koen!! Still, we saw that guys 1199R down at Brands and he was cool about it as well. Bikes like this are meant to be used, and that's exactly what you do with it! At least you're OK, bikes can be fixed Just in time to be the forum bike of the year 2013 :wink:
brads, Spa is all they say it is.. it will Delight you and daunt you like no other track ... let's do a group day here next year !
Up for that. Not sure I'll be on a Ducati then but will be a fast macine either way...need to be if I wanted to keep up!
Brilliant footage. Thanks for sharing. Seems so unlucky to have binned it - you didn't miss by much! And only overtaken by one guy - what was that? Another Panigale?
Rik in full swing... It s Rik, a friend on a Pani base.. does a great 2:47 with it... and goes through traffic much better than i do... i think i once posted his theme i liked pritty much ...
ok , just to forget a bout it ... a lap at zolder ... our home track... ever so funny little track.. lot of stop and go... pritty physical and with some odd offs, rises and crests.... ntohing like cadwell though happy times are here again ...
Tell you what I cant get over in the vids, how wide and flat your bars look. Guess being a big guy you can have them that far forward. Wish I cold on 848 as it makes flicking side to side so much easier
i perhaps overdid it a bit throwing het to far inside and onto the side of the kerb... i ve been pondering if they aren't too wide.. sticking out is no improvement of aerodynoamics either, is it..
I found a pic that shows moment 0,5 seconds of the drop setting in... ouch ... it shows all the mistakes and is a real eyeopener... will post it asap as i have it... so , time for some decent reflection... mistakes are, as some already pointed out : to much lean as to not enough hanging off. give away : i had seen faster guys with less used front tires here and there, be it 17" instead of 16,5"... now the pic also shows me being on the outside limit of the kerb... this is probably what got me in the end but it shouldn't have... soem agree that the suspension should have coped and it didn't so.. to be taken into account. As i noticed, the bike flips over on a rate that if you throw her over forecefully, she very often ends up closer than intended. sometimes needing correction.. surely the wide bar setup contributes to that... looking back i somehow managed to get up to pace very quickly, wich tells a lot on the bike and probably some natural ease on the bike. But now i've hit my top so rapidly that it is now hard to go find the extra time without rethinking what i'm doing... one way is certain, doing it the same way will catch me out again as that is just a matter of time. And im willing to fund some tuition but not at this rate...LOL ... so, i'll have to get my mind around sort of starting over on riding techniques and set the bike up more to my ways... So , on the table is now 1. Get the bike back in track trim ( plastic) 2. Set her up with focus on stability – even when given up some flickability. And calm the head down. This will likely take us to: a. Get back on F on the rear linkage b. Drop the pivot point to -4 ( max) – find out if we then do need a stiffer rear spring. c. Go back to 10kg springs front and go look for right comp and rebound damping to slow the head down.. 3. Where can we find cheap time: faster acceleration and higher top speed. A lot can be achieved by adding a tooth in the back. This would bring it to a 42.. even on Spa I hardly hit 6th. Mainly due to me being heavy still ( 115 kg dressed is lots worse than 95 dressed, but still not light) and being rather wide, I do stick out from behind the bubble.. the top I ever had was 265kph , where as other go 285 in the same spot… so the pull of the extra tooth should help to go faster through the gears and get to 6th. It may also bring some engine brake back between EBC2 and 3.. now I come to think off it. 4. And then riding position. I’ll really have to focus on that one.. perhaps look for a way to rise the seat a bit to allow for a tad more leg room to be able to endure the stress better.. All I hope is that the new suit from Damen, while still allowing me to breath, will be tight enough around bum and legs so that any effort actually translates in movement on the bike. The tighter Daytona boots should also bring me a more stable and direct platform as the current ones are either to thin on the sole now ( the old ones) or to large and do not transmit gearchanges as they should leading to errors in that field. For the rest, I think the bike is close to what it can become. I think Steve from Rapido did a wonderfull job on mapping the throttleresponse and I love it like that.. so time is now to focus on setup and rider education let’s hope we can improve on them hand in hand. I’d hate for the learning curve to have hit it’s max already… ok who can we call ? Neil Hodgson? Simon Crafar? Werner Damen? They should be able to tell me a thing or two, no? just joking… i'll put the pic up asa i get it ! i won't hide in shame ...
