Hello everyone. Fairly new to track days, just joined the forum although I have been lurking a while. Can see path to "veteran Novice track day junkie" possibly looming ahead. I have taken 3 levels of the California Superbike School over the last two years (highly recommended for any level by the way) and four track days in the last month on my 2012 Daytona 675R. Previous bike owning history: 1971 Kawasaki 350 two stroke twin, 1973 Yamaha RD350--then a gap for many years until (making up for lost time) a 2013 Honda CBR500R, 2007 Honda VFR800 Interceptor. Currently own a 2007 Triumph Sprint ST 1050 for road riding and the Daytona 675R for track days. Just completed the conversion to GP shift on the 675R and love it. All bikes should be that way imho. From the attached photo you can tell that I still have a lot to learn about body positioning. But I am working on technique and courage and letting the speed come....slowly.
Welcome to the Madness..... Hope to meet you at a track in the near future..Don't worry... Speed and tecnique will come with time. Come on down to Jennings this weekend!
welcome to the madness not much action here this time of year. most of us in the north suffering pms (parked motorcycle syndrome). Great choice of track weapon and I agree gp shift is awsome
Welcome to the nut house.. Most fun you will ever have, would love to do some of those classes. Figured I would get the basic's out of the way first.
Thanks guys. Picked up Sunday at Jennings this weekend on resale--couldn't pass it up. Plus its only 4 hours from my house. This was my first time at Jennings--previously always at Barber. Slept Saturday night in my trailer in typical track day junkie style--setting out from home at 2 am seemed a bit too extreme (I live in Central Time Zone). Clayton was a great coach, was brutally honest when he needed to be and didn't mind my drooling all over his MV Agusta (see second photo). It took me a good part of the day to learn the track and even then Turn 8 would often try to catch me out. Jennings is a pretty fast flowing track (if you are fast which I am not) with a short slow section for variation. No elevation changes like Barber so ultimately not as interesting, but for a novice like myself its challenging enough. Right now I am feeling I may try to break the record for the longest time spent in Novice. I race sailboats, where even fast ones do maybe 30 mph if they are lucky, so this is a big step up in speed for me. Adapted to the new GP shift fairly quickly until the toe pedal or whatever its called came off the shift lever. That made it a tad hard to shift, luckily it was on the last turn on the last lap just before I pitted. Thanks to the guys at Apex for getting me back going quickly. And yes the new one got Locktite. Can't wait for the 2018 schedule to come out so I can get another fix, I mean book some more track time. Here's a photo of the "paddock" at Jennings. And Clayton's MV Agusta F3 675, ex Jules Cluzel World Supersport.
Actually they TEACH the basics so there is no reason to wait, other than to save up the necessary dollars. I took three levels with California Superbike School before ever doing a track day. So didn't have any bad habits--yet. At the track days you can practice what they have taught you. Another great resource is Jason DiSalvo's Ride University. His online course is free and its really good. In particular it helped me immensely with improving my body position.
My bad habits came from 30 years riding the street. Might pick up a day at NCM heard they do some there. You will have a way to go to be the longest in novice, take advantage of the extra coaching you get there. Intermediate can be a bit crazy with riders that can wait to make it to advanced and those who really need to bump to A. Barber is a fantastic track, just wish it didn't take me 10 hours to get there. I'm doing more Road America, neet track and only 5 hours away. Stick with STT, fantastic coach's no matter what region your in.