My first track day

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

....I did my first track day this Saturday out at the little Erie track. Doug (Jahags here) talked me into it. Best $25 I Ever spent. Better even than that cheap whore in Beatty...... :D

At first I thought I'd be all nervous, and akward, and I was a little before I hit the track, but I got to concentrating right off, chanting the whole time in my helmet: DON'T be a squid, DON'T be a squid..... :D And it all just came natural for me. It's such a tight track, and the 1K's powerband so wide, I just left in in 2nd the whole time and worked on consistent lines. Within a few laps, I was confident enough to start sliding the rear around like a dirt-tracker. Fun shit! Melted little gumballs all over both sides of the rear Sportec. Was touching my left boot tip down, and even got rid of the last little chicken strips on the front. Even Doug was impressed, saying I'd do very well in a novice class right out of the box. Not bad for a first timer!

We did 3 little sessions, doing maybe 60-70 miles total. Awesome. I've got pics of my tires I'll have to upload for ya! I'd have to say, love them Sportec's. Even when they started to slide around, they did so very predictably and consistently, got to a certain point, and didn't get any worse all day, and it was pretty hot too.

Looks like I've found a new vice....... :D :roll:

Man, I can't believe I waited this many years to do this!

[wraithR1]

IMI? If so, that is a certainly a tight track for a liter bike. Suprisingly enough, I still go there a bunch.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

IMI? If so, that is a certainly a tight track for a liter bike. Suprisingly enough, I still go there a bunch.

Truthfully, I don't know the name. It's East of I-25, down a dirt road. They have a Motocross track there too, and rent racing carts.

All I know was it was tight, but a LOT of fun sliding 'er around there! Felt like I was on my KX500 on some of the dirt roads I used to ride in SoCal. :D

[Anonymous]

Sounds like IMI.

Moved to Track Days & Races

Nice subjec title, btw. :roll: (edit: I fixed that too)

[Bueller]

Nice subjec title, btw. :roll: (edit: I fixed that too)

Forever the "nazi" :lol: Glad to see you survived and are back to "normal".
We were coming out of the classroom after getting our licence packets when I saw your bike on the "parts trailer". Very inspiring to the new racers :P
Glad to hear you were ok though, looked like it was a bad one.

[Young Luke]

The first time is awesome! Glad you got to experience track riding.

But...


....Within a few laps, I was confident enough to start sliding the rear around like a dirt-tracker. Fun shit!

Were you doing this on purpose? :wtf: I'm pretty sure the idea is to keep the tires stuck to the track. Bad things happen when tires slide - just ask Bueller :D

My own experience coming out of the Rat's nest at SCR taught me this as my once pretty R6 spun across the track on its side, and me on my back sans bike.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

The first time is awesome! Glad you got to experience track riding.

But...


....Within a few laps, I was confident enough to start sliding the rear around like a dirt-tracker. Fun shit!

Were you doing this on purpose? :wtf: I'm pretty sure the idea is to keep the tires stuck to the track. Bad things happen when tires slide - just ask Bueller :D

My own experience coming out of the Rat's nest at SCR taught me this as my once pretty R6 spun across the track on its side, and me on my back sans bike.

Sorry Spidey, I made sure I didn't use any foul language in the subject, and thought that would be ok. I was just stoked!

Anyways, yes, I was doing it on purpose. The rear started sliding, it felt real predictable, and I just was getting a feel for it, so as not to panic. Like I said, I'm pretty used to sliding my KX (or other dirtbikes) tail out, so I was just having fun. I figure, it's good practice to feel comfortable with the bike moving around. Now, I've got the racing bug, dammit! 8)

[Bueller]

Anyways, yes, I was doing it on purpose. The rear started sliding, it felt real predictable, and I just was getting a feel for it, so as not to panic.
Yeah it's all fine and dandy until that sucker hooks back up when you forget to stay on the gas and yahoooooooo! Superman :oops: Just look out for that scraping sound coming up fast behind you. :P

Now you need to go to a real track and stretch that 1k out :D

[Bigtime73]

IMI? If so, that is a certainly a tight track for a liter bike. Suprisingly enough, I still go there a bunch.

but a LOT of fun sliding 'er around there! Felt like I was on my KX500 on some of the dirt roads I used to ride in SoCal. :D

Sliding it around...your first track day...umm okkaaayyyy :roll:

[Anonymous]

Sorry Spidey, I made sure I didn't use any foul language in the subject, and thought that would be ok. I was just stoked!I understand being stoked. Thanks for following some of the rules.

Read this: Message Board Guidelines (http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=337) (in particular, #2 in Ralph's post, and also my post that follows) 8)

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Anyways, yes, I was doing it on purpose. The rear started sliding, it felt real predictable, and I just was getting a feel for it, so as not to panic.
Yeah it's all fine and dandy until that sucker hooks back up when you forget to stay on the gas and yahoooooooo! Superman :oops: Just look out for that scraping sound coming up fast behind you. :P

Now you need to go to a real track and stretch that 1k out :D

Well, I made sure to stay in it, and let the bike have it's head. I've learned over the years to never chop throttle or brake, just let er go. I'm used to sliding around on my KX, and it was just feeling like a KX1000! :D

[ebazyl]

Congrats man, you just did you first gate-way drug (track day). :D

...you know there is a race school in 2 weeks. :idea:

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

IMI? If so, that is a certainly a tight track for a liter bike. Suprisingly enough, I still go there a bunch.

but a LOT of fun sliding 'er around there! Felt like I was on my KX500 on some of the dirt roads I used to ride in SoCal. :D

Sliding it around...your first track day...umm okkaaayyyy :roll:

You're rolling your eyes because you don't believe me, or you think I'm being stupid doing it? Believe me, It was happening. Every lap. I've got 2 friends, Doug (riding behind/with) and Frank (spectating) who were watching me do it. Consistantly

I felt comfortable and confident doing it once it started, or I wouldn't have been doing it. Doug used to race, and is a really good and fast rider, and he said I'd done the best "first track day" he'd ever seen, so that made me feel good, and I believed him. He's been on track with Russell and a bunch of others of that caliber.

[Bigtime73]

Cycle, no need to get into a debate regarding this matter really. if you say you did it, then sure you did it. Just be safe. It's of the general concensus however that when "sliding" a rear wheel, is never the safe or fastest way around the track. Now who's to say if you were trying to get around the track fast or not is no one's business. Sliding or "trail braking" is a skill not known to many and for it to be your first track day as you have clearly stated, seems to me or the general public that you are hitting the rear brake and "skidding" rather than sliding it in to corners. if by fact, you were sliding into corners, then 1) you were hauling some major a** into the corners with little to none braking, 2) you were not riding in a safe manor, although you state you were being careful. So to ask me if I am rolling my eyes...yes, I think rolling ones eyes at someones first track day who states they were "sliding" it into corners is and can be acheived here today. However, I will give you the benefit of one's doubtless mental capacity and generate the thoughts of a first timer's track day and say to myself with authority, "perhaps!".
Be safe riding CM...

[Dr. Joe Siphek]

:imwithstupid: Nothing against you cycle...but I don't care how long you've been riding. To be sliding it out your first track day ever, that just seems :dunno:

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Cycle, no need to get into a debate regarding this matter really. if you say you did it, then sure you did it. Just be safe. It's of the general concensus however that when "sliding" a rear wheel, is never the safe or fastest way around the track. Now who's to say if you were trying to get around the track fast or not is no one's business. Sliding or "trail braking" is a skill not known to many and for it to be your first track day as you have clearly stated, seems to me or the general public that you are hitting the rear brake and "skidding" rather than sliding it in to corners. if by fact, you were sliding into corners, then 1) you were hauling some major a** into the corners with little to none braking, 2) you were not riding in a safe manor, although you state you were being careful. So to ask me if I am rolling my eyes...yes, I think rolling ones eyes at someones first track day who states they were "sliding" it into corners is and can be acheived here today. However, I will give you the benefit of one's doubtless mental capacity and generate the thoughts of a first timer's track day and say to myself with authority, "perhaps!".
Be safe riding CM...

I DO use a lot of rear brake, into and during corners (I torque the motor against the brake to try and keep the chain tight on top), and I might have been sliding a "little" into the corners (could feel it a little sometimes), but what I was mostly doing was sliding it around OUT of the corners under power (you could hear the revs "warble"). Doug was watching me from behind for a while, and said I looked good and smooth, so I think I was doing SOMETHING right. Put it this way, we were going the same speed, and he was grinding the left jug on his Beemer RS with D208 gumballs on it, so I think we were going pretty good. I was seeing about 87ish on that short back stretch. We passed a few carts, and had a few pass us, if that matters.

If you see Jahags post, ask or PM him. Like I said, I'll try and post the pics of my tires.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify Matt, sliding and "trail braking" aren't the same thing. Trail braking just means you are carrying the brakes into the turn, instead of being off of them before you start the lean. Sliding can just be sliding, or it can be "backing it in", one of which is usually unintentional and neither are recommended for the new or faint of heart.

Sliding anything on a paved track isn't like dirt. It feels the same until that tire hooks up again (which can happen even if you keep on the gas), which generally WILL break you and the bike. Also, if you're sliding it through every turn you either have shitty tires, suspension not set up, or poor technique. Should be able to go fast and still keep the tire in sync with the rest of you.

[Kim-n-Dean]

First time or not, who cares. I think it's awesome that you're comfortable sliding. Just don't get carried away with it. I've tried to get mine to slide but, it's too scary so I NEVER do it. If I knew how to slide the rear I could probably get through the corners quicker or, at least, have better control when things do go wrong. Keep up the good work!!

[Bigtime73]

Ralph, thanks for the definition of "trail braking". I thought I stated that skidding the rear and trail braking are different. If I hadn't I apologize, but I think you, being the racer you are, clearly get my point. Newbie, trail braking..you get the jist of it. Im done..no need to banter on a useless subject..and cycle...ballin up the tires doesn't prove you were sliding around...does mean they were used at speed for a good period of time.

[jahags]

I was there and here is the real story. He was sliding the rear, but a controlled slide, I don't know. I was getting a little nervous watching because it was breaking loose too fast and at the exit of the corner and hookin up with a speed wobble. It was more like keep doing that and one is going to bite back. Watch Randy Mamola footage on a GP bike for a controlled rear wheel slide. For his first ride on a track he did great and would have no problem fitting in as a novice rider. We need to get him on a big boy track because IMI is a 2nd&3rd gear track. He is very proud of his rear wheel and I suspect it will be mounted on his wall in the next week. Tee shirts will soon be available to the club. It was a blast watching him giggle like a little kid set free in a candy factory.

[wraithR1]

Not being able to rear slide your first time at IMI with a liter bike!?! HAHA! Have you ever ridden on that track? The middle section can be a little treacherous if you take the wrong line (easy to do if the carts and bikes are running at the same time). Rearsliding I think for most of us is an unfortunate product of choosing the wrong line and not hanging off the bike enough for the corner speed.

[Kim-n-Dean]

...Watch Randy Mamola footage on a GP bike for a controlled rear wheel slide...

Ahhh, Mamola!!!! He's my boy!!! I can't figure out a way to quickly tell the story so, I'll just say this: The guy that introduced me to Kim knows Randy very well and we did burn-outs in his Testarosa before Randy even saw it. Let alone, drove it. This was when we lived in Las Vegas and it was $10,000 to register it and it also had a $3,000 "gas guzzler" tax. And, I thought my truck was expensive to register...

[~Barn~]

I was sliding my rear on my 3rd track day at Pueblo. Mostly because of the oil in turns 5 through like 7 or something. Oh and also because turn 1 was like a freshly "sanded" shuffleboard. :lol:

[Bueller]

I was sliding my rear on my 3rd track day at Pueblo. Mostly because of the oil in turns 5 through like 7 or something. Oh and also because turn 1 was like a freshly "sanded" shuffleboard. :lol:
Hell the 600's were spinning it up like a massaged 1k that day :lol:

[Anonymous]

He is very proud of his rear wheel and I suspect it will be mounted on his wall in the next week. Tee shirts will soon be available to the club.

:lol:

BTW cycle, congrats on popping your track cherry! Hope to see you at a bigger track soon! (PSSST, MRA school in a couple weekends!)

[~Barn~]

Ralph, thanks for the definition of "trail braking". I thought I stated that skidding the rear and trail braking are different. If I hadn't I apologize, but I think you, being the racer you are, clearly get my point. Newbie, trail braking..you get the jist of it. Im done..no need to banter on a useless subject..and cycle...ballin up the tires doesn't prove you were sliding around...does mean they were used at speed for a good period of time.

I like trail braking and throwin' the pass down on Big Tuba.

With passengers.

:lol:

[Bigtime73]

Ralph, thanks for the definition of "trail braking". I thought I stated that skidding the rear and trail braking are different. If I hadn't I apologize, but I think you, being the racer you are, clearly get my point. Newbie, trail braking..you get the jist of it. Im done..no need to banter on a useless subject..and cycle...ballin up the tires doesn't prove you were sliding around...does mean they were used at speed for a good period of time.

I like trail braking and throwin' the pass down on Big Tuba.

With passengers.

:lol:

Barn...with THAT much weight on yer totaled R1, annyyoonee cold rail it in the mountains... :lol:

BTW, that was like Howww long ago?? Yer lucky I dont have my bike anymore.. :roll:

[Bigtime73]

Oh and Cycle...I congratulate you on your 1st track day...I know when I did mine on PPIR, I didn't want it to end. It is an exhilerating feeling riding a machine with so much capacity for speed, lean angle and most of all...fun! Just be safe.

[~Barn~]

:P

[Dr. Joe Siphek]

You can borrow mine to prove a point!!! :lol:

[Bigtime73]

You can borrow mine to prove a point!!! :lol:

:lol:

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Ralph, thanks for the definition of "trail braking". I thought I stated that skidding the rear and trail braking are different. If I hadn't I apologize, but I think you, being the racer you are, clearly get my point. Newbie, trail braking..you get the jist of it. Im done..no need to banter on a useless subject..and cycle...ballin up the tires doesn't prove you were sliding around...does mean they were used at speed for a good period of time.

Yer right, ballin' 'em up by itself doesn't meant they were sliding, but I've ridden long enough to know what it feels like to be tail-out on either a streetbike or dirtbike, and tail-out it was.

I'll be first to say I'm not "Ricky-Racer", but I was stoked that, for my first time out, I was as comfortable as I was, and did as well as I did. Like I said, Jahags and I HAD to be setting a pretty good pace. See his left jug for proof of that! (No, his OTHER left jug!)

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I was sliding my rear on my 3rd track day at Pueblo.

Didn't that hurt your ass? :D

[Lurch]

Well then it's time to get off the go-cart track and ride a real track or at least what Colorado has to offer.

Lurch

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I was there and here is the real story. He was sliding the rear, but a controlled slide, I don't know. I was getting a little nervous watching because it was breaking loose too fast and at the exit of the corner and hookin up with a speed wobble. It was more like keep doing that and one is going to bite back. Watch Randy Mamola footage on a GP bike for a controlled rear wheel slide. For his first ride on a track he did great and would have no problem fitting in as a novice rider. We need to get him on a big boy track because IMI is a 2nd&3rd gear track. He is very proud of his rear wheel and I suspect it will be mounted on his wall in the next week. Tee shirts will soon be available to the club. It was a blast watching him giggle like a little kid set free in a candy factory.

'Sup mah brotha frum anotha mutha! I had a blast! Thanks! Yeah, it was movin' around a little, but it seemed mostly when I was going over the bumps and patches. I felt it get a little sideways, and carry that thru the next corner after the chicane and before the long right in the infield. I think it was becaus the pavment was smoother there, and it wasn't breaking loose as suddenly when it got light. I don't know, it just felt right, so, hey I was just enjoying it. I'd have to say a lot of that was that those tires felt really predictable. Plus I used to get really sideways on my KX, so, it just felt cool. As far as Mamola, he was always one of the coolest. I remember one time, though, he was mid corner, leaned waaaay over, was stepping 'er out under throttle, looked back over his shoulder to see where the other guy was.....and got LAUNCHED! I'm probably one of the few here that's actually seen him race in person, and met him once. It was cool.

And, hey, I'm gonna make a pair of glass-topped end-tables out of the tires.....with YOUR help! :D

Oh, and isn't ANY slide where you don't end up on your head a "controlled" slide! :D

Kinda like any landing you walk away from....... :D

[Wahooman]

Congrats on your first track day.....welcome to the addiction. Although I don't get out much or a licensed racer, I know the feeling. IMI is fun for getting out there. A few notes--if you are using 3rd gear......why? Especially on a 1K. A 600 doesn't need to go pass 2nd on that track. My speed "record" on the back straight with Quick636 was like 94-96mph I think.....just grap a lot of brake for the hairpin left. As for ballin up tires....that track is HARSH on tires. So many tight turns. After 3 laps of just easy riding the tires are ballin and meltin up. If you keep going there you will have to come up to Twin Peaks to mount up a new set ;) Keep it up CM, glad you had a good time!

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Congrats on your first track day.....welcome to the addiction. Although I don't get out much or a licensed racer, I know the feeling. IMI is fun for getting out there. A few notes--if you are using 3rd gear......why? Especially on a 1K. A 600 doesn't need to go pass 2nd on that track. My speed "record" on the back straight with Quick636 was like 94-96mph I think.....just grap a lot of brake for the hairpin left. As for ballin up tires....that track is HARSH on tires. So many tight turns. After 3 laps of just easy riding the tires are ballin and meltin up. If you keep going there you will have to come up to Twin Peaks to mount up a new set ;) Keep it up CM, glad you had a good time!

Thanks man, I had a lot of fun. I kept it in 2nd the whole time though. The powerband is so wide I never shifted the whole time, and ran it only up to 8k or so max. So, it wasn't really into the peak power which hits at 10,500 or so. So, there were some corners that the revs were maybe 3k, and I could have gotten around faster wringing it out and shifting it, but it still pulls so hard down there i was just concentrating on lines. that track really is way too tight for a 1K, but it was fun slidin' 'er around!

Well, if Twin Peaks wants to match me the Chaparrall price I can get for my rear Sportec, I'll buy it there, but when I called, he couldn't, so i was just planning on mounting it there.

Depending on what happens with my house and other financials, I MIGHT be in the market for an '05, with a buddy that might want a Victory, so maybe a package deal? ;)

[Anonymous]

My speed "record" on the back straight with Quick636 was like 94-96mph I think.....just grap a lot of brake for the hairpin left.

I hit 105 with the superchicken, however we were going the other direction (so a right hander at the end of the straight). Brakes almost weren't enough. I did touch 3rd gear back there, but that was just me having fun trying to see if I could do anything with 3rd before having to slow down.

It IS a good track if you need to work on getting through tight corners faster. and it will definitely give you a workout, there is nowhere to rest.

[Bigtime73]

Were you able to "Slide it in the corners" Ralph...er skid er trail brake... :P