Tell me about Little Tally

Welcome to the track! Little Tally is a very abrasive track. Good grip wet or dry. It tends to be rough on tires and a heavy right hand will have you flipping your rear to swap direction. (It wears out on the left side) There are quite a lot of people that camp at the track and it is dog friendly. As far as buying the time, you should be fine booking a March Tally date in Jan. Have fun and see you there!

 

Welcome! Little Tally is great for your first track day!

All STT events ALWAYS have tire service available!

best,
t

 

Did my first track day weekend at Tally in 2005 with STT. Fun track, short, no elevation changes, but not easy. Have fun.

 

It’s a blast........And definitely the best track for a first timer IMO....

 

Yea I never been to Tally. From what I remember, either STT coach Eric or Kenny told me last season when I asked them about it, they said the surface is rough/grippy due to a mix of crushed sea shells/sand grid with the asphalt! Great grip but wears out tires quite fast. Depends on your pace, if your a slow fart like me, tires will last several trackdays there. If you are fast like the Advanced folks 1 or 2 days max. I'm thinking about going maybe in April 20th weekend.

 

At Novice pace, Q3s are a great option and should last several days even at Tally.

 

You will likely get 3-4 trackdays out of a Q3+ rear starting out (maybe more if pace is slower), and probably double that on the front. I run the Q3+ at Intermediate pace, on a 500ish lb bike that isn't really made for trackdays, and I myself weigh 220 lbs. My bike has the power of an R3 so I'm not ripping up the rear tire exiting corners or anything, but slowing down all that weight and carrying a good pace through corners is still hell on tires at Tally. Been really impressed with the Q3+ all around. One thing is for sure, after your first day, you will likely want to flip the rear tire before heading back to Tally again, unless you take it really easy the first day. You'll be able to decide after examining your rear tire wear at the end of the day.

I did 2 days back in the summer (peak crazy hot temps) on a new Q3+ rear, flipped it after the first day, then removed it after the 2nd day because I was going to Barber next and wanted a fresh tire on. I will likely put the old Q3+ back on after this rear wears out and get another 1-2 days out of it. Also, Barber is the shit. Tally is fun and great to start out on, and continue riding because it is cheap, but once you do a day or two there and sign up for a Barber day, prepare to double the fun. Barber is nearly a mile longer, has 80' of elevation change, with a mix of right and left hand turns so the tires wear evenly, and if I can get 3-4 days out of a rear at Tally, I bet I could get 6 or 7 at Barber! That new asphalt is awesome, I was surprised how little my tires were worn at the end of the day, and I rode all 7 sessions!

As for the rough patches you see in those videos at Tally, you can barely feel them. They will actually help you to better know where you are on the track in terms of following the race line. You'll use different patches of asphalt to locate yourself entering and exiting some of the corners. The only defect in the track that annoys me is the bump on the inside of turn 1 coming off the front straight. My suspension sucks and I could haul so much more ass through that turn if it were smooth. Need to pinch pennies and snag me some Ohlins junk! LOL

And lastly, I can't say enough good things about the Q3+ tires, it will likely be a long time before you need something better than those. Start out around 27 psi rear and 29 psi front cold pressure, that's what I run and have had great luck and wear. Hard carcass provides great feel and feedback and compound has more than enough grip at lean to run at Advance pace.

Good luck! I may be at Tally in March too, and also planning on doing Barber at the end of March too!

 

Happy New Year everyone! In regards to tires at Little Tally, Sportbike Tire Service will definitely be there to assist anyone who needs help. We mostly carry Michelin products, but can always get other tire brands for you if that is needed. Michelin is coming out with new products this year, including a Trackday tire that should be a very big "hit" with every track day rider. We also have some killer deals on the Michelin RS tires right now. Please reach out to me directly at 734-210-8859 to discuss our "super specials" for our STT members.

 

So what I have done this year in the hot months is pay the gate fee, go on into the track, look for an open power spot (near power pole with outlets), park, unload, then if I have time I ride my bike back up to the front shack where I paid gate fee, and pay them $20 for power for the day. Get there early and you shouldn't have a problem finding power and having time to go back and pay for it before tech inspection and riders meeting. Make sure you bring long enough ext cords. First time I went, I got a power spot and my cord wouldn't reach (screwed up and grabbed my 25' cord). Brought 2 cords the next time, but my longer one ended up reaching just fine.

Having a fan is a gamechanger. The first summer trackday at Tally I did this year, I suffered mild heat stroke, literally. I probably shouldn't have drove home at the end of the day. I was dizzy, completely exhausted, head throbbing, felt like I was dying LOL. Stayed hydrated all day, and sat under canopy all day, but just sitting there cooking in that suit and it in the mid 90's outside took its toll on me. The next one I did, pretty much same weather but I had my fan that day. Zero problems. 100x more enjoyable.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

Depends on the track. Most have some sort of power available but the number of plugins is not always high. Often times people who are serious about track days will invest in a generator to know they are always going to have power. Especially once you get to running warmers and electricity is more of a must.

For your first time if you can’t find power, ask around and I’m sure you could find a pit neighbor willing to let you plug a fan in to their generator. Fans don’t use that much power compared to warmers and other high draw devices.

Absolutely get out of your suit between sessions. I find that just getting my arms and upper torso out of my suit is enough, then I let the suit hang and hold it up with a belt. Cooling towels are also a great investment for the summer months. Putting something cool on your neck helps lower your temperature.

Lastly... STAY HYDRATED! You want to not only drink water that day after each session, you want to start drinking lots of water several days in advance. Before I realized that I would get really dehydrated by the end of the day, no matter how much water I drank. I realized I didn’t have the base level of hydration built up in advance. Since then I make it a point to drink lots of water in advance and haven’t had an issue.

 

I am a left leg below knee amputee and it sucks putting on/taking off my suit/boots with the way my prosthesis is, but even when I wasn't an amputee and doing trackdays 10 years ago, I always left my suit on all day except for the long break for lunch. It's just aggravating to me to have to change clothes pretty much between every session. Sometimes I just peel down the top of the suit, but most the time I just unzip the front and sit in front of fan.

And bring a cooler full of water AND Gatorade during the summer months. Gatorade contains sodium which helps with hydration. Drink a lot of both. You won't have an issue staying hydrated until its in the 90's outside.

 

Guy on here from ATL just posted a Honda generator for $450 in classifieds!