Track Cherry

So I've got my first trackway coming up on the 30th at Rockingham.

Bike's currently got some GB Engine case protectors on but wondered whether you boys would recommend getting upper and lower frame bungs, or whether they'd do more harm than good if the worst happened?

First day will all be about learning the track, progressively getting quicker and aiming to do all sessions to give myself plenty of time

I can easily recommend:

- Handlebar end sliders.

- Upper and lower frame sliders

- Front and rear axle sliders.

We all have our favorite brands ... I prefer Motovation. Mainly because I like the way their stuff works, but also because they are domestic and replacement parts are readily had. I have personally - ahem - "tested" all of their crash-protection products for the 990SD ( ). I am not in any way an agent for them; I don't even get a discount (but I should for as much of their stuff as I've purchased over the years ...). There are certainly other good brands that others here have "tested".

Unfortunately, unless you have a vendor able to overnight what you need - you don't have much time to get this stuff on before your trackday.

If there's one thing I recommend more than anything else in terms of equipment (a good helmet, boots, and gloves a given requirement) - are 1-piece leathers, with full back protection and a chest protector. Seriously - rent them if you have to. Believe me when I tell you I've seen people high-side in a 2-piece, and well after their collar bone, shoulder, etc. healed - the road rash pain and ugly persisted where the 2-piece split between pants and jacket.

All this about crashing: Always, always, always keep Rule #1 in mind: DON'T CRASH!

All of what SD Nerd said.

Plus:

* Go easy on the first two laps to let the bike and tyres get up to temperature.
* Consider dropping your tyre pressures a bit before your first session (depends very much on which tyre you're running, but I would have thought 2-3psi would be a safe bet on any tyre. Thereafter, set tyre pressures hot when you come in after the first session.
* Be careful to stay hydrated and to eat something. If you don't want to eat a full meal, snack between sessions.
* If you lose concentration, come in - better to cut a session short and get your head back together than to try and push through unforced errors and end up binning it.

Lastly enjoy it and prepare to start hurling huge amounts of money and time at riding around in circles once the addiction bites!

Best of luck, post back here and let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the advice.

Yes I'm not going to push myself too much and the reason behind wanting to try to do all sessions, was to spread the paces out over the day. Main plan is just to get there, take my time, learn the track and enjoy it. And not crash obviously.

Noted on the hydration and food front. Not a fan of monster etc, prefer the vitality of water

Back to crash protection, the bike does have R&G bar ends and axle sliders both ends (I overlooked those bits). The GB racing engine cases that came with the bike (unfitted) don't seem to have any fixings. Does the superduke set use the standard length bolts?

Heard rumours of Frame sliders digging into the grass after an off on track and doing more damage than good? Any troof in that? Used them on road bikes but just not on track.

PLUS, I'm running Pilot power 2CT's, Front is good, rear is a tiny bit squared and middle has a couple if mm above the wear indicator. Best to get a new one or shag the old one?

You should take a look at your track provider's requirements. Some require brand new tyres, some are more lenient. If you are planning on doing multiple days in a row, new tyres would be a prerequisite, IMO. The track is pretty hard on tyres.

FWIW, I've seen more crashes during the last session than any other session. I'm usually too beat to do the last session, so I typically skip it and start packing up to beat the crowd out. YMMV, but if you feel tired, don't push it.

As for whether sliders work, every crash is different. They can catch and cause a tumble. They can also work as intended. On average, I think they do more good than harm - especially in the case of a minor tip over.

One thing to keep in the back of your mind. A track day is not a race. There are no trophies. The best result you can achieve is to go home in one piece with a smile on your face. Have fun.

Yea I'm not too worried as it's only a day on track, but I've got a 100mile ride each way so think it's probably best to get a fresh hoop. I'm not tight but this one that's on there is borderline! Got a lot left of the sides but I'd rather have the piece of mind. Plus if we have some of our famous British sunshine, I might need to cut through the puddles.

Thanks for the wise words I think I'll get some uppers/lowers, again for piece of mind and take it easy on the last session, if I feel up for it that is.

Fun will be had and the only trophy I'm interested in is the gallon of beer at home afterwards

To add to all the above advice.

If it's your first time on track you will not sleep well and have butterflies in the morning that will get progressively worse. This is normal. Go to bed early and don't have a hangover

You will want to pee badly at briefing. This is normal.

Get there early as you can so you get a good place in the pits and have plenty of time to get your bike prepped and noise tested. You don't need the extra pressure of rushing or panicking before the briefing session.

Most of track day stuff is actually mental in my opinion. Get yourself in a good state of mind. You might feel that everyone else there are experts and you are the only novice. It's not true, nor does it matter. You are in control of everything you experience. Take your time and constantly take a deep breath and relax.

Use the sighting laps well, try and get at least three or four bikes behind the instructor, you will learn more.

ALWAYS, always use a few laps to warm your tyres up,! Ignore what anyone else does, they may be riding gods or have tyre warmers. Stick to your own rules and don 't get sucked into following people in front until you are actually keeping up, (or passing), them.

Get to know, "the red mist" if it effects you. if you feel you are riding faster than you want but feel superhero then pull in and readjust your expectations and be honest with yourself.

Also remember this. Your bike and tyres are better than you can ride it. It will stop faster, accelerate harder and most definitely go round corners better than you think possible. Have faith in it and explore it's capabilities. In my experience this is the thing that you will take home with you more than any other factor. Your respect for your bike and how well it will serve you will take your breath away. Just build up gradually and let your confidence grow in line with how well your bike inspires it.

It 's such a cliche but......ENJOY YOURSELF!

Oh, on the rear tyre question I would keep the tyre because a lot of the track wear will be on the sides and the center is not that much used so you can expect it to wear better than road riding. As long as it is not too square at the start you should be OK and save a bit of cash.

I always rode to and back from track days and in addition to the above advice I would add the following.

A diagram of the track printed out really helps. Looking at it between sessions lets you figure out what was going on and is a real aid at new tracks. I took one to each new track and was glad that I had every time.

Forget what is happening behind you. The two most common causes of grief for novices in my experience are freaking yourself out on corner entry by thinking you are going too fast, braking then running wide or crashing. As Bic said the bike is much more capable than most people riding it and you are much better off just lettkng it do its thing as undisturbed as possible. The other one is loss of concentration on whats in front by worrying about whats happening behind. Remove mirrors and forget what you can't see.

Try and relax, pray for dry weather and have fun

Forgot one thing...

Take care on the ride home, the combination of speed habituation and tiredness after a day at the track can make the ride back much more dangerous than the ride in.

It is great fun though, I'm sure you will have a bloody good day!!

Your riding to the track day event so that means that you cannot crash. I suggest that you trailer it next time so that you can crash. Crashing is an important part of a trackday experience and I would not want you to miss out on that. The truth is that you will go faster around the track at a safer feeling than the street and that will be enough to bring home on the first outing.
Enjoy and tell us all about it.

Quick update. I've got upper/lower protectors and some bolts for the GB Cases coming tomorrow. A new rear came today in the post which I'm fairly sure I'll leave off, as the rear on there at the moment looks like this:




Also, I've booked into a hotel 5 mins from the circuit so I can indulge in prostitutes and KFC the night before, without worrying about having to get up fooking early and ride for 2 hours to get there. Plus I had concerns about transporting the essential Nolimits cake all that way.

Apparently a bit of sunshine coming too, wouldn't that be special

Have you seen the size of some of the guys in NL leathers?

You'd be better off taking a salad bowl!

I'm about 70kg without gear. I'm competent fast road and comfortable with lean and touching down on both sides. I'm genreally quite light on brakes on the road but I'll need to be going faster than that on the track!

Tyres are tricky as I haven't done a track day before so no idea on wear rates It's Rockingham national layout which doesn't go on the bank. Looking at the onboards there's a lot of long corners with a couple of small straights, so not expecting speed to be massively high.

Still, I shouldn't overlook the 200 mile trip to get there and back aswell as the days abuse on circuit

I'm just going up on my own and don't know anyone else thats heading up, so I'll have to bring wot I got

Cheers Klinck - noted

Just looked at the forecast and it looks dry

You'll be amazed at how hard you can brake when the tyres are up to temp and the bike is upright. I wasn't very good on the brakes when I first started but love braking late and hard now. So much time to be gained there. If you find yourself having the get back on the gas to get to the apex you are braking too early. Make a note of this and next time try leaving braking a little bit later. TBH though it's your first day so unless you are super critical of yourself I'd just try and enjoy your first track experience and not worry too much about any mistakes you are making. I'm sure you will get the bug as it's bloody addictive.

Gents,

Firstly - I kept it upright, well sort of!

Report/pics to follow tomorrow when I'm back on dry land. One won't mean anything without the other!

I have smoked the trackday crack. And liked it very much.
More reports tomorrow.

Put the ball of your foot on the top of the peg.
As you are now you'll drag your toes when you start to go faster.

Great write up, thanks for posting up the pics.

Reads like a great day - nice pics too.

I know how that feeling of getting off the stupid streets is and all here have felt the same or similar. I cannot say that it happened on my first outing at a track, but it was not much past the first. Passing on the outside and judging from the pictures you either sandbagged the title a hieman or were missing your hymen to begin with. You look not cherryish and there is no doubt in my mind you will be back circulating that very track real soon.
Thanx for the write up and let it be an inspiration for you to read back on and the many more who will be deflowered from reading it.