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I had a track day (my first) at the Miller Motorsports Park http://www.millermotorsportspark.com/ here in Utah (on my 2007 1250 Bandit) and I thought I'd pass along my observations (I know many of you already participate in track events regularly).
First of all it was a lot of fun and I did learn from the experience – I highly recommend it for everyone. This specific event was not instruction or racing, just a “track day.” However I did find it to be quite competitive and this pressure made my first couple of runs more stressful than they should have been (all self imposed
). I settled down for my last couple of runs and rode just for my own self interest and education, this made a big difference for me. Although there was no instruction, the people running the event were helpful and did give me some personalized tips.
I think I was the only person who rode their bike to/from the event, everyone else brought their bikes on trailers, some were strictly racing bikes but many were street legal. It's probably a bad idea to do what I did, considering the possibility of crashing and not having a ride home
(but I did not crash, so it all worked out). The bikes were pretty much all sport bikes except about five of them. It was a mix of all the current 1000cc and 600cc sport bike brands. I was the only sport touring/standard – and yes I got some stares, but I didn't consider any of them to be disparaging looks (a couple of folks wanted to know more about the Bandit). There were some really incredible riders there too! (not including me, of course) 
Preparing my bike was easy, I did the radiator flush the day before (can't have glycol based fluids) – I used Redline Water Wetter. I removed my mirror's at the track, I removed the front headlight fuse (so I didn't need to tape it), but I did tape the tail light. I used my Pilot Road 2 tires with several thousand miles on them (but they still looked and worked fine).
Although I consider myself a very good street rider, but I very quickly learned that the track is a lot different than the street, and my skills when pushing my limits are not a awesome as I had imagined. (I am not the natural Ben Spies type that I thought I was...
) I was a little worried that not having mirrors would be troubling (I use them a lot while on the street) but the track is a completely different animal and not having them was no concern at all. The biggest problem for me was focusing too much on the close-in action and not having my focus out 10-12 seconds ahead. I do look that far ahead on the street, but it's a traffic focus, not a “riding” focus in the sense of setting entry speeds, looking for the apex, and planning exits. I would imagine that this is the biggest noobie mistake for everyone. Feeling that panic and wanting to SLOW DOWN 
as you enter a turn, at what seems to be, too high of a speed when you are looking at your front tire is a serious mistake. Just getting your eyes off the front end and ahead of you makes all the difference. It was good to reenforce this practice, and as the day progressed my entry speeds increased considerably and I became a lot smoother throughout the track. 
There were some real nice people there, I felt welcomed and comfortable. I think that as long as I was easy to “read” on the track it didn't bother anyone how slow I went (I never went “slow” but I'm sure some of those riders would disagree
).
I think I sit too upright on the track – a street habit I guess, I need to get down and hang off more (but that's a skill to hone for next time). I scrapped a lot of peg – but no knee – and they told me I was riding the **** out of the bike, a couple of them were even concerned that I was perhaps “out riding” my tires. (Maybe just appeasing and ego stroking the customer???)
It was a good experience, and I did have SEVERAL moments of panic (too fast into a turn) and even went off the track twice. But I got better and trained myself to look ahead and lean, instead grabbing the brakes.
It was over 100 degrees
and the nearest tree was probably 50 miles away – it was HOT. Cost me $140 for a half-day (four 20 minute runs) which was PLENTY, I could not have done anymore safely. The crew was great, friendly, professional and very competent. I also determined that I do NOT want to take one of the racing/riding school courses that are offered at the track (I have been considering doing so). I think it would be too much for me, and I'm not as brave as I was 30 years ago.
So the bandit is no slouch, but it's no track racer either. I learned a lot, but have A LOT more to learn. It was fun and interesting – I think it's good to learn your bike and its limits (I still has a long way to go to test the Bandit's limits), I kinda doubt how much of this is directly applicable to street riding where the biggest issue is the traffic, but again knowing your machine can never be a bad thing, and may make the difference between a near miss and a crash. Everyone should do this at least once.
First of all it was a lot of fun and I did learn from the experience – I highly recommend it for everyone. This specific event was not instruction or racing, just a “track day.” However I did find it to be quite competitive and this pressure made my first couple of runs more stressful than they should have been (all self imposed
). I settled down for my last couple of runs and rode just for my own self interest and education, this made a big difference for me. Although there was no instruction, the people running the event were helpful and did give me some personalized tips.I think I was the only person who rode their bike to/from the event, everyone else brought their bikes on trailers, some were strictly racing bikes but many were street legal. It's probably a bad idea to do what I did, considering the possibility of crashing and not having a ride home
(but I did not crash, so it all worked out). The bikes were pretty much all sport bikes except about five of them. It was a mix of all the current 1000cc and 600cc sport bike brands. I was the only sport touring/standard – and yes I got some stares, but I didn't consider any of them to be disparaging looks (a couple of folks wanted to know more about the Bandit). There were some really incredible riders there too! (not including me, of course) Preparing my bike was easy, I did the radiator flush the day before (can't have glycol based fluids) – I used Redline Water Wetter. I removed my mirror's at the track, I removed the front headlight fuse (so I didn't need to tape it), but I did tape the tail light. I used my Pilot Road 2 tires with several thousand miles on them (but they still looked and worked fine).
Although I consider myself a very good street rider, but I very quickly learned that the track is a lot different than the street, and my skills when pushing my limits are not a awesome as I had imagined. (I am not the natural Ben Spies type that I thought I was...
) I was a little worried that not having mirrors would be troubling (I use them a lot while on the street) but the track is a completely different animal and not having them was no concern at all. The biggest problem for me was focusing too much on the close-in action and not having my focus out 10-12 seconds ahead. I do look that far ahead on the street, but it's a traffic focus, not a “riding” focus in the sense of setting entry speeds, looking for the apex, and planning exits. I would imagine that this is the biggest noobie mistake for everyone. Feeling that panic and wanting to SLOW DOWN as you enter a turn, at what seems to be, too high of a speed when you are looking at your front tire is a serious mistake. Just getting your eyes off the front end and ahead of you makes all the difference. It was good to reenforce this practice, and as the day progressed my entry speeds increased considerably and I became a lot smoother throughout the track. There were some real nice people there, I felt welcomed and comfortable. I think that as long as I was easy to “read” on the track it didn't bother anyone how slow I went (I never went “slow” but I'm sure some of those riders would disagree
).I think I sit too upright on the track – a street habit I guess, I need to get down and hang off more (but that's a skill to hone for next time). I scrapped a lot of peg – but no knee – and they told me I was riding the **** out of the bike, a couple of them were even concerned that I was perhaps “out riding” my tires. (Maybe just appeasing and ego stroking the customer???)
It was a good experience, and I did have SEVERAL moments of panic (too fast into a turn) and even went off the track twice. But I got better and trained myself to look ahead and lean, instead grabbing the brakes.
It was over 100 degrees
and the nearest tree was probably 50 miles away – it was HOT. Cost me $140 for a half-day (four 20 minute runs) which was PLENTY, I could not have done anymore safely. The crew was great, friendly, professional and very competent. I also determined that I do NOT want to take one of the racing/riding school courses that are offered at the track (I have been considering doing so). I think it would be too much for me, and I'm not as brave as I was 30 years ago.So the bandit is no slouch, but it's no track racer either. I learned a lot, but have A LOT more to learn. It was fun and interesting – I think it's good to learn your bike and its limits (I still has a long way to go to test the Bandit's limits), I kinda doubt how much of this is directly applicable to street riding where the biggest issue is the traffic, but again knowing your machine can never be a bad thing, and may make the difference between a near miss and a crash. Everyone should do this at least once.
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It slowed me down on the street, that and having kids. When I think back to how I used to ride on the street, even though I was not crazy and reckless, I am amazed that I survived. It would have been real easy for me to just hit something in the road because I was over riding my sight lines and stopping distances on the twisties. Basically, I just got lucky. I could just as easily have been unlucky, especially with all the deer in these parts... One of the reasons for getting into DS riding was to shift my thrills from fast riding to more technical riding. I find that I ride a much more relaxed pace on the street now. It has been a while since my last trackday. As of now, the only thing I could run on the track would be my 1200 GS. I'd like a nice motard for the track