Northland ride

[tmkaos]

Hi all, just wanted to share a few pics of my weekend. Took a jaunt around the upper half of the North Island, this was the route http://maps.google.co.nz/maps/ms?msid=206556317620859030055.0004bd4ab607dad4c3853&msa=0&ll=-35.126648,173.733673&spn=0.90304,1.399384 but it got tweaked slightly, and we came home down the East Coast.

Awesome awesome trip, the other guys were on, 2 Suzuki SV1000's, 2005's, and a 2006 Triumph Speed Triple. They had all done what is known here as the California Superbike School, why it's called that I don't know, but it's a series of track days with rider instruction from experienced racers and instructors. So they were pumped up and raring to go.. The old FJ was keen, and so was I.. I spent the weekend chasing them down, and they opened my eyes to the mysteries of counter-steering, and I know there's been a whole arguement on here about that but, my 2 cents worth, wow, what a difference concentrating on keeping my arms loose, level with the bars and PUSHING that inside bar into the corner, wow, the old FJ livened up, stopped fighting and dug into those corners like nothing else! With some practise by the end of the weekend I was keeping up with these guys on their new sports machines.. I was scraping equipment on the FJ for sure to do it, by by god it was fun!  Here's a few pics..



The FJ having a breather at Opononi after chasing the guys through the Waipuoa Forest - very tight!



Waiting on the car ferry at rawene - there was a dolphin playing of the end of wharf - when the ferry left he played in the thruster wake across the harbour



The ferry at Opua - SV1000's in the foreground



My rear tyre after the ride -just a dirty Shinko but didn't stop me from laying it right down and pushing the rubber around on the tyre. Damn that was fun - no more chicken strips on the back!



Gotta do something about this - hangs down to far! Around any corner slower than about 50kph that I was able to really line up and get right, this dragged constantly.. Was a good warning to keep it off the muffler though..


Anyway, it was damn good ride and I'm so impressed that my 20 yr old FJ could play with some far more expensive and sporty bikes. And i learnt a shitload about cornering faster without compromising my safety..

What a weekend!

[tmkaos]

Well I just worked out why the course the other guys on the ride took is called the California Superbike School, I just finished watching Twist of the Wrist II by Keith Code.. I don't know wheter he syndicates or franchises out but we've got it here in NZ too... Stage 1 is a rider instruction day at Hampton Downs racetrack, Stage 2 is day at Phillip Island in Australia.  After watching my mates improvement after taking the Stage 1 course, and my improvements from copying them, and just watching the dvd, I'd have to say that's all money well spent. Really going to have work on my instinctive reactions to corners now and let myself relax enough to let the bike use it's full capacity. I know for a fact now I'm the only thing slowing it down!

Well worth a look if you haven't seen it or read the book, opened my eyes on more than a few issues 

Happy riding!

James