Pictures of Laguna Seca Track Day


brownwa

New Member
Just finished my first ever competitive track day yesterday. Laguna Seca was way WAY harder than Sonoma, because of the straight aways. Also uploaded a track map with my notes from the instructor sessions. Actually I was able to start lapping people by my 4th session because I was camped out by the Pirelli tire truck. I found my tires on their pressure chart, set the PSI and was glued to the track. A LOT of the bigger bikes wiped out from over cooking the corners. I considered it a victory coming home with the bike still shiny :D

Photo Album
 

mike

New Member
Just finished my first ever competitive track day yesterday. Laguna Seca was way WAY harder than Sonoma, because of the straight aways. Also uploaded a track map with my notes from the instructor sessions. Actually I was able to start lapping people by my 4th session because I was camped out by the Pirelli tire truck. I found my tires on their pressure chart, set the PSI and was glued to the track. A LOT of the bigger bikes wiped out from over cooking the corners. I considered it a victory coming home with the bike still shiny :D

Photo Album
Man! Looks like you were getting on it pretty hard by the looks of that tire. lol How did the bike feels on the track? Been wanting to take mine just to get my skill level up but im in VA so not to many track days around here.
 

brownwa

New Member
The bike handles exceptionally well on the track. Seriously the secret was the tire pressure. Setting it to 30 psi front and 28 psi rear allowed me to keep up and lap some of the sportier bikes. My suspension preload was at 3 and it still held up surprisingly well. So long as you hold the throttle steady in the corners you can lean the bike all the way over to the pegs. Rubbed my foot on one corner which kind of surprised me.

What also helped me was having an instructor show me the racing lines for my first two sessions. Actually I think you could ask any experienced rider to let you follow them for a few laps. Once I knew where to brake I was able to take the corners with confidence. Hence the melted tires.
 

Marthy

World Most Bad A$$ 6R
Elite Member

Vath

New Member
I never realized the 2015's have a different handlebar around the back seat cowl until I saw your pics. I like it a lot!

You got some sweet pics man. Looks like an absolute blast!
 

JBAX

New Member
WOW. Very Exciting. Also did my 1st Track day in northern CT Monday May the 4th. Was way more fun and eye opening than I had imagined. No pics yet, and I am almost anxiously embarrased to see what I look like out there.

Definitely going back to do more track days.
 

brownwa

New Member
WOW. Very Exciting. Also did my 1st Track day in northern CT Monday May the 4th. Was way more fun and eye opening than I had imagined. No pics yet, and I am almost anxiously embarrased to see what I look like out there.

Definitely going back to do more track days.
Yeah me too, definitely doing more track days. What was your suspension setting and tire pressure btw? For a track day noob my suspension set at 3 worked out really well, but I'm curious to hear what others experienced.
 

JBAX

New Member
suspension was at 3. tire pressure was 30F and 30R cold. They heated up each session, max I saw was 36-37 and dropped to 33R and 31F. When I got home and they cooled down completely they were at 27R and 25F. I have Pilot Powers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

lytehouse

Super Moderator
Great pics.....what do we have to do to persuade you to enter one in the bike of the month contest?
 

Chucker

Active Member
Yeah me too, definitely doing more track days. What was your suspension setting and tire pressure btw? For a track day noob my suspension set at 3 worked out really well, but I'm curious to hear what others experienced.
I've beefed up my springs to match my weight, and I set the preload at 5 for the track, 4 for the street. I get 25mm of sag front and rear at 5. I set my tires at 28-30 PSI (Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIs). Works perfectly like this, but I find I need to remove my sidestand as it hits on most left hand turns. I also have Rizoma racing pegs, which makes the bottom of the pegs about 1-1/2" higher than the stock pegs with the feelers removed.
 

brownwa

New Member
Great pics.....what do we have to do to persuade you to enter one in the bike of the month contest?
I had no idea there was a bike of the month contest :confused:
In that case I'll enter the below pic, just point me in the right direction to submit it.



Mods:
  • Shogun frame sliders
  • T-Rex swing arm spools
  • R&G engine sliders (extremely difficult to find)
  • Motodynamic flush mount turn signals
  • Motodynamic smoked integrated tail light
  • Custom fender eliminator by Customized Bike Parts
  • LED turn signal mirrors (generic eBay ones)
 

brownwa

New Member
I've beefed up my springs to match my weight, and I set the preload at 5 for the track, 4 for the street. I get 25mm of sag front and rear at 5. I set my tires at 28-30 PSI (Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIs). Works perfectly like this, but I find I need to remove my sidestand as it hits on most left hand turns. I also have Rizoma racing pegs, which makes the bottom of the pegs about 1-1/2" higher than the stock pegs with the feelers removed.
Those Rizoma pegs sound like a good call, I touched a foot on a right hand turn. How do you like the Pirelli Diablos versus the Dunlop Q2s? The Q2s seem to be the preferred tire on this forum. Great track day pics btw, I need to invest in racing leathers with knee pucks and learn how to knee drag.
 

Chucker

Active Member
Any racing style pegs will do the trick.

I love the Rosso IIs. The first time I used them was at the track and my first session scared the crap out of me because I kept having hard parts and my toes touching down and wasn't used to it. I bumped my preload from 4 to 5 and removed the sidestand and then it was just my toes touching from time to time.

I've never tried Q2s, so I can't compare, but I will go with Rosso IIs (or IIIs if they have them) next time. I don't do a lot of commuting, so I don't have a squaring off issue. I'm sure I would if I put a lot of highway miles on them.
 



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