A day at the track

[banjoboy]

I signed up for 'advanced street skills' class that was held at a race track south of Seattle called Pacific Raceway. This is a 2.5 mile race track for both motorcycles and sports cars. I think I was the oldest guy there being a few months shy of 65, although many were in there late fifties. I'm guessing the average age was forty. There were about fifty bikes there and we were in three different groups--level 1, level 2, level 3. Everyone starts at level 1 and the skills advance at each stage. When we were on the track, there was one instructor/teacher for roughly every six riders. You ride what you drove so there was a range from very fast ducatis and benellis to BMWs to a few cruiser types. This was a day long training--three hours in the morning and a lunch hour and a three hour afternoon. They teach the SMART system--Scan, Mark, Adjust (speed and body), Relax, and Throttle out of the apex of the corner.

I was 'coached' several times by the instructors to lean much harder with my head pretty much leading the way. Part of my fear really was seeing and trusting how far this bike can lean, and learning to trust the traction of the tires. I was amazed at how far the NT can lean. In tight S curves, I was scuffing the sides of both boots while firmly gripping the tank with my legs. Also, I've never run the NT past 7000 rpm ever and this became fairly common. Clearly the Ducati 1098s and the Benellis would fire past me on the straights but I was surprised at how competent the NT is. I've signed up for Level 2 class in early September.

At the end of the day I was (am) whipped, but I have a big grin on my face.

Terry

 

[Phil Tarman]

Man, I really want to do a track day. That kind of training would be a great way to improve skills and raise confidence. The only chance I've ever had to do one was about a month after I bought my first Concours. I didn't realize how much safer a track is than the street and was afraid my (then) high testosterone levels would suck me into some stupid competition and get me killed.

Joe Neric (Motorcyclist's art director who just finished a long-term test of the NT) took the one he was riding to a track-based training event. In his article on the event, he didn't mention the NT, but when he replied to my personal email, he said that it had done just fine on the track.

Every bike I've ever ridden has been capable of leaning a lot more than I am! "The Top Half of the Motorcycle" says that most human beings have a very hard time leaning more than 20 degrees. I've decided I definitely do.

 

[Mattb]

Wow thanks for that report! I hope to attend the sport touring school at Jennings GP next Spring.

http://www.jenningsgp.com/

 

[banjoboy]

I just finished reading through the eight pages of posts on the motorcyclist magazine close out review of the3 NT. Again the common thought was that the NT is somehow not fast enough or poweful enough. I do wonder how many of us have truly pushed our NT. I know that I didn't at the track a few days ago, yet I was regularly running the engine up to 7000+ rpm. I don't think I ever hit 8k. I'm aware this may be more about me than the bike as I was actually going faster than I wanted to in some cases and more capability than I have skills and yet the NT seemed to have a huge amount of more capacity. I've signed up for the next series--level 2--for September and I think much of it will be sliding off the seat left or right before the corners to be able to turn faster. I can't ever imagine riding this way out on the street. Almost all of the time, riding 'neutral' where I lean when the bike leans and am not shifting weight, this is my preferred way of being on the roads. To those that think the NT is somehow underpowered, I'm suggest having a track day.

Terry

 

[Phil Tarman]

I've hit the rev limiter a few times. It's kind of a sudden cut-off, and the bike is beyond its power peak when it gets to 8550-8600 rpm. But if you rev the NT up into the mid-7K range, it's still got significant power.

Most bikes are faster than their riders.

 

[karl]

After you use a nuclear fly swatter the standard ones seem so mundane. Thanks for pointing that out banjoboy.

 

[elizilla]

Sam is wise.

 

[SeattleJim]

I couldn't make the June class but I'm signed up for the Sept 16 Level 1. It would have been fun to have a couple NT's in the same class!

I rode on that track one time before in the mid-80's. Kawasaki had a day to test ride their bikes where you had to ride at street speeds between two professional riders. Still very fun. I hung around watching people and talking to the Kawasaki folks. At the end of the day they invited a few of us back out and issued me a 750-turbo but this time picked up the space. Holy moley!

I don't know how fast I was really going the 3rd time down the straight away but the needle was bouncing around 160. It was so easy to handle in the corners -- much better than I expected from a turbo. I still remember it as one of my most exciting experiences on a bike.

Being older now (maybe wiser) I look forward to the training class. Thanks for your report.

 

[Mattb]

Sam is wise.

I couldn't agree more. The NT just may be the perfect re-entry bike for me.

If I get hurt on it, it won't be because the bike surprised me and bit me.

It just doesn't seem to have any ill-tempered DNA in it at all.

 

[banjoboy]

Jim, I'll be at the September 16th class, level 2 and let's get together as I'm sure we will. I was the only NT there. I think in level 2, much of it is learning how to seriously move your body around, setting up for the turn. It's great fun. If I knew how to post pictures here, I'd show you some from the class.

Terry

 

[karl]

Jim, I'll be at the September 16th class, level 2 and let's get together as I'm sure we will. I was the only NT there. I think in level 2, much of it is learning how to seriously move your body around, setting up for the turn. It's great fun. If I knew how to post pictures here, I'd show you some from the class.

Terry

Terry there is a sticky here on the site with directions simple enough for me. You can do it, I would love to see them.

 

[1TRAK]

I've had lots of those hyper-powerful and fast bikes and their sophistication and engineering are amazing.

Once you've experienced the acceleration of some of these bikes, your state of mind is changed---if not forever then for a long time. As an owner, a person "settles" for something similar or something more sedate for the application or the state of mind at the time.

Get off of your 650-800cc cruiser or your older, stock HD Evo-twin and the NT will seem fast in comparison.

Get off of your GSXR 600, 750 or 1,000 or you Hayabusha or your 1200-1250 Bandit or Kawasaki ZX10 or Concours 1400 and the little NT will seem like a Honda C90 trailbike.

Imagine if you tested bikes for a living and your readers want roadtests of hyper-powerful sportbikes, tourers and cruisers and then you get the assignment of testing a 680cc V-twin, Heavy, touring bike and try to be objective! Hard job.

If you demand cruising speed roll-on power, in top gear, without downshifting, you'll find the NT lacking. Passing must be planned well ahead of time.

A lot of us have had bikes that by the time you think about passing, it's already happened!

Absolutely all bikes are a compromise, dictated by many variables. It's all mind-set.

My current compromise is the NT700 and I love it. Is it lacking in some areas? Yes. So what! Every bike I've ever had has been lacking in something that keeps it from being the "perfect" bike---for me.

Sam

+1 Sam, your post should be etched in stone!

 

[Bob]

Imagine if you tested bikes for a living and your readers want roadtests of hyper-powerful sportbikes, tourers and cruisers and then you get the assignment of testing a 680cc V-twin, Heavy, touring bike and try to be objective! Hard job.

Exactly. If you read Car and Driver or any of the auto review rags the same issue is there. Really well engineered 200+HP cars are always getting tagged as "underpowered" because the reviewers have the dream job of testing every high performance car that comes out.

 

[Chucksklrst]

Please don't take this wrong, as I really like my NT (except the pannier latches :smile

After doing a 3500 mile trip on my ST1300 this past month, I put the ST on the lift for some major maint. and put the NT in service for the week. I have to say it took me a few miles to re-learn the decision making process for Passing with the NT. It does take a bit more thought than just rolling on the throttle. You all will be happy to know that the ST1300 will go into short term slumber for a while and the NT700 and the Wee 650 will now be ridden for the next month. Then the Wee gets put away and the KLR 650 will be drafted into some mountain trail excursions for the month of Aug. I am still debating which of the Three bikes (WEE650, NT700, ST1300) will be taken to COSTOC (ColoradoSTOC) in Sept.
I really do love this retirement gig.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Chuck,

I know what you mean about recalibrating your pass-o-meter. I had to learn to do that after riding Concourses for 165K miles. I've learned to always downshift to 4th (unless there's lots and lots of room) and frequently get down into 3rd. And sometimes, I just don't pass.

 

[Warren]

Chuck,

I know what you mean about recalibrating your pass-o-meter. I had to learn to do that after riding Concourses for 165K miles. I've learned to always downshift to 4th (unless there's lots and lots of room) and frequently get down into 3rd. And sometimes, I just don't pass.

Yes, its all what your are used to. My car is a Honda Fit. My NT passes like a lighting bolt compared to the Fit. In fact the NT will blow most of the sedans, econoboxes and trucks into the weeds. I seldom run into a high performance cars or motorcycles. My NT is usually the fastest thing on the road