NESBA dates for 1st QTR 2004
 

January 2004
1/31/2004 Jennings $125
February 2004
2/1/2004 Jennings $125
March 2004
3/13/2004 VIR-South $155
3/14/2004 VIR-South $155
3/15/2004 VIR-North $165
3/26/2004 Barber Motorsports Park $185
3/27/2004 Barber Motorsports Park $185
April 2004
4/17/2004 Blackhawk Farms $145
4/18/2004 Blackhawk Farms $145
4/17/2004 Pocono-East $155
4/22/2004 Road America $165
4/24/2004 Summit Point (Jefferson) $145
4/25/2004 Summit Point (Jefferson) $145

let the next few months break like the wind...pick up the track bike on christmas day. talk about a great gift.

repoe3

Repoe, which ones you thinking about hitting?

Yo dude,

Things in Hawaii going well. Little windy and rainy, but not cold and snowing! Want to get together when I get back. WOuld like to do one of the days in April maybe.......

Will call you when I get back arounf the 15th....

bolter,

sounds good. i would rather have (warm) wind and rain than cold crap we are getting. lets try an evening out with the girlies.

scott,
not sure yet, but i think the earliest i will be able to do one will be april myself. and taking the R6 to the jefferson circuit would be a good start since i have a feel for the track. it might take me till may to get the bike in order. once i told my buddy i was taking his bike on christmas, i warned him that it was not going to be the same bike after i was done with it. first thing is to take off everything that can be removed and sell it on ebay. only way i can produce cashflow from this thing. then fit skarkskinz and figure a wiring setup for retrofitting headlights, tailights and turnsignals. that should be fun. so for now i am considering jefferson in april as a start. and now that i think about it, the bike may need new tires by then as well. and the money pit begins.

repoe3

NESBA Member ID # 8824 - Competition Number # 57 :D :D

So you're gonna let me ride your ricerocket, Repoe? ;) :D

why would you want to ride my rice rocket now that you gots yourself a pasta rocket? i bet the falco has better performance all the way around. suspension is better, braking is better, etc. i mean you have inverted forks. dont even have that on the R6. if you come out with the falco and we swap sounds like a deal to me ;)

repoe3

That Falco is staying on the street in one piece. The Falco's not perfect either. The suspension needs work and the stock cans are a touch low for all out crazy trackday duty. Otherwise I agree, it'd run circles around an R6 with equivalent riders.

What I gotta do is get my Buell ready. That way I can go around slow and not have to prove anything :D :D

Repoe just keep thinking MITM 2004 combined with NESBA track days :D :D

I received the same email from NESBA about dates for the upcoming year last night, which put a cheesey grin across my face. I'm pretty positive I'll be signing up for one of the dates in April at Summit Point.
I would definitely like to go to VIR at some point next year, but am thinking the weather in early to mid-March may still be a factor. I don't think I'll be laying my money down on that one until I can get a look at the 10 day weather forecast.

carlos...i am looking forward to both next year.

kevin...i am with you about the weather during the first part of the year. would much rather have a better bet in the 2nd QTR.

repoe3

I still gotta get leathers...kinda funny story.

So I show up at Pocono ready to ride my buddy's Buell. I register, go to tech and the as shole tech dude sez...this jacket and pants don't zip together...you can't run. Nevermind that I had a back protector and everything was tight as sh it. So after I get the whole "it's for your own good yattayattayatta" talk, Moon the dude that runs NESBA sez "fu ck it...let him run like that." At that point the dude that runs Racedayphoto, Dennis Cuevas who's a big heavyset dude a touch worse than me, sez he's got a suit that he can lend me and to drive about an hour away to wilkes-Barre to get it. Well...guess what I did? Yep...I wore Dennis' fu cked up Vansons all day as well as his Zs custom boots. Lost a good two hours of the morning session, too.

well that was nice of NESBA and i do know that phot guy you are talking about. glad to see you some riding in. as for buell performance, there was an XB9 on the track with us and believe it or not he got the jump on me a couple times out of turn 8 when i tried to chase him down. the XB9 revs a bit faster than the S so it hit its topend faster, but in the end i managed to squeeze by at the end.

repoe3

When you were at Summit Point, wasn't Dennis out there taking pictures? I figgered you being the narcissistic dude that you are would surely notice ;) :D

Repoe, you forgot to mention that the XB9 guy ran off the course - twice I believe. The brakes must not be too good. :)

did he really. i never knew that. i was just a bit surprised when it took the length of the straight for me to get to the S's topend to take him. as for brakes, they are decent for the radial/rim mounted single disc. rode firebolter's and it does just fine. it really is a small package for the lump powering it. and i meant to say photo guy NOT phat guy...boy that made me look bad. was amused me was his endless loop of toad the wet sprocket playing on the stereo playing in the trailer.

repoe3

While in the spirit of good cheer and doing some Christmas shopping on the computer for my wife, I decided to spread the joy my way and went ahead and signed up for the Saturday date (4/24) at Summit Point. I came to the conclusion that picking up where I left off will be a good way to get back into it. Plus by paying for one now, I figure that won't count against the handful I had intented to budget for throughout the year.

Gosh, listening to myself does seem to support the idea that people with addictions use unsound logic to justify their habits.

funny, i thought the logic was very sound.

repoe3

Summit Point on the 24th? I think I can wing that.

The dates look like I can make it in for a Saturday track day.
Repoe, think you can make it?

I'll have to ride the bike in so I will need to borrow a can of gas. I could leave the bags on for a session just to see if I can hurt some feelings...

Actually, I've never been on a track before so I am sure to get my rump handed to me.

hmmm...well i may have to beg the girlie to let me go, cuz we just had a heart to heart about my spending habits and how unhealthy they are; unfortunately i am in agreement with her. looks like i wont be going to daytona in march, which i wasnt looking forward to it this year anyway. i think i will be able to pull that one off though. there is a glimmer of hope. in the past i would have dumped the girl first, but this one seems worth holding onto for a while.

as for gas. no worries. even if we all rode to the track, they do sell gas at the other track. abit expensive, but you can fill up with 100 octane. there are also some gas stations in the area to top off before you get to the track. if i end up trailering, then i will have my gas can as well.

push come to shove, i will strip the bike and ride it without anything but frame sliders. the control riders seemed to do that a lot. the R6 will need tires by then as well. so gotta try to figure that in.

dont think they would allow the bags on the bike while on the track. and believe me, you wont want them on there. aside from your pace already being spirited, you will benefit from leaning off the bike a lot more.

as for other riders, if will feel great knowing you are the better rider than some out there, but when they leave you in the straight just because their bike has more top end, it can be a tad frustrating. hold to your guns as it is not a race, but a position can be made up by braking a little later and passing them just before the turn. if you grid up with people you know it can be nice to see what kind of pace each other is doing and how they look. sometimes you get seperated by the control riders, though.

repoe3

Repoe,
Let me know what dates you are going to do next year. I plan to do a couple of days next summer. Most of them around the midwest but the ride across WV is good enough to justify doing a few out east. Andrea supports my bad motorcycle/spending habits quite well. I make sure she is well taken care to maintain this nice part of the relationship.

oh i take care of the girlie too, and she is very supportive, but in the big picture, i need to get a handle on my money and actually establish myself as a responsible adult rather. thankfully my 401k is healthy so the long term picture is fine (considering i have nearly 40 years till i see it), it is the short term that needs some improvement.

will let you know. hoping to get at least 6 in this year. i may just leave the bike roadworthy and let it get torn apart over time. it doesnt really matter to me as i dont care about the bike like i do the S.

repoe3

That's the wrong approach, dude. There should be no rump to be handed at a track day. You're there to learn and challenge yourself. Leave the macho sh it at home or for the backroads with your homies.

carlos is right. and to be very honest i was nervous as ***** when we rolled onto the grid for the first time. it took the three sessions before i felt comfortable and had a handle on what to expect. by days end, you will find yourself right on the a$$ of some squid on an R6 that parks it in the tursn and, at least i was, yelling at him to get out of the way. of course he could not hear me as i could barely hear myself. but it got to be that kind of thing over and over. even if you wont have leathers by then, cosider getting the soft side of velcro added to your pants or duct tape knee pucks on your pants. you WILL get a knee down a lot. beleive me, you will NOT want to get your cylinder heads down like you do on 211, the track actually will not be as forgiving, because you will think can really hammer it and reach the point of no return quicker. the up-side is that at least it is a conrolled environment.

carlos...so you see i aint made of money, i just need to start saving some ;)

repoe3

I had a total blast riding the Buell at Pocono East this Fall and that was my first experience riding. I'd get blown away on the back straight but I could really pull outta the bus stop. I learned so much about being in the right gear and trusting my front end that day.

I highly recommend that you read A Twist Of The Wrist by Keith Code over and over again before you do a track day and try to do some of the things he says on the street as well. I'm talking about the original book not the second and third books which I think are just poor rehashes of the first. Once thing that really helped me is that I have been consciously trying not to chop the throtle going through turns. You gotta really override this reflex (I'm still not even 80% on this yet). If you had to sum up all of Code's books in two words, these would be "throtle control." Everything else is kinda BLAH BLAH BLAH.

I put a shorter torque arm on the bike today. This should give me a touch more clearance. I will also put on the plastic protectors so I don't grind the heads any more than I already have. I'm worried that they are getting thin.

When I say getting my rump handed to me, I just don't want to get toasted by some 300lb old man on a Nighthawk 250. My dreams of the MOTOGP Championship would be dashed!!!

It's exactly some these old guys that WILL hand your as s on a platter. Just look at some of the "old men" here...Joe ;) :D

Go riding with Joe and you'll soon see his tailight getting smaller and smaller :D

The more the merrier.

Piggy-backing on what Repoe mentioned . . . While it's natural to feel a twinge of competitiveness in that environment, chances are you'll get into your own ride and not pay much attention to what others are doing. This past November was my first time on the track, and after the first two sessions of the day when a group of Introductory riders left, I found the traffic not too cumbersome. Even so, unfortunately you will have those riders who may not be as capable as yourself through the turns, but will blast down the straightaways on a faster bike making passing difficult at times. That just will make you want to practice/improve entering and exiting techniques. Worse case scenario, you just pull into the pit area for a moment to create some space.

I've briefly mentioned it before, but maybe this coming summer we could designate one of NESBA's track dates as a gathering for anyone on the board who's interested. Spend some time riding on a track and camping. Man, I'm ready for some warm weather.

So Repoe, you agree with my questionable reasoning, are having serious conversations about your habits with your girlfriend, hmmmm... Be careful if you walk into a room full of people you know. I've heard that interventions can be brutal.

My NESBA sessions at Pocono went "green" right away because it was a beautiful day and a Friday but the overall group was small. While this maximized riding time for everyone, I wish I hadn't been on the track with intermediates and experts all day...I kept getting blown away and I had a hard time gauging my progress. I tried to stay outta their way on the back straight, too. My buddy Buck finally got bumped to intermediate so his 2004 season will be very challenging and enjoyable without newbies like me creating "moving chicanes."

this is great...it is still december and we are talking track days, get togethers, etc. i will have to trailer to these things just so i can have the S there and fit in with the group.

i think the only intervention i might get surprised with will either be one to purge the demons from my soul or pry the gin bottle from my hand. work has been hellish lately and have been keeping bombay sapphire on hand in large quanities with the occasional low carb rolling rock they have out now. there is some dark pleasure in consuming the only type of liquor made from food that is poisonous in its naturally occuring state yet is oh so pleasurable with some tonic over ice...talk about revenge being a dish served best cold.

repoe3

I found it a strange sensation riding without my mirrors, not knowing what was happening behind me. This also makes it necessary to try and guage the movement of the rider in front of you when passing, keeping in mind they are oblivious to what you are doing. After awhile I felt more comfortable with it, but it takes a while.

Speaking of spirits... over the weekend I stumbled across a fantastic brew that I have been telling friends about - Auckland's "Premium Dark Ale." It's a product from a mirco-brewery in New Zealand and it is mighty tastey, just right for this time of year. You'll probably have to find this jewel at your local beer/wine shop as I doubt it's stocked in any grocery chain.

you guys are kind to refer to me as a moving chicane and not use my real name . . .

as for gas, if i'm at the track i'll bring extra.