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First track day. Advice needed.

Wisconsinite

Wisconsinite

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
132
Messages
923
Loc
Milwaukee, WI
So, I am doing a track day. I finally got approval to take my bike on the supermoto/kart track at road america. There is a 600cc limit for that track, and my bike is a 701(690). Any advice from your track day experiences would be great.

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That thing looks like a ripper on that tight track :cool2:

I keep fantasizing about one to plop in the truck to shuttle out to the farther rides to just ride the cool shit, then sit in the A/C on the way back rather than slabbing out interstate miles. Do want!
 
That track is gonna wear you out on that bike. :laughing: I’m surprised they even let 600s on that track.

Make sure everything is ready before you go. Look over your bike to make sure everything works properly and set up to go. Double check oil filter and drain plug tightness. Make sure chain is adjusted properly and lubed. Bring a tire gauge so you can adjust tire pressure before each time you go out. Don’t forget your key and gas.

Look at their rules to see if you have to remove mirrors and tape up lights. Make sure that is all done ahead of time. You don’t want to rush the morning of. A lot happens between gates open and go time. Being prepared will save you a lot of stress you don’t need. Being your first time, everyone there will help you out. Usually everyone is friendly.

Get good rest the night before, eventhough you’ll be nervous.

Try to be ahead of schedule. Arrive early, sign in early, tech early, first one at riders meeting and such. It’s better to be early than running behind.

Now. Relax. It’s just a track day. There’s no trophies and you are not going to break track record.:homer: It’s a long day. Your goal is to have fun and improve your skills. Check your big man testosterone at the door. That guy passed you, so what. You ride your ride. That guy passed you aggressively and dangerously, tell one of your instructors or staff. Shit like that kills a good track day.:mad3:

Hydrate hydrate hydrate. I know you are not as hot up there as we are down here, but you have to hydrate or your brain won’t think right. This means water or sports drinks. Although you won’t (shouldn’t) be running 100%, your brain will be running 100% concentration and it takes a lot out of you. Bring bananas, power bars and other energy foods. Nothing heavy. You can wolf dinner later as a victory dance.

Most importantly, have fun. :smokin:
 
Try and find a video of other bikes going around that track. Watch it over and over. This will help you learn the track, so there are no surprises when you get there.
 
Flexy. You still need to come down and run cota. Hell, I haven’t been on cota in 3 years now. I need to get the ducky going and run it again. Although I have more fun in the 300. Passing a liter bike in a turn on a 300 is still :smokin:
 
Hopefully this is an instructor/school based track day. Learning the flags, terminology and track etiquette are key when starting out. just that alone will keep you out of trouble and help you have a good day.

I’m glad you know your limitations and are willing to learn. Being a kart track will deter a lot of hooligans that have a lot more bike than talent, so that is a big plus. That kart track is going to be very technical, which is fun in my book.
 
^ This is non-instuctional. I am working with the head of the track day to get linked up with experianced riders. I even asked about lessons, and they don't have any....
 
Grumble grumble. Really hard to learn that way.

So new approach. What is your goal?

@ottoman needs to be in here
 
Yeah, I would love the opportunity to pay for a lesson, but right now at this track, it isn't an option.

Goal is to have fun and push the envelope a little bit in a safer envionment. I am in the middle of farm country, and twisty hilly winding roads are few and far between. This bike isn't a speed demon, so going fast in a straight line isn't exhilarating like on sports bike. Wheeling, loading docks, and stairs are fun, but I know it has corner carving abliity, I just lack the corners.

The track is 4 hours round trip, and with my little car, I should have ~$35-40 in fuel, track pass and everything is ~$55 bucks for 5 hours. I figure it will be a relatively inexpensive day trying something new with my bike.

Edit: goal is to wear the chicken strips off the rear. :lmao:
 
That track is definitely going to be tight. :laughing:


Always start in beginner. I had been riding liter bikes for over 15 years when I did my first track day. I figured like everyone else “I’ll make one round then asked to be bumped up to level 2”. Ya. You figure out real quick what skills you don’t have and what bad habits you do have. :homer:I did L1 (beginner) twice, before advancing to L2 (advanced). Stayed in L2 for about 2 years until I got my race license and can comfortably run in L3 (expert) even on a 300.


Hopefully in the riders meeting there is some sort of rundown on rules and such. Even something like signaling that you want to pit in, is a big deal.

I guess we are spoiled here. There’s 2 local track day organizations and both are classroom oriented with instructors available on request (no charge). Plus the instructors are out there with you on the track at all times and if they see something they signal you to pit in and have a chat. Could be “quick being a jackass” or “hey, move your body like this and it’ll make those corners a lot easier”.
 
Wisconsinite said:
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Edit: goal is to wear the chicken strips off the rear. :lmao:
Click to expand...
Chicken strips are funny. You can ride incorrectly and use up all the tire, or ride correctly and have chicken strips, until you don’t. Kind of the same with dragging a knee. You try really hard to drag a knee at first, then find out much better body positioning that kind of eliminates the knee dragging, until you get faster yet and drag your knee some more. :homer:

As you can see, I still have chicken strips on my rear tire, but you can tell that tire is giving it all it can.

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Steve300xcw said:
You couda got away..........
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In the middle of no where wisonsin, I porbably could have. But there would have been cops looking for a big monkey riding a black and fluro yellow dirtbike. It would not be ideal. Haha.

I was on the way to pick up a 9mm can that just got approved. Get to the FFL, turns out he is a sheriff, and is the ticket constable? I forget exactly what he said his position was, but he said any traffic ticket for the county goes across his desk. He said hit him up if I get a ticket.....:smokin:
 
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