Limey 242 Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 For the motorcycle enthusiasts out there! Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to follow in Casey Stoner's footpegs and do a lap of the Indianapolis MotoGP circuit on my 1978 KZ-650! What a great experience. The track is much more "open" than it appears, and the diabolical turns 3 and 4 are nowhere near as tight as they look - the flip from turn 3 to 4 is really cool! Interesting bit was that the track had not been swept since the races on Sunday, so the "marbles" were still there - and they get your attention! Even at the speeds we were going (about 50 max!), you did not want to go "off line" - and the line for racing speeds is much different to our cruising speeds! The black lines laid down as they exit turns were also very evident - and impressive! What a great weekend. I took the RV down and was joined by four friends from various parts of the states. All of us with motorcycles. Downtown Indy on Friday evening was awesome - with thousands of bikes parked in the (closed off) city center. The old KZ got a lot of admiring looks and lots of "I had one of those" comments! It was also the only KZ-650 we saw all weekend! At the track the racing was great - but Stoner was in a class of his own all weekend despite his complaints about the track. As expected, the Moto2 and 125 races were very closely fought and fun to watch. Despite being slow (7 sec/lap slower than the 125s), the Harley-Davidson XR1200 races were great to watch. The British XR1200 champion was competing and was in the front three for most of the first race - he was battling for the lead but then fell at turn 4 on the last lap! He finished fifth in the second race. So, does this mean I hold the KZ-650 lap record at Indy? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 If that's the case , I hold the lap record at Donnington Park for a Fiat Daley refridgerated box van !! I got to do two laps in 1980 , with the owners permission, I used to deliver to the restaurant there, and saw the big boss one day , he could see the longing in my eyes !! and all my birthdays and christmas's arrived in one go when he said "Go on then" !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Limey 242 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I hold the lap record at Donnington for a Raleigh bicycle on dirt! - Used to ride up there as a youngster and rode the track before the tarmac was laid! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I can't 'Trump' that !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dgbrit 258 Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 My best lap at Laguna Seca was quicker than the GP bikes 1.16 compared to 1.20 for the bikes Same at Sears Point (Infineon Raceway) way faster than the bikes and we ran the whole track Superkart Rotax 250 Still take one out nown again but it takes a long time to recover from the beating the old body takes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 same in uk, go karts faster (I think) than cars and bikes (used to be such anyway) find most racing false and unreal, could really spice it up by adding a real scenario to it, say a dustbin lorry picking up bins, or an old lady going round in a nissan micra at 28mph whilst the races are on? maybe even your average senile school crossing warden jumping out when not expected? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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