[GG]

Something that came across my mind the other day and i thought i'd put it out there especially to those who do track days.

I have done a handful of track days and have loved everyone of them. I don't ride much on the road, maybe once every 3 weeks or so but a good ride, maybe nearly every 2 months.

I have more confidence on the track than i do on the road. When i go out on the road and it starts raining i get miserable lol .. When something happens, like giving the bike too much gas --> fishtailing, braking hard etc on the road i get sometimes get the 'oh shit' feeling but on the track i aim to do those things to make myself giggle. Just those little things. I think it comes down to the fact i feel more comfortable on the track than i do on the road.

Anyone ever have this? And no cockiness!

 

[pOint_01]

not a pro or anything...but yeah...i think its normal to have more confidence on the track then the road (which i do)...due to all the other crap u need to think about sharing the road with u...oil...and distractions....

but also could be the lack of cockiness...

 

[BLUEY]

Yeh i get it aswell, for me i just feel the lack of grip, greasy...
sometimes up in the hills on a nice summer day, tyres are really hot, yeh feels grippy but not often, i dont ride road anymore.

 

[Sneddy]

I prefer track riding 9 times out of 10 - no thoughts, not brains. Turn here, gas on here, up gear, up gear. Every trouble floats away and you can just ride.

Road riding is good - but all the other things distract from the riding.

That said, I don't get to the track often enough and now that I don't have a trackable bike the road will have to do. Although with the tard the road is becoming more and more fun.

 

[mewnz]

I haven't been on the track yet (full disclosure and all)

I don't zip around terribly quickly on twisty road rides. I just try to work on different aspects of my riding and enjoy the time out there. If there's a few big sweepers with nice vision I'll up the wick but apart from that I just go at a comfortable pace.

 

[Drew]

I've only ever been on the track on the bike once, but TBH I actually feel a bit safer on the road, the main reason is that car drivers seem to be predictably chicanes or occasionally predictably stupid, which means that I feel a bit more like I can predict the environment on the road... I'd imagine that will change when I get a bit more track time though.

 

[koiom]

when i used to track the 750, i always had a costly repair bill in the back of my mind if i binned it as i never did get race glass for her.
i didn't feel any more likely to drop it on the track, but that thought was always there.
as far as riding on the road goes, i don't feel like i'm in any more danger in heavy traffic, but that's the benefit of having 15 years of driving experience.
you learn to read the traffic and to an extent you can predict dodgy moves from cagers.
that said, you never know when someone's going to run a blind corner wide on you in the twisties.
on the track you know that's never going to happen.


god i wish i had a trackbike and a trailer :-/

 

[Drew]

when i used to track the 750, i always had a costly repair bill in the back of my mind if i binned it as i never did get race glass for her.
i didn't feel any more likely to drop it on the track, but that thought was always there.
as far as riding on the road goes, i don't feel like i'm in any more danger in heavy traffic, but that's the benefit of having 15 years of driving experience.
you learn to read the traffic and to an extent you can predict dodgy moves from cagers.
that said, you never know when someone's going to run a blind corner wide on you in the twisties.
on the track you know that's never going to happen.


god i wish i had a trackbike and a trailer :-/

Thats the thing that makes me a bit paranoid though, I'm not worried about me on the track, I'm worried about someone who thinks they're racing me and tries to stuff it up the inside or something... I've watched youtube! I know whats out there! :blush:

PS Damn, no clown face anymore

 

[koiom]

when i used to track the 750, i always had a costly repair bill in the back of my mind if i binned it as i never did get race glass for her.
i didn't feel any more likely to drop it on the track, but that thought was always there.
as far as riding on the road goes, i don't feel like i'm in any more danger in heavy traffic, but that's the benefit of having 15 years of driving experience.
you learn to read the traffic and to an extent you can predict dodgy moves from cagers.
that said, you never know when someone's going to run a blind corner wide on you in the twisties.
on the track you know that's never going to happen.


god i wish i had a trackbike and a trailer :-/

Thats the thing that makes me a bit paranoid though, I'm not worried about me on the track, I'm worried about someone who thinks they're racing me and tries to stuff it up the inside or something... I've watched youtube! I know whats out there! :blush:

PS Damn, no clown face anymore

personally i haven't experienced anyone going kamikaze on a track day, but yeah i suppose it can happen.
maybe the best thing to do is drop down to the slow group so it can be you that does all the stuffing up the inside.
that way you've only got yourself to blame if it all goes awry :lol:

 

[Drew]

Touche

 

[Cerberus]

easy answer... look at the penalty for failure when doing those things on the rd vs track.. sliding the bike etc puts it closer to the limit and point of crashing.. on the track the penalty for the most part will be bruises, shattered ego and a bike that needs fixing.. on the road the same small crash can be fatal if circumstances are bad.

i generally feel more confident on the track because its a more controlled environment. that said my confidence on the road has gone up with doing track days because i guess i learn more about the bike and how to react to certain things.. but that can breed over confidence. i have to say the scariest bit for me was when i had the front end tuck up the old road and slid at pace, i picked the bike up off my knee and without even thinking about it continued at previous pace chasing a mate.. it wasnt scary at the time because i have done it at track days before.. but once i got home and though about it i realised that i was getting over confident and pushing the boundaries of what i should be doing on the road.

so yeah.. i would recommend doing track days as it will make you a better rider on the road but..road will never replace the track as a place where limits should be tested.[hr]

Thats the thing that makes me a bit paranoid though, I'm not worried about me on the track, I'm worried about someone who thinks they're racing me and tries to stuff it up the inside or something... I've watched youtube! I know whats out there! :blush:

PS Damn, no clown face anymore

i always find that bit curious to be honest.. i have done a lot of track days and i cant say that this is generally a problem (other than fast groups that can get bit rough occasionally). provided that you go in the correct group and ride predictable lines the chance of a collision are actually fairly small.. also you can pull in to the pits if you feel there are too many bikes around you and come out in some clear space. i find the track in that sense to be 1000 x more safe than a road. you are more likely (at least in syd) to have a collision up the old rd with a wannabe racer overtaking on a blind corner.

drew, i would strongly suggest (if you havent already done it).. book yourself in white group for a track day and give it a go. a lot of the "fears" of track days will go away at that point i think. :shy:

 

[Hessian]

I havent been to a track day, and do most of my riding in the commute or on weekends (when the yellow peril is being sensible).

Im pretty sure I would feel safer at a track meet and focus more on riding as there arent as many random factors like road conditions, Rockhampton drivers, wandering pets etc. If you dont have to scan for those things, I imagine that track riding would be less stressful and more centered on riding as such, rather than environment. That said, Im not sure track riding would be the best for me as Im not keen to go 200kmh in all honesty. Life feels a bit fragile at that speed, I'd say.

That said, I feel very confident as a road rider, but then again I dont push the packet or do anything stupid either when im out and about.

I think ultimately, track riding would allow for a larger comfort zone as you only have to worry about yourself and the occasional person that tries to chop you.

 

[richo]

Guess which I prefer...

 

[Blackness]

The track is a much nicer environment to be in and allows you to concerntrate on riding skills, as opposed to your speed limit and what the Camry infront of you is going to do next.

Had a stack at the track and it was good. The fact that you knew people running the day were prepared for crashes and you didnt have a nice tree infront of you to plough through put my mind at ease so I can concerntrate on getting that perfect corner and going OH fkn WOW im like Rossi! lol *dreamer*

And its much more fun times a zillionz!!

 

[Sage]

Track for sure, controlled enviroment makes for much safer fun. The only down side is the cost, but then you compare it to the fines you can cop on the road and its really a no brainer.

 

[richo]

Thats the thing that makes me a bit paranoid though, I'm not worried about me on the track, I'm worried about someone who thinks they're racing me and tries to stuff it up the inside or something... I've watched youtube! I know whats out there! :blush:

PS Damn, no clown face anymore

Meh, no one really does that. Except in the quicker groups if you line someone up (Like JO murderlising me when I was about to chop Deez into T1).

Most people are out there to ride fast and jamming it up the inside of noobs doesn't really achieve that, the few heros who're out to pass everyone and look cool in the slow groups generally lack the balls to make a pass up the inside anyway.

 

[sir.b]

With Champions, you're actually not allowed to stick it up the inside below B grade. Drew, being new to the track you'll be in C, and won't have to worry about inside passes.

The best way to avoid people doing dodgy overtakes is to be faster than them :blush:

Track all the way, BTW. There aren't many valid excuses at the track, and a lot of the complaints people make about it are because they don't like finding out that other people are faster than them

Justin.

 

[raskol]

Track day at Wakefield in the B group and blew my engine near the traffic lights near the end of the straight, coasting down from about 160km to about 60km and this guy runs up the back of me. I had my hand up and had pulled right over to the armco separating the pit lane and the track.

The marshals reckon he was still doing well over a 180 when he hit me, his skid mark was only about 5m long. Had a whole fucken track to go around me lol

Fucked him, his bike. Me not too bad and the motard took all the bangs the crash bungs and hand guards.

Put it down to target fixation...

 

[MatchTheClown]

Guess which I prefer...

Small children?

 

[Drew]

I think I'm pretty much back up to a passable strength with the leg now, so maybe I should give it a go again soon

The next question is whether I shoudl take the monster or the 1098 I guess... I'm thinking about selling the 1098, so I think I'll sell all the track gubbins separately, but it wouldn't do to write it off before I get to sell it all.