Nurburgring 2017
Discussion
Dr Jekyll said:
A lot of bikers seem to be riding steadily across the grass run off at Adenauer Forst then suddenly lose control. Is it a rougher surface than it looks or just slippery?
It looks slippy not rough and fronts beginning to tuck so they stand it up. If you've ever been pushing on at a track day and the front goes it looks like what they were doing. You sit it up then try lean again but normally heading towards the grass so you are forced to sit up and take the grassCAPP0 said:
What often happens is, you bend a bit of Armco and think, hmm, that's not too bad, but when they come along to estimate, they run a straight-line view along it and you'd be surprised how many more sections will be bent.
The one I clearly remember was a couple of young Brits mucking about in the wet in an old Skyline. They were drifting/skidding on purpose, and slid sideways into the Armco at <10mph (we were watching, around Hatzenbach, far too wet (read:slippery) for bikes). The guys got out of the car grinning and playing to the crowd but went strangely quiet when the marshalls turned up. Caught up with them later in the Grunholle and they showed us the Armco bill: 3500 Euro. And you have to pay on the spot, there's none of this "send me a bill, I'll fk off back to Blighty in the meantime" malarkey.
That would just write me off completely. Seriously could not afford to be hit with a 1000+euro bill when Im out there just to enjoy the circuitThe one I clearly remember was a couple of young Brits mucking about in the wet in an old Skyline. They were drifting/skidding on purpose, and slid sideways into the Armco at <10mph (we were watching, around Hatzenbach, far too wet (read:slippery) for bikes). The guys got out of the car grinning and playing to the crowd but went strangely quiet when the marshalls turned up. Caught up with them later in the Grunholle and they showed us the Armco bill: 3500 Euro. And you have to pay on the spot, there's none of this "send me a bill, I'll fk off back to Blighty in the meantime" malarkey.
Although I’ve now been to the ring four times in the last couple of years I am a newbie so I can’t comment on how it used to be compared to now.
But I love the place. The atmosphere is pure petrol head and there are amazing cars everywhere. Once you’ve bought your laps (€ 25, Monday to Thursday and €30 at weekends) you can sit in the car park and watch for a quiet window before you set off. That way you can get a relatively clear lap even at busy times.
If you’re expecting a full on track day and you want to get in some very fast laps or race everything on track then I’d agree with everything CAPPO said and I would say don’t bother going. However, if you’re prepared to treat it like a fast Sunday ride-out chances are you’ll really enjoy it and unless you’re very unlucky you shouldn’t come to any harm.
There are some really fast drivers on track but if you use your mirrors you can keep out of the way.
Another plus – the roads around the ring are fantastic and we have more fun riding them than the ring. The Moselle Valley is something else and there is a fantastic road that runs down from Koblenz to Cochem.
Eight of us are going back in April for the Mass Rev-Up event. Went last year and had a great time so if you want to tag along you are more than welcome
http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/events-tickets/motor...
But I love the place. The atmosphere is pure petrol head and there are amazing cars everywhere. Once you’ve bought your laps (€ 25, Monday to Thursday and €30 at weekends) you can sit in the car park and watch for a quiet window before you set off. That way you can get a relatively clear lap even at busy times.
If you’re expecting a full on track day and you want to get in some very fast laps or race everything on track then I’d agree with everything CAPPO said and I would say don’t bother going. However, if you’re prepared to treat it like a fast Sunday ride-out chances are you’ll really enjoy it and unless you’re very unlucky you shouldn’t come to any harm.
There are some really fast drivers on track but if you use your mirrors you can keep out of the way.
Another plus – the roads around the ring are fantastic and we have more fun riding them than the ring. The Moselle Valley is something else and there is a fantastic road that runs down from Koblenz to Cochem.
Eight of us are going back in April for the Mass Rev-Up event. Went last year and had a great time so if you want to tag along you are more than welcome
http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/events-tickets/motor...
Birky_41 said:
Its been playing on my mind for the last couple months and I've decided to get myself down there and get a few laps round there
Its more for the experience but if anyone has done this in the last year I would like any advise, tips etc
Did you drive there and put the bike in the van? Its 400 miles for me which could be done on the bike but I'll have a square supercorsa after! Anyone stay over local to the circuit and if so where? Any tips appreciated
I've been thinking about the same. Having sold my tiger I need to buy something sporty. Will be riding there and back though. My plan is to take it relatively slow and steady, definitely not hitting the apex's etc and expect a lot of very fast very close fly-bys.Its more for the experience but if anyone has done this in the last year I would like any advise, tips etc
Did you drive there and put the bike in the van? Its 400 miles for me which could be done on the bike but I'll have a square supercorsa after! Anyone stay over local to the circuit and if so where? Any tips appreciated
Dr Jekyll said:
A lot of bikers seem to be riding steadily across the grass run off at Adenauer Forst then suddenly lose control. Is it a rougher surface than it looks or just slippery?
Look closely at what they do, some seem to use the front brake, others try to open the throttle as they thing they're going too slowly. Both are guaranteed to cause a crash. spareparts said:
The Ring is dangerous. But it's fully rideable and a lot of fun. Just ride to the conditions as always.. all the scaremongering though... need to grow some balls.
Have you been in the past 5 years? Read my original reply on here. It's nothing to do with growing a pair. I've done plenty laps, but even 15 years ago I always approached it with caution, trepidation and a little bit of gut churn. And it's nothing like it was, now. You only have to look at 308's video to see how the car drivers treat the bikes, and it's like that all day, every day.I've done ~250 laps and go twice a year on the bike, i do 7:50/8min BTG laps on a good day. Most of what's said here is true in my opinion. Although, not about the car parks being full. Maybe so for cars, but for bikes, they have special bike parking and you can always get a space.. even on a busy TF weekend. This is once of the best bits about visiting on a bike over a car, you will be able to park and there is no need to queue in the horrific traffic around the place.
It's a dangerous place and tourist days are indeed very busy, but it doesn't stop you having fun in my opinion, you just NEED to have your wits about you. It's a strange place, the faster you go, the safer you are. When you're learning, you will spend more time looking in your mirrors (or you should be) on a tourist day, but once you know roughly where you're going and you've stopped crapping yourself, it's all good fun. There is no where else where you can mix it up with the cars, nothing else gets the blood flowing like that.
Laps this year are 30 euro a lap, so it's not cheap any more unfortunately, but still worth it in my opinion.
This year a couple of friends crashed, both had to pay around 600/700 euro in total in recovery / track repairs, could have been a lot worse. We limped both bikes back thanks to help from Andy C.
It's a dangerous place and tourist days are indeed very busy, but it doesn't stop you having fun in my opinion, you just NEED to have your wits about you. It's a strange place, the faster you go, the safer you are. When you're learning, you will spend more time looking in your mirrors (or you should be) on a tourist day, but once you know roughly where you're going and you've stopped crapping yourself, it's all good fun. There is no where else where you can mix it up with the cars, nothing else gets the blood flowing like that.
Laps this year are 30 euro a lap, so it's not cheap any more unfortunately, but still worth it in my opinion.
This year a couple of friends crashed, both had to pay around 600/700 euro in total in recovery / track repairs, could have been a lot worse. We limped both bikes back thanks to help from Andy C.
have done the ring on bike and in car. Have done quite a lot of bike track days and am not easily intimidated but my general feeling is that I wouldn't bike there again (easy to say with it under my belt, I know).
Tbh, it is a hairy place even in a car now and whilst the track is an experience, you'll have bigger two wheeled kicks winding the bike out at a proper track day elsewhere - e.g. a bike track day at Spa for me was 200pc of the buzz of riding the ring on Touristfahren where the Armco is a metre from the edge of the track and learning takes a long time and most people now are fairly serious with high powered cars.
It seems the days of ring traffic being a few slow moving camper vans and 1.3 opel kadetts is long gone.
If you do it, as above find a quiet time. Or ride the amazing roads around the ring and then blag a passenger ride in someone's car (that u trust) or get a rental.
I was last there on a bike on 07 and it was ok at the start of the day when quiet. But it got busier as the day went on. I was there with 6 bikers and the last to come in - having been run off the track (in my opinion) by a guy in a porsche track car who didn't want me on his line.
I was there for a weekend in Aug this year in the car (I guess peak time) and I felt I had to have my wits about me. They kept closing the track for crashes and as soon as it opened again, a lot of cars were out and trying to make the most of the time.
I won't forget going down the foxhole as a porsche passenger at three figure speeds literally nose to tail with 5 or so other 'on it' cars and almost couldn't watch as some nutter on a ZX10 tried to race us. If someone had so much as sneezed mr zx10 would have been meat paste.
I hadn't really realised what a pita bikers are on the circuit if you're in a relatively quick car - many of the bikers are slower and use different or erratic lines which also makes them hard to overtake in a safe manner for both parties.
But having just paid eur25 per lap and finally been let out after a 2 hour circuit closure, a lot of car drivers are relatively impatient and don't want to sit behind a biker for half a lap to find the best over taking spot.
Caveat emptor
Tbh, it is a hairy place even in a car now and whilst the track is an experience, you'll have bigger two wheeled kicks winding the bike out at a proper track day elsewhere - e.g. a bike track day at Spa for me was 200pc of the buzz of riding the ring on Touristfahren where the Armco is a metre from the edge of the track and learning takes a long time and most people now are fairly serious with high powered cars.
It seems the days of ring traffic being a few slow moving camper vans and 1.3 opel kadetts is long gone.
If you do it, as above find a quiet time. Or ride the amazing roads around the ring and then blag a passenger ride in someone's car (that u trust) or get a rental.
I was last there on a bike on 07 and it was ok at the start of the day when quiet. But it got busier as the day went on. I was there with 6 bikers and the last to come in - having been run off the track (in my opinion) by a guy in a porsche track car who didn't want me on his line.
I was there for a weekend in Aug this year in the car (I guess peak time) and I felt I had to have my wits about me. They kept closing the track for crashes and as soon as it opened again, a lot of cars were out and trying to make the most of the time.
I won't forget going down the foxhole as a porsche passenger at three figure speeds literally nose to tail with 5 or so other 'on it' cars and almost couldn't watch as some nutter on a ZX10 tried to race us. If someone had so much as sneezed mr zx10 would have been meat paste.
I hadn't really realised what a pita bikers are on the circuit if you're in a relatively quick car - many of the bikers are slower and use different or erratic lines which also makes them hard to overtake in a safe manner for both parties.
But having just paid eur25 per lap and finally been let out after a 2 hour circuit closure, a lot of car drivers are relatively impatient and don't want to sit behind a biker for half a lap to find the best over taking spot.
Caveat emptor
hebegb said:
Pushing the envelope with sublime chassis flex ......at 51 mph .....
He's back ...!
Opinions are just like aHe's back ...!
holes, everyone has one. Spareparts is a top fellow who rides nicely. He has some nice toys and has probably done hundreds of laps of The Ring in cars and on bikes. As a result he is fairly well qualified to add his view.So he perhaps he got a little excited once on a bike review and laid himself open to some piss taking. I think the expression needed here is "Wind yer neck in" and let it go.
Chipchap said:
hebegb said:
Pushing the envelope with sublime chassis flex ......at 51 mph .....
He's back ...!
Opinions are just like aHe's back ...!
holes, everyone has one. Spareparts is a top fellow who rides nicely. He has some nice toys and has probably done hundreds of laps of The Ring in cars and on bikes. As a result he is fairly well qualified to add his view.So he perhaps he got a little excited once on a bike review and laid himself open to some piss taking. I think the expression needed here is "Wind yer neck in" and let it go.
Ps - no remote inference of negativity towards yourself , you are as credible as is possible , but please , do not ask / tell me how to respond / react to A N Other .. Especially this specimen !
Special - methinks ....
Im lost with the last couple comments (although the popcorn made me laugh) but Im sure I come out with enough crap to have people rip into me for years! Haha
Well from this post I am now sorting accomodation (doogalman) and a decent ride around the local roads, I've got a damn good understanding of how it all functions (Cappo) and Im just using good old google to work out the best way to get there which Im thinking Harwich to Hook of Holland. Ride to Harwich is only 55 miles but its over 220 miles once in Holland to Nurburgring so next bit is finding a decent route that'll make that ride fun. I cant stand motorways/freeways or anything else for long time if I can help it.
Lastly hows the law for speed once over there? I know of the autobahns and Im on an upright so 90-120mph will be cruising speed as it gets uncomfy if you go too much more after a while but are they hot on speed?
Well from this post I am now sorting accomodation (doogalman) and a decent ride around the local roads, I've got a damn good understanding of how it all functions (Cappo) and Im just using good old google to work out the best way to get there which Im thinking Harwich to Hook of Holland. Ride to Harwich is only 55 miles but its over 220 miles once in Holland to Nurburgring so next bit is finding a decent route that'll make that ride fun. I cant stand motorways/freeways or anything else for long time if I can help it.
Lastly hows the law for speed once over there? I know of the autobahns and Im on an upright so 90-120mph will be cruising speed as it gets uncomfy if you go too much more after a while but are they hot on speed?
CAPP0 said:
spareparts said:
The Ring is dangerous. But it's fully rideable and a lot of fun. Just ride to the conditions as always.. all the scaremongering though... need to grow some balls.
Have you been in the past 5 years? Read my original reply on here. It's nothing to do with growing a pair. I've done plenty laps, but even 15 years ago I always approached it with caution, trepidation and a little bit of gut churn. And it's nothing like it was, now. You only have to look at 308's video to see how the car drivers treat the bikes, and it's like that all day, every day.hebegb said:
Chipchap said:
hebegb said:
Pushing the envelope with sublime chassis flex ......at 51 mph .....
He's back ...!
Opinions are just like aHe's back ...!
holes, everyone has one. Spareparts is a top fellow who rides nicely. He has some nice toys and has probably done hundreds of laps of The Ring in cars and on bikes. As a result he is fairly well qualified to add his view.So he perhaps he got a little excited once on a bike review and laid himself open to some piss taking. I think the expression needed here is "Wind yer neck in" and let it go.
Ps - no remote inference of negativity towards yourself , you are as credible as is possible , but please , do not ask / tell me how to respond / react to A N Other .. Especially this specimen !
Special - methinks ....
As in real life, when strangers and yobs name call (eg, "prick" or "specimen" etc) and throw slurs to bait you in public, you either just walk away/ignore it or you take the bait. I'm choosing to walk away and ignore as HebeGB is clearly of that ilk. BikerBanter is generally some relief for some from the tedium of daily work/life, and some choose to be helpful and be nice people. Or some choose to be like HeBeGB by looting/starting fights at the local brewery as drunken idiots. The latter normally end up somewhere where you and I would rather not be.
Apologies to the OP for this thread diversion because of the local yobos. Go ride the Ring, but ride safe and fast. Tip - keep your line and remember that it is others responsibility to get round you safely.
Birky_41 said:
Lastly hows the law for speed once over there? I know of the autobahns and Im on an upright so 90-120mph will be cruising speed as it gets uncomfy if you go too much more after a while but are they hot on speed?
I drove to Nurburg from Berlin in the morning and it was light policing the whole way until I drove home from the track, then it was fairly well policed with some roads perhaps intentionally closed. Just get 10 miles out before you pin it. I found policing in general pretty light across Germany but I could have been lucky. I'd rather not fall foul of that famous German sense of humour though.
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