the bb trackday thread.

[MrGman]

HughiusMaximus said:

Booked Almeria in Feb.

Nice to have something to look forward to!

Snap, FE 11-15th February!! can’t wait!!

[MrGman]

dibblecorse said:

Its a slippery slope my friend .... UK TDs become Euros and before you know it you've used all your annual leave up and have just enough money and annual leave left to take your missus to Bognor for the weekend !!!

That’s the most accurate thing I’ve ever read on PH

[MrChips]

George29 said:

KieranM26 said:

I’m looking to get a track bike joining in on the track fun, but I’ve got a few questions I’m hoping so of you in here can answer. I know the costs will vary greatly depending on bike and ability but for a novice just starting off:
How much typically is spent on a running costs/consumables per track day?
How long roughly do tyres last?
Any recommendations on bikes? £4000 budget.
Is there anything in particular to look out for when looking at track bikes?

CBR600RR is the ideal starter bike.

Costs depend on if you crash or not. Say £50 on fuel, bit of chain lube. Also a lot depends on your pace. In novice group you might get 4-5 days out of a set of tyres whereas at the top of fast you might get a day out of a rear. Same with brake pads. Other than that not too much to spend on. Oil and filter every few track days, new brake fluid/suspension service once a year

I’m in a similar position to Kieran, have done 2 trackdays in the past on my road bikes, and looking at booking a few for next year.

For people who don’t own a transit van or similar, what’s the norm in terms of transporting to the track? I can get use of a car with a tow bar but ideally want to stay local to the track the night before so leaving a bike and trailer out seems risky.

For those with more experience, with a 6k set up budget what would you recommend? I normally ride s1000rr or similar on the road but I’m happy to drop down a size or two for the track as I’m definitely in the novice category so will be looking for tuition too.

[graeme4130]

Day 3 in Almeria, and although it’s been properly cold and windy, it’s been dry
Unfortunately, my new BMW developed a intermittent shift cam sensor fault on the first morning, and then snapped a chain on the back straight that went through the tail unit and left me with a nice bruise on my arse/leg and a few cuts on my back


Although I got a replacement chain and bodged the seat unit back together with duct tape, the chain smashed the gearbox drum sensor and the bike won’t run without it and no replacements available

Anyway, mainly I came here for my 14yr old to get some time on his BSB jnr Supersport bike for next year, so I’ve rented a ZX10r from focussed and put a camera on it so I can chase him round for a few days
Little fella’s been making me work hard to keep up too


The track closed early today as the wind was mental but tomorrow’s forecast looks a little bit calmer

[Biker's Nemesis]

Thats great having your Son out with you Grahame. I'll look out for him in BSB next year.

[graeme4130]

Biker's Nemesis said:

Thats great having your Son out with you Grahame. I'll look out for him in BSB next year.

Cheers. It’s been fun although I’ve been struggling to keep up with him on the road bike through the infield section
Luckily, his 50bhp is no match for a 30+mph headwind on the back straight so I can reel him back in
https://youtu.be/E0LpkDZKgEE

[Steve Bass]

graeme4130 said:

Day 3 in Almeria, and although it’s been properly cold and windy, it’s been dry
Unfortunately, my new BMW developed a intermittent shift cam sensor fault on the first morning, and then snapped a chain on the back straight that went through the tail unit and left me with a nice bruise on my arse/leg and a few cuts on my back


Although I got a replacement chain and bodged the seat unit back together with duct tape, the chain smashed the gearbox drum sensor and the bike won’t run without it and no replacements available

Anyway, mainly I came here for my 14yr old to get some time on his BSB jnr Supersport bike for next year, so I’ve rented a ZX10r from focussed and put a camera on it so I can chase him round for a few days
Little fella’s been making me work hard to keep up too


The track closed early today as the wind was mental but tomorrow’s forecast looks a little bit calmer

That is not cool, the chain letting go like that. Must say i've only seen it once before so incredibly unlucky, especially with the damage its caused...

But great to see you shadowing your boy around. Love seeing small cc bikes pinned and outcornering big capacity bikes by a gungho young 'un!!

[mckeann]

Thank fk you’re ok Graeme.

So unlucky the chain did that damage. I had one go at Cartagena a few years back. The Nova gearbox sheared a tooth which I think momentarily locked everything up for a split second and thankfully the chain was the weak point rather than locking the back wheel and spitting me off. Thankfully the chain just flew right out the back without giving me a love kiss as I bet it stings ????

[graeme4130]

mckeann said:

Thank fk you’re ok Graeme.

So unlucky the chain did that damage. I had one go at Cartagena a few years back. The Nova gearbox sheared a tooth which I think momentarily locked everything up for a split second and thankfully the chain was the weak point rather than locking the back wheel and spitting me off. Thankfully the chain just flew right out the back without giving me a love kiss as I bet it stings ????

I remember that as I was there. You used your mates bike after and crashed it too if I remember correctly

Focussed were really good. I’d have been the first person to be a focussed doubter for their euro trips, but it was all spot on

The stillages are massive compared to Nolimits and Tracksense who I’ve used before. We arranged in advance with them which garages to be in with your group and when you arrive on the first morning the stillages are in your garage ready. They were really helpful when my bike broke and had a hire bike ready with slicks on within a few mins

Kev didn’t charge me before hiring it and just said to pay for what used it at the end of the trip. It worked out well, as I just used it to put a camera on the front and chase Mikey around on his 400

They use Axel Dowle Photography, who we paid £25 each up front, and he WhatsApp’s your pics over to you at lunchtime and the end of each day so you have them straight away

like I said above, if you’d asked me a couple of years ago, I’d have said to avoid focussed euros at all costs, but I can wholeheartedly say this has been the best euro trip experience I’ve had

The insurance is a faff though in the current Covid Climate

As you know, all your normal policies don’t cover you. RGB insurance is still available for a bargain price, but it only covers you up to Eu30k, which in a Spanish private hospital (I’ve been in a Spanish ‘nhs style’ hospital, and you really want a private one)

focussed have insurance available at the track for Eu25/day which has unlimited cover at the Almeria private hospital, which is quite steep, but I guess it’s peace of mind

that insurance doesn’t cover repatriation though, so you then need to take out a third party repatriation insurance yourself, which was something like Eu13 for the 4 days

[trickywoo]

Is there generally less crashing on these foreign events compared to uk?

I’ve been to Brands and it was a real crash / red flag fest. Max5 laps of the Indy a go before someone binned it.

[Biker's Nemesis]

I did Mugello with FE last year and tgeir wasnt one thing to compkain about. Kev was even there himself too and came over for a chat because he hadnt seen me for ages

[graeme4130]

trickywoo said:

Is there generally less crashing on these foreign events compared to uk?

I’ve been to Brands and it was a real crash / red flag fest. Max5 laps of the Indy a go before someone binned it.

People do still crash, but group sizes are smaller and the Spanish tend to be a lot more relaxed about red flags, so you generally get a yellow whilst the marshals push you out the gravel and either back onto the track, or onto the van for the trip of shame back to the paddock

[dibblecorse]

Blimey Graeme, you've come away from that reasonably unscathed, snapped chains can be horrendous and bikes can be fixed .... your boy looks to be throwing great shapes ... glad FE stepped up despite their reputation ....

[UnluckyTimmeh]

Glad you’re ok Graeme.

Any ideas what caused the chain failure?

I had a customer who had the chain snap on his RR (due to lack of maintainence). The thing cut the tail section, his seat, gave him a good Belgian dungeon type spank and more worryingly cut his rearset clean off.

fking terrifying.

[graeme4130]

UnluckyTimmeh said:

Glad you’re ok Graeme.

Any ideas what caused the chain failure?

I had a customer who had the chain snap on his RR (due to lack of maintainence). The thing cut the tail section, his seat, gave him a good Belgian dungeon type spank and more worryingly cut his rearset clean off.

fking terrifying.

No idea I’m afraid as didn’t get chain back
It was a fairly new DID

[ferret99]

MrChips said:

I’m in a similar position to Kieran, have done 2 trackdays in the past on my road bikes, and looking at booking a few for next year.

For people who don’t own a transit van or similar, what’s the norm in terms of transporting to the track? I can get use of a car with a tow bar but ideally want to stay local to the track the night before so leaving a bike and trailer out seems risky.

For those with more experience, with a 6k set up budget what would you recommend? I normally ride s1000rr or similar on the road but I’m happy to drop down a size or two for the track as I’m definitely in the novice category so will be looking for tuition too.

I'm in the same(ish) boat as Kieran and Chips. I've done a few TDs over the years, more recently from hiring bikes from Smallboy trackbikes. Any advice for wanting to do more TDs on your own? I don't really have any TD mates!

[Steve Bass]

graeme4130 said:

UnluckyTimmeh said:

Glad you’re ok Graeme.

Any ideas what caused the chain failure?

I had a customer who had the chain snap on his RR (due to lack of maintainence). The thing cut the tail section, his seat, gave him a good Belgian dungeon type spank and more worryingly cut his rearset clean off.

fking terrifying.

No idea I’m afraid as didn’t get chain back
It was a fairly new DID

I'd have my suspicions given how you recently had the bike built and have'nt done many track outings since then.
But that's a subject only you can decide to follow up on

[Nick928]

ferret99 said:

MrChips said:

I’m in a similar position to Kieran, have done 2 trackdays in the past on my road bikes, and looking at booking a few for next year.

For people who don’t own a transit van or similar, what’s the norm in terms of transporting to the track? I can get use of a car with a tow bar but ideally want to stay local to the track the night before so leaving a bike and trailer out seems risky.

For those with more experience, with a 6k set up budget what would you recommend? I normally ride s1000rr or similar on the road but I’m happy to drop down a size or two for the track as I’m definitely in the novice category so will be looking for tuition too.

I'm in the same(ish) boat as Kieran and Chips. I've done a few TDs over the years, more recently from hiring bikes from Smallboy trackbikes. Any advice for wanting to do more TDs on your own? I don't really have any TD mates!

I think there may be a few in the same position on this forum.
Did Castle Combe on my road bike (KTM duke) and a Ron Haslam day on their CBR.
The KTM went for a Tiger Rally Pro so I’m thinking dedicated track bike (ZX6r or similar) and book a few track days.
Might need a trailer for getting the bikes to the track just in case the worst should happen. Only thing worse than crashing is crashing and having to walk home!
I don’t know anyone else into these daft hobbies.

[graeme4130]

Steve Bass said:

graeme4130 said:

UnluckyTimmeh said:

Glad you’re ok Graeme.

Any ideas what caused the chain failure?

I had a customer who had the chain snap on his RR (due to lack of maintainence). The thing cut the tail section, his seat, gave him a good Belgian dungeon type spank and more worryingly cut his rearset clean off.

fking terrifying.

No idea I’m afraid as didn’t get chain back
It was a fairly new DID

I'd have my suspicions given how you recently had the bike built and have'nt done many track outings since then.
But that's a subject only you can decide to follow up on

In hindsight, I'd have gone looking for the chain for peace of mind, but in reality, it was probably just a bad rivet and these things happen
I've run the same chains on my other race bikes and never had a problem in past

[graeme4130]

Cartagena 3day open pit lane booked with Race Shift Jan 13-15th
Hopefully the Brexit scaremongering won't happen and Spain won't be banning the British from the country after Jan 1st