Track day at Cadwell Park ... oh dear !!

neonpollen

neonpollen

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Andy
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Well I finally got around to doing a track day on the bike, went to our local circuit Cadwell Park. The bike seemed an bit soft and wallowy (if that's a word) at the back end but I pressed on and was enjoying myself until I went into Manfield corner a bit too fast :)

I missed a gear and knew I wasn't going to get around the corner so I headed for the grass with the idea of re-joining the course a few yards further on, but like an idiot on wet grass I grabbed a hand full of front brake. Down I went :( I had managed to scrub most of the speed off so I was only doing 5mph-ish when I hit the deck and the grass was very soft and wet so I suffered no injuries nor did it damage the bike, I did have to pry out about a kilo of wet grass and mud from the fairing.

On my last lap the instructor had been following me looking carefully at my bike, when I got back to the paddock he came over and told me the back end to my bike was skipping and sliding all over the place. Like I said I thought it a bit soft and when we tested the damping we found I had none at all, looking in the bellypan of the bike we found all the oil out of my rear shock absorber, effing thing has gone pop !

I had to miss the last three session of the day, I stayed behind to watch one session but then rode home very slowly in a big sulk, need to buy a new shocker now, oh yes and take all the fairings off to dig out the last of the grass and mud.
 
perfect excuse to blow some money on some ohlins mate.
 
I would be tempted but I've just spent all my spare cash on lenses.
 
at least you didnt break you or the bike!
 
And there was me thinking the 'oh dear' meant your pictures were poor :) . Glad you are OK anyways.
 
Ouch, glad to hear you're okay, the bike will fix :)
 
RobertP said:
And there was me thinking the 'oh dear' meant your pictures were poor :) . Glad you are OK anyways.
Click to expand...

Yeah me too, I looked at the sad smiley and thought your pics had turned out rubbish..:lol:

Glad you are ok though, Thats the most important thing.:thumbs:
 
I have done a couple of high-speed pirouettes with my Lotus when there has been deposits on the track. I know how the heart fills your mouth!

Annoying thing is no-one ever gets a photo of them :shrug:

Glad that you are OK, as said, bikes fix!
 
I took this one at the Nurburgring a few weeks back, how he missed the barrier i don't know he was still doing 30mph when i took this shot, but lets just say he had a smoke afterwards :lol:

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Yikes. Glad you and the bike are alright!! :) I spun my car on a track day at the end of August. That was a bit of a shocker! :eek:
 
Cadwell....arrrgghhh. I did the same thing a couple of years ago, but at Park curve - too much speed down the straight then ran out of brakes (or bottle) coming upto the corner and ran onto the grass. I managed to park the bike next to the safety barrier/tyres - on its side :'( . Fortunately no damage to bike or myself though :D .
p.s. Mansfield is my most hated corner at Cadwell...gives me the shivers just thinking about it :gag:

Rich
 
Glad to hear your ok, as I was reading this I thought hmm pull into the pits and stiffen up the rear shock but I guess in this situation it wouldnt have made any difference.
 
Sadly not as there was no oil left in the shocker at all, it was like sitting on a water bed :)
 
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