Saturday 7th May 2011 Knockhill, Sessions, £90

Booked my first Knockhill day of the year, on the 7th of May. Knockhill are running full days with sessions this year; Novice/Inters, Inters/Advanced and Race Licence Holders.

One nice effect is that the price for a full day has dropped from £175 last year to £90 this year.

Migh join you mate

I hope so.

Probably the lower group though

My mate & I are booked on mate, Nov/Inters

Excellent.

Moved the four of us up in to Inters / Advanced now mate

Cool.

If I can do a 1 min 3 without being fully concentrated on going fast I'm sure I can get a 1 min 2 or under if I did
+ some running between now and then

I could improve on braking, speed at Dufus, Clarks & Hairpin - which I know I can.

Can't wait now

Can't wait for tomorrow

Away home to get set

Fingers crossed for the weather.

Have a good day.

The forecasts weren't good, so when I took off my rear to swap my ruined Supercorsa for a slightly less worn one I decided to leave the wet rear in place. that way at least I'd only have one wheel to change. When we arrived it was typical Knockhill weather - soaking with rain clouds and sunny blue sky both in sight!

SteveC and N1xxl were there ahead of me and I think everyone was swapping tyres for the wet track.



Briefing done in the usual relaxed Knockhill style we were out for my first time on wets at Knockhill and first time on the 929. No preconceptions from my RRX so although I was a bit scruffy I didn't feel too bad. Nothing too special, but happy enough with a 1:05.

Second session started drying and I ended up with a dry rear and wet front after struggling with the wheel change, but it worked okay. As the times dropped I was starting to feel scruffy.

Fink getting the proper damp Knockhill hello.



In the third and fourth sessions, now warm and dry in spite of the weather forecast, I realised how much I was going to have to adjust to the new bike. My braking was wrong, my gear selection was wrong and my lines were all over the shop. I was also struggling to hold full throttle up the main straight - I've always been an utter shitebag about wheelies and the 929 is much more eager to lift the front than the RRX. Times were okay, a couple of high 59's (my previous best is a single sub-minute lap), but that was the faster bike not my riding.

Graham and I had some fun, but he's definitely quicker than me in the corners at the moment, I have work to do.



I know it's tiny but I can't get used to this feeling.



The kids turned up for lunch and Charlotte promptly started giving instructions. Either that or she was explaining her shiner!

SteveC's paintjob is really nice, looks even better in the flesh. I'd somehow missed N1xxl's new track bike - I was looking for an HM Plant noisy twin.




In the afternoon I knocked it back a bit and tried to work out my gear changes, brakign points and lines. I started to feel a bit more in control of the bike, neater and more comfortable. Probably no coincidence that I also stopped feeling quite so kicked in at the end of each session. I didn't get much faster, a best of 59.4, but I'm happier that I can start to regain my corner speed now. Graham was still leaving me in his dust.



Kaiser's new bike is an absolute peach. He only took delivery on Friday so it was a bit of a learning day for him, especially having to get used to raceshift along with everything else.



I think I owe an apology to the guy in beat up leathers with dayglo yellow highlights, on a blue-tanked and open-framed bike. It was impossible to stay behind him on the straights without just stopping, but I know he was faster in the corners. Did try to let him by a couple of times but I'm not sure it helped.

Overall I had a great day. I've a way to go to get used to the new bike but I felt I was improving as the day went on. I was a bit surprised how much I had to relearn after feeling so comfortable at Brands, but I realise that I had nothing to unlearn at Brands having never ridden there on anything else. Can't wait for Cadwell on the 23rd.

Nice one mate, that bike sounds brilliant, just the job.

No more problems with chewing tyres ?

How much space do you get in that garage, thats what you want, plenty of power points to.

Yeah, I've a definitive answer on tyre pressures for the Supercorsas now, for me anyway.

On the left you have a tyre that was barely touched before I rode it. One session at 28psi hot and it was torn to shreds, almost to the very bottom of the sipes. The picture is taken after another five sessions at higher pressure and it looks better than it did after the first.

On the right you have a tyre that was already half used when I got it, flipped around so the right hand was clean. This was set to 29psi cold and looked and felt great all day.

So if you're 17 stone before you kit up and ride a 929 FireBlade ignore the advice for low pressures and go for the more classic higher pressures.



Knockhill's pit is a vast improvement. A couple of years ago it was just the carpark and sort yourself out.
You're right about the bike, it's great. I just need to catch up with it!

Was a good day out for me putting faces to names.
Didn't expect to meet Brian or Taz as I was going down to watch Kaiser on his new track bike.
I met a couple old faces from my old work, so it was nice to meet up with them as well.
WARNING; look out for Taz's wife's BROWNIES

I also think Kaiser should revert his gear shift back to road going as there was a good few wrong gear selections
I took a video of the track day using my phone, but I'm struggling to download it.

Was good to meet you mate. Even if you are an anglophobe.

silverback wrote:I met a couple old faces from my old work, so it was nice to meet up with them as well.
WARNING; look out for Taz's wife's BROWNIES

Is that what you call them?

Had to post this picture.

Jesus, whoever took that photo must have been on their toes!!! must have been the only time you were actually in FRONT of Graham
And don't go blaming your bike!!! it's YOU you've got as much aerodynamic's as a hippo 'to much brownies'

silverback wrote:Was a good day out for me putting faces to names.
Didn't expect to meet Brian or Taz as I was going down to watch Kaiser on his new track bike.
I met a couple old faces from my old work, so it was nice to meet up with them as well.
WARNING; look out for Taz's wife's BROWNIES

I also think Kaiser should revert his gear shift back to road going as there was a good few wrong gear selections
I took a video of the track day using my phone, but I'm struggling to download it.

Good to put a face to the name mate...........................you get soaked on route home ??

I'll get there with the shifter mate, was peed off at my self when I came up the inside of my mate at the hairpin, went to open the throttle only to find I had stuck it in to third in stead of down shifting into second, he looked like he was going to get passed me until the bike finally started to delievr some nice power.

I had without knowing, been riding the bike in it's Slow, wet mode, so was 25hp down and by the time I changed that I was knackered

I'll get there with the bike, first track day out & a lot to get used to in one day.

Did absolutely love the Ractecs, stuck like glue and felt so, so planted .............just need to get it in to my head I can get off from second one with tyre warmers on, was trying to do one lap to warm them again

First session I was like a bear with a sore head, it was a new bike, brand new tyres front and back & it was wet. The bike felt really, really twitchy under any kind of power so I sacked it half way through the session but then the God's answered my sun dancing prayers and dried up from session two right through to the last session ,when it started to tip it down.

As Neil said, few wrong shifts and probably could have pushed far harder but all in all, I was happy with the first day's outting on it where I wasn't exactly slow, few areas I could be better and know I can do it which is a huge mental positive

I need to get another TD organised ASAP, keep the momentum up.

I will get better with that bike, the power delivery is all so different to my HM Plant RRA so between that, the bike it's self, the shorter gearing, shift light, race box (1 up, 5 down) and new tyres it was a lot to change all at once & try to be as quick as I would like but I did come away buzzing again although, I knew there was a reason I felt knackered at teh track, seemt o have teh dreaded man flu when I woke up on Sunday.

Catch you again mate

Tazfiend wrote:

Had to post this picture.

Brilliant picture.

Dry all the way until Brechin AGAIN was wet all the way home from there.
I ended up helping a guy pick up his RR7 after he pinned it after the roundabout only for the rear to let go.
His mate was beside him when he went down and they JUST missed each other 'guy was fine but the bike needed a trailer'.

Glad your mate was okay Silverback. :(

shadow wrote:Brilliant picture.

It is isn't it? Taken by Kaiser's mate Andy Cairns.

silverback wrote:Dry all the way until Brechin AGAIN was wet all the way home from there.
I ended up helping a guy pick up his RR7 after he pinned it after the roundabout only for the rear to let go.
His mate was beside him when he went down and they JUST missed each other 'guy was fine but the bike needed a trailer'.

could have popped up in the old micra with me mega trailer on and helped that boy out

Video of some scruffy riding as I relearn the track on the new bike.

Great vid m8, how you get all the info on it speed lap time and all that?

Great video, is there a big bump before that hairpin, were the oil dry was ?

There is a big bump before teh hairpin on the ride hand side of teh track where we all had to go after the oil spill mate but normal line in there isn't so much of a bump

Nae sign of me either

Hey look BrianH, the video shows you how to ride out of the pits without getting black flagged