This is how you have fun...
 

... in the rain.

Last friday 9/26 I did my Penguin Roadracing School day in order to be eligible for my racing license. We were going to have open sessions in the afternoon so during lunch I got my buddy to put some fresh new pirelli diablo rains on my spare set of wheels. Rains last forever as long as you don't run them in the dry, so I figured since I'll need them for next season anyways I might as well get them now and enjoy the pouring rain all day.

HOLY SHIT do those things stick.

Dragging a knee in the pouring rain is a zen-like experience ;)

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...03187Large.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...03189Large.jpg

What tires are those?

:dthumb:

They're so friggin soft you can feel it with your finger. Crazy

Where's the knee down in the wet pics? How did you adjust your positioning on your bike in the wet?

Don't know about the pics, but body position is WAY off the bike. I have drug knee in the rain on a set of DOT's.

That's what I figured, I was hoping to get input since he was at a school. maybe they knowledged him.

Rain riding is a deal all its own. Racing in the rain gets surreal. It rained the afternoon I took my clubs licensing class. Clear while we were in the class room but then started as soon as we lined up for our mock race start. Bunch of noobs we were all unsure of riding on track and despite the instructors efforts to calm everyone and stress that it was a mock start, there was a turn 3 pileup!

Couple years later while endurance racing I got a good taste at TWS in College Station, TX. I was poor so the magic wet Tires weren't an option but I did see just how far you can push a street DOT race tire. (back then they did have some tread grooves). Everyone should feel it just once.

I'm really interested in that sort of racing... I'd really like to learn more about it... just seems more my speed I think... steady... ya know? not that I'd ever actually race... just I wanna learn more about it... wonder if they show it on tv at all

Those tires look like they would eat the ashpault!!!

Badfucking ass.

There was no photog at the Roadracing school so I don't have pics unfortunately. However I guarantee I'll have some wet races next year and then I'll have some ;)

PhiSig is right about body position. There are only a few differences between dry and wet, really.

Basically you need to hang off a lot... but I hang off a lot already so it's the same.

You should always be smooth, but this is exaggerated in the wet because the amount of "un-smooth" you can get away with is decreased.

The biggest difference that I noticed was combining your actions (or not, rather). Basically, it seemed to me like rain tires could brake, accelerate, and lean pretty fucking well, say like 75% of what you can do in the dry. However, you can only do ONE of those at a time... make sense?

There are also a few line changes you make at NHMS in the wet, mainly in turn 2.
Endurance racing isn't slow by any means... from what I know, you basically have a team of guys who ride one bike one at a time... you run the equivalent of a race or a GP, then pit in and fuel the bike up, let the next guy know a couple tips, and send him out. It's like a relay race... you still race just as hard, but it's a long battle. Someone correct me if I'm wrong about all that though...

Yep, they have mini-supermoto endurance races that are the shit. They're fun as hell and only cost about $100 per person.

yeah I didn't mean slow like that... but it's not a sprint. I talked to Smilie about it... he used to race (both I believe) the endurance you can remember what you've done wrong and where you can improve if you fuck up a corner... where as in sprint races... you've gotta forget bout the corner as your entering it... Ya know?