I Had A Trackday Crash - Motorcycle - Video Inside

Shift518 Automotive
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I haven’t been very active lately but I figured I would post this in here since a lot of us like to ride the track.

So I rode at NJMP with Absolute on Sept 16th. My first trackday since 2010, also it was my first time riding with Absolute, and it was my first time at this track, and it was my first time riding the CBR on the track and using the Q2’s on the track.

It was about 70* and cloudy, and it rained for about 30 minutes in the morning. The track was dry, but very cold when I crashed.

They put me in Novice Group (“level 2”) and it was packed. And there was a big spread between the slowest guys and the fastest guys, at least 20 or 30 seconds difference in laps times probably. So my strategy to avoid the slower riders was to wait until everyone left, then I would jump out at the last minute in front of the guys who were finishing their first lap, that way I had an open track in front of me. The problem with this strategy was that I had to push pretty hard on cold tires in order to stay in front of the guys who already had warm tires. In hindsight I think it was a pretty stupid idea lol.

In the video you’ll see me go out by myself, after everyone else had already left. I saw some guys coming down the straightaway so I pushed too hard to create a gap and went down. I lost the front tire, you can actually see it in the video if you look at the shadow. I went into that corner like I usually do, cracked the throttle, and a second later the front end went. I don’t think I did anything wrong with my throttle control, but I’m open to opinions from you guys (Rocket, Chaz, Vlad, etc).

Injuries: 2 fractured ribs, bruised tail bone, and some minor bruises on my arms and legs. Everything was on my left side. Didn’t hit my head though, thank god.

Damage: rashed fairings, broken footpeg, bent clipon, broken bar slider, bent clutch lever, some scratches on my swngarm and engine case cover. My frame sliders and swingarm sliders did a fantastic job at saving the hard parts.

Bike was a 2007 CBR600RR. Tires were Dunlop Q’s, 30psi front, 28psi rear. No warmers.

I’m done with the Q2’s. Very good handling and stability, but not enough feedback. Also I’m buying warmers for the spring.

Crash Video:
[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Cb6Sz-hI4”]NJMP ACE Group N Crash 9-16-13 - YouTube[/ame]

Here’s the video from the previous session for comparison:
[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kl5zXVsHig”]NJMP Thunderbolt ACE Group N 9-16-13 Session 4 - YouTube[/ame]

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Glad you’re alright bud

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+1 to this.

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Dude, sorry to hear about the off. The main thing is you are relatively ok.

Personally I don’t see anything particular wrong with on the crash vid, other than your apex is a little early and at that point you are not travelling particularly fast nor too leaned over.

I’ve ridden on that same track in 60 degree weather on a bigger bike with the same Q2’s. While It could be cold tires, dirt or even both; It was certainly a weird place to crash tough. If you KNOW your suspension is well set-up, you can most likely rule out suspension issue; Otherwise an aggressive set of SAG numbers and too much compression damping can certainly amplify the effects when the tires are not up to temp yet.

One thing that was repeatedly pound to our heads, at least with TTD is, must go easy on 1st of 2nd lap; Most guys including the instructors don’t even bother with warmers on trackdays but I can see it helps with heat cycling of the tire.

P.S. what SAG number are you running btw.

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Thanks guys

Thanks Rocket. Yeah my lines were all messed up the whole day. I was warming up to my old trackday pace and was trying to learn the track at the same time, so every session I was going faster and having to change my reference points. In that right-left combo where I crashed I turned-in a little too soon for the right hander and that put me too far to the left side for the left hander, so my apex was way too early and I ended up being leaned over for longer than usual. That was definitely a mistake. Thanks for pointing that out.

My stock front springs are really soft, so I had the front preload maxed out. It was about 35mm of sag, maybe more. Rear spring was much stiffer, I think I had around 32mm of rear sag. I wrote all my suspension settings down and then lost them lol. For the rest of the settings I used the recommended settings from SportRider.com, and they were pretty decent.

I want the warmers mainly just as a precaution for days when it’s cool outside. Also I might get a second set of wheels and mount some race rubber. I’ve got the trackday-addiction again lol

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Honestly rocket is more of a tec guy so his advice would be far better than mine. My mind set has always been “Ride around the bikes issues” :lol

The only think I can say is your Q2’s were pretty old dude. Even when we did a few laps around the lake your tries were not as warm or hot as mine at any given time. I’d chock it up to that possibility you are long over due for new tires.

I was running my Q2’s last sat at NYST it was around 64 and the ground was dead cold. I did have one front end tuck that I saved, and I was doing some serious leaning on cold tires. I can honestly say you can get away with a lot on the Q2. BUT I totally agree dunlop tires are fucking hard as fake tits! You ether have traction or you are off the bike wondering wtf happened.

I can’t say anything about your crash bro I had a very similar one Saturday. I was next to a 675 that was holding me up bad in the turns I made the poor choice of taking a outside line on him, hit a dirty part of the track and lost the rear.:banghead

At least your kind of OK to bad about the injuries. Dude you have a tumble at all?

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Thanks Chaz. Yeah those tires were really old. Had them since the first year I bought the bike, spring 2011 (about 5k miles on them).

Damn sorry about your crash. Glad you’re ok.

My crash started as an easy slide, but since I fell near the apex I had a lot of pavement to slide over, so my left arm started to feel like it was on fire because of the friction coming through the leather. I tried to stand up while I was still sliding and it sent me flying into the air. I tumbled really hard. I guess I need to learn how to crash better :lol

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Take lessons from me.:lol My crash was crazy violent even flipped the bike. Had a serious tumble. Not a scratch on me, the bike and suit took damage.
At NYST if you slide off the track that’s when the trouble starts. the run off area isn’t great.:cry:

What type of suit were you wearing? Also what back protector?

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Damn, that track looks fun but a lot of guys have complained about the lack of run-off.

I had an AGV suit. It held up pretty well except for the shoulder patch which ripped off and it created a hole underneath

I didn’t wear my back protector, but I don’t think it would’ve helped anyway.

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Dude back protectors help our crashes from what I can tell weren’t far off from each other. I think I did a minimum of three rolls. I felt nothing that day, but the day after my lower back and upper shoulders hurt a bit.

The L2K helped a lot.

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:eek3 Wow didn’t realize you crashed during NYST…Was that in july??? Sorry to hear dude, just minor set back.

You leather can be easily repaired. I hope the bike is not too badly damaged…

Yeah maxing out the preload is not ideal. Did you ziptie the fork tube and know how much travel you have left?

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He just crashed like a week or two ago.

His bike flipped but from the pictures, it looks to have faired really well all things considered. He bought my Termi because his is quite banged up.

I can’t believe he hasn’t posted this picture here yet…
http://imageshack.us/a/img594/4029/t0pf.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img62/213/w9or.jpg

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yup, I ate it not to long ago.:lol I didn’t post my photo’s because I didn’t want to hijack the thread.

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Rocket, I had plenty of travel left, at least a couple inches according to the zip tie.

Looking good in that pic bro, do you know what caused the accident? Bike doesn’t look too bad at all.

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Here’s my bike afterwards:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/HiSpeed48/IMAG0729_zpsd7113937.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/HiSpeed48/IMAG0735_zpsdd770349.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/HiSpeed48/IMAG0732_zps4b642dba.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/HiSpeed48/IMAG0736_zps5f6ec1f1.jpg

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Suit:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/HiSpeed48/IMAG0722_zps22a1ce53.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p282/HiSpeed48/IMAG0725_zps7ce50f32.jpg

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outside line trying to get around a slow 675 hit the dirty part of the track and down I went.