question about track days/racing.

[Rory McConoghy]

just a few questions, and i dont know if this should be posted here or in the track days section so i flipped a coin...

i havent been riding that long, not even a full season under my belt, but i am reall interested in track days. one of the guys i work with does them sometimes and it blows my mind. so getting to the question how long do you think it should be before i attempt a track day.

i ride an r6 that needs some more TLC, but will be mint by next season, how much does it run to set it up for the track.

[Awesome]

Very cheap and very easy to set it up for the track. The trackdays are open to all riders of all skill levels. I'd say to get in on it at your first chance, explain your ability to an instructor and he will take you under his wing or find someone that will. Everyone from this board is happy to help as well.

[OreoGaborio]

Everyone's different, but i'll share my personal experience & opinion w/ ya...

I got my license about 4 years ago but just got my first bike last May... yup, "squidly me" bout a 600ss as a first bike ... about 3,000 street miles later and just 3 months after getting it I did my first trackday in August of last year and haven't missed a Tony's Track Day since

If you're at all interested in doing trackdays & you're w/in a few hours of Loudon NH I recommend Tony's w/o a millisecond of hesitation. All I do for track prep (other than check everything on the bike to make sure it's 100%) is remove the mirrors, take off the license plate, tape the lights, pull the rear bulbs and lower the tire pressure. Bang, done. Oh and I RIDE MY BIKE there the morning of the event from BOSTON. meaning it's 100% street legal less than 2 hours before i get on the track... at this point it only takes me about 20 minutes to go from full street trim to track prepped. However, I strongly don't suggest you do that unless you have friends up there willing to save your ass if you drop your bike & brake something simple like a clutch lever and can't find a replacment. I'm fortunate enough that I have that "Luxury" if I do indeed brake somethin. Even if you dont know anyone though and find yourself in that position, i'm SURE you'd be able to find someone to help you out, it's that good of a crowd.

Some people use spare plastics... not a bad idea if you wanna keep your stockers shiney & scratch free... I just don't have any spare plastics for my bike, but i'm not too worried about it, at this point my street bike is a track rat, no biggie.

So to definitively answer your questions - you don't need a whole lot of experience... some people say the sooner the better as long as you're comfortable w/ your bike & can be smooth. I was out there w/ about 3 months of experience riding almost every nice day and only 3k street miles under my belt & did just fine... and unless you want to buy spare rashed up ugly plastics you do'nt care about from ebay for super cheap, it doesn't cost a penny to prep your bike other than some tape and a little wrenching time, however you DO want it to be in good mechanical condition.

What DOES cost money are tires, track fees, gas and personal riding equipment. THOSE are the big costs. Luckilly the biggest (proper riding gear) is a long-term investment you should make anyway. For me, the average trackday at NHIS costs me about 300 bucks, maybe a little more. 225 for the track, about 20-25 bucks in gas (since I don't trailer up) a few bucks for food and wear & tear on my tires. (then there's the missed day of work pay) Upside is you DO get fed for free at at Tony's date and you get ALL the Gatoraid you can drink to stay hydrated (VERY important)

Oh & this should have been in the trackday section as you SHOULD be doing trackdays long before you race but I'll let it slide this time

[Nazo]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio

Oh & this should have been in the trackday section as you SHOULD be doing trackdays long before you race but I'll let it slide this time

....and Pete, you shouldn't be posting in the pit area until you are a racer

Nice summary though.
I concur with the Oreo

[OreoGaborio]

Originally posted by Nazo
....and Pete, you shouldn't be posting in the pit area until you are a racer

Fine, tell the same thing to Jane, JeffL and....................................................... NAAAAAAHHHHH I won't say it, t's too damn easy to pick on HBerry

[Jaynnus]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
Fine, tell the same thing to Jane, JeffL and....................................................... NAAAAAAHHHHH I won't say it, t's too damn easy to pick on HBerry

I can post...I make the damn schedule!!

[OreoGaborio]

Yeah and I help people when i'm not hungover

[Nazo]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
NAAAAAAHHHHH I won't say it, t's too damn easy to pick on HBerry

I think Huckleberry is gonna beat you all next season......at least that what he told me

[HBerry]

I have my license you dirty bitch! Next year, as long as the funds are available, I am going to try to get as much track time as humanly possible, doing as many tony's track days as I can, along with as many race weekends as I can.

I say do track days for at least a year before you start racing, did I follow this advice, nope, I got bit by the bug after my first track day and decided to do the penguin school in order to get my racing license. Looking back I do think it was kind of stupid to start racing so soon, but its too late now. Get as many track and street miles as you can under your belt next season!

[Degsy]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
All I do for track prep (other than check everything on the bike to make sure it's 100%)...

Except the oil filter of course, 'cos that ain't really neccessary

[OreoGaborio]

I told you, I was testing you.... you guys are good

[Nazo]

Originally posted by HBerry
I say do track days for at least a year before you start racing, did I follow this advice, nope, I got bit by the bug after my first track day and decided to do the penguin school in order to get my racing license. Looking back I do think it was kind of stupid to start racing so soon, but its too late now. Get as many track and street miles as you can under your belt next season!

I did about a half a trackday, crashed and totalled my bike....at that point I knew I wanted to race and the next time I was on the track was for racing. I agree that you should have some miles under your belt before racing though. Jeff, Jay and myself all started racing with only one trackday experience. But the three of us also all started riding on 2 two wheels at like 10 years old.
As long as you are comfortable on your bike, do a trackday and see where you think you fit in. Its a great learning experience, its not all about going balls out on the track like racing is.

[a13x]

Originally posted by Nazo
I did about a half a trackday, crashed and totalled my bike....at that point I knew I wanted to race and the next time I was on the track was for racing. I agree that you should have some miles under your belt before racing though. Jeff, Jay and myself all started racing with only one trackday experience. But the three of us also all started riding on 2 two wheels at like 10 years old.
As long as you are comfortable on your bike, do a trackday and see where you think you fit in. Its a great learning experience, its not all about going balls out on the track like racing is.

Yea I never did a trackday before I started racing. I obviously didn't have a issue. However like Nazo, I'd been riding motorized bikes since I was 10 and I probably had 20-28,000 miles on the street under my belt. I was pretty darn comfy rider. That's off point thou.

I think you'll be just fine for the trackdays. As others have said, there is different levels. In the 'Slow' group (yet still mad fun) there are people out there riding on some crazy old bikes, touring bikes, you name it.

[daviid]

i got my bike the last week of march 04, did my first trackday in August 04.

[Awesome]

Nice Avatar Petey. I'm laughing my balls off.