A Weekend at the Motorcycle Track

I finally got Tara and the dogs out to the track for the weekend. The weather was perfect for the first weekend of September. I got to increase my speed and technique, while the dogs and Tara got to lay around and relax. Eddie and Shelby were a little thrown off for a few hours, but adapted quite well to the loud sounds coming from all the race bikes. Soon they were practically ignoring us while we started up and rode off. I vastly improved my technique and thus my speed on Sunday. My buddy and I had some of our fastest lap times chasing each other around the track.

We were pitted with a friend of mine and his girlfriend. It was nice to have someone to hang out with Tara that wasn't into riding. That way I got to do my thing, and she got to relax. The surprise is, I GOT MOM AND DAD OUT!!! They came for a few hours on Saturday and it was nice to expose them to the sport I love. During the advanced session I took them over to a nice and fast corner to show them how the pros do it, I'm still not there yet. Of course a guy went a tad fast into the corner and crashed right in front of Mom. The bike was about 8 feet in the air doing cartwheels. Needless to say, she kept talking about that for a while. Ugh.

This was a great weekend for everyone, and I can't wait till next year.....when I can fit more weekends like this into the season.

Blackhawk Racetrack June 2&3rd

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Originally uploaded by durban97

Last weekend I made it a track weekend with a few friends. We rented a U-Haul enclosed trailer and piled in the bikes. Arriving in Beloit late friday night, we managed to get our tents assembled and hit the sack. Saturday started out nice, with only a few clouds but it got rainy around lunch. The afternoon dried up nicely and the track was nice and fast, letting us ride a bonus session since a few got rained out. Sunday was even better, with only a little monsoon around lunch time, they gave us another bonus session at the end. I learned a lot from the Control Riders (track coaches) and can't wait to get back out there. Its a great feeling to not worry about cops, kids, or potholes and you can just concentrate on form and speed. I learned that I'm not fast and need to spend some more time at the track to get faster and smoother. I posted a few pics.

Chicago to Louisville Kentucky

Over the weekend of October 7 & 8, Andy, Jay and I rode down to Louisville for Andy's parents 40th anniversary. We rode the highway to Indy and then twisty, fast, local roads all the way south to Louisville. The weather was perfect and the roads weren't bad. It helped that we left the city at 6am and got to Indy at 9.30am. I wouldn't have been able to do 416.7 miles each day if it weren't for the addition of a gel seat cover for my bike. That saved my butt like you wouldn't believe. Honda sportbikes aren't known for their comfortable seats! It was the last weekend away on the bike this season and a great end to a great season! My 2006 Honda CBR1000RR has been an incredible bike, with unbelievable power and lightness in fast corners. I can't wait till next spring!!!

Click here to watch me riding...

Dan's Track Day

Dan in Race Suit RESIZED
Originally uploaded by durban97.

Back at the track!!! Wow has it been too long! I did a free half day with NESBA which allowed me to do a few sessions of 20 minutes each at the track. Autobahn is a 1.7 miles track in Joliet, about 50 miles south of the city. I arrived there with Andy at 7ish and after registering, signing the waiver and finding a crap load of people I knew, we race prepped our bikes. Since we are in the beginner group, we only had to tape our lights and signals, and I removed my mirrors, since I could.

It was amazing! Tons of people were there to test their skills, and hone them. The first session was a tad slow, since we were unfamilar with the track, but the second time out, it was different. Everything felt so smooth and comfortable, thus I went faster than I have ever done before. I had a renewed appreciation for how fast and powerful this new RR is! Keeping it in third gear for most of the track allowed me a ton of power while working more on my body position and my ever improving race line. The morning was great, but after lunch we were done and headed back home.

I can't wait till next time, its a lot of fun and leaps and bounds ahead of the street in terms of safety. Having two sets of Paramedics ready, just in case, is a huge relief. No oil slicks, no cars cutting you off. Just open road with unlimited potential....

Done....for now.

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Originally uploaded by durban97.

A few weeks ago I finished the installation of certain parts onto the 2006 Honda CBR1000RR. I added a Akrapovic Carbon Fiber Slip on exhaust, Power Commander, fender eliminator to get rid of the large mud flap and new signals in the rear along with the flush mount signals in the front. As you can see the bike is tons sleeker. I removed close to 15 lbs and gained a conservative 4-6 horsepower. This might not seem like a lot, but remember my bike came stock with 160 hp and only 388 lbs without fuel. Overall the bike is much more responsive. You also can notice the loss of weight in the rear end, so corner exit speed needed to be watched for a few miles. I love Honda sportbikes and will continue to own and enjoy them for years. Ignore the Suzuki in the background, its a friends. Later.

Sport Touring in Midwest

Last weekend I did my first sport touring trip on my 06 1000RR. Saturday I woke up nice and early, 5.30 to head out to the meeting spot for a few of us Chicago riders to head to the official meeting spot. After a little talking and breakfast we headed out in a few groups, about 30 total bikes. We weaved north west to Dubuque, IA and then straight north up the river to Wiona, MN then north further to Osseo, WI. Nothing was done on the highway, all backroads and local roads. This allows us to have a little fun, like opening up the bikes when we could and hitting some nice twisties. We stopped in Osseo, WI for the night after 380 miles from my house. We were lucky enough to snag an entire room at the local resturant where we could be as loud as we wanted. The owner was THRILLED to have us, as we spent A LOT of money and are great tippers. The evening festivities were drinking beer and lighting off a crap load of fireworks behind the hotel. I crashed at 11pm after a long and exhausting day.

Sunday was perfect!! Not a cloud in the sky and about 75 degrees. The day was going to be more miles and more technical roads. When I say technical, I mean technical. Some roads winding through the mountains were 15 mph extremely tight various elevation and decreasing radius curves. Tons of fun! I got to ride my first ferry across Lake Wisconsin not to mention watched a couple of Coon Dog Races in Rockton. It was quite fasinating!! All in all, a great weekend, though a tad sore on Monday, well worth the money and pain!!! I have a lot of pictures on my Flicker account, just click the "durban97" next to the Flicker icon to the left of this posting. Later!!!

Half way left in the Break In

Wednesday night, I managed to get some seat time on the 06 1000RR finally. A few of us did a nice 80 miles or so which allowed me to cross 300 miles on my new motorcycle. Under the engine break in rules you can't go past 7000 rpms for the first 600 miles. Well staying under 7000 is hard to do, you are constantly clicking up to the next gear and before you know it you are going a tad fast. The 1000RR is unbelievable, the power is always there, no downshifting two or three gears to take off like the 600RR. The brakes are massive and grip like you wouldn't believe. I can't wait to have more nice days and I really can't wait to break past the 600 mile mark!!! That is when the fun will begin.