Happy Halloween! I want to take this opportunity to thank STT for the great event they hosted at Road Atlanta on Sunday, October 30, 2016. My first track day. To summarize: I was probably the slowest bike on the track (sorry other riders). But I had a blast. I need a lot of work on body position. But I had a blast. I need to get a bike (I rode a FJR) with a lot more lean angle. But I had a blast. I really suck as a rider. But…(well, you know the rest) I didn’t get many opportunities to talk with the CRs due to the number of people who came out to ride. No problem, though. During the classroom sessions I listened intently to the lead Novice instructor, “Ogre” (I don’t remember his real name), and made the decision to practice what he instructed us on. Initially, I felt a bit overwhelmed for various reasons: first track day, speed, lack of knowledge, etc. I’m sure this is a common feeling among many first-time track riders. After the first session, I knew I had to focus on one or two things, and not worry about anything else. So, I went out and tried to work solely on body position. Wow! What a challenge! I didn’t realize how difficult it is to attempt to get in the right body position, especially on a sport-tourer set up for mainly touring. I also realized I have to work on relaxing my grip on the bars. Random thoughts: Passing. To those of you that passed me WAY too close. I forgive you. A few of you even came to my pit area and apologized, to which I quickly replied, “No problem, keep passing.” What I didn’t say was, “One day you will be the one I pass. Properly.” I want to take the opportunity to thank, and apologize, to one of the control riders, Aziz (sp?), whom I worried during one of the sessions. He had me pass, I assume to watch how I was riding. Well, I obviously had not paid attention to the layout of the track during the previous session, and crested a hill well out of position. I target fixated on the grassy area, applied hard front brakes, but had the presence of mind to look where I wanted to go and righted the bike before disaster struck. As I exited the track at session's end, Aziz motioned for me to come over to him. He replayed the incident, voicing how he was concerned that I would go off track, but gave me kudos for getting my head back in the game at the last second. He was gracious, and didn’t tell me what a total idiot I am. Thanks, Aziz. On the plus side (as far as I'm concerned), the “feeler” on the underside of my right foot peg, which was perfectly round at the start of the day, is round no more. It’s now a half-circle. I knew going into my first day that I needed to gain more confidence in leaning the motorcycle. At practically every right turn I scraped it. It scared the hell out of me the first two sessions, but during subsequent sessions the scraping was music to my ears. I told myself, “Okay, this is your limit, don’t lean any further.” Looking back at it, this limitation subconsciously may have caused my much slower speeds in the straights. Knowing that I would have to brake harder smoothly (a skill set I have yet to acquire) to set up for turns at a speed that would not require more lean angle forced me to go slower. What about left turns? What left turns? They’re practically non-existent at Road Atlanta, except while negotiating the chicane and, I believe, turn 10a. I did occasionally scrape and wore down the left side negotiating these, but not nearly as much. All told, my first track day went pretty much as hoped: I didn’t crash. No mechanical issues. Gained a bit more confidence leaning the bike. The other riders were very friendly. And the weather cooperated. Will this be my last track day? Absolutely not. Will this cause me to stop riding on the street? No, I enjoy long-distance riding too much. If I had to give myself a grade, it would be a D+/C-. There’s a lot of room for improvement in many areas. But I had a blast.
Glad you had fun out there on the mighty FJR. That's what it's all about! With the 'uprightness' of the FJR and your handlebar risers taking you even more straight up than stock... proper racetrack body position will be really difficult to do. But, getting your weight as far over the inside as you can will improve your bike's modest lean angle ground clearance... and will help you save your peg feelers, but I'm assuming you didn't mind abusing those a bit. If you had fun and took home a shiny bike, you got an A grade.
Excellent write up. I am so glad you had a blast! We look forward to seeing you out there again sometime!!
Great write up. Just about everyone figures out the same thing track days are a riot and just get better and better. No matter what level your at, riding at your limit's gives the blast in the ride.
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. I remember those first few track days and the butterflies getting started in the first session or two, but then it is all fun from there. I would imagine that the FJR (I have one too) was a load braking for T12. If you are able I would definitely recommend a dedicated track bike, so you aren't worried about trashing your street bike and can really enjoy the track experience. Welcome, I look forward to meeting you at the track.
I actually picked up a dedicated track bike about a week after attending my first event. It's a 2001 CBR600F4i. I took it to Jennings back in December and enjoyed my experience with my first sport-bike. I'm looking forward to the 2017 season. I hope to see you out there!