Anyone know about learning to race?

[Area57]

I was researching track days in my area. I see there are some coming up this summer, but they are pretty expensive. Has anyone gone to them and if so did you have a good time? It sounds like it would be great. Get to ride around the track and practice skills. Have some instruction. What do you guys think? I would like to learn to race and to be a good rider. Anybody with the guts can twist the throttle and go fast. I want more than that.

 

[ballmead]

Track days are the best place to hone your skills and become a better rider. You can push yourself and your bike in relative safety.
My own skill level increased hugely when I was doing regular track days.
I went from wobbling around corners in D group to carving corners kneedown in A group within 2 years.
We have the Californian Superbike school here in Australia and it is an excellent introduction to performance riding.
If you have that or similar then I recommend you give it a go.

Sent from my HTC_X9u using Tapatalk

 

[johnnyontherocks]

Trackdays and Racing have taken me off the street almost completely. Im not sure where you are located but if there is a racetrack near you there will be trackday clubs. Things to consider, do they offer any first time rider schooling? This is important, it eases you out there instead of just throwing you to the wolves. Most of these schools are free if not very cheap. Try to figure out how many days you will do. Some clubs have just a day rate, others have memberships costs but lower day rates. If you are just going to do 1 or 2 days, the day rate is fine but if you plan on doing more membership clubs become cheaper in the long run. Once there seek out rider coaches and don't be afraid to ask them for coaching. That is what they are there for and it is their purpose. If you get the cold shoulder from an organizations coaches, find another org. If you are in the NE PM me I coach for Evolve GT and would love to help you or anyone else here out, also feel free to ask me any questions I will answer anything I can.

 

[jared p]

FYI least expensive track days around Seattle is Optimum Performance Rider Training, and their Level 1 and 2 schools are less expensive as well compared to the others offered out there.

https://www.facebook.com/Optimum-Performance-Rider-Training-197021410362567/
Optimum Performance Rider Training

2fast/pssr/motofit are generally $20-40 more per day. tt and cce are generally $100-200 more per day and aren't your typical track days.

FZ1 is a great bike to learn and improve your skills on, I've use mine to instruct on for the last 2 years

 

[Hellgate]

Do you intend to actually race? The reason I ask is it you think track days are expensive racing is much more so. I'm not try to be flip but just pointing out the reality of it.

All that said, track days are great! Begin in the C group and go from there.

 

[Area57]

I don;t know what I intend to do. Improve my riding skills at high speeds and tight corners and see if I have what it takes.

 

[dirtlego]

There is no need to race. I agree it is expensive but you can improve cornering and test your skills in low risk area. I wished to do it some day but I was wondering should I change the bike or FZ1 naked will do the job.

 

[jared p]

I don;t know what I intend to do. Improve my riding skills at high speeds and tight corners and see if I have what it takes.

a track day is absolutely the place to start. we just had our first track day of the season yesterday and it was a blast. check out the level 1 school, definitely worth it to find out where you are and what you can improve on.

There is no need to race. I agree it is expensive but you can improve cornering and test your skills in low risk area. I wished to do it some day but I was wondering should I change the bike or FZ1 naked will do the job.

racing is a different animal. normally you're never near 100% at a track day, at a race day, you're at 110%. i've had numerus friends who i'd always been faster than at the track, came out of their novice season faster than me! but, the risk goes up for the reward, at the limit you crash more but you learn more too. there's generally very few track day guys that are the fastest that aren't also racers, comparably.

 

[johnnyontherocks]

I don;t know what I intend to do. Improve my riding skills at high speeds and tight corners and see if I have what it takes.

Start with track days. It is almost impossible to just go racing with a street riders skill set. Please don't take that as a slight. There was a day when the only way to ride a track was to go racing. Over the past 15 or more years track day clubs have grown. Almost everyone who races now starts with track days so the skill set of a novice racer is much higher than in the past. I couldn't even imagine trying to comprehend the jump from street right into racing (mind you, you will still have to attend a school to get licensed which will most likely involve a track day). Track days are way more affordable and should be your first step.

Either way prepare to get hooked, ride your ride and have fun.