Had some fun at the Assen TT race track last week! Paddock: The multi is, with its tall posture, a bit of an oddity in the 'experienced' group. Nevertheless allows me to keep up with the sportsbikes... more or less. Note the right hand mirror ... couldn't get it off ... due to corrosion after two winters... As you can see... I did the best I could but the bike was far from its limits. The tires however did have a hard time: These were almost fresh ... before. Settings where: sport, suspension Hardest (front and rear), preload 18, tire pressure 2.1 (front and rear) Also ... compared to my previous trackday at Assen, 10 years ago, on a BMW R1200S ... ... it took me 8 seconds more to do one lap ... but I guess I can't blame the bike for that .... All with all it was good fun!!!
I.m.o. the suspension in its hardest setting is still too soft for track riding. The bike did start to wiggle a bit under hard breaking. At first I thought it was me leaning on the handle bars. Then I used my upper legs to support myself on the tank. That didn't make a difference though. I guess it's also due to the somewhat longer suspension. The engine though is great! Quite a punch out of corners. I don't think the traction control, ABS or wheely control intervened at any time. I guess I'm not that aggressive. At my riding level and on a track like Assen it is a matter of being smooth to go fast. Especially in the corners I had difficulties to keep up with the fastest in my group. But maybe their tires (pirelly diablo supercorsa's, street-legal racing tyres) and their bikes weighing +20 kilo less made the difference. The red shift light is a great help when tucked down blasting down the straights, shifting gear with a blib of the throttle and no clutch (old skool). Shot some GoPro video. I'll put up a short clip to give you guys an idea.
Ground clearance not a problem. Even the centre stand didn't touch down. A few times the brake or gear lever would touch. So there's still room to push a bit harder through the corners. Being not a tall guy (1m76, 5'11"), the seat in its high position (I like being 'on top' of the bike) and the preload of the rear suspension quite high, it was quite a stretch to get my knee on the tarmac ... so that didn't happen. Without battle-scars on my knee-sliders is like having been to battle with stories to tell but nothing to prove it
Organised by http://www.crtholland.com 1st two sessions (25mins) you're to stay behind the instructor. He shows you the lines, break points, apexes a.s.o. 3th to 5th session: 1st two laps you're to stay behind the instructor (that's the main screen showing in the vid). Then you're free to go (in picture screen; had to cut out about 10secs of the main vid to keep it in sync). dB limit was 106dB Fastest in this group was 1:56,-- (instructor) My laptime was 2:16,-- (which was somewhere in the middle of the ranking) MotoGP is 1:32,-- (or something like that).
