Essential 1st Track Day Knowledge

RIDE AT YOUR OWN PACE!!<O</O

Slow is smooth ~ Smooth is fast.<O</O

DON’T FORGET YOUR KEY!!!!!!!!!

Don’t ride your bike to the track. If you do wad it up, you’ll be left with no way to get home. If you don’t, and you rode a really good session…you’ll be more tired then you realize, and a long ride home is not going to be fun. Not to mention, you can bring all the stuff you need.
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-Get a good night's sleep beforehand, eat a good breakfast and get there early, find a spot to pit, and try to relax. You'll be nervous, and it's normal.
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-Bring too much stuff. Tools (as many as you’ve got and can carry, you very well might need them all) energy bars, snacks, spare oil and filter.... ANYTHING you might need that could ruin your day if you don't have it. Also, if you have spare parts (clip ons, levers, footpegs, frame slider pucks, etc.), bring those so you won't be done for the day if you have even a minor dump (like a lowside on pit road... trust me it's happened).
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-Sunscreen- back of your neck can get scorched in the sun. Protect it or you’ll pay for it later.
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-Gas can. Bring it filled with extra gas. I go through at least a tank of gas in 3-4 session. And I am by no means a fast or heavy on the gas rider. A normal day you can probably expect to go through two possibly even three tanks of gas.
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-If you have a canopy, bring it, that sun gets hot. If you don’t have a comfy lawn chair, invest in one. You’ll need that as well.
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-Drink LOTS of water. Dehydration can get you. You’re sweating in that suit, and you honestly don’t even realize it, especially on cooler days. A good rule of thumb is drink at least a bottle of water for every session you take, and at least 1 gatorade every couple hours.
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-Bring tie downs… Be it extra zip ties, (you very well may need them) or rope to hold the canopy down if you have one. Tracks are on flat areas, the wind tends to pick up and blow things away, have everything in your pit secured.

<O</O-Get your suspension set up for your body weight and size on your bike, by a professional suspension guy. If it doesn’t feel 100% better from the factory settings, go back and have them check it again.
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-Listen to EVERYTHING the control riders and instructors say, especially in the beginning of the day when they'll be telling you track procedure and (sometimes) they will take very slow laps with the beginners to show them 'the line'. Ask them midday if you can get some personal follow-time and some help. They're there to help you.
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-Keep in mind that just because you’ve been street riding for several years, does not mean you’re going to be Rossi on the track. Very likely you’ve developed extremely bad habits street riding that need to be broken before you can even start tapping in to your potential. BE HUMBLE. Realize this is a learning experience.
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This may be the most important one:

-YOU SUCK. YOU'RE SLOW. Get used to it. Don't go in there thinking you're going to ride balls out... because trust me, someone out there is on a 20 year old 50 horsepower bike and they can get around the track faster than you. Don't wail the shit out of your bike on the straight and then park it in all the turns... use the straight to collect your thoughts and think ahead. When I'm coming out of the last corner I'm already thinking about my brake on/off points into the first turn, and when I'm rolling off the throttle on the straight I'm already thinking about my drive out of the first corner... it helps to slow things down for you.

-Yes, I know you want to drag knee. If you 'try' to drag knee, you're doing it wrong. You'll hang off like a monkey and scuff your knee puck and be very happy about it... but it doesn't mean shit. Do it that way if you want just to do it once... but after that, concentrate on being smooth and fast, and positioning your body properly. ASK an instructor about body positioning... most people hang their ass off but keep their torso over the bike. That's a no-no.

-RELAX. No, really, RELAX YOUR BODY. Keep your upper body loose, or if you start to push limits, you'll crash. It is absolutely imperative that you don't have pressure on the handlebars mid-corner. You WILL crash.
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-Be aware of your surroundings. That doesn’t just mean who’s around you on the track or if a prairie dog is scampering across it. It means if you are starting to wear out, pull it in. A tired worn out body is the quickest way to wad your bike up on the dirt. Also pay attention to your bike, it something is feeling weird, or it shifts wrong, pull it in. You could end up crashing if you don’t, or you could be responsible for delaying session time for the rest of the people (spray oil in the middle of the track, leak antifreeze, get debree all over the place if you crash)

-Pay attention, keep your head up, look ahead. Develop your reference points. If you don't pick spots for WHERE you want to do things lap after lap, you'll never be consistent and you'll never get fast.<O</O

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL<O</O
Have fun!!!
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Advice compiled of ceo012384, DangerDog, Dvas and some of my own input. Please reference this thread for original works (as well as others I didn't list)
Advice for a first time track dayer?

If I have forgotten anything, or left anything out, please post up!!
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looks good

looks awesome, if anyone has anything to add feel free to post it up and as long as its applicable, it will be added to the body of the thread. stickied.

cool.. thanks for makin the little compilation and linking the other post.. funny you posted this too, i just signed up for my first track next month and was about to search.. cant wait, i'm also going with two of my buddies who are first timers, so i can see the competitiveness coming

Thanks for putting this together! With your permission, at some point (probably after the season's over), I'd like to organize it, add a link to a track day checklist, and insert info and tips from some of the other threads. This is a really great idea!

Originally Posted by CephasGT

Thanks for putting this together! With your permission, at some point (probably after the season's over), I'd like to organize it, add a link to a track day checklist, and insert info and tips from some of the other threads. This is a really great idea!

Werd.

Good looking thread.

(ps: )

Thanks!

Originally Posted by CephasGT

Thanks for putting this together! With your permission, at some point (probably after the season's over), I'd like to organize it, add a link to a track day checklist, and insert info and tips from some of the other threads. This is a really great idea!

Thats perfectly ok with me!!

Here's another bunch of advice. Be absolutely certain to go over the critical nuts and bolts of your bike, to make sure I dont have to come out in the crash truck and pick up your pieces you left behind, or you in pieces after that causes you to wreck. EVEN if you check em every time and you're feelin lazy, just freakin check em. You know that'll be the one time somethin like this will bite you. Here's the basic list:

- Caliper bolts
- Axle nuts & pinch bolts
- Drain plug
- Oil filter, dip stick, & fill cap
- Rearsets / shift linkage
- Frame sliders / motor mounts
- Exhaust / pipe mounts
- Bodywork


Also check and adjust other items, such as:
- Chain slack (I see a lot of retardedly loose and retardedly tight chains in tech inspection)
- Throttle freeplay / return / stickiness (I also see a lot of sticky throttles in tech inspection)
- Suspension movement (you can blow a fork seal from towing your bike, check this at the track as well.)
- Clipons (check to make sure they're not loose in any way.)
- Clutch cable freeplay (you want a bit of freeplay in the cable, so when your clutch warms up it will use that slack, and not just wear your clutch out the whole time the bike's running.)
- Tire pressure (Check with the tire vendor to get their cold and hot recommendation for you exact brand, model, compound of tire, they all vary, and may vary from one track to another depending on time of year you run it altering temperature, or abrasiveness of the particular track.)

On the score of tire pressure, make sure you have a reliable / accurate air pressure gauge. (There's a thread in the product testing / review section on this right now. Tire Pressure gauge Reviews) Give your pressures a final check before you go out in the morning, as the change in elevation to the track will alter your tire pressure. DONT FORGET TO WARM UP YOUR TIRES!!! 2 laps min for warmup before you really rip it, and I might give it as much as 3 laps or more in cooler temps that we're about to see this fall / winter.

Take it a bit easier after you eat lunch. Blood flow is reduced to the brain after you eat, and is directed at your stomach to digest food. On top of a happy full gut, you got a brain that might not be quite as quick witted after lunch.

Excellent thread yo!

^ Veddy veddy gooood! One small note, on checking bolts and such, if you properly safety wire bolts, you don't have to check torque on them all the time.