Best way to get started riding track?

NuggyBuggy said:
OK, that's it. I'm going to take a course somewhere TBD. I'm also going to follow what seems to be the consensus here and rent bike and, probably, gear (*unless* a deal pops up on either that I can't say no to, I missed on two just last week). If there are deals this year, there will be deals next year at the same time.
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Racer5 should have their intro course dates out in the next couple weeks. I took FAST years ago and wasn't super impressed with it, but as I said, it was years ago so stuff likely has changed. Any course/instruction is better than none.

Racer5 is nice because you can work on learning the lines, body position and track fundamentals without worrying about handling too much power. Crashes still happen, but usually way less dramatic than they'd be on a 600cc+ bike.

Racer5 doesn't offer insurance, but there is a price list of the parts break down and a monetary cap. You sign off on the list in the morning and square up the bill if you go down. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask 🙂
 
Amazon said:
Racer5 should have their intro course dates out in the next couple weeks. I took FAST years ago and wasn't super impressed with it, but as I said, it was years ago so stuff likely has changed. Any course/instruction is better than none.
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Took a look at the Racer5 site and it seems to be under construction or renovation or something. I'll be checking there periodically - I have read that these programs there and elsewhere can fill up quickly.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
Took a look at the Racer5 site and it seems to be under construction or renovation or something. I'll be checking there periodically - I have read that these programs there and elsewhere can fill up quickly.
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Looks like the site and dates should be up December 1st.
 
Amazon said:
Looks like the site and dates should be up December 1st.
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Yeah. I would have thought they’d leave the old content up though so interested parties could see what they’re about. Dates aren’t important to me right now, but what their programs are and how they run, what they cost, where they are located - most of that stuff will probably be similar to the next season and that’s going to drive my interest.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
Yeah. I would have thought they’d leave the old content up though so interested parties could see what they’re about. Dates aren’t important to me right now, but what their programs are and how they run, what they cost, where they are located - most of that stuff will probably be similar to the next season and that’s going to drive my interest.
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You must have caught them while they were updating the site today. It's back to normal, and has most of the 2025 dates listed now. You'll want the stage 1: introductory program, which is a 3-day weekend course at Grand Bend.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
OK, that's it. I'm going to take a course somewhere TBD. I'm also going to follow what seems to be the consensus here and rent bike and, probably, gear (*unless* a deal pops up on either that I can't say no to, I missed on two just last week). If there are deals this year, there will be deals next year at the same time.
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I think more deals will be had with the economy still in the toilets and the covid bloated prices for track bikes finally coming down to earth.

What is your goal with doing the bucket list for trackday? Is it to improve your riding skills for the street, posing for the gram, or is it a competitive thing like chasing lap times? For me i always kind of knew after doing a few trackdays i wanted some more and went racing, and it really killed my desire to ride like an idiot on the street.

With that said, don't buy anything until you've done a course with Fast or Racer5.
 
Goals? I just think it will be a blast riding on a track and learning to go as fast as you possibly can. Even as a kid on dirt bikes I loved to really wring my little bike out.

Longer term, I feel like I would love to race recreationally, but not sure if I would be good enough to do so at even the lowest level. If that ended up being the case, that would be fine. I’m not sure I have the commitment - timewise or financially - to do so anyways.

I’m a responsible rider on the road and will only go really fast (probably, not really that fast compared to some people) when there’s nobody around, the road is visibly clear and I’m the only one who stands to be hurt. Otherwise I’m very conscious of how easy it is to get seriously hurt or seriously ruin someone else’s life. I don’t want to die and I don’t want to be a cripple or a vegetable. I’ve met a few of those.

And I recognize that if I got any significant tickets, that I would probably not care to pay for insurance ever gain.

So basically, I just want to go fast - faster than I can go on the road.
 
I did FAST phases 1 and 2 this year and loved it, so much so that I'm planning to go back for phase 3 and 4 next year.

I wore my own helmet, but otherwise their bikes and gear. I learned so much and I gained a ton of confidence. I've been slowly putting together a set of gear so I can wear my own stuff next summer, but there was nothing wrong with what they provide.

Despite being a more capable rider now, I'd say the whole experience made me less inclined to ride like an idiot on the street. When you ride on the track without having to worry about potholes, gravel, trees, other drivers etc. it really makes you realize how much our roads are not the time and place for riding aggressively.

If you're going to do it, I'd highly recommend doing both phases 1 and 2, and on consecutive days. There were a few people when I was there who were signed up for phase 1 only. By the end of the day, they were asking if there were still spots available tomorrow and if they could sign up. It really is as addicting as people say it is.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
Thanks @Ash !

Confidence on minibikes aside, is the experience on them different in any meaningful way that would change whether someone might then decide they do want to ride track?
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The difference comes from what YOU want from the sessions.
If your goal is to ride track days and have some fun, start on any bike you feel comfortable on.
If your goal is to learn how to race and make a bike go fast: start on the smallest, slowest, least powered bike your ego will allow.
if you start on a super sport, you'll learn how to ride the bike fast. The bike will be the master
If you start on a POS you learn how to outride the bike, how to MAKE the bike go fast, even if it doesn't want to. The rider is the master
I've done a bunch of "riding schools", done a bunch of private "tutoring"... but where I learned the most was a Bridgestone thing where we rode Honda XR70s at Shannonville. It started with us screwing around on the bikes, then we had to set a lap time (12 grown men drafting each other on mini bikes, sliding through the corners... WHEEEeeeeeeee). We came in for some instruction/debriefing... while the tech guys disabled the brakes on the Hondas. The next session was you couldn't come off the track till you met your original laptime, with no brakes. The next session we got brakes back, but they put cones in the corners to ruin the lines... get a new laptime, then go back out with no brakes to meet that laptime.
It was hard work. Going fast IS hard work.
Riding a XR70 FAST is much the same as riding a liter bike fast, like 99% the same, but a lot cheaper to crash, the apex is the same, the braking points are mostly the same, the tire slip is the same... just at 60% of the speed and cost of a liter bike.
first time out I recommend renting... MAYBE you hate the whole idea, get two laps in and want to go home... after you spent thousands on prep
And nothin' wrong with riding an adventure bike at a track day... it's an ADVENTURE. I've ridden some pretty weird bikes on the track... a FLH-TC, a couple of Goldwings and a '81 Honda Cb750K with bags and a TON o' chrome... nothing like STUFFIN' someone on a super sport, while riding a Road King (big Harleys slide REAL good, Goldwings drag expensive parts, a LOT of expensive parts. The mufflers are made from tinfoil. I couldn't do anything with the CB750K at Westwood... I was too busy laughing my guts out the whole time I was on the track, BUT I didn't finish LAST.
The Goldwing was the most fun. We were at Mosport for a VRRA thing. VRRA has a "ride the track" thing at lunch time, where for a $20 donation you can take your street bike out and ride in a parade. I was signed up to be a marshall. While waiting to go out on the track a nice lady approached me and offered to pay the $20 IF I would let her ride on the back of my bike and video her husband on his Harley. I agreed, and asked the husband how fast do you want to go, he said "Don't worry, I'll keep up". HE DID NOT. Scared the bejesus out of the wife.
 
@bitzz: wow. A lot to unpack there.

To your first query, which further teases out potential motivations (and thank you for that).

I do want to go fast and would be happy if that were all I accomplished. But medium to longer term, I would like to learn to go as fast as I can. To add to that, I believe that going fast on a road “sensibly” has to be different than doing the same on a track. For instance when I’m going fast on the curvy cottage country roads I usually ride, I’m often counter leaning so I get an earlier look at what’s around the corner behind those trees or rock face. I’m NEVER trying to hang off, and I’m fine with the trade off between attainable tire grip and speed, and what I believe is increased safety. Obviously that’s different on a track, and so obviously I’m not going as fast as I could.

And so it’s clear that for me personally, I need to take courses and start out with a small bike. (Every thread I have ever seen - here and elsewhere- explicitly recommends the same - that starting out with, say, a super sport is the wrong thing to do for my purposes).


Re: adventure bikes on the track: I know it can be done and mine is said to be particularly good on them. I just don’t want to crash it. Sounds obvious, nobody does, but I’ve dropped it a few times when the bike was not moving, and let’s just say I cannot imagine how expensive it would be if I actually crashed it at speed.

Re:VRRA. I had been working on an 87 CBR600F that I bought as a non-running project that happened to be mostly complete and in great external condition. I got it running and I had thought maybe I could someday use it at VRRA or bring it at some vintage bike meet. Sadly I lost most of the plastics and other external parts (tank, signal lights, plastics, seat) in a fire so that’s not likely to happen. :(
 
Lots of people do a course to either improve their riding skills or just to go as fast as they can. Some decide they want to keep riding track and go from there. Nothing wrong with either. I can tell you if you keep up with track riding it gets expensive quick so keep that in mind (track day $150-250, tires last 3-4 days, etc) so expect it to cost $500+ per track day plus the cost of a bike and any repairs. Fun…..but expensive.
I stopped a few years ago after 10yrs of it to get back into dirt riding. I still have my track gear and will likely do another track day here and there. Off-road gives plenty of applicable street riding skills as well so consider a mix of both.
 
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