I am attending my first track day in a couple weeks here and in preparation for it, I ordered a new brakes and S/S lines just to make sure that if anything, I can stop. I was wondering though, is it really necessary to upgrade to racing brake fluid such as ATE Super Blue or would just standard DOT 3 or 4 suffice for my occasional track day? I understand with a car that you are stopping alot of mass so the brakes tend to heat up alot but with a bike, there isn't all that much mass so is it really required to upgrade the fluid. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!!

 

DOT 4 will suffice IMO.

 

For your first track day? Only things I'd think you need to do are make it ready to pass the safety inspection for the track.

It'll be your first day at the track. You won't be on her that hard. Nor are they likely to let you be on her that hard. Most reputable tracks require riders new to them to be in their intro group, which restricts what you can do while they eval you. So track level upgrades would likely be wasted. Just make sure everything is in working order.

Upgrading your bike for the track may be premature anyways. You may do the one track day and decide you don't like it. Or you may go and decide you love it so much you want to get a dedicated track bike, while keeping your street bike as it is.

 

You doing overkill by replacing lines and pads "just to be sure it will stop". A simple inspection of your current setup would be fine. Dot3 is car only, don't use it in your bike. And to answer your question no, 'racing' brake fluid is not even close to being needed.

 

+1. DOT 4 all you need. OEM pads, etc. Nothing special for first track days.

 

This^^^^^. I would suggest just running your oem pads if they are not worn out. Race pads are great for the track, but not as good as oem for the street. They require heat to work at their best, where oem pads do not require heat to work their best. Initial bite is better with oem pads, where continously braking, the race pads will eventually exceed oem pads. But on the street, most of your braking is initial braking since you don't brake often enough to keep the heat in them.

Set your bike up for where it will be used the most. From the sounds of it, your bike will spend most of its time on the street, so set it up accordingly. "race" parts do not equal better. They are specific for certain conditions, and the street does not warrant race parts. And honestly, the occasional track day does not require race parts either.

 

As long as you have fresh DOT4 fluid, you'll be fine for your first track day.

Now after you get hooked and start pushing those braking markers further forward, then you can start worrying about brake fade.

Welcome to the addiction.