Oft times, we travel on the motorway (highway) and we see many bikers speeding down the road at extremely high speed, be it 1000 cc bikes, 2-strokers or any bikes for that matter. As a driver and rider myself, whenever I am traveling down the highway in a car, I would look out for bikers like these especially along the motorways that are hot for bikers – to avoid them, obviously.
I wonder all the time, why wouldn’t these young lads take their powerful, exciting and good-looking bikes to the track? I mean, why not? As soon as you get on a bike, you have to know that you are very prone to accidents or worst case, deaths – even if you’re protected with full-leather racing suits.
A rider I spotted along KESAS highway sporting a full leather suit, full track gears to sum it all up; who also rides a 2-stroke Ninja 150RR (aka Double-R or RR). I am not sure where this lad was heading to, certainly not Sepang as this picture was taken nearby the Subang-USJ intersection – but sure, he is fully protected and wasn’t even speeding. Good job!
The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) has been active as of late (not only this year) to encourage motorcycle racing ‘fans’ to bring their business to the track; and they have also been supporting many motorcycle track-day events in hopes to encourage racing only on track at well.
Our friends at MotoMalaya and Bikes Republic recently organised a track-day event (1 Full Throttle ADVANCE Challenge) on Sunday, 3rd May at Elite Speedway Circuit.
The event garnered much attention from the biking community, from sports to motards to two strokes riders. I went to check out the track rental prices for ELITE Speedway Circuit on their website, and it shows that for the entire day it would cost you between RM 50 to RM 100. I have to say that the price for that is a bit steep, especially for those who are genuinely interested to take their bikes to the track are not earning enough to even support their passion because if it were to be me, I’d take my bike to the track every weekend and with that in a month, I will have to spend a minimum of RM 200 to RM 400, which is not inclusive of your petrol yet, not to mention wear-and-tear on the bike.
While the fees are steep, KBS should step in to reduce the price further to encourage our fellow bikers to do all the racing in the track. Hence I do see (but do not condone) why some riders take their business on the streets instead, it’s ‘free’. I encourage all our fellow bikers to gear up, safety is always the priority. Do all the racing in the track.
Here at 1 Full Throttle ADVANCE Challenge also marks the day I’ve lost my ‘track virginity’. I’ve never raced or ridden on a track until today. A very big thank you to the organisers for giving us the chance to experience what a track day is like. I’ve always looked at track days as “Meh, they’re just going in circles” but once it comes down to the tight corners and several experienced riders on your tail, that honestly is where the fun is.
At first I would informed that the media guys (like me) would have the track to ourselves, and there were not more than 6 or 7. However when I stepped into the pit, I was told by Keshy and Adam of Bikes Republic that the Shell Advanced Asia Talent Cup boys (four of them, the fifth couldn’t make it there) would be joining us. My hands and legs started shaking.
I was hoping to be given a supermoto (supermotard) though. I am not very used to sports bike position hence I wasn’t able to ride as good, putting a lot of pressure on my wrist as well. Looks like I will have to get a sports bike myself then?
Here’s a video taken off GoPro I mounted on my helmet.
Contributed to AF by Jeff Ng
