My first Track Day
February 3rd, 2005 6 Comments » | View blog reactions
In June 2004 I had the first day with my Honda CB900F (Honda 919 in US) on a race track. I had wanted to have some supervised training on the bike for some time. The Hornet has twice the amount of horse power than my previous bike (Yamaha XVS 650) and in a completely different setup. So to have the opportunity to try, in a controlled environment what could be done with that kind of power, I signed up for a day on Ring Djursland in Denmark.
The day is definitely one of my best experiences on a motorcycle, it was good old fashioned fun and I can’t recommend it enough. Besides the thrill of shooting off the bike around a track it really gave me a different feel of the bike and a good sense of control that I lacked before.
If you are thinking of taking a Track-Day, but don’t know if it’s for you, or your motorbike is right for a race track. Then think no more off it and go sign up at your local track. Everyone can do it on any bike and have heaps of fun doing it. As you can surely tell I’m no veteran on track-days, not even a rookie yet. But on all the tracks I’ve checked out, no one would give you the look for having an old bike, or because you’re a woman, or on the other side of 60, or a total newbie. All that matters is that you don’t expect to beat Rossi’s lap times on your first go and just indulge the experience and slowly push your borders but no faster than you’re still confident. Do that and I promise you’ll have a blast.
I’ve been thinking about it for a while. The nearest one I know if is the mid-ohio track. I wonder if it would be cheaper if I got a bunch of friends together to pay for it. I ride a shadow VLX and would prefer to do a track day on a sports bike
Have a go at it, Vinod, and feel how it is. I’ve seen a couple of people on cruiser bikes at track days, but they are far between.
You will most likely start scraping pegs, exhaust and side-stand after a few laps. So there’s a natural limit on how fast you can go.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Hope you’ll have a good time.
Cheers,
Jesper
I´ve had a Hornet for 3 months, and would like to try a track day. What is the minimum protection / riding gear you would recommend for safety?
By the way, I also come form a 650, a Honda Transalp that worked great. But the Hornet´s handling and power is a different story. I´d rather learn its limits on the track that on the road.
Hey, Luis.
Minimum protection would be:
full face helmet
back protector
a two piece zip together motorcycle suite
motorcycle boots and gloves
Sunglasses or a tinted visor is also nice to have.
Leather gear is your friend, but textile will do when you’re a beginner. Don’t worry about knee pads and that sort of thing, you wont need them just yet.
Ride safe, have fun, and let us know how things work out.
I started track days last year.. After my first time i went and bought a track bike straight away.. havent looked back since.. The buzz is amazing and the experiance really benafits your road handling skills..
If you own a sports bike, tracks are what they are made for..
Have fun burnin rubber dudes..
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