Infineon Easter Track Day- Fun w/o Rabbits

[dave2riff]

Just back from the track day at Infineon/Sears Point hosted by Zoom-Zoom.
It was a perfect day out there-- anyone on this forum at the track? Saw one
other Hypermotard with a single Termi, good/fast rider. Somehow we ended
up one after the other in the morning tech inspection, and the tech guy
looked at me confused and said "didn't I just do this bike?"

The HM definitely has some strong points at the track: it pulls out of the
corners harder than most bikes, which makes passing 'easy' on the exits. The
brakes, despite all the complaints on this forum, really are stellar-- I could see
lots of other bikes fading and lurching, losing stability under what seemed to
be only mildly aggressive braking for the Hyper... you could easily make up lots
of ground on the ends of fast straights. I had a couple incidents where riders
got sideways under power in front of me, and though I don't like grabbing the
brakes in mid-corner, the Hyper handled the events without really unsettling
the chassis. Overall the bike showed good stability with no steering stabilizer,
though I was not over 100 mph except for brief moments. Infineon is a fun
and technical track (what a hoot coming over the hills and crests)!

The Pirelli tire crew was there at the track, so I went over at lunch to get
some inputs on tire pressures, etc. The dual compound supersport tires do
melt down on the sides as the track temp and the speeds come up. I had
started with 28 psi cold/rear and 29 psi cold/front-- these came up to 33 rear
and 32 front after a session. Handling never felt like the the tires had gone
"greasy", but the Pirelli tech did say to try adding a pound to the rear to
reduce the melting and peeling away of the edges. But the day got warmer
and the rear shredded even more, but I was happy with the grip, so I can't
really knock the Corsa III. My buddy's Pilot Power 2CT looked a little better,
but he only had the torque of a 600RR. Unfortunately, the third member of
our group was running sport/touring tires and went down in the 5th session.
His tires look great, but his SV's handlebars and footpeg are, uh, broken.

Thanks to all the folks at Zoom-Zoom for running the track day like a well-oiled
machine, and especially to "Frosty" for spending so much time with me
chatting about cornering techniques and critiquing my "style"... or lack
thereof.

[hyprduc]

It's good to see somebody up north taking their Hyper to the track!! You should join us next Monday at Buttonwillow! I really want to try Sears Point. I haven't been there since 1993 when I went to the superbike races.

Interesting on the tire pressure. Pirelli reps had us run 30psi rear and 31 front (cold) at Laguna Seca. I normally run between 32 and 33 on both ends for track days and have great grip and medium tire shred. I run closer to 34 for street riding. Anyway...

You'll have to post some pics of you on the track if youhave any.

Cheers

[ADHD]

At Pocono.we were told 34F/36r in the DCIII. I didn't believe it and ran 32f/34 on my RC51 and the tire looked like hell. I added 2 lbs. (34/36) to both and went to NJMP and the tires performed the same but looked brand new!

Yesterday, at Summit Point Shenandoah, we were told to run 30/31 and the rear tire felt a bit greasy. ad the air and track temps began to rise. Air temps were in the low fifties with a chilly wind most of the day.

[Suigeneris]

Just outta curiosity, what does a day at Sears cost now? Last time I was out there I was an AFMer.

[dave2riff]

Originally Posted by Suigeneris

Just outta curiosity, what does a day at Sears cost now? Last time I was out there I was an AFMer.

The cost at Sears Point/Infineon varies with the organization that is hosting
the track day (Keigwin, Zoom-Zoom, Reg Pridmore, Doug Polen, etc.) A lot
of the track days are part of a racing school or other instructional emphasis,
so they cost more, obviously. I paid $290 for the Zoom-Zoom day, but the
same event at Thunderhill is only $180, so riding Infineon definitely adds
cost. One of the "benefits" to being so close to the SF bay area, I guess.
Keigwins track days are usually $280 at Infineon.
Upcoming in the next few weeks are Pacific Track Time ($275) and
3J's Motorcycle Track Days, also $275.