If Triumph made a RR, would it be better than this?

Very enjoyable read

 

My next S1000RR track day was in California last October. My ex-boss has a couple of Sthou so in April we arranged to ride on track together. However he had a back operation so could not ride, but I still rode at Auto club Speedway, Fontana.
Here he gives me his short briefing.... “you better bring this bike back exactly like it looks right now!” ....enough said!
The track was dry, air temp about 32degs Celsius, so a good day. The bike was not set up for me, so was over sprung and damped, and with my first experience on slick tyres too. A couple of my ex-colleagues also came to watch.
A couple of days later I wrote an email to them:-

"It was good to see you all on Saturday, the weather was great, but I didn't realise how tired I was because the adrenalin kept me going. After few nights sleep and we are feeling better.
We don't have timed track days in the UK so it's interesting to look at the timings. I see that I did as many laps as anyone in my sessions and there is consistency too, so quoting Rossi... I AM HAPPY.
The longer lap times coincide with running out a few times, usually corner 5 where I braked hard and the rear wiggled about so I didn't turn in and ran out wide before getting back to turn 6. In the earlier sessions I got out on track in front of most of the other riders so had more space. The later sessions I followed other riders for a while before passing, and also had a few moments at turn 1 where I found a few false neutrals when downshifting so aborted the turn and went through the cones before finding some gears to rejoin the track. There were other memorable track moments: a few slides, missed apexes, riding over a plastic kerb, just missing a cone --the Go Pro may tell. But there are many more good moments, and I am truly grateful to Anton for entrusting me with his bike. "

After being back in the UK a couple of weeks later a flash drive arrived....

"Hi. The flash drive with the Go Pro footage arrived yesterday... many thanks!! Video GOPRO680 confirms the 3 cones at 9m11s were only 2 cones at 11m15s... thankfully just a glancing blow to the right hand cone from my left boot/footpeg.
Reviewing and considering the 6th gear to 5th gear neutral, I think it was just me not being forceful with the shift lever. TST suggested that I needed to kick it harder, and there is noticeable improvement in the last session video. also it could be due to rearset positioning being suited to your foot size, compared to my shorter feet. I hope there are no new issues with the box."

Me on the borrowed bike... and it was returned at the end of the day just as it came at the start.

 

^^i borrowed an S1000 and played on track.....in case anyone was short on time

 

^^ True... and I was going to follow up later with a subjective comparison of the US trackday with my experience of UK trackdays, and also views on the modified borrowed bike against my own road version... but...maybe later then, when you have time?