It’s been two days and I definitely feel like I have Cadwell withdrawal.
As usual I was a bit nervous before the first session, mostly because I wasn’t sure if I would hold my group up on the straights. We did a Hopprider day i.e. group instruction in the morning (5 groups : session / 5 riders : 1 instructor) and trackday in the afternoon. First session out I was maxing it down the straights already - the XT tops out at about 100mph (104mph with a 4mph tail wind…) - and wondered how the hell I was supposed to keep up for the rest of the day. When we debriefed after the second session, I mentioned that I was already grinding toes around Barn, and the day only got quicker from there. At the end of the day I was trying to decide if the XT has some serious clearance issues, or if the Pilot Powers are simply the best road tyres out there - they didn’t misbehave once, on road pressures! In the last few sessions I had to put the outside of my feet on the pegs (soles facing inward) so that I wouldn’t grind through my boot - with the balls of my feet on the pegs I was tipping into Chris curve in fourth and dragging my boot halfway to Gooseneck!! Same after the start finish straight - flatout in 5th going into Coppice (for those that don’t know: uphill left hander) then down a gear, holding fourth, toe/peg on deck, all the way through Charlies 1 and Charlies 2 (a blind, crested, off camber, triple apex, right hander) and back upto 5th for Park Straight - which incidentally is the BEST FEELING ON EARTH when you get it right!
I probably could have been a little quicker through the hairpin, but the tyre wall a few feet away had a deterent effect so I didn’t want to push it there. The other place were I really should have been quicker is Barn, but I was worried about decking out and lifting the wheels of the ground. And perhaps I could be quicker through Mansfield. And maybe hold 5th through Charlies 1&2. Next time…
. I should imagine the XTX has simular peg height to the DukeII.
