officially track-only

[rk97]

Well, like so many before me, I officially gave up on street riding for the foreseeable future. This was a long time coming, as I couldn't tell you the last time I rode my bike to work or school, but I loaded it onto the trailer for the last time Saturday morning, and came home with an empty trailer and a substantially larger trackday budget for 2011

My brother (and surprisingly enough, my wife) asked if I was going to miss the Kawasaki. It was my first bike, and nothing will ever change that, but I think letting it go now will preserve the fond memories and prevent me from growing to hate all the little maintenance stuff that was going to need to be done over the next year or two.

and the extra space in the garage makes it a TON easier to work on my track bike. I was able to do some drilling for safety wire without having to move any bikes or pull out either of our cars! I could get used to that.

This bike survived my first weekend at the track (ever) 4/19/08 and 4/20/08 with NESBA and if nothing else, definitely makes me appreciate the power, reliability, and insane performance of a (more) modern 600cc sportbike

 

[Saltman]

Welcome!! It's not all that bad, actually. I sold my 1st bike to go trackonly too. On sunny days when I see all the bikes out and about, I think to myself, "if only you knew about the track..."

IMO, that decision extended my life expectancy and I won't end up as some casualty who was run over by a SUV driving soccer mom talking on the phone to her girlfriend.

Barber in 3 weeks!

 

[PJZOCC624]

I think I'm gonna miss that bike too!

 

[rk97]

hahaha - I remember you helping me load it into my truck and you nearly burning your leg on the exhaust.

Pascal had also failed it at tech earlier that day. Luckily it was an easy fix (2 zip-ties), and I was able to pass on my second try.

we should recreate my first TD at Beave some time this summer - I'll show up with a shitty bike and mooch everything off you and Poper. Sound good?

 

[PJZOCC624]

You had peanut butter.
You had jelly.
You had bread.







You had no knife.

 

[rk97]

let's give credit where credit's due - I had cold beer too.

 

[fitz]

PJZOCC17;177116 wrote: You had peanut butter.
You had jelly.
You had bread.







You had no knife.

LOL!:haha:

If I was there I would have been more than happy to lend him my old trusty pen knife...the one that I've used for years cutting worms in half for the Scouts.

 

[PJZOCC624]

Think I gave him a flat-head screwdriver...

 

[ZLTFUL]

If only I didn't have to drive 7 hours one way to do a track day...

But I'm not bitter.

 

[pajixxer]

congrats Chris... I made that decision last year and do not regret it at all. I saw on the wera beeb that your gonna give that a try this year, let me know what round your going to go to, ill be doing a full season so if your looking for someone to pit with let me know. Also if you plan on doing any summit dates w/ wera or nesba let me know... I have an RV and we are always looking for an extra guy to travel with

 

[lemondrop]

congrats!

 

[erick1670]

Saltman;177103 wrote: Welcome!! It's not all that bad, actually. I sold my 1st bike to go trackonly too. On sunny days when I see all the bikes out and about, I think to myself, "if only you knew about the track..."

IMO, that decision extended my life expectancy and I won't end up as some casualty who was run over by a SUV driving soccer mom talking on the phone to her girlfriend.

Barber in 3 weeks!

:agree:

AMEN!..... but I still ride onece a week when in season

 

[kubricky]

Congratulations!!!!

 

[Poper]

PJZOCC17;177116 wrote: You had peanut butter.
You had jelly.
You had bread.







You had no knife.

PJ: I told you we should have pitted up by the tower. We now have "RADZ," an incurable arguer who's relentlessness on and off the track is only endured because of the amount of Great Lakes beer he brings and the shanty-town lean-to he chooses to construct at each track we visit.

Oh, and wasn't that bread in a somewhat molten-dough form from sitting on your dashboard all day?

HAHA, can't wait to ride with ya this year buddy!

 

[rk97]

PJZOCC17;177129 wrote: Think I gave him a flat-head screwdriver...

Actually your primary contribution to the weekend was homemade salsa. Pascal came out of the RV with two fist-fulls of plastic silverware and asked how much I needed

Then he ran off to be hazed by the other control riders. Remember, that was the night they hung his pit-bike from the timing & scoring tower So I barely talked to Pascal on Friday night, but then he was pretty much the only control rider I worked with on Saturday. I swear I had him re-thinking the whole CR gig. "Slow" is a generous description of my pace that day.

 

[rk97]

pajixxer;177175 wrote: congrats Chris... I made that decision last year and do not regret it at all. I saw on the wera beeb that your gonna give that a try this year, let me know what round your going to go to, ill be doing a full season so if your looking for someone to pit with let me know. Also if you plan on doing any summit dates w/ wera or nesba let me know... I have an RV and we are always looking for an extra guy to travel with

I'll be in touch for sure.

I want to try and get the race school done 4/30, but I have finals the following couple weeks... Once I know exactly when I will need to be studying, and when I can ride, I'll have a firmer grasp on my season schedule.

My only real goals for this year are not to be last, and to get to enough rounds to get rid of my provisional novice shirt. I'm thinking Nelson, BeaveRun, and either Summit or Grattan. Gotta hit Summit with NESBA first though

 

[trailmug]

If I had a car that could do 0-60 in 4sec and get 47MPG, I'd easily go track only.

 

[vinny337]

Great move, enjoy!!

 

[rk97]

I had a real hard time even breaking even on my street bike. Even with a cheap ($1400) bike, the cost of insurance, maintenance, and the fact that my commute is so short really didn't make the better mileage worth it - I just don't have far enough to go.

The only time I've seen a bike actually save someone money in fuel costs is when they had a 45+ mile commute in each direction, or if they had to pay $10+ to park a car, but the bike was free to park. That adds up fast.

I don't doubt that you're saving fuel with your FZ6, but until you make up the $5k sticker price, plus insurance paid to that point, it's still just a toy. Which is fine - it just bothers me when people claim they're "saving" money by riding.