Perfect 250, 300 track?

[JohnnyBravo]

What tracks, sections, etc do ya like or hate? Best, worst, and could care less... And go!

[choneofakind]

Mid-Ohio, turns 7,8,9,10A,10B = perfect knee-down bliss.

[CC Cowboy]

Jennings, motorcycle only, silky smooth, no long straights, besides, it's close to anyone that lives around there.

[Jiggles]

Straights
Curves

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Jennings, motorcycle only, silky smooth, no long straights, besides, it's close to anyone that lives around there.

Headed back northward before Jennings or Daytona :/ maybe next year unless something drastic happens... Think you can keep alive that long? Haha when you gonna start postin videos of all these turn one drifts and such?

[JohnnyBravo]

Gonna see if my uncle will lay me some concrete in one of our unused fields back home, get me a lil small track. He is easier to talk to if ya have vision or better yet pictures and drawings... I'd hate to knock out my old dirtbike track, but hey, my dirtbike was sold years ago. You know how country folks do

[leed]

VIR Patriot is a great track setup for the 250! They only run it a once or twice a year though [NESBA, that is].

[gogoKawi]

Originally Posted by leed

VIR Patriot is a great track setup for the 250! They only run it a once or twice a year though [NESBA, that is].

I haven't done Patriot yet. But VIR south is a great match for the 250. Also, the Shenandoah track at Summit Point is 250 heaven. So many turns... Can you tell that I am just getting back from the track?

[JohnnyBravo]

I hope to make VIR next season

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

Gonna see if my uncle will lay me some concrete in one of our unused fields back home, get me a lil small track. He is easier to talk to if ya have vision or better yet pictures and drawings... I'd hate to knock out my old dirtbike track, but hey, my dirtbike was sold years ago. You know how country folks do

make something like Rossi's ranch track, that one looked like a hell of a lot of fun. His idea to intentionally make a slippery track was genius in terms of practicing bike control

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by Sirref

make something like Rossi's ranch track, that one looked like a hell of a lot of fun. His idea to intentionally make a slippery track was genius in terms of practicing bike control

Wow wow wow... Idk how well a 300 will dirt track, but that would def keep the costs way down, the clay dirtbike track was mostly intact last time I rode it... Knock down some jumps an such, work on some turns, an get a cheap track bike an I'm in like Flynn

[mwirrick]

Putnam Park is a great track. Turn one particularly fun on a 250. Its just west of Indianapolis. One of the best kept secrets of the midwest.

[mwirrick]

Did a track day at Laguna Seca, too. One a rented Ninja 250. The famous corkscrew was fun, but really the rest of the track is what makes the place. And the fact that its on the Monterey Peninsula, which is one of the nicest places on earth!

[2WheelGuy]

Sears Point aka Infineon aka Sonoma is my favorite 250 track.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by mwirrick

Putnam Park is a great track. Turn one particularly fun on a 250. Its just west of Indianapolis. One of the best kept secrets of the midwest.

You like turn 1 on the 250? I like it just fine on the R6 but no matter the bike it's got to be turn 10. I know everyone see's the wall there but I WILL drag my elbow in the corner one day.

My all time favorite though is turn 9 at Mid-Ohio.

[Kyle602]

I'd say in the southeast Talladega GP, JGP, Barber.
All flow nicely without terribly long straights.

[JohnnyBravo]

Looking at 20 acres at the moment, if I get it I'm sure I can fit in some kinda track somewhere

[Aodrn]

Grattan in Michigan. They paved the crappy sections and it is my all time favorite.

[ZeroGravity360]

Originally Posted by mwirrick

Putnam Park is a great track. Turn one particularly fun on a 250. Its just west of Indianapolis. One of the best kept secrets of the midwest.

I want to go here, but my friend said I would get ran over on a 250 in putnam. He told me the track is too big for my bike and I would be causing accidents going too slow

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by ZeroGravity360

I want to go here, but my friend said I would get ran over on a 250 in putnam. He told me the track is too big for my bike and I would be causing accidents going too slow

That is 100000000000% BULLSHEET!!!! That fib is so white hot it will make your fingernails sweat!

I (and others) ride our 250's there often enough. The track doesn't matter, what really matters is the organization that is running the track day. Many DO very much encourage riders of smaller bikes to come out and play, learn a thing or two and have a good time in general. We have written reviews of many trackday orgs as a sticky in this section of the site. Having written a few of them myself that host a Putnam track day every year, give them a read. If one isn't listed, I got a $10 spot that says one of us has ridden with them before.

EDIT: To reference them specifically
MCRA, Midwest Track Days, Ducati of Indy, Louisville Sport Bike are some orgs that host track days at Putnam that will ensure your day riding a small cc bike is enjoyable, as safe as possible and a learning experience.

[snot]

Me and my 300 were not the slowest on the track when I went...
I had a blast and zero issues. I rode with STT

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by Aodrn

Grattan in Michigan. They paved the crappy sections and it is my all time favorite.

More people should listen to this guy.

Not because I know anything about the track (I watched a little bit of a track day there once), but because I'm only 20 miles away.

[Sirref]

Ohh here's a fun thread bump

Originally Posted by ZeroGravity360

I want to go here, but my friend said I would get ran over on a 250 in putnam. He told me the track is too big for my bike and I would be causing accidents going too slow

First of all, this is just flat out wrong. The 250s are capable of far more than most people are aware of, even track riders. You'll be fine at a track day just about anywhere on a 250

Now on to the question. Shenandoah and VIR Patriot are hands down the best 250/300 tracks on the east coast. Close to NC/VA VIR North and NCBike are great options too. I've learned so much on a 300 at NCBike, the 300s can get stupidly fast there and it's such a flowing track, one of the two spots that I've drug elbow (before I stopped trying to) was NCBike T5 which is just such a balls to the wall corner even on a 300

[JohnnyBravo]

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by ZeroGravity360

I want to go here, but my friend said I would get ran over on a 250 in putnam. He told me the track is too big for my bike and I would be causing accidents going too slow

You should start questioning this friend's blanket statements. The purpose of a track day is not to go fast, but to learn. The purpose of a race is to go fast. Track days are NOT race days, at least not at the level you're looking at.

Suggest to your friend that he get his (I assume this is a him??) rear end on his "not slow" bike and take it to Putnam or Mid-O and spend some time at a track day.

I'd bet you 99 times out of 100, if he can get over his own pride, he'll be dumbfounded by how fast the control riders are and how relaxed they are while doing it. No matter how fast he thinks he is, the control riders will be able to ride any wonky line they want at a pace that will leave his head spinning. There's plenty of riders (some of which are on this forum, not naming names) who regularly ride in the Intermediate and Advanced groups on their ninjette and lay down a fire breathing pace. Your first few track days teach you more about just how slow you are than anything else, IME.

Two super important things to remember about judging other rider skills, choosing who to ride with and who to trust, etc:
1) Being fast is not about how much power your bike has, but how much skill you wield. The most critical part of the motorcycle is the sack of meat connecting the footpegs to the handlebars.
2) If someone claims they're fast, odds are good that they aren't.

But at the end of the day...
...being fast does not matter for anything but stroking your own di... ego! Being skilled enough to make it home safely when you encounter surprises is what matters. If those skills make you faster (which they will), that's just an added perk.

[JohnnyBravo]

Somebody pissed in someone's cheerios

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Your first few track days teach you more about just how much more you and your bike are capable of than anything else, IME.

fify, great post though!

[Dave Wolfe]

Heres how first track days go:
U show up on a new gsxr 750 and get absolutely smoked by a 65 yr old fat guy with a handlebar moustache riding a 30 yr old Honda Ascot.

Moral of the story - everyone is slow on their first day regardless of bike. Thats why there are separated into slow and fast groups.

[JohnnyBravo]

[Ducati999]

Originally Posted by Dave Wolfe

Heres how first track days go:
U show up on a new gsxr 750 and get absolutely smoked by a 65 yr old fat guy with a handlebar moustache riding a 30 yr old Honda Ascot.

Moral of the story - everyone is slow on their first day regardless of bike. Thats why there are separated into slow and fast groups.

Could not have said it better! My first track day, I got passed on the inside of the track by an 80 year old man! I was on my Ducati 999 and he was on a pre gen ninjette with stock tires! My bike makes more power at 2500 rpm than the max of his bike yet I could not hope to keep up===RESPECT!

[tgold]

Grattan gets the nod for me. I haven't been there in years, but I've put a lot of laps in on that track. My best lap time was on a Honda RS125 which also happens to be the bike with the least horsepower of all the bikes I've raced there. Great technical track. Getting turn four (blind entry, off-camber entry that transitions to on-camber) right is quite a challenge. Turn six is one of my personal favorites as well.

[shift957]

Originally Posted by Dave Wolfe

Heres how first track days go:
U show up on a new gsxr 750 and get absolutely smoked by a 65 yr old fat guy with a handlebar moustache riding a 30 yr old Honda Ascot.

Moral of the story - everyone is slow on their first day regardless of bike. Thats why there are separated into slow and fast groups.

Usually, YES.

But not everyone is slow on their first td. (/blanket statements) I moved to Intermediate after 1 session and to advanced the second day. As a coach and instructor, I have moved 2 guys to intermediate for a session and then to advanced the next session, and I am not the easiest person to get a bump from -- especially to advanced group. It's very rare, but it happens.


Now as for tracks I would NOT want to ride a 250/300 on: VIR Full Course and Road America come to mind. If I get sick of being pinned on a 600, I just know the straights seem that much longer on half the displacement. lol

[Sirref]

Hell even the straights at Summit Main and NCBike seem like they take an eternity on the 300s. Mostly you just chill and sit there waiting for T1. At least VIR N has a bend in it to keep you awake

[JohnnyBravo]

Like cruising the interstate just faster Turns are way funner

[Sirref]

Nah, it's not like cruising the interstate. On the interstate you pass everyone. On the straights everyone passes you hahahahaha

[JohnnyBravo]

Link to original page on YouTube.

[csmith12]

Well... looky there. 3 ninjette members, in one vid.

[Sirref]

Forgot about Mid-Os straight, you can order a pizza in the time it takes you to go down the straight

also, dat closing speed at 3:18

[JohnnyBravo]

Riding track with your hand on your knee

Looks like a super fun track!!

Who made the best Jennings vid???

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Sirref

also, dat closing speed at 3:18