SMMR Crash 10/27

[ridethebigone]

Looking pretty amateurish considering this was Level 3, first session, second lap.

https://vimeo.com/52365771

[vegaseric]

Damn... you should have had heat in the tires? How are you/the bike doing?

[Terrasmak]

Looks a little greedy on the throttle. We all make and have made the same mistake.

[EtchaSketch]

For what it's worth a lot of people went down in that corner (turn 4) including myself. On Sunday, during the riders meeting, they specifically named that corner and said "yesterday there was a lot of sand that had been blown onto the asphalt but it has since been cleaned up"... I don't remember seein a sweeper out on the track the entire weekend which was lame.

I hit that corner a lot harder when I was at SMMR last month and never had an OH shit moment. There was no warning and the bike slid out like it was on ice. I think going forward, I will sit out one or two sessions and let everyone else figure out the green track before I do.

[JetMech]

Couldn't really tell from the video whether it there was sand on the track. You weren't even that far into the turn when the front gave way. I've had an oh shit moment where the front has pushed but luckily I wasn't too hard on the throttle and it came back. Either way, it sucks. Hope you are ok. I've hit sand before too and yes, that feels like your on ice and there is nothing you can do about. Considering that a lot people went down there, I would have hoped that SMMR officials really did clean the track. But like Etchasketch said, he saw no sweeper. A push broom only does so much, if that is what they consider a clean up.

[Pcone16]

I dont think it was a throttle issue, front tire pushed out not rear, just cold tires. Glad your ok and ur bikes cool!

[ridethebigone]

I think it was a dirty track. If you can see when we cut the curb there's a shitload of sand on it so I'm sure I picked some up, and I was tight on the inside where the most dirt would've been. I could feel the tires gripping on the other corners fine and on that one it just went so I think it felt like a track issue. There were times when dust trails were coming off guys tires like back at Chuckwalla in January when we got hit with that sand storm. Track needs a good douching. Def wasn't a throttle or front brake issue. The pics in the video are from April 28th and I was going hard into that corner with no problems. I've felt the front start to go before and have been able to save it but this was no warning. The guy that got this on camera also got another guy going down in turn 3 and it looked like the same shit, he was just starting to lean in and in the blink of an eye he was down, no sliding, no warning.

[R3K]

Sitting out the first sesson or so is probably a good idea Evan. I know a lot of people who NEVER go out in the first session, for that exact reason, so they let the rest of us go out and see where the slick spots are and move the dust around before they ever turn a wheel out there. I go out in the first session about 50% of the time, but I usually don't do more than a few laps, and rarely get my knee down. I use that first session as an extended sighting lap to see exactly what the track has to offer and what it doesn't that early in the morning.

[ridethebigone]

Yeah I'll be sitting out the first session from now on, I'm usually tired still so catching a few Z's until 10am wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Pcone16]

Tire warmers! Moto-D, Suzuka, Chicken Hawk. Its worth the money! It will save you money in the long run! Not only will it give you grip, but it will help save tires!