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Update October 25, 2002:
At last, I found the time and energy to give a much overdue update. My apologies...NOT ;-). Update April 2, 2002: I love bank holiday weekends ! On Sunday, I went out and played with the R1 (who is now in dire need of an new BT10E) and grinded away about half of my Wiz Sparkies on the twisty roads of the Ardennes. On Easter Monday, I could get my hands on a Yamaha Fazer 1000, to take my girlfriend out for a spin.
Update March 21, 2002: I suppose I should say thank you to all you faithful visitors. I have been terribly lazy and apologize for not providing an update for the last six months.
Update September 28, 2001 : On the eve of a new 5-day trip to Spain, I finally found the time to quickly give an update on my track day at Zolder last Monday.
Update September 11, 2001 : Just back from a quick 3-day trip deep down in the Loire region in France (to the city of Tulle and back). It's magic to pass through all these little towns with the very reputed names (Sancerre, Chablis, ...), but unfortunately, as wine-tasting and motorcycling do not go very well together, we had to postpone the winetasting until after the trip ;-). An interesting thing: As I still had a barely used D207 front lying around, I had put on a new D207 rear for the trip. But whilst I used to love this tyre (before I discovered the BT010 and the Pirelli Supercorsa), it is now a different story ! The D207 is too unstable and lacks the grip that I have come accustomed to. So it will be back to the BT010 for our Spain trip (1st week of October - still three weeks to struggle through...;-). So I'll finish off the D207 rear on my next track day at the Zolder circuit(September 24), which should make for some interesting slides ;-) when accelarating out of the chicane ;-) Update August 28, 2001 : What a weekend (and Monday...) On Sunday, I had a whole-day blast in the Belgian Ardennes on a borrowed CB750 with a screen and a GIVI topcase (the same one as last time), with my girlfriend riding pillion and enjoying very much the little race I had with a French TL1000R back on the way from P. to B. After he had optimistically overtaken me on the straight, with blaring aftermarket exhausts, I was back on his back wheel as of the first serious corner ;-) And I stayed there all the way to B., occasionnally showing my front wheel as I went on the outside of him. I couldn't of course keep up on the straights, but sat on his arse watching him screwing up corner after corner ;-) Update August 23, 2001 : Last time I reported having put on a set of Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa SC2, in preparation for the track day at the Zolder circuit on August 16. And did it pay off ! I managed to shave off a further 5 seconds of my time, which means that I am now in the top half of the "expert" group. And there is certainly more room for improvement (especially on the three chicanes - I am still way too slow in flicking the bike over). A good thing that I am not superstitious, since at the track day, I was given the number "13" (BTW, did you know that 13 is considered a lucky number in Italy ? That's why Marco Melandri has ridden quite a while with that number). Since there was a slight drizzle from time to time, conditions on the track were a bit uncertain in a couple of sessions, causing a lot of people to fall off or highside. I skipped one session, which I deemed to be too wet for the Supercorsa's. Update August 2, 2001 : After having upgraded the rear with the fantastic shock from Ohlins, I did a track day on the Zolder circuit. It was the 2nd time I went there, so now I had the benefit of advance knowledge and managed to shave off about 9 seconds of my time ! The main obstacle to improve my lap times even further were the Bridgestone BT10's, which overheated and started to slide quite violently upon the exit of the slower corners. Update July 13, 2001 : "Ladies and Gentlemen, enter .... the OHLINS rear suspension for the R1". Indeed, I managed to buy a 2nd hand Ohlins rear suspension for my R1 (for a measly 440 Euro ;-)) and had it fitted to the bike. Boy oh boy, what a difference it makes ! It is really worth every penny and makes the R1 so much nicer to ride hard. The rear no longer kicks back and also wallows a lot less when loaded under power (some might say that I do not need an Ohlins, but should turn up compression on the standard suspension - but that's not feasable on less than perfectly smooth roads...), so it's WFO on the throttle now as soon as you clipped the apex ;-). Update June 12, 2001 : It's been a while since the last update, but that has been due to the fact that I had to be a BORE (aka Business Oriented Responsible Employee) for some weeks (bonus time approaching soon ;-)) and the fact that I was too busy riding my toy. It has now done over 13,000 kms, and the last 3,500 kms were covered on our second 5-day trip of the year.
Update April 18, 2001 : Phew ! What a holiday... As I had mentioned last time, we (me + 4 other bike nuts) went on the first of our 2001 trips to the Spanish mountains. It was a 7-day journey, from Brussels to Paris (boring motorways), then on the night train to Biarritz (boring train ride) and then up in the Pyrenees and all the way down to the Sierra Nevada (and back). Update March 25, 2001 : Spring is definitely upon us, and even if you could not easily deduce that from the weather (which is miserable, as in "cold and wet"), you had to be blind to miss all the "Open Days" adverts of the local bike shops, which are a sure sign that the bike season has started (so the fair weather riders can finally stop polishing and actually start riding their prized possessions - I, on the other hand [bragging mode on] ride the whole year round, irrespective of the weather [/bragging mode] ;-)). Update February 28, 2001 : Yiha ! The driving ban is finished and I feel whole again ;-). Nevertheless, there was one real bonus to the ban. On Sunday (Feb. 18), I had arranged with one of my regular riding buddies to ride pillion on his GSXR1300 Hayabusa. The guy in question is 51, has raced GSXR750's back in the eighties and is generally known as the smoothest and most experienced rider of our bunch (of five). He also was quite used to riding two-up, because he used to take his wife on trips to Austria and Switzerland, and finding no greater pleasure than chasing other bikes and overtaking them on the outside, ... Anyway, what I experienced on that ride borders on the incredible. After I came back, I wrote it all up to the benefit of the two "Pilgrims" (as we call ourselves -> "Pilgrims in the never-ending quest to maximize enjoyment from motorcycling") who could not join us on that ride. But given their positive reactions, I think other motorcycle enthusiasts might enjoy the story as well. Update February 12, 2001 : What a rotten weekend! I'm currently sitting out a 3-week driving ban until February 27th (got nicked speeding way back in July 1999 - the wheels of Justice sure do turn slowly...) and last Sunday, the weather was absolutely gorgeous for the time of year. So no ride for me, as I bit my nails and watched all the bikes passing by. So I hope the weather gods unleash buckets of rain and hail upon us next weekend ;-) Update December 28, 2000 : Even though the snow is falling right now, I can't complain. Santa has been very good to me. He brought me a pair of SPIDI Carbovent gloves (all black) and SIDI Vertebrae (chrome) boots! Ooh, I wish spring was already here... Update December 12, 2000 : I have been able to buy a unique one-piece racing suit from MOMO Design, to replace my Dainese TH-1 suit that was destroyed in my last crash (the suit protected me very well, and was not damaged at all, except for a slight scuff on the left leg, but the paramedics cut the entire suit open from head to toe...). MOMO Design is the clothing line of the well-known Italian car accessories specialist MOMO. Update November 30, 2000 : Yesterday, I completed the running-in procedure for my brand-new Y2K R1. I also had the opportunity to try my heated jacket from Chilli with temperature control. It's the cat's whiskers! Get one, because why be uncomfortable and cold when you do not need to be ? Update November 19, 2000 : I know, I know. Those of you who have come here regularly, are probably fed up with the fact that I haven't updated this website for God knows how long... But lack of time (i.e., I'd rather ride the bike than webmaster ;-)) has prevented me doing anything substantial so far. Anyway, I can tell you that since February 1999, when the site was first launched, I have crashed my R/W '98 R1, had it repaired, did about 31,000 kms with it (that's about 19,500 miles, for those of you who can't cope with the metric system), traded it in for a R/W/B Y2K R1 in March 2000, which I crashed three months later (a bl**dy cage cut a blind corner, just as I entered it). I suffered multiple broken bones and stayed seven weeks in hospital, but no permanent damage was done. So now (November 10, 2000) I have just taken possession of my 2nd new Y2K R1 (shouldn't Yamaha launch a loyal customer programme or something ;-) ?) and I'm completing the break-in just before the winter hits. So those of you who haven't visited the site yet, please go ahead and click on anything that could remotely interest you. And those of you who haven't got a bike, just two words... GET ONE! ;-) Hereafter, the old page takes over again :
This is my personal homepage,
dedicated for the most part to a remarkable
motorcycle, which, ever since its launch, has
fascinated thousands of bike fans - the Yamaha
YZF-R1. And since August 1998, I'm the (very)
happy owner of a R/W (*) R1 (#484). The
R1 has set new standards in the "open
class" heavy hypersports. It is lighter,
more powerful and shorter than any other (stock)
bike in its class. Keep
the sticky side down ! Hugo (**) (*) R/W = Red & White. In fact,
the official denomination of the color scheme is
"Bluish White Coctail 1". There's been (and
from time to time, it still erupts) a frenetic discussion
on the topic of the nicest color scheme. I would like to
take this opportunity to emphasize, contrary to what the
(prospective) owners of a blue R1 are led to believe,
that : (i) the R/W R1's are not slower, (ii) they do not
crash more eagerly, (iv) do not eat more tires and (iii)
are not contaminated with the Millenium bug... ;-) (**) In case you were wondering, I am
located in Belgium (not exactly "Bikers'
paradise", but then again, you can't have it
all...).
Since the April update, I've been doing quite a lot bikewise, these last months.
Let's start with the April trip to Spain. We did the same tour as October 2002 (since two of the five Pilgrims had not yet done it). We filmed extensively on and off the bike (some excellent knee-down + sparkies pictures. Yeah!). No accidents this time (hèhe, we move in the right direction) and the weather was excellent. We jumped over to Portugal (plenty of storks on poles, very entertaining view) and spent some more time in the Andalusian countrysite.
During the summer months, the dry Sundays were spent "touring" the Ardennes and the "Champagne-en-Ardennes" and "Argonne" regions in France. Unfortunately, one of the Pilgrims decided to crash his beautiful blue R1 (recently bought off another Pilgrim). So much for our accidentless spell...;-(
I also went to the 24 hour Endurance Race of Liège at the beautiful Francorchamps track (maybe one of the most beautiful tracks in the world - also home to the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix) and saw a very interesting race. Unfortunately, the Suzuki Fosters' team I rooted for and for which European superstock contender Koen Vleugels was riding (see below, the update of September 2001), had to quit with mechanical failure.
Early September, I trailered the bike to the south of Austria and met up with one of the Pilgrims who was living there (but he's now back in Belgium) to take up a nice challenge: a two-day track event at the Pannonia Ring just over the Hungarian border. It's a lovely, fairly technical track with excellent facilities and a nice cantina. I had managed to persuade my girlfriend to come with me and she apparently had a very nice time filming us on and off the track and obviously was enjoying the excellent sunny weather very much.
I also had my first real racing experience: on the Saturday, there was a 16-lap "Superbike" race, where everyone with a +600 could participate (with qualifying sessions, a proper start and brolly girls! ;-). However, due to the fact that we had arrived a bit late on Saturday morning, we were not really able to get to know the circuit sufficiently to put in a decent lap time (in fact, we had to get to know the track during the 20 min. qualifying session...).
Nevertheless, we both managed to place our R1's on the third before last row, so we could at least avoid utter humiliation (my best lap time during qualifying was 2 min 23 sec, whereas the lap record (held by Andreas Meklau) is 1 min 56...). The start was an unbelieveable adrenalin rush and, putting the lessons gathered from the only Pilgrim with racing experience to good use ("just ride off the line like you would ride off on the road, but pull it to the red in each gear"), we both had an excellent start, making up 6 or 7 places... which were easily lost again on the entry of the first corner. Obviously, if you are riding with the normal street fairing, one tends to be a bit more careful ;-)).
However, I found a group of four riders that I could stay with and settled in to get to know the track better. After 3 laps, my confidence was growing and I overtook three of that group (one purely on the power of the R1 on the pit straight, I must admit,...). But by then I had spent most of my pennies, because the effort of overtaking and trying to go faster had apparently caused my to stop breathing properly and I suddenly felt very dizzy and completely exhausted. When in the seventh lap I missed two braking points in a row and almost had a get-off, I decided to enter the pits before I did anything really stupid ;-))
The other Pilgrim did finish the race and managed to gain quite some spots compared to his starting position. I was quite chuffed with the improvement of my time by about 5 seconds (2 min 18 sec). so that promised a lot for the Sunday.
After having "suffered" the 2002 Miss Pannonia election (see the Pannonia website for pictures), we tucked in early and it was all rise and shine on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, during the first free riding session, the central zipper on my Spidi leathers decided to quit and I had to pit and find my girlfriend to try and fix the rebellious zipper.
While we were concentrating on getting the jacket and pants zipped together again, the "accident truck" passed by and in the back was my friend's 2002 R1, or at least what was left of it. Indeed, the poor guy had crashed heavily in turn 11, almost writing-off the bike and cracking a few ribs and breaking his arm and a bone in his hand. So that was the end of my Pannonia experience, as the rest of the day was spent waiting in the hospital and packing everything up. Luckily, he could ride back home with us and we delivered him in the arms of his missus (who, understandably, was not really amused).
But the travel and expense of going to Pannonia was worth it, if only for the racing experience! I would love to do that again once in a while.
And barely a month after the Pannonia experience came... the October trip. Not to Spain this time, but to Italy. And instead of being Pilgrims, we changed into Nomads, who make no plans beforehand and treat themselves to lavish diners and excellent wines... And my God, did this turn out right! Italy is a wonderful country, and I'll say no more! Go and find out for yourself. The riding was fairly challenging (lots of hairpin bends and crazy Italian drivers, useless signs and inconsistent road numbering...) but the whole atmosphere of the country is brilliant.
And now I'm preparing myself and my bike for the winter, laying out my heated jacket and winther clothes and looking forward to challenging rides in the cold and rain (which are also the perfect alibi to treat ourselves to nice lobster lunches at our usual breakfast stop in the Ardennes ;-)))))
Cheers and until the next update!
The Fazer really charmed us, with its incredible grunt and very civilized and confidence-inspiring road holding. In short : we ruled that day in the Ardennes. We overtook everything in sight and the poor souls who thought to keep up were rapidly left behind after a corner or two ;-)). My girlfriend found the seating position quite comfortable (her only other pillion experience dates from our trip with the CB750 last year - see below, 23 and 28 August 2001) and less prone to slide forward and bounce into the rider. She was especially impressed by the power and acceleration (and I must say that I used a fair bit of the 145 HP, as the roads were dry and clean and we had the traction to put these ponies on the road;-)). As the brakes are the same as on the R1 and the handle bars give ample leverage, the Fazer is really an excellent tool for the twisties, but does certainly not shy away from the faster corners! One significant weakness, though : the seat is quite narrow (both for rider and pillion) and so our buts started to ache after about 5-6 hours of riding. But I suppose this could be remedied by a nice aftermarket item from Mr. Corbin.
In the mean time, I'm also getting geared up for the summer. As the eternal optimist that I am, I bought the G-AIR from Dainese (perforated jacket with protectors), and I hope I'll be able to wear it a lot this summer. I plan to complement this with the "218" trousers from Dainese, as these leather pants are designed to be used with the Pro-Tech Carbon boots (where the pants go over the boots). I still owe a pair of these (as I wore them with my TH-1 suit in which I crashed in June 2000) and, given their price at the time, it would be a waste not to use them anymore.
I also bought a bronze-couloured SPIDI rain jacket. Even though it is a bit bulkier than the one I had from Richa, it is so much better. It gives a tight fit (fully adjustable) and has very long sleeves (I have the XL size), which was an absolute requirement, as my arms are quite long and I for once want a jacket where the sleeves do not run up my arms when riding.
That's about it for now. I won't be riding much until our April trip, but I promise a full report on the trip and my experience with the BT010E and BT011F, as well as with the EBC HH brake pads I intend to use.
On the other hand, not much has happened, execept that the last Spain trip was really the epitome of our motto "Maximising enjoyment from motorcycling". We took a slightly different route and discovered some of the best roads a biker could dream of.
The only drawback was that our tires were shredding at an even faster rate than usual, forcing us to back off a bit on the way back. Frustration, frustration... ;-)
And guess what... I will be able to repeat this quintessential biking experience all over again at the end of April. We will follow essentially the same route, except for day 3. Instead of blasting through the Sierra Nevada mountains, we'll venture into Portugal.
And here's a bit of interesting news. Due to an emergency, I borrowed a (less than) half worn Bridgestone BT10E (the OEM tire for the GSXR1000) to put on the rear of my R1. And guess what: it's a brilliant combination. The R1 becomes almost as stable as the Suzuki and the tire gives an excellent feel. Grip was never an issue (I rode with the Bridgestone recommended pressure of 2,9 Bar - no, that is not a typo) and I had a wonderful ride in the Belgian Ardennes.
We asked for the opinion of Bridgestone (Belgium) who confirmed (in writing, no less) that there is no problem in mounting the BT11F (the front that matches the BT10E) and BT10E on the R1. He also confirmed that, in their opinion, the R1 should gain in stability. As far as I am concerned, I'm convinced and I'll put this set on my R1 for the next Spain trip.
I will also try to test some of the other new tires that are put on the market this year (Metzteler Sportec, Dunlop D208). I'm also interested to find out if anyone has already tried the new BT20, which, according to a Bridgestone flyer that we picked up at the Brussels Motorshow last January, has improved grip and is in fact situated quite close to last year's BT10. So if anybody has any experience with that tire on a sports bike, give a shout!
Finally, a word on the Wiz "Sparkies" knee sliders which are gracing my leathers: can you say "spectacular" ;-) Ideal for some harmless fun as the other road users think that a crash is imminent, as they see the sparks flying ;-)))). Recommended (only drawback is the grinding noise they make - gives me goosebumps sometimes)!
Conditions on the track day were far from ideal, since it had rained the night before and there was a fog (luckily not too dense) that persisted throughout the morning, preventing the track from drying up. In some places, the track was also greasy and muddy, caused by the truck races that were held a few days before. No-one had apparently bothered to give the track a decent cleaning... Nevertheless, I did three sessions in the wet and found out that I am quite quick in those conditions (must be all those tips in the Ardennes in the fall and winter). I did 2:10 in the wet (my fastest time in the dry is 1:57), on a fresh set of BT010's, which made me about 3rd quickest in the fast group. That is the good news.
The bad news is that I also almost lost the front three times, which was most likely due to to the fact that I had deflated my tires to about 2.1 Bar (for street use it's 2.5). That is a normal thing to do when you go out on the track, but I had forgotten that, due to the wet conditions and the (relatively) low temperature, the tyres would not heat up so much. Luckily, I was able to save the day on each occasion (however, on the last one, I almost hit another rider when I overshot the breaking point due to the front sliding), once by putting my foot down just before the bike reached a point of no return... Adrenalin rush ensured and another lesson learned!
BTW, the first time it happened was when I followed (and stayed with) a club racer on an R6 who, as I found out after the session, was on wet tyres ! Not my smartest move, I admit ;-)
In the afternoon, the track dried out and I could give the R1 a good trashing. I particularly focused on the chicanes and the infamous "first left" after the paddock straight. I finally learned that one of the chicanes was really "blast through in a straight line", over the bumpy concrete curbstones. Thanks to the Ohlins rear, the R1 digested this really well, allowing me to gain considerably in exit speed. Yihaa ! The other two chicanes take more confidence in chucking the bike over and getting hard on the throttle, but I was way too weary and anxious to crash (which would have spoiled the Spain trip) to really try to improve (and the memory of seeing a guy lowsiding his R1 just in front of me in the 2nd chicane, during the previous track day, certainly didn't help).
So now it's back to street riding and the magnificent Spanish mountain roads. Hopefully everything goes well this time (unfortunately, on each one of the last three trips, someone crashed) and that the weather gods are on our side in our quest to maximise our enjoyment from motorcycling. ;-) See y'all later !
By the way, Koen Vleugels, the bloke I accompanied on the Assen track day two weeks ago, finished 11th in the European Superstock round at Assen last Sunday, after having qualified in 8th position on the starting grid. Unfortunately, Koen completely totalled one of his 2 R1's during the Friday practice, which may prove a handicap for the last round at Imola.
The extremely capracious weather (typical for Assen) made for a very confused start, as it started to rain heavily at the end of the warm up lap, forcing most of the riders to go into the pits to change to full wets. This allowed 4 clever guys, who were already on full wets or chose not to change tyres, to charge away and battle it out for the race win... See the Superstock official site (click on the "Superstock" button) for the race reports and detailed results. It's really a shame that the Superstock races aren't televised yet (Eurosport only brings coverage of the Superbike, Supersport and Superside (sidecar)). Given the quality of the racing, the intense battles and the fact that these are bikes that are so close to the roadgoing versions, the series deserve a lot more attention from the media. Maybe next year ?
I touched the footpegs a couple of times and had at one time a very gentle little slide from the rear, causing my girlfriend to laugh somewhat nervously when I later explained that these things are not uncommon on a motorcycle and are perfectly controllable ;-) But I think that she believed me ;-)
On Sunday evening, we (4 guys, including European Superstock Championship contender Koen Vleugels and the owner of the bikeshop I go to, who is the team manager and occasionally the mechanic of Koen's racing team) went on our way to the Assen circuit in the Netherlands. We left around 7:45 PM and arrived around midnight. The weather appeared to be quite shitty, with heavy showers and lightning and thunder. After having settled in for the night (in the back of the van, in between the bikes - how's that for dedication ? ;-)) I woke around 6:30 AM to a very dark and overcast sky, with a slight drizzle. So that wasn't very confidence inspiring (the first "free riding" session was already at 9:00 AM). But whilst we were at the technical control around 8:15, the clouds suddenly disappeared and a blue sky with a magnificent sun appeared. And it remained sunny and dry for the rest of the day ! ;-)
So out we went for the first session of 30 minutes on my semi-new Supercorsa at the rear (the previous one was too used to be safe - these Supercorsa's apparently have a tendency to slide suddenly when too far used, so it was recommended that I put on a new one). Certain parts of the track were still damp or wet, but the corners had already dried. There were no marshals riding at the front for the first few laps, so I tried to identify riders who obviously had already been at he circuit and see how they picked their lines.
The circuit itself is quite exciting, with some very fast parts (where you hit 6th gear), with most corners to be taken in 3rd or, as it turned out later in the day, in 4th and there is only one (fast) chicane and one hairpinlike corner (the Nationale bocht) which are taken in 2nd.
As I went round and the track dried out further, I noted that most of the riders (including a lot of the guys on race-tuned bikes) were relatively slow entering the heavily cambered righthander (the "Stekkenwal") as well as the even more cambered lefthander (the "Bult" - it's almost like half an oval as you see in NASCAR) (click here for the circuit layout). I was always passing a lot of people there. Seems like the lessons learned in Spain about high speed cornering are paying off ;-).
I lost vis-à-vis the fast guys mostly accelerating out of the chicane (G. Timmerbocht), also failing to go WFO early on the back straight (Veenslang), which is not very wide and very very fast (10.000 rpm in 6th at the end) and also accelerating out of the slow "Nationale bocht" after the start-finish. I could never shake off the bad experience with the highsider back in 1999 (Koen Vleugels suggested dryly, by way of solution, that maybe I should momentarily stop thinking ;-)) so I always lost quite some meters in these places. But it was a real thrill to stay with the very fast guys in the fast corners (like the bit known as "Hoge Heide" and "Ramshoek" - knee on the floor in 5th - Yeah !) and scraping the heroblobs (both sides), toe sliders and knee sliders ! ;-). But the lessons in late braking also paid off, especially entering the chicane. Passing a guy on the brakes and then slamming the bike into the chicane, now that's really exciting
The sessions succeeded very quickly (every 30 minutes), so it was quite tiring and at times the sessions felt a bit too long (because of the fast circuit, it is more tiring then Zolder), so I usually backed off a little during the last 5 minutes.
I managed a best lap of 1:42.5 (we had a "transponder" to control the noise, but it is apparently also used for timing - after each session, a print-out of the times were distributed), whereas the best lap times of the "free riding" were 1:34 (1:29 in the endurance race that was held in the afternoon - best lap set by Koen Vleugels). With these times, I was about in the middle of the pack (of 40 - the slowest riders did around 1:51). The 4th guy (a mate of Koen Vleugels) managed a 1:39.8 on his GSXR750. It should be noted that there were only 5 or 6 riders with road-going bikes (all the others were in race-trim) and there were even bikes on slicks ! As far as tyres were concerned, almost everyone had either Supercorsas, D207GP's or Michelin Pilot race.
Needless to say that there were of course a number of people going off (5 or 6), but I had the impression there were not as much accidents as in Zolder (maybe because the stop-and-go lay-out requires more braking skills than a fluent lay out such as Assen). I almost had a coming together with a slow Kawa-rider. I was following one of the fast guys on the Veenslang (I had managed to get a good drive out of the Nationale bocht, so that I could slipstream the guy) when we came upon the Kawaki. The fast guy decided to pass him on the left (we were approaching a slight bend to the right) while the Kawaki was already swerving to the left to line it up for the bend. The fast guy touched him (elbow to elbow), scaring the Kawaki guy so much that he swerved completely to the right, where I was passing... Result: knee to knee and elbow to elbow at around 170 kph (I had already backed off a little seeing the two touch). I managed to keep looking in front of me and steer the bike away from the kerbstones and into the bend... The Kawaki guy luckily didn't hook me and braked, so I was clear to take the corner. So no harm done.
All in all a fantastic experience worth repeating ! Zolder, here I come (on 24/9)... ;-)
The Sunday after the track day, my regular riding buddies apparently had better things to do then go for our normal Sunday blast, so I managed to lend a CB750 (with a top case) and took my girlfriend out for the first time for a ride in the Ardennes. Luckily, she liked it, so we are going to repeat it this very Sunday. She especially liked me sticking it to slower bikes round the corners and leaning until the footpegs scraped... Now that's the spirit! ;-)
More good things : on August 27, I'll attend a track day on the beautiful Assen cricuit in the Netherlands. We get 5 sessions of 30 minutes, so I guess I'll be completely knackered ;-) It's the first time I attend this circuit (having only done Zolder in Belgium and Croix-en-Ternois in France), and it's a lot faster than Zolder with some very interesting corners. So I'll have to prove my manhood again ;-)
Have you also noticed that the hype around the 2002 R1 is heating up ? It has been announced for the Milan show in September. Depending on me liking the looks, I'll probably order one in replacement of my Y2K R1 (since my riding buddies have switched to the GSXR1000, at least somebody has to stick with the R1 ;-)) which now already has over 17,000 kms (since November 2000 !). By the time I have to return it in exchange for the new bike, it will probably have over 25,000 kms (and thats exclusively leisure riding and track days - no commuting).
Finally, a little remark on the knee sliders that came with my Spidi suit. These sliders are of the "Boomerang" type, with a banana-like shape. The advantage is that it looks good. The disadvantage is that you cannot turn the slider around or switch between sides to get even wear. So I'll probably will get a lot less mileage out of these than with regularly shaped oval sliders...But other than that, these sliders are quite nice, giving a good feel and sliding nicely (they do not inadvertedly grip on the tarmac, tugging your knee backwards) without too much noice.
The solution for the next track day is simple : I've put on a set of Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa (SC2, i.e., the medium compound) for the next track day, which is on August 6. Since I couldn't contain myself and wanted to try them out beforehand, I went for a long blast in the Belgian Ardennes last Sunday. It was quite hot, so the road temperature was high enough to have the Pirellis heat up sufficiently to provide the grip you may expect from race tyres. And boy oh boy, are these tyres brilliant ! They allow a very fast turn-in, but remain remarkably stable under acceleration and at high speeds. I was throwing the bike from one side to the other effortlessly, whilst my riding buddy on his GSXR1000 (with standard BT10's) was rapidly disappearing behind me after a few corners ;-). No hint of a slide or wobble and they seem to hold up quite well for a soft tyre. My preferred choice for a rain-free day in the summer (the Supercorsa's are apparently quite crappy in the rain...).
A note on the braking problems I reported on the GSXR1000. The issue seems to be solved by installing braided steel hoses and replacing the standard pads with EBC braking pads. Bit of a shame, really, that Suzuki allows such crap brakes... I wonder how the journalists' test bikes were equipped, since most bike mags jubilated the brakes on the super Gixxer, whereas we very quickly experienced differently... Anyway, apart from the brakes, the GSXR1000 appears to be a hell of a bike and my riding buddies do not regret having bought them. Now let's wait and see how Yamaha will respond with their updated 2002 YZF-R1. I live in hope ;-)... BTW, Motorcyclenews.com has a recent feature on the 2002 YZF-R1, including a (supposedly) very accurate drawing.
Anyway, I'm eagerly awaiting the track day on August 6, and praying that it stays dry - the weather will take a shift over the weekend, and there may be some showers ;-(. I'll report about the way the Pirellis behaved and hopefully I'll be able to boast about improved lap times ;-)
The main difference is of course the fact that the windings on the Ohlins spring are even and not progressive, allowing the suspension to work properly at any stage of loading. You also get a ride-height adjuster, which allows you to jack up the rear about half an inch higher, helping a faster turn-in. The result in practice is amazing and makes for a wonderful (and less tiring - let's not forget the added comfort) ride. Bring on the bumpy roads (it's wonderful to see one's fellow Pilgrims struggle on bumpy sections, whereas one does not even feel the hardest of bumps ;-))!
So the Ohlins rear suspension is truly recommended. Get more details on the Ohlins website.
We went to visit one of our fellow R1 brethren, who has set up camp in the south of Austria. What we didn't know was that the weather Gods apparently had not slept very well and were rather bad-spirited. So we've had some of the worst weather you can imagine for a month of June. We've had snowstorms and freezing temperatures at barely 1,700 meter of altitude. Also all the interesting high mountain passes were closed, forcing us to stay in the overcrowded valleys, dodging cages and cops and getting soaked under the persistent rain (except for one day, we've had rain and snow everyday - I think I'll need 3 days to clean my bike !). So, in short : it was not a good idea, but at least I learned how to drive on a road covered in wet snow... Luckily, as we had seen the forecast for the first day, we had brought our Chilli heated jackets (see below in the update of November 30, 2000 for more details)
However, we've had some very nice rides in the Belgian Ardennes on the Sundays prior to the trip and I'm very pleased that, since my accident 360 days ago, I seem to have rediscovered my old form and I'm back to my knee-scraping ways, much to the delight of the Pilgrims following me through the bends of the Belgian Ardennes. I really have to get some of these "sparky" knee sliders !
No major purchases have been made since the last update, but I have to give a thumbs up to the quality of my Dry-line mid-season Dainese jacket that I bought last March in the sales, which, even if it was clearly not intended for the kind of extreme weather we had to endure in Austria, did a remarkeable job of keeping me almost 100% dry (except for a tiny leak on one of the sleeves during an exceptional hard downpour). My Sidi Vertebrae boots with waterproof lining did not as good, since as of the second day, water went through and forced me to use my rubber overboots (which I tore on the right side when I had to put my foot down when I almost highsided the bike, due to leaning a bit too much in the wet and getting on the throttle a wee bit too early ;-))
Fianlly, a little word on the new GSXR 1000. Two of the Pilgrims have now acquired such a beast recently and one of them took it on the Austria trip. It really rocks (suspension is incredibly good for a road bike and the frame is really stiff, but without causing a harsh ride), except for the breaks which seem to fade after being used 3 to 4 times in the hairpin seciton of the mountain passes (i.e., where you race downhill, and decelerate very hard from about 130 km/h to about 10 km/h to take the hairpins). So if anyone has heard about fading problems on the GSXR1000 and knows about a solution, drop me a line.
For those who haven't yet had the luck to ride a motorcycle on the Spanish mountain roads and through the magnificent canyons... believe me, this country is biker's heaven.
First of all, if you select the roads for your trip carefully, you'll barely meet any traffic. There are no cops about, and if they are, they'd rather cheer you on as you come sliding out of the bend then stop you and give you a ticket (that is not exactly true, but in any event, it does not appear that harassing bikers is high on their list of priorities). And the best part : it seems the Spain is one of the rare nations that actually make GOOD use of the grants dealt out by the European Union, because the Spanish seem to sink it all in the building of nice 100% bike-ready curvy and bendy roads ;-). Most of the roads are new or renewed and offer smooth yet grippy surfaces (but be careful in and around towns and villages -> sometimes there they used the very smooth yet slippery light grey stuff).
Add some sunny yet mostly fresh (between 12 and 25 C°, depending on altitude and time of day) weather, and you have all the ingredients for a perfect biking holiday.
Unfortunately, in the beginning of the 3rd day, one of the group (known as AJ - see my Hayabusa story) decided to throw away the bike in the middle of a fast section. After losing the front, he and the bike slid quite a distance, until the bike hit the armco barrier three times and got profesionnally demolished. Luckily, AJ came to a halt before the armco barrier, and got away with a cut in his knee (three stitches) and a burned bum. For your information : he was wearing the kevlar-reinforced Giali jeans trousers, which were torn, but not after having protected him admirably from road rash (except for the last few meters). So there were were again, just like last year (when another of the Pilgrims outbraked himself in a slippery descent), with an unrideable bike and a slightly damaged Pilgrim.
However, since no-one in the group is a stranger to crashing, we could immediately use our vast experience in organizing emergency transport and salvaging bike wrecks ;-) and within barely 4 hours, AJ was cared for in the hospital and put on the plane back to Belgium, the bike wreck was safely stored at a local garage, and we continued our pilgrimage to the Mecca of Bends somewhere in the Sierra Nevada.
The rest of the trip was (luckily) uneventful (as far as accidents were concerned) and only a strike of the French railways spoilt the fun a bit, causing us to rent a van, put the bikes in it and drive all the way from Bordeaux to Lilles. From Lilles, we barely made it back home to Belgium on very worn tires ;-)
Anyway, planning for the next trip (to Austria) in June is already underway, so I already got something to look forward to ! In the mean time, I'll just have to make do with the regular Sunday rides on our Ardennes circuit. Oh, woe is me ! ;o)
Anyway, the Open Days at the different shops presented me with an opportunity to buy some highly needed items, in view of our annual Spring Pilgrimage to the Mecca of Bends in the mountains of Southern Spain. As huge discounts were offered, I got a Spidi 2-piece "Ring" leather suit (30% off) and Spidi Carbotech gloves (20% off) (to replace the Dainese Race gloves I wore when I crashed last year, and one glove went missing - so if anyone is interested in a right-hand Red/Black/white XL Dainese Race glove with carbon inserts, give me a shout ;-)). So together with the ventilated Carbovent gloves I already have, I'm now fully set to tackle any type of weather on our trip (for the trip, I bring in total 4 pairs of gloves, to be sure I can stay comfortable in any type of weather). I decided to buy the suit since it will be more practical than the 1-piece MOMO (even though the MOMO is of course a lot nicer and cooler - but on an extended trip, comfort precedes coolness ;-)).
I also bought a new helmet, to replace my defunct Shoei Exceed II Gibernau replica, that protected me more than adequately in my crash (remember, I hit the car and it's right front tire head-on, and I did not even have the slightest headache). So even though this helmet is horribly expensive (the new price for 2001 is rumoured to be almost 870 Euro), I managed to find what was probably the last one in Belgium (because the former Shoei dealer in Belgium has quit the distribution since September) and got it for 644 Euro (the Y2K price with a discount ;-)). I also got a Silver irridium visor, which looks really cool with the white/black/red helmet. Check out the colour scheme.
Finally, to end the buying spree, I snapped up a left-over Red/Black waterproof Dainese "mid-season" jacket from the '99 collection (for the measly sum of 124 Euro), which will be ideal for those "will it rain or not" Sundays in April, May, September or October, when my Dainese X-Tec jacket (which is my preferred winter gear), would be too heavy and warm to wear.
So now I'm counting the days until Monday April 2, when we will set off for the first Pilgrimage of 2001! We will drive up to Paris, where we will board the nigth train to Biarritz. And from then on, it's bikers heaven for the next four days ;-) !!!!
Click here to go to the story of me riding pillion with CTD on February 18, 2001...
These past weeks, I added some more miles, in order to be prepared for our Spain trip (which is our - me and 4 riding buddies - annual pilgrimage to the "Mecca of bends" in Southern Spain) early April. I feel gradually more confident and comfortable, but I have not been able to completely shake off my crash of last June. The fact that the roads were at best half-dry and greasy does of course not really help. BTW, the waterproof SIDI Vertebrae (see my earlier update) are remarkably warm and comfortable and kept my feet dry. All whilst looking very very good ;-) Recommended.
This suit is one of only 15 made. These were intended for demonstration purposes only and were exhibited at the various bike shows in Europe in 1999 and 2000. The suit is beautifully made from heavy high-quality leather. It has CE-approved armor on all vulnerable places and a pouch for a back protector. The level and quality of finish is amazing (100% silk lining). There is a lot of Kevlar stretch used to allow for maximum freedom of movement. And the best thing is that I only had to pay 40.000 BEF (1.000 Euro), whereas normally, a handmade suit of this level of quality (I think you can compare it to Crowtree, BKS, or a handmade top of the line Dainese suit) would cost at least twice that price !
A Belgian bike magazine (Motorweek2) featured the suit last year (they loved it) and confirmed that it was apparently made in the Dainese factory where all the hand-made custom race leathers are made for the professionals (unfortunately, that doesn't mean that I am on a par with Rossi, Biaggi, Foggy, etc ;-)). I managed to retrieve the issue and scan the photograph.
BTW, as of now, MOMO Design apparently has a two-piece leather suit among its offerings. They also have beautiful gloves (and not too expensive).
In the course of last week, the following additions were also made to my bike : braided steel brake lines from Goodridge, a Toby steering damper (I had the Hyperpro "Ducati 916" style damper, but it's not practical if you want to carry a tank bag - and the Toby is made in Belgium, so I'm helping the local economy ;-)) and the raised windscreen from Yamaha Genuine Parts. It is smoked and has two holes in the center to deal with counterpressure (just like the Honda ST1100 Pan-European). The first impression is that at lower speeds (up to 90 miles), the screen is almost 'too good' because the flow of wind onto your head and shoulders is in fact a lot less than even with the flip-up Ermax screen I had on my other R1's (and which was reputed to be the best screen in terms of wind protection). So I had the feeling my wrists were more loaded and started to ache sooner(but that feeling could also be due to my recent injuries, because my arms are still not as strong as before). I also mounted the frame sliders (or mushrooms, as these things are more commonly known) from Intuitive Race Products (there's more about IRP products on the site - check it out, because they're a great firm to deal with)
These pictures were taken in the Belgian Ardennes.
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