Your First Knee Down

Everyone remembers their first knee down. Today was a day of many firsts, I finally scraped the knee sliders of my Alpinestars Trigger suit. It was just Rafie and I at Johor Circuit today. Our third time to Johor Circuit, and they say 'third time's a charm'. It definitely was the case for me haha.

We left my place at 8.40am, and arrived at Pasir Gudang in just less than 40 minutes. It is a lot faster when we lanesplit as compared to the previous times where we took an hour to get there. With the first session starting at 10.30am, we still had a lot of time to spare. We had our breakfast at the McDonald's nearby before we entered the circuit to have our playtime.

It pays to be there early, no mad rush. And at least, we could get a breather before starting the session. There were only 5 of us today; Rafie's GXSR600, my R6, someone else's (Shah) R6, someone else's (Wan) CB1000R, and a race team's MV Agusta.

Shah and Wan were alone. So we chatted them up, and found out there that like all other track riders, they are friendly people. Everyone's just there to have some fun, and return home safe.

So the session started, and I went at my usual pace. After about the third lap, I started to sweat through my head liner, usual signs before I hit the pits to grab some water. Rested for 10 minutes before heading out again, feeling much more relaxed with my tyres heated up. And there it was, at turn 1, the elusive knee down sensation.

The key to having your knee down is to relax and ride slower. It sounds absurd, but before getting your first knee down, riding faster will not bring you closer to your goal; you will most probably crash out instead. When you relax and focus on hitting your braking, apex and exit markers, everything around you inevitably seems to look slower. That's where you enter riding nirvana, what people describe as 'being in the zone'. That's where you get your knee down.

(Correct body posture plays a huge part in achieving your first knee down safely. Read this post on proper body posture. Body Posture & Positioning)

The sound and feeling of your knee sliders scraping on the tarmac is pretty darn addictive haha. But do remember, that the ultimate goal to having a faster lap time is not dragging your knee in every turn. The knee is just a gauge of your lean angle, that's about it.

Okay, so I've talked about one first, the other first is my first time entering the gravel trap haha. Got a little too confident after blasting past turn 2, and entered turn 3 without braking enough. Poof! Next thing I knew I was in the gravel trap trying to steer myself away from the tyre wall, and trying hard not to drop the bike. Lady luck was on my side today, and I managed to keep the bike upright. Phew. I returned to the pits to find my balls, before running a few more laps towards the end of the session.

The gravel didn't do any damage to my fairings, so no photos there. More knee slider photos perhaps?

Apart from knee sliders, I have been scraping my toe sliders since the previous track session. I'm still trying to figure out if it's my posture or my stock rear sets are just not aggressive enough. Anyway, let the photos do the talking.

Finally, to Wan who offered to lead us back to Singapore. Thank you! We were pretty lost without our GPS.

That's all. Ride safe people.

Review: BMC Air Filter

Finally found the time to ride to HKL and get some servicing done. This time, I needed to change the engine oil, change the air filter, and change the spark plugs. There is nothing much to talk about engine oil or spark plug changes, so I will be focusing on the air filter. Namely, a BMC air filter. Always wanted to use an aftermarket air filter, and here was my chance.

I arrived at HKL around 11am, and parked my R6 beside this gorgeous Ducati 1198S.

Waited about 30 seconds before a mechanic came to attend to me. In the meantime, I took a photo of their dyno machine. I was that FAST haha.

Told the mechanic what I wanted and he presented me with the BMC air filter for my bike. As you can see from one of the photos below, FM515/04TRACK is the part code for my 2011 R6. You can search on BMC's website for the part code for your bike.

Now, let's get to work! Or rather, the mechanic get to work while I sit down, and take photos haha. He had to strip off both my fairings to be able to access my spark plugs. Pretty labour intensive procedure which he charged SGD$25 for.

Please pardon my dirty bike. It has only been been 5 days since I last washed my bike, no thanks to the rainy weather these days.

If you look at somewhere near the centre of the photo below, you will be able to notice the 4 cables connected to the spark plugs. The photo is a little blur, that was the best focus my lousy camera could manage. Sad.

Lifted up my fuel tank to reveal the air filter housing. 17 litres worth of petrol sure looks tiny from here.

Lo and behold. This is where the BMC air filter will go into.

So, this is how the air filter looks like outside its box haha.

The BMC air filter is washable by the way. On top of that, HKL would honour the 2-year warranty as long as you have the receipt with you.

And here's my stock air filter.

Looks pretty okay minus the few small leaves that got through. But the R6 owner's manual recommends to replace the air filter, not wash it. Me, being a good owner, followed its advice haha.

With the air filter installed, it was time to install the new spark plugs. 4 DENSO Iridium spark plugs ready to be put to work on a 599cc engine.

Wrapping up with my 1 year old stock spark plugs. Do you know how to read the wear on your spark plugs? I will dedicate a post to answer that soon.

Total bill added up to SGD$329.

Breakdown:
SGD$66 for 3 bottles of engine oil.
SGD$150 for the BMC air filter.
SGD$88 for 4 spark plugs.
SGD$25 for labour.

You can be sure that I kept this receipt somewhere safe. Don't want to miss out on the 2-year warranty for the BMC air filter! I rode home and noticed a difference in the exhaust note. This is normal when you switch to an aftermarket air filter. There is a new 'hollow sounding' note coming out of my exhaust, and the sound sends a sweet tingling sensation through my body whenever I twist the throttle! Time to talk less and ride more!

Until next time. Ride safe!

Review: Alpinestars Fastlane Shoes

Rainy day today! There is probably no better day than today to ride to Regina in search of my next purchase. I'm kidding. The weather was wet and miserable. But for most hardened riders like myself, a puny torrential rain won't stop us!

Once at Regina, I was caught between 2 choices.

The Alpinestars Fastlane Shoes.

Or the Alpinestars Fastback WP (Waterproof) Shoes.

Having a waterproof pair of riding shoes in Singapore is a very wise choice. But heck, I'm not some wise old man. The Fastlane looks 10 times better than the Fastback any day, so I bought it. I have no idea why the Fastback, which was actually developed as an improvement over the Fastlane, looks less attractive. First rule in riding gear, always buy the flashy and prettiest stuff. Don't quote me on that haha.

I don't think I got a good deal for the Fastlane for SGD$200, but what the hell, I'm rich haha. NOT. I was just too lazy to haggle, although I did ask for and got a free helmet bag. So, if you're willing to spend a little effort to bargain, you might get a better price than I did.

Rode home wearing the new shoes; shifting gears with the shoe's shift pad is comfortable and easy. The fit is pretty good and snug if you buy the correct size, and the bottom of the shoe is quite unique. The bottom looks slippery but because it uses some Alpinestars laser technology, there is quite a lot of grip. Oh, and the shoes are very comfortable to walk in.

I highly recommend the Fastlane if you're looking for something stylish with some safety aspects. But it wouldn't be stylish anymore if everyone you know has a pair haha.

Ride safe!