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2 Fast Performance School for June 10, 2013

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Vixens, for those of you signed up for the track day on June 10th at The Ridge (Women’s Track Event in our Event section), you are in for a jam packed day of information, sweat and adrenaline! Mark DeGross, owner of 2 Fast Motorcycle Track Days and Instruction, fills the day with an immense amount of learning combined with track time and has a staff that are at the top of their game. You will be learning from the best so make sure you are well rested and most importantly hydrated (I typically have a rule of hydrating a few days before a track day and avoid alcohol if you can the day before, it does make a difference). To keep your sanity, make a check list of things you need to bring such as your gear (riding suit of two piece zip togethers), boots (socks too), gloves, helmet and some type of back protector and get it in the car the night before. Also, don’t forget to bring water (they have it, but it’s always good to bring some of your own) and snacks in case you are not able to eat what is being served. I am a vegetarian so most of the time I just bring my own food since they typically serve hot dogs and hamburgers at the track. Note: It is really cold in the morning, wear layers so you can stay comfortable and if you are new to riding suits, wear some type of compression gear underneath or it will be impossible to get your leathers off after you start sweating, getting that suit off to pee will be a challenge.

As some of you may know, I have been writing about my crazy introduction into motorcycle racing. It has been an enlightening experience, scary as crap and also where I’ve felt most accepted into a community than I have ever felt possible. Every individual I’ve come into contact with has been nothing but genuine and open to sharing their knowledge and if asked, provide advice. Mark DeGross, my mentor (in this nutty adventure), has been a wealth of information which is why I chose him to be my guide through this overwhelming process in order to get ready. I am told that eventually this will all be second nature, but for now, I do feel like a minnow in an ocean of sharks. 2 Fast is an amazing performance school which I had the opportunity to attend as part of my Novice Racer curriculum. Everything I learned, you will learn, our class was just more entailed and had simulations of what we would encounter on race days. Before you come, make sure your bike is in good working order, have decent tread on your tires and nothing is leaking or it will be a lousy day sitting in the pits (unless you can bribe one of the Ducati guys to ride one of the demo bikes, then it will be awesome).

Your Schedule will be:

7:00am Registration and Tech Inspection, have bike taped (mirrors, if not removing and lights)
7:40am Complimentary track ride around in trucks (highly recommended)
8:15am Mandatory Rider Meeting (Rules, Flags and Passing)
8:45am Performance School Orientation for students
9:00am Session 1: Body Positioning
10:00am Session 2: Turn 9 Experience
11:00am Session 3: Relaxation & Fear Management (This one is big!)
12:00pm Session 4: Lunch Break
1:00pm Session 5: Scrubbing Speed – The Art of Slowing It All Down
2:00pm Session 6: Powerband Management
3:00pm Session 7: Vision – What You See & Where You Are Looking
4:00pm END OF DAY

Please understand that this day is not about speed, this day is about learning. Sure you can push yourself, it is natural and encouraged, but don’t be a hazard to others because you want to prove something. We all play a part in being responsible and respectful of the other riders on the track. Ask loads of questions, the staff is an invaluable source of information and they are generous with their expertise and advice, listen and learn. Don’t let this be your only track day, sign up for as many as you can and just keep improving. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so why try? Also, visit 2-fast.org or ducatibellvue.com for full listings of their track days, prices and videos. If you are still on the fence because you think your cornering isn’t what it should be and want to get some extra instruction before, we have a class that is being offered by WMST on Sunday, May 19 from 9am – 5pm (check the events section for more details). If you can’t make the class, don’t worry, we will all be there to help you at the track. This is about empowering you so take full advantage of it, they want to see more women on the track and no one is going to judge you. Truth is they have respect for any woman that has the balls to come to a track day, so let those bad boys swing Vixens ;)!!!!

Valves and suspension

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Stock Valves

Stock Valves

There has been a lot of activity getting the bike race lately please accept my apologies for not getting a blog out last week. After speaking to Brian at length about how to get the bike dialed in to fit me and to give me the confidence I needed to fully trust my bike, he encouraged me to change the stock valves in my forks to ensure optimum performance of my bike on the track. The following is an explanation from Brian (FS2) of why we revalved the R6, I hope you find it interesting and informative:

Race Tech Valves

Race Tech Valves

“Stock valving has a lot of limitations, especially when the bike is used for racing or race track applications. For everyday riding stock valving may be fine as you won’t be pushing the limits of your bike, but for racing and track you put much more stress on your suspension and revalving ensures your bike will give you the desired effect needed on the track. First, let’s discuss what a valve is in terms of suspension. A valve is a piece of metal that has been machined to precision (usually on a c&c machine) that will direct oil through orifices drilled into the valve. On each side of the valve are very thin round pieces of spring steel called shims and as the valve moves through the oil the orifices in the valve direct the oil to the shims clamped onto the valve and these shims bend out of the way to allow the oil to pass through. This is what gives the “damping” effect. The stiffer the shims or the more shims that are in place the more force is required to move the valve through the oil.

So here is the problem with stock valves, they have very small orifices. This is fine for slow speed applications (sorta) but as the valve has to move faster through the oil (such as a race track) those small holes simply cannot allow enough oil to pass through with the velocity needed to allow the suspension to compress fast enough to let the wheel absorb road imperfections. This can get dangerous on a racetrack where the speeds require very fast wheel movement through the stroke of the forks or shock. If the wheel can’t get out of the way of the road imperfection fast enough because of the poor valve engineering, traction is the first thing to suffer.

The aftermarket valves we installed into Carol’s bike have MUCH larger orifices in the valves allowing the valve to move very quickly through the same oil. So to control how fast or slow the valve moves through the oil we use the shims. We can make an infinite number of combinations of “shim stacks” to accommodate changes in riding speed, race track conditions, etc. Aftermarket valves are much more responsive and supple, gives us the ability to customize the flow and perfect what we are trying to accomplish for the rider or even as specific as the track (road conditions).

With stock valves there is really only so much you can do, those small holes limit so much. For example, imagine you are trying to squeeze toothpaste from a toothpaste tube, at some point no matter how hard you squeeze the toothpaste will only come out of the hole so fast. It will not come out any faster even if you dropped a Mack truck on it!! That’s stock valving and that Mack truck is like the force you put in your bike in the track. Now take that same tube and make a giant hole three times the size of the original hole and drop the same truck on it. The toothpaste comes out WAY faster. This is like the aftermarket valves. Now all we do to control the flow of toothpaste is we use a set of shims, just like in the valves. But we want the flow to be high through the valve itself, not restricted through small holes. That’s what aftermarket valves do.”

Women’s Track Event

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Ladies! We have a date! We will be a part of Ducati Bellevue’s 2nd track day on Monday, June 10, 2013 taught by 2 Fast and WMST. The curriculum will be classroom time followed by track time at the :40 of every hour, it will consist of 7 track sessions (20 minutes), trust me gals this is plenty and you will be tired (physically and mentally) by the end of the day. The cost will be $250 for the day and transportation for your bike will be provided for the first 15 ladies who sign up by Ducati Bellevue (you just have to drop off your bike on Saturday, June 8 at Ducati Bellevue). Bikes will be transported back to Ducati Bellevue for pickup on Wednesday, June 12,2013.

Event Schedule is as follows:

7am-Tech Inspection and registration

7:40am-Track Ride around in trucks

8:15am-Mandatory Riders’ meeting & Explanation of Rules

9am-Classroom (every :40-Women’s session rides, i.e. 9:40am, 10:40am, 11:40, 12:40, etc.)

12pm-Complimentary Lunch

Riding sessions continue throughout the day

4or 5pm-End of day

Some of us may want to spend the night in lovely Shelton so you don’t need to make the early morning Monday drive, in fact I highly recommend it from someone who has done that early drive, rode the track and had to drive home. Go to www.ducatibellevue.com for a list of hotels in the area to stay.   If this track day proves to be successful and we get a fair amount of women who sign up, a future “women’s only” track day will be discussed. Seeing however, this will be Ducati’s first foray into this, they would like to see how well received this event will be before committing to a full day.  So let’s show them that women really are serious about this and want to learn these techniques to become better riders. Signups can start anytime, you just need to either call (425)882-4300 and ask for MJ or email him directly to register (michael.jordan@ducatibellevue.com).

Also, if you are interested in taking that “more cornering” class with WMST, please let me know. I am asking Chris if women do want to sign up for this before they go to the track, what dates they would be and the price. I will keep you posted.  Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Need a Christmas gift? AMA memberships are perfect!

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If you are currently not a member of the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) and have been considering to join, click onto the logo on the site or go to resources and click on the bullet “American Motorcyclist” to get you started.  Memberships start at $49 and if you love our sport, the AMA fights to reserve our rights as motorcyclists and overturn unjust laws aimed specifically at our sport.  MotoVixens has registered with the AMA to be a provider so click on the link on our site and get started.

Why should you join?  They are an active participant in the war on distracted driving, AMA members get 24 hour roadside assistance (for no extra charge) on your motorcycle(s) and all the rest of your vehicles, discounts on rental cars, hotels, gear/parts, GPS systems, AMA Supercross and Arenacross tickets, fighting for our rights to ride in the HOV lanes, making sure we can’t be denied coverage for injuries resulting from a motorcycle crash, opposing the discriminatory practice of motorcycle-only traffic check points, improve motorcycle safety through conducting a national study on the causes of motorcycle crashes, keeping restricting laws about modifications to our bikes at bay, protecting our right to ride, etc.  This is only a short list of things that they do to protect our rights as riders and the benefits that they offer.  Join the AMA or renew your membership before December 31, 2012 and you will automatically be entered to win a 2011 Husqvarna TC449!

If you have a rider in your life who presently isn’t a member, click on the link and buy them a membership…it will be a Christmas gift they will thank you for.  In the meantime, stay warm and dry, ride frequently and enjoy the holiday season with your loved ones.  Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays!

Carol T. Carpenter