The best way to spend a Monday...

[lazyeye]

The best place to spend a Monday is at the racetrack.

Two days ago Monday I went to Thunderhill in sunny Willows, Ca (107 degrees in the shade in the pits) with my dad. He rented a Ninja 300 for his first track day and I took my '14 Interceptor. We both had a great time despite the heat and he wants to go back (no objection from me, I love T-Hill). My old dad worked with Daniella, one of the Keigwins instructors, for two sessions and saw a lot of improvement in his lines. Sadly the adhesive holding my camera mount to my helmet failed (did I mention it was hot?) so I only got footage of my second session.

A few observations from my second TD on the Interceptor:

1. As my pace comes up I can feel the weight a lot more. I want to get a lighter bike for the track now. Maybe an R3 or Ninja 300.

2. Pilot Power 2CT tires are great for the street and a slower track pace. They started getting kinda melty by mid day (my suspension and pressure are set correctly). On the back curves (6-7-8-9) if I made it into one long curve under throttle I would overheat the rear and get some wiggle whereas if I hit the apexes and exits cleanly and maximized my straight up riding I didn't get wiggle.

3. The braking zone into T1 is kinda bumpy and under heavy braking pressure occasionally sets off ABS.

4. Quick shifters are really fun at the track. I scrapped my left boot a few times trying to get ready to shift while in a lean, I can see why the racers use GP shift pattern.

 

The Interceptor really is a do-everything sport bike but since its 100lbs heavier than most repli-racers it doesn't do the track quite as well. My previous sportbikes were a '99 R6 and an '06 CBR600RR, so is heavier than the bikes I've done all my other TDs on. After seeing what the ultra-lightweight supersport class bikes (R3 and Ninja 300) are doing at T-Hill I'm tempted to buy one.

[Tews19]

Great picture!