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I just did my second track day yesterday at NHIS, and had a great time. (Thanks Team Daemon for a great event & thanks Peter for great bike setup!) I feel like I made some good progress over the one I did last October. I am signed up for another one in a month or so, and can’t wait to give it a shot.
Considering all of the anecdotal & hard facts out there around street riding and its risks, I am really questioning if it makes sense for me to be riding on the street.
More rides than not I spend a good deal of time wondering if this is the day when I get hit by a car, slide out on an oil patch, etc. The majority of my riding time is either highway or in-town riding, this means a lot of time being contorted on the bike while travelling 90-100 on my frequent boston-providence runs, or idling around in traffic. While it’s cheap and fast transportation, I really can’t say it’s a particularly fun or challenging. What’s next…get an SV1000 and ride even faster on the slab, or ride hard on the street and hit a telephone pole or guardrail?
In contrast, I show up to track day and have a blast. I am on an awesome course that is truly challenging, I get to push myself as much or as little as I want to, and I am surrounded by great people who are willing to lend a hand weather its an instructor helping me find my line or someone giving a hand with my bike in the pits.
So, I am mulling over phasing out street riding. My SV is pretty much track ready with the brake & suspension work I have done. I guess I’d swap to clip-ons, put on track bodywork & tires when feasible, and safety wire the bike. I have so much to learn, I was getting smoked by a guy on a Honda CB1 and his rear shock had literally no oil in it, as in flopping swingarm. (he too was a friendly guy to talk with)
If I do stay on the street, it would be more of an occasional thing when wearing full gear isn’t an impediment. Maybe do a 2-3 day tour to someplace rural, away from the havoc of the greater Boston area. I could put back the street bodywork/tires and be ready to do a nice touring ride.
Nothing is concrete yet, I am really just weighing the risks vs. benefits of riding street & track, track only, or not riding at all. Street riding (in its current context) looks LESS appealing the more I think about it.
For those of you who have made the switch...how was it?
From a safety perspective...can I expect to be much safer on the track? It sounds like odds of crashing go up, odds of getting minor injury goes up, and odds of getting major injury/killed go down. Not sure if this is valid or not.
Ideas are appreciated, especially from track-only folks.