Sunday, January 14, 2007

Heading to the track?

There are some things that you will want to bring with you. I am assuming that at this point you have a bike, all your gear, and a way to get your bike to the track.
  1. Some method of getting you and your bike out of the sun.
  2. A friend - You will need help, no doubt about it. Preferably someone who likes bikes and can move one around on their own.
  3. Sunscreen. Leathers are not even remotely comfortable if you have a sunburn. Not even a little bit. I'm serious, you have NO idea.
  4. LOTS of water. Leathers are not known for being cool to wear on warm days.
  5. Enough tools to completely tear your bike apart. In most cases this is only a few different sizes of wrench, but DO NOT show up with just the tool kit from under the seat. You WILL hate yourself for it later, trust me, I have seen it happen. Not to mention that people will point and laugh.
  6. Tire pressure gauge. When you get to the track, talk to the tire vendor, if there is one, and find out what pressures he recommends for the track and air temps.
  7. Chairs. Unless you want to spend a small fortune, and you run triathlons in your spare time, you will a. need a rest and b. will have plenty of time to wait around.
  8. Clothes to wear at the track when you are not in your leathers.
  9. Food. There is not always a place to get food at or near the track. Some tracks don't even have bathrooms.
  10. Something to do while waiting, that is, if you can pull yourself from action on the track.
  11. Some means to get around the outside of the track. A mountain bike, BMX bike, 50cc dirtbike, scooter, we don't ride motorcycles because we like to walk. Check with the racing organization to see requirements for pit bikes.
  12. Gas can - Fill this up before you get to the track, get at least 5 gallons. If you are riding a lot, get 2 of these. You would be surprised at how many times people don't have gas at the track. Some tracks sell 'race gas' which is over 100 octane and usually costs something like $5 a gallon (or more), you REALLY DO NOT need that gas.
  13. Don't forget your rear stand!! Its a real bummer having to lean your bike up against a fence all day.
  14. Stopwatch. Even if your bike comes with a lap timer, or you bought one to mount on it, it is nice to be able to tell who is really getting it out there. You can watch that person and see what lines they take to get around so quickly.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

So, now you have your gear, you have your bike, and you are itching to go. I am sure that there is some sort of track near where you live, even if the AMA doesnt go there. I have been to some great tracks around the country, and some not so great ones too, but some of the best were the ones that were not on the AMA calendar. For example, Putnam Park roadcourse is one of the best tracks I have ever had the great fortune to be on, but Mid-Ohio was one of the worst I have ever ridden on (this was pre-repave). Google racetrack and your nearest big city, and you bound to come up with something. You could also try going to the local sportbike shop and asking them if they know of any local tracks. Odds are pretty good that if it is a big shop, and a track is really close, they will be sposoring an event.

The local track is bound to have some sort of open track day in some variety or other, and most have some affiliation with a sanctioning body for racing and you can find out what is in your area. most likely, it is going to be CCS or WERA. Both organizations have the tracks that they go to often, and both are pretty well run, you will always find someone who will gripe about the way it is run, but if you want to race, you have to put up with it or start your own club.

Each organization is going to have its own quirks in the rule book, but for the most part, they are very similar, white number plate for expert, yellow for novice, and a T-shirt over your leathers for riders school, stuff like that. They really only vary when it comes to defining their classes, and this is one area you want to look at.

When talking about the bike selection, I noted that you wanted a bike as close to stock as possible, with the factory muffler if at all possible and that you wanted something small, like a 600. The reason for this is that most organizations have a production class in which you can replace the shock, tweak the fork internals, change bodywork, but you have to keep the motor from intake to exhaust bone stock. This is always the best class around because you know that if you can go fast on a prod bike, then you are going to go really fast once you upgrade to something like superstock or superbike. The other benefit is that you can always race up a class, but you can't race down. What I mean by this is that you can race a 600 in a 750 class, or a production bike in a superbike class. This just means that there will be more of an opportunity for you get your butt on track and get the seat time you so desperately need to go faster. The other huge benefit of starting on a 600 is that you dont learn by relying on the power of the bike to make you faster. I can't tell you how frustrating it is for a fast rider on a small bike to get behind some guy on a 1000, who parks it going into the corner and then hammers the throttle on the way out and drives away from you. It is, however, immensely satisfying to blast past that same guy on the 1000 in turn two and disappear into the distance on your 600.

Friday, January 12, 2007

If you are going to be going to the track, there is some terminology you should know, if you don't already.
  • Rebound - This has nothing to do with how you got your last girlfriend. This refers to the suspension action when it is coming back up.
  • Rebound damping - The valving adjustment that allows you to change the speed at which your suspension recovers from compression.
  • Compression - The shortening of your suspension as when you ride over a bump in the road.
  • Compression damping - The valving adjustment which allows you to change the 'harshness' of your suspension when you hit a bump.
  • Preload - The amount you compress the springs in your suspension while it is standing still.
  • Sag - The measurement of the distance the suspension settles when you hop on the bike as compared to prior to you hopping on.
  • Free Sag - The measurement that of the sag from full extension to just the weight of the bike.
  • Stiction - The resistance in the suspension to movement.
  • Squid - Go look in the mirror.
  • Lap Time - Self explanatory
  • Push - Sliding the front tire in a corner
  • High-Side - How NOT to crash. This happens when you get the rear wheel sliding, and then it suddenly grips. It usually happens going into or coming out of a turn. Unless you are masochistic, this is not something you want to 'try out' for giggles, most people end up breaking something when this happens.
  • Low-Side - If you have a choice in how to crash, this is usually the best way to do it. Usually you push the front just a bit too far and it slides out on you. If you are going fast, the fall is pretty short, and you just slide for a while.
That is pretty much all I can think of for now, if I think of anything else, I will add it to this list.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Things to do at the track

If you are going to the track, and you are not racing, there are lots of things to do (dont forget your stopwatch!). For starters, show up early, like 8AM early. This will give you a chance to see how everything works, and could give you an opportunity to work a corner should you choose to do so. Working one of the corners allows you to get a really close look at the action, and possibly make some dough, but you really have to pay attention to what is going on as the safety of the riders is in your hands.

If you want to get into racing, you will need to spend time at a track, period. Going to a race before you are ready to ride and just being a part of the scene will help immensely when you are ready to go. You can go check out the tech inspection area, see what people bring, what they don't bring, see what the inspectors are looking for, chat them up while they are not busy and see if they can answer any questions you have about the rules. Tell them you are interested in getting started and they are likely to give you all kinds of information, including a rule book and a fee schedule. After the tech area just walk around and see how things work, it will be invaluable later on when you have your bike there and you are running around frantically looking for the tech area because your practice just made first call while you were unloading your bike.

Watching the bikes whizz by you on the straightaway at over 100 MPH really should be on the bottom of your list though. (even though it is a rush at first) Go around to each and every corner and watch the fast people, see how they enter the corners, listen to when they are getting on the throttle, see how they move on the bike. Basically take one rider at a time and just study their every move, watch them all the way around a lap if you can. See where they start braking, how long they are on the brakes, shift points, where they are looking, etc. There is a lot to riding fast, but by studying what people are doing, you can get the merest glimpse of what it is like. Not all that you see will be something that you can apply to your riding, but it will be informative none-the-less.

In between races, or at the lunch break, stop in and talk to some of the riders you saw. If you see them wrenching madly on their bike, it may not be the best time, move on to the next guy. Most of the people you will meet at the track are really nice people and will be happy to talk to you and answer some questions. These people all have the same addictions you do, speed and motorcycles. Its all part of the natural cycle, when you start out, you ask 80 bajillion questions of everyone you see that is faster than you, and when you get faster, the newbies will be firing their questions at you trying to see how they can go faster. I really can't say enough about the people I met at the track, some of them have become great friends. Most of the time, you will come back from a practice session or race and someone you were riding near or passed will come around to you (or you go around) and want to talk about what happened on the track. You can learn a lot from the other newbies out there, some of them are going to start out MUCH faster than you are. For example, when Ben Spies was 14 he was blowing the doors off some much more experienced experts on the track and he was still really approachable.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Once you have your gear, put it all on and go for a ride on the street. Don't ride like a bunghole, just go out for a few hours and enjoy yourself. I am warning you though, you will feel all kinds of invincible with your gear on. So you will have to consciously hold yourself back a little. You want to see what it feel like to wear the gear while riding, and you want to sweat in it. When you get all hot and sweaty in your gear, the leather will begin to stretch and conform more to your body and the way you move. Today's leathers are really nice, and allow a lot of movement, but not everyone moves in the same way.

You will find that after riding a few times on the street in your gear, it gets much easier to get into and out of it. These riding sessions will also allow you to adapt your riding style that little bit that all the gear requires. You can't really build something that is going to cover you head to toe and not limit your motion in any way, its just not really possible.

Monday, January 8, 2007

You know, I was thinking, and for just getting out there and trying out this racing thing, you dont really have to get a bike that is within the most recent two years' manufacture. You can realistically get any bike on the market. Case in point, when we go started in racing, my brother rode an 89 FZR 600, in 1995. His bike was HUGELY outclassed, but this made him learn to ride better and without jacking around with the bike all day long. He would go out there and ride the wheels off that thing, and often crash while fighting for 10th or something like that, but when we moved to current year machinery, he knew how to get on and ride.

I think it made a big difference to his learning ability to be able to run that old, outclassed bike for a couple of seasons. First, he was able to get on the track for a minimal outlay of cash, and he was able to really determine if he wanted to do it before make a large chunk investment.

So, when you are looking to get a bike for racing, get any bike that is race-ready and still in pretty good condition. I'm not saying to go buy whatever clap-trap is out there, but something that you dont care about breaking, and isnt going to cost you a fortune. There are great classifieds in the back of Roadracing World, or on their website. Most of the racing organizations now have a site and some have classifieds, check out the nearest one to you and see if you can find a bike. You may also make friends with someone who knows the local scene and can help you along.