6/5/00 Bike track day at PIR. I once again learn that the bike is much faster than me. So is almost everyone in the fast group. Oh, well. That's why I'm here, to learn :)

8/14/00 The third bike track day at PIR. A lot of track time, over 160 miles all-out (and two full tanks of gas!) by 2:30 pm. Improving slowly, but everyone in the fast group is still passing me. The fact that most of these guys are racers (number plates and slicks on the bikes) is some consolation, I suppose. On the Ducati I'm turning lap times a bit slower than in the Elise, in the 1:25 range without the chicane. Fastest guys in the group are doing 1:18's.

8/31/00 Bike track day at SIR, the fourth for the year. I'm no longer the slowest in the fast group, running more mid-pack. A few people still pass me, but now I get to do some passing as well. Practice does help. In the last session, a couple of people go down quite spectacularly. A shame, after an incident-free morning. An instructor's camera bike captures one of the crashes on video (and misses the fallen rider by only a few feet). Fortunately everyone is OK except for a few bruises. I manage to keep it shiny side up, and don't even scare myself once. Must be too conservative ;) After 120 miles on the track, a 180 mile ride home. Whew....

9/4/00 The year's final bike track day at PIR (a Pridmore CLASS school). My riding has certainly improved this summer, but much remains to be learned. Practice, practice, practice... The good thing is that I'm now a lot more comfortable with the bike and its capabilities. Certainly makes for an improved safety margin on the street. I know what I'm doing wrong, and what I must work on - now what I need is a whole lot more track time (going this fast on the street would be ridiculous and very short-lived, in more ways than one). Might be a good reason to take the California-dwelling 900SP on one of the southern tracks this winter...

4/17/01 Had the 748 serviced at the dealer, so I took the opportunity to test the camera mount. The video is 10M, same road as the Lotus clip from 3/7/01 but going in opposite direction...

4/19/01 First bike track day of the year. Started out rusty, only pulling off 1:35 laps without the chicane (same as in the 325). But by the end of the 6th 20-minute session I was running 1:25's, more like the Lotus at the start of last year. Still, on two wheels I have a long way to go, as the video below illustrates. The guy passing me in the turns is on a 125cc two-stroke GP bike. He doesn't quite have the power to keep up on the straights, but in the corners he has me beat hands down... Stuff to work on :)

5/29/01 Bike track day #2.

Weather is perfect, and the bike feels a lot better. While I was actually slower than the best previous time (best lap of about 1:27 without chicane), I was a lot more comfortable and at all times felt like there was plenty of margin. I am working up to speed slowly, especially in view of last Friday's spin in the Lotus. By way of comparison, in the Lotus my best time is 1:31 WITH the chicane, which would equate to about 1:21 in the track configuration that I ran on the bike. I think the 748 can come pretty close to the Lotus time, with the right pilot, but it will be a long time before I'm as comfortable on two wheels as on four... Still, it's fun practicing :) A 10.5M video of a lap with a few passing maneuvers below...

7/2/01 A beautiful track day at PIR. Did not run a camera this time because I wanted to really concentrate on the riding without any possible distractions. Sadly I couldn't sleep the night before, and only managed 4 hours - which didn't amount to resting. So I had to be extra cautious. After a couple of sessions adrenaline boost was on full and I was able to not only keep the rubber side down, but also improve. I'm touching down the knees in both left and right turns now (could only manage on left previously). Another gauge is the tires:

When looking at a sportbike, it is easy to see how hard the rider runs it by how close to the edge the tires are worn. Having the rear tire worn to the edge is the first major milestone. At that point the front will typically still have 1/4" of fresh rubber on the sides. A bit at the last track day and consistently today I managed to wear the front to the edge (note the rubber that gets pushed to the side, because the tire is basically melting on the surface). Interestingly on the rear at this pace the rubber gets pushed completely off the edge, for a nice clean look :)

Still much more to work on, but the progress is satisfying!

8/19/01 With all the moving of items and vehicles around the garage in preparation for the arrival of the Westfield kit, the 748 needed to be stored out of the way. Where to put it... how about the living room?

Looks right at home. I'll probably keep it there this winter. I could stare at this for hours... :)

04/04/02 Wow. Has it really been that long? The bike is finally out of the living room, for the first time since the end of August. The room now looks empty without it. The weather has been perfect lately, so when I had an errand to run the Ducati was screaming "take ME! take ME!" - and so I did. Much fun. Of course the battery was dead so rather than mess with a charger I took advantage of my hillside residence for a gravity-assisted start. After picking up some Westfield parts, took the long way home via nice twisty roads. Excellent day, great machine, fun roads. Cool. The Duck is now back to residing in the garage.