First day out an cut the gap with my buddies that would normally givr me 6 seconds on a 2 minute lap go pro was there so should give some nice vids shortly ... couldn t be happier
Good for you Kope, glad you have saw improvement so early on. Shows you that you are on the correct path (was going to say the right track but pun may have got lost in translation ). Good luck going forward and looking forward to the video. Davy
I ve rarely anticipated the outcome of some decisions as to the results they should bring more than at the eve of Monday 10th of march 2014, the first trackday of the 2014 season to be held at Circuit di Catalunya in Montmelo, Barcalona in Spain… including many a business or private life decision one tends to take in a 55 year long life.. I must admit that something of anxiety set in when going to sleep that night and that sleep was not deep … The decisions that were taken on the much debated, pondered over , heatedly discussed and oh so thorough development program that was finally implemented on that already overly powerfull bike had to bring 4 major things. First : a dramatic improvement of overall performance as to torque and top power. Secondly : a confidence inspiring revision of overall setup and suspension settings as to to facilitate the use of all that performance… thirdly , add the blipper system to solve the gearchange issue and maximise time to move around and keep that bike stable when using that power under ever faster conditions… then finally : create a platform that allows me to measure and compare the things we all talk so easily about . Braking points, lean angle , getting on the throttle, cranking it open. All with the idea to find the points to gain time in the safest of manners and so to keep overall risk to a minimum… ( thanks to Simon Crafar’s Motovudu for that insight.. ) So the list of things to do in Spain was long. If you include getting out of winter sleep I would have to get used to riding again but also riding and almost completely different bike spitting out more than 18 bhp and 20% more torque at 6500 revs and keeping it up all the way to the top.. and then I d have to handle my notoriously bad habit of letting go off the throttle and cruise to the corner before sort of braking… I’d have to learn to use al that braking equipment a bit as it was made to be used… something more easily said than done.. and then get to use the AIM RACE STUDIO 2 software between sessions so that when getting back home, it would be set up nicely for the next rides.. And when all that was done, at the end of the week, the result I secretly hoped for was to get close to riding with the buddies and no longer see them slip away and giving me 5 to 6 seconds on a 1:52 lap … J Valencia was not new as I did it on the 999 last year , but Barcalona was. And from what it could see on the many Gopro vids on Youtube, Barca is very fast but still very technical with long patches of the bike being fully leant over. And then that long straight with the last 400 m going downhill where 6th should hit the limiter.. pretty daunting… The first day did not start in optima forma as some nitwit managed to lose his oilcap within half a lap, spilling oil on the second 180 righthander. When I got by for the second time, I saw my mates Rik Pani lying on its side .. damn , crashing on the first session after a 1500 km drive , the session was Red flagged as 4 bikes went down… grrr.. Riks bike had suffered no real damage and he was back in the saddle by noon.. thank god.. Then second session and this would then be the test to see how I could handle the bike but even much more so : how would this silly pushbutton gear change system work. I knew that almost everyone was ultra-sceptical and expected me to take 2 days to get used to it. After the first faster lap , it became immidiatly clear that was onto a winner… the bikes reaction to the throttle was like transformed as to smoothness and pull at the same time.. winding the throttle open has it pull like a tractor as off 5500 and hitting hard as of 6250 all the way up to 10 where a next gear will lunge you forward.. I could feel the tires working hard and as the track was only 14° I knew they suffered.. it would show that chunks were eaten out of the front. Something new to me.. And then the button shift.. the system works so well that you take to it like ducks to water. The buttons weren’t setup properly for my hand so the only thing that needed attention was repositioning them to avoid cramp .. gloves changing the optimal position drastically … something to to later on… As I had ridden out of the pits 300 m before my mates Luc and Stef, I expected to come flying by after a lap or 2 but nothing of that kind happened. Even though they gave me a good chase and me still cruising to the corners , they just couldn’t reel me in .. J so after that session, I was over the moon. I had just done my usual stuff.. hitting my best time – and now a good time – just after a couple of laps on a brandnew track… a time that would take 2 days to improve upon.. 2:05:76 put me on spot 4 in fast group after that session. A place I d hold on to for more than a day.. J It was immediately obvious that the whole development schedule had gained me over 5 to 6 seconds as such without any improving on my riding style or riding in general. I can’t thank Steve Moore enough for the attention to detail and the immaculate mapping through all the exte time he put in to come up with this miracle of a bike.. not only is it the fastest by far in the paddock , the way he put it up makes it ridable/usable for someone of my limited skills and experience. Moreover, not once did the bike get upset or itchy. It felt nimble and lively but steady. It would wobble it’s head but nothing really worrying… I had arranged for Nigel Walraven, likely Dutch SBK champ to stick around and give me a very critical eye. Nigel was the fastest guy around at 2:47, a great sport and very good at pointing out my faults… Robin Duyzers from K Teck gave me the fools guide to the Aim Analyses Suite. And got me qoing on it.. having Nigels Data next to mine was a real eye opener.. he would be like 100 meters more on the gas per corner. Reducing being of the throttle by half… there was like no time lost between off throttle and hard on the brakes.. mine would more like .. ok, let’s roll of, shoft down a gear or two, now start braking, now really brake, roll through the corner and… now let s get back on the gas, roll it on…. Nigels, as all racers, would be like: open, shut,full brakes, loosen at the apex , open, whack it.. again , thanks Nigel and Robin.. It all came to fruitition when with Nigel pulling and pushing me around the track, I lost enough time to give him a 2:03 what would become a 2:04.288 .. Also new was the relative consistency of the lap times. With pretty shod front tire, this time still would set me up amongst the 4 of us.. with just a 1,2: second gap between us… keeping in mind that I was still not braking as I should have and that my bulk/weight does cost me 25 kph at the end of the long straight I was over the moon with that outcome.. another thing becoming clear soon was that coming out of winter, some PT would have been nice. J The Proshift had proven to be all it had to do. With the only remark that the buttons would be worse with a tad more firmness as they tend to look pretty sensitive with gloves on. And some fine tuning will be needed to make sure it goes all gears down. But this can be dialled in .. It did prove its prudence though as it is impossible to down-shift outside some safety margins. And getting the buttons wrong will not throw you of because of that. A quick glance at the front suspension travel confirmed what we already knew : either back of on the preload or finally get on those brakes. So : the message for Valencia was clear : get confident enough to slam those monstrous brakes. Valencia being the track that it is , it bode well and I was really looking forward to some major improvements.
Arrrggggghhhh, Why did that PS3 work for you....nooooooo I can feel a spend coming on... So happy for you m8, looks like its going your way, which is always nice when you commit so much. Grats and enjoy oh and keep posting. I'm at Catalunya in April, my 1st time as well so you have given me something to chase All the best Davy
We drove the 370 km to Valencia in good spirits all be it quit stiff.. a reminder that riding bikes in a spirited way is pretty physical. And perhaps should be left to the young.. Pondering the possibilities I was really looking forward to a shorter straight and the technical aspect of the track. The low down pull should give me an edge there .. J I vowed to get flatter on the tank as well. The chance of no longer being the slowest of our little pack seemed feasible. The more we drove, the cloudier it became at the temp dropped to a mere 9°c .. apparently Valencia was the only place in West Europe to suffer a depression and it was wet. Really wet.. I did take the 999 but decided that the chance of having to ride Spa in the wet was also very real and opted to ride the Pani on wets. Practice would be helpful.. and what was there to fear.. Steve had mapped a wet setting on full HP but with an ultra-smooth delivery.. DTC at 5/6 would solve the grip issues at the rear. As the pro’s we dropped 2 mm ( 2 ful turns) of preload and 3 clicks on Comp and Rebound. A 2 minute job that would make quite a bit of difference. The softer front would accommodate more gentler braking and take away pressure from the front tire. So all was well even when the weather wasn’t . Stef and especially Luc were flying in the wet dropping lap times with whole seconds and I must admit that the cool in the wet I normally have on the 999 evaded me.. for some reason I couldn’t find the balance and we kept off the pace. Then the DTC dropped away without me seeing it and going deep on a right hander and getting on the gas coming out of it , the grunt did its job and the bike had a full go at spitting me of .. the back stepped out big time and I ended up checking whether my headlamp was on over the handlebars , cracking the bubble on the way… miraculously, I managed to stay on but needless to say that the spirit to go for better times was gone. We solved the issue by putting some bits between brake disk and the sensor-ring. After that, all was well again, but it took the rest of the day to get the confidence back.. when the rain stopped, I had another go and eventually I managed to do an Alstare Phillip Island qualifier : Waiting the right moment to put in the best time of the bunch of the day.. J 2:03.. it needs to be said that the track was drying up by then.. Fiddling with the AIM software in the meantime revealed the lean angles that were modest.. The gps that hadn’t worked on top of the carbon sub frame was put on top of the steering-damper and now did its work. So we could now see the track and the data together. Bit by bit we were finding out about this rather complicated We were all hopefull that the next day would be dry so we could get on with focussing on why we were here for : mastering that bike on a technical track.. setup was brought back to basic with 4MM PL and 13 Comp and 15 REB. The rain went away but the cold kept the damp patches alive and kicking. It would take till midday and some wind and sun for them to disappear. And at 8°C track temp , some patience was a good thing. Still , the first full session showed that I could keep up with the rest of our pack at 1:56.00 .. and at the midday session, those time dropped to 1:53.00 The setup revealed some pronounced weaving at the back upsetting the front on the long fast sweeper at the back before the straight. Luc advised on 3 clicks Comp and Reb and that actually did solve that. The heavier spring ( 101 measured kg) did it’s job wonderfully and is def the way to go. The pace was picking up and eventually times were running in a steady low 1:52. Valencia has some nice braking areas coming from 180/210 kph. This is less daunting that having to do a 90° turn coming from 270.. so confidence grew and we got used to getting on the brakes later and harder. Some of that braking was under slight lean and it felt good to feel the front digging in and the bike keeping nimble and still steady.. It must be said that here the Proshift did a top job . Allowing the do an ultra-smooth clutchless downshift from 3rd to 2nd under braking and lean.. not something I would have done manually. Especially with the 15/42 gearing that proved to be just a tad too short. Another thing that became obvious is the impact of it all on overtaking. It now was easy to put the bike up for an overtake and shoot out of the corner. Again, this is where the extra pounds an bulk did come very costly before the makeover as it is very hard to get back the 10 meters you loose coming out of each corner. There were quit some well setup Panis on the track and to me the difference was very much clear. As to elasticity, Stef – 15 kg lighter and 1 foot shorter on his PRO prepped R is the norm. No one seems to be better in place on a Pani than Stef. Even coming out of the corners together , I would be able to keep uppish till 210 kph but then the aerodynamics would give him a 20kph advantage by the end of the straight.. or 20 meters. Before , that was 60 meters… The AIM was showing the right stuff as now the gap between Throttle and braking was reduced drastically.. I also discovered the general truth that keeping on the gas would have the bike turn shorter. Another thing learned. Then fatigue sort of took the edge off it. At that moment I was 4th fastest in the 30 riders group with Stef second , Rik 5th and Luc 6th. I felt the concentration slipping and called it a day at improving the lap times. Stef dropped below the 1:52 to 1:51:9… and Rik beat us all eventually by dropping to 1:51:28.. the funny thing is that Rik did this in the last session and on a pretty stock Base with a blown Marzocci without any rebound damping… J So he put in the best performance of us all by a wide margin… I t was nice to see that that all 4 off us ended up within 1:2 seconds off each other. Looking back at the week, I was utterly pleased with the result of the winter build. All aspects came together is I had imagined and hoped they would. Every part was implemented as close to perfection as possible and did it’s job wonderfully. Even the eyebrow raising odd ball parts, the PS3, brought me exactly what I expected from it. Mainly more time to move around on the bike, simplifying the things I am notoriously bad at and assisting me in handling what surely must be one of the fastest Panis around. As rideablity is the key to performance and safety.. So now wonder its hard to take the grin off my face… Next step : changing the broken bubble for the bigger 2014 race version and still hoping to figure out how to put a shorter throttle on it. As that last 7° turn does seem to cost a lot of time still… also a set of 14 and 40 and 41 sprockets to compliment the 15/42-43 set.. Can’t wait to put her on Brands and Donington … Still : to put everything in perspective : Werner Daemen – BMW factory IDM team manager and still record holder at Spa - hadn’t ridden a bike in3 years . When he jumped on a customers Beemer, he hit a 2:42 within 1 session. .. ouch…
Awesome stuff big man. Love the vids and seeing your confidence grow as you motor round the track! Jeez does that motor pull.....
just to prove that the AIM datalogger is actually used: the colors on the track show the lean angle on the fastest lap i did .. reveals that i left a lot of time in the first left corner and the long sweeper as i hardly hit 11° .. other data : GPS, front and rear wheel speed throttle opening and brake pressure front and rear suspension travel ( rear needs recalibrating as the pod came loose) and gear and revs nice to see is the rev - blips when coming down the gears while under braking at the end of the straight..
lean angle = abs(atan(GPS_LatAcc) * 180 / PI) i applied it to a math channel on the GPS LatAcc and up came the rea lean angle as it should be calculated. this is what came up.. lean jumped form an ultra comfy max 38° to a less reasurring 53° max... must admit is scared my self a bit there... ..
