Your thoughts on a track day

MrFell

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Ok I'm a complete novice (having never been on one) as far as track riding is concerned and would like to have a go.
Whilst 'spirited' riding is ok on the road, I'd prefer to further those skills on a track under the guidance of an instructor.
I'm not interested in racing any Power Rangers on their S1000RRRR - more of finding how far I can go on a GS.
Has anyone ridden on a track, with a GS, been concerned with the grip of Tourance Next tyres Or are they perfectly acceptable when the pace rises..?

Many thanks

Andrew
 
I have ridden lots of miles on track although not on GS's or Tourance Nexts. My experience though is that most, if not all, road biased tyres will hold out a lot longer than most rider's nerves, even on a track. I have experienced and seen many people crash and thereafter seek to blame it on tyres particularly. IMHO it's mostly b*ll*x and is usually rider error or ability to blame. It was the last time I crashed but I still sought to blame it on tyres! I have ridden many fast bikes on many tyres and not had any issues that have been honestly attributable to the tyres themselves. You should be fine. Build your speed slowly and your feeling for the bike and the tyres will develop to the point where you will learn the limitations. If you go hell for leather to start with limitations will find you rather than you finding them!
 
DO A TRACK DAY! it's awesome and totally worth while experience. I've done a ton of them on all sorts of bikes including a Vespa GT200 and a HD Dyna. The key is to ride within the limitations of your skills and tools.

On TKC80s or Pirelli Diablos... if you overwork your rubber, you will crash. Period. So don't do that. Washing out really puts a damper on a nice day.
 
do the track day . no contest .

tyres = tourances ( even shagged ) work great . i can touch down the bolts holding the crash-bars under the engine ( sw motech )
i have ONCE got a footpeg down . if you drag bits on the floor , just wind your rear shock up .

TAKE YOUR TIME TO LEARN YOUR WAY AROUND THE TRACK

be prepared to be blown away by better people on better bikes.....and to blow away better bikes with twats on them .

i can hold up a friends, race 125 honda .

where ?

cadwell is brilliant ( i would live there, if they would let me )

snetterton is fast (300)

brands (short ) is good and easy to make you think you know it ( long ) is FAST ,SCAREY FAST .

castle combe is fast

silverstone is very fast.

thruxton is fast.
 
Hopp rider training are great and they do the track sessions for Lincolnshire road safety partnerships cadwell park days. Half a day in the classroom and half on track, mostly doing braking exercises. It's not a track day but at the end they do let you have a restrained tear around.
It's a inexpensive way of getting a ( brief) bit of track action plus you will come away having learnt something usefull.
The tracks incredibly grippy, I did it on my harley FXR.....great day out.
 
You'll learn more on one track training day about what your bike can do than you will in years of riding.

I took my 1150GS to Knockhill here in Scotland several times. The first time it was on Tourance original tyres and even with the shock wound up I got the pegs down and had beads of molten rubber around the edges. Twice had the back start to step out on the hairpin due to too much power too early but held it both times.

Brilliant fun. Check your insurance for track days.
 
Your tyres will be fine as long as they are in good order.
Pick a Track day organiser who does road registered bike only days as some track days can seem like a club race and would be daunting.
Most important thing is tape up/ remove your mirrors, what is behind you is not your problem and is only a distraction. Ride your own road, keep to the racing line and be smooth, that way anybody wanting to pass you can predict what you are going to do.
It's like riding on the road, you want car drivers to carry on as they were, not looking in their mirrors and trying to guess what you are doing and swerving around to let you pass and generally getting in wrong.
Go with a friend, as a great part of doing track days is the de-brief with your mates and talking a load of bollocks in the bar afterwards.
 
I've done a few Oulton Park trach days on my GS, on Tourances, no problem. Good fun, allows you to explore the limits of the bike in (relative) safety.
Biggest problem I have is getting into my old leathers! I disagree about the mirrors, I prefer to know about the riders behind me, but that is a personal
preference.
Mark
 
Blyton Park do track days for motorcycles. Cant remember who runs them , but 3 riders to an instructor. All sorts of bikes turn up, they place you in a group according to experience.
I was on a Multistrada and had no issues, fried the tyres a bit (sportsmarts). Wouldnt hesitate to do it on the GS.
 
J biker said:
Blyton Park do track days for motorcycles. Cant remember who runs them , but 3 riders to an instructor. All sorts of bikes turn up, they place you in a group according to experience.
I was on a Multistrada and had no issues, fried the tyres a bit (sportsmarts). Wouldnt hesitate to do it on the GS.
Click to expand...

https://britishsuperbikeschool.com

Well worth it. They offer discounts for IAM members.
 
Wow

Thanks for the response....
I'm definitely interested in the road bikes only event whereby you ride there and ride home.
None of this bike in a van with tyre warmers etc.
I'm sure i read a piece in Bike or Ride where they had 'reclaim our tracks' or something like that. It was for training purposes rather than shaving 10ths of your best time.
Its not about racing anyone (although the red mist will need to be kept in check) just exploring the potential of me and the GS.
There is a group of us all on completely different machines so it'll be interesting to see how we cope.
I'd like to go to a track with a good combination of corners e.g. left and right.
For some pathetic reason i can cope with left handers better than right, so need to understand why and get over it!!
Thanks again...:bounce1
 
If you like left handers try Rockingham (anti clockwise circuit) also in my experience if you pick a 98db quiet day then you usually get more road bikes and less racers. Go for it and enjoy
 
I am a shite rider and did a track day in germany on my multistrada (years ago)

Thought i was doing well but somebody with experience said i looked awful

They then took me round slowly, told me not to brake the entire circuit, so basically we cruised round but his message was any tool can go fast in a straight line....

I followed him and tried what he said, was tough for me but i tried - tyres were cooked up at the edges and i was slow and nothing was touching down for a long time!!!

Was knackered after that!!
 
alunsr1 said:
If you like left handers try Rockingham (anti clockwise circuit) also in my experience if you pick a 98db quiet day then you usually get more road bikes and less racers. Go for it and enjoy
Click to expand...


I need to get better at right hand corners...
Roundabouts are Ok but for some reason there is a bit of a mental block on right handers....
 
RJT_Berlin said:
I am a shite rider and did a track day in germany on my multistrada (years ago)

Thought i was doing well but somebody with experience said i looked awful

They then took me round slowly, told me not to brake the entire circuit, so basically we cruised round but his message was any tool can go fast in a straight line....

I followed him and tried what he said, was tough for me but i tried - tyres were cooked up at the edges and i was slow and nothing was touching down for a long time!!!

Was knackered after that!!
Click to expand...

I know i need to 'flow' more. I'm too much a point n squirt rider!!
 
MrFell said:
I need to get better at right hand corners...
Roundabouts are Ok but for some reason there is a bit of a mental block on right handers....
Click to expand...

Snetterton 300 is a cracking circuit IMHO. Done it three times on bikes and always big grins. Plus its easy to learn because there aren't any blind corners or crests - it's all there in front of you.

Did a car trackday there years ago before they built the new infield section and it was basically two straights with a few corners at either end to join them up.

The new infield completely changes it - longer lap, more corners and the straights are now a good chance to catch your breath instead of being the main event.

Plenty of right-handers including the hairpin turn 2 and the neverending one at the end of the lap :thumb
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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