Well after 10 days, 800 miles, and 1 track day, I feel I can provide some feedback for anyone interesting in comparing an inline four to the vtwin. 

Lets start with the negative...reaching to the bars is quite long, I'm 5'7" 165lbs with a 32" inseam.  The ergos for riding is definately more taxing on the body, I can see how riding in stop and go can put some pressure on the lower back.  The bike gets hot, another reason not to ride in stop and go traffic, but I'm use to this from the R1.  Upon startup the bike is noisey and rattles.....the whole machine shakes and feels somewhat underpowered, I notice myself grabing quite a bit of throttle during riding (street or track).   The bike is brand new and the rear brakes had to bleed along with the clutch.....which appears to be normal.

Positives!!!  This is an awesome bike, everytime I ride, I enjoy the bike more and more!!!  It is definately the best sounding bike with aftermarket exhaust I have ever heard.  It is hard to describe how a bike that rattles so much (compared to inlines) and can be so smooth and linear in its power delivery.  This might be the reason why it feels underpowered, due to how smooth and even the power is regardless of what gear you are in.   Don't underestimate the power though, it will still break the rear loss and hurt you bad.  Out of the box this may be the best bang for buck when it comes to total package track weapon.  In the sweeper the bike is super stable and just begs to keep feeding it throttle.....feedback from the front is excellent.  The brakes are great, except for initial clutch travels seems a bit much before engaging.....although this help me to be smoother on the track.  The one big flaw on the track, which may have to due with more suspension time, is how it behaved in the tight sections.....squeezing the brake and getting it to turn as quick as the R1 with aftermarket suspension proved a little more challenging.  Although dealership service (AF1Racing) was excellent and performed the initial setup of sag and suspension before driving off the lot, I still need to spend some more seat time at the track.

My hopes it to get both bikes out to TWS and run comparison lap times to see if the linear power delivery will be advantageous allowing for smoother riding and quicker lap times over raw power and tunes suspension.  Should have some pictures from HHR loaded this week.......great turn out for Aprilia only track day!!!

Sorry for not posting pictures....didn't want to dwell on the negative.  Focusing on achieving my next goal of entering my first race event.  Since Texas World is considered my home track, that is where I would to make my debut....it is also the track I am most comfortable on.  There is still a lot of prep work needed to have the bike race ready, but I will do whatever I can to make sure I am there.  Mental note:  Is it to early to already have a grudge/nemesis with another racer?  There was a young kid who was pretty quick also getting his license that I look forward to having a go with  hopefully soon.  Anyway, flashback to my second attempt at my CMRA license, which I got!!!!  It was a new track MSR Houston that I did not like and had a hard time navigating my way around.  The most difficult thing about the track was how flat and bumpy it was, which made it hard for me to judge turn-in and setup the new suspension......not to mentioned that it rained all but the last session of the day.  Well I am one more step closer to my goal......next is to enter and finish my first race.  Things are slowly gaining momentum....even have a local shop that has helped a great deal in getting me on my way.  Still highly impatient.......looking for a mentor willing to pull me around the track and critique my riding....til then will try to continue hitting many more trackdays in between racing.

What can I say, exept you get what you pay for and I should have known better.  flashback I have been tracking my 2001 R1 with 60k miles on it.  The clutch slipped lik a mutha and the suspension was so bad it was like riding a bucking bronco, no damping or rebound control.  Still I had tracked the bike before and planned to not push it.  Here's where common sense should have told me not to take a bike in that condition on the track, but being cheap and the illogical thought that riding such a crappy bike would make me that much better when I upgrade took over better judgement.



The day was great, perfect weather and perfect track.  It was Mother's Day weekend so the classes where tiny riding intermediate group....allowing plenty of time to ride.  I always start the first session the same, complaining how slow I am and how bad the bike sucks.  I make a few tweaks and hit the track for next session pretty uneventful except that I beat my personal best time by a second.  As the day wears on session after session, I am moving fairly quickly and learning to ride around the quirks.  Its the final session of the day before the mock race and didn't plan on getting on the track, but decided to make a few more adjustments to improve on my time.  I head out and from the very first lap I felt good!!!  Not sure if I was in a zone,  but had to be pretty close cause for the first time my head was quite, everything slowed down, and I just let everything happen.  The laps ticket by and later found I had again beaten my personal best by over 8 seconds every lap and the times kept dropping!!!  I decide to call it a day cause I knew I was working it.  4 turns from the end I decide to finish strong and head into a 180 degree righthander, while leaned over I hit a seem on the track that threw me to the outside of the turn.  No problem, cause I'm in the zone, I simply stand the bike up, cut across the grass and head back on the track....no big whoop "I'm in the zone!" I throw my hand up to let those behind know I ran off.  There is a nice straight before the last 3 turns and I get on the gas pretty good to check the tire.  They grip ok and I think I'm good until it is time to turn.  As soon as I flick the bike into the last chicane of turns both front a rear wheel slide and off the track I go (guessing 80mph).  Never bothered to actually look down at my tires to ensure the mud was off and the bike paid for it.  I walked away with a 1" patch of skin removed that wasn't even deep enough to bleed (Good Gear!!) but the bike broke the left clipons, foot peg, mirror, head light, and all the plastic on the left side of the bike.  So there I was waiting for the crash truck as a NO GO on the next to last lap of the day.



So I learned a lot over the weekend.....hopefully I can have the bike rebuilt, track only, and get back in 2 weeks to finish the CMRA License Course.  Having sampled a little of the euphoria from being near the zone, has gotten me on edge.....cranky cause I want to be out there now so bad and asking myself how much more could I have improved!!! I now look at race films in a whole other frame of mind.....sickness with no cure.

Been awhile since I've posted but still hitting the track hard!!!!  Went to TWS on 3/22/08 and turned right back around and went on 4/11/08.  I have 2 scheduled for the month of May and on one of those days might try to squeeze in my racing license.  A lot of milestones happened in the previous 2 track days that makes the racing urge stronger.



I finally got my knee down after 7 track day events........was hoping sooner, but it was nice and pretty uneventful.  I had been pretty bummed, thinking I should have figured that out by now, when  on chance  relaxed my  leg and what do you  know!!!  Actually took  2 or  3 times getting my knee down before I knew what had happened......I was expecting to feel more vibration from the contact.  That happened early in the morning sessions and from then on, I could do it at will.



I also was bumped up from novice to intermediate and was pretty nervous about being to slow...... when I actually was running top 10 of that group which was nice!!!!  Didn't get any laptimes to see how much faster I've gotten but will do so next month.  I want to make sure I am not too slow to race either.....don't want to be a hazard.



I also had my first Oh $! moment on the track when I was entering a turn (T4) and forgot to put my knee out......peg hit track and lifted the rear tire.......ran off the track by about a foot for a few meter and got back on without any other incident.  Kinda funny, during that time I never felt I would crash....everything slow downed and felt like I was floating on the bike and simply guided it back on track.....don't even think anyone passed me......too bad it wasn't on film......would like to watched the event. 



Anyway I am having a blast looking forward to more track days and maybe an actual race......just as soon as I make a tweaks to the suspension!!!!!

Grand Sport Speedway in Hutchinson, TX is a brand new track that opened early for the Ridesmart organization on Aug 11, 2007.  Needless to say, there was still quite a bit of construction needing to take place.  Anyway the track itself is a 1.3 mile course with approximately 11 tight turns.  Being the master racer that I am, I signed up for the level one course to familiarize myself with the track.  Prior to GSS all my trackday experiences have been at Texas World Speedway 2.9 miles 15 turn high speed monster of a course.  The curbing had not been laid down yet and the 4 inch drop off made me a little uneasy.  I managed to get through the round robin session without crashing, although I think the instructors should have stressed the requirements (brakes needed!!!). Finding a good line that flowed was very difficult, especially since the instructors were learning the track and lines. I have chatted with a few other riders who confirm that this track is one of the more technical in the area even though it is relatively flat.

            With the first session done, I wasn't feeling too swift about going back out on the track.  But I paid money and planned to get every cent worth.  Session 2 was my time….I felt so smooth and in control, even had an instructor follow me who's only critique was to hang off more.  Actually found myself lapping several riders taking each lap a little bit quicker.  The remainder session went pretty much the same until the last 2 sessions where I think I hit my wall for concentration, and fatigue from the heat (104 degrees, track temp 133 degrees).  Started trying to brake later and carry more speed into the corner, which resulted in many blown turns.  Deciding that I wasn't going to improve times continuing that way, I toned it down for the last remaining session, finishing the day shiny side up.

     All in all, it was a good day and I learned a lot.  Can't wait to go back and see the level of improvement from last time.  I will also post a small video taken during the track day later this week.

Now that it has been a few days and I have given my brain time to download, I thought I would give so more info on my thoughts. Upon arriving at the track, I must admit to being a little intimidated. Most of the bays were full with guys that had teams of personnel and equipment who didn't seem too pleased with me squeezing into their space........come to think about, I think the bays were assigned based on skill level. The next couple days after the event made riding on the street was rather boring. I couldn't find local roads that allowed me to practice what I learned, but took the weekends to find some. I actually rode through familiar corners at a much slower pace practicing what I learned. Finally today I was able to enter those same corners at a good pace feeling more in control with greater acceleration through the turns. I have since registered for another trackday at the same place for July 2nd........hoping to see a noticable improvement in my throttle control. I also opted for the dvd to rewatch at home and critique. Expectation level is high and as I continue to attend every trackday I can, I will update with pictures and tid bits of my thoughts

            To sum up the experience, I hated everything about my first track day because I spent so much time concentrating on all the things I was doing wrong which is why I must go back.  I plan to go back in 2 weeks and as often as possible this season to work on fixing those areas (There are many).  It was a very humbling experience that allowed me to appreciate the effort it takes to be consistent and to take it to another level.  Am I hooked…..definately and can't wait to get back.  I am sure I left out a lot of details, but will add more each time I visit the track.  Thanks for reading