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Originally Posted by JFMNINJA400
Does riding different bikes at the track help or hurt? I like riding the 300 at some tracks, I think it helps me ride the 400 faster. Some tracks that aren’t as technical, I prefer the bigger bikes. In 2020, I got too ride a 300, 400, 600 and 750 at different tracks. It was a fun season for sure. A friend of mines, who is an expert racer and waaaay faster than me said “does riding all these different bikes mess with your head”? What say you Misti?
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I think it helps to ride different bikes for sure!!! Think about it like this; riding a variety of different bikes and different tracks gives you more overall experience- different perspectives etc. I LOVE riding different bikes, different disciplines (motocross, flat-track, sportbikes, cruisers, track days, racing, single track.....) if it has two wheels I want to ride it and so many of the skills translate.
For sure, some things can mess with your head, like if you are used to riding litre bikes with all the bling electronics, then switching to a smaller bike without such slick electronics can mess you up a bit. (I seriously forgot how to up and downshift manually once when I jumped on an old R6 after riding the Superbike School BMW S 1000's.) And some lines are going to be slightly different, like riding a litre bike tends to be a little more point and shoot than a smaller bike where corner speed is key to going fast. But, with experience on different bikes also comes the ability to switch back and forth easily- as you said, riding the 300 helps you ride the 400 better.
I think that riders that have experience on all different kinds of bikes tend to be faster and better riders overall than riders that stick to just one. It's similar to having SUPER FAST club racers that only ride on one or two tracks....they show up to race somewhere else believing that they are amazing racers because they win at their home track all the time- but find out that they actually suck compared to racers that have experience on many different tracks- they tend to be able to learn tracks much quicker.
So, that was the long answer....lol. The short answer is, ride them all!
What do you think are the key points or things to keep in mind when you are switching bikes? What things translate and what things don't?