[l3uddha]

does anyone here ride ONLY trackdays?
I mean taken the bike off the road & doesn't race?

I seem to be losing interest on the street. I know this discussion has come up before... and there is no way I can dedicate myself to racing at this point.

anyone only do the trackdays?? what's your take on it?

[Paul_E_D]

I'm only doing trackdays and dirt this year. I'm having a blast!

[s a x m a n]

track days and race only ... best decision ever

[Shortermemory]

It looks like that for me too......track days, no racing

[OreoGitorio]

Well, I do all three but I'm pretty certain i do more miles on the track than I do the street. And my street bike probably sees the track more than the street as well.

I'm all for track days obviously, but the way I see it, since my street bike is all paid for i'm only spending 50 bucks a month to keep it insured & I like having the option of riding on the road whenever I want so I probably won't be turning it into a track only bike.

To keep things "interesting" on the street I treat it as an exercise in identifying risk just as much as hitting up the twisties so there's an added challenge than just carving pavemet. It's also a social thing. Sometimes I just like goin for a cruise w/ friends.

[duey]

as of this year not including random rides here and there, i average about 50mi's a week of commuting/misc running around. Other than that my sv is at trackdays as much as i can afford.

Someday i'll pick up another bike for the street and put the sv to track day duty only.....and *possibly* racing someday.

[Pittenger5]

As my dad so nicely put it when I mentioned riding on the street is boring after the track, "riding on the street is better than not riding on the street". I dont know what he meant, but it makes sense to me

[bostongixxer]

I'm lucky enough to have a street bike and track bike, so I'll keep doing both. Street riding is social, but it also gives me an adrenaline fix between track days...not that I'm riding the street like I do at the track. Street riding isn't as satisfying, though, and much more dangerous...so I can see going track only.

[BLACK SQUIRREL 441]

I do both as well two (or 3) diffrent bikes. I also considered going track only but my entire social life is Bikes and Bike people. I will hang out with anyone. but I will only ride with a select few

[rg500]

I might ride 500 miles on the street a year, but I doubt it. I am actually about to put my speed triple up for sale. I just don't ride it enough.

I do go to the track as often as I can. I think this is the first year I haven't done all of Tony's dates, as well as motomarket, riverside, maybe a penguin day or two.

I have never raced, but have thought about it a lot. I don't really have a burning desire to race, but I do think that at some point I will. I have a feeling that there is a good bit to be learned about track riding from racing, that would be very difficult to learn at trackdays.

[Sbk12rs]

With over 100 thousand miles on Harley's . Since I've been riding Sport touring bikes , and this new VFR ,,, I seem to have a problem with the LAW !

At some point its going to be cheaper to just do Track Days .
Maybe sooner than later . With Ins. costs , tickets ............

working on my second this year ,,, not a big one $100.00 ,, but One that I'm fighting !!!!!!
65mph on rt128 Come ON !!!!! Really !

Thats in insult ! I'd rather pay for 128mph ticket ...... I do that more than ride at 65 anyway .........

[wylee]

Originally Posted by Sbk12rs

...I seem to have a problem with the LAW !

At some point its going to be cheaper to just do Track Days .
Maybe sooner than later . With Ins. costs , tickets ............

working on my second this year ,,, not a big one $100.00 ,, but One that I'm fighting !!!!!!
65mph on rt128 .......

65 on rt 128? What was the ticket for? Obstructing traffic?

[RyanNicholson]

yea i'm lucky (or stupid) enough to have a track/race bike and a street bike.....but if i had to choose one it would be for the track for sure, no questions asked.

i treat riding on the street as more of a social thing. all my friends around here have bikes and none of them go to the track....we have a good time, and i get a good laugh cuz 99% of them have no idea what their bikes are truly capable of haha

[Crash Dummy Denno]

Originally Posted by RyanNicholson

i treat riding on the street as more of a social thing. all my friends around here have bikes and none of them go to the track....we have a good time, and i get a good laugh cuz 99% of them have no idea what their bikes are truly capable of haha

+1 so true

i don't think I could ever give up riding on the street - although these tickets are really shitty

[Billy]

Main reason I'm buying a house or condo with attached garage is so I can have more space to buy a second bike for the track. My guess is that I'll like track so much that I won't get enjoyment out of street.

[l3uddha]

this all started 4 me because of the other day. for one I keep catching myself riding too agressively through any turns I come across on the street which I think is stupid and dangerous given the consequences... I keep doing it out of boredom mostely. I dont mean to sound arrogant or cocky or anything bad.... it's just that I'm really beginning to assess the things I do to enjoy riding & there is no place for it on the street. whatsoever. Even on my GS500 haha! Since I overhauled my suspension I LOVE attacking every corner becasue I'm a million times more confident than I ever was before, & it seriously worries me. I'm not doing anything dumb like cutting through traffic, but even when I am riding responsibly, the following happens:

There are all the "normal" risks to deal with, but then the other day I was just cruising on 93S a bit north of boston & I came across a few sportbikes. I was in the left-middle lane & two bikes passed, one on the left & one on the right. The guy on the right gives me a piece sign, cruises at about 70 w/ me for a few seconds, then drops back. I'm like whatever, just riding in the left-half of my lane, & then, out of nowhere, the fucker blasts past me doing probably about 130 a foot away from me IN MY FUCKING LANE with hardly any cars around. Didnt even hear him come up, just got a hell of a suprise when the exhaust note from his undertail hit me in the face the exact second he passed.

that really got me wondering about a lot of things. granted I was keeping to the left side of my lane for those few seconds, but I tend to move around in MY lane. If I had when he was coming I'd either be in really bad shape or dead. He was seriously a foot away from me coming by at that speed.

I've been on the street for 3 1/2 years now & it's always been fun up until recently. Now all the uncontrolled factors are really starting to pick away at my mind. The normal stuff which I've been fine dealing with for a long time, but I am NOT ok having my life in the hands of some psycho on a bike, in a car, or whatever, who'se trying to get his rocks off at my expense.

am and I correct that the next trackdays arent till the end of august?!?

[l3uddha]

fyi he was on a grey, probably only 2/3 years old, ZX6 (though could have been a 10). reddish jacket and a fat, ugly bitch on the back with a huge ass.

bikes are getting better & the squids are getting worse.

[Billy]

I have a couple friends who ride that are on the squidly side. I don't ride with them too often for obvious reasons.

One of them did that once to me. We were on the highway and he blasted past me about a foot away doing a standup wheelie. I was pretty pissed off and I told him to never do that again mainly because its stupid, dangerous and I tend to move around in my lane a little. It didn't discourage me from riding though.

[OreoGitorio]

Originally Posted by l3uddha

There are all the "normal" risks to deal with, but then the other day I was just cruising on 93S a bit north of boston & I came across a few sportbikes. I was in the left-middle lane & two bikes passed, one on the left & one on the right. The guy on the right gives me a piece sign, cruises at about 70 w/ me for a few seconds, then drops back. I'm like whatever, just riding in the left-half of my lane, & then, out of nowhere, the fucker blasts past me doing probably about 130 a foot away from me IN MY FUCKING LANE with hardly any cars around. Didnt even hear him come up, just got a hell of a suprise when the exhaust note from his undertail hit me in the face the exact second he passed.

Some douchebag did a similar thing to me when i was on my way home from the track last night. He saw me w/ the trailer hooked up & the two bikes loaded up as they passed by... he pulls along side, pulls in the clutch, fishes around w/ the shifter & i hear the tell-tale noise of a bike getting clutched up.... he blew past on one wheel at about 90mph & almost hit the back of a mini-van.

I woulda been happy to have stopped, helped possibly save his life & talk w/ the cops if he did.

[Trackday Guru]

Originally Posted by l3uddha

does anyone here ride ONLY trackdays?
I mean taken the bike off the road & doesn't race?

I seem to be losing interest on the street. I know this discussion has come up before... and there is no way I can dedicate myself to racing at this point.

anyone only do the trackdays?? what's your take on it?

Track Days only baby!

[slaps76]

After doing a couple track days last year, I sold my bike. Riding on the street was just boring, coupled with the fact my bike was garaged 1/2 hour from where I lived, I don't have anywhere to put a bike off-street where I am now.

The plan when selling my bike was to buy a track only bike for this year, but that plan is now bumped to next year.

[markbvt]

Interesting thread. I consider myself lucky to live in Vermont; street riding here is a lot safer than in suburban areas, generally speaking.

And I ride a bike that handles well but only makes around 65 horsepower -- plenty of power for riding around town and even attacking the twisties, but not so much power that cracking the ton is effortless. As the saying goes, it's a lot more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slow. 80 on an air-cooled twin with no wind protection is a whole lot more exciting than 100 on a fully-faired liquid-cooled inline-4. And 110 on the aforementioned air-cooled twin is actually pretty scary. As a result, so far I haven't gotten any tickets on my bike, knock on wood, because I'm not really tempted to ride super-fast.

YMMV...

--mark

[hammadown]

Well I decided to make the plunge of only track days and hopefully racing next year if my skills improve enough. I just committed to buying hessogoods track bike and am selling street bike (03 600rr very good condition low miles FYI for anyone interested formal ad coming soon). Seeing as how this is a new decision, I don't have any feedback for you. I have had the same feelings of safety, and that coupled with the fact that most of my miles this year have been commuting, a full on race machine seems such a waste in my hands on the street (not that it ever was useful before). I had thought I would want to do this and after yesterday it made my decision definite. Figured I would get a bike that a fully track ready attend as many track days as i can and see if I can learn to ride it all while staying out of trouble! I'm sure some will ask why not do both. Because insurance is expensive and I've been pretty bored riding street lately. Its either track or streeton my budget, so I'll take the track. I'll keep you posted how the decision work out. See you all track side!

[erik87]

if i had enough money to afford more track days i would to that...but i dont have a trailer, tow vehicle, or money to pay for any of that...so its mostly street for me(after i get my bike fixed up)

but since the track is a while hell of alot more fun(till you hit the ground) and alot safer(even when you do hit the ground), i would stop riding the street if i could afford it

[DucDave]

I'm down to about 12,000 miles a year on street and 10 track days a year.