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Why Ride Track

8K views 36 replies 12 participants last post by  live_to_ride 
#1 ·
#2 · (Edited)
Nice encouraging article. I wish I had access to track days. Our area did have one but the city closed it down several years ago because they wanted the land. Such a shame
 
#3 ·
Nice encouraging article. I wish I had access to track days. Our area did gave one but the city closed it down several years ago because they wanted the land. Such a shame
I'm close to Virginia International Raceway. Looking around for a used one piece suit right now, I'm not going out in a two piece again (and it's a bit tight :)). Too maladroit to race but I'm going to catch some track days on the CBR and try and get a couple of the instructed sessions in.
 
#5 ·
I'd be tempted to try a track day but the big obstacles are:
1, Not owning full leathers. Textiles are no-go apparantly.
2, Only very rarely having the required full day spare to travel, ride and travel back.
3, Not having any friends who still ride motorcycles to double it up as a social event.
 
#6 ·
Shouldn't you be asking yourself Why ride road?
its such a waste of rubber , fuel, and precious life.


Re: Life expectancy of motorcyclists...
USA stats
Motorcycle Crash Facts
Motorcyclist Fatalities Increase
Motorcycles are the most dangerous type of motor vehicle to drive. These vehicles are involved in fatal crashes at a rate of 35.0 per 100 million miles of travel, compared with a rate of 1.7 per 100 million miles of travel for passenger cars.
Motorcyclists were 35 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash in 2006, per vehicle mile traveled, and 8 times more likely to be injured.
Although motorcycles account for only 2% of vehicles on the road, they make up more than 10% of all crashes.
Motorcycles accounted for nearly 3% of all registered motor vehicles and 0.4% of vehicle miles traveled in 2006.
Motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled in 10 years to 4,810 in 2006. Helmets saved the lives of 1,658 motorcyclists in 2006



Imagine the 2016 stats!? :(


Deep down you know its going to kill you in the worst way,... eventually.
 
#7 · (Edited)
^While that is true we shouldn't forget that US riders are not exactly among the best trained riders in the world, there aren't helmet laws and in the hotter areas a lot of them don't wear protective gear (no bashing intended, just stating grim facts). It looks differently in other countries*. That doesn't mean that motorcycling isn't dangerous but it's not that disastrous everywhere and the rider contributes a lot to how safe he is. In Germany in 2013 roughly 50% of the fatal accidents were caused by the rider. The two main reasons where being too fast (34%) and not keeping enough distance to the guy in front (11,9%)**. That is stuff that the rider can influence and it is up to him to decide about how much risk he's willing to take.

*In 2006 72,34 riders in th US died per 100.000 registered bikes, in Germany we had 568 motorcycle fatalities in 2013 and roughly 5 million registered bikes which equals 11,3 fatalities per 100.000 registered bikes. That's some difference there in life expectancy.

**Source

(yes, I love me my statistics....)
 
#9 ·
^While that is true we shouldn't forget that US riders are not exactly among the best trained riders in the world, there aren't helmet laws and in the hotter areas a lot of them don't wear protective gear )
No arguments. Many States do have helmet laws, and common sense such as graduated displacement licenses don't exist here.

Training courses are also voluntary in most States, in my State of North Carolina they'll give you a provisional (no passenger) MC license with just a written test!!

People think I'm nuts wearing full gear in summer, it took two wrecks within a mile of the house where I 'skipped' the over-trousers to learn all the gear, all the time.

I've had three fairly spectacular get-offs and survival was by the grace of God and wearing 'most' of the gear. The titanium plate, and assorted screws are due to physics, and the scars and limp are from skipping the over-trousers :(.
 
#8 ·
I think Canada can learn from countries that legally endorse motorcycle license requirements. In Alberta, once a person obtains their MC license they can hop on a 1000cc super sport and crash off into the sunset. We do have a graduated license with restrictions in place for new drivers/riders but the bike displacement is not one of them. Like Schroeder says, most fatalities are due to speed and inexperience. (No stats provided cause....well....I'm too lazy to research lol)
 
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#10 ·
I think Canada can learn from countries that legally endorse motorcycle license requirements. In Alberta, once a person obtains their MC license they can hop on a 1000cc super sport and crash off into the sunset.
No arguments. Many States do have helmet laws, and common sense such as graduated displacement licenses don't exist here.
Well, to stay fair it's not necessarily gradual over here either. If one is older than 24 one can go directly for the unrestricted "A" license, that's what I did. But that also means one has to be trained on a bigger bike and do the test on it (mostly 650s here). However my riding school chose to start small with new students and gradually get them on bigger bikes as they progressed through their training (first lesson in a parking lot on a 125 to learn the basics of operating a bike, next 4 lessons on a CB500 restricted to 34PS on public roads and from there it was a Kawasaki Er-6n with 650cc and 72PS on which I also took the test. After that I could have bought a Hayabusa...if I had had any intentions of killing myself. Actually the instructors discouraged getting 600cc super sports or bigger bikes but legally it's no problem to get one and most of my "classmates" were actually in the market for 600 super sport bikes.

Hope I didn't derail this thread too far.
 
#11 ·
US = low population density and plenty of wide open spaces with opportunities for sustained high speeds
Europe = high population density and frequent villages and small towns on non-motorway routes forcing frequent drops to lower speeds

Surely those two facts have got to influence the above mentioned statistics? I'd expect more European crashes to be at speeds you could walk (or at least limp) away from.

However you read the statistics you're still more likely to gt home safe than not every time you go out for a ride. Last Friday evening I rode a 60 mile round trip to see a friend and I didn't crash once!
Given the crowded nature of the south of England and my friend living in a small rural village I couldn't ride over 50mph for more than maybe 10 of those 60 miles.
 
#12 ·
Crashes happen more frequently on rural roads than on motorways. On motorways you don't have traffic coming the other direction, no crossroads, no sudden turns and usually several lanes to chose for overtaking safely. Actually the Autobahn is the safest type of road in Germany. Rural roads on the other hand are more dangerous because of all the stuff mentioned earlier. Add that a lot of bikers blatantly ignore the speed limits on rural roads and it's not seldom that they do 150+ km/h (~90 mph) on them (speed limit 100km/h, ~60mph) and combine that with "slow" moving cages and a felt need to overtake as many cars as fast as possible and limited ahead vision due to turns and twists and you have a recipe for a lot of our fatalities. So I would rather say we have the more dangerous environment than the long open roads with barely any traffic that one can find in some parts of the US.
 
#15 ·
I've mentioned before that I rode motorcycles on the street for nearly 30 years before setting tires on a track.
I was experienced and knew what I was doing....so I thought.

Ive learned more in the last several years doing track days and advanced riding courses than I would have ever learned on the streets.

I'm now embarrassed that I considered myself an experienced motorcyclist all of those years...
 
#17 ·
After almost 30 years of road (14-44 year old), I've now converted completely to track and given up the road.

That said - there is one good reason NOT to ride track. It's completely addictive and will cost you more than a coke habit. No rehab for me though, next races coming up!
 
#18 ·
the only crashes ive had in 50 yrs motorcycling
have been once taken down by road kill on a
reducing radius blind curve [woodford bends]
on the way to work, and three other impacts
all cars turning in front of me,, one a U turn
from the kerb, one an old lady coming out
from a side street into my lane [almost
head on] the last he turned right across
my lane as i passed thru a light [T intersection]..

on closed courses there are no cars parked at the kerb,
no intersections or traffic lights, no oncoming traffic,
n blind curves even if noone noticed roadkill,
and everyone has at least some riding ability
and intention to improve their skills..

noone is texting or talking on a mobile phone
or checking emails or facebook, or taking photos,
or eating or drinking or tending to baby in back..
noone is drunk or off their face on drugs..

there is a start and a finish..
everyone is riding the same direction..
everyone is fully geared up..
all motorcycles are ready to go..
it is a controlled road environment
with responsible adults running the show..

typical closed courses have no trees
or walls or houses etc to run into..

track surfaces are checked for oil
or sand or irregularities..
riders learn the course..
there is responsible instructor
or other motorcyclist oversight..

the closed course or any nice road
without cars/trucks/busses/pedestrians
lights, sidestreets etc, must be
motorcycling paradise..
 
#19 ·
I don't know, track sure sounds good to me. I don't even care that I don't want to go fast. I just want the "feeling." Just watched "Long Way Round" with Ewan McGregor and noted that the only time he felt as if he could get killed, he was riding in North America and some kid in a Honda hit him from behind. Kind of funny when you look at the rest of the route.
 
#20 ·
I have my first track day coming up. I'm taking My R3. Signed up for the special rookie program on Sept 5th. $125 plus $90 for leathers and boots. 7 times 15 minute sessions on the track and 7 times 15 minute sessions in the classroom. Rain or shine. Tent camping the night before. Tech inspect at 8:00. Breakfast and lunch buffet available. Riding to and from on the bike because that's the way I roll. I'll call for someone in my pick up truck if I wreck it. Which I'm sure the pace won't be anywhere near that high in this group. I'm fortunate to have a really nice track only two hours away.
.
NYSTNEW | New York Safety Track
.

https://youtu.be/CkbCz5jd5RE
.
 
#21 ·
First track day 2011,
Inside Helmet thoughts;
"I'm flying"



Last track day 2015
Inside Helmet thoughts;
"C'mon you slow POS!"-


Only thing that has changed is the learning, (apart from going eleventy billion times faster)
and the chance to have practice it over and over and over :)
I now look through the next corner and thinking about the one after.

Anyone can do it, everyone should :)
 
#22 ·
Wonderful pics Aufitt.
@sendler, keep us posted on your track days. I'm envious as I wish our area offered such lessons. Hope the weather holds up for tenting. Do you have an air mattress to keep you comfy? Yikes....my back lol
 
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#23 ·
air mattress
My backpacking matress rolls up to the size of a football and inflates to a luxurious 1 inch thick. But I usually sleep pretty good in the tent. Even if the younger crowd is up all night doing burn outs in front of the dj's tent. Not at the track but at the festivals. Doesn't work out so well for the vintage bikes with tube type tires.
 
#25 ·
And ur not joining the younger crowd Sendler? After a lovely night snooze in that 1inch comfy bag you shd feel refreshed for some hooliganism;)
 
#27 ·
Hey Aufitt, are you eventually going to move up to the 600 class? Or stay with the 300...(Currently I'm in the 21 speed mountain bike class tee hee)
 
#29 ·
They regraded me up to C grade last year, so Club 600 is pretty much unviable for the long term , and i'd have to straight into the cut throat world of Supersport.
That is daunting,

I'd rather get a cbr1000 to train on, and keep racing the small bikes.

If this makes sense,;
there is much you can learn by riding a bike at the other end of the spectrum, ie a 1000 teaches a rider the track at a whole faster pace, braking from 240kph to 80 is a whole new ballgame from braking 180kph to 80, Its hard work turning the monsters even though they are only 25kg heavier.

Mates who go the other way ride my 250's and come in smiling and say 'Man that was hard work making this go'

600's have the best of both worlds, have to milk them but the pace is same as a 1000 for anyone less than a B grader.
But 600's bite hard when it goes wrong like 125GP does.
250's are almost uncrashable, 1000's are too daunting to ride like a muppet so you barely tickle the throttle.

Most fun Ive had was racing the cbr150 in 2013, but that was short lived..
something to do with personality differences between rider and team owner haha (who'd a guessed that could happen! haha >:) )
 
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#31 ·
I had my second track day on Wednesday at Sydney Motorsport Park, it's a great day to have with a couple of mates.
This time I was on the smallest bike in the group but the CBR shows it strengths through the corners. It just sucks to be overtaken every lap on the main straight.
Last time out there was a Diavel that I would pass by the second corner, but having 6 times the power of the CBR, he could just roll on down the straight and leave me behind.
 
#34 ·
Good job! What were you thinking during your before and after pics?? :)
 
#37 ·
Excellent article. This journalist makes some valid points. Thanks for posting
 
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