The Track Session
Event dated 8th June, 2006
This is the 2nd time I'm taking this Katana to track... And as expected... The camera was quite useless at the track, because who would be interested to take photos for you??? Oh well... That aside. It was pretty early this time as I was supposed to meet up with James from the forum. Set my alarm at 7.30, but flashes of track excitement just keeps my adrenaline pumping to my brain even at rest... Kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking that it's time to move.. Crap.
After chucking in my passport and waterbottle, I secured my leathers to the seat and went to Woodlands centre to get some ringgit changed. The weather spells trouble for a track session, dark clouds were gathering at the skies, just hope it doesn't rain over at Pasir Gudang.
8.30 am, I waited for James at the white house over at the Malaysian customs. To kill some time, I took some pictures...
Singapore Customs... Fortress-like
Somehow the Singapore customs looks very intimidating from the Malaysian side... Like Alcatraz... Oh my.
Oooh... Finally at Johor Circuit, Pasir Gudang.
(Shall leave the track details out, fast forward to >>>)
It almost rained during the session, but good gracious heaven allowed us to complete the session.
Pasir Gudang, Johor Circuit's Grand Stand... No idea who was that in the pic though
The Pilot Sport tyres were great. Very consistent throughout the 10+ laps, though I had to pit in due to physical fatigue and brake fades. Looks like I really gotta do something about the brake hose and pads, freaking easy to fade, oh well... My bike isn't a pure sports anyway, the heavy chassis has taken a toll on both the tyres and brakes...At least the tyres were holding up well, compared to the previous PXXXXXX Sport DXXXX tyres I was using: Totally cannot make it, sliding and chattering everywhere. I could trail brake and open the throttle abruptly in the middle of the corners and the Michelins are still holding up nicely, fantastic tyres.
The Michelin Pilot Sport after the 1 hour session... Nicely scrubbed
The down pour came during our trip back. We took the 2nd link to avoid the afternoon traffic at Woodlands Causeway. The Ducatis who were leading us were damn fast! So dangerous and scary! All veterans do that? Anyway one of the Ducati guys lightly hit an abrupt turning Proton in the carpark to Gelang Petah petrol station, glad he's fine and didn't lose his balance.
Home sweet home... Time to clean up the suit.
My Dainese K series... :)
This is really hard on the wallet.. Just a few laps and the newly acquired knee sliders are imprinted deep... Oh my! My prized possession aka pride booster... Heh.
NICE!
It won't be soon till my next session. Every time after a track session my head would ache like crap... Oh well. Good revelation in a sense that actually my cornering skills aren't that bad! Haha... I'm there more to scrape my knees than to achieve a good timing, so I'm not really too bothered about lap times and braking points and all. Just be safe, take your craving for speed on the track. Ride safe people! :)
This is the 2nd time I'm taking this Katana to track... And as expected... The camera was quite useless at the track, because who would be interested to take photos for you??? Oh well... That aside. It was pretty early this time as I was supposed to meet up with James from the forum. Set my alarm at 7.30, but flashes of track excitement just keeps my adrenaline pumping to my brain even at rest... Kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking that it's time to move.. Crap.
After chucking in my passport and waterbottle, I secured my leathers to the seat and went to Woodlands centre to get some ringgit changed. The weather spells trouble for a track session, dark clouds were gathering at the skies, just hope it doesn't rain over at Pasir Gudang.
8.30 am, I waited for James at the white house over at the Malaysian customs. To kill some time, I took some pictures...
Singapore Customs... Fortress-like
Somehow the Singapore customs looks very intimidating from the Malaysian side... Like Alcatraz... Oh my.
Oooh... Finally at Johor Circuit, Pasir Gudang.
(Shall leave the track details out, fast forward to >>>)
It almost rained during the session, but good gracious heaven allowed us to complete the session.
Pasir Gudang, Johor Circuit's Grand Stand... No idea who was that in the pic though
The Pilot Sport tyres were great. Very consistent throughout the 10+ laps, though I had to pit in due to physical fatigue and brake fades. Looks like I really gotta do something about the brake hose and pads, freaking easy to fade, oh well... My bike isn't a pure sports anyway, the heavy chassis has taken a toll on both the tyres and brakes...At least the tyres were holding up well, compared to the previous PXXXXXX Sport DXXXX tyres I was using: Totally cannot make it, sliding and chattering everywhere. I could trail brake and open the throttle abruptly in the middle of the corners and the Michelins are still holding up nicely, fantastic tyres.
The Michelin Pilot Sport after the 1 hour session... Nicely scrubbed
The down pour came during our trip back. We took the 2nd link to avoid the afternoon traffic at Woodlands Causeway. The Ducatis who were leading us were damn fast! So dangerous and scary! All veterans do that? Anyway one of the Ducati guys lightly hit an abrupt turning Proton in the carpark to Gelang Petah petrol station, glad he's fine and didn't lose his balance.
Home sweet home... Time to clean up the suit.
My Dainese K series... :)
This is really hard on the wallet.. Just a few laps and the newly acquired knee sliders are imprinted deep... Oh my! My prized possession aka pride booster... Heh.
NICE!
It won't be soon till my next session. Every time after a track session my head would ache like crap... Oh well. Good revelation in a sense that actually my cornering skills aren't that bad! Haha... I'm there more to scrape my knees than to achieve a good timing, so I'm not really too bothered about lap times and braking points and all. Just be safe, take your craving for speed on the track. Ride safe people! :)
