[slave2gravity]

On an impromptu trip to the local dealer in early February, I decided to splurge and buy an '08 1098s and an '11 Multistrada S to replace my '09 Daytona 675 (my ability to rationalize irrational purchases astounds my wife daily). The 1098s would be my track toy and the Multi for my commuting / touring pleasure.

Well, a few weeks ago I was riding my 1098s at Infineon (or Sonoma Raceway, take your pick) for my second trackday on the new-to-me Ducati, when I lost the rear end of the bike in the middle of turn 5. Fortunately (I suppose), the track photographer (Dito Milan - gotbluemilk.com) happened to be in the turn and got a great 87 photo series of the crash. Here are some pics -

After several weeks, I got the bike back from the shop on Friday ($11k if I wanted everything back to good!!), new Sharkskinz shipped yesterday, I've got a few more goodies from RevZilla coming and some new decals. While I'm at it, I might throw in some levers and a quickshifter. We'll see... The important thing is I've got Laguna in a couple weeks and the bike should be rideable by then!

 

[slave2gravity]

Ya that's a hell of a lean angle for being your 2nd track day only. Don't rush into it...it's cheaper to learn at a more gradual

Not my second track day, just my second on that bike. I've been doing 5-10 track days / season for about 10 years now, though my last crash was about 13yrs ago at Laguna.

Thanks everyone else for the feedback on technique; photos are great for diagnosing issues like body positioning!

 

[slave2gravity]

Oh ooops...i misunderstood that. Then don't worry about it, I won't preach to a guy that's been doing this longer than I have

No worries...13 years of track riding without a crash means I'm probably not pushing as hard as I could and I have plenty to learn!

That doesn't surprise me Zoot, but you take pictures at pro racing events...this was a track day. We have some local photographers that take pictures at our local track days, but it's usually just a few hundred for the whole weekend

Dito's setup is IMPRESSIVE. He's got a couple full size RVs with several computers setup to preview photos, large printers to create up to 36" prints on the spot, equipment to burn CDs, etc. He's got at least 2 of these RVs, and they go to different track events (cars and motos) around Northern California. There are lots of trackdays with lots of participants (many with LOTS of money), so it's probably just a healthier market out here. Not to mention world class tracks. Who doesn't want a pro photo of them coming through the Corkscrew?!

Nasty spill pal. Don't worry, I noticed, unlike some, that you are already well into your off in the first picture so would not dream of giving you riding advice.

Only advice i can offer is :

Pick yourself up...
Take a deep breath...
Dust yourself off
And start all over again.

I had the same sense looking at the first photo, but couldn't articulate why I thought that. I thought maybe it's just a case of perception bias - I already know the outcome, so every photo seems like a progression of the crash itself. What are you seeing that says "imminent crash" in the first photo?

Fortunately the crash itself has not phased me in the slightest. It's going to happen, I was totally uninjured and I've been socking away into the "crash" fund for the last 13 years, so there wasn't really a hit to my wallet.

You've got way too much lean angle going on there. Word of advice, butt crack on the edge of the seat is about how far you should ever be ON the seat going into a corner. Get your head out from under that bubble as well. Your contact patch was very limited on those DOT tires to begin with, looks to me like you rolled off the edge of the tire as you applied throttle.

Ohh well, I guess you now have an official full-time tracker! heh

Hahaha, exactly right on the full-time track bike! I agree on the body positioning; I really struggle with that in the shorter / tighter turns. Not sure why that is, but the longer, more open turns I think I've got pretty well sorted.

Interesting call on rolling off the tire, I hadn't considered that. I'd assumed it was some combination of 1) too aggressive on the throttle, and 2) lightening the load on the rear tire due to boot / pegs dragging and "levering" the rear end just enough.

 

[slave2gravity]

$11k in damages?! Holy hell... it looks like mostly bodywork got broken (and a clip-on and maybe a rearset)... how did it add up that fast?

They wrote up the estimate as though I was filing an insurance claim, so if it had a mar of any kind, it was to get replaced. The big ticket items were:

1. Bodywork (pretty well destroyed, replaced with Sharkskinz)
2. Termi exhaust (scratched, not replacing)
3. Ohlins fork leg (scratched, not replacing)
4. Gas tank (paint chips, not replacing)
5. Clip-on
6. Brembo master cylinder
7. Radiator (dings, but no leaks, not replacing)
8. Rear-set (broken peg, fixed myself)
9. Various carbon bits, including the front wheel mud guard (scratched, definitely not replacing!)

The tank, radiator and fork leg alone were each around $1000-1400. Bodywork was another $2-3k (I didn't actually total it, but Sharkskinz was $150 more than just the OEM tail piece.

To get a bike that is functional and safe for track use is about $3500.

 

[slave2gravity]

Most DOT tires have a much harder sidewall then slicks do. So unless you're running warmers AND very low pressures (which expands the contact patch), you have a high potential of having so little contact patch, the moment you open the throttle, the added lean angle from the rear sliding, leads you to roll right off the tire.

When your body isn't hanging off the bike, you don't have the strength to get the bike upright when it starts to slide. So you all of a sudden become a passenger and the next thing that happens is a crash.

I've dragged pegs for years, never had a problem because of that. You'd be surprised at how much abuse a solid peg can take before it lifts the rear end of the bike off the ground. The fold up pegs the bikes come with, will simply fold out of the way. I use my toe slider to determine lean angle, thats how low my pegs were and how much lean angle I was carrying. The only way to carry that much lean is to have a super huge contact patch, which only comes from running the right tire and pressures.

So yea, just a few tips. I'd like to see what you look like in other corners. Post a few more pix from the weekend if you have 'em.

Good to know. I run Pirelli SuperCorsa SC2 tires at recommended track pressure (typically 24r / 29f) but I haven't yet popped for tire warmers, so I take 2-3 laps to get them up to temp. I know I should be able to do it in a lap (so I'm told) but my testicular fortitude is not impressive.

Unfortunately my trackday on the Duc ended prematurely before other photos could be had. :smoking: Here are some pics from previous visits to Infineon on a Daytona 675. Critique away -

 

[slave2gravity]

Great, thanks for the advice!

 

[slave2gravity]

Great video; I see what you mean about using body position to tighten your line. I will definitely work on being more 'dynamic' on the bike.

I see you're dropping your leg in braking like the pros. I read that Rossi thinks it helps stability under braking, like a counterbalance. Do you find that too?