1st Track Day Experiences
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From: Meridian, MS
RE: 1st Track Day Experiences
on the track you hang off the bike any time your in a corner, the whole point is to move your center of gravity so you can carry more speed per lean angle of the bike
there are very very few times on a race track you don't need to lean off while turning the bike, a kink in the middle of a straight or a slight bend before a hard turn, in those cases your usually fully tucked in or setting up for the next real corner
for example the back straight at Road Atlanta bends to the right as you reach top speed (kinda nerve racking the first time you do it lol), now its not an actual corner but the bike does lean. If you tried to lean off the bike then, you'd be destroying the aerodynamics to gain nothing so you'd lose a lot of time.
as far as technique, most of the time new track riders think they're leaning way off when they're not. I'd say more often than not at least, so really exagerate your body positioning for the first few trackdays while you figure out your own style. The basics are ***** of feet on pegs, butt and upper body off to the inside, with your outside arm resting on the gas tank (not "resting" exactly but the inside of your elbow should be close to the center of the gas tank). I like to "kiss the mirrors", meaning keeping your head low to the inside, leading with your inside shoulder. Some like to keep their head a little higher for a sense of balance but that never really seemed an issue to me
your shouldn't need to stick your knee out, if your leaning off the bike and riding with the ***** of your feet on the pegs, it will scrape the ground with any real lean angle. Most use it to judge how far they can lean, thats about all its good for (Rossi might can save a front end slide using his knee on the ground but us mere mortals usually aren't nearly that good).
If your doing everything else right, the knee will just be there. Remember dragging a knee is an effect, NOT a cause and definitely shouldn't be a primary goal.
here is a comparo pic of my first trackday and when I learned how to do it right, same corner, same bike(note: both pics were in NESBA's beginner group)
the lean angle of the bike itself is about the same but just getting off the bike allowed me to carry a LOT more speed through the corner without pushing the tires as hard and it also makes it easier to control the bike because you can actually feel what its doing through the footpegs and clip-ons and your able to react a lot faster. If your just sitting on top of the bike, your weight won't be on the pegs and you will probably be putting more weight than needed on the clip-ons which adds unnecessary steering input so you really can't feel exactly what the bike is doing, which can easily lead to a crash that you didn't even know was coming. You may feel your only riding at 80% or so but the tires are at 100% and you won't be able to feel when they cross that line until its too late and your sliding across the track trying to figure out what the hell just happened
so just keep with it, do a school if you can and get some practice
there are very very few times on a race track you don't need to lean off while turning the bike, a kink in the middle of a straight or a slight bend before a hard turn, in those cases your usually fully tucked in or setting up for the next real corner
for example the back straight at Road Atlanta bends to the right as you reach top speed (kinda nerve racking the first time you do it lol), now its not an actual corner but the bike does lean. If you tried to lean off the bike then, you'd be destroying the aerodynamics to gain nothing so you'd lose a lot of time.
as far as technique, most of the time new track riders think they're leaning way off when they're not. I'd say more often than not at least, so really exagerate your body positioning for the first few trackdays while you figure out your own style. The basics are ***** of feet on pegs, butt and upper body off to the inside, with your outside arm resting on the gas tank (not "resting" exactly but the inside of your elbow should be close to the center of the gas tank). I like to "kiss the mirrors", meaning keeping your head low to the inside, leading with your inside shoulder. Some like to keep their head a little higher for a sense of balance but that never really seemed an issue to me
your shouldn't need to stick your knee out, if your leaning off the bike and riding with the ***** of your feet on the pegs, it will scrape the ground with any real lean angle. Most use it to judge how far they can lean, thats about all its good for (Rossi might can save a front end slide using his knee on the ground but us mere mortals usually aren't nearly that good).
If your doing everything else right, the knee will just be there. Remember dragging a knee is an effect, NOT a cause and definitely shouldn't be a primary goal.
here is a comparo pic of my first trackday and when I learned how to do it right, same corner, same bike(note: both pics were in NESBA's beginner group)
the lean angle of the bike itself is about the same but just getting off the bike allowed me to carry a LOT more speed through the corner without pushing the tires as hard and it also makes it easier to control the bike because you can actually feel what its doing through the footpegs and clip-ons and your able to react a lot faster. If your just sitting on top of the bike, your weight won't be on the pegs and you will probably be putting more weight than needed on the clip-ons which adds unnecessary steering input so you really can't feel exactly what the bike is doing, which can easily lead to a crash that you didn't even know was coming. You may feel your only riding at 80% or so but the tires are at 100% and you won't be able to feel when they cross that line until its too late and your sliding across the track trying to figure out what the hell just happened
so just keep with it, do a school if you can and get some practice
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Joined: Dec 2006
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RE: 1st Track Day Experiences
ORIGINAL: woodyracing
1.
on the track you hang off the bike any time your in a corner, the whole point is to move your center of gravity so you can carry more speed per lean angle of the bike
there are very very few times on a race track you don't need to lean off while turning the bike, a kink in the middle of a straight or a slight bend before a hard turn, in those cases your usually fully tucked in or setting up for the next real corner
2for example the back straight at Road Atlanta bends to the right as you reach top speed (kinda nerve racking the first time you do it lol), now its not an actual corner but the bike does lean. If you tried to lean off the bike then, you'd be destroying the aerodynamics to gain nothing so you'd lose a lot of time.
3.
as far as technique, most of the time new track riders think they're leaning way off when they're not. I'd say more often than not at least, so really exagerate your body positioning for the first few trackdays while you figure out your own style. 4.The basics are ***** of feet on pegs, butt and upper body off to the inside, with your outside arm resting on the gas tank (not "resting" exactly but the inside of your elbow should be close to the center of the gas tank). I like to "kiss the mirrors", meaning keeping your head low to the inside, leading with your inside shoulder. Some like to keep their head a little higher for a sense of balance but that never really seemed an issue to me
your shouldn't need to stick your knee out, if your leaning off the bike and riding with the ***** of your feet on the pegs, it will scrape the ground with any real lean angle. Most use it to judge how far they can lean, thats about all its good for (Rossi might can save a front end slide using his knee on the ground but us mere mortals usually aren't nearly that good).
If your doing everything else right, the knee will just be there. 5. Remember dragging a knee is an effect, NOT a cause and definitely shouldn't be a primary goal.
here is a comparo pic of my first trackday and when I learned how to do it right, same corner, same bike(note: both pics were in NESBA's beginner group)
so just keep with it, do a school if you can and get some practice
1.
on the track you hang off the bike any time your in a corner, the whole point is to move your center of gravity so you can carry more speed per lean angle of the bike
there are very very few times on a race track you don't need to lean off while turning the bike, a kink in the middle of a straight or a slight bend before a hard turn, in those cases your usually fully tucked in or setting up for the next real corner
2for example the back straight at Road Atlanta bends to the right as you reach top speed (kinda nerve racking the first time you do it lol), now its not an actual corner but the bike does lean. If you tried to lean off the bike then, you'd be destroying the aerodynamics to gain nothing so you'd lose a lot of time.
3.
as far as technique, most of the time new track riders think they're leaning way off when they're not. I'd say more often than not at least, so really exagerate your body positioning for the first few trackdays while you figure out your own style. 4.The basics are ***** of feet on pegs, butt and upper body off to the inside, with your outside arm resting on the gas tank (not "resting" exactly but the inside of your elbow should be close to the center of the gas tank). I like to "kiss the mirrors", meaning keeping your head low to the inside, leading with your inside shoulder. Some like to keep their head a little higher for a sense of balance but that never really seemed an issue to me
your shouldn't need to stick your knee out, if your leaning off the bike and riding with the ***** of your feet on the pegs, it will scrape the ground with any real lean angle. Most use it to judge how far they can lean, thats about all its good for (Rossi might can save a front end slide using his knee on the ground but us mere mortals usually aren't nearly that good).
If your doing everything else right, the knee will just be there. 5. Remember dragging a knee is an effect, NOT a cause and definitely shouldn't be a primary goal.
here is a comparo pic of my first trackday and when I learned how to do it right, same corner, same bike(note: both pics were in NESBA's beginner group)
so just keep with it, do a school if you can and get some practice
2. You've ridden Road Atlanta? Now I know I should have shut up about 200 posts ago. As you can tell...I am a street rider...not a race track rider...Not yet anyway.
3. I knew I wasn't leaning that hard at MSR this past Friday...though I did lean a bit further a few times...they didn't catch the pics.
I wasn't draggin my knee or anything...but once or twice...especially headed toward the bottom/lowest part of the track...I hung off a butt cheek...and that naturally slid my knee out a little bit.
This is what I meant before when I said...most of the time I'd become lackadaisical...and forget to really try.
Then I'd run into traffic and have to slow up and figure my way around them...and swoosh...outta my head goes the concentrating on any technique.
4. I thought my riding on the ***** of my feet was just some kind of wishful thinking for some good rear sets. When I ride in a straight line...I ride on the ***** of my feet...because it just feels more aggressive. Now, in the turns...I usually am manipulating something, gears, brake, something...which means I need to set my entrance speeds earlier.
5. Yeah...someone else, in fact many people have said that...and it makes sense...
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Meridian, MS
RE: 1st Track Day Experiences
just get in the habbit of exagerating your body positioning any time your on the track until you get it down. I still lean WAY off the bike even on cool down laps after a race no matter how slow I'm going, if you don't do it all the time, especially if your new to the track, you won't get comfortable doing it right when you actually are pushing and it will feel very awkward
also, just a tip, but if think your going to be to tired to do every session in a day, make sure you do the last 2 or 3 sessions in the day. The people your riding with will be going faster and many of them probably leftearly so you'll have more open track. The last session of the day is almost always the best at trackdays imo
and if your gonna keep doing trackdays I'd suggest a way to haul your bike to the track rather than riding it there, leaving at noon is sacrificing a lot of tracktime
shoot me a PM if you ever make it over to Barber for a trackday
also, just a tip, but if think your going to be to tired to do every session in a day, make sure you do the last 2 or 3 sessions in the day. The people your riding with will be going faster and many of them probably leftearly so you'll have more open track. The last session of the day is almost always the best at trackdays imo
and if your gonna keep doing trackdays I'd suggest a way to haul your bike to the track rather than riding it there, leaving at noon is sacrificing a lot of tracktime
shoot me a PM if you ever make it over to Barber for a trackday
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Meridian, MS
RE: 1st Track Day Experiences
oh, also all the little bits of rubber on the tire doesn't make it slippery at all thats just what tires do on the track you don't have to scrub it off to get grip
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Joined: Aug 2005
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RE: 1st Track Day Experiences
great positioning...i've seen that pix numerous times...from woody of course ;-)
hey...what about the cartwheeling pix...remember woody? someone even made a gif of it?
hahahhaha...yes i am very cold hearted...
hey...what about the cartwheeling pix...remember woody? someone even made a gif of it?
hahahhaha...yes i am very cold hearted...
Senior Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,327
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From: Meridian, MS
RE: 1st Track Day Experiences
haha, what can I say its the best pic I got lol
and yeah same corner, same bike, a little more speed, and cold tires haha:
whats that ad in the mags... Stupid Hurts! lol
and yeah same corner, same bike, a little more speed, and cold tires haha:
whats that ad in the mags... Stupid Hurts! lol
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RE: 1st Track Day Experiences
Thanks Woody...really appreciate all the help you have given me...sincerely...very sincerely.
I'm gonna do another track day...sometime....late summer.
As far as the tires you sent...
By luck or sheer stupidity...
I did manage to get all of the moleten chicken strips off the left side of the rear. (As you stand behind the bike)
The right side, since we were running counter clockwise, still has about...1/8th of an inch left on it.
Least I accomplished something besides making an *** outta myself.
I'm gonna do another track day...sometime....late summer.
As far as the tires you sent...
By luck or sheer stupidity...
I did manage to get all of the moleten chicken strips off the left side of the rear. (As you stand behind the bike)
The right side, since we were running counter clockwise, still has about...1/8th of an inch left on it.
Least I accomplished something besides making an *** outta myself.
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