I have been riding for a little over a year and i think its time for me to try a track day. i dont know where to start or where there are any tracks around my area. I live in the Minneappolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota. can anyone give me advice of what i can do to get on the track(as far as getting prepared for it) and where I could go in my area.

 

Best bet is to get hooked up with NESBA, or Sportbike Track Time (STT) if you want to ride on a real track.
The cloesest track to you that run with NESBA & STT are going to be blackhawk farms (about 6 hours), Road America (about 6 hours), and Mid America Motorplex (about 7 hours).

Track Addix also puts on a couple a days a year at BIR (Brainard).

There is also the Dakota Country Tech college "track" put on by them: http://www.ridingcourse.com/

 

a couple more ?'s. Do you have to have full leathers to ride? Is there anything i should do to my bike to take it to the track?

 

With Track Addix NO........you do NOT need full leathers, but you will need a full suit. Textile is sufficient IF it has a 360 zipper, meaning the coat and pants will zip together fully to make a full suit. There's no way around that..........they changed the rule this year and now need that. Any tailor can sew it on for you though as most jackets come with the zipper, just sew them onto the textile pants or leather pants if you go that route.

Dakota County does not require leather pants, but they are likely full already this year. YOu MAY sneak in there. YOu need Coat/gloves/helmet/over the ankle shoes/jeans.

Nothing to your bike to go to Dakota County, it's a defensive riding course.............not a track day.

Track Addix will require you tape all glass (mirros ~remove them/ blinkers/headlight/taillight/reflectors) make sure your tires are in good shape, and really that's about it. The recommend some stuff such as safety wiring the oil filter etc, but it's not necessary.

Brainard is a fun track......VERY fast through T1 and T2, and not overly technical, but fun none the less. MAM is WAY better. 4 more corners in 1 mile less track so it's comparatively very tight and technical. FUNNNNNNN track. It's worth the drive down.

I've been to both tracks with both Track Addix (very nice guys to ride with) and Edge (no longer in business of track days) so if you have any questions you can't get answered here, PM me and I'll do my best. I'm in Fridley ifyou want to meet sometime and talk about it. I have onboard footage from MAM if you wanted to look at the track sometime.

Good luck........you'll be hooked.