Had my first ride on the KTM on Friday
Weird day , all in all , set off after a hoooge fry-up with some mates ( the discerning condemned man's last meal of choice
) giving myself 4 hours to get to King's Lynn for 2.00pm , and arrived at 12.30 .
Found the place rammed with speedway types wazzing about , and at that point the nerves started to kick in . An athlete would describe this track as " tight " at 330 yds , looked loads smaller . Gawd , what have I done ?
Eventually , they cleared off , and my lot started to drift in and get set up. Found myself a spot in the pits , and after what seemed like 20 trips to the van , I was ready for whatever came next , which was signing on.
Soon the place was alive with the sound of various singles & twins being warmed up. Right , best have a go at starting this thing up then . I'd only picked it up the day before , and by the time I got back I couldn't be bothered to unload it. Looks easier than it is , yeah ?
Lesson No.1 ; Don't get all kitted up before attempting to kick start a bike for the first time in God knows how many years ( decades
)
Anyway , eventually got it started , and joined the queue to go out
Lesson No.2 ; This isn't a queue to out for a Track day , these guys are pushing and shoving , time is short , and it's every man for himself
It looked like 6 out at a time , and soon I was pulling off to get on track. Jeez , I really don't need this thing to flip me , ( or stall
) but it seemed quite tractable
Set off in 2nd , and started to circulate . My idea was to latch onto the back of someone who knew what they were doing , and pick it up as I went along
For a road rider the technique seemed all arse about face , obviously no front brake is a major adjustment ( how many times i grabbed air I couldn't possibly say
) and the temptation is to dive for the " apex " and ride it like a " proper " bike .
But that won't do : the idea is to brake at the approach to the turn to get the rear wheel to lose traction , pitch it in , wang it open , and drift round in a glorious display of balance and power , holding the whole plot up on a judiciously placed left pin.
The reality ? Couldn't find the brake at first , so started off just closing the throttle , wobbling round , and then "opening " it up for the straight . In full " Road Mode " , any slight stepping out at the back end resulted in backing off.
And what's this foot out thing all about ? My boot wanted to dig in , so I swapped around between leg out , in , forward , on the peg you name it I tried it.And where ever I put it , it ached like a b45tard , so at one point I was just leaving it skimming the ground
Lesson No.3 ; I need to up my fitness level big time:burp:
So , back in the pits , and check the bike over ; the front tyre had taken the fork protecter off where it was rubbing , and the rear tyre had been chewed up by the shonky can straps.
Had a chat with a few of the other guys , and got a few pointers , like sitting further forward , riding wider into the loose stuff to get a feel for the bike sliding , lowering the pressure in the tyres , and get a steel shoe etc etc
I'd always thought these were a bit crap , just a kind of hard wearing sole on a pair of pit boots sort of thing , but the thinking is that it makes it easier to hold the bike in the slide without the boot digging in . If that does happen , the nice hard footpeg following swiftly behind snaps your leg , which is nice
So , I've trimmed the fat off the side of the tyres , and put a couple of spacers to hold the can away from the tyre , and I'll get some better fitting ones before the next go
Anyway , all in all , I think I went out 6 times before I'd had enough. Managed to keep the thing upright , and "overtook" a couple of guys when they got into the loose stuff , so that was good news.
Am I ready to race ? No where near
Did I enjoy it ? God yes .:smoke:
