Hints/help/tips for a trackday virgin
 

I'm going to do my first ever trackday this year at Croft and am looking for any help/advice/hints/tips from all the track day veterans on here.

My main concern is being cleaned out by some "have a go hero" approaching at warp speed from behind.

very very excited about it:bouncy:, but shitting bricks at the same time...:barfy:

:lol::lol::lol:

above all enjoy yourself and ride at your own pace.

specifically,

make sure your bike is in good condition, tyres, brakes etc.
remove or tape up your mirrors. you dont need to worry about whats going on behind you.

drop your tyre pressures to somewhere around 30/32.

take your time to learn the circuit, you have all day so take it easy.

drink plenty throughout the day and eat light snacks particulalry at lunch

Everything Dickie said,

Plus - most trackday companies also have instructors on hand, you could book a session to have them show you a few tips

Rob

At the risk of stating the obvious - It's totally different to riding on the road, and you therefore need to think differently.

I know some riders who are pretty quick and capable on the road and really can't get on with trackdays because they're too focussed on doing all the things they do on the road.

Not sure I have any great solutions to this other than being open-minded, but I second the advice to seek out an instructor and get some help from them.

I did 4 or 5 trackdays before seeking any advice, thinking that I'd appear really dim if I asked obvious questions without trying to answer them for myself first - it was only after getting a bit of expert help that I really realised how much fun these days are!!!

Go in deep, turn quickly, wind-on as soon as you've got the bike leaned over (but gently does it) and let the people behind you worry about what's behind you - keep to your chosen line and they'll work out where to go if they need to get past.

Have fun mate - it's why you bought a bike in the first place!

Giles

Everything Dickie and Rob say.

But don't be worried about getting mugged by really quick riders, unless you're starting in the fast group! A handy tip if you're worried about that would be to wear an orange bib, that way people should be polite enough to give you plenty of space. But in the novice and inters groups it really shouldn't be an issue.

Start slow and build up, ignoring what might be going on behind. Enjoy it, get home and get on the dog'n'bone to book a few more! Then get yerself a monster and enter DesmoDue next year!

MM76,

When are you planning on going?

I'm gonna see if the DSC Yorks region wanna go on 25th April.

We just book with the organisers but it is good to go with a few mates.

It's pretty rare for some hot head to take someone out as it were, but it's not unkown. If you ride round worried about who is behind you your riding will be CRAP. It helps if you can be consistent with your lines, most if not all companies have "instructors" who will show you round are a pace you are happy with.


I used to be paranoid about the same thing but now its mirrors off and that even after I had some EEEjit run into the back of me a year or so ago, (Not at Croft I hasten to add).

On the track everyone is heading in the same direction, usually!, no speed cameras, no one will pull out on you, and if the worst does happen help will be on hand, on the road you could lie in a ditch for ever!!

On that happy note enjoy it. Let us know when you are going,

Ray

Thanks for the words of wisdom!!

Ray, Going on the 25th April. There are 4 or 5 of us coming down from Newcastle.

Rock on the good weather!!!

Everything everybody else said, but remember...

On the road, you have bushes, trees, roadsigns and other traffic which give you a sense of how fast you're going. You know how fast 80 mph feels on a narrow road between high hedges right?

On the track, all of that disappears. You have a big wide open circuit, usually with big wide open run off areas and everything seems slower. So when you think you're going into a corner slowly, just be aware that you may be travelling faster than you think.

What they all said and...

Prepare, get a good nights sleep, eat a good but not huge meal and drink loads. You'd be amazed at how much it takes out of you so be careful when you ride home. My first TD was on the short and twisty half of Cadwell when they where re-surfacing; no rest at all during the track time. I was so spaced out on the way home (nearly 300 miles for me) I was goosed and nearly stuffed it twice.

Rgds, Rob

Thank you all for the helpful advice. There really ought ot be an "advice for trackday virgins" doc somewhere .. or maybe there is?

I am booked in at Cadwell on GOod Friday for my first track day. ONe thing I have learnt (from Rockhopper, thanks), is that on the road you go easy for 10 minutes to let your typres warm up. At least, you should do. ON the track you are only on for about 15 minutes or so in a session, so you would be spending a lot of the time warming them up. Tyre warmers were recommended to speed that process up - solong as they are good ones that get hot enough (Diamond are 1200W whereas Motrax are only 600W and MAY struggle). Also, check whether you will have garage space to plugin, or you will need a suitable generator (can hire those for the weekend of course).

I must add, I am not speaking from experience, just sharing some insight gleaned from this board in the past few week or so.

Cheers
Henry

'enry,

At cadwell we'll have 20 minute sessions (probably about 18 mins in reality), and it's only ever taken me a lap and an arf to get the tyres as hot as they're going be... that's about 3 minutes. No warmers. Depends what rubber you're using of corse!

Weaving about on the track doesn't tend to warm tyres very quickly... when the pro's do it they're probably trying to scrub off releasing agent rather than warm they rubber. Feeding power thru the back tyre, and fairly heavy on the front brake will convert energy to heat. Or just blag some tyre warmers!

Just my opinion of corse. Most important thing to remember is cakes and wine ;)

[Edited on 28-2-2005 by NBs996]

Hmmm .... should the cakes and wine go into the Track Day Newbies Guide that I was thinking of writing (from my own experiences and questions answered)

I have bought some tyre warmers now anyway. Wife decided that compared to the risk of falling off, it was a justifiable purchse.

Hey .. I shoudl have been a salesman! :sing:

Henry
P.S. Now I better make damn sure I don't low-side it anyway after all that! :o

Echo what Nick said. Haven't done that many track days, but never had the tyres give a mm in the dry no matter how silly I've been.

I also tend to take about 1.5 laps of a decent size track before getting up to pace, might not seem like much but there's always someone who comes off on the warmup lap. The ultimate muppet award!! :lol:

Remember, all the warmers in the world won't help much on a damp/wet track. Take care and keep it upright. :)

Cheers,

Ali

I want a wife like Henry's!
"But darling, magnesium wheels are SOOOO much safer!"

ok ok, I'm leaving.

Even though I had a spill trying to push a front 207RR too hard before it had warmed up properly, I'm not convinced about tyre warmers on track days unless you're ultra comitted.

First off, once you get the call for your group to muster, it's often enough of a faff trying to finish your pasty, stub your fag out, put your mobile away, get your jacket, lid and gloves back on and off to the pit lane without fiddling around with tyre warmers and gennies.

Then once you're in the pit lane or other holding area you can be there for five minutes with your nicely warmed tyres cooling off again.

As NBS says a few steady laps building the pace up gradually should see your tyres as warm as they're gonna be before too many laps are out. Depends on quite a lot of variables though, how long is the lap? How abrasive is the track? Is it a hot day or freezing cold? What type of tyres do you have - some take longer to warm than others? Let me tell you now that 207RR's take more than two and a half laps of Rockingham National on a chilly October morning.

Taking steady laps at the start of each session is what you should be doing as a track day virgin anyway isn't it?

I try and do 2 slow laps, then build the pace up gradually until I'm going for it around lap 5 (helps me warm up and get back into the flow as well). I find that I still get plenty of quick laps in - sometimes too many 'cos I'm knackered at the end of a session.

While we're talking about being knackered, most track day spills happen on the first session after lunch and the last session of the day. This is probably because digesting your lunch and the increased blood sugar levels makes you a little drowsy and combined with the fact that you're probably getting a bit cocky by now after the morning sessions. On the last session, beware the little voices inside your head telling you to put a banzai lap in because you'll have been working hard both physically and mentally by this point and you'll be more tired than you think.

Points taken.

Warmers are a done deed, so I will try them I guess. It might be that for early/late season they are an advantage, and any heat in the tyres will mean it takes less time to warm them up. I dunno. You might see them on eBay before the year's out .. or you might see them on a 600 in the Desmodue :)

Yes, I would be taking it easy as a track day virgin.

On the type of tyres, I am running Diablos on the 749.

:eureka: Now ... I wonder if wifey will let me race her Monster 620 in the Desmodue next year? Um darling ....

tyre warmers are well worthwhile imho.

from my own personal experience i get more confidence with them on, still have a slightly more gentle first lap to get in the rythm and let the bike 'settle' down but then i'm pretty much at my (very limited) maximum. if i get even 1 extra decent lap per session then thats and extra whole session per trackday or an extra whole trackday for every 7.
its very much a confidence thing. i know people who go much quicker than me on colder tyres but for now it works for me.

tyre warmers will also extend the life of your tyres by keeping the number of heat cycles to a minimum.

Warmers aren't just about getting the tyres hot tho... if they're left on between sessions they'll serve two purposes.
First they'll help keep the tyres withing a certain heat range all day, preventing the rubber degredation through heat cycles - heat cycles make a lot of difference when the tyres are at TRACK temp rather than riding-to-work temp;
and secondly, they'll heat up the wheel rims, thus providing an additional heat supply to the tyre whilst waiting in the collecting area.

So it's a perfectly good choice to get them warmers.

Last year I was rolling round on 208GP's, which heat up just by turning the engine on! Probably not a good choice for lots of road miles tho, but that's a different thread!

Ta. I feel a bit better about spending the dosh now. :)

I think the most dificult thing for me will be "geting a good night's sleep the nigt before", which was menioned up above somewhere. I'm excited, (and equally nervous) now and it's 4 weeks away!

Henry

yes it's all good fun. especially waiting to go out just before your first session.

they usually have revolving doors on the toilets for the first timers. :lol::lol::lol:

one things for sure we've all been there.

you'll love it.:D

One other thing, as well a taping up/removing mirrors tape up your speedo-you do not need to see how fast you are going-that way you can judge your corner entry speed by feel not some number on a dial.
Oh and if you are at Cadwell on Good Friday get WJB to show you round since he's
1/ good
2/ fast, and
3/needs the practice since we are racing there on the Sunday and Monday.........:lol:

John

Cheers fellas. I had wondererd about taping the speedo up as well. Most likely a good idea!!!

:sing::barfy::sing::barfy::sing::barfy::sing::barf y:

Henry, the motrax ones are 1200 watts because they are joined together and have only one plug. The Diamond ones are 600 watts each becasue they have individual plugs for each wheel. Same total heat. Motrax ones are poor quality comapred to the diamond ones (in my opinion)

Novice track days.....

http://www.biker-gifts.co.uk/track_day.htm

Have fun. Ive only done 1 but they are great fun. Dont worry as its safer than the road and as fast as you are. Relax and enjoy.Time really goes honest.:D:D

Ah OK. Didn't realise that (obviously). I had assumed that because the Motrax ones were said to be not as good that it was because they were lower temp/wattage. :)