Hi All! I'm super excited to try and get on the track next year, and I have a million questions. I have owned several bikes over the past 15 years (with a hearty break in the middle during the baby making years) and I've gotten ~30k on odometers combined (20k of that in the last couple). Been "following" STT on facebook for a couple years with the dream of doing it, and this past summer I took the week long trip to the souther appalachians and the twistys down there gave me the itch to finally pull the trigger. With winter to buy/get things around I wanted to get in front of the ball and start prepping now. It sounds like I can rent leathers, is this day of or a pre-reserve? Looking at gingerman once dates go live, others near the Indiana/Michigan/IL border probably too, I can't imagine I'm not going to love it immediatly. I have an EX250 with fresh pirelli's... Has the air intake pod mod done by previous owner, any issues around this bike? Also have my FZ8 that's my daily, as it's quite a bit peppier and I'm way more comfortable on it I might just start off with it? Already own a trailer to cart bike/bikes to/from Where's the list of "requirements" to be done to the bikes before getting to the track (tape, wire tying, etc) Assuming Novice slow is the best place to start? I might be ok Novice fast group? I don't know what to ask about what I don't know, help!
I can tell you this, if riding southern mountain curves got you fired up to try a trackday, it may be a good idea to go ahead and buy a set of leathers, because it's unlikely you'll do one trackday and be done. LOL. I've just recently gotten back into trackdays after 10 years off. Here's what I bought, good gear that will last me a while, but didn't break the bank. Cortech Latigo 2.0 RR 1 pc leather suit. $600 from Sportbike Track Gear - fits great, quality suit. Cortech Latigo Air RR race boots. $90 on Ebay used in mint shape, new they would have been $179.99. Great fit, decent boot, especially for the money. Cortech Latigo 2 RR long gloves. $50 from a friend, new would have been $90. Affordable, quality glove. Pretty true to size, but runs a little tight. Alipinestars Nucleon KR-cell back protector. $99 from Sportbike Track Gear. And I already had a helmet, of course, as I'm sure you do too. BIKE PREP: As for bike prep, it's not required, but go ahead and remove your mirrors. No sense in leaving them on and taping them up when it's easy enough to remove. Plus the more you can remove, the less parts to damage in the unfortunate event of a crash. Tape over or remove any glass/lenses like headlight, tail light, and blinkers. I use painters tape because it comes off without residue. I tape my headlight up and then remove the headlight fuse. If the headlight is on all day, it is likely to "cook" the tape adhesive to the lens. My tail light is completely removed each time I go to the track. Good idea to remove light fuses regardless if they are easy to get to. Remove passenger pegs, or just fold them up and zip tie them closed. Duct tape over your wheel weights on your wheels. Other than that, just make sure everything is in good working order, like firm brake/clutch lever feel, plenty brake pad thickness, and be sure your tires are in good shape. You don't want to be riding on tires with big flat spots in the center from road riding. I am a big fan of the Dunlop Q3+ tires, they grip good and wear good, and are among the cheaper options out there for track use. Highly recommend them. EDIT: forgot you said you had fresh Pirellis. Should be good on tires. You don't have to safety wire anything or change your antifreeze for Novice group, so doing all of the above mentioned items, you should be good to go. And yes, your first track day, you 100% will need to ride in Novice group. You will learn a lot in the classroom sessions, they will guide everyone around the track in the first sessions to make sure you get familiar with the "race line" on the track, and how to properly enter/exit the track. I think you will love it, just don't get over zealous and get in a hurry with anything. My first trackday back in 2008, I was young and wide open. First time they turned us loose to ride at our own pace, I didn't even make 1 full lap and crashed out on the back side of the track at Barber due to poor body form. Ask any questions you have here and I and any others will answer them. The instructors at each trackday are extremely helpful and they WANT to help you, so you will not feel lost or anything at the track. It will be one of the most enjoyable experiences on 2 wheels you've ever had. Good luck!
As for which bike to start on, that's totally up to you. Ninja 250 is certainly not a bad choice for a beginner track bike. You won't have to worry about slowing down as much going into turns as if you were on the peppier FZ8. But if you really prefer the FZ8, I'm sure you could keep it under control for the day until you get comfortable with moving around the track on your own among traffic (other riders). There's a mix of everything on track, you could have loads of fun on either. It may not be a bad idea to do your first day on the Ninja 250 and then use your judgement from there on when to bring the FZ8 to the track.
yes start in novice depending on speed coach's will move you to a faster or slower group. you'll learn a lot in our novice program most poeple stay in novice a few days before bumping to intermediate. Tracks are plentiful in this area Grattan by far my favorite , gman ,acc (South of chicago) ,putnam (outside of indy) ,black farms road america (north of chicago southern wisconsin) You must pre reserve you leather rental to be sure they have the correct size at the track. You will need a full face non modular helmet thats not damage, gauntlet gloves and boots that cover your ankle. Carver covered the bike stuff personally i might chose the 250 over the fz the stock rear shock looks like a pogo stick at grattan but what ever your comfortable with might be best. link for tech as you go faster https://www.sportbiketracktime.com/index.php?_route_=tech-requirements check out sportbike track gear and also motorcycle closeouts you can often score bargains on entry level gear in the off season. if your near grand rapids mc powersports also has deals for locals Bring water a chair , cash and most importantly a open mind to try things
how many track days do you guys do a year? I'm just trying to see if I can justify going all in on buying a track bike, trailer, equip etc. always wanted to do this been riding canyons on sports for decades but about to be a empty nester and looking to get on the track. thanks jmack
Just getting back into it, I did my first track day in 10 years this past August at Tally, just a single day. Another single day at Tally last month (Sept). Not going any in Oct. Going to Barber for a single day in November and probably also a single day at Tally in November to close out the year. I've only done a weekend (2 days in a row) once, back in the day around 2009. I may be different than most, but I get my fix in one day at the track, besides I really don't have the free time to commit to 2-3 days at the track. I work full time, part time student, and have a family, so I have to juggle my time wisely. In a full year, I figure I will do somewhere around 7-8 single track days. Maybe more depending on how the track day dates fall. I would be going this month, but there are no Tally dates for October and Barber sold out before I could commit to going.
do you have a bike currently? if so tape the lights and come ride....Seriously all my bikes are still 100% street legal and i have been riding trackdays since 2010. There no need or requirement to have a track only bike sometimes you can get a full dressed not street legal bike for less but if you currently own one just come and ride. you can even rent leathers for the first day if you don't own any. come learn what it feels like. I became Staff as a on track coach for stt 3 years ago i ride a ton of days every year. Fyi look for black Friday specials on the membership and loyalty cards
Awesome! This is my first year back riding with STT after 10 years off, so I'm not up to speed on all the things to watch out for. I will be watching come black Friday!
Looks like you've got some good advice from others but I figure I'll throw my 2 cents in, seeing as I just did my first track day about a month ago on my 2012 FZ8. DO IT! Go get on the track ASAP. I shoulda done it years ago. After half a day I realized it might be perfect for a first track day for a couple reasons. first is that it's got a real nice wide power band, so there's a lot less shifting necessary. This allows you to really concentrate on your cornering. Another thing that I liked is that it's pretty heavy and Abit lunky compared to full-blown sport bike. Which sounds bad, but I think that might have been good because it means you gotta work harder and get your body possition working more than you would otherwise. Taping up the head & tail light was challenging with all the angles and nooks. Anyway, have fun and hope to see you out there
Do it, you wont regret it. Like mentioned, just tape up the bike you have, no need to worry about a track-only bike right now. Tape doesn't have to be pretty. My first trackday I used the painters tape and edged it all neatly with a box cutter. By my 5th trackday I just slathered tape on and loaded the bike. No one cares how good the tape job looks, just that it covers all of you lights. I also rented leathers my first trackday. While it was convenient, it also taught me that I wanted my own leathers. I have the Sedici suit, Cycle Gear's house brand and I think they are a well made budget suit. I also own a set of AGV leathers and prefer the Sedicis. I have a Built back protector from Cycle Gear as well as their boots and gauntlet gloves. I think they compare well to the other entry level/budget brands. And I've seen it all crash tested.