EXUP Worldwide

Koma + '92 FZR1000 + Phillip Island =
(Explanation afterwards)





Well anyway, after going to BBQ with the missus and talking to one of her friends older brothers who rides a '02 GSXR600 track bike he talked me into to coming down to Phillip Island (Melbourne, Australia) Race Track for my first foray into the world of track riding.

After riding down there (~140km's from Melbourne city to the race track) i stayed overnight at a mates house to get my energy up for the early start the following day. Woke up early and excited so kitted up, checked the bike over and headed down to the circuit with my other mate on a ZX9R who i'd convinced to come along as well. He'd already done a California Superbike School cornering course at the track a few months prior so he wasn't as nervous as i was.
Signed all the usual paperwork, and then headed into the pits for get my bike checked over before finding an empty pit booth for me and my mate to set up camp and prep the bikes for track duty. Stripped off the mirrors and numberplate and make her look like a little more like a track bike.

Anyway, long story short... after a very nervous first session and a near highside on either cold tyres or something slippery on the track, i come back in only to find my mate not in the pit. Instead his very worried girlfriend is pointing to the back section of the track known as Siberia. I then see him coming in on the back of a recovery truck sitting on his bike looking very pissed off with himself. Minor oopsie with a slightly more serious outcome than my 'ah-faaark' moment; sore elbow and a broken right footpeg. He sat out the next 3 sessions whilst he got a new footpeg down from Melbourne.

Meanwhile i was getting the hang of this track thing! By the end of the third session i was starting to get the power on earlier and get some serious drive out of corners; also got to the edge of the tyre. By the fourth session i was laying the occasional blacky coming out of turn 3. By the end of the seventh session i had put my tyre's through absolute hell! Rubber was balling up and peeling off both front and rear like it was going out of fashion; and i loved it!

Anyone who lives anywhere near a race track and has the opportunity to go and do a track day; i'd highly recommend it! Whilst i tend to think of myself a moderately quick road-rider the experience on the track was mind boggling! Getting to ~260km/h along the main straight before using my body as a windbrake in addition to heavy braking to get down to ~160km/h before tipping in to the first corner is an experience that needs to be experienced to be believed.

I'm absolutely undoubtedly addicted - hook, line & sinker. Next time however i might not be down there on the FZR, perhaps something a little lighter and with a teeency bit more power. 130bhp is just not enough when your tucked behind the screen flying coming onto the main straight and approaching 200km/h.

PS. For those who know the track i ended up pulling time of just over 2:00 which i was very happy with. I set my goal at getting below 2:10.

You keep doing track days and your spped on the streets will start to slow down.

Sounds like you had a great time!!!

Hey Koma.

I had some very similar experiences there. Three times now.

Last year I bought a session at the After Burner Day on the Monday after the World Superbikes on my YZF750 and I got a real taste for it. I just had to go back there. My girlfriend timed me through that session and the best I got that day was 2:04.

After watching a bloke going around in a superstock race there a couple of years earlier and looking like he was going backwards (doing 2:08-2:10), I thought then that if I couldn't get around there below 2 minutes on a halfway decent bike, I'd give up riding. I got close enough so I'm still riding now.

Next time back there was in May last year and for a whole day this time.

For someone who doesn't ride, or hasn't experienced it first hand. You just can't explain it can you?

After a whole day on the track and feeling like I was going heaps faster, I only managed a 2:03 best time. It's hard though because not every lap got timed, my other half was taking some video as well.

Isn't it different to the road. I remember going through Southern Loop a couple of times (where this picture was taken) and I got my foot peg touching the track. I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the session. Then there I was going over the top of Lukey Heights and setting up just nicely for MG and just a little too much of a squeeze on the front brakes at about 120Km/h and I locked up the front wheel on that little downhill bit. I gave up on making the corner recovered from the lockup and the bit of a tank slapper that went along with it and rode straight off the track and towards the tyre wall. Talk about you heart nearly bursting out through the front of your leathers.

Then, most recently I was there for the full After Burner Day on the Monday after the World Superbikes last month. This time around though, I took up my friend's '06 model R1.

Because of a few crashes though and an oil spill that went from turn 1 almost through to Siberia the day got held up a bit, the sessions were shorter and the last one was cancelled alltogether. Still, it was awesome just the same.

I broke through the 2 minute barrier (only just) but more importantly, on the second lap of the third session, I put my left knee on the ground through Siberia. Talk about an instant hard on!!! Then again on the next lap around and on the final couple of laps of that session, I was dragging my knee through Southern loop, Honda, Siberia, Lukey Heights, MG and turn 11. Similar with most of the laps in the fourth and final session.

What a buzz.

I took a fair look at some of the speeds I was getting up to at sections of the track and I was quite impressed. Mid-way through turn 1 191Km/h, entry to turn 3 225Km/h (and still hard on the throttle), exit from turn 12 165Km/h (a bit slow but it's not my bike) and max speed on front straight was 265 or so Km/h.

Not bad for a 100 Kg 40 something. I'll pm you with my email. It would be good to catch up, share some experiences and maybe try get a ride in.

Brian

Hey Koma, good to see you got yours out on the track I am very eager to get the FZR down to the Island, I've only been around on a couple of fireblades and a ninja 750. Ain't it grand, though.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.
There's a little bit of news lurking around that i'm picking up my next bike in a couple of days. Not letting on what it is quite yet but it ticked all the boxes except for the 'Is a Yamaha' one. I'm still planning on being actively involved in the EXUPBrotherhood as well as FZR250.com.

Will definitely be heading back down there in the near future... but have to pay off a few things first (like the upgrade bike).

koma, you're not selling your fzr are ya? that thing is waaay too nice to get rid of.

when are you gonna spill the beans on the new bike purchase? i want to know what it is!!!! plus, i like living vicariously through other peoples' toy purchases.

Koma's getting a 01 GSXR1000. Sorry Koma.... had to spill the beans...


Hooli, nice new avy

hahaha, thanks tim! i recently found her on my hard drive and had to use it.

FZRDude wrote:Koma's getting a 01 GSXR1000. Sorry Koma.... had to spill the beans...


Hooli, nice new avy

Hehe, no worries Tim.
As i'd already spilt the beans on FZR250.com i got no problems with everyone knowing now.
Unfortunately yes it's time to sell and change things a bit. Whilst i love the FZR for all she is it's at the stage where the extra weight is becoming an issue in the corners. I'm quite tempted to keep the FZR but when it comes down to it i can only ride one bike at a time, and with no garage to safely lock them all up... well yeah.

I'm thinking i won't hold onto the Gixxer for very long and just use it as a stop-gap until i can afford the '04/05 R1 that i was really after.

Nice ride, Koma. I bet you're and dyin for another track day...

I'll see you down at the Island some time now that I've ordered my new PILOT POWER 2CT 's !

hotcam wrote:Nice ride, Koma. I bet you're and dyin for another track day...

I'll see you down at the Island some time now that I've ordered my new PILOT POWER 2CT 's !

Damn straight i am! I'm going to spend a few weeks getting it tuned and setup to my standards then i'll consider taking it down to the track.
I was looking at the PP 2CT's but decided they weren't worth the extra money. I've never had an issue with the sides of the tyres not being sticky enough, and that was my understanding of the only difference between the PP's and the PP 2CT's. I think i might stick on a set of Qualifiers just to see what all the fuss is about.

Let me know when your headed down to the island and i'll see if i can come along. It's always better going down there with a few friends.

Hey Koma

You can count me in on that too. I know how valuable it is having a couple of extra hands around taking some video or doing some timing and stuff.

I can't say that the style (or lack of) of the Gixxer is all that appealing to me though. Maybe the photo doesn't do it much justice and I'm a bit too biased toward anything with the tuning forks on it.

I'm also a bit too used to my 750 and my mates R1 which I frequently throw a leg over. I like your future plans though. I have similar aspirations myself.

Just how much lighter is the gixxer anyway?

Brian