UK based new member, had many KTMs. Afternoon

Not a lot yet, bought an Evotech radiator guard at the moment and likely to get the R&G crash engine protection.

Then plenty of this

2018-11-09_02-56-35 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr]

AMatu said:

Quality leather, minimum 2-piece suit with a back protector is a no brainer. Unfortunately no textile clothing will be able to save you from a high speed spill and falling on track is inevitable :devil:

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This looks like a rare occasion when I do not agree with you AMatu

Totally agree most fabric motorcycle clothing that is used today would fall apart in a slide, however with the new CE standard introduced I think last year fabric clothing is more robust than it was historically

Secondly when you explore the advance fabrics and materials that are available I think a fabric outfit can be made that would be as robust as leather.

Then we would need to look at drag and again I would say most fabric designs have a lot more drag than racing leathers, but not a lot more than touring leathers.

The problem I have is that the word leather is used, no one specifies thickness or which beast it comes from.
there is a significant difference in durability subject to thickness treatment and source beast.

so you could ride out in bunny leather and be compliant to leather I am sorry but this clearly is C**P

Kangaroo leather if you can afford it is great stuff

But Fabric can be great to

If there is a concern it should be as simple as set a standard, then let manufacturers develop clothing to meet or exceed the standard and should have nothing to do with specifying what or how you achieve this standard.
because with this current mindset we are saying if a new fabric was 10 times better than leather we would not allow it to protect riders on the track really!!!!!!

owl said:

There’s single layer jeans these days that have longer slide times than leather, not that they’d be suitable for track days though, but as aot says there are plenty of textiles that are.

I think it’s just easier for track day organisers to specify leather as it would be painful to have to know/test what textiles can and can’t be used.

It’s also likely that they will have something in their insurance policies saying they need to make sure people are wearing leathers.

Also saying it’s inevitable to go down on the track is the same as saying it’s invetible to go down in the street. It’s just not true at all. I know people have been doing track days for literally decades that have never had a spill.

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anotheronetoday said:

I think your right they are currently taking the easy option regarding leather

my concerns are that by doing this they are probably reducing the safety that could be achieved rather than increasing it.


what was best 30 years ago does not means its best today

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Ok my orange comrades :smile:
Ill try to put this in more detail.

First about crashing on track:
There usually three types of track riders:
1: Occasional riders who do track once or twice a year, just for the fun of it. Learning the safety of riding. (Im guessing this are the ones you are talking about)
2: Riders who are trying to get better lap-times and get promoted to faster groups.
3: Riders who compete.

Riders from group 2 and 3 will always be pushing the boundaries of:
-Their bikes
-Their skills
-Their tires
In order to progress you have to push the limits-> when pushing the limits spill is inevitable. Unfortunately you will never know your or your bikes limits without ever pushing over them. You can witness this by just watching one racing weekend, riders go down multiple times. This goes pretty much for any sport.

Second about leathers:
Lets see if you will still disagree with me)
I fully 100% agree with you that all depends on the quality of the equipment and i also agree that the safety standards for normal track days are very low to say the least.
But usually when i am talking about a specific type of equipment for a very specific type of purpose, i usually only take in consideration the best quality for that particular purpose money can buy.
It is everyone's own free choice of-course to decide a price point for their own health. But i do not take riders who save up on their own health and safety in consideration for this discussion. So now that we got that out of the way :grin:.

Next: The only way a leather suit will work 100%.
There is a reason its called "second skin". The leather suit has to be so freakin tight that no matter what potion you are in it is always stretched out. In order for it to be so tight the rider has to be appropriate size and if possible the suit needs to be custom made.

The reason top quality leathers are better on pavement then textile are:
The tightness makes sure that all the protection stays in its place and secondly the leather does not gather together during slide, which minimizes friction to one particular spot-> the friction then is divided into larger area-> more durability.
This is why all the racers are able to use one singular suit during multiple high speed crashes.
BTW English is not my mother-tongue so i apologize in advance)
Cheers <3

LOL it's here... I was just busy making the van driver a bacon sarnie

Of course, first jobs are done which is the rear plate swapping for a slightly smaller and of course black backed plate. Along with the R&G paddock stand bobbins installed.

2018-11-15_12-10-29 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Just finishing work and i'll be taking it out about 2pm

Evotech loveliness installed. Interesting and very ingenious design that.

2018-11-15_12-39-39 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Well i'm hoping at least someone is sitting there thinking "What's it like then"

Because if not, this is going to be a really dull write up for me and pretty pointless for everyone else

Starting the bike up and listening to it tick over the Akra exhaust sounds fairly quiet and tame, the idle isn't what i'd call smooth as silk, but it's consistent enough.
You pull in the exceptionally light clutch lever, engage 1st and away you go. As the rpm build the Akra starts to come alive, not ridiculously so, but you know you're riding a twin and it's a deep rumble noise....

Of course in the past few years i've only ridden the 690 in anger and it's easy to get lost in how that seemed to suit me just right in a position/style context, but having had 5 weeks off one now the 790 felt instantly more familiar than before, largely i think because of the time off the 690s. Through the gearbox using the Quickshifter, brrrapppp brrrraaaapppp, it's kinda weird, kinda fun and all a little confusing at times early on, you have to mentally stop yourself from letting off the throttle and using the clutch on the way up, but the QS is silky smooth, even 1st/2nd and at lower rpm it's effortless, just a snick on the gear lever and up through the box it goes. The rpm picks up as does the speed and the wind.... The wind isn't too bad, it's just a case of dipping your body position into it a bit really instead of staying upright.

Changing down, well that's just bloody marvellous on this, no clutch, just snick and it auto blips better than a human, smooth, easy effortless... To an extent it almost turns it into an auto gearbox, you stop thinking about what you're doing and just go up and down. I came up to a corner in 5th and fairly hard, it's a 30mph corner and i wanted to test how well the blipper dealt with going down to 2nd in quick changes.... The answer is, really easily... I can't mimic the noise via text on here, but it just does it really really well.

Cornering, well we were setting no lean angle records today with a brand new rear fitted along with damp patches and low temp, but it's name of 'the scalpel' has never been more apt for a bike, it's just quick turning, easy and simple, it carries any weight exceptionally and flicking left/right in traffic and at roundabouts etc is just impressive.

Out on the open road, the corners open up and so do the straights, of course, so do the numbers on the speedo. But again there's nothing even remotely unsettling even on the B roads in the countryside, it takes them all with ease, overtaking is a breeze and changes in road surfaces barely even get noticed. The 950 was giving me some 'death weave' issues that i struggled to accept and couldn't dial out, i've not found any of them with the 790.

There's reports of 'low speed fuelling', sure, i hear ya, 30mph it's not a Mondeo or a Jaguar... ****, it's not meant to be and i never expect it to be... But if you go in 3rd instead of 2nd, then it smooths it out and the bike pulls great from lower rpm anyway, so i'm really not seeing an issue.

I think that about covers everything really with the first ride, it was nice to ride one with an open mind and not caring about it being someone elses 790, just mine and accepting it for what it is.

I don't think i could possibly be happier getting off a bike after a 1st ride.