SoCalRiders Trackday, Pahrump, NV

June 21st, 2003

8 Strafers were man enough to head down to Nevada.

Jimil, Dave G., Shawn, Rich, Doug, Andy, Jef, and Les.

The trip was long, but it was worth it. For some of us it became an adventure.

Here are a few write ups from some of the guys. Some are long so be forwarned. You'll find more chatter about this trip in the Forums.

Scroll WAAAAAAAAY DOWN for pics.

Shawn's Write-Up (warning VERY LONG)

Well,

This whole trip as with the last few weeks were event filled to say the least. I came really close to bailing numerous times. Got stuck with a trip to Chicago that week and it had me arriving Thursday evening hence almost no time to get ready. Plan is to load the bike and take it to Jeff’s before I take off. The night I am loading, I am inspecting some cam noise from the R6. I realize the cam chain tensioner is toast. After bitching to Doug for a half hour, I decide to take the R1. Only problem is 1) I have a lot of parts I stole for the R6 that need to be moved back and 2) The tires are smoked and my spares are mounted on the R6 rims. Doug contacts the SoCal guys that night to see if they have a tire service and Bling offers to do the tire swap while I am gone if required. So, I get the R1 ready and load up. The next day I haul it in to SJ and Doug lets me know that there is indeed a tire service so all is good.

That day – the day before I leave for the Chicago trip, I realize I need a spare tire for the trailer as the one I have is smoked. Spent a hell of a long time calling around and tracking one down. Unfortunately they can’t get it in before I leave so I arrange to have it installed on Friday morning prior to picking up Bling. Next problem solved.

Get up for my Chicago trip and walk out to load the truck and notice the rear brakes look a little rough (through the holes in the rims). Take a closer look and they are FUCKED. There is no way I am gonna drive to Pahrump with metal on metal brakes. So, on the way to the airport, I detour to Kragen and am lucky enough to get brake pads. The I HAUL ASS to the airport and make my flight with 10 min to spare.

Fly in to Oakland on Thursday around 7:30, get home, and get ready for the trip. Wake up Friday morning and do a brake job in the middle of the street. Fire all my shit into the truck and haul ass into SJ. Go to the tire dealer and get the spare tire installed. Race to Bling’s, make it by 12:30, throw all our shit in, hook up the trailer, and on the road by 1:00-1:15. Still in awe it came together.

The drive to Pahrump was freaking long but Bling was decent company believe it or not. We caught up to Rich and company about 30 miles before Pahrump, fired off some fireworks on the road with everyone, shot the shit, then arrived around 10:00pm. Went to meet Doug and Gracie and of course got sidetracked by the fireworks superstore…both Bling and I ended up with a shopping bag full of stuff! We all hooked up in the Casino around 10:30, had some beers and dinner then I headed to my hotel around midnight. Turns out Bling, Jimil, and Andy had some pre-game fun in the Casino and crashed around 1:30 or so I think.

Picked up Bling the next morning and headed to the track. Ripped the wheels off the R1 and took it to the Dunlop guy for a swap ($10 a wheel!). Did the riders meeting and got the skinny on the “rules” – good deal. No tech inspection, no flag silliness – they assume you are an experienced rider and strive to keep the track hot as much as possible.

Went out with Dave for the first session to try and learn the track as I missed the warmup laps and HOLY FUCK, what a different track than I am used to. It’s a lot more technical than I had expected with lots of fast to slow and slow to fast transitions. In many cases there is little time to set up and you have to be thinking about the next corner while you are in the current one. To be honest, most of the track gave me problems and a few corners gave me serious problems. Two corners in particular were thorns in my side….

Turn 5a and 5b – 5a is a quick right followed by 5b that is a slower right. It’s a double apex that requires some braking while leaned over (at least for me it did). The 5b portion always left me feeling like I did it wrong.

Turn 8-9 – You are coming into 8 off the back straight at speed. Turn 8 is an open right that you can carry at speed. Turn 9 is a very low speed left hander. You need to be braking hard on the exit from 8, stand it up, brake harder, then flip in into 9 follow by a fast transition to 10. Nearly lost it a few times on that one.

After my first session, my impression of the track was “I hate this fucking place” It had all sort of elements I was not used to. I was also on the R1 which I haven’t “ridden” in about a year. Put those together and it was a recipe for displeasure.

Speaking of the R1, I felt like I was riding big bertha. Never did end up feeling comfortable on it compared to the R6 although it got better as the day progressed. It felt surprisingly heavy for the most part…like the center of gravity was too high. I attribute it to the fact that it has all that street crap on it and needs a serious diet. I also think I just need some time on the bike again.

Throughout the morning, the best laptime I could turn was a 1:59...and that was with Doug showing me around. Nothing to write home about. I kept going out and making the same mistakes. Just about every corner exited thinking “damn, did x,y,and z wrong again”.

The afternoon was much better. I tried to just enjoy the track and picked a couple of corners where I knew I could makes some easy time up. Ended up pulling a 1:53 best on the Micron. Not great, but not bad for the first time out with a “new” bike…or at least that’s my opinion and I’m stickin to it!

Doug played video bitch in the afternoon and got some great footage of all of us rippin it up (except for Andy…Doug missed him). Can’t wait to see the final rendering when he is done.

Track shut down at 4:00 and we were out by 5:00. Bling and I stopped at Albertson’s for munchies then headed home around 6:00. Trouble started at about 6:30….

We pulled over to check some stuff and noticed Jeff’s Gixxer was breaking through the wood under the front wheel (boards were dry rotting). We put a plank under the bike, distributed the weight, got it tied down, blew off some firecrackers, and continued on our way. Hit Bakers about 45 min later and pulled in to gas up. I decided to check the R1 and see if it was cracking the floor boards when I see it…the fucking frame rail is cracking. Turns out the rust coupled with the load on the trailer over time caused a stress fracture in the metal, the bottom and both sides of the rail had split and only the top remained in tact. After I swear numerous profanities and debate leaving the trailer there until I can get my welding equipment, Bling offers to ride the bike so we can reduce the load on it. I contemplate leaving it and coming back with the welder but decide not to as it would mean 20 hrs of driving. So, we unload the bike, convert it for street, Jeff suits up and off we go.

The ride was hell. Winds were brutal and Bling was getting tossed around large. I was constantly worrying the trailer was gonna snap and cringed at every bump we hit. Hooked up with Rich and company in Mojave at a gas station. Me and Jeff are sitting in the car lookin at the map when all of the sudden the R1 revs up. Part of me thinks “go ahead, steal the fucker…its insured”. We look over and there is Jimil messin with us…fucker!

Checked out the trailer and its getting worse. Rich comes up with a very cool idea and hooks a rachet strap to a couple of anchor points to pull the rail together which seemed to help a bit. Carmen goes on a garbage hunt and finds a bunch of shit to “fix” the trailer. Unfortunately none of it can be used without pulling a drill out doing a McGuiver.

We decide we are gonna go to ButtonWillow with Rich and the gang and play it by ear. I spoke to Jesse who mentioned there is a 24 hr mechanic in lost hills that might be able to weld it up so I figure that’s the best bet. Off we go again.

Drove for a couple of hours and watched Jeff ride through some serious winds….60 mph gusts if I had to guess and make our way into Bakersfield at about midnight…yes…MIDNIGHT! Check the trailer and its getting way worse. The top is now tearing. Decide we are gonna get to ButtonWillow and bunk it for the night. Start fresh in the morning.

Arrive at BW, grab a room, drink lots of beer, and crash by about 2:00 am. Got up at 9:00 and drove to Lost Hills looking for the mechanic. End up tracking him down by phone but he is 50 minutes away. Estimated cost to repair is $300 including time and materials. Fair price, but that’s not in the budget. Tell him “no thanks” and go for plan B – Home Depot in Bakersfield. Andy mentioned he had a drill and hacksaw so I go pick up some steel strapping, bolts, and drill bits. Halfway back it dawns on me…is Andy’s drill cordless? Get to the hotel and sure enough, he confirms…it is cordless. We cut the pieces of steel and start drilling. Andy jumps in and shows me the way to make a dull drill bit cut. We get through ½ the work and the drill dies…no more juice.

So, off to Home Depot again. This time I suit up and take the R1. Its 30 miles to HomeDepot and I am at the end of my patience. I put on full gear (as my luck has not been great) and head out. Did the return trip including buying a $19.00 corded drill in about 30 fucking minutes. I was flying…hit 140 mph for much of it and did not drop below 100 mph in general. Basically, I opened it up till I saw headlights approaching and backed it to 100. As soon as I passed them and determined it was not a cop, wide open we went. I wish I had a chance to see the top end of the bike but never had enough time ?

Got back with the drill, then the next problem was power. My inverter would not run the drill and my extension cord was too short to reach the hotel rooms. Asked the receptionist about an outside outlet or extra cord and got zero help. The boys went on a hunt and somehow found a vacated room with the door open that was close to the curb (not sure who found it), so now we had power. Cut another piece of steel for the top of the rail, drilled the holes, and bolted the ugliest brace I have ever seen to the trailer. I totally fucked up on the holes and ended up with a very badly aligned brace…but a brace none the less. Jimil, Rich, Bling, and Andy helped throughout with cutting, directing, and umbrella holding (well, Jimil did that part ?). Andy chimed in with lots of jokes about taking the newly acquired drill off my hands for $8.00….what a trooper ?

Got it all back together around 2:30 in the afternoon and loaded the R1 again. Seemed to be holding well so we said our goodbyes and took off again. The rest of the trip went well other than me worrying about the trailer. Did a couple of adjustments to Jeff’s Gixxer but they were minor probs in comparison to the rest of the trip.

We pull up to Jeff’s around 7:00 and there is no parking to be found. His neighbors are having a party so there are cars everywhere. They are also playing soccer or some shit in the middle of the road. I park the truck in the middle of the street and get a bunch of dirty looks. We begin to unload and the neighbors start complaining in Spanish. Bling - tired and at the end of his patience says something to the effect of “Are you bitching about the truck? We’ll be done in a minute”. Things escalate from there. I see the shit starting and scramble to find the pry bar in the toolbox to get ready – I figure 15 to 2 requires an equalizer. Some words exchange then some woman comes out and intervenes. Things cool off and we unload.

Head home and unload all my crap by 8:30…trailer held up and all was well. Jeff and I had numerous discussion about “would you do it again?”. Leaving Pahrump it was a “Maybe…under different circumstances”. By ButtonWillow it was a “No Fucking Way”. Now, I would say “damn ya…but I would plan differently”. For starters, I would make sure I fixed all the stuff I procrastinated on ?. Seriously speaking, the track had a lot of aspects that I think would help you improve your skills. I will definitely do it again…I just hope the ride is a little more uneventful. On the bright side, it made for a good story.

Thanks again to Rich, Andy, and Jimil for the help and smart assed cracks. Major thanks to Jeff for being a trooper and a riot to travel with!

Oh ya, everyone was rippin it up on the track….especially Doug. We really were all his bitches!

Andy's Write-Up

well, you already have most of the good stories from the usual suspects, so i'll just recap a couple.

first off, thanks to rich for driving jel, les, and myself all that way. a real catered event, just kicking back and letting the miles go by. thanks for dragging my lazy ass out, without you guys i'd never have gone. that was a hell of a long way to go, but pahrump(the track) did have things to offer that we don't have on the other tracks.

as has been mentioned, it keeps you busy, what with all of the tight braking-turning sections. the kick ass video by DS really shows a good view of the track. even though i didn't really get up to speed, i ran pretty consistent 1:49's without pushing my luck. from the video, i can really see a couple of places where you all were slacking. it's interesting to see the different riders, and what their plan for that corner is. for example, the last turn before the turn onto what i'd call the back straight should be f'en fast, almost flat out with the knee down. but i see everyone backing it way off, just because they're new to the track, and there is some hard braking required just past that turn. anyway, something to think about when/after riding, are you going a certain speed because the corner requires it, or is it really that you are going a certain speed because you are uncertain or because the upcoming section (in this case braking) takes your attention. you have to widen that corner out in your mind, expand the time, and really rail that(or any) corner and then move on to the braking section. anywho. i ended up doing 60 laps, and still didn't feel really comfortable with the track, especially passing. i guess that's to be expected, i don't even know 'the' line yet, let alone all the possible passing lines. as well, i didn't think the traction was really predictible off the line.

i'd guess ideal gearing is at least a tooth shorter on the countershaft sprocket than any of our normal tracks. the track is incredibly hard on tires for such a slow track, but at least it hits both sides of the tires evenly. for sure, never go there in the middle of summer, we lucked out and the temp was only in the low 90's.

btw, never go to pahrump for the gambling, i'd never seen such empty casinos, although they did make some decent jack-n-cokes, and they kept them coming for free for jel, bling, and myself. the first on didn't hurt, i didn't feel the next one, and i don't remember the last one. i don't know where the rest of the crew disappeared to that night, probably to one of the many ho-houses.