pumilio

Despite the British summer weather predicted to be on tap for tomorrow, I'm planning to meet a friend to ride to Rivington. We'll meet at Hunts Honda at 11am tomorrow and leave by 11:15am. If any fancy coming along, all are welcome.

I'm planning on coming to this - need to sign up and pay... will yell when I do!

I looked around the garages before my session for familiar faces but didn't see yas Phil, Dave or any TMBF stickers The weather was fantastic - the "taster session" was perfect, but then again I was just getting confident when the session ended! I'd recommend trying a short session if any are thinking of a trackday but aren't sure, especially on their own bike. After the sighting lap we were free to go at our own pace. I passed a few people and got passed by others. I could have gone a bit faster I think - for me, I think pushing it harder will be part experience and part psychology (mechanical sympathy for my bike aside!)! I love that big left hand curve heading up to the skinny hairpin - that whole section leading to and away from the hairpin is fantastic. there is a little section right before that big hill with the walk-over where you can't see the track after the turn before the hill. I went too close to the apex coming in and I bottled it an rolled onto the grass at low speed - no crash or drama or anything and I came right back onto the track. I took the corner better after that - I should have paid better attention to that part on the sighting laps In the end there were at least 30 or us who went out at 4:30 - all sorts of bikes from 600cc and 1000cc sportbikes to regular standard bikes like a street triple, a bandit and a few others. We went our in little group of about 10 bikes behind an "instructor" for 2 laps with no passing (in quotes because the only instruction we had was following him to see the lines around the corners). Here are a few pics my friend took - I have no idea where on the track he was standing, or why he didn't use his zoom! Objects are closer than they appear Must... buy... double bubble fast bumblebee

Many thanks - that makes sense and helps heaps. I think I even have rainbow colours of tape!

I'm taking my road bike to the track for the very first time today - just a 20 minute taster session at Oulton Park. I have to ride the bike to the track - I have a few small questions about prepping my bike once I get there. The guidance notes I have say I need to tape the glass on my bike. What kind of tape should I use? Also, if I tape the headlights will the heat they generate bake the tape on? Is there a universal trick for turning off the headlights while the bike is running (this for a 2009 fireblade)? I wish I had managed to get the crash bobbins I've been meaning to get....

I'll be there later this afternoon. I bought a "taster session" for the blade's first track foray - £20 for 1 20 min session which starts at 4:30! This is probably the last session of the day I guess.

I've never heard before that riding with flip fronts up is illegal. I love mine and will never be without one for commuting. I find it a lot easier to, as Akey said, talk to people off the bike like at the petrol station, etc. I find the flip front a lot easier to put on compared to a regular helmet as well, particularly since I wear eye glasses and don't have to remove them to put on my helmet. I've regularly noticed people riding around at town speeds with the flip front up (scooter riders, scooter parking folk, cops and even an off duty cop who was on a bike safe course I did a while ago), but I don't at all see the point. The roof helmets I imagine are specifically designed for riding with the flip up, since it wraps all the way over. Some, maybe most, flip fronts aren't ACU approved for track use (at least my Schuberth C3 isn't). This suggests they either aren't as safe or simply aren't tested to the presumably higher safety standard required on the track.

If you click on the booking form, the prices are listed - £175 on your own bike and £260 on theirs including lunch and any gear including full leathers you may need. http://www.boddicedarleytraining.co.uk/ ... G_FORM.pdf I did the one day course and used their bike. I brought my own gear and changed there. The course ran from 9-ish am until about 4 in the fternoon taking a break for lunch. I got about eight 20 minute track sessions with comments in betweenThe bikes are fairly new honda cbr600rr and they are awesome. The track is located south of ashbourne and north of Darley Moore on the A515. I might go again to a regular track day there as it is close to my house and you can just turn up on the day. I wouldn't actually mind doing the course again, but I'd bring my own bike next time. I also like it that they mandate road bikes and road tyres - seems less intimidating to a track newbie like me. The track is the triangle you can see: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 5&t=h&z=14

I think you should be able to do the Mick Boddice track school and hire one of their bikes at Darley Moor track with just a restricted license. I just did the school last Friday on one of their bikes. I have a full license, but they didn't ask to see it, plus there was a group of youngsters there (separate from the two adult groups) who couldn't have had regular licenses. The track is relatively easy to learn and the day was reasonably priced. The term "school" should be applied loosely, but I got pretty good feedback from the instructor in my group - 5 of us to just him all day. I liked it enough I'd recommend it and I might even do it again with a friend soon.

I'd make a joke about the volcano here, but I'm waiting for the dust to settle a little.

Short notice but the Philip Youles Triumph "rat pack" is having a ride from the Philip Youles dealership in Blackburn to Skipton tomorrow and I'm planning to go. It will be mostly Triumph bikes obviously, but any type of bike is welcome! I'll be leaving my house from south Manchester ~9am and am willing to meet somewhere if anybody is interested. The ride from Blackburn is leaving at 10:30am.

I'm potentially interested in this and the dates will work with my schedule. The idea is the evening session on Monday and the all day one on Tuesday. I guess folks would be staying overnight somewhere? Hmmm, I need to clear this with Bruce Springsteen here at home...

I might be up for this - might have to cook a nice meal or clean the toilet or something before then...

The Tail of the Dragon in Deal's Gap, North Carolina - something like 300 turns in 8 miles... Me on rented Pan en route from FL to Moto GP in Indy last year: Yeah, you can scrape the panniers.

Great ride today - thanks to friends old and new. See you next time, hopefully soon! (NOW, to watch moto GP in 3 mins!)

I plan to be at the cat at ~1:30. I'll probably be on a black Triumph Tiger 1050 with black helmet. However, if I get time in the am to adjust the chain in time to leave I'll be on a black and yellow fireblade...

Hi all We could maybe meet at Hunt's Honda on the A34 (aka Kingsway) at 12:30 for a 12:45 departure to Matlock via the cat and fiddle. That would probably put us at the cat around 1:30p-ish. That work for everyone?

Hi Dan and welcome to the forum. I am probably up for a run to Matlock tomorrow. I live nearby to you in Heald Green. What time were you thinking of heading out?

Various models of Caberg flip fronts get good reviews and are cheap. I've heard good things about the Nolan flip fronts too. My Schuberth C3 is by far the best designed helmet I've ever had - totally comfy, the flip front works great, effortless to operate and effective ventilation, pinlock style mist shield standard, flip down tinted shield standard (and so much easier than a replacement tinted visor), you can work the chin strap with a single gloved hand, etc., etc. They are a bit pricey though. Still, I'd buy another one to replace this one when the time comes. You might still be able to find some C2s in stock for a lot cheaper. BMW branded flip fronts are made by Schuberth as well, but I doubt you'd get much of a discount going that way.

Where to begin...? First, I can't offer any mechanical advice for this bike. The advice I have is not to buy a bike that has a big unknown warning light on it unless you are willing and able to either find out what it is and fix it or take it to someone who knows what it is and can fix it. This is very risky as it might be nothing; it might catastrophic. Finally, taking out the bulb on a warning light is not a recommended fix. Good luck.

I've never seen anybody argue that the new test was bad because it fails to make safe riders (maybe even safer riders than the old test). The problem with it is 1) initializing the test before the proposed amount of testing centres were functional and; 2) the swerve test, while I think it is fine under ideal conditions, has no concession for poor weather conditions where it appears there have been a lot of accidents during the test. This latter point is important because if you require someone to reach a speed they would not be comfy reaching under normal riding conditions (you must get to 31mph before the swerve even if it is pissing down the wrath of god or you fail), it might be filtering out the most aware of new riders under poor weather conditions.

I use them daily with a shoei raid II. I've found that helmets are a little tough on glasses and that some frames work better than others. For me, plastic frames seem more comfy than thinner wire frames, which I wouldn't have expected. I have contacts too, but I usually wear glasses.

I have a wardrobe just for bike gear where I store all gear including clothing, bags, satnav, security devices and helmets. I even use it to empty out my pockets and store keys and such. It has a rudimentary lock, which is useful to keep the rugrats at bay. Before I got the wardrobe I usually chucked it in various places, mainly a big chair in the front room

Thanks for the suggestions all. I ended up ordering an Abba superbike stand kit. I should be able to use the front lifter on the tiger as well!

Have a look around the interweb before you to get an idea of brands to look for for, features, style, what fits your budget, etc. As above, most shops should be pretty helpful.