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So was I, great day.
Ducati/MV Agusta/Kawasaki/Beta
#277
Boston Tier 1 Racing/ Fishtail Instructor
DP Brakes Northeast Road Racing Representative
yes.. true.. i think FT is the most expensive.. I dont want anyone to think im complaining about ttd.. as far as the process and how its run. TTD's are awesome.. I have done a few.
but other than FT i believe TTD is up there... if anyone here has done a NYST member day and a TTD day, then you will know what I mean with the confusion with the trackday.
for example, there was no class time.. the flags and rules were done really quick and no one really went over where to enter/exit the track. not an issue for me as i have done enough tdays to know
but imagine a hand full of people that went to nyst for their 1st time..
the no frills was awesome on the wallet.. so is NYST but sadly for me NYST is a 4 hour hike. for some people, its definitely obvious that the membership is the way to go.
i only have single income right now with a wife n kid so i have to look for deals..
unless someone wants to give me free track days for free car maintenance
I understand that the TTD org doesn't fit everyone's needs.
TTD has been around for 18 years now. We went through lots of lean years and several different "formulas".
I've learned that the quickest way to failure is to try to be everything to everyone.
Our target customer is one that wants the most number of quality laps for their trackday dollar. Experienced trackday riders usually come to realize that a low trackday price does not always get you the lowest dollar per track mile.
We had what I believe was the first "pay as you go" membership program. I don't think there have been any since. We had about 30 people on it and it worked quite well. Like anything new, it had its problems. Mainly due to credit/debit cards being declined from time to time.
I was not around for that. How did it work?
One of the big problems is the laws surrounding keeping people's credit card info.
This is why you have to enter your card info every time you buy a trackday. We cannot "keep it on file".
This is fair comment. We had hundreds of hours of business planning though. There are many factors influencing our success or failure. Lack of a plan was not one of them. We had some challenged placed in front of us and met every one of them. We never cancelled a day due to low sign - ups and we can always say that we did things right, didn't cut any corners and offered quality track time at every event we ran.
No one knows what obstacles we faced and there were some pretty shitty things done to us over the 4 years we ran trackdays.
In a nutshell, pay for example $80 per month over 12 months and have access to 5 trackdays over that year. Other member perks were t shirts and a rain guarantee (attend a trackday where 3 or more sessions were wet and your day was put back in your bank for later use). I don't remember the actual numbers.
Last edited by Degsy; 10-01-14 at 08:53 AM.
Yes. I checked with our merchant services for my current business and storing online is a no - no. You can store offline in a secure place as long as you cross - shred them when no longer needed. We bill some of our customers monthly. Cumberland farms is a customer of mine and they send an email to me every month authoring the "card on file" for a 3 day window for a specific amount.
Thanks!
Credit card storage... https://www.pcicomplianceguide.org/pci-faqs-2/#1
My home heating oil provider also keeps my card "on file".
Now you know who to hack break into.
The other thing to consider with this cost analysis is time missed from work. For someone who does not get a ton of paid time off, and has a family, you need to justify what your time is worth, as well as what the trackday is worth. For example, using my PTO for track days means fewer days for family vacations, or mom-time if the kiddo is home sick, or if I have things that I just need to get done during normal business hours. With a lot of trackdays happening on weekdays now (or for those who have weekend jobs), that is a cost that isn't included in the cost of a trackday, and we just can't commit to (potentially) 10 days just to get a good price.
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If you run into a wall with a helmet on, you still ran into a wall.
We are waiting for the official LRRS calendar to be released, and then will build our schedule around that as always. Penguin is planning a schedule similar to this season - all the Fridays before LRRS events, our two day school before the classic, plus other additional events at NHMS (1-2 days), Thompson (2-3 days), NJMP (2-4 days) and a potential track to be named later . We also had an option where our "Learn to Fly" members could ride select events with Team Pro Motion at tracks that we do not attend frequently (NJMP, Pocono and NYST will likely be on the list again), and we will likely have that program in place again. Lots of opportunities in lots of places. If you want inexpensive track time, then come to our Basic course and get certified for a license - you can then come to practice with us every LRRS Friday for as little as $100/day! You may even want to try your hand at racing...the Novice class is designed as a place where new riders can ease in without being barnstormed by faster riders (fast guys are bumped out as soon as they hit a lap time threshold). LRRS has the best new racer program in the nation!
Our most popular Penguin program was our "Advanced" package, which was 5 days (any level) for $1000, with additional days at a big discount to the regular rate. There are some great new options coming to this program for 2015. Our goal is high quality track time combined with our 43 years of experience in help riders ride faster, safer and with more confidence. We don't sacrifice track time classroom time - our riders average 7 sessions per day. All of our lead instructors were AMA Pro level racers at one point, and we can help riders from their first track day right up to when they are top expert racers. While we are proud of our racing pedigree, Penguin has a place for riders at all levels. There are no ego's here - just a desire to help riders enjoy the sport we love. We hope to see lots of you next season, and hope that you enjoy your time on the track no matter who you ride with. There lots of good choices out there - just make sure that you don't miss the fantastic experience of riding the track!
Here is a testimonial from one of our students who attended our June 23rd track day this year:
“Before attending, rumor was that Penguin track days were aggressive with race passing often being the norm. I’m happy to say that I did not find this to be true at the Penguin Track Experience Day I attended – in fact the experience was the opposite. The combination of well presented information from some of the most skilled instructors available, and well sized on-track groups that offered plenty of room to safely practice (even in the fastest group) made for what was likely the most educational single day I’ve had on a motorcycle. Whether you are trying to take seconds off your lap times or are a newer rider wanting to learn how to ride safer and with more confidence, a day with the Penguin crew will offer you the tools to accomplish your goals while having a great time riding.”
Problem with this is it's much more expensive to rent a track on weekends so the cost will be passed on to you. It sucks but you can't blame anyone for that, that applies to tons of things, even movie theaters. No one wants to work on a weekend.
Is one of those options a payment plan? It's a lot easier of a sell to say $xx per month vs. $1000 in a single blow to most people.
Um, not sure if you know how this works but the longer I hold onto my money the more interest I earn. If I have $1,000 to give to any company and they offer me the option to pay it all now or pay $83.34 per month for 12 months, the smart thing to do is pay it over 12 months.
I don't debate the open a savings account and toss X amount into it for savings (this is how I currently pay for my track time). The problem with that is, for many with that method you'd be skipping a full year of riding to build your first $1000.
Last edited by drinkingmymilk; 10-01-14 at 10:25 AM.
Bottom line here is riders in the NorthEast have several solid options for track riding - and a variety of pricing points and payment options.
The current pricing points are pretty similar because the trackday org's have determined what it takes to run one of these businesses for the long term.
Make the profit margin too small, and as soon as there is a downturn or a couple of dates that don't sell out - and you get in trouble quickly.
If the pricing from the tracks goes down, then you may see a price decrease, but even then it would be minimal as all the other costs associated with running a day (not to mention a business) - are all going up.
Last edited by TTD; 10-01-14 at 10:38 AM.