Morgan Park Raceway With A Daytona 675R

 

Following on from the last post, we managed to track down some Metzeler TD Slicks from Motorcycle Tyre Warehouse - where I got a 1 hour lecture on all things tyres from the owner - and got those fitted up.

I also managed to get the new bike trailer better set up with a tool box, new spare tyre mount and deleted the silly centre channel and replaced it with the tyre chock we were given with the purchase of the Daytona. Not as awesome as my preferred enclosed trailer but a much more affordable and quite adequately usable setup!

I had to work the weekend of Will's first track day, so couldn't stay but I managed to ride out to Warwick for the Saturday to lend a hand with him settling in. The bike passed scrutineering straight up, so it was on with the tyre warmers and waiting for his first session. We were very glad of the warmers as well because the weekend only topped out at about 16C.

He decided on doing the Red Group which is the slowest group, just to get a feel for it.

It seemed to be going well and as he felt more comfortable he moved himself to the Green Group (second slowest). His lap times were getting better, initially being in the high 1:40s then slowly dropping to the low 1:30s according to his SpeedAngle.

He got down to 1:28 for the weekend. ASBK SuperSports do 1:15 around here.

He was having such a good time that he decided to stay for the Sunday session! I had to go home for work so left him to it. By all accounts he had a great day and learnt a lot from the other riders around him in the pits. He moved up a level again to Blue Group (2nd fastest) on the advice of those around him. 

He did have some trouble with the generator for the tyre warmers. It cut out randomly a few times on the Saturday then wouldn't start at all on the Sunday.** Luckily those awesome folks around him sorted him out with power for his warmers! 

Thanks Mike!

I must say, I have found everyone at these track days to be super friendly and helpful, which makes for a great day out. 

Here are some of the photos from the pro photographers over the weekend.

They certainly make him look fast.....and he probably is for his experience level. 

It must nearly be my turn to have a go on it?

Cheers.

** The following week I went to work on the generator, draining the tank to find lots of small rust particles in the fuel. More particles came from the fuel tap strainer so I bit the bullet and pulled the carby off, pulling all of the jets and cleaning them with a wire, then blowing the whole carby out. I finished it off with a new spark plug and a fuel filter. Thankfully, she fired straight up and ran sweetly.

Rusty crap.

Little filter.

New spark.

Pre - clean up.

Almost Ready For Some Track Time

 

I picked the Daytona up from its bodywork makeover yesterday. We gave Emily a vague idea of what we wanted as a scheme on the bodywork and left it up to her creative talents to fill in the blanks. It took a little longer than planned at about three weeks but it was worth the wait.

Before it went to Hawtt Decals I took it down to Joe at Ride Dynamics for a suspension rebuild/revalve and re-spring with K-Tech fork and Eibach shock springs. Joe set the sag for our weight (luckily Will and I are about the same weight) and gave me fork preload settings for the three racetracks we are likely to ride it on here in south east QLD.

Now we just need to get those Pirelli slicks off and some more beginner friendly rubber fitted before next weekend. I was keen on Bridgestone S23 or R11s but I have been recommended to try the Metzeler TD slick. They are meant to be a cheaper option than road legal tyres that still warm up and stay warm for the aahhemm…..newer (read slower) track day rider. 

Thanks to a mate, Mike who donated a head lift stand last week. It fits and works a treat and will make getting that front wheel out so much easier.

This will have to be done this week as Will is keen on attending a track day this weekend. It will be COLD up at Morgan Park this weekend, so lucky he has tyre warmers.

I just have to get through another licence renewal at work this week first, then I can look at getting the new rubber fitted. 

Giddy up!

Cheers.

Tracking Towards The Track

W.T.F. am I babbling about now I hear you ask?

 Well, as regular readers would know, both of my kids have been riding motorcycles for the last year or two. I can’t understand why because I certainly didn’t encourage it while they were young…… mountainbiking, yes but not motorcycles. I’d  like to think they are keen on the challenge of using a mode of transport that requires the use and the co-ordinated use of both feet and both hands - both of them seem to be interested in how to do it better, not just how to be “proficient” - and I think they have seen the fun and satisfaction that Steve and I have derived from riding over the years.

Will especially seems to like going fast (as any young bloke does) so I have encouraged him to take that pursuit away from our crowded and run down roads to the track where at least everyone is going the same way. We did another track day about a month ago and Will had a ball. In fact, so did I. 

Adding to the fun factor is the fact that everyone we have come into contact with in the pit area has been super friendly and helpful. Not something that we have encountered in all of our hobbies/pursuits unfortunately.

So, Will has been on the lookout for a dedicated track bike for the last few months. We have looked at a couple but thought they were a bit suspect, having been crashed and to our eyes, bodgily patched up. So when he initially showed me a Triumph Daytona 675R that was advertised with some crash damage, I dismissed it. Not to be deterred, Will phoned the seller and found it was an older gent who was getting out of track riding and so selling all of his track gear with the bike. Even better, he sounded genuine and honest about the bike.

We went to have a look, with a strategy to maybe talk him down on price. Once we looked at the bike, spoke to Ian, the owner, and saw all of the gear he was throwing in, all thought of trying to squeeze him on price evaporated. It was a steal as it was!

So, “we”* are now the owners of a 2014 Daytona 675R with a mere 29 000km on the clock!

It has had a low side but the damage is limited to a scuff of the right fairing panel and the tip of the exhaust pipe. 

The “R” version of the 675 comes standard with Ohlins suspension front and rear plus Brembo brakes. The 2013-onward model 675 is the 3rd generation Daytona and has fixes for earlier model issues like overheating and oil cooler failure, so we are hoping for a trouble free run.

As I said earlier, the previous owner threw in all of his track gear which included tyre warmers, a generator to power said tyre warmers, various extension cords and power boards, GB Racing engine covers, front and rear race stands, a front wheel chock for the trailer, two GoPros with tethered mounts and all of the road gear just in case “we” want to put it back on the road. All up, at least $3000 worth of extras.

We have ordered a set of race bodywork through  Ian Moore Track Toys and will get it decalled up by Hawtt Decals (his wife) who does some amazing work. I have it booked in for a suspension refresh at Ride Dynamics (who did my Tuono suspension refresh) next week. We will need to sort some tyres too as I don’t think either of us are up to doing justice to the Pirelli Corsa SC1 slicks that it is currently fitted with.🤨

It is a sexy looking bike that has the bark to match and Will can’t wait to ride it. In the mean time he can’t wipe the grin off of his face. 

This should be fun……

Cheers.

*Will really - but I’m hoping he will let me ride it.

Morgan Park Track Day

It has been a couple of years since I last did a track day here. So when I noticed that Champions had a Monday ride day AND that you could bring a "buddy" along for free, I decided to jump on it! That "buddy" would be my daughter, Lucy.

This led to some frantic hunting around for tyres on both of our bikes. Mine because I wanted something more track oriented than the Michelin Road 4 and 5 that I was running on the R1 and for Lucy because her tyres were the OEM hoops that came with the Z400. She also had a plug in her rear tyre which is a no-no for track days. 

Of course, I ripped the tyres out of the bikes as my local bike shop will work minor miracles to change your tyres if they just get the wheels. Book in weeks ahead if you want them to take the wheels out of your bike though. (No Andrew, I'm not going to do my own changes...yet.)

Lucy went for a Michelin Road 6 rear and as they only had a 5 in stock, she went a Road 5 front. They will be great all round tyres for her style of riding/commuting.

I went for some Michelin Power GPs. They are touted as 50/50 road track as opposed to the GP Cup track weapons that had a ridiculously steep profile on the rear tyre. I also had 90 degree valve stems installed which is something I have wanted to do for years but with so little use, I just don't change tyres on the R1 very often.

While we were at it we changed Will's CBR500R over to a Michelin Road 6 on the rear and he took my Road 5 front which had done under 1000km on my R1. This was due to the fact his OEM Dunlops felt like rubbish with no feel when I had a ride of it. Steve backed this up on a recent visit when we rode the R1, CBR and my Desert X back to back to back on a twisty bit of road near home. I saw it as a safety improvement for Will and hence helped cover some of the cost of the new Road 6 (have you seen how much Michelin tyres are these days?!!) 

So, the $200 track day with a free buddy had turned into an ~$1500 affair once new tyres, hiring of leathers, motels, food etc etc was carried out! 

Oh well.

Lucy and I were going to head up to Warwick the night before so we didn't have to be up at 3am to do the two and a bit hour drive out there on the Monday morning. This led to Will suffering major jealousy and him pleading to come along. He wanted to chuck a "sicky" but I told him being sick on a Monday as a 1st year apprentice wasn't a good look at all. Instead, I reminded him that most of his workmates and his boss all ride. I suggested he call his boss and ask for an annual leave day. He did and his boss said "yeah, sure!" so it was the three musketeers for the track day then. Bloody glad I got Will's tyres sorted while we were doing ours!

Not a great photo but the sunset coming into Warwick was spectacular.

We were up early but not as early as if we were coming from home. I filled the jerry can while the kids got some breakfast and coffees, then we headed out to the track. It was a cold morning with quite a brisk wind blowing. I didn't mind as most times I have been to Morgan park I have sweated my proverbial off!

We unloaded and set up, then headed around to scrutineering. That done it was back to the pit. When Lucy arrived she looked like someone had pinched her puppy. She had failed scrutineering because her throttle wouldn't spring closed. She normally has bar end mirrors and when we removed them we also removed a spacer that kept them from jamming the throttle tube. Now, the original bar ends that we had refitted were jamming it. Bugger!

I had no spares but some limited tools - what to do? I know, "hey kids, look around on the ground for washers" I suggested. After five minutes of doing this we had found two suitable washers that spaced out the bar end weight enough for her throttle to work properly. She took off to scrutineering again and was back two minutes later with the all clear. 

Crisis averted!

 

We were ready nice and early so I thought it prudent to give the kids a bit of a pep talk as I could see they were nervous. I reminded them that they only have to ride around at their own pace and you could use all of the road. If they ran off I told them to just ride straight and use a little bit of rear brake to slow down, then get back on the track. Don't panic as there is nothing to hit. I also put a bit of tape over their speedo readout so that they wouldn't be distracted by looking at their speed. They used their Strava cycling app on their phones to record the top speeds that they could then look at while sitting safely in the pit.

I was pleased that when we attended the riders briefing the Champions people emphasised exactly the same points as I had. They also had an extra briefing for the first timers too, which they kept low key and was very welcoming. 

Nice.

I was in the second slowest group so went out just before the kids. It was cold, only about 14 Celsius so I took a few laps to warm the tyres but our group was so small that by going last onto the track I didn't get passed all session and basically had a clear track in front at all times. Just like a private test day!

By the time I got off my bike the kids were out there, ripping it. Well, not quite - I was pleased to see that they were taking it easy and feeling their way into it. I had been especially concerned for Will as he has only had his provisional licence for about six weeks and hence doesn't have much experience.

Will.

Lucy

As they rode back into the pit after that first session, I think I actually teared up a little. I'm not sure if it was from pride or from relief that I was going to be able to go home that night. A little of both I guess?

Anyway, they both had huge grins on their faces and I was as proud as a Dad can be of them.

The day didn't warm up much. I think it got to 18C but that was great as it wasn't hot in the leathers which made for a more enjoyable day. 

As per usual, Champions had a photographer roaming around the track and I decided to fork out for some decent photos as a memento of the day. These are all by Motothing photography.

Just checking in - yes, still having fun here.......

I changed to the kids group for two session so that I could take some video of them and see how they were going. That was bloody good fun and I must say I was surprised at their mid corner speed on the tight corners. If I'm honest it was faster than mine!

Done and dusted! We had ridden every session and outstayed a lot of people as the last sessions were almost private track days. There were only three of us in my last session! The kids had had a great time and were still in one piece, as were the bikes. 

Hell yeah!

Lucy had uni the next day, so once loaded up we headed for home. 

The only downer for the whole day is that my bike and Will's bike had a bit of a coming together on the way home with his pillion footpeg coming into contact with my pristine Staintune exhaust can and scratching it up a bit. I will see if I can get it polished out but if that is the worst that happened on the day, then I am sort of ok with it...but I really do need to buy a proper motorcycle trailer.

Cheers.