Hey looks great!! I think that the GSXR750 is the ideal fun/track bike as you have the weight of a 600 with the power of a 1000, over 130 horses at the back wheel is amazing!!! Have fun!!

Thank you Simon, I spent some time early this morning with the bike

While you lot were sleeping, I had the spanners, the polishes, the cleaning fluids out and the the bike up on paddock stands. Purely an aesthetic job today, nothing more nothing less. Cleaned up all the fairings, all the 'blacks', the fork legs, calipers, brake disks, lines, hoses, clocks, screen, panels, mudguard, hugger and the wheels... Looks a bit better now :)
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Wow she is really looking good!!!! I would suggest that the R&G crash bungs are a great investment and they really work, I slid off my R1 on the track a while ago and er tested them and they took ALL of the damage and saved my fairing so really well worth it!! See ya.

Donington on Tuesday
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Well I guess the day deserves a write up.

As always, the night before was a truly brilliant night, lots of beers, banter and top class laughs from all of the lads. It's so so tough to beat the banter honestly.

Today was the first time in something like many years since I last went to Cadwell... Although I know the layout and the track pretty well, it's always hard to re-aquaint yourself with tracks, speeds and corners etc. The first 2 sessions for me were a complete well, nightmare really. I was trying honestly I was, but I was being battered by most people, my cornering was slow, my gear selection was all wrong and I came in after session 2 and just sat quietly in the shade and had a few words with myself.

Sessions 3-4 before lunch things improved a LOT, I spent these sessions pushing corners, pushing speeds and holding myself as hard as I dared time and time again. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was flying, but there were more people still behind me than in front of me after the session had ended. I overtake not too many, but only really the quick fellas went past me. I was trying to brake later, let off the brakes earlier and get on the gas earlier.

After lunch was another 2 sessions of stunning sunshine and the format continued, although in all honesty I don't think I picked up much/any speed from the earlier sessions, I'd reached my limits and there was no way I could find the quicker laps/speeds than that. But again, I was holding my own and doing my best, that's all you can do really.

I was totally fried by the end of that session, so I threw the towel in and skipped the final session.

As always I came away from the Trackday, half happy and half gutted at myself.

RP1's ZX10-R, nice cheap trackbike he paid buttons for, bargain, he was cracking on and destroying me.
Legion 748's Uber bling K8 1000
and of course, my 750 K7

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So I guess a bit of a report is due really.

We turned up at Silverstone GP to glorious sun, tyre warmers thrown on and ready and kitted up to go. Usual briefing done etc and out we go.

I was trying the new rubber today too, Bridgestone R10's. I'd heard good reports about them, they run much lower pressures of 28 HOT, so was a bit of a test for them really.

The first 3 sessions you're timed, this sets up the groups for the afternoon after 12pm. I went out with the lads, Legion748 and Rocket Ron following me, trying a bit harder was the order of the day for me, trying to work out the gearing, the rpm, the drive and the cornering. Due to Silverstone being a massive track, it's hard to do everything every lap.

I found into and out of turn 1 was my first weakness, this is as most older riders would know the start finish straight (not the one they used recently in WSB rounds), into a long sweeping right. I was on the straight in 5th, then dropping into 4th for the turn and exit, but found I was getting on the power at 7500rpm, which was bloody rubbish and I was being killed on the next straight. So I worked on getting into 3rd for the exit, getting better drive onto the straight etc.

The sessions and the corners followed in much the same way, dropping into 2nd for the (slightly modified with cones) entry onto the Hanger straight meant I was getting much better drive down the straight than previously in 4th.

Some of the corners remained the same gears but I was trying to ride faster and harder throughout the whole day, the right hand at the end of the new start finish straight, then goes into a left, I was flip-flopping at 73mph first, getting up over 80mph by the same point later in the day.

As stated above, we had a bit of mis-communication where I ended up in novice for a session. Shhheettt ! that was interesting, the lines, the speed, the riding... it showed me that maybe I'm old and past it, but damn not quite dead and buried just yet. Now I'm not meaning to be harsh to Novices here, but it was eye-openening that's for sure being out there. I counted 32 overtakes and that was with me going out near the front, so after the first lap I had 2 laps quiet, then the insanity began with bikes inside, outside, above, below and in places you'd never expect. It wasn't just the speeds, but the lines, the switching lines mid-corner etc. I spoke to Barry and after moving back to Group2, all was well with the world.

I learned the valuable lesson over the day that knee down etc, comes with speed, not just me trying to hang off like an Ape, but simply going at a higher rate of speed leads itself to more lean and knees scraping the deck. Now that may be completely apparent to some/all, but over the years of me being slower, I haven't realised at times how much slower.

I've also not really known how to go quicker... the answer mostly is, just GTF on with it and go faster. I still wasn't scaring myself as such, didn't miss a line all day in honesty, but I was moving the boundaries more and more lap and sessions at a time. Another big chunk of this is riding with people like Legion748, I owe him a heck of a lot for what he's done for me in the last 12 months of riding... more than he'll know actually. This year has just been truly epic.. From riding to Spa, to the laps at Spa, to the riding in the Cochem region to the 12 or so trackdays we've done in the past year. He's been supportive and not as mocking about my riding as perhaps I would have been if the roles were reversed LOL.

The day ended with me doing all the sessions, despite getting tired, I just wanted to be out there.

Silverstone is now my favourite circuit in the UK, by quite some distance, it's just epically fast, flowing, exciting and superb.

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