School Me On Track Days
 

I might actually be able to pull off a track day (or two) this season. My track has a Rider's School for $200 that I'll probably go to first (it might even be required). After that, weekend track days are $175/day.

Anyway, how inconvenient is it to ride your bike to the track, carrying all your supplies in say, a backpack? Tape for the lights, etc. I'm not toally sure what all I'll need. What are the essentials?

I don't have a truck or a trailer, so that's pretty much out of the question.

I would do anything and everything I could to find a ride to that trackday.

Not only is it incredibly inconvenient to only bring what you could carry on a backpack, but what happens if you wad your bike up? How do you get home?

BAD idea.

Well, in the event of a bike wadding, I can make some phone calls. I know a person or two that can haul my bike. I just don't want to ask them to come to my trackdays.

Yep, definitely do your best to find a way to haul the bike there. Anyone with a trailer or truck with room for 2 (or more) bikes will probably be willing to split gas costs. You'll be whupped afterward, and facing a long ride in that condition is no fun. And like Kell mentioned, if you wad your bike, you can't ride it home.

What you need to bring kinda depends on what the organizers are going to provide. At a minimum, I'd suggest bringing water, snacks, a chair, basic tools and some extra gas. There are a ton of other "nice to have" items, but I think that covers the basics.

Edit: Depending how far away you are, calling someone may or may not be a good option if you wad your bike. If it happens late in the day, and the track is a good distance from your buddy, you'll be a pain in the ass to the organizers who just want to go home at the end of the day.

Damn, wrong button. :lol

The track is about 30 minutes away from me, and anyone else I know that would be willing to come scrape me up off the pavement. The ride hom afterward, even while tired, would be a piece of cake. My one and only real riding buddy doesn't have a truck to haul bikes in.

What I may do is watch one of the local riding groups and find out when they're going, and see if I can bum a ride. I'm sure they'd be happy to help out.

http://static.squidoo.com/resize/squ...800badidea.GIF

Aside from the taping, there's a whole world of things (to ME) that are "must-have's" at the track, and one of those is a place to SIT DOWN. Kinda hard to put even a collapsible chair on your back for a ride to the track.

I will admit though, that I’m a boy scout when it comes to track days and take enough tools and parts to build a second friggin bike most of the time.

You'll be fine.

Those of us that have hosted or worked at numerous trackdays (azoom, oreo, ceo, racerboy, jgalt, me, etc) can tell you of dozens of riders we have seen to the ride to-ride-ride home bit.

Is it ideal? No.

Can it be done? Easily.

I would definitely buddy up with someone at the track (beforehand if possible) so you "know" someone there in the worst case scenario.

Rent yourself a u-haul truck or cargo van or minivan or bum a pickup from a buddy. Most sportbikes will fit easily into a short bed pickup, and with a little work into a minivan missing it's rear seat.

Take water and snacks and fuel.

Take a toolbox. Enough to adjust your chain, swap out a clipon or lever, and remove bodywork and mirrors.

Riding in and then adjusting your chain, suspension, removing mirrors, etc. is a lot more hassle. You'll also need to get in even earlier to prep for tech.

We've had some folks ride in for track days, but most are veterans or know other folks that they're meeting up with at the track. You're best bet is to post up on your local boards to see if anyone is going to the track day, and offer to split costs for gas, food, drinks, hotel (if needed), etc. in exchange for hauling you, the bike and your gear to and from the track.

You'll have someone to share the excitement of the day, lap times, etc., and you both have backup in case someone wads up their bike and needs help getting home. You make new friends, and get hooked on track days. Sounds like a good adventure. :-)

If you can scrounge together the $$$, you can pick up a used trailer for $2-300, and a trailer hitch for almost any car for less than $100. Its a worthwhile investment.

My step-dad has a trailer that I can borrow. I'd just have to either use his truck, or get a hitch installed on my Santa Fe. Either option is doable. I'm also going to check with some local riders about maybe just bumming a ride. I'm sure they do some group trackdays once in a while.

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/...-fe-hitch.html

if you have a santa fe then invest the $150 in a trailer hitch, it will be a worthwhile investment

There's a local place that does hitches pretty cheaply, and they do good work.

My primary concern with someone riding to and from the track is the rider being too exhausted to safely get home.

been using karens santa fe to haul my stufto the track for a few yrs now. A bit underpowered but it gets the job done.

I don't recommend the ride to the track day thing. Just so much more piece of mind knowing that your bike is ready before you get to the track, and you have everything you need going there.

THAT.

Plus it's harder than you would think to adjust from spending a day holding the throttle WFO and then heading home with oncoming traffic and speed limits. Your brain will take some time to adjust between the 2...it's just dangerous to try and do it too quickly, even if you're a smart, experienced rider.

Take water, levers and a small gas tank, I rode to my last track day, it isn't a big deal

Trade the Sante Fe in for an S-10.

You need a gas can with fuel at a min, plus water, food, tire pressure guage and some basic tools.

Exactly Mike... is it the best case? No.

Do most people who do it end up being fine and not having any problems? Yes.

Are the ones who have problems helped out by riders/staff/etc due to the great community atmosphere? Always.

Would I allow having to ride to the TD stop me from going to one? Not a fucking chance in hell.
On the other hand, with this new information... If you have a trailer and truck you can borrow that easily, I think you'd be a fool not to do that. Definitely more ideal to haul that shit.
This is also a great point... we've had riders going home after their first track day, riding, and an afternoon rainstorm swooped in. Talk about a long and tough day. I was worried about them.

Geez....just rent a uhaul. Ramp might be provided and tie downs should be there.
Worse case scenario is that you get one with a lame state scene on the side. Like Arizona

Iits nice to live only 17 miles from the track

As some others have said - is it the best idea? No. Is it doable? Absolutely.

I used to do it back in the day quite a bit... Hour & 15 up, hour & 15 home... Makes for a long day, but you'd be surprised how many people ride to our events.

People do what they gotta do to get there. Plus theres always someone willing to lend a hand if someone crashes or cant get home so at least you and your gear will be takencare of.

Indeed... and it's worth it :)

Doable? Sure. Recommended? Nah. There are better options. And, I might note, there is a difference betweena veteran track rider doing this and a rookie...

Isn't that what I just said? :?:
Most of our customers that ride up do so because they're novice or occasional track riders & haven't justified buying a trailer yet.

Then again, we generally attract a safe/smart group of customers to our events. Not a lot of yahoos out there riding over their heads compared to other orgs. Our last event in '09 I think we only had THREE crashes over the course of TWO days at NJMP (those numbers are rare, but it just emphasizes the fact that we tend to have less crashes than other orgs).

This.

And this. I don't like having to worry about doing anything at the track except unload, tech inspect. and ride.

I have a MAJOR problem keeping my speed down after having done a track day or two or four. Your whole perception of how fast you are traveling it totally skewed. It is a wonder I haven't getting a ticket or anything. How the f* do I explain that one to the cop? Yeah right!

I vote for finding a way to haul the bike there versus riding.

I put a feeler out on a local riding forum to see if I can bum a ride from someone on a track day. I've ridden with a few of them and they're good people. That'll give me someone I "know" and the ability to trailer my bike there.

Yes, but all track owners/promoters have to say it themselves :lmao:

Fantastic plan!

Oreo, sorry I quoted you... I didn't mean to indicate you said something out of line. No need to get defensive, you aren't the only agency around that has events without a single bike hitting the ground. :wink:

Hehe, aw naw dude, I wasn't gettin defensive, I just got a chuckle out of how it seemed like you thought you were saying something different. The rest was just me rambling on & thinking "out loud" :p

I have already gotten one offer. So far so good! The first track day isn't until April, so I have some time to work it out.