1st Track Day - Cherry Popped

Well thought I would share an event with this group that probably seems minor to some but I have received a lot of good advise on this forum and today I finally popped my cherry and had my first track day. It was at Eagles Canyon Raceway and it was a members day and I was a guest.

Basically 80 degrees in January! There were probably only 12 to 14 riders at the high end and we had the track to ourselves. I can definitely recommend going to a smaller format track day and I am addicted. I was on the track with experienced riders and all I had to do is leave some room for faster riders. By the end of 6 sessions (30 minutes each) I was very comfortable and had solved many flaws (but many to go). I found that braking into the corner and only leaning at the apex or double apexes allowed me to keep pace and not get passed as often. I had a few close calls where I missed my line and wound up too deep in a corner and had to force myself to just focus on the next reference point (more than just focus..literally I had "be the reference point".. not just look at it). I locked up the front wheel on the entry to one corner and had to accept that I had come in too hot and just let off the brake and focus on the next reference point and scrape through it and the amazing thing is that keeping my ass off the seat.. and keeping my head straight made it just almost easy.. almost..

My legs are on fire now.. All the workouts don't describe the mini squats I was doing across 6 sessions and remembering to use the inside of my leg to free up tension on the handlebars made my throttle response very predictable and smooth.

The tire warmers were not a factor in the first couple of sessions as the track was wet from a drizzle in the morning. However, toward the 3rd and 4th session I didn't have to even think about my tires.. they were sticky and it just felt right. The first session was all about just learning the lines on a wet track and the amazing thing is that the wet track forced me to really start on the right track (so to speak) and figure out the lines first without even thinking or worrying about speed. By the end I was so focused on looking not only at but past the reference points I was clipping the inside edge of corners a lot of riders were running wide on.

I still have a long way to go but now with a good track day behind me I can make better use of the advice and training that I will seek out. I didn't mind getting passed as they were all experienced riders....I also didn't have to worry so much about the other rider.. just me..

My ZX7R (stock suspension) was more than enough for me and the single best thing I have trained hard on is braking (I knew I could go from 110 mph to 30 in a few seconds and having some cheats like braking markers showing 500..400..300..200..100.. were well used). I also knew what it felt like to trail brake "too much" and knew what my maximum safe braking pressure felt like.. I used it in spades..so.. folks getting ready for track.. "work on braking" and of course ass off the seat and heads up!!!

Looking forward to the next track day!







Regards and thanks for all the tips I have gleamed from this board!

 

Congrats! Glad you had a good time. Welcome to the madness!!

 

Glad to hear you had a good time. I started doing track days last year. I was only going to do one and I ended up doing six. And I plan on doing atleast six or more this year. It become addicting.

 

reflections on improvement areas needed

Thanks and yes it is addictive. I think I challenged my Pilot Power "Street" tires and got them roughed up all the way to the edge. Upon reflection there are some improvement areas (plenty of them) but one in particular I wanted to get some advice (spelled it right this time) on.

My entire form I think is challenged and seems to be centered around foot position. I was all over the map trying different things. I tried to rest the ball of my foot on the peg and the heal closer to the rearset (stock so not sure if there are improvements there as I don't fully understand the role of race rearsets). I was touching my toe slider and it seem the bike was leaned over too far but I know others were leaned much further on grippier rubber.

I am assuming a lot of improvement rests with "me" vs. my tires or other things. It seemed like I was touching the toe slider when the knee should have been the contact point and the bike felt too leaned over (back tire seemed to slide a bit when I hit my toe slider). I had trail braked into the key reference point and was looking hard at the next reference point on the inside line of the corner and I threw everything toward that point for a quick turn in so I could straighten it up quickly for the straight at full throttle. It is possible I put the throttle on too early at the lean but I didn't really have it cracked wide open and was coming off of my maintenance throttle (as much as I think I understand about lightly accelerating at turn in).

My arse was off the seat and I focused my head forward toward the reference point hoping the rest of my body would just line up behind it. I was well on the side of the fairing (lurking as my handle would suggest) but I think my toe / foot position was holding me back from properly getting the knee down. I should have hit the knee first.. vs toe right?

p.s. interesting dynamic when leaned over on a turn where it is cresting a rise but this was a slight downhill turn and relatively flat which is why is was attempting a stronger attack as well as right before a long straight so I was trying to turn the curve into a specific point by arching into the reference point vs trying to lean all the way through the turn. I was trying to compress the turn into a specific turn point so I could get up straight sooner and I don't think I was geared especially low.. probably 2nd gear but maybe 3rd.. can't remember.

Advice is welcome.

Regards,
Mark

 

Welcome to the addiction. It gets more and more fun as you go. With your attention to detail, open mindedness, and desire to learn, I think you will get pretty fast in a short time.
When I first started doing track days, I also dragged toes when I shouldn't have been. Tucking the balls of my feet on the peg and closer to the frame, and not putting my knee out at such a wide angle helped a lot. Getting my shoulder and elbow a little more into the turn helped too. I always felt like I was hanging off like a monkey, but after looking back at pics found that I wasn't near as far.
Have fun with it! The coolest thing about bikes is that you can never master it, although some people are damn close! You can always get better no matter how good you are. I think that is what keeps us coming back for more.

 

Welcome to poverty. At least when they cut your credit card in half at your favorite resteraunt, you can smile on the inside knowing you didn't waste the money on gambling, hookers and crack.

BTW - If you just eat Ramen noodles for a month, you can do a good race school, buy your licence and do two (2) races. They say hunger is good for the soul too.

 

The best thing i could say is to take a look at pics or video of your riding. Chances are you aren't sitting on the bike, or hanging off the way you think you are. You obviously know what racers look like when they are on the bike from watching it, and it feels from your perspective that your form is similar, but when you go back and look at yourself it's all wrong (this is true for me), and you will say "wow I wasn't hanging off at all", or "i didn't even have it leaned over".

This happened to a friend of mine when We took him to the track for the first time. He rode like an idiot on the street and was sure that he was going to tear it up at the track. He kept coming back saying that he was dragging his toe. We told him to hang off more, and he said he already was. He ended up crashing (we weren't riding in the same class so i didn't see it) so we went to look at the pics the photog at the track was taking. There weren't any pics of the crash, but the pics from the same session showed him sitting on the middle of the seat with his knees next to the frame
Until he saw the pic he was sure he was hangin' off like Ben Spies.

 

video and next steps

Thanks for the tips. Totally agree I need to "see" how I am riding. My next time will be with an instructor so I can correct bad habits early and one with video to help me analyze my form. My avatar pic was from doing practice runs in a parking lot of all things but it proved I was not off the seat enough and my body was twisted. I suspect that some of my turns where more proper but that in this turn I was not far enough off to do what my mind wanted to do.

An interesting dynamic was when another rider passed me at a faster rate right before a corner and I felt myself matching their speed through the corner - that's not necessarily a good thing by the way So I had to keep remembering to ride at my own pace which is easy to say and hard to do when you don't have enough experience to really know what your pace really is or should be.

The ridesmart track days seem like too many riders compressed into one track .. The Texas Track Days appear to have a smaller rider to instructor ratio so I will do that or just arrange for something more one on one but both typically have video for this exact reason.

p.s. one of the guys had his new Bimota DB7 out there .. wow.. that's a lot of $$$ to risk ($40k +) but I am happy with my cheap ol ZX7R as it is still more bike than I need for my skill.

Check this baby out though.. she's purty:

 

I'd hit it.

 

good god that is sexy!!!!

 

congrats on your first trackday! i agree your attention to detail and ability to analyze will help tremendously in the future.

also big plus 1 to getting pics and video if you can for more analytical media.

although im pretty sure you could get away without the tire warmers if your using PP's, it does make your bike look ultra sheek lol. also why not remove your mirrors? just curious.

if your touching toe sliders before knee, your body position isn't right even though you think your hanging your whole butt off chances are you really don't have it that far off at all, and if you do indeed have it off something else about your position needs to change.

im also jealous that your doing td's in the middle of january. there's 5 inches of snow here...

 

get aftermarket rearsets.

my first trackday was off the hook. second one sucked. lol. my first was perfect weather and yah i hit my pegs a few times (factory rearsets) and drug my feet A LOT. by the end of the day i REALLY learned to keep the balls of my feet on the innermost part of the footpegs. have fun on more trackdays!! if you wreck, dont get down and let it stop you!!!!!!! learn from it. i know i did!!! but hopefully you wont!!

 

or invest in a second set of race bodywork that you won't worry about trashing if you do crash

 

ya that too. you can find race plastics for cheap on this site and on any forum about your bike. if you plan on doing another trackday, you BETTER look into some race plastics. brand new you will spend about 5-700. you can find them for 2-400 shipped on the forums.

i got lucky, just scratches and scuffs, lol. i wouldve had them on that trackday if the guy had gotten back to me quicker, lol. but i dont blame him.

 

1st track day

Yes I need to look at race sets but I think the problem lies primarily with "MOI". I read how the ball of the foot should be on the peg with the heal resting on the rearset. I think I tried a lot of things but could not really see what I was doing .. e.g. need video

I think one piece of advice helped. The rider was an experienced track rider and he said to "move your head forward and toward the reference point and your body will follow". I noticed that his head was farther out side of the bike his body just lined up behind it. While I "think" my arse was off the seat I probably had my head and arms too tucked in and think that I should think about how my right arm (on a counter clockwise corner) should be more elongated if I was really on the side and lurking on the side of the fairing like my handle would suggest I should be doing.

When I hit my toe and I felt the rear slide a fraction I pulled back and I should have adjusted "More out" not less. I saw my buddy (as he passed me on the outside of a corner) cut right across and his entire body was well outside the bike and his lean was incredible. I had to watch myself try to match his pace as he had the tools and experience to really eat up that corner. As you can see from my avatar pic from a parking lot track training day it confirms that my body position is too close to the bike and "twisted". I think that pushing my head out more to the side of the bike will line up the rest of my body more appropriately. wow I really need another track day ;-)

Looking into the Keith Code class with the lean machine and video. Glad I had a track day first so I can assimilate the instruction more and make larger improvements. Key for me was to get over my phobia about other riders in close proximity. By focusing on me and keeping my line I feel like less of a threat to other riders (a key concern vs worrying about me). I sure didn't want to be the cause of a $42k bike wrecking because of something stupid I was doing. I talked to a couple of the other riders and asked them (any issues with me on the track?). They actually said they could not believe it was my first track day and the ECR track is a very technical track for a 1st track day. I was pleased to not have someone want to kick my ass for being a problem and even a few compliments I was certainly not expecting.

Guess there was value in the parking lot training!

Yes as for track plastics that is a good idea. The best thing I could probably do is get a lower powered 250cc track only bike (with race plastics) and focus on my corners and smoothness. Also less expense on tires etc., Without the power on the straights I would get passed more but I would be more focused on the corner and that is my focus of course. Still nice to pop up to high speeds on the straights as it really brought my braking practice into perspective. Nothing like seeing the 100 foot marker at 90 and realize I did not start braking soon enough to get your blood pumping ;-) doh! Made for some pretty fast corners though.

Oakhill in Texas has a track day on the 20th of February. Former cart track and mostly corners vs straights. I am now so spoiled with the track that the street just does not interest me as much.

Regards,
Mark

 

mirror blockoffs

Oh yeah.. I tried to figure out something but the 7R has two bolts and a cross bar to strengthen the top of the fairing. I needed a special block off and just had not thought I would be doing a track day at 80 degrees on Jan 3rd..

I will have one for the next track day. Now I just have to find another bolt for my kickstand that apparently vibrated loose and was down to one very loose bolt .. ouch

regards,

 

you need to buy a GoPro Camera. PM me, i can get one for 149.99 for you + shipping!!! they retail for 199.99

check out www.goprocamera.com and watch the video of the guy on the R1, you can exactly what hes doing, so you can tell what u need to work on. I got one, and they RAWK!!!!!!!!

 

go pro

yeah that is a good idea. How does it mount to allow me to see "my form" vs the rider in front of me. I would put it on the bike behind me but not many of those Suppose I could put it on a buddy who wants a laugh and ask him to follow me.

thx

 

update to track experience

Just a quick update. For those just starting (and for those that want a good laugh at my form and notes) I have now done 3 track days in 2 months. 2nd was an all day training session with Ty Howard (at Eagles Canyon Raceway) and he video taped me and man what a lesson. It all just clicked.. well.. a lot of things.. not all but if it was that easy... Just a note to those reading these things and thinking of a track day. Training and video is key to nip bad habits in the bud. I took this training and a little more confidence to Oakhill last weekend. Except for a little mishap on turn 7 (now I have new rearsets) it was a perfect track to hone my skills further.

What I learned at Oakhill was:

1. Watch how the experts handle tough corners - thinking you have to fix a corner when even the experts treat it slowly (e.g. turn 7) can be a problem
2. When a buddy goes off the track on turn 6.. don't lose focus on the next turn unless you want new rearsets
3. Watch the corner workers better so when there is a yellow flag you don't accidentally continue to pass another rider who "was paying attention" to the yellow flag before you (you'll feel like a real jerk for passing them and then worry about it in the next corner and then you get to buy new stuff for your bike).
4. Staying in 3rd gear all day is great for learning but need to get that gear down on any corner prior to a straight - a 750 should pass a 250 with no problem at that point or you'll be behind them for a while on the corners since they can just take it at speed
5. This track is either cement or grass. Cement - good. Grass - bad. There are no lines, pretty colored bumpers (like ECR), etc., You are either on the track or off of it.
6. The energy at a track day prior to a race weekend and the people you meet are part of the formula of why I am so addicted to this sport. Seeing expert riders ready their bikes and the setup and effort they take each and every race weekend is something I admire beyond the obvious skills and putting their arse on the line for this sport. Watching entire families with their kids out there racing gave me goosebumps and plenty of smiles of admiration to the parents that are out there spending time "with their kids" and furthering this sport.

I loved Oakhill. Make sure you have a lot of tread for this track. It is sticky even in the cold (it started at below 55 degrees and ended up being in the 70's for February 20 in Texas). If you get a chance to do a track day or race there here is my blow by blow from a noob so much better advice out there but here it is:

On track entry this is turn 1 and is a very fast corner so watch out and stay to the right of the line - saw a lot of riders coming in and many had to alter their lines to avoid a collision.

I am going to start from turn 2 in my synopsis since you approach turn 1 in earnest at the end of your first lap.

As you come out of turn one you are going uphill at speed and it has a nice straight (90 to 100 mph was my average there) As you hit turn 2 it is a tight decreasing radius left. As you exit turn 2 it is a somewhat blind sweeping bend to the right that can actually be taken pretty quick if you stay left and come into the bend with a half lean to the right.

Turn 3 looks really ugly and I treated it with respect as it is a downhill turn with a lot of rust spots due to the iron in the soil (don't drink the water?). The iron actually sparkles a bit and you may think it is loose gravel but it isn't - very good grip actually. This left hand hair pin switches from down hill to up hill right at the apex so it is a little off-camber. By staying right at the end of turn 3 you hit a really fun bend to the left that I took at almost full throttle (in 3rd). I think a lot of folks don't treat it as fun since it is a blind bend but it really is.

As you brake for turn 4's right hander it crests a small rise and can actually be taken a lot faster but folks (like me at first) took it too slow until I realized how much fun I could have there.

As you exit turn 4 going down hill now you can actually put a bit of speed on there and was one of my favorite right slider scrape points once I stayed left on entry and crossed at the far right edge (yummy)

Turn 6 and 7 are the most challenging parts of the track. Turn 6 is down hill and at the apex it rises up hill again creating some off-camber fun. Once you are through it is really deceptive because it seems to turn forever and then you are going up hill with a slight bend to the left that is a little blind but it is still just a bend and if you make a straight line out of it you can step on it all the way until the reference cone before turn 7. It was a good passing point for me as many were treating it like a corner when it really was more straight than you think (just remember to brake hard while straight).

The key at this point as you hit turn 7 you simply have to slow the heck down. I watched expert riders and it is a slow turn no matter who you are. The pavement is crap on the right so if you don't "really focus" on the inside left reference point on turn 7 and go wide you will touch the grass and do what I did (lowside). After 3 sessions I was ready to "fix this corner" and I was actually doing just fine and didn't realize it.

Following a beautiful straight (short by many standards but hey this is Oakhill.. 1.7 miles and it is more about cornering than high speed straights in my opinion) you will enter turn 1 which I took as "one" corner even though to noob's like me it looked like two corners at first. By sweeping far right and then crossing left but not treating that left as the "be all" corner I trail braked all the way past the "fake corner" and tried to square off more at the end so I could apply the throttle more generously as you finish out the slight left bend at the end of the corner and into a mini straight. It was so fun I had to really remind myself to brake properly for corner 2.

My buddy's R1 engine blew during warmup and he rented a Kawi 250 and had an absolute "blast". Almost went out and bought an Aprilia RS250 until I realized that 70 hp and under 300lbs is more bike than I am equipped to handle with my experience (some day)...

Some pics ...ready for ECR again in March...







The photographer (Barry) at foto41 (no he did not pay me to say this) that took these shots is excellent. He is usually at the Lone Star Track Days and did an amazing job of organizing his shots by group and it was very easy to get my downloads (for a fee). He said he would have my lowly street pics up by Tuesday and he was right on schedule (and he had a lot of pics to get out there from the CMRA event there that weekend). There were other photographers, as part of LSTD, and I really appreciated their pics. The equipment this guy used (as pics show) was in HD caliber and the color definition and quality was clearly what one would expect by someone who earns his living doing this - top notch.

FYI - stopped by Ty Howard's trailer and not ony did he take the time to give me a CD of our training session from a couple of weeks prior but he showed me his scars from Turn 7 so I still felt like an idiot but at least I was in good company albeit he earned his in a more challenging scenario.

Thanks again for all the advice on this forum. Just a small attempt on my part to pay forward to others considering a track day and what to expect for a 3rd track day level of experience (yours will undoubtedly be better as I am slower than many). My lap timer said 1:56 was my best lap so I am not anywhere near breaking any records. My results here are just a beginning - kind of like having a training day with Picasso and then drawing a hideous piece of fruit and it kind of looks "O.K." if you look at it sideways and blurr it up a bit by squinting but I am by no means an artist .. not yet..a lot more track days.. training.. and dedication are needed on my part.. .. BTW - Ty does this below 1:21 I think just for reference :wow:

Regards,

 

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