Track Day advice

[8IKERDAVE]

Having never done one of these and always wanted to, I was gifted one for my birthday quite recently. I absolutely cannot wait but as a track day virgin I wondered if anyone had any advice. My wife will be coming along and taking the car so she will be bringing a couple of jerry cans of fuel, paddock stands, basic tools etc. I have 1 piece leathers, good lid, gloves etc so no concerns there.

First question is which group to go in? Obviously I'm swaying to the novice group, but I am a fairly quick road rider so if I find myself wanting to move up a group is this typically easy enough to do or are you stuck in the group you sign up to? Not saying this will happen, I might be the dithering around holding everyone up but just need to know my options really.

Breakdown cover - It appears the AA will cover me on track days which I found odd but they don't cover me if I bin it so I'm thinking of some track day insurance. Any recommendations there?

[robinh73]

Firstly, well done, you will love it! Main thing is to make sure your bike is all ok, chain lubed up, headlamps taped up, mirrors folded in or removed if possible, speedometer taped over and possibly the most important thing, check your tyres. At this stage don't worry about the tyre type you have on (more road focused/track focused etc.) but make sure they have plenty of life in them. In terms of tyre pressures, check these on the day with whoever is there supplying tyres or use a Facebook group/here to ascertain the correct track pressure for whatever tyre it is you are running.
You seem to have mentioned everything else, tyre warmers aren't necessary for your first track day. Certainly if you take to it and want to do more, then they are a must, but at this stage they will not be of any real benefit and just add complication. Take a pump for tyres and a decent quality tyre pressure gauge too.
Novice group is the best bet to start with, regardless of how quick/slow you are on the road. You need to learn how to ride the circuit, use all the track etc and this is best done without people hooning past either side of you. My advice is to do the morning session in the novices and then if you feel happy enough, see if there is space in the inters group. If not, don't fret, use the time to build up pace and enjoy it. And that really is probably the most important bit, enjoy it. It is just the best way to ride a bike, out on track, no obstacles, no traffic, no speed limits etc. Just take time to learn and speak to the instructors and tyre guys, they are there to help and make your day enjoyable.

[dibblecorse]

Oh dear .....

And onto the slippery slope he steps ....

Be prepared for the following if you enjoy it:

1. Your wife regretting what she has unleashed
2. Man Maths will get you a trackbike
3. Trackdays will empty your wallet
4. You'll be on 1st name terms with your tyre supplier
5. You will want a van, again, use Man Maths, its a bit like flu, they don't get it ...
6. Getting bored with UK circuits and weather, start doing Euro days ... again, Man Maths is your weapon ....

The list is endless.

Some good advice from Robin above, I'd say don't go even thinking about the Inters group, unless you are ridiculously quick / clean on the road, you'll get buzzed even in that group, just build up slowly, if there is instruction available, there usually is, then get yourself some, I'd suggest session 2 or 3 would be good as most of session one will be spent on sighting laps ....

Best piece of advice I can give is breathe .... and chicken wings (not the KFC variety) the relaxed arms variety, if you cant flap your arms whilst holding the bike on the move, you are too stiff, so chicken wings and breathe ..... chicken strips you can sort during the day ..... or on the way home if there is a KFC ...

Most of all, just enjoy it ....

Out of idle curiosity, what you riding ?

[Harry H]

dibblecorse said:

Some good advice from Robin above, I'd say don't go even thinking about the Inters group, unless you are ridiculously quick / clean on the road, you'll get buzzed even in that group, just build up slowly, if there is instruction available, there usually is, then get yourself some, I'd suggest session 2 or 3 would be good as most of session one will be spent on sighting laps ....

This

It's all about the rhythm. Smooth is fast and all that. Most of the accidents are billy big bks giving it the full beans early on. Even when you know the circuit don't go mental lap 1. Relax, settle down and build the speed.... then go hunting the ragged rider that hasn't done his ground work.

[Esceptico]

My advice? Cough up the extra to rent a bike rather than riding your own.

Advantages:

- bike prepped and looked after all day
- no worries about scrutineering
- normally bikes for hire are ideal for circuit riding e.g. sports 600
- you can drive to the circuit (and more importantly drive back afterwards when you are tired)
- if you drop it then cost is limited to the hire fee plus excess

Yes it costs more upfront but when you factor in wear and tear to your bike and the risk of loss then I think for a one off it makes it more enjoyable.

Taking your own bike on track can be expensive...as I found to my cost this year (ironically almost all the track days I've done I rented and this was the first time in almost 20 years I've ridden my own bike on track!)

Of course, if you get the track day bug and do lots per year then investing in a track bike with trailer is probably the best approach

[trickywoo]

Esceptico said:

Stuff

I'd second that.

You would need a lot of confidence to enjoy it on your own bike when you see people crashing around you.

I did my first trackday this summer and went in the novice group thinking I was fast enough to cruise round well within my limit and still not get in anyone's way.

Wrong. There were plenty of guys with dedicated track bikes, warmers with slicks etc in the novice group. I guess because the faster groups were all booked up.

They won't hesitate to buzz you. Three guys out of 30 crashed in the first session, I think four in the second, which is quite good going considering they red flag it with one crash.

I was at Brands Indy and a couple of people crashed on the little straight after Graham Hill in a three bike melee right in front of me.

One guy who was there with his Mrs and little kid ended up having them help him sweep the remains of his bike into a van 30 minutes in.

As you may have guessed I didn't have a great time.

If I was doing it again I'd either hire a bike or have a max £2k track bike and a van. The consequences of binning the bike you rode there on, possibly through no fault of your own, is daunting. Really brings it home when some poor soul comes up to you asking if you have any duct tape so they can try and cobble their bike together for the ride home.

[Berz]

trickywoo said:

Esceptico said:

Stuff

Stuff

Scaremongering much

If you're riding your road bike you will want to look after it, which means you're less likely to go all Billy big balls and crash. So you've saved £250 on bike hire and learned a lot of useful stuff* about your road bike.

Some days just seem to have loads of crashes and some hardly have any. Weather probably plays more of a part in it than whether you are riding your bike or someone else's.

Main piece of advice I'd give is to make sure you get your tyres warm. If you're slow like me give it at least a lap before going for the big lean.

*Admittedly some of that will depend on how long you've been riding. For me I had only just passed my test and hardly touched the roads before starting trackdays on an old trackday bike, so when I DID take the road bike on a trackday it was kind of a revelation.

[trickywoo]

Berz said:

Scaremongering much

Just saying what I saw. I can't imagine that all the people who crashed thought that was what was going to happen when they left the house.

A few of the crashes were caused by other people and my direct experience was that the trackday organisers weren't too bothered about really fast people being in the novice group and buzzing less experienced riders way too close.

[Harry H]

trickywoo said:

Just saying what I saw. I can't imagine that all the people who crashed thought that was what was going to happen when they left the house.

A few of the crashes were caused by other people and my direct experience was that the trackday organisers weren't too bothered about really fast people being in the novice group and buzzing less experienced riders way too close.

I think you need to name and shame the organiser as that sound terrible.

Have to say though it has changed over the years. When I first started virtually everyone turned up on pretty average road bikes. These days there's a lot more vans with fully prept bikes, warmers, wets the lot. Not convinced the skill level has necessarily increased that much though.

[Esceptico]

Berz said:

trickywoo said:

Esceptico said:

Stuff

Stuff

Scaremongering much

If you're riding your road bike you will want to look after it, which means you're less likely to go all Billy big balls and crash. So you've saved £250 on bike hire and learned a lot of useful stuff* about your road bike.

Some days just seem to have loads of crashes and some hardly have any. Weather probably plays more of a part in it than whether you are riding your bike or someone else's.

Main piece of advice I'd give is to make sure you get your tyres warm. If you're slow like me give it at least a lap before going for the big lean.

*Admittedly some of that will depend on how long you've been riding. For me I had only just passed my test and hardly touched the roads before starting trackdays on an old trackday bike, so when I DID take the road bike on a trackday it was kind of a revelation.

Of the friends I know that do or have done bike trackdays...they have all crashed at some point or another (some more than once). I wouldn't say any of them were billy big balls types. One guy is super careful. He got knocked off by someone else. st happens and it is easy for your talent and/or luck to run out.

[trickywoo]

Harry H said:

I think you need to name and shame the organiser as that sound terrible.

Have to say though it has changed over the years. When I first started virtually everyone turned up on pretty average road bikes. These days there's a lot more vans with fully prept bikes, warmers, wets the lot. Not convinced the skill level has necessarily increased that much though.

It was Brands and one of the top two trackday organisers.

I was very much in the minority having a road bike ridden to the track.

There was a foreign guy signing on in front of me, in the novice group, complaining his race truck was too big to get into the pit area. Guy behind the counter just said make sure you show respect to the other people on the track. He didn't.

I wouldn't do a trackday on a bike I needed to ride home based on that experience.

[robinh73]

Harry H said:

trickywoo said:

Just saying what I saw. I can't imagine that all the people who crashed thought that was what was going to happen when they left the house.

A few of the crashes were caused by other people and my direct experience was that the trackday organisers weren't too bothered about really fast people being in the novice group and buzzing less experienced riders way too close.

I think you need to name and shame the organiser as that sound terrible.

Have to say though it has changed over the years. When I first started virtually everyone turned up on pretty average road bikes. These days there's a lot more vans with fully prept bikes, warmers, wets the lot. Not convinced the skill level has necessarily increased that much though.

At the start of my race season or before a big race meeting, I would use trackdays to run the bike in and make sure it was all tickety boo before the main event. Sometimes, the organisers would put me in the slow group as there was no space available elsewhere. I didn't feel that it was fair on the guys and gals in that group as it can be a tad unnerving having a bike make a normal race type move, on someone who wasn't used to dealing with it. I did behave as much as possible, but sometimes you came across a slower rider mid corner and had to carry on past them.
However, I wouldn't let this sort of thing worry the OP. Just focus on what you are doing, relax and enjoy it.

[Biker's Nemesis]

robinh73 said:

I did behave as much as possible, but sometimes you came across a slower rider mid corner and had to carry on past them.

How does that happen? With your race experience you will have judged the amount you were gaining on them into the corner.

Sounds like a frustrated racer spoiling someone novice trackday.

[robinh73]

Biker's Nemesis said:

robinh73 said:

I did behave as much as possible, but sometimes you came across a slower rider mid corner and had to carry on past them.

How does that happen? With your race experience you will have judged the amount you were gaining on them into the corner.

Sounds like a frustrated racer spoiling someone novice trackday.

There are corners such as turn one at Anglesey where the exit is hidden. It is a fast 3rd gear corner and the option of braking isn't there, so it has been a question of running past the person. I wouldn't say it was from a frustrated racer point of view, as the last thing I had been there to do was ruin someone else's day. In the same way that I was not running at race pace, just faster than the novice group. It has happened with a friend at Oulton when he rode in BSB, he was put out into the novice group to get some track time.

[ar-em-en]

I'd definitely prepare for the addiction to start, I did a day a couple of months ago with 3 friends who hadn't been before, all three are now oggling track bikes and planning multiple days next year.

I did my first 3 trackdays on my road bike riding to the track on my own and not knowing anyone there, admittedly I did run off track on the 3rd day and bought a track bike to have something more expendable but the running off track was entirely my own fault and the bike stayed up right.

Trackdays obviously can be risky, just be prepared that there might be quicker/more confident people in Novice rightly or wrongly. I'd just mentally prepare that you might have somebody overtake closely or quickly but other than that just focus on what you're doing and allow yourself a margin for error, build your speed and enjoy yourself, trackbike or no trackbike that's what it's all about. It'll be a new environment to ride in so acknowledging this and riding accordingly is common sense and you'll enjoy the day more. Likewise don't carry any preconceptions of speed, trackdays are quicker than road riding and completely different so don't be harsh on yourself if you're not the quickest/most confident in the group.

As for your bike just make sure the basics are there (tyres in decent condition with good life in them, chain adusted and lubed, meat on the brake pads, oil and fluids ok) then just drop your tyre pressures to 30 psi each and head off and have fun, allowing them to warm up.

I've done plenty of days although I'm still very slow but it's the best feeling in the world, I've been passed closely and not been chuffed about it but it hasn't ended my day or frightened me off. You'll have a blast.

What bike do you have?

[mckeann]

The last Uk Trackday of the year was today at Oulton park, so you have a whole winter to work out what’s the right thing to do

[ar-em-en]

robinh73 said:

It has happened with a friend at Oulton when he rode in BSB, he was put out into the novice group to get some track time.

Apologies but are you saying you don't book on in the same way normal folks do and pick a group? Is it a case of you just turning up and get squeezed in due to being familiar with the organiser?

[8IKERDAVE]

Thanks all some great advice there I’ll be saving this and reading all over again before the day.

I’m on an old ZX6R which was actually a track bike before I bought it 3 years ago. Not the cutting edge of technology but certainly fit for purpose. I’ve already considered the fact that if I love it I might turn it into a track bike and buy something else for the road. Glad the wife’s not on here

[NS400R]

trickywoo said:

It was Brands and one of the top two trackday organisers.

I was very much in the minority having a road bike ridden to the track.

There was a foreign guy signing on in front of me, in the novice group, complaining his race truck was too big to get into the pit area. Guy behind the counter just said make sure you show respect to the other people on the track. He didn't.

I wouldn't do a trackday on a bike I needed to ride home based on that experience.

^ This.

I used Focused Events for my first track day. Got buzzed silly at Oulton Park in Novices. Most were on dedicated track bikes with number boards! Not good, so I got slower and slower through the day. Needless to say, I avoid them like the plague. Next track day I used No Limits at Caldwell. Completely different. Great day, no dick heads, good tuition. Came away very chuffed. Another good alternative is the Ron Haslam school. Great tuition, but expensive.

[robinh73]

ar-em-en said:

robinh73 said:

It has happened with a friend at Oulton when he rode in BSB, he was put out into the novice group to get some track time.

Apologies but are you saying you don't book on in the same way normal folks do and pick a group? Is it a case of you just turning up and get squeezed in due to being familiar with the organiser?

No it is exactly the same process, it is just that my friend had a new bike delivered and needed to get some track time before the first race of the season. His team booked the track day last minute so the only space free was in the novice group.