Track Day - Apr 27, 2015

When I bought the Ducati 848 Evo, I didn'treally know that it was as much of a race bike as it was. I just figured that the weight on my wrists, the 100' turning radius, the non existing handlebar leverage and the violent acceleration were just how a motorcycle worked in 2013. I've since bought another motorcycle with more relaxed ergonmics. That and a few thousand 848 miles have allowed me to appreciate the purpose of the Duc 848 - acceleration and turns - fast. So I needed to go to the track.

Finished prep work. Passengeer footpegs gone, rear license plate and turn signals gone. Mirrors and front turn signals gone. Headlights taped, both blue with one taped over black (since I can't turn it off easily). Tire pressures checked for 30 front and 29 rear (cause that's what they are). Check this out to see scoot with all the normal stuff on it.

GoPro mount up front. Click Here for the track video. Its mounted on a RAM roll bar mount attached to the front left fork. Then there is a little extension that connect to the GoPro RAM ball. You can also see the mirror block-off plates before they were painted.

GoPro case from the outside. Now you can see the mirror block-off plates. They are actually washers on top of big rubber washers.

Here is the little Black Duc in the U-Haul trailer I rented for $14 / day. This is before I tightened everything down for the trip. You see the spare gas in the front right. The rubbermaid box has spare parts and miscellaneous stuff (rags, windex, oil, funnel, chain lube, cable ties, etc.). The tool box at the bottom right has bike specific tools. The black thing to the left is the ramp to get in and out of the trailer. The suit is my 30 lb protective skin.

At the track. Summit Point, WV, USA. Unloaded, Teched, Numbered.

This is coming around Turn Nine. Fast guys are going around 80. A bunch of pretty fast guys are going about 70. I was going about 60 (maybe a little faster).

Turn Five going into the Carousel. Maybe about 45. Figure the fast ones are 50-60.

Turn Four. Pretty fast right hander. This is about 65-70. Took me a while to figure it out. Turns out, you just turn. Pretty easy actually. Fast guys are probably 90.

Turn Six out of the carousel. This is about 50 maybe a bit faster. Fast boys are at about 65, probably dragging their knees. I wasn't. Didn't want to knock that cone down.

Here's the little Black Duc's rear tire. Lots of wear on the right side since Summit Point is a clockwise track. Still have some chicken strips. That means I can get through all those turns a bit faster and probably drag the knee. I'd rather drag my knee than those axle sliders and the multi $000 fairings.

I think this is coming out of Turn Five but it might be coming out of Turn Three.

Here is the little scoot after it got home. Still wears the 138 number and the decals that say "I'm a Novice" and the tape that says "This is a streetbike."

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