When I saw a couple of apparently standard 400/4s being raced at Chimay last year I was almost wishing I'd done the same... -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2 `\|/` `
In uk.rec.motorcycles, Beav belched forth and ejected the following: My point was that it'd not cross my mind, which it doesn't until I'm reminded about it. NAFAIK.
In uk.rec.motorcycles, Beav belched forth and ejected the following: You wouldn't, unless you binned it at the track first. I can't see it being fraud if you legitimately dropped it on the road, it'd be like having a bump in yer car but not claiming but then getting smacked by another and claiming then IYSWIM but then IANAL, either.
If you were either deliberately dropping it or claiming for damage done prior to the accident then yes, it would be fraud. -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2 `\|/` `
Beav said... That was my worry, but it really wasn't like that on the day. It's not a race and you just have to keep reminding yourself of that as you ride. If someone faster comes past you just accept that they are faster and wait for them to **** off into the distance[1], then when the track is clear enough you push your envelope a litle bit at a time until you really feel the need to back off. [1] Not that this happened to me much <he lied>
They had a new K4 in the showroom for silly money, so he relented. Better bike for what he wanted it for[1] anyway, IMO. [1] Trip round France with so much luggage he was almost invisible. -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2 `\|/` `
They weren't actually, racing. IIRC, they wre taking part in the classic parade (which, as far as I could see, was exactly like a race except the fastest bod didn't get to stand on a podium at the end of it).
The last trackday I did a lot of the riders in the slow group were only there because there weren't any places left in the fast group. I reckon that giving it full stick and scaring myself (and others) I was only in the top 10% of the novice group. It's not really a novice group when riders come into the pits in tears because it was so fucking nasty out there and I decided that I needed to be pretty fucking awful to even the score up a bit. The problem could have been resolved by having a word with the 'authorities' but it shouldn't have to be like that.
That's what I like (well, just one of the things I like) about Chimay: all these antique old gimmers, behaving totally irresponsibly and irrationally. I mean, you look at some of the greybeards there *hammering* some priceless museum piece, and you think what they must have been like in their teens, 50 or more years ago, being utter cunts on some hopeless horrible old Brit single or twin, with local Plod completely failing to catch them.
The Classic Parade at the TT was a hoot for the same reason. I watched it from Ballaugh Bridge. Seeing some old geezer on a bike older than my father, jump the bridge then land all crossed up and avoid slamming into the side of a house by inches was as much fun as seeing the racers doing the same thing later on more modern kit.
The one setting you should really get sorted beforehand is the sag, but that'll be the same for the track anyway. It's the most important baseline to get right, but the hardest to do. The standard setting is probably suitable for a 10 stone nip, not a 17 stone Verdi ;-) -- Krusty. http://www.muddystuff.co.uk http://www.muddystuff.us Off-road classifieds '02 MV Senna '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250
Oh. <Waits for Mike to comment> -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2 `\|/` `
I don't know about the actual range, but the fact that there is a fairly narrow range is definitely true. No matter how much damping adjustment you've got to play with, you're stuck with a single spring rate. As most bikes don't have a separate ride-height adjustment, people adjust that using the pre-load, fucking up the sag in the process. I reckon Maxton et al are the only answer if you're much[1] away from 10 stone, or trying to sort a bike that naturally handles like a shopping trolley. But strangely fascinating. [1] I don't know what 'much' is, but I suspect the percentage is more important than the actual rider's weight. I.e. a 16 stone rider on a Pan is likely to be closer to the zone than a 14 stone rider on an R6. -- Krusty. http://www.muddystuff.co.uk http://www.muddystuff.us Off-road classifieds '02 MV Senna '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250
If this helps, doing track days on the GSX-R helped me in the following ways : 1) It was fun. 2) It made me appreciate just how good the bike was 3) It helped my understanding of braking immensely (I tend to ride using the brakes as little as possible on the road - on the track this doesn't work very well, so it was very useful in that regard.) 4) Machine control (sounds odd, but I found it does take a bit more cooridination to get things timed a bit better for changing down, braking etc.) 5) By travelling at a much higher speed it made going "real" speeds seem much more comfortable - this meant I (felt like) I had more time to spend concentrating on the road than the bike going back to normal riding. In all I enjoyed it loads and I was rather slow - but not as slow as other people on bigger bikes I am seriously tempted to take the Strom on track, though I must admit I do have some concerns that in this case the bike may not be _quite_ as good as the GSX-R.
