Track Day Over!!

The track day went off without a hitch, thank goodness! My heart sank when I heard it raining all through Friday night and just hoped it would clear up by the time dawn arrived. Some people phoned early to cancel as they didn’t want to ride in the rain, but then some other people surprised me by riding all the way from Krugersdorp to the other side of Delmas, probably around 120 or so kilometers, just to come learn about their bikes.

There were two riders from Witbank who wanted to try the Spyders in a controlled environment; the two riders from Krugersdorp – one has had his RT-S (big tourer) for a year and the other picked up his bike during the week; the dealers from Nelspruit with a couple who was in the process of purchasing an RT-S; Rui Senna, the instructor, was from Factory Racing (has raced Suzuki super bikes and quads); an owner who has had his bike for more than two years; a family of which the father has had his RS for a few months but they just wanted to see what the day was about; the accessories sales guy from the company and myself. Fred (from CMH, the importers of the Spyders and who I report to) and his son arrived a little later. The son Jaimie is a champion quad racer and at first was just along for the ride. But that was going to change during the day!

Rui did a great job in explaining the theory of the VSS (Vehicle Control System) of the Spyder, commonly known as the “nanny system”, because it really babies you. As we were at a track, we had sessions to ride, sharing the track with super bike riders. The first two sessions were used to do skills training and emergency braking was first up. Virtually ALL the riders had no idea that the brakes were that good and one or two almost pitched over their windscreen! We pulled quite a crowd from the super bike riders who at first looked down their noses at the Spyders but then gradually changed their opinion. We even had two regional racers and a marshal ask for rides later in the day!

We gradually built up the riding skills and then after lunch we let the guys loose on the track. After they learned how to corner and shift their weight properly, they really started enjoying their bikes. We had to make a few corrections to riding styles but all the riders went away with big smiles, agreeing that the day was well worth it.

Back to Jaimie… As mentioned, he’s a champion quad rider, around 17 years old, with the fearlessness of that age. So dad urged him to try the bike out and by the end of the day, we had to threaten him to get him off the track! We thought the only way he was going to come back to the pits was when he ran out of fuel. He made the exact same comment all new riders make – “I had no idea the bike handles so well” and “Jeesh, this thing is fast!”

So although the turn-out was not as expected, I think the day was a success nonetheless. I will organise another day like that when I’m back from my road show and will also try and arrange similar training sessions for the dealers around the coast.