Best way to get started riding track?

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NuggyBuggy

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This has been on my bucket list for a while and I think 2025 is the year I do something about it.

I know this is an expensive hobby, and in those regards I'd like to start conservatively.

Given this, what's the best way to get started? I'm pretty sure I will love it, so does it make sense for someone starting out to rent or should I put the rental fees towards investing in used?

As for bikes, I know I definitely do not want to track my adventure bike.

So do I start with minibikes/Groms? Ninja 400s? SV650? I know that choice of bike bears on where I'll be riding and how much it will cost. As with gear - does it make sense to rent or put those $ towards a used bike? I've noticed that on Marketplace, the little bikes don't go for that much less than SV650s.

Finally - I think it's clear that taking a class or several would be a good idea. Are there places that do a better job than others? That are more affordable than others? I'm aware of some of them like SuperSonic, FAST, and Racer5, but testimonials from people in a community I trust will mean a lot.
 
I'll let the more experienced gang answer most of your questions as I have never done track.

I do have a pair of like new Joe Rocket leather pants and jacket that could work for track.
Size 30 pants and 40 jacket. If that's your size, let me know.
 
Start with FAST or Racer5 and see how you like track riding. If you feel it's something you wish to keep going with I would buy a bike already set up for track and go from there. I have a suit/boots/gloves/back protector I could let go for cheap if interested.
 
Presumably you've read the sticky threads in this forum section ... they're old, but the information is still good.

Start with a course. All of the ones you listed are good. Which one you should start with, depends on location, budget, scheduling, hire bike availability, etc., and for that, you'll have to ask the respective organisations and make those decisions yourself.

As far as I know, all of these have gear available for hire, but there are limits to how many of what sizes are available and they're sure to be first-come, first-serve. I highly recommend that you use your own helmet, gloves, and boots. Helmet needs to be full-face, and meet either the latest Snell or ECE 22.05, 22.06, or FIM standards. (DOT alone is not sufficient.) I am not sure if the courses enforce an age requirement for the helmet, but you should. Typically this limit, if in place, will require the helmet to be not more than 5 or 6 years old based upon its date of manufacture. Look for that date of manufacture when you buy a new helmet ... lots of discount-price helmets are discount-price because they're a year or three old. Suit needs to be either one-piece or zip-together two-piece, and you need a back protector if the suit does not have an integral one.

By doing a course on a hire bike, you can then make the decision (1) whether this whole deal is something you want to pursue at all, and (2) what sort of bike you'd like to get, and then go ahead and buy your own equipment.

Don't skimp on gear. Last year I upgraded to a RST one-piece suit with integral In&Motion airbag. I'm using Alpinestars Supertech R boots. The good roadracing gloves have your two little fingers tied together and have armour on the knuckles. Good gear provides good protection and more comfort while riding.
 
It has been more than a hot minute since I did FAST Phase 1 & 2 (Michel Mercier was still teaching) but I had so much fun doing it. I rented gear & a bike, and was completely happy with both. I think the only thing I regretted about the whole experience was a questionable ham sandwich from the trackside food stall. It completely changed the experience of riding street for me as well.
 
Myself and I think about 4? GTAM Members did Racer5 I & II last year. Goes on sale for $1,000 frequently, riding at Grand Bend from Fri-Sun. You will not want for seat time, i can promise you that. They put you with a race level instructor and give you a CBR125R/250R and coach you on body position, cornering technique, etc. You can rent all gear from them sans helmet, which I think Brian has covered.

If you have specific questions, ask away or I know @Amazon and her husband are Racer5 Instructors on here (can't bring up his username, maybe i forgot it.)

EDIT, i should stop posting late. We did Racer5 and not FAST. My bad.
 
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If you want cheap, for my first track day I just signed up for the slow/beginner group at one of the McBride Cycle Shannonville days (Fabi track) and rode my own bike. I already had a 2-piece leather suit that the seller threw in with one of my previous bikes, and a friend lent me a back protector. I went through the trouble of removing all the lights on my bike, but most people just taped them up. Then I changed my coolant for distilled water with Water Wetter and was ready to go. Oh yeah, I rented a cargo van because I had no hitch, otherwise would have rented a UHaul trailer for $15.

I probably would have learned more from an actual school, but at the time those classes were designed to get you your racing license, which I had no interest in. I just wanted to go as fast as I already was going on the street, but without having to watch out for cops or traffic hazards. The beginners group was great for that, because all the faster riders with ego's who didn't actually know what they were doing usually signed up for intermediate to avoid the no-passing rule. So you ended up with a relatively safe environment. Track day organizers usually have experienced riders in the group who will get you to follow them to learn the lines, so you do get some "coaching". And just trying to keep up with them, you learn how much more your bike can actually brake and lean and still be safe.

After you've tried it on the cheap, you can decide if it's for you and then go through a formal school if you want to take it to the next level. Or just keep doing regular track days and learn organically (just like you learned on the street).
 
Racer5 strongly emphasizes track time and works very well if you've previously read something like the Twist of the Wrist books. FAST spends much more time in the classroom, so choosing between them might depend on how you prefer to learn, and how close you are to either Grand Bend or Shannonville. Both offer rental bikes and rental gear.

Racer5 is especially good if you're on the fence about track riding, because after doing the course you can rent their bikes for their endurance race events. I did that for a few years before buying my own track bike.

SuperSonic is one of the best options for learning bike control. The tiny pit bikes are amazingly confidence inspiring. Racer5 and FAST give you a better overview of all the many other aspects of track riding, like track safety (flags, getting on and off the track, being consistent and predictable).

I have a fully track-prepped Ninja 300 sitting in my garage that I need to sell if you're interested. It has been a fantastic learning tool and has taken me all the way into red/expert group on a tight track like Mosport DDT. Comes with spare wheels with rain tires mounted, because the wheels won't fit on the new Ninja 500 that I'm converting from street to track over the winter. As mentioned above, buying and converting a new street bike to the track is the most expensive way to do it by an order of magnitude.
 
All great advice (y)

I hear nothing but good things from the schools listed. They’re all priced accordingly so you have plenty of options and time to evaluate which direction suits your situation or preference.
Did FAST @ Shannonville. Chose FAST because of the track layouts, machinery and instruction.

Breakdown is a mix of 1-on-1 on-track with instructor session and solo track session within groups based on speed. Instructors are stationed at select corners and eveything is timed. Debreif after each session with video evidence of your riding. I found this to be the best part simply becasue a professional is giving you advice based on your skill, riding style and machine you're on. Yes there's 3 600's to choose from but they each have their own charactertiscs. Weather remained perfect during the expereince so keep that in mind beforehand.

Kinda knew I would enjoy riding on track but nothing prepared me for the vast amount I didn’t know and how much of a money/time pit it actually is once bitten. Hopefully we’re not looking at the same bikes on marketplace :p

No regrets so far. Have fun!
 
fmp said:
Hopefully we’re not looking at the same bikes on marketplace :p
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@fmp LOL. We probably are. Although I know it's not an ideal starting track bike, there was what I thought was an incredible deal on an R6. There was also a great deal on a Grom (you can see how wide my net has been cast). You gotta be fast on Marketplace for the good deals.
 
Wow. Thank you all for being so generous with really excellent advice.

Sounds like the consensus is rent first. That makes a lot of sense, just the deal hunter in me figures this is the best time to go shopping for a ride, and the cheapskate in me would hate to spend money on a bunch of rentals that I could have put towards that ride.

The best argument for renting is probably that it would make the whole idea more palatable to the wife.
 
Ash said:
SuperSonic is one of the best options for learning bike control. The tiny pit bikes are amazingly confidence inspiring. Racer5 and FAST give you a better overview of all the many other aspects of track riding, like track safety (flags, getting on and off the track, being consistent and predictable).
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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?
 
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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That's an interesting question. My wife did Racer5 and had fun, but after the weekend she knew that she didn't want to ride track any further than that. Racer5 is well controlled so it wasn't a problem on the course, but she was able to tell that she wouldn't want to be on an open trackday with aggressive young yahoos.

At SuperSonic you can be on track with actual children, so riders naturally tend to be even more respectful to each other. From a riding standpoint, the low height and weight of the pit bikes makes everything easier, even compared to Racer5's CBR125s. That includes pushing to the edges of your skill envelope if you want, which feels awesome and is a great way to build skill even if you never intend to ride on track.

I'd say that the pit bikes are just so accessible that they're more likely to hook someone on skilled riding in general, including track riding. Some folks think that they need to start on at least a 600cc, but grabbing too much front brake on a supersport and pile-driving yourself into the pavement is a quick and easy way to talk yourself out of track riding. The brakes on the pit bikes are so weak that a grown man needs their entire arm strength to lock them up. And if you crash, you're already only inches from the ground so it typically doesn't even hurt. I'm biased, but I think smaller bikes are just way better learning tools.
 
Ash said:
That's an interesting question. My wife did Racer5 and had fun, but after the weekend she knew that she didn't want to ride track any further than that. Racer5 is well controlled so it wasn't a problem on the course, but she was able to tell that she wouldn't want to be on an open trackday with aggressive young yahoos.

At SuperSonic you can be on track with actual children, so riders naturally tend to be even more respectful to each other. From a riding standpoint, the low height and weight of the pit bikes makes everything easier, even compared to Racer5's CBR125s. That includes pushing to the edges of your skill envelope if you want, which feels awesome and is a great way to build skill even if you never intend to ride on track.

I'd say that the pit bikes are just so accessible that they're more likely to hook someone on skilled riding in general, including track riding. Some folks think that they need to start on at least a 600cc, but grabbing too much front brake on a supersport and pile-driving yourself into the pavement is a quick and easy way to talk yourself out of track riding. The brakes on the pit bikes are so weak that a grown man needs their entire arm strength to lock them up. And if you crash, you're already only inches from the ground so it typically doesn't even hurt. I'm biased, but I think smaller bikes are just way better learning tools.
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That's great feedback @Ash, especially as you did both SuperSonic and Racer5. I see SuperSonic runs some sessions at Brechin which is not too far from my cottage. And I believe those sessions are way cheaper too.
 
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Using your own bike for the first track day/course is only cheaper if you don’t crash it. Plus you’ll be worrying about crashing it instead of what you should be focusing on. Renting during courses is by far the best way to go imo.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
Using your own bike for the first track day/course is only cheaper if you don’t crash it. Plus you’ll be worrying about crashing it instead of what you should be focusing on. Renting during courses is by far the best way to go imo.
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That makes a lot of sense. What happens if you crash an insured rental track bike... I assume you just have to pay their deductible - one place I thought said $700 per crash, is that about right?
 
NuggyBuggy said:
That makes a lot of sense. What happens if you crash an insured rental track bike... I assume you just have to pay their deductible - one place I thought said $700 per crash, is that about right?
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It depends on the fine print.

E.g. when I did FAST some years agos, there were two levels of insurance. Let's say one had the deductible of $2000, and the other $500. However, they stressed it was a true deductible i.e. if the cost of the repairs was less than the deductible, then that's all you would be paying for. And the costs were supposed to be much lower than they would be for streetbikes, as they had all street equipment removed and limited race bodywork, track-appropriate case covers, etc.

The extra insurance was reasonable and I was much less confident in my riding abilities so I got it to minimize worries and maximize fun. I will always remember the guy that brought his own Ducati 999 to the class and was *crawling* around the track. Like we were not racing, we were learning, but if you're getting lapped multiple times a session by other beginners on bikes half as fast... they could have just gone to a track day, joined the green group, and saved a heap of money
 
On the CBR125s it's usually just a replacement handlebar or brake lever: probably no more than $30. Chris at Racer5 was pretty impressed that a rider managed to bend the fork tubes one weekend. I think the guy even kept them as a souvenir.

You'd have to drop one of the pit bikes out of an airplane to do any damage to it beyond the brake lever.
 
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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