The Ridge Motorsports Park Track Day!

All right everyone listen up, if you are local to the PNW, you should go to the Ridge in Shelton, WA tomorrow and ride with me. I'm doing Optimum Performance Rider Training's last track day of the year there, and they're doing a few awesome things. One, it's only $150, use discount code KFG. Two,

OPRT introduces a "Taste of the Track" at our September 27th event at The Ridge Motorsports Park. Aimed at riders that haven't done at track day before and want to "try before they buy". This event offers people a chance to ride one full session on the track for only $20!

Inspired by WMRRA's "Taste of Racing", there's no better or cheaper way to get on the track for a session at one of the Pacific Northwest's most amazing race tracks!

We're only doing this at our September 27th event, and the session starts at 1pm. If you have friends that can't afford a full track day, have them come out to this event.

You need full gear, but for 20 bucks its a great deal to get 20 minutes on the track! pm me for details. and no, i dont work for them, i just want to get people to the track!
 
last one of my season so i'm gonna have fun with it, i shoulda posted about it awhile ago but i forgot, oh well, hope some of yall can make it!
 
Did my first track day on the fz1 in south Fl. First off the novice group had about 30 riders and the pace was pretty fast other than a few slow pokes. There was only passing on the straits, which there were two long ones. Surprised how many times I was blown by fully wound out. Once at 130 mph by a busa followed by another UFO about 5' behind him (scared the shit out of me).

Biggest issue is ground clearance. Never had a problem on the street but was dragging pegs on every fast sweeper. It really limited my confidence. The bike also felt heavy coming into turns. I could go much faster in turns on my ninja 650r (former bike).

For all the negative talk about the suspension it really didn't limit me. It has been adjusted from stock setting to suit me.

Overall not really trackable without rear-sets. I'm sure a great rider can make it work but I'm not in a hurry to track it again.

I'm interested to hear from experience with tracking FZ vs a supersport. Somebody that has done both.
 
well an fz1 isn't a top end monster, you'll pull em outta the corners but top end, not so much, its missing 20 hp from a 1000cc sport bike, plus once a busa gets wound up, it's fast!

and well the difference is this, your body position. you can rail a fz1 around a track with proper suspension set up. the reason its harder to turn is because its not a sport bike lol and as such the rider geometry being so different does make it harder to turn. you get your body off your bike and you wont be dragging pegs so easily. i used to drag hard parts a lot until fixing my body positioning and then it pretty much goes away. one of the fastest people at the track that day, has a 1/2" chicken strip on the sides of his tires, why? body positioning, he's keeping his bike more upright and being smooth. also, were you dragging your pegs or peg feelers? those things suck, take em off! however, it is a sport tourer, so there is a limit, and is not an ideal track bike (for numerous reasons)
 
Was dragging the feelers, didn't know that they came off.

What about the fun factor on the track? I don't know if it wasn't as much fun as i expected because I wasnt confident on the bike or just not comfortable on the track.

I have no frame of reference because I don't have much experience on true sport bikes.
 
For most of us mortals it really doesnt matter what you ride on the track the bike will most likely be better than we are. I started my trackdays on my FZ1 last year. I decided to get a supersport and dedicate it to tack use. Mainly because I love my FZ1 and would probably cry and not come out of my room for weeks if I wrecked it. I do get curious sometimes and think about revisiting the FZ1/trackday combo. Then again I took my Hawk out for a session and crashed it(rider error) this past Monday. A super sport is a little easier to finese but the FZ give you a feeling of acomplishment when you pass Duck's, Apes and Bimmers with it.
 
what a glorious day!

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