My First Trackday!

[tfkrocks]

I had my first trackday at Thunderhill Raceway. I rented one of Feel Like a Pro's (FLAP) Ninja 250s because I figured it would be easier to get a feel for how a trackday goes without having to deal with bike prep/transport/etc. They keep the bikes prepped and provide snacks and water so it was cool.

Here are my thoughts from the day in no particular order:

- I have never seen so many people riding without gear on haha. Then of course I did it too for tech inspection. Hell that was more bikes in one place than I've ever seen before.

- Hearing bikes on the track in person is boner inducing.

- Huge difference in riding one of FLAP's bikes and my relatively stock bike. It was great to see how clip-ons and rearsets feel. The motion pro throttle was nice. Oh and sticky tires rock. Now I want to go mod my 250 but I don't have money for that

- I realized I could corner relatively well once I got the hang of riding on a track. I actually got a bit frustrated because I could go fast in the turns but couldn't pass on the inside because I was in C group. Often couldn't pass on the outside because people were swinging wide too. Oh and then of course I couldn't pass in the straights cuz I'm riding a 250 and most people had supersports. I'm still not really fast though and obviously not competing so not a huge deal.

- **** it was fun to keep the speed going almost all the time and blast through the turns. Passing supersports is quite an ego booster.

- The novice school classes were definitely helpful. I probably should have made more use of the available coaches since they were there and all, but I still learned a lot. The classes took away from having down time though which would've been nice. I wanted to nap lol.

I think this was my best session. Nothing special but woo video!

Link to original page on YouTube.

Oh and here's me ****ing up and somehow not crashing. Oops.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[NevadaWolf]

WHOOO HOOO!! That's awesome! Congrats!!

Though I'm showing the first video is private. whaaa

[csmith12]

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by NevadaWolf

WHOOO HOOO!! That's awesome! Congrats!!

Though I'm showing the first video is private. whaaa

Fixed

[NevadaWolf]

Precision will be at T-Hill next weekend and I keep passing on it due to funds and it looked boring for a 250 with all those straights. But now seeing the curves and the elevation, maybe it would be worth at least one day out there.

Looks like you had a great time!

[Aodrn]

I had my first full track day on the 250 Saturday. I had been to Putnam on my Z1000 before so I have been in both ends of the spectrum. Yesterday I was very frustrated at one point. I had been passing liter bikes as if they were parked. Then they started stuffing me into turn 1. After I lost my drive it took me till turn 9 to recover because the bigger bikes behind me had the power to pass on the small straights once I was slowed down. After that I would be waiting on them too. I felt like I was on the interstate and the far lane was ending and all the jerks kept swooping in and making me stop because they had a bigger car

[rasta]

Damn that looked fun!!! Was the speedo broken? It looks like it never got off 0

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by rasta

Damn that looked fun!!! Was the speedo broken? It looks like it never got off 0

It's not supposed to be working. Not necessary on the track and would more of a distraction than anything else.

[CC Cowboy]

It looks like you're going much faster than the speedometer indicates.

[JohnnyBravo]

Great vids!!!
I wanna hit the track so bad... It's bout time to pee or get off the pot for me

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

It looks like you're going much faster than the speedometer indicates.

Well ****, totally thought I was going 0 mph the whole time

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Great vids!!!
I wanna hit the track so bad... It's bout time to pee or get off the pot for me

Do it. You'll be amazed what the little ninjette can do

[Aggrotech]

why did they fck with the speedometer? That would drive me crazy. Id love to know my entry/exit speeds.

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by Aggrotech

why did they fck with the speedometer? That would drive me crazy. Id love to know my entry/exit speeds.

Because then people would be more concerned with how fast they're going instead of paying attention to their surroundings. I assume it's also better to learn what the proper speeds should feel like rather than relying on looking down. I've heard of trackday orgs requiring people to tape over their speedos as well.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Aggrotech

why did they fck with the speedometer? That would drive me crazy. Id love to know my entry/exit speeds.

Then run a telemetry app, just about any smartphone has one nowadays. Trust me, looking down while on the track just isn't a good idea. Sure it happens... but once you start improving your pace through the corners, your attention needs to be there.... not on the gauges.

[tfkrocks]

http://gotbluemilk.com/web130824b/383/index.html

Oh hey, I sorta feel cool. I'm also totally open to criticism on BP

[csmith12]

Rebecca, I don't think you can ask for much better your first time out. Well done!

[csmith12]

Cool pics too!

[rasta]

When I go to my first track day, I'd want to rent one too. I can't stand the thought of dumping my baby, not to mention all the prepping and hauling you alluded to. What was the policy if you crashed their rental?

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by rasta

When I go to my first track day, I'd want to rent one too. I can't stand the thought of dumping my baby, not to mention all the prepping and hauling you alluded to. What was the policy if you crashed their rental?

You either pay for the full cost of damages or you can pay an additional $50 to limit your damage costs to $500 regardless of the damage.

[Aufitt]

With that mindset you will dump it,
and there is no reason to crash on a first track day as the pace is very slow.
coaches will show you how not to.

Take your own.

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by Aufitt

With that mindset you will dump it,
and there is no reason to crash on a first track day as the pace is very slow.
coaches will show you how not to.

Take your own.

I did it with ZoomZoom Trackdays and they give so much help to novices. Classes ever hour right after the C group session and plenty of coaches around to help you out, all of which is included with the track day cost. Remember that you're there to learn and improve, not to race. I'm pretty sure I went annoyingly slow the first couple of sessions while I got used to everything.

[rojoracing53]

[algs26]

Dicing it up in the corners with a 250.

[rasta]

Originally Posted by Aufitt

With that mindset you will dump it,
and there is no reason to crash on a first track day as the pace is very slow.
coaches will show you how not to.

Take your own.

I definitely understand your point, and I certainly wouldn't go to my first trackday with the intent of pushing myself so hard I crash. But I think it's important to consider the risk because crashing is certainly a risk everytime we strap on our boots. I mean, look at Rebecca's 2nd video. She wasn't pushing herself too hard and had one booboo around that one curve. She did well to keep the bike on 2 wheels, but who knows what could happen. All I'm saying is **** happens, and when it does, I'd rather have it happen to someone else's bike

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by rasta

I definitely understand your point, and I certainly wouldn't go to my first trackday with the intent of pushing myself so hard I crash. But I think it's important to consider the risk because crashing is certainly a risk everytime we strap on our boots. I mean, look at Rebecca's 2nd video. She wasn't pushing herself too hard and had one booboo around that one curve. She did well to keep the bike on 2 wheels, but who knows what could happen. All I'm saying is **** happens, and when it does, I'd rather have it happen to someone else's bike

I'd say that incident was entirely my fault and avoidable. I pushed too hard at that point before I had properly figured out the best line for the corner. Got a little too eager.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by tfkrocks

I'd say that incident was entirely my fault and avoidable. I pushed too hard at that point before I had properly figured out the best line for the corner. Got a little too eager.

It happens but you got lucky twice there. 1st time for not crashing (yay!), 2nd that noone was there when you crossed back over the track (yay again!).

[rasta]

Originally Posted by csmith12

It happens but you got lucky twice there. 1st time for not crashing (yay!), 2nd that noone was there when you crossed back over the track (yay again!).

I didn't even think about that 2nd part. That could be bad eeeeek

[RedPepper64]

Congrats on falling in love with the track!! I got the bug on my 250 in June at The Ridge in WA. Different groups have different pros and cons when on the 250. I started in C group again for my second track day this June, it was hard for me as I felt off kilter and out of rhythm the entire morning. I was passing other riders in the corners but they would pass on the straight. My poor 250 just can't compete with the 600s. Upon getting bumped into B class I instantly found my rhythm since I wasn't passing anyone at all.

Best of luck in your future endeavors on the track!

[AlanDog]

Originally Posted by tfkrocks

I'd say that incident was entirely my fault and avoidable. I pushed too hard at that point before I had properly figured out the best line for the corner. Got a little too eager.

The video just doesn't capture what going over that ridge is like, yeah, I almost went into the gravel a couple times, you really have to slow down on the entry, then once you're over the hump it seems like you could have done it a tad faster... very tricky.

Fun to watch the video. I did a trackday there in the spring.

I had more fun at Reno/Fernley versus thunderhill. I felt like TH was a series of long straights connected by turns, whereas RFR is a continuous series of turns with a few straights. I think people who just like to pin it on the straights and see triple digits would love TH. I felt the training sessions were more helpful and just the general vibe was friendlier at RFR (although at the time, it being my first trackday, I felt pretty overwhelmed). It's probably an hour or more farther from the bay area, but I highly recommend it. Dying to go back there but I'm busy and broke...

[rasta]

It took you 4 years to go to your first trackday? What on earth took so long????

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by rasta

It took you 4 years to go to your first trackday? What on earth took so long????

I'm on my 2nd year riding and if it weren't for this forum there would be no way that I would be budgeting track days for this year like I am now. Heck I doubt I'd have done a track day for quite a while if it weren't for me being around.

Your first track day is expensive, most insurance companies don't cover track days and the cost of proper track gear (as opposed to daily use street gear) is fairly high if you don't have a little luck. I managed to get my suit from adouglas which saved me hundreds of dollars to get a 1 piece leather suit pretty much anywhere else. Typical race suits that I see are at least $500 new. Race boots and gauntlet gloves are easily another $300 and there are quite a few other costs of track days that need to be factored in before you go, including the track day itself ($225/day for my shenandoah, wv)

track days can be intimidating, financially as well as the entire atmosphere surrounding it just has this feeling of "this is the place that belongs to the truly fast riders, am I really good enough to bother going?" simply because you're on a racetrack despite the fact that it's not a race.

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by rasta

It took you 4 years to go to your first trackday? What on earth took so long????

I didn't even ride twisties at all on my first bike and I had that for about 2 years. Hell I didn't even go on forums or know much of anything beyond commuting. I only started riding for fun when I got the 300 at the end of 2012. Didn't take that long from that point to get to the track though lol. I blame all you bastards. Horrible influences

[Jiggles]

Come race with me rebecca!

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Come race with me rebecca!

I don't have money for that I'm only just about to transfer to a 4-year school and have no idea how I'm going to pay for all of that, much less racing lol.

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by tfkrocks

I don't have money for that I'm only just about to transfer to a 4-year school and have no idea how I'm going to pay for all of that, much less racing lol.

But its only $99 for the whole weekend!

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

But its only $99 for the whole weekend!

Are you talking about after already having a racing license? Cuz I don't have one of those. My ass has only been to the track once so far lol.

If they do that amazing deal like last year including shitloads of freebies from other people supporting it, I might consider it...

[Jiggles]

The $99 gets you a trackday and two days of racing for as many races as you want and a 1 weekend race license.

If you've already taken the NRS then its $49 for the weekend

[Sirref]

that is the cheapest track deal that I've ever heard of in the US, you cali folk are making me jealous since the lowest price around here for a track day is $200 flat.

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by Sirref

that is the cheapest track deal that I've ever heard of in the US, you cali folk are making me jealous since the lowest price around here for a track day is $200 flat.

It's a special deal just for new wannabe racers. It really is an ingenious way to suck people in haha.

I'll see how the year plays out.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by tfkrocks

It's a special deal just for new wannabe racers. It really is an ingenious way to suck people in haha

nothing in life is truly what it seems, it is still a crazy good deal though.