Its been so long since i updated this blog, my poor TL is still in peices, i have all the plastics now to finish the job and put her back together but ashamedly since i bought the SV back in February i have not spent much time on it at all, other than to start it twice an month and tale it for a spin up the road to blow out the cobwebs. As part of my post germany crash program of learning hoe to ride my bike properly i decided to do a track day !!! This was my first trackday in 9 years, I have been to many race events at mondello park in recent years but I never took my bike out on the track.

We have only one motorcycle closed ciruit in the republic of Ireland, there are some more in the north of Ireland, Kirkistown etc but in the south its Mondello for most of us. Check out www.mondello.ie for more info ont he circuit. Its not cheap at 175 euros for a full day but the international circuit has played host to the British Superbike Championship on 2 occasions and numerous Irish events through out the racing calendar. So on the 26th of September I headed for the Circuit, full of butterflies and apprehension with the mindset of enjoying the day, learning what i could in a day and of course not falling off

I booked into the novice group thinking there would be loads more guys like me who would be finding their feet on track, what i had forgotten waas that it was an open track day hich meant ot was for road and race machines, the mondello masters was on the following weekend and a lot fo the domestic racers were there in force for final setup and practice ! I have a sneaky suspicion one or 2 went out in the novice group as the intermediate and advanced group were fully booked from an early stage. As i sat in pitlane waiting for the marshalls to let us out and the circuiit lights to go green for our first session of the day i was shitting bricks, im so glad my leathers are a one pice suit cause there would have been quite a mess. So off we went, me of course off the racing line going nice and easy to get some heat into my tyres, it was a nice dry day with air temperatures inthe region of 16 Degrees Celcius, so we had 2 parade laps do to speak and then all hell broke loose, i was trying to remember what we were told in the briefing ” dont worry about the guy behind you , he has to pass you safely ..just worry about the guy infront of you ” I was being passed on the inside of corners and on the outside … it was crazy and scary as hell, at the end of the sessin i was lapped by a few of the guys.

The second session was more of the same but i started to find my way around and the speed increased accordingly, i had gotten soem tips from a fellow novice about the my feet position on the pegs, i had my heels ont he tip of the pegs and my toes were scraping the ground on one or two occasions and scared the crap out of me, so i addressed that in this session , and no more toe scraping… event hough my Alpine Stars SMX boots have good toe sliders !  As is always the way with trackdays i really found my mojo in the last 2 sessions, i was not being passed as much and in the last session i even managed to pass another rider - SUCCESS

Imdeifnatly looking forward to doing more trackdays next season, I know they are expensive but if i stay off the beer 2 weekends in the month i will be able to afford one  possibly 2 trackdays a month …who knows by this time next year i might even get the knee down !

Heres a picture of me in one of the afternoon sessions just coming through honda corner at the end of the main straight, i really make my SV1000 look small no ??

Get yer Arse off the seat and Lean Baby !!!!

Look forward to more posts form me now im in a good place and frame of mind to do them ! Im even considering selling off the plastics for my TLR and turning it into a streetfighter TLR, since the ecnomoy turned bad here in Ireland no one has any money and second hand motorcycle sales are abismal ! So it makes no sense to try and sell my TLR and get a younger one , so im going to keep it, this project would be something nice for the winter …. HMMMMMMM Dominator Headlights I hear you say ??? Till the nest time - Ride Safe !!

Gerry