First time at IMI, what to expect

[seadood228]

Hey guys, noob poster and noob sportbike rider here.

I will be heading to out to IMI tomorrow with a buddy, and was wondering what to expect, also what I'd need to bring or do to the bike. I didn't get a whole lot of information from the gentleman at IMI other than to bring a helmet, but I suspect there could be more.

I plan on wearing my leathers and boots, but am not sure what, if anything needs to be done to the bike. My truck isn't quite set up to haul a bike, so I'll be riding in. Do you guys think this will be a problem? Also is there a place to get gas in the area?

Thanks in advance.

[dm_gsxr]

Helmet and jacket are required I believe. $35 to ride the track. Nothing special _needs_ to be done but dropping air pressure, turn off lights (pull fuse) and adjust or remove mirrors so you don't see who's behind you would be good.

It's a cart track. If there are only a couple of bikes, they'll let you share the track with carts. If there are too many bikes, they'll alternate 20 minutes for the bikes, 20 (or 30 or 40 or ...) for the carts.

Bring water even though it's chilly.

Gas can be bought at the track but it's the high octane stuff ($6,00 a gallon). Otherwise you can go back to 25 and north an exit to fill up. There's an air pressure hose to the right of the entrance as you come in so bring a gauge if you want to fill the tires back up before leaving.

Cash at the gate. If you're using a credit card, you'll have to stop by the office to pay and bring the receipt back to the gate to get your track pass.

Have fun. Be careful.

Carl

[j_t_]

Good advice ^^. Last Wednesday (the 5th) was my first time also. The only thing different was there was no one at the gate so we just went inside.

If you've never been on the track before just take it slow. More than likely you'll be very slow the time out, I was...well I still am.

The only problem I could see riding to the track is if you go down. I went with my brother and 2 of our friends and initially planned on just riding there. Luckily we decided to trailer them instead. My brother ended up going down at the end of the day and breaking his ankle. We would have been screwed had we rode in.

Also since your going during the week you might be lucky like we were and pretty much have the track to yourself. There were only two other people that showed up over the day.

Carl: How much air pressure do you usually run?

Have fun but most of all be safe.

[konichd]

Tire pressure's vary a lot depending on manufactuer

[dm_gsxr]

Yea, air pressure's unique to the tire among other things. I was told I should run 29/31 on the SV which is where I started from. I think I'm at 30/30 right now. Pirelli tires.

And the number of bikes makes a difference too. Remember, just like you who are new, some folks don't know how to act at the track. Folks who are more experienced expect certain behavior and it can be a surprise when someone does something unexpected.

Be careful and if you must stop, make sure you're all the way off the track. And don't stop if something happens right in front of you. There are others coming who will be able to safely stop and the guys right behind you might not expect you to stand on it to help someone. You might find yourself causing an even worse accident than the guy (or gal) who just lowsided.

Carl

[Bassil Duwaik]

Bring a deluxe box of medical supplies and be sure not to forget the morphine. Oh yeah and most importantly get a camera so we can all critic you on why you went down;-p

Outside of the obvious, it's a small track (1mi) of which you don't really need anything outside of 1) bike, 2) helmet, 3) jacket, 4) 35 bucks. Once you go in though the gate go right after the building and alas your at the track. If you go on a week-end you'll find yourself riding with a few other riders whom will help you with what line to take and the likes if you ask. Also be sure not to push it too hard for the first couple of laps till your tires are warm.

It's off of exit Erie or Erco or something like that. I know the exit number is 232 I think. Off of I-25. About 20min. North of Denver

http://www.speedwaybikes.com/tracks/erie.htm

[DucWise]

Where is this place located and can anyone ride here?? Any other info on this place? I guess I should have added IMI to the questions in my other post but I've never heard of it ...

[dm_gsxr]

Go north of Denver past the 470 overpass to Erie/Delcono (2nd exit past 470 I believe). Go east, through the stop sign and onto the dirt road. On the other side of the hill you'll see IMI on the right. The go-kart track is about a quarter of the entire "complex" but it's what we can ride on.

Carl

[seadood228]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Truthfully I probably shouldn't be heading out there as I've only about 300 miles on my first pure sportbike, but originally we had planned on going to the mountains, and I figured that this would be safer and more fun. I have a feeling that we'll be the slower group on the track, so hopefully it won't be too crowded.

We plan on taping some of this for instructional purposes, and I'll probably post them if they aren't too embarrasing (they will be ).

DucWise - It's just north of Broomfield on I-25. Nice Bike!

[Bassil Duwaik]

That is the best place to go before heading up to the canyons in my opinion. It's a controlled environment so to speak. A lot more predictable then hitting a patch of gravel or a car.

[DucWise]

Sooo... anyone can just ride in, slap down $35, and just ride around on a paved track to their hearts content?? What's the catch??

http://www.imimotorsports.com/ Thier web site offers little to no information. Anyone have a picture or diagram of the track? I'm guessing it's the 1 Mile Roadcourse listed on the site?

[Bueller]

Very small tight track, Kart track, rental karts have priority. They will white flag you when they want to run rentals, at that point you pull off at the end of that lap. If there is someone there on a bike that has experience on the track, it would be beneficial for the noobs to introduce yourself and get a quick rundown of track etiquette.

We will probably be out there Sunday.

[dm_gsxr]

Yep, just the bucks. The track guy is trying to be fair about letting us on at reasonable times but the Karts are higher paying customers (60 for 20 laps or something). They've let the kart guys run over the 20 minutes several times while I've been there. Truthfully though I can just about last 20 minutes anyway



Carl

[Bassil Duwaik]

Son of a gun. I think I see where I lost my mirror when I went down on turn 5;-p man I miss that itty bitty track. Would never be where I am now without it.

[seadood228]

Made it back in one piece, but my tires look like they've been through a cheese grater.

What a blast! It's great to be able to ride close to your personal limits in a fairly safe manner. I definitely felt humbled after watching myself on video. I felt as though I was flying around the track, then I'd watch the video which looked to be in slow motion

I had a braking incident early which freaked me out for the rest of the day. I'd been on them pretty hard for a few laps, and coming off the back straight they got really funky. I'm not sure if it was fade because they appeared to grab, then stop, then grab, etc... It was sort of like a really slow version of ABS, albeit very jerky. Has anyone ever had that happen to them? I ended up scrubbing off enough speed to make the turn, but I didn't have the confidence to go very fast on the straights for the rest of the day.

My best two laps were 1:17 and 1:18, although I think I could have pushed and got a 1:15. Plenty of room for improvement.

[Slo]

I definitely felt humbled after watching myself on video. I felt as though I was flying around the track, then I'd watch the video which looked to be in slow motion

My best two laps were 1:17 and 1:18, although I think I could have pushed and got a 1:15. Plenty of room for improvement.

It happens to all of us with the video thing, believe me on that one.

As far as your times, they are not bad, just takes more seat time. A group of us will be out Saturday if you want to swing by, maybe show you different lines and such.

Jay

[Slo]

I have plenty of videos that show different lines that different people take if you want to check them out, they are uploaded on streetfire and do a search for IMI and sportbike.

Heres a link to Vehicle 1's video, then you can watch others by clicking on "more from this user".

[Bassil Duwaik]

Slo is an excellent person to go to the track with. He'll show you all the ropes

[seadood228]

Heres a link to Vehicle 1's video, then you can watch others by clicking on "more from this user".

So that's how you are supposed to go around the track.. Yeah I definitely need to work on my lines. I think I've also got a big problem with transitioning my weight as well. I'm not quite sure how it's supposed to be done, I just know that you are supposed to get over to the inside. Normally I push my butt over with my arms, which sort of causes the bike to wobble ever so slightly. I definitely didn't catch that in any of your videos, you guys are much smoother.. It also doesn't help that I'm out of shape and 20 lbs heavier than my normal weight.

I'd love to come out this weekend, except I've got this rental from hell that I've been working on for the past bagillion months. Sucks, I've had my CBR for over a month and have ridden it on a total of THREE occasions . Truth be told, I doubt I'm ready to be on the track with that many bikes. My main cycle is a cruiser, and having the bike cranked over, trying to look deep into a turn, and having someone go by you a few feet away isn't something I'm accustomed to... yet.

Have fun this weekend...

I'll try to get that video up...

[Κανελλόπουλος]

Life without a truck is pretty annoying when you want to take your motorcycle 45 minutes away. Damn Civic and it's good gas mileage!