Sometimes I close my eyes when I'm leaned over and going around corners. Hey,... I'm already leaned over, and the turn radius is already set, the only thing left to do is hang on for dear life and wait.

I don't drag my knee as much anymore, but maybe not for the reasons you're thinking. As it turns out, if you are leaned over a lot, and you press down too hard with your knee,... it tends to lift the back wheel off the ground.

I kinda like riding over slippery surfaces like manholes and loose gravel. I don't know why.

I'm still scared of leaning the bike over. It's been over three years now, and I still don't know what's going to happen next.

So,... you really thought I was joking when I said most of my riding is spent cornering.

My used Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa front.

A brand new Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa front.

Started to get some sliding after a few days when the front tire hits manhole covers while leaned over, but the slide is very progressive.

Everything else still feels the same. Already missing that new tire grip.

Can you say confidence inspiring!!!

Here's a quick post to let you know how they worked for me. I'll compare them to a brand new set of Corsa III tires.

The Corsa III is what I usually ride on the street. It has very good feedback, and slides very progressively if it starts to do so during full lean. For those of you that like that progressive slide the Corsa III gives, then you'll be happy to know that characteristic is still there.

Rossa Corsa compared to Corsa III

Feedback at full lean: Better. I would say the feedback at full lean is a lot closer to what you get from the Supercorsa Soft front, and the exactly the same as you get from the Supercorsa Medium rear.

Bump absorbtion at full lean: Lots Better. Pirelli is getting very close to Cadillac feeling here. Riding over bumpy pavement at full lean didn't send any unwanted jarring up the front forks. I could definitely tell that I was riding over a lot of bumps in the road, but the tire was very planted.

Recovery from sharp bumps: Definite Improvement. Riding at high speed while at full lean over DOT Bots, the tire wouldn't slide when it landed back on the pavement. Typically, with the Corsa III's the front wheel would slide just a tiny bit when it landed after doing this, but with the new Rosso's there was no noticeable sliding.

Recovery from gradual bumps/ripples: See Bump absorption above. Additionally, there was a lot less sliding when the tire ran to the off-camber section of the road.

Recovery through loose gravel (1"): Same in the back. Better in the front. Riding at full lean through *loosely* spread 1" size gravel the front tire would of course roll and dip, but it kept a very sharp line as soon as it touched back down onto the pavement.

Recovery/tracking over round manhole covers: Better. Actually a lot better. The tire didn't seem to move off-line not even once while leant over and riding over those steel covers.

Recovery/tracking over yellow lines: A lot better. Even though I could tell that the front tire was riding the yellow line, because of that initial bump. The tire didn't squirm and slide around as expected.

Recovery through sand: Not tested. However, on dusty roads the tire has tracked well.

Recovery in the wet: Not tested. As soon as we get a good downpour, I'll be out testing. I'm eager to find out, as the tread pattern on the Rosso Corsa's are very different than on the Corsa III's.

Tracking trough a turn, line selection: Wow!!! This really caught me off guard. I don't know what they did to either the profile of the tire, the compund of the rubber, or the sidewalls. but damn!!!

Whichever direction you turn those handlebars while fully leant over, be very sure you want to go there, 'cause these tires will take you there with no complaints. Whether changing my line to the inside, or to the outside. The front wheel felt like a knife edge compared to the Corsa III's. No, complaining, or sliding, or even a little squishy feeling. Turning the handlebars, really felt like pushing against rails.

Straight line stopping: No surprises. Same warm fuzzy feeling. Even from top speed straight into a stoppie.

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Now, it's still a little early to tell if these tires are outright better than the Corsa III's, since a brand new tire (only 11 miles ridden) has a lot more grip and feel to it than after it's gone throgh a few heat cycles.

However, compared to a brand new Corsa III. This tire is pretty excellent.

Notes:
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Full lean: For my purposes, this means the bike was at a peg scraping angle, pulling an average lateral acceleration of 0.87+ G. Which, is average, to above average lateral acceleration for street riding.

This compared to an average lateral acceleration of 1.10+ G track riding.

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Ambient temperature ~90 F.

EDIT:
Link to Motorcycle USA review on the same tire. It's interesting that they had the same opinions I did.
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/545/6978/Motorcycle-Article/Pirelli-Diablo-Rosso-Corsa-Product-Review.aspx

Two years, thirteen track days, 0.01% highway miles, original chain and sprockets. That is all.

I don't know why I've waited so long to write about my most notable adventure, but I figured this is as good a time as any since I've moved up two classes since then. It all happened on my 4th track day at Jennings GP.

Each of my visits to the track has marked a significant improvement in my riding, and has given me new levels of comfort on the bike at greater levels of speed. This track weekend was no different. On this visit I was already familiar with the track layout, and my goals for the weekend were to improve my passes while staying on line. During most of the day I had been very comfortable making passes at Turn 11. I was able to make passes there, and then get back on line pretty easily. I had been doing well all day - albeit with the occasional run-off, and had been battling with another rider that was at the same skill level as me. Near the end of the second-to-last session of the day, I saw an oppurtunity to pass this other rider right at the exit of Turn 1. I had not previously made any passes here, but the gap was so perfect, I couldn't pass it up.

Turn 1 is a fast U-turn closely followed by Turn 2, which, is a really fast kink. Entrance speeds for Turn 2 at the level I was riding at are around 90 mph. All of the corners at Jennings have a lot of run-off, with the tree-line pushed back far away from the track. Since I had been battling with this rider for position for a few laps now, when I finally was able to get in front of him I was so excited that I made the pass - and, that I had made it on this section of the track - that I totally forgot where I was, and what I was supposed to do next.

Oh what a joyous occasion it was. I finally made the pass. It was a really good pass too! After I made the pass, I even turned my head to look and see how far ahead I was, and it was by at least two bike lengths. But wait a minute. Isn't there something else I should be paying attention to? Isn't there another corner right after this one that I have to steer really hard for? Yes. Yes there is. And as soon as I remembered this, I turned my head forward to resume focusing on the track, only to realize the front tire was now directly on top of the curbing. The curbing that is the last turn-in point for Turn 2.

In all my excitement I had forgotten to focus on the track ahead, and now had realized too late that I was headed off the edge of the track. I stood the bike up straight in those last few inches of pavement, and rocketed into the dirt at a little over 90 mph. Now at the beginning of the day - at the riders' meeting - they had told us that if you happen to run off the track, to only use the rear break. Now the only problem with that advice is; at 90+ mph the rear break only does two things, skids the back tire and kicks up some dust. The surface off-track of Turn 2 is not the smoothest either. It's mostly dirt, and really bumpy.

So I am coasting along, off the gas, trying to slow down by pumping the rear break. I was still going pretty fast, but at least the bike was upright and there was plenty of open space ahead of me. Over on that side of the track, there's also a a thin long ditch, that seems to run almost from the edge of the track surface, across the dirt and into the woods. I remember coming upon it, and wondering if the front wheel was going to get trapped in the ditch and flip the bike over. So right before entering the ditch, I got off the brake, and pulled up hard on the handlebars.

I probably hit the ditch at between 50 and 60 mph. I made it over the ditch okay, but the surface was still too sandy to make any sharp steering corrections. So, after riding through the ditch I continued pumping the rear brake again to try and get the bike stopped. It's amazing how much ground you cover moving at that speed. The rear brake didn't seem to be slowing me down that much at all. I wasn't worried about it though as it looked like I had at least another quarter mile of treeless surface ahead of me. Treeless, but not totally flat.

As the bike kept racing forward I started to notice something peculiar in the distance. Before, when I was farther away it didn't seem like much of a concern, as from afar it just looked like tall uncut grass. As I drew closer though, there was this nagging feeling that something just wasn't right. What looked simply like tall grass from very far away, I was now beginning to realize were reeds.

Still, I wasn't immediately worried about riding into reeds, as they are very soft (just tall). But, I couln't shake that nagging feeling though that something just wasn't right. Why would reeds be in the middle of a wide expanse of dirt. Where exactly have I seen reeds before. Hmmm....

And then, It dawned on me. Reeds... always... border... a LAKE!!! "There's a lake right behind those reeds".

By the time I reached this conclusion, the front wheel was already slicing through the edge of the reeds, and I could begin to see the cool blue surface of the lake beyond. I really wasn't expecting to go for a swim, but there weren't any other options now. The lake was so big, I couldn't see the other side right away, so there was no way I'd be able to ride across it. I'm sure it was going to be pretty deep. The reed perimeter was almost at an end, so there was no way I was going to be able to ride around it. There was only one thing left to do.

As soon as I realized I was going to be doing some off-off-roading, I decided I wanted the bike to stay as close to the water's edge as possible. Once the front wheel pierced through the edge of the reeds, I stomped on the rear brake, and locked the steering hard to the right. Keeping both brakes locked up, I slid the bike in sideways (almost backwards) into the lake. The bike slammed into the lake and stopped immediately, ejecting me promtly into the air, where I then came splashing down into the water.

So there I was, lying on my back, at the bottom of this muddy lake, in the middle of nowhere, looking up at the sky and clouds through the surface, thinking to myself: "I bet when you woke up this morning, you didn't know you would be swimming in a lake with full leathers on did you?".

I pushed off of the bottom of the lake and swam up to the surface. I then made my way back over to the edge of the lake where we (me and my bike) came in. The bike was completely submerged, but I could see it below the surface. As soon as I got over to the bike I tried to get it upright. Getting it upright was the easy part. I also tried to roll it as much as I could outside the lake. While the bike was fully submerged it wasn't too hard, but once the body of the bike crested the surface, all that weight was just too much for me to roll out of the mud. Pushed as I might, my boots just dug into the soft muddy bottom of the lake, and the bike would just not budge anymore.

So there I stood. Me and the bike were soaked. I wanted to walk out back onto the dirt outside the lake so that I could see if anyone was coming over to help me, but if I let go of the bike now it would surely slip down the side of the lake, and be deep underwater again. It was hard getting it out the first time. Damn. All these electronics, water inside the combustion chamber, carburetor. I almost started crying. Would it even run again. This can't be good.

I noticed that the ignition key was still in the ON position, and switched it to OFF.

I stood there sadly. Holding up my bike. Thinking this may be the end. We must have been out there for at least 3 minutes already. I couldn't help but wonder then, since I had gone underwater, it was a very lucky thing that I was able to swim back up. If someone were to be unconscious out here underwater, they would probably be dead. I could be dead. Wow. It's taking a long time for them to get here.

A minute or two later I could hear the crash truck pull up. I couldn't see anyone, but I could hear voices. They shouted out to me and I yelled back. The solid edge of the lake was about 8 feet above where I was standing, so I couldn't see anyone until they were right there. Yay! We were saved! Interestingly, they seemed to know exactly what to do to get me and my bike out of the lake without doing any more damage. As if this had happened many times before.

On the ride back to the pits, I had many mixed feelings and thoughts. Sure, you try and put on a happy face, because you are okay, but my main concern was would the bike run again. Everyone assured me it would since it went into "fresh" water. Just don't try to start it until all the water is out and the bike is cleaned with fresh fuel. Everyone helped give the bike a cursory wash off with the hose to get rid of all the mud. The rest of the evening me my wife and a good friend tore the engine down to get all the water out. We were at it from 5pm to 9pm.

At a little past 9pm it looked like we had gotten all the water out of the engine. And, although it was late at night, we pressed the ignition switch, and the bike came alive again, loud as hell too since we had the exhaust piping disconected. Team WD-40 was back in business.

The next day the bike ran even better than it did before. I also rode even faster than I did before, achieving a new personal best lap time. The following Monday it rained all day, and I was the fastest in my group in the rain as well. It must have been because I had the most experience riding in water. :-)

Weather:
   Mostly Cloudy
   High: 57F
   Low: 32F

Details...

Riding every day - at least for me - is always about re-affirming whether or not the skills and techniques I used yesterday were just a fluke, and if I can still successfully implement and improve on them today. That's just me. I doubt every rider feels that way. It's kind of a scary way to go about living, never really knowing, or being sure that what happened yesterday or the day before will work today, but that's exactly how it is for me, each and every time I ride.

Such was the case when I decided to go to my 10th Track Day. The only reason I was heading to the track was to see if I could still ride the track the same as I did the last time (and maybe, even better).

I've never been to this track in January before, and never on a Friday. Maybe that's why it all went so wrong.

The day started out as ordinary as any other winter track day, super cold in the morning (40+ degrees), cloudy overhead, and almost no sunshine to get warm in. I prepped the bike as usual and suited up to ride right after the riders meeting. About the only thing that was going to be different about this ride was that I was going to be riding the very first lap of the first session of the day. I remember while checking my front tire, how much it felt like the white PVC pipes you find at Home Depot. It even had that dusty feel to it. Yes, it was hard as plastic and super cold, but I've ridden on these same tires in colder temperatures - maybe not at the same speeds though.

I rode out to Start/Finish so that race control could check my wrist-band, and for some reason I couldn't get the bike into neutral. I got fed-up after awhile and just let the clutch fly and stalled it. Fuck-it! I'll start it up in 1st gear when I'm done. So, race control comes over, checks my wrist-band, I put my glove back on, and now I'm ready to go. So, I pull the clutch in, start the bike up start down the entrance ramp in 1st.

I get the revs up a little, and kick it into 2nd gear. Continue accelerating, then hold neutral throttle for a second while I check over my shoulder to make sure there's no traffic coming down the front straight. There was no-one. As a matter-of-fact, there were probably only 7 or so riders on the track at the time. It was pretty empty. So, with no traffic approaching I get the bike up to speed for the first tire test - Turn 1.

The bike held it's line right on the very edge of the track as I accelerated around T1 in second gear to enter the track. Sure the back wheel was slipping a little, but doesn't it always slip at this temperature during the first few feet of riding. It's not like it's gonna go anywhere, it never has, especially as long as the throttle is applied smoothly and constantly. It might - and it has - wiggle around back there, but it never strays too far out off-line. So ignore it.

The first affirmation was almost over, with my knee already on the ground, on brand-new tires, on a very cold day about to exit T1. Later that day I checked to see how far I was leaned over on that first turn, and it turns out that the wear mark was halfway down the Trident on the side of the rear tire. So, of course there was no reason for me to even suspect what was about to occur in the next few seconds.

Exiting T1 I roll on the throttle as much as I can before I get to T2. I take one last look over my shoulder, since I'm still just entering the track, to make sure there's no traffic - there was none - and right before my turn-in, jam it into 3rd, and slam the bike over to the T2 apex, hard. All's good so far, and no complaints this time from either the front, or rear of the motorcycle. T2 for me is usually the quickest and most aggressively that I will switch directions with the bike on this track. Since, during a regular lap my bike will be approaching the turn-in point for T2 at anywhere between 87 - 95 mph depending on how much speed I can maintain through T1.

Anyway. So, now I dive into T2 and the tires felt really good, so now that's two turns I've already completed. One at almost full lean on the throttle, and the other at about 70+ off the throttle. I'm still freezing though, plus my breath is fogging up the lower part of my visor, and I don't want to open up the vents because the air is too damn cold. I press on.

Exiting T2, flying up the back straight, as soon as the bike was completely - well, as completely as it ever will be on that section of the track - I pin the throttle, and was lucky enough to pin it early enough so that the engine hit the rev-limiter just as I was on the number 2 braking marker for T3. For my bike, tires and gearing that puts me right at 120 mph (122 actually) going into T3. I ease off the throttle just enough so that the throttle isn't resting against the stop anymore. Now here comes the interesting bit.

I only eased-off the throttle so I would have something to play with while I completed my turn-in, but as I was approaching T3, and going through it, the track seemed a lot wider, and everything seemed to be happening a lot slower than the last time that I was there. What I am saying is, that the 120 mph today, right now, seemed slow compared to how it felt the last time I rode the track. As a matter-of-fact, typically I would be lucky to even carry 120 mph to the T3 number 3 brake marker before getting scared and rolling off the throttle for the turn-in. The fastest I'd ever gone past that number 3 brake marker (as measured by my GPS) is 115 mph.

Now usually, when I come through T3 I'm in 5th gear, and the Tach is somewhere around 9K+. Yep. That's where I usually ride, deal with it. Very rarely do I get the revs all the way up to the limit. So,... usually I'm in 5th, I bend it through T3, gear down into 4th right after I stand it up for T5, and then after completing T5,6 I'll drop it into 3rd again, to get ready for the esses.

Today, it all felt so different though, I was coming through T3 faster than I ever did before (I did not however know that at the the time) and I wanted to go even faster. As soon as I completed the turn-in for T3 I rolled on the throttle again - pinning it. In fact if it wasn't for the T4 coming up right away, I would've up-shifted into 4th. Did I forget to tell you that it was still freezing outside.

So, since T4 was coming up right after T3, of course I had to roll-off the throttle a little again to bend the bike over in the other direction, and then almost right away do the same thing for T5. The whole process from the turn-in for T3 to the turn-in for T5 takes less than 3 seconds. The whole operation involves changing the direction a couple times, but it's done so fast that you think the bike is standing almost straight up, ...but it's not. The fact is, I've come though that section T3,4,5 scraping my knee on all the apexes, unintentionally (meaning I don't put my knee out). So, a lot of the time I may go through that section of the track leaning the bike over even more than I do in T1, only just for a shorter period of time. I think this masks the fact that the front tire might be reacting even more violently with the pavement than other sections of the track. The fastest the bike can go on this track is on the back straight right before T3. And I was going even faster than I had before - on warm tires - and, I was doing it on cold tires.

As I went into T4 the front tire was slipping - almost imperceptibly, but it was there - however, as I said the whole operation takes so little time that I ignored it - as I should - figuring that I'm standing the bike back up in the next half-a-second anyway.

The thing of it is that, although the slipping wasn't that dramatic as I was leaning into T4, the front tire kept on slipping as I was standing it up to go into T5. Before the bike could completely stand up the slip turned into a full-blown slide, and in an instant (it was as if someone took a sledge-hammer and slammed it at the bottom side of the front wheel) the bike was sideways, heading toward the edge of T5 and me a little ways behind it.

The bike fell in the middle of the pavement, so I was sliding on the asphalt on my right shoulder for about a second and a half. It was pretty comfortable in the suit I must say. And, in spite of how violently the bike tipped over, it seemed like I had landed pretty softly. Now, I understand why. It was because I was already leaned over pretty far, I didn't have that much further to fall. Once I hit the dirt at the border of the track it didn't go as smoothly though. The ground off-track is very uneven, and once I hit it, it forced me into a roll.

I didn't like the rolling as much. In fact, I really hated it. It's amazing how you can actually see the blades of grass while you are rolling through it though. I wanted to get back to the nice slide that I had going on before, and thought about putting my arms out to try and regain that, but then I remembered something Randy said to me about flailing limbs getting broken. So, then I quickly resolved to make this the best roll ever. I tucked my arms in even tighter to my torso, and made sure my legs were together and nice and straight and rolled for all I was worth.

Finally I came to a stop. I think.

I looked,... really looked to make sure the ground wasn't moving. Then I wiggled a little to check if anything was broken. Then I looked around to see if I was close to the bike. The bike was by the track, and I was further infield. It looked pretty sad and lonely out there.

I got up then, and immediately ran further away from the track. Quite conveniently, there were some hay bales stacked at the perfect distance away from the track for resting and taking-in the sights. Which I promptly did. I just sat on the hay until race control cleared the track, and came over to retrieve me and my bike.

Well, I didn't get to do all that I intended, and the tip of my little finger burns a lot, but I did affirm a couple things, so the day wasn't a total waste after all.

1. The DC IIIs are still pretty awesome in the cold as proved by T1, T2, and T3.
2. The bike does get up to speed quicker in the higher revs.
3. I am very comfortable leaning the bike over at any speed.
4. I am faster than I was before (so now I really need to re-evaluate what my definition of slow is).
5. Holding the speed you carry from the straight through T3 and T4 works. There is no need to back off the throttle.
6. The Teknic suit holds up well in a asphalt slide. At almost 2 seconds at over 100 mph, and barely scuffed. That's not bad.
7. Same for the Speedstar gloves. Those nubs in the palm really do come in handy.
8. I need a bigger suit.
9. Rolling works in the dirt, even though it is definitely not fun.
10. Even though I was comfortable with the faster speed, I should still give the bike time to warm up at the old slower speed.

Talk about no run-off!!! And, on a wet track. MotoGP don't have anything on these guys.