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Through an odd series of events, I ended up with a last minute invite to a private track day at Beaver Run (just a bit north of Pgh) on Wed. It wasn't an organized event, about 20 people with no time limits (run all you want from 11a to 430p when the ambulance and corner workers leave)

Gotta say it was completely awesome. Put in about 45 laps, wasn't anywhere near what anyone would consider fast (esp considering most of the group was local racers), but faster than I'd ever ridden on the street. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life, placing a close 3rd to my first solo flight and the birth of my daughter - it was that much fun.

My 12 1/2 year old bike held up just fine and was actually begging for me to give it more. Even with stock suspension and near stock brakes it handled great - no "oh crap" moments. Needless to say I'm now hooked and already shopping for some upgrades. Stock rotors are going bye-bye and the R1 calipers (that I bought 6 months ago) are going on.

We need more pics!

Unfortunately, I was an idiot with my digi-cam and forgot to move it from it's "general" setting to the "action" setting so alot of the pics came out blurred. Beaver Run isn't real conductive to photography as the paddock/spectator area is a fair bit away from the track, and there was no track photographer on hand since it wasn't an organized event.

Here are a couple more that did turn out half-decent:

More of me and the 750







Friend and "trailer buddy" Andy at the end of the day



Friend and local racer Matt, who did a little "lead and follow" during the day and really helped me alot




This is about the busiest the track got all day




Andy felt the need to get a little too throttle happy coming out of 10




And what really made the day complete. I had never been able to do that to a front before.



Note that Beaver is almost all right turns. There are a total of 4 lefts on the cicuit, but 2 of them are nothing more than high-speed kinks on the front and back straights. I had learned that some guys will actually flip their tires around and run them as long as it was dry - gave them almost double the tire life.

Nice photos. That looks like a great day out on the track !!

Don

I love when you guys post track day pics, gets me pumped to go out and run some corners, then I remember you are in a controlled environment, little chance of oncoming cars or animals, so I snap back to reality and just wish I could join in. Unfortunately, the FZR is no longer set up to turn on a dime and give you change back, so she is out. The Katana would be fun though, it handles pretty well, even though the C.O.G. is pretty high and she would NEVER be as fast as the Gixxers and CBR's and R6/R1's would be. However, I dont even know where the nearest road course is (maybe someone can tell me, I am located in north east/centeral Iowa)...

Bike looks good, even with the 3M blue tape on the lights. LOL Just curious, is it possible to shred a tire like that on the street? Or do the turns on the tracks have extra grooves cut in them for water drainage???

Yes you can do that on the street.

Road America?

I just picked a city in NE Iowa.... From Davenport to Elkhart Lake is about 280 miles.

WickedFZR1K,

How about the Mid America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, IA ?
http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Mid_America_Motorplex
or
the Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA ? It has an infield road course.
http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Iowa_Speedway

Anyone else looking for motorcycle tracks in the USA can look here:
http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Tracks_i ... Of_America

For motorcycle tracks elswehere in the world - look here:
http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Don

WickedFZR1K wrote:Unfortunately, the FZR is no longer set up to turn on a dime and give you change back

The FZR can be setup/tuned to be surprisingly nimble for it's weight with suspension upgrades and improvements to unsprung weight (brakes, wheels). It's midrange power/torque curve is an advantage but newer RR class bikes will have a weight/braking advantage and top end RPM/HP advantage. Some of the braking advantage can be overcome with FZR brake system upgrades. Still it will be near impossible to outclass a new RR (Race Ready) bike that essentially is a track bike right out of the box. I say near impossible instead of impossible because rider skill and track layout also makes a difference. But the FZR upgrades for the track also make it a wonderful bike for the street and twisties. Depending on the road, the extra weight and wheelbase allows the FZR to handle the streets/roads/twisties better than the light/tight short wheelbase RR bikes.

Another important consideration for another bike, other than your FZR, for trackdays is the availability of aftermarket parts. The supply of aftermarket parts and the new technologies (FI mapping, slipper clutches, etc ...) are only available for the new bikes. This gives the newer bikes another distinct advantage for the track.

Don

Don, I think he uses his FZR for the Drag Strip, hence the no longer turns on a dime comment, but I'm not 100% on that. I'd have to re-read a bunch of posts.

I've been kicking around the idea of a small (600) track bike. Prolly a late-FZR/early-YZF knowing me.

WickedFZR1K wrote:Bike looks good, even with the 3M blue tape on the lights. LOL Just curious, is it possible to shred a tire like that on the street? Or do the turns on the tracks have extra grooves cut in them for water drainage???

No grooves cut into the track, and the pavement was pretty good except for a patch in turn 5 (uphill right). I wasn't even running that fast. I was prolly a good 30 seconds off the race pace (which is around 1:01-:02 and I didn't have a timer but I prolly started the day around 1:55-2:00 and ended up cutting a good 20-25 seconds off that by the end of the day, those are just estimates though), not bad for first day out I think.

I've hung out at this track several times while friends have run, I've seen people go through 2 sets of tires in a day. It's a very fast, not very technical track. 2-3-4 is pretty much a triple apex, 7 is a blind downhill, and aside from 10 (the carousel) it's pretty much 2 straights with a kink. It really kinda favors the newer litre-bikes, but I've seen guys on old F2's hang pretty well.

FZRDude wrote:I've been kicking around the idea of a small (600) track bike. Prolly a late-FZR/early-YZF knowing me.

I actually went out to my local shop (non-dealer) to check out a couple of bikes today. He had an 05 R6 prior-stunter for $2k but it was pretty well trashed. Also had an 04 gix-6 sans body for 2.7k that I'm seriously considering. I figure it's cheap and there are always lots of parts for gixxer's around thanks to the squids. It's also the same body as Andy's 05 so I can use his plastics to make some fiberglass skins and make a set for him at the same time.

I really kinda held back on the YZF a little, knowing that if I screwed up it would be a small fortune to get all the parts to put her back together (again). I figure with a cheap gixxer I can send it down the pavement and not have to worry. Even if I do pick up a track only whip, this won't be the last time the YZF will see the track I'm sure. She's still just too much fun. Over the winter I'm hoping to get some of the well known short-comings taken care of (brakes, suspension - both stock at this time) and get her back out in the spring. I was hoping to do it last winter, but life happens, I think I've found some new incentive for this winter.

Tim wrote:I think he uses his FZR for the Drag Strip, hence the no longer turns on a dime comment

That would be a very good reason

Don

WickedFZR1K wrote:However, I dont even know where the nearest road course is (maybe someone can tell me, I am located in north east/centeral Iowa)...???

Your 3 closest would be (I think in order of distance) Mid-America in SW Iowa, Brainerd in central Mn and Road America in east-central Wisc.

Darcy

Hooked another one at the track. Say goodbye to your disposable income and hand your credit cards over to a trusted spouse or friend. Be prepared for a long and lonely winter longing for warm weather and the first track days of the year (Barber in February).

I've heard Beaver Run is great and brings new meaning to the term "lapping the beaver." I've wanted to get up there and will someday, but we got some nice local tracks near here too.

Look up NESBA.COM and start planning your spring schedule. They are at Beaver several times a year. Let me know when you go and I'll try and make it up.

Two YZF750's on the track--that would be fun.

Kontoboy

Yep - hooked. Only plastic I have is my debit card - I'm cash kinda guy. (If I can't pay for it outright I prolly don't need it). Winter is going to be buying parts and getting them installed and getting things sorted a bit. New brake rotors are at the top of that list.

"lapping the beaver" is a phrase that gets used a whole lot around here. On the local forum, the guys tend to be rather creative in their wording when letting people know that they are going up there.

I'm already awaiting the posting of the new 07 schedules for TPM, STT and NESBA. Locally, I have Beaver, Summit and Nelson fairly close - I'd like to try to hit them all next year, even Mid-O isn't too far away. Some friends road trip it to VIR at least once a year so if I'm planning to hitch along I'll definitely let you know.

Multiple 750's on the track would be awesome - would definitely have to get some good photo's of that.

Yeah the FZR is set up for drag strip use, the swingarm is stretched 6" over stock (look at my avatar)...

Thanks for the track locations guys, will check them out and maybe be able to make one next year (getting too cold for my riding tastes)...

Summit's my closest track--I can get there in 90 minutes. Though as much as I love slleping in my own bed, the truth is I like VIR a lot more and will gladly drive the 4 hours and stay overnight to go.

If you go to Summit try and do the Main days and book early--they fill up fast. The Shenandoah track is short and a little boring. It's good for practice but would probably be a disappointment to you after the Beave. If you do any NESBA days at Summit I look for your there.

I'm at Summit main 10/21-22, assuming I can get my bike back together in time. Probably my last blast for the season.

Kontoboy

P.S. Get yourself a tank bra or some "Stomp Grip" so you can grip the tank with your knees on hard braking. It made a world of difference for me.