Central Sierras 5/19 and 5/20/07

I spent the past weekend in the Sequoia's with 10 companions from SCS on an extended group ride. The Central Sierras is home to some of the state's best roads, even if you've never experienced them yourself, just a quick look on google maps blows the imagination away. Twisties like that are hard to come by, and guys get excited about roads that are 1/5th the length and a lot more crowded and a lot more dangerous (aka Palomar or Malibu).


The 10 of us found our way to Three Rivers, CA, which is a small town on the shores of Lake Kaweah and minutes away from Sequoia National Park. Hwy 198 runs from the 99 through the park to CA 180, which links to Kings Canyon and Fresno. It's a pretty busy area, as people from all over come to visit the majestic redwoods and experience the natural spectacle of the Sierra Nevadas. On a touring bike it's a beautiful way to experience perfect May weather, scenery, and lots of other tourists. On a balls-to-the-wall sportbike, the scenery is a consolation for the 5mph traffic crawl (just enough to keep you from going crazy), but once you get through the park (which i advise that you skip altogether, due to the traffic and the fact that a federal speeding ticket is not a good thing), it opens up into some beautiful riding. Whizzing through the trees at a modest 80 mph is a pleasant blur of green. Pictured above is our "welcome to the park" lecture by Park Rangers, who probably knew we might be up to no good...

Once through the park and onto the 180, we took a detour to Lake Hume, and eventually found our way to CA 245. CA 245 is the most twisted, technical, challenging road i have ever seen. It runs from CA 180 (elevation 5000 ft) to CA 216 (el. 1000-ish), so you have elevation changes, 4 distinct sets of scenery (High Altitude Forest, to low grasslands), 31 miles of twisties, and nary a cage from one side to the other. In the middle of the road, there's the "Mountain House Saloon" that has some of the best cole slaw around, and a place to kick up your boots and watch a MotoGP race, if you're so inclined.

The road requires that you work your ass off getting the bike back and forth, in the upper section, your butt barely gets settled on the seat, as you toss your body around getting the bike to whip around the continuous switchbacks, tight hairpins, and banked, linked turns. It's some of the most intense riding around, and it doesn't stop unlike pally or little T. It's tough to carry more than 40 mph, but the road is relatively clean, and doesn't have any weird offcamber turns or excessive potholes. I found myself struggling with some of the really tight hairpins, as it was difficult for me to carry much entry speed without knowing what lay in wait for me midcorner, but getting a knee down is almost a foregone conclusion--right before you have to flip it around to the other knee to make the next turn. This road is not for novice riders, and is not for the faint of heart.

Getting to 245 takes about 20 minutes from Three Rivers, and 3.5 hours from LA. Hotels in the area are plentiful, but it bears emphasizing that having gas cans is necessary for bikes without a lot of range. Also having a support truck was essential to enjoying the day--in case a bike goes down or if you want to bring tools or extra visors or snacks with you on your trip.

This road should be a destination for every rider on the West Coast, but bear in mind that it's isolated, but not completely uninhabited. I'm sure the locals wouldn't be thrilled about 50 sportbikes buzzing through their neighborhood at high speeds and putting them in danger--that doesn't mean you can't have fun, but as always respect nature and the inhabitants of your favorite twisties, and don't wear out your welcome.

Trackday 5/11/07

Today was my first track day on a bike at buttonwillow.



I spent all of last week getting the f4i ready for the track. fixed a bunch of little things that needed fixing (throttle cable was broken, painted the tank, got the track plastics on, etc) and doing maintenance. I mounted some supercorsa take offs with a lot of meat on them (but possibly heat cycled to death, as suggested by the guy at cycle gear, whom i don't completely believe, but whatever).



The weather today was a warm low-80 degree day in the central valley, and we left at 4:30am to get to the track at around 7. met up with a bunch of people from the local sportbike board and got situated. I ran w/ dial it in, which is a good group to run with. I was signed up for the new rider class, which i thought might be a waste of time and not a real class, but i was wrong. dial it in's new rider school is definitely worth the money, as it involves real instruction on track and in the classroom, and it definitely helped me get faster throughout the day.

the first session was a parade lap of sorts w/ my instructor, as i was shown a conservative line around the track. BW is a challenging track; in a car i never really got comfy w/ turns 2 and 3 (off-ramp and cotton corners), and the same applied on a bike. The difference though, was that i was very comfortable with the rest of the track which never really happened in a car (going over lost hills in a car is much scarier than it is on a bike, at least at my speeds), and especially liked the bus stop-riverside-lost hills complex (as it caters to my ACH-inspired love of sweepers), as well as the sweeper that replaced star mazda in today's config. It was really easy for me to pick out good reference points and maintain a good rhythm throughout the day through turns 4-11.

the F4i was hauling today. by the second and third sessions i was wringing out the throttle through the straights, and she was pulling like an ox. the suspension needed some tuning, as the rough spots on the track tended to disrupt the chassis more than it should have. my body position needed a little tweaking, as my instructor was telling me that i was doing the "only hanging off w/ your butt/shoulder twist" even though i was conciously trying not to do that.

I put a knee down for the first time in turn 10 in session 3, and continued to feel better about my riding. the next classroom session helped me finally figure out where to start when it comes to braking, shifting, setting up for the turn, and body position. I put it all together in session 4 and really started riding w/ confidence and good speed. I still had rhythm issues through #2 and 3, but everywhere else on the track i felt faster and faster. However, as i leaned the bike over more, i realize that i was starting to drag my pegs more and more. The f4i needs some new rearsets for improved ground clearance, b/c even with my knee out there (w/ good body pos) the pegs seemed like they'd touch down right about at the same time as my knee.

This is unfortunately what finally took me down in turn 3 towards the end of session 4. Going through the last L of turn 3 i caught my peg, hit some of the bumps, washed out the front, and lowsided at about 40-50 mph (not sure). A really leisurely slide into the dirt, and i popped up right away to get off the track. They red flagged the track, and when i picked up the bike to load it into the truck, i saw the carnage: destroyed right clip on, really badly dented tank, and destroyed R fairing. Gas/oil? leak, and possibly more since i haven't conducted an autopsy yet. The bike was laid down on the left side, but flipped onto its right side as it slid into the rumblestrips, which did alot more damage than the initial slide. My lid was lightly scraped (as i didn't really hit my head at all), and my left glove torn. the suit held up wonderfully, as did my Setup boots (for all those wondering about the crashworthiness of $129 boots, they held up fine, though this wasn't the most
dramatic get off).



I got to paddock and unloaded the bike, and changed into my shorts and got in for the last classroom session. talked to my instructor afterwards and we brainstormed about what happened and how i can prevent it. So in the end, though i crashed i think i learned something from it (without paying the price in blood). and came home in good spirits, itching for the next chance i get to get on track. i'm thankful it wasn't the 675 out there, and that the f4i now has some new graphics that are appropriate to a track bike =)

for all of those put off by the cost and time to prepare for a track day, forget all of that. once you go you'll wonder why you didn't do this earlier.

observation

I didn't make this past weekend's ride, so no new post regarding actually riding the crest, but i did post up at the shell in the truck to see if could catch the guys as they came back down.

I didn't, but i did see at least 4 or 5 different groups of riders make their way up the crest. In jeans. and tank tops. sometimes with a pillion, in similarly undergeared attire. While i wouldn't be surprised if it was huntington beach, i can't imagine why ANYONE would go to the crest (or any other canyon) w/o at least a jacket and some jeans. It's bad enough when us leathered guys crash up there, but when the squids go down, i'm sure it's much much uglier.

also, it appears that the 405 is the official freeway of squids. driving around the westside on saturday, i saw a bunch of guys wearing nothing but a stupid icon armor vest or a t-shirt+back protector. honestly, when you go down with such things, the parts that they actually covers aren't the parts you have to worry about. what good is a unrashed torso when your arms are gone? think, people, think.

OT: the trackbike

The trackbike is now ready. well, mostly ready. Finally got all the pieces together, and though it's a ramshackle collection of bolts from the magic bucket, zip ties, and various other "homemade" solutions, it runs, from far away it's kind of pretty.

I probably should have gotten the forks done, b/c i doubt the fork oil has ever been changed, but i'll take care of that before the next trackday, along with a 520 conversion and some new sprockets.

Riding it down colima (very briefly) and cracking open the throttle exposes another problem though. The steering gets pretty light at WOT, and a steering damper's going to be a high priority. hopefully, it doesn't tankslap my ass on friday, but we'll see.

I'm not a big sticker fan, but i'm also not a fan of all the blemishes on the paint job, so the stickers are there to distract people from noticing the drips, swirls, or fingerprints that inevitably surface when you rattlecan plastics.

i'm very excited about this coming friday. just need to figure out how to tie the thing down and we'll be good to go!

my garage

It's actually messier than that if you go into it.

What you see pictured is:
01 SV650, currently running and the official "errand" bike (Left)

02 F4i, in 1million pieces and getting the trackday treatment.

07 daytona, whom you know.

The F4i used to be red/silver, but i've repainted her an off-white, in honor of honda's "Championship White" -- The only shade of white that belongs on a car/bike. the F4i's currently getting overhauled and made track ready (though not safety wired) with some new parts, like the Ti Yosh RS3 full exhaust, new tires, and removed OEM parts. I'm pretty excited to ride it, because it'll be at least 10-15 lbs lighter than it was in street-legal form, has the bling new exhaust, and will look pretty cool in 100% offwhite with the black frame. I've still gotta do the 520 conversion and gearing change, but it'll wait a couple months before that happens.

anyway, i need a throttle cable to be able to finish her up and put her back together and do some highly illegal test runs down the G-G loop.

Ride Summary 4/28/07

Made it to the SCS ride on saturday morning with Vin, after a wonderous morning in the company of a special someone. I didn't get much sleep the night before, and was pretty hungover, something that set the tone for the whole weekend.

This saturday's group was a little smaller than usual, but a good group of guys that ended up being fully assembled at nukes to discuss our upcoming 5/18 trip to the central sierras. The ride up to nukes up the front side was really trafficky for 9am on a saturday. Worse than that, a few cars refused to make room for the group of bikes, and did an appalling 35 mph up the crest. Usually with a small group of riders, there are places where riders can pass (illegally, albeit safely, though still nervewrackingly), but when you've got 10-20 bikes, passing a car is a bit of a pain. Driver courtesy on the crest is generally pretty good, as most of the people that usually drive that road (the bicycle guys, hikers, and residents) know that motorcycles rule the asphalt, whether they like it or not. In return, we generally express our gratitude and all is well. But when slower traffic refuses to use turn-outs like they should, it's incredibly frustrating. So as a note to the non-riders out there, please use a fucking turnout if you've got 12 bikes riding your ass.

The ride out to the tree was a controlled down 9 mile. Stout was said to be waiting there (9 mile ends up being a fav. speed trap because it requires you HAUL ASS to have fun on it) so when we passed him at the 6 mile mark, we knew we were in the clear. The guys in the front TOOK off, and i was hardpressed to keep up without feeling a little uncomfortable. I figured i'd start hauling up forest with the fast guys.

Immediately i realized that i didn't have what it took to stay with the lead group up forest. I had a scary moment going into a blind left hander, where i couldn't get the bike leaned over enough, started to drift out/target fixate, and had to grab some front brake to keep me on the asphalt. It was a dumb mistake, and one i was probably going to make given my tired/hungover condition, and at that point i tuned it down and took a more relaxed pace up Forest. I got a mild dressing down from L at the tree who told me i was riding over my head and to get it together, and i agreed.

I couldn't stay at the tree for too long as i had to be back home in time to get ready for a wedding later that day. V and I rode back with a new guy, and made it off the crest in one piece. The freeway ride back was excruciating in leathers and the 85 degree heat and weekend 210 traffic. We got back to the E. 626 tired and anxious to get off the road. Making an innocuous left turn V went down. Apparently he hit a patch of gravel in the drainage path of the intersection, somehow got into the lowest speed tank slapper of all time, grabbed some front brake and highsided into the curb. I was in front of him so i saw it in my rear view, and went back to see if he was ok.

Thankfully he was wearing full gear, so he was totally fine, though his ego bruised. His bike was ok with the exception of his stator cover, shift lever, and frame slider, but was rideable. His helmet looked pretty beat up, as he went head and shoulder first into the pavement, and his leathers were a little scratched, but not seriously. Had he not been wearing his suit, or gear at all, he could've been pretty bloody, so log this as another occasion where GEAR SAVES YOUR LIFE.

I'm taking a self-imposed vacation from the canyons until after my track day on the 11th of this month. I'm eager to do a track day write up and talk technical about riding form and all that and i hope someone out there is taking good pictures...