Things To Work On Before My First Trackday?

[Dieseldan]

My first trackday is fast approaching and with the weather getting better everyday my main form of transportation is going to be my bike. I can not and will not go balls out on the back roads but I am starting to work on basic riding skills to help me on the track.


What are some of things I should work on to prepare me for my first TD?


thanx

[CBR929RE]

being loose and relaxed. always good things to work on regardless of track or not. make sure you have everything readied in advance a couple days. you don't wanna be running around looking for tires (unless you plan on buying at the track) or oil or something the night before. check your helmet is not expired (newer than 5 years old from date of manufacture), all your other gear is in good condition, etc.

[Manny]

nothing.

[Dieseldan]

being loose and relaxed. always good things to work on regardless of track or not. make sure you have everything readied in advance a couple days. you don't wanna be running around looking for tires (unless you plan on buying at the track) or oil or something the night before. check your helmet is not expired (newer than 5 years old from date of manufacture), all your other gear is in good condition, etc.

thank you

[DucDave]

thank you

I addition to the great suggestions above...

Try and get a good nights sleep the night before...avoid overdoing the drinking! Come with an open mind and willingness to learn!

It's probably more than you need to know for your first track day but http://www.batmanmoto.com/Docs/Track...eck%20List.doc is a 'Punch List' with some ideas.

Finally...leave the ego at home! And prepare to have so much fun you'll feel that you're likely to get arrested any second...it can't possibly be legal!

Good luck

[GixerJockey]

Pop a couple of Advil before bed and get a good night's sleep.

Try not to be nervous. The morning butterflies will be gone after your very first session..


Have fun...

Prepair to be hooked... bad....

[Dieseldan]

thanx for all your help I plan on doing 4 TDs this summer!

[senecak19]

Get out there and go for the win! No, just kidding, don't do that. Start a list now of everything you need to bring. I promise you, you'll leave something at home if you don't. Maybe trackdays are a little less worrysome, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

[Dieseldan]

there is a checklist on triumph675.net I will use to help me.

But I am already getting things in order to help.

[Ken C]

Being organized will make things less stressful, for sure. But, to make your day most beneficial, I recommend that you have a goal or two.

Your first goal should be to have a good time. This means coming into the day suspending any pressure to "perform". It also means learning the ropes and developing a "relationship" with the track by learning the line and identifying your own personal braking, shifting and turning reference points. If you can do this, then consider the day a success.

Second, have an idea of what things you'd like to improve. Cornering confidence is the most obvious benefit from track days, but so is braking confidence and developing visual skills. Your instructors can help you with this stuff.

[akira700]

All good points here. Glad to have you aboard!

I'd like to add one other. Ride on the balls of your feet
and like others have said relax.
This does a number of things, but mainly its gets your
weight off your ass a bit. This increases your feeling of the bike.
You get input from the main frame of the bike as opposed to the
subframe and cushy seat.

I've found in my brief spring of street riding so far that there are 2 ways
to ride a sport bike.
1) lay back and let things happen or
2) Get on it and ride

#2 is always better.
Its almost an attitude. Like Ken says in his book its getting ready to get
in the zone.

[nt650hawk]

Welcome to a new environment.
Look at the track as your training ground to aide your street ability. You will find what you learn on the track to be more that what you could possibly learn on the street. Just have fun and enjoy the experience your first time. Coming to a closed environment can be very stimulating. Take what you have already learned on the street and apply it to the track. There is really nothing different from the street to the track, only a little more freedom.

Get an early night sleep if you can. I know I had a hard time my first night. You will have a long day riding to the track/on the track / riding home from the track.

[LiononaLeash]

If you are doing lots of riding on the street beforehand. Consciously look through the corner further than you normally do in turns. You get into a habit of looking further ahead, it solves a lot of difficulties by default.

Before my first trackday, I found nice clean parking lot to frequent and just explored more lean angle and turning my head to look further around the turn. You don't need to go fast to explore more lean angle. I found that 18 mph works real nice for me and my bike.

Like others have already stated, relax, stay away from leaning on the bars, and do some exploring. It is a little scary at first, but I resolved to do it for the sake of learning and accepted the possibility that I might drop my bike. Fortunately, that didn't happen.

I think Ken and I chatted a bit about this years back.

[RyanNicholson]

Max out your CC's, take out another mortgage, brown bag your lunches, buy 2 or 3 bikes with every little go fast part you can find, book lots of dyno time, set up spread sheets for stats, buy a big trailer, spend more money outfitting said trailer, buy bigger truck to tow more gear, then sell it all and upgrade to a large toy hauler, buy a spare of everything, get the latest and greatest tools and gauges for working on the bikes, top of the line tire warmers, 25 sets of race tires (slicks, DOTs, and rains) and a few sets of spare rims, get a couple sets of bodywork and paint them up with number plates, book flights to daytona/vir/nj/ohio, start looking for sponsors to help such expenses so you still have $ to buy a cherry flavored ring-pop out of a vending machine to propose to the gf with....

haha hey at least you'll have half of the inevitable done with

just have fun man! the first time to the track is tough to plan ahead for, follow the check lists and learn from the instructors... then you'll know how to approach trackdays in your own way with a mindset that works for you, to achieve any goals that you have for yourself.

[tonup]

Max out your CC's, take out another mortgage, brown bag your lunches, buy 2 or 3 bikes with every little go fast part you can find, book lots of dyno time, set up spread sheets for stats, buy a big trailer, spend more money outfitting said trailer, buy bigger truck to tow more gear, then sell it all and upgrade to a large toy hauler, buy a spare of everything, get the latest and greatest tools and gauges for working on the bikes, top of the line tire warmers, 25 sets of race tires (slicks, DOTs, and rains) and a few sets of spare rims, get a couple sets of bodywork and paint them up with number plates, book flights to daytona/vir/nj/ohio, start looking for sponsors to help such expenses so you still have $ to buy a cherry flavored ring-pop out of a vending machine to propose to the gf with.....

Don't listen to this bastard. He's a track enabler....I going to my first TD in July and already want to buy another before my cherrys popped. Soo looking forward to the entire thing. After going to the loudon opener and checking out the track for the first time (turn 3 made it move) I am more than anxious than ever. Damn Enablers, the whole lot of em'...

Hell, my wife is even excited to go with me and she doesn't ride. go figure!

[Dieseldan]

Max out your CC's, take out another mortgage, brown bag your lunches, buy 2 or 3 bikes with every little go fast part you can find, book lots of dyno time, set up spread sheets for stats, buy a big trailer, spend more money outfitting said trailer, buy bigger truck to tow more gear, then sell it all and upgrade to a large toy hauler, buy a spare of everything, get the latest and greatest tools and gauges for working on the bikes, top of the line tire warmers, 25 sets of race tires (slicks, DOTs, and rains) and a few sets of spare rims, get a couple sets of bodywork and paint them up with number plates, book flights to daytona/vir/nj/ohio, start looking for sponsors to help such expenses so you still have $ to buy a cherry flavored ring-pop out of a vending machine to propose to the gf with....

haha hey at least you'll have half of the inevitable done with

just have fun man! the first time to the track is tough to plan ahead for, follow the check lists and learn from the instructors... then you'll know how to approach trackdays in your own way with a mindset that works for you, to achieve any goals that you have for yourself.

lmao good stuff

[DaSarge]

Thanks Dan for starting this thread and thanks everyone who posted in it, good info to know! I will hopefully be doing my first trackday with Boston Moto on June 17th granted I make it back from Iraq in time..Cant wait!

[GixerJockey]

Dan... don't forget that the staff's primary function is to make sure you enjoy every minute of the track day. Use us! It's was we live for. There's no better feeling than watching a customer have a great time at one of our events.

Come find me, or anyone else wearing a Boton Moto shirt if you need ANYTHING at all!

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Dan... don't forget that the staff's primary function is to make sure you enjoy every minute of the track day. Use us! It's was we live for. There's no better feeling than watching a customer have a great time at one of our events.

Come find me, or anyone else wearing a Boton Moto shirt if you need ANYTHING at all!

I have a track day tuesday. I need a lot of fast. You guys got extra lying around?

[Kitt]

I have a track day tuesday. I need a lot of fast. You guys got extra lying around?

yea, but noel's not the guy for that.

[nt650hawk]

You can have mine I'm not using it much this year.

[SVRACER01]

I have a track day tuesday. I need a lot of fast. You guys got extra lying around?

no, but i can help you find some. same for you Dan...looks like ill be roaming the garages on Tues. big ugly guy with red goatee

get a little practice in on the streets, by this i mean keep your butt square on the seat ( you can incorporate moving your ass later) while cornering but move your head and shoulders (only) over...chin into the turn. get used to doing this as second nature. i feel that your first few trackdays are crucial in NOT creating bad habits...like crossed up body position. youll get so used to doing it wrong that when someone tells you how do it right...its hard. head into the turn...like your pulling something heavy.