Only my second track day this year(last of the season) thanks to personal issues. It was raining for the first session at 34 degrees. Track is dry for the most part by this session and it's 36 degrees. For that reason we were taking it pretty easy. It's unedited so it's kinda long.

Hallett 11-20-11

* Last updated by: Jeff01ss on 11/24/2011 @ 10:45 PM *

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Cool!
Thanks for sharing.
What group were you in?... Tryin' to figure out whether I should sign up for novice or intermediate... I don't think I would have any problems maintaining the pace in your vid, even in the cold, wet weather... Kinda used to those conditions here.

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That was the novice group, since it was our first time on the bikes we were riding and because of the conditions. The owner of the track told us that we aren't allowed to run in novice again. My buddy usually rides a KTM 690SMR, but picked up a strong running TL1000S for next to nothing to use as a tack bike. I was on my 600RR for the first time on a track.

* Last updated by: Jeff01ss on 11/25/2011 @ 2:50 PM *

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Nice! OK, skipped over the first 40 seconds but you had me riveted the whole rest of the 19 minutes. Way to go get 'em. You certainly made the best of of a crappy, damp day. Sorta a narrow track and rough in some spots too. You got yerself some cahones there, hombre!

Dogo, ask yourself this, "do I want to be the fastest or do I want to be one of if not THE slowest?" Not that it really matters but if you enter novice and you are the fastest, you'll be out in front and have plenty of space all around you front,back side to side........and if you are not the fastest of the Novice group you probably are best to stay out of the intermediate.

What I found is that some riders in the Novice group are very fast by the end of the day. If that is any indication what intermediate is like, I would have been one of the slower ones there, I think. Would have been a different experience because I would have had bikes all around me. Nothing wrong with that. Might be fun to actually be a little tiny bit competitive as long as everyone keeps within the track rules.

You can ask a track instructor to follow you and move up to intermediate before the days end. At least that is allowed at BHF where I road.

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Yeah, it's a rough track! But, it's tight and technical with a lot of elevation change at 1.8 miles long. I can't wait to get the cbr out there when it's warm and dry! And it doesn't look like it, but, the track is 40ft wide.

* Last updated by: Jeff01ss on 11/25/2011 @ 7:22 PM *

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here is the first session after the rain
34 degrees, tank mounted

here is the third session, was gonna follow my buddy on his TL but he had a wardrobe malfunction and wanted me to go around him
38 degrees

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1.8 miles long. ............. the track is 40ft wide.

That sounds very much like Black Hawk Farms which also could use some patching in a few places. At times, i felt like I was riding on a paved bicycle path through a park. It is wide enough. Cars race there too but its not what I was expecting.

haha, looks like the guy ahead of you went off the track on the first lap.

What kind of bike are you riding on the last two vids?

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I was riding my 08 CBR600RR in all of the videos. Yeah, the guy kept it up though and continued on for the rest of the day. He went off in the corner called The Bitch, and in the other direction it is! lol

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First time on the CBR?... Betcha can't wait to get that thing out there in better conditions to see how your lap times compare to the zx14... I know I'm curious.

Rook, as long as I was able to maintian a "safe" pace, I'd rather be the slowest guy in the group... Learn more.

But yeah, probably best to sign up for novice, and let the marshals decide where I belong from there... It's just that different Orgs have different descriptions of what a "novice" is... Some say if it's your first track day, you must sign up for novice group... others basically say if you're using all of your tires, you should consider signing up for intermediate.

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yeah, I can't wait to see what it's like on a dry warm track. I can tell you right now that I'm WAY faster on the CBR than the 14! At Hallett if it your first time there they want you to start off in HART(Hallett advance rider training), but, if you are running 10-15 seconds faster than everyone else they move you up to street(intermediate).

* Last updated by: Jeff01ss on 11/27/2011 @ 3:55 PM *

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Guys, please do not even consider signing up for anything other than the "beginner group" or the "novice group" for your first track day (whatever the slowest group is called is where you need to sign up on your first track day). The rider coaches will tell you when you are "fast enough" and "smooth enough" to move up to the "intermediate group."

Trust me on this. You will learn far more when you are not in over your head. Start in the slowest group and move up when you are ready and when the rider coaches agree that you are ready. I have coached with Roger Lyle MotorcycleXcitement for a while now, and I race my R6 in the Expert class in WERA and CCS. Trust me on this.

Oh, and no one on this board will do faster laps on a ZX14 than they will on any 600 supersport. Don't take this the wrong way, I love my ZX14, but it's a nice comfortable fast streetbike. The 600 supersports are at home at the track. The only race track a ZX14 is at home on is the drag strip.

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+1

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Over your head is the speed difference. They let you go fly down the straights and now ain't that cool? Faster than you ever been and now brake! Turns coming! You forgot all about braking and off in the weeds you go. Now that you recovered, you have to speed it down figuring it out. The hard part comes being smooth. You clear those two obstacles, you look ready to hone your skills, someone was there where you are.

They have more laps than you. And to become proficient lap after lap being smooth, staying on track, it comes down to practice. That is why you have to settle down, not speed, but learn setup and that makes you smooth. Smooth turns into faster. Say you are fast? That fast makes you guide thru the turn with less movement, less bike getting upset you stopped gorilla'ing the handlebars.

* Last updated by: Hub on 12/8/2011 @ 12:05 AM *

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I'm itching to get my R6 on the track. What would you guys recommend as the first things I need to do to the bike to get it ready already have stompgrips and braided lines new Q2 tires, just trying to get everything done before the track opens in the spring. Thanks

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Silver,
1. 'Sag' the bike yet? OTT videos have Dave Moss show you basic sag settings. I have a different way getting to the same place. Too hubbish a read.

2. Conform to the track's wishes? Safety wire up things:
a. Pick a color duct tape that is visible for say silver. Use red tape. Stick a piece over the drain screws behind the forks.
b. Take a hose clamp big enough to circle around the oil filter and now clap it down. Buy a safety wire kit that has the tool and spool, you practice how to tie; so many wounds per inch. Then tie the wire over the screwdriver slot, spin a few inches over to the frame or somewhere, that when the hose clamp screw loosens up?; your tie shows if it unraveled the screw slot? See, you lay the one wire in the slot. This is going to tighten to screw from turning loose... YOu figure out direction-tie from that happening.
This is the same idea that if you wrap exhaust pipe?; YO! You ravel the heatape in a spiral; like a roof of a house. If I walked up to that spiral, which direction would the water flow, we splash some on it? See if you made the shingles run from the bottom up, not the top down... See that? Fold up a sheet of paper long style so it looks like a thin stick. Wrap it around a pencil. Did the direction tell you about, righty-tighty? Did the unraveling show you to hold direction as in that analogy of the unraveling there of the clamp screw? Kill two birds righthere.
c. This now becomes, bike specific, as in a weekly/monthly sitter. Are both the street bike and track bike pretty much sitters? Then, it would be wise to use a multi-charger that can handle more than two bikes. Either that, or buy two individual chargers so you do not go thru batteries, or waste a day with a dead one, you heading all the way there, hello?
d. Rotational gas, means; I have a drain hose specifically to siphon the tank empty. I am not going to run stale gas [into redline] HA! I pour a can of; stale-a-whoo-'pass on that' mix with that old gashit. I will have a rotational gas can to dump into the toe car is just a step away; like now you have an empty race can and the bike's tank is dry the day you leave. All that old track gas goes in the car or the other bike. The last gas stop, you saved the weight closer to the track. You begin the rotation all over again once you get home for the next trackday.
e. Are you going to learn to ride fast or are you showing off all the goodies look WOTie ride? This is a... Point A to point B bike. Remove every last piece on the bike you don't need. This steps up the hp drag on the parts. This speeds up the point A, you got to B faster bye the same throttle move, hello? YOur choice on that move sea your ass later.

3. Head game. Short of a Sic Slap you're dead, the head game is not to think you are going to crash. The head game is to think smooth. Think anything but thinking something is going to happen. If you are not thinking like that, then stay home. Head means I am going to practice my braking points or just think I'll instinct that in and shit me pants, I have too much going on. I think like that and catch myself? I go right back to thinking about nothing look where you're going!
a. Concentration break; There is no thinking involved. Once you think about something, you lost why you are there. This is not the time to think about anything but what is up ahead. Don't loose site of that is the insight.
b. Don't turn around. Did you break concentration? Yeah, I gotta look and see how big my dick is to the other guy/gal. OK, go look. Get it out of your system; once is enough. There is nothing back there, hello?
c. See that head game you are competing with? Beginner basics.
d. Think smooth... Think like a woman no shit you wish you had, "The Hand" and damn she has got it. Look at that consistency. Imagine her touch someplace else, you're in good hands... with her concentration. Who said that?

* Last updated by: Hub on 12/8/2011 @ 5:49 PM *

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^^^Seriously, do you think any cop would give her a ticket?

What would you guys recommend as the first things I need to do to the bike to get it ready

SILVER, if this is your first track day, I wouldn't worry about much. If the bike is in good shape for the street, it will be just fine on the track. Nothing you do the bike is gonna make you any better than you are right now. You'll learn a huge amount by the end of the day. I was all concerned about changing brake pads and having good tires. I was even a little apprehensive about not having my valve clearance check done. but none of it mattered.

Just make sure the tires are not too old. If this is a street-ready bike, be prepared to remove or tape the mirrors and lights. Figure out how you are going to zip tie the side stand. Changing oil is nice. You will have plenty of time to pick what things you want to do to the bike as time goes on.

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Well my R6 is an 09. Just put a set of Dunlop Q2's on it about 1300 mi ago. The bike only has 4800 mi on it set the suspension up according to Dave Moss's videos. Used to think 600's were for beginners and girls this thing is a blast to ride actually have a lot of twisty roads local 14 has been sitting. Thanks Hub, Rook for the advice hope to be blasting around VIR in the spring!!!

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Silver14,

Email me at jeffarmy34 at yahoo dot com I will send you my home phone number via email and I'll talk to you about doing track days. You'll do fine. Don't worry.

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By the way, I saw that someone wrote above that bike set up will make a rider "smooth." Incorrect. Bike set-up can help or hurt your riding, but it will not make you smooth. Sure, it does help when the bike is set up correctly, but you can ride smoothly on a bike that is not set up correctly, you just won't be able to ride to the bike's and/or your full potential.

To be smooth, you need to learn to be smooth with all things concerning bike control: Most importantly, the throttle, be smooth in applying throttle and smooth when reducing throttle. You also need to be smooth with shifting gears, the clutch, re-positioning your body on the bike, transitioning from one body position to the other while riding the bike, and learning the "lines" that will get you through the corners correctly. Also, and very important to being smooth, you need to be smooth on the brakes. This takes practice.

Being smooth allows the weight transfer of your entire bike from rear tire to front tire to rear tire to front tire, etc, to work effectively with the bikes suspension - this will enable you to maintain the most traction and "feel and feedback" from your bike. Being smooth usually means some type of instruction for most guys and gals, as a lot of guys won't figure all of it out on their own. Then it'll take some seat time and preferably riding with a coach, and to be most effective, that riding should be on the racetrack.

Just about anyone on the planet short of Ben Spies/Casey Stoner/Josh Hayes, etc, will benefit from racetrack instruction by competent racers. Myself included. I am always looking to those faster than I am to learn from. Everyone on this site should try doing a few track days each year. You can take the ZX14 to the racetrack (the twisty kind) but something like a 600 supersport or an SV650 is best to start out on when doing track riding, if you are dedicated to learning.

Anyone on here who shows up at a Roger Lyle MotorcycleXcitement Track Day, please let me know you are a member here on the forum. I ride a yellow/white/black 2008 and a 2009 R6, number 43. I'd be willing to help any of you at Summit Point Raceway.

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