Track Day Dreams Part 2

For a first trackday using an intermediary like Pro 6 Cycle gives you the support you'd need to ensure your bike is prepped well (they have tires, mechanics and other bits and pieces on hand).  Pro 6 runs track days at Calabogie Motorsports Park in Eastern Ontario.  It happens to be on the other side of some of the best riding roads in Ontario, and on the way to my buddy's house in Osgoode.

A couple of hours at speed on the highway and I'm up past
Gravenhurst and turning toward the Haliburton Highlands!

For me the trip is a Southern Ontario grind out and up the 400 before turning east to face some of the nicest roads in Ontario.  Giving three hours for the highway part, I'd aim to meet up with Jason somewhere in the highlands and then we could ride the twisties to Calabogie.

Day one would get me into the Highlands.  Day two would be riding twisties.  Day three would be the track day at Calabogie and Day four would be the return ride home.

To prep for the track day I'd swap out coolant for distilled water at home before the trip and practice stripping the bike down (covering and disconnecting lights, removing mirrors).  I'd also strip the bike back as light as possible, removing the passenger pegs for single pegs, the toolkit, any extra attachments at all.

I'd get a big duffle to carry my gear for the track day (I'd carry rain gear and clothes in a separate, smaller bag).  The track duffle would have to be big enough to carry track leathers, tools, a bike stand and the parts needed to prep the bike.  The idea would be to get to the track and be able to open up the bag and prep the bike quickly and efficiently.

The trackday bag would open up trackdays around Ontario, and once I'd experienced how the pros at Pro 6 Cycle do it, I'd be able to prep better for future days.

I'm a ways away from this at the moment.  Here's a wish list of needed bits and pieces:

A Vicious Cycle
Firstgear-Torrent waterproof duffel = 40l... should carry everything needed for a trackday...

$84

motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Alpinestars S-MX-5 Boots




$264

motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Alpinestars GP PRO one piece leather suit
Size 50 - this one's a bit tricky.  I'm everything from a 2-4x (tall, long in the body, shorter in the leg and triangle shaped)
$857 (on sale!)

A full body suit is going to be a tricky proposition off the rack.  There are some custom options out there, but you're buying from the other side of the world and I imagine returning a poorly done suit would be next to impossible.  That TopGearLeather site offers custom race suits for less than the off the rack retail suits (~$600), but caveat emptor (they may be awesome, I don't know).

motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Alpinestars GP PLUS gloves


$190

motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Schuberth SR1 Stealth Helmet



$950

motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Vortex V3 rear bike stand


$90 (+$70 wheel kit)






So I'm looking at about $2600 worth of riding kit before I even start considering the bike, and I'd want to consider the bike.  I'd start with the current Ninja 650r and build up experience and certifications, but I'd eventually like to get into The Vintage Road Racing Association.  The dream would be race prepping a 1980s Honda Interceptor (strip lights and extras, whittle it down the bare minimum, race prep the engine), and race it!

Racing ain't cheap.  I'd be dangerous if I had a lot of money and free time on my hands.  Since the summer's almost over and I'm back to the classroom, I'm hoping to put together (Kijiji, ebay, whatever cheap alternative I can find) the bits I need to get myself on a track next year.

If I can't arrange the equipment, I might (make a big) ask for the Racer5 3-stage introduction program.  It's one hell of a birthday present, but if supported track days cost you about $250 a pop anyway, paying an extra hundred to rent someone else's bike and get close instruction seems like one hell of a deal.

LINKS

• Respster Wears race suit (ebay)
• Leatherslink race suit (ebay)
• Leatherslink site
• Jackets4bikes (ebay)
• Spartan Leathers (I like this one, less, as they say, 'ricky racer')

FOLLOWUP

I tried on the Joe Rocket race suit at Royal Distributing the other day.  It was a 46.  It fit at the shoulders and waist/legs, but it was too short in the body.  If I were proportioned properly I'd be about 5'11", but with this long body I'm 6'3", my inseam is only 32".  I'm hoping a 48 is a bit longer in the body, and would be a loose fit everywhere else.  I wish there were more local places I could go try race suits on.  If RD gets a 48 in, that might end my quest for a suit for now.

More Traditional Bike Gear for Season 2

My first year of bike gear had a certain style to it, it also happened to be the least expensive stuff I could lay hands on.  After the no-name boots and pants I did a second round of gear buying as the summer began.  The Alpinestar boots and Macna pants I got were next level, but this year I want to expand my kit to include a more traditional biker look; it's time for the leather jacket and an alternate helmet.  

Since everything else is technicolour, textile and sport-bikey, I'm going for more traditional looking gear this time around.  When I've eventually got more than one bike I'm hoping that a range of gear lets throw a leg over anything and go.

This time round I'm looking for an open faced helmet for the short commute to work and a leather jacket.  My current choices were found on Canada's Motorcycle, Motorcycle Superstore and Leatherup.ca.

I've been looking for a classic motorcycle jacket that does the vertical stripe thing.  That look is surprisingly hard to find.  Short of going to a Pakistani garment manufacturer directly (along with the perils of ordering that way), they are surprisingly unavailable.


The flat black G-Max helmet is inexpensive and simple.  The Shark Soviet looking helmet is cool and expensive.  I've got gauntlet gloves and mesh gloves, but a pair of black leather gloves would be nice.

Since I started riding I've been finding that jeans are handy if I suddenly want to take the bike out.  A leather jacket would be a causal but convenient way to quickly get out on two wheels.  The full-on textile armoured jacket and pants still do the job for intentional longer rides, but for quick jaunts the leather and denim thing would mean just throwing a leg over a bike, not to mention not looking out of place on a more classic ride.  Getting on a Bonneville with the textile race wear looks a bit out of place.

 LLeatherup.ca's prices look reasonable too.  If they get back to me about the weird sizing on that jacket, I'll be ordering shortly.

Hot Gear

After getting the basic gear and riding as soon as snow was off the road, I'm now wondering how the summer will go. I've been wearing jeans when I ride in to work, but they aren't particularly comfortable, though they are cooler than the bike pants I got on sale.  Those pants, other than a zip up the side, are solid with no venting.  They're great on a frosty April morning and they are nice and wind proof, but the thought of putting them on in a thirty-five degree summer day is daunting.  I didn't even need the liner in them when it was 5°C, I can't imagine when anyone would need that liner (riding in a snow storm?).

Now that I'm getting a sense of what sort of kit I'm in need off (I tend to be warm by nature, so cooler is always better) cooler gear is what I'm looking for.

I get the sense that the super touring pants (the kind you see on TV) offer a kind of cooling that my cheaper ones can only dream of.  I wish I could get my hands on a pair of the super pants and see just how good they are, but they are expensive and no local retailer in Southern Ontario seems to have any on shelves.  My only option to buy is online, sight unseen, and that makes me uneasy when you're buying a pair of pants for upwards of three hundred dollars.

My ideal pants would have armor where you need it and lots of ventilation up and down the legs and in the seat.  They would also be a light colour so they reflect heat as well.  The Olympia pants (below) seem like a solid choice, but again, I'm only able to go off the description online, and that's a lot of money to sink into a best guess.

I like the monochromatic Star Wars
Storm Trooper look, but the jacket
adds a nice splash of colour...

I was in Toronto recently and stopped by Cycle World in Scarborough.  They actually had the Alpinestars S-MX 1 boots in white there, so I tried them on.  Nice, light weight, low cut boots that breathe well, but for some reason they are $40 more if I drive over to Scarborough to pick them up, so I didn't.  At least I've tried them on and have a tactile idea of how they feel.  I'd have been happy to pick them up right then, if they weren't so price inflated.

I'm still happy with the Joe Rocket jacket I got.  It fits well, has a removable liner (which I've had out for a month now).  With the liner in and a sweater on, I'm toasty and windproof.  With the liner out and the vents open, I need only get moving to cool off.

The Zox helmet I got is working well, though the wind noise is something I'll address in my next helmet.  In the meantime, I'm loving the swing up face, the drop down sunscreen and the inside of the helmet is very comfortable.  For the money, I don't think I could have gotten a better lid.

Having the right kit on does a couple of things for me.  It puts me in the mindset to ride, and makes me feel like I'm ready for it.  Windproof clothing is worth its weight in gold when you're up at speed.  If you've never tried it, you'll be amazed at what you've been missing.  Being comfortable while riding is an important part of having your head on straight and avoiding problems.  So many people tend to ignore the gear you need to ride well, which is a shame, because with the right stuff, you're likely to get out and do it much more often.

My next purchase?  Then I hope I'm ready to ride in the heat... from CANADA's MOTORCYCLE

Gear Upgrades & Bike Tribes

After a couple of weeks on a bike, I'm starting to get a feel for what I like in kit.  I think having a real set of boots and pants really paid off at the course (near freezing and windy).  Windproof clothes are worth their weight in gold.  The other day I did my longest ride wearing the jeans I wore to work and it wasn't very comfortable.  I'm a big fan of wearing kit that suits the activity, jeans are a poor second choice.

The other piece that I'm not feeling are my gloves.  They're sufficient (they are Joe Rocket biking specific gloves) and they are comfortable, but plain black and not particularly warm.  I was aiming for a white/grey vibe when I started, the Alpinestars SP-1 gloves shown are a nice, gauntletted glove that look like they offer a much wider range of comfortable temperature options (they close up or vent as needed).  They also cost four times what the beginner gloves I got cost.  I imagine they are whole levels of awesomeness beyond the basic gloves I started with.

I did the same thing with boots, I picked up the cheapest pair of bike-specific boots that were available.  They are warm, dry and quite tall.  I've always wanted an ankle boot, for cooling and the Alpinestars S-MX1 boots on the right give me the monochromatic look I've been looking for in a boot that isn't huge.  I purchased pretty low-rent gear to begin, mainly because what was available in the shop in the budget I was looking for.  It was all purchased without any time in the saddle, so I didn't really know what I needed, other than it should be motorbike specific.

The pants I got (I hadn't planned on buying pants), happened to be on sale.  They've been great, and as early/late season pant they're wind resistant, have a liner that would let you ride in a snow storm and have a zipper, so you could get some air going through them.  They are too long and way (WAY) too hot for summer driving.  Looking for well ventilated pants I could wear over shorts, these Rev'It Airwave pants fit the bill, and continue the monochromatic theme I'm looking for.  A light coloured pant would also help keep the heat out.

The one piece of kit I wouldn't want to change is the jacket I got.  The Joe Rocket Atomic 11.0 textile jacket is fantastic.  Great wind resistance, a removable liner, vent openings, it fits me perfectly and feels fantastic... this is a jacket for all seasons, I have no regrets with it at all.  I imagine the more expensive jackets might offer lighter weight, but this particular jacket is my favorite purchase.  It's padded in all the right places and I even like the break with my monochromatic vibe.  I've yet to find a situation where the jacket hasn't been just what I wanted it to be.

The other purchase I've been really happy with is my Zox Helmet.  The funny part was I was treating it like a

full face helmet until one day I wondered what the red button on the chin did, and suddenly it was a modular helmet that flipped up!  It's comfortable, but the wind noise isn't ideal.  I'm guessing more expensive helmets offer a tighter fit and finish meaning less wind noise.  It has nice venting, and when I treat the visor with a bit of soap, it's fog free.   As a cheap first helmet, I've no regrets. It does more than I hoped it would and didn't break the bank to do it.  It also lets me live my inner Stig, which is never a bad thing.  The built in sun visor is a nice touch too.  It really is a full featured helmet.  The double adjustable top and bottom vents work very well and the storm trooper vibe is cool.

If I had any advice for buying kit your first time it would be: don't rush it, try on lots of stuff, and then walk away and think about it.  Waiting a couple of weeks saved me a couple of hundred bucks as things went on sale for spring time.  Trying on a number of different styles also lets you decide what fits you better, and what feels right.  I need to adjust the pants (too long in the leg) but I can probably pin them up.  After a bit of looking, I've found pants that offer the same size with a shorter inseam.  My next purchase will be more pinpoint accurate in terms of sizing.

In riding I've noticed that there are tribes.  I definitely fall into the sport bike/standard bike crowd with my textile gear and full face helmet.  The 'I'm too cool' leather cruiser crowd are so busy putting out a vibe they don't have time to wave.  I've found everyone who isn't a Harley knob makes a point of giving me a wave. As a new rider, that's a nice feeling.  To all the ZZ Top chopper types, I say, "whatever dude."