@Mods: Kindly change the title of the thread to:
A dream come true - My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-12
First of all I would like to sincerely apologise for not being able to post updates on the thread. For the last 6 months, I have thought about posting the updates every weekend, but for one reason or the other I couldn't. I guess, I have become lazy.
I have three main updates, which I will split into individual sections.
The 1st update is the tyre change.
So during our trip to lansdowne, we noticed a cut on the tyre. There was a small chunk that came out. Although it was not loosing air much and as an immediate fix, we put in some quick fix with sand which sealed it, however it was deemed unsafe. It still had about a 1000 KM of life left but I decided to get it changed. I clocked 12500 KMs on tyre which is slightly on the lower side from what I have heard from others. Also during its last stages, it had started to move around a bit, reducing my confidence on corners. Overall pretty satisfied with the stock tyre. It was nothing special, but it was not bad either and it mostly always delivered on whatever I could throw at it.
So the choice was between either Metzeler M7 or Pirelli Angel GT. My friend was using the Pirelli on his Ninja 650 and had a very positive feedback and the availability of the M7 was a challenge. Although my first preference was the M7, but had to get the Pirellis as I couldn’t find any M7s in NCR. I am not sure why but I have a soft spot for the Metzelers. I mean the name in itself is so cool.
So Switched over to Pirelli Angel GT and the overall feedback has been great. Its a definite improvement over the stock tyre in terms of dry grip. I have clocked around 2500 KMs so far on them and I have really liked them.
The 2nd update is the 4th service.
Although the bike had probably clocked around 3K KMs after the third service, but I got a call from Honda for the service being due. They recommend I get it done for warranty purposes, so I decided to get the service done. Even though the Engine Oil and the Air filter were not required to be changed, but I still requested them to change both. This was also the first paid service of the bike as such. Overall the service experience was excellent as always. Plus this time when the bike came back from service, for some reason it felt much peppier for a month or so.
The servicing costs remain a positive surprise. Nothing to complain about here. The overall after sales experience with Honda has been so positive that I think they have won me as a loyal customer. I would have to seriously think many times when I get an opportunity to upgrade, to even consider any Non Honda bike.
I did get a couple of accessories also fitted to the bike after the service. The first being the rear sets. I am a short guy and I always felt that I could never hold the CBRs tank with my knees properly while cornering. All the rear sets I saw, were very expensive. I even thought of getting a bracket made and then moving the stock foot pegs up a bit. This topic kept on going in my mind for 3-4 months when while casual browsing I saw a set on Aliexpress. It had a couple of positive reviews from US Customers. Overall cost was $100 including shipping. I took the risk and ordered them. They turned out to be okay. I wouldn’t say they are very good, but they are completely acceptable for the price. No installation instructions were a pain though. After installing them I can confidently say that for my height, the CBR feels more sporty now. I can grip the tank better and these helped on the track a lot.
I have always liked the Tecspec tank pads too. So when I got the rear sets, I got the tank pads to accompany them too. Both helped on the track.
Now for the big one. The BIC Track day.
Ever since I got to know about BIC being constructed, I only had 1 dream, to ride my bike on the track. Even though I was pretty deep in F1 at that time and I was excited about F1, but the real dream was to ride on a track. My desire to watch F1 was fulfilled by a contest by Overdrive in which I won a grand stand ticket. Watching F1 on BIC was special. The track felt special and the overall event felt like an International Standard event.
I kept dreaming and hoping for a track day. I bought some gear too like Full riding shoes, Full gauntlet gloves etc. However 1 key piece I couldn’t buy which always kept me away from the track was racing suit. I just could not spare the cost of a racing suit.
Last Year while speaking to friends I asked them that this year we have to do it. All the news of Jaypee going defunct were also not helping with the future of this track. This track day would also have gone by like every time I had told myself “Maybe Next Time”. But somehow it struck me that this way, I would never be able to. I spoke to a couple of close friends as I wanted to do it with my friends and received a positive answer. Thankfully a friend had a race suit which fit me and it saved the cost of renting one. It finally materialised and it was a very special feeling and I was fully excited.
Overall if I can say it one sentence, the wait of all these years was worth it. The experience of riding on an International level track with friends among JK series race winners was truly special. It was so special that for 2 days, I just could not resist and wanted to go back. I have decided to save a bit more and try to become a bit more regular at track days.
So the day started with we reaching the track, going through scrutiny and then soaking in the atmosphere in the pits. There were special bikes there and I was surprised to see the number of people with full slicks, tyre warmers, Dainese Race suits. At first it felt intimidating but being with friends helped. Also people there were mostly helpful especially Simran and Gurvinder ji. We got the see the 1299 Superlegera too and boy what a bike. We had 4 session of 20 mins each. Initially we were a bit worried about our fitness levels and being able to wear race suits the whole day. Overall smaller sessions helped and I would say and we were not tired by the end of 4 sessions.
The first session started and initially we were a bit anxious with fast riders coming from behind etc. In the briefing we were told to not look back unless slowing down for a reason and keep taking our lines. The faster riders will go around us on their own. But still the first 2 laps were a bit anxious. Thankfully I was familiar with the track layout as I had played this track on the F1 game a lot. Although the bikes layout is slightly different, but I had seen a couple of videos on the previous day and it helped. As much as I thought to myself that this was not about lap times and it was just to learn, it all went in 2 laps. 3rd lap onwards I was going for it. While riding, I saw Red Flags and thought somebody crashed, but later realised that 1st session was over. It literally flew and I didn’t realise. We came to pits and saw our times and I had clocked a 2.47.
In the 2nd session, I improved a bit and was getting better at lines in few corners. I was amazed the grip Pirellis offered even being sport touring tyres. I felt good at slower technical sections and felt my lines and speed through corners were good. However I was not happy at corners that required hard braking like 1, 4, 15 and 16. I was not able to judge the braking distance properly.
I follow Moto GP and other forms of motorcycle racing. Motorcycle racing is very dear to me. I have watched/read a lot of content on internet and over the years have tried to practice a few things on the roads as much as you can on public roads. I felt I know the basics and had to just implement them. However, in my greed to further reduce my lap times, I actually started riding too aggressively on corners with hard braking. I was braking too late and was reaching corners with my front loaded because of brakes and was taking corners in a not so smooth manner. The slower sections, I was still good. My mistakes, I realised when I got to see an onboard lap by Simran and I realised I was braking later on CBR than him on his race prepped R1. Well, a lesson for next time. By the third session I had become pretty aggressive with the bike for the initial 4-5 laps and I felt I didn’t go faster and then sort of brought it down a notch. My fastest lap time came at this point when I had brought it down a notch. I clocked a 2.34.1 lap. In the fourth session I repeated the same mistakes and went again very hard on brakes and the fastest I clocked was 2.34.8.
I am glad that I got see that onboard lap by Simran now and I can see where I made mistakes. This is a positive sign and something to look forward to in the next track day. I am also happy that me and my friends all had an excellent day and everybody came out safe even though for all of us except 1, it was the first track experience. The overall experience was special and I have committed to myself to become a bit more regular.
The CBR performed very well. I cannot say that for a first times, person with my skill level, I could draw any flaws in the bike. It felt safe, smooth and stable. Even when I went a bit too far being aggressive on brakes and trying to corner, it still was unfazed. The ABS was going bonkers front and rear but it still brought me home safe. On the winding faster corners, the CBR was very stable and confidence inspiring. I am quite happy with the way it performed on the track in stock condition. A few upgrades and that should make it even better. The only grouse I have with the bike is gear box. It is either me or my bike only because I have not read it in any reviews or have heard it from other users, but for some reason I just cannot get a hang of the timing of the clutch and gear change on my bike. Even after riding it for 15K KMs. I have not had this issue in any other bike but only mine. God knows what is wrong and this issue took some concentration away from me on the track as well. Because I was going so aggressive, I actually feared I will break the gear box of the bike. However, so far so good. I do plan to get a quick shifter for this very reason some day.
Now for some pics:
The Old Tyre
Tyre getting changed
New Rubber
Bike Getting Serviced
The Bill
Rear Sets
Tank Grips
Me ready in the suit.
While entering pits after session 1
Slowing down after the session was over
I think turn 2
The whole group
Random Weekend Ride Pictures
On a rainy day with Nuda 900R
On Gurgaon Faridabad road
Morning gathering spot
Around Khan Market somewhere
Touching 14K KMs
Thank you