Nu Stuff Redux

I haven't owned a dedicated track bike since my 2005 R6, which I bought pretty much four years ago to the date of this entry. I proceeded to do nothing but ride that bike at my utmost limit during that time, intent on learning and continually improving as a sport rider around a racetrack. I fell, got back on it, and just kept riding to learn and improve without too much particular regard for the bike other than keeping it in tip-top, running shape. I sold that bike nearly a year after I bought it, but not without leaving such an impression on me for being an excellent learning tool for serious track riders. I really would've kept it longer, if I wasn't so intent on a consolidated garage, using one bike for street and track riding, which is what my 02 R1 has been doing in the last three years since I sold the R6.

Truth be told, I would've been fine continuing with my consolidated garage. However, without even taking into regard how much time and resource I've spent on my 02 R1 to turn it into my own personal superbike, the fact is that I was lucky (I've lost count of how many times I've been!) to pretty much escape my last crash on it relatively unscathed. When I picked the bike up that day and rode it to the pits, allowing me to thoroughly go over the bike to assess the damage I incurred, I didn't just let out a sigh of relief - I bellowed it out. I could not believe how lucky I was that after all that, I only needed to replace the fairing stay.

So while I had no qualms about riding the bike that very next weekend in my treasured TAAF street fairings around Laguna Seca at full-tilt, what happened that week only served to remind me that it was perhaps time to invest in a dedicated track bike again. Maybe I have been pushing it with my 02 R1 in the past three years, and it's only now come back to bite me, though only slight.

Well I'm not about to wait for the big one.

So here we are, and I've found myself a 2007 Yamaha R1. Non-repairable title from a parking tip-over after it was bumped off its kickstand by a car, breaking a tiny piece off of the steering lock insert, which is subsequentially a part of the whole frame. Insurance companies don't like it when the frame is touched in any shape or form, so it was written off as junk. This means it can never be registered for street use again. Perfect!

I also paid less for it than I did the 05 R6 four years ago, or my 02 R1 before this. And with less than 6k original miles, the irony is in how little this bike cost me, considering it's at least half a decade newer than the two former ones.

But I'm not complaining. :)

And in continuing to work with Z2 Trackdays, I already had a chance to give the bike the first shakedown to get acclimated with it.

Well, when I wasn't working, anyway.

Feeling a Little Like Bruce Wayne

From The Dark Knight (2008):

BRUCE WAYNE

Well, you've sold me, Dent.

I'm gonna throw you a fundraiser.

HARVEY DENT

That's nice of you, Bruce, but

I'm not up for reelection for three

years. This stuff won't start for -

BRUCE WAYNE

I don't think you understand.

One fundraiser with my pals,

you'll never need another cent.

  And here's why:  

Trouble is, if a man is truly defined by the company he keeps, then I don't know how I'll ever live up to the quality of man my friends have defined me by.

 

But for them, I will damn well try.

Coming Full Circle

 

That was at my very first trackday, back in October 2007, and at of all places- Reno-Fernley Raceway (RFR). Talk about stubborn; I had just found out what trackdays were at that time, and immediately I wanted to do one. RFR was the next immediate trackday on any provider's calendar, and it was with Zoom-Zoom (Z2) Trackdays. So it was 300 miles away from me, I didn't care. I made calls, and made it happen, even though I was without a truck.

 

Fast-forward five years and many more trackdays since, and though I've done trackdays with practically every other provider other than Z2, I'm fairly certain I've done the most with Z2. This was not as if by intent. Just happened that way, and it just so happened that the rapport and environment with Z2's staff and crew mirror my easy-going and wise-cracking self. So even if without intent, I just gelled better with Z2.

 

So now here we are, five years since my very first trackday with them, and I just had another first day with Z2.

 

I didn't want to post this when it happened, just in case it hadn't worked out yesterday, but during the Yamaha Owners Appreciation days last month, Z2's president approached me himself, having me meet with his Grid Director, asking me if I would be interested in joing their crew in providing grid direction and vehicle/rider recovery. That was already a seriously awesome day, only punctuated by this seriously awesome proposal that fell on my lap.



Doing crash recovery

So yesterday was my first day as an official Z2 crew, and I'm happy to say that it all felt natural, as if this is what I ought to be doing now after years of doing trackdays. I already know the ropes of how a trackday goes anyway, so now I'm actually in the ropes helping to pull them.

This also feels like an evolutionary step to what has always been my track goal: To be a track instructor. I've taken great satisfaction seeing my friends make improvements with my help and guidance, and so I would love to officially be in a position to be able to do this. So this feels like a step in the right direction, the right foot in the right door.

Next up will be Z2's Thanksgiving Weekend at Thunderhill Raceway, and after that, can't wait to see next year's calendar!