RE: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5 | GTAMotorcycle.com

RE: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Punisher

Punisher

Well-known member
Site Supporter
RE: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

I just booked an Intro To Track Day for July with the Racer5 company.
Hopefully many track days will follow.
anyway this will be my second season riding, and hopefully will be able to get the bike out in the next week or 2.
just wondering if anyone suggests anything i should work on prior to the course, or if anyone has taken the course what i can expect from it. they were supposed to email out an itinerary but have not received it yet.
i know baby steps, i wont be dragging my knees around the corners first day (or anytime soon), but what kind of techniques and stuff can i expect them to be teaching?
anyway i am pumped, this winter has be to long, once i started riding last year, that was it. all money and projects i had planned for my Challenger have been redirrected to my motorcycle :)


jason
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Punisher said:
I just booked an Intro To Track Day for July with the Racer5 company.
Hopefully many track days will follow.
anyway this will be my second season riding, and hopefully will be able to get the bike out in the next week or 2.
just wondering if anyone suggests anything i should work on prior to the course, or if anyone has taken the course what i can expect from it. they were supposed to email out an itinerary but have not received it yet.
i know baby steps, i wont be dragging my knees around the corners first day (or anytime soon), but what kind of techniques and stuff can i expect them to be teaching?
anyway i am pumped, this winter has be to long, once i started riding last year, that was it. all money and projects i had planned for my Challenger have been redirrected to my motorcycle :)


jason
Click to expand...
Stage1 will teach you:


  • Proper Braking Technique
  • Body Positioning
  • Counter Steering
  • The right line through the turn
  • Throttle Control
  • Track Etiquette
  • Drafting
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Punisher said:
I just booked an Intro To Track Day for July with the Racer5 company.
Click to expand...
Why so late in the season, is there not an earlier one you can do?

Considering this is your second season riding, some general stuff you should work on:

[video=youtube;bVWNinsmkAw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVWNinsmkAw[/video]

-Jamie M.
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Brilliant course to take. Very enjoyable day and knowledgeable instructors (I had Angela the day I went).
Things to expect:
Follow the leader sessions, with gradually increasing pace. By noon we were pretty much cut loose to do our best - instructors on the track moving up and back in the pack as necessary, showing better lines etc.

You'd be surprised at how quick you'll be dragging a knee. Think it was fourth session for me - mind you, I'm fat and that probably helped compress the suspension a bit.

Think maybe you should just keep riding like you normally do -- don't want to get into bad habits before your first time out.

You'll have a blast.
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

You will love it. Racer5 is a great program and one of my favorite races of the weekend. Who knows depending on the day I may be your instructor :)
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

I took the leap as well and signed up for the 4 day course in June really looking forward to it! The told me to expect the itinerary about a month before so maybe that's why you have not got yours yet?
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Lucky you!

I've always meant to take one of these courses but their dates are always on days I cannot get off
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Thanks everybody! i do wish i could have booked the course a little earlier so i would have more of the season left to practice what i learn. but anyway i am sure i will continue on next year taking the stage 2 3 & 4, and hopefully some regular track days in their as well. i have watched and read the twist if the wrist, found some great info in their. i will probably just focus on keeping my throttle and braking smooth until i get the pros to show me exactly what to do. i thnk it wil be a lot easier to learn in that environment, i am from brampton and god damn if i can ever get 2 green lights in a row.
"tail of the dragon....318 curves in 11 miles"
"brampton...318 traffic lights in 11 miles...all of them red!!"
anyway cant wait to get out and take my riding to the next level.

jason
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

The biggest thing you can practice on the street if you're not already pro at it is blipping the throttle (rev matching) under braking, this is covered in keith codes twist of the wrist video. If you want to be able to work on carrying speed into a braking zone you must be able to do this as an afterthought (or have a slipper clutch). Most other skills should probably be kept to learning at the track.
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

FriendlyFoe said:
The biggest thing you can practice on the street if you're not already pro at it is blipping the throttle (rev matching) under braking, this is covered in keith codes twist of the wrist video. If you want to be able to work on carrying speed into a braking zone you must be able to do this as an afterthought (or have a slipper clutch). Most other skills should probably be kept to learning at the track.
Click to expand...
I am no pro, but I can tell you that blipping your throttle is not the "biggest thing" you can practice - Covered on Keith Codes video is also "giving advice"
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

ZX600 said:
I am no pro, but I can tell you that blipping your throttle is not the "biggest thing" you can practice - Covered on Keith Codes video is also "giving advice"
Click to expand...

It may not be the biggest, but unless you have a slipper clutch... it's big along with 100 other things.

Every track skill has value depending on the rider, machine and equipment. Practice everything, learn everything.
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

FriendlyFoe said:
The biggest thing you can practice on the street if you're not already pro at it is blipping the throttle (rev matching) under braking, .
Click to expand...

ZX600 said:
I am no pro, but I can tell you that blipping your throttle is not the "biggest thing" you can practice"
Click to expand...

Mr.Azim said:
It may not be the biggest, but unless you have a slipper clutch... it's big along with 100 other things.

.
Click to expand...
It sounded like we disagreed but we actually agreed ...weird :)
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

I think the key to FriendlyFoe's post was the "on the street" part.

For me the most important takeaway from Code's books was vision. When I first started tracking in 2003, TMP turn 1 was difficult and I couldn't find a consistent line. TMP closed, then reopened, and I came back there after about 5 years away and turn 1 was dead easy. Why? Because I could see. All the practice at other tracks had improved my field of vision and speed sense. Learn to look far ahead and find the exit of the corner as early as possible.
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

thanks very much for all the feedback guys, i appreciate it!

jason
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

I'll add my 2 cents here.

1. One thing that you can work on on the street, assuming you can find any corners at all, is basic body positioning. I am not talking about hanging off here, just getting in the habit of getting your head and upper body to the inside of every turn. In street riding where you generally don't need big lean angles it is easy to get lazy and just lean the bike underneath yourself, keeping the body quite upright. That style will get you into trouble quick when cornering at speed, and it can take a little while to break the habit, so it is good to get into a mental space where you commit your upper body to *every* corner before initiating turn-in. It might feel silly when you are hardly leaning the bike at all anyway, but it is good form and will serve you well. It's easy - when you are in a turn, ask yourself, "which side of the steering stem is my head on, the high side or the low side?" You might be surprised.

2. Personally, if you are a rear-brake user, I would also recommend you try to break that habit. Every time you come to a stop, ask yourself if you are on the rear brake. Most street riders use both the front and rear in combination and do it instinctively without thinking about it. For novice or intermediate track riding you want to avoid the rear brake (maybe for race-level too but I don't know about that). Teach yourself now not to use the rear, because it is hard to think about that on the track when you have 40 other things going through your head.

Neither of these things is really strictly necessary before your first track day, but if you want stuff you can safely work on on the street those would be my suggestions.
 
Last edited:
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

YellowDuck said:
I'll add my 2 cents here.

1. One thing that you can work on on the street, assuming you can find any corners at all, is basic body positioning. I am not talking about hanging off here, just getting in the habit of getting your head and upper body to the inside of every turn. In street riding where you generally don't need big lean angles it is easy to get lazy and just lean the bike underneath yourself, keeping the body quite upright. That style will get you into trouble quick when cornering at speed, and it can take a little while to break the habit, so it is good to get into a mental space where you commit your upper body to *every* corner before initiating turn-in. It might feel silly when you are hardly leaning the bike at all anyway, but it is good form and will serve you well. It's easy - when you are in a turn, ask yourself, "which side of the steering stem is my head on, the high side or the low side?" You might be surprised.

.
Click to expand...
Very good suggestion IMO - The only other thing to add to this is really using your knees on your tank to brake, on the street we tend to slide forward and put all the weight of your body on your arms when heavy or light braking, try using your knees on your tank instead, do it every time, this was the most difficult bad habit I had to break and I still suck at it
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Awesome tips guys, i will focus more on the upper body position when cornering (without attempting actually hanging off), and resisting the use of the rear brake, plus gripping the tank with my knees to prevent excessive weight transfer forwards and unnecessary input into the handle bars.

i laughed to myself when you said "It might feel silly when you are hardly leaning the bike at all anyway,....", since i am the kind of rider that goes into a full tuck when i am only going 10km's an hour LOL

anyway thanks again guys
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

I took the full racer5 course last year. There's something very very important that no one has mentioned. No one warned me about it last year and I'm still paying dearly for it.
Track is like crack. That first taste will have you hooked! Next thing you know you've got a bunch of bikes in the garage and you're spending more money than you knew you had. You'll be online looking for toys non-stop, and checking out the next time you can get to the track. Street riding will get boring quickly, you'll be spending all your time in the garage. You'll get rid of the car to get something to tow with. It doesn't seem to end!
Oh..and then the worst part is waiting all damn winter for the good weather to come so you can get out there again...argh!
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

atss2006 said:
I took the full racer5 course last year. There's something very very important that no one has mentioned. No one warned me about it last year and I'm still paying dearly for it.Track is like crack. That first taste will have you hooked! Next thing you know you've got a bunch of bikes in the garage and you're spending more money than you knew you had. You'll be online looking for toys non-stop, and checking out the next time you can get to the track. Street riding will get boring quickly, you'll be spending all your time in the garage. You'll get rid of the car to get something to tow with. It doesn't seem to end!Oh..and then the worst part is waiting all damn winter for the good weather to come so you can get out there again...argh!
Click to expand...
LOL. So true. So true.
 
Re: Booked Intro to Track Day with Racer5

Although admittedly atss2006 got hooked worse than most. It's actually a bit scary the way he got sucked down the worm hole so fast. If I knew his family I would help them organize an intervention.

In the meantime I just enjoy borrowing all the cool stuff he has in his trailer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom