Love Riding Track, Why Not Race?

[DaveAlvarado]

Originally Posted by Morgan Buchanan

That's my point...how do I do a track day to see if I like riding on the track when I don't have a track bike? I'm not keen on doing a track day on a bike that I daily commute on...which is a heavy sport tour bike. I suppose maybe the thing is to go buy a dirt cheap Ninja 250....

You wouldn't be the first guy to ride a C14 on the track with RideSmart.

[grandpaul]

I got my CMRA race license with LoneStar Track Days at TWS, then just faxed a copy to AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Assn) who then cross-licensed me to roadrace vintage. For my race school, I took my newly scratch built '69 Triumph Bonneville and used it for the morning sessions.



Good thing I also had my son's Ducati 900 Monster that I was delivering to him in Austin, my Bonnie spit a valve adjuster cap and lost a rocker oil acorn nut. If that hadn't happened, I would have continued to run the rest of the day with no oil going to the top end! Turns out the hard pipe to the rockers was clogged.

I'll tell you one thing, a teenage girl on a ninja 250 can lap a relatively competent 50 year-old on a classic Triumph in about 3 laps.

I'll tell you another thing, blasting the old Triumph around the bumpy high banking at about 90MPH was fun, but zipping past at nearly 130 on the Monster was something else entirely! My glasses were rattling around inside my helmet it was so dang bumpy...

[grandpaul]

...and another thing...

Once you get your license, it pays to have your full gear with you EVERY TIME you are at a track; you NEVER KNOW when you might snag an exciting ride!

I was at my first race, the Sandia Classic in Albuquerque in the fall of 2007, sitting in my pit going over my bike, and an announcement came over the P.A. system: "anyone interested in riding "monkey" in a sidecar, please report to tech". Man, I wanted to go so bad, but my first round of practice was starting in less than an hour, and I really needed to stay focused. There were at least 3 rookies riding monkey that day. FOR FREE! Also, they don't even ask monkeys to be licensed (not sure how smart that is, though).

Anyway, along those lines, I happened to be going to Willow Springs in 2010 on a trip where I was delivering a client bike; an online discussion mentioned a sidecar needing a monkey, and THIS time I was prepared. I made arrangements to meet the guy in the pits, and proceeded to have the most exciting weekend of my life.

LCR Suzuki GSX1000 Formula 1 sidecar-







Imagine 150+ down the straights, then slamming through the Omega complex at over 80 MPH...

We took (2) 2nd place finishes in fields of 5-6 rigs. That was good enough to clinch the 2010 championship for Rick Murray's team. Talk about being in the right place at the right time...

If you want to read the LONG version, with more pix... click here

[grandpaul]

Just one more enticement to get your license and have your gear with you at all times when visiting race tracks-

I was minding my own business in my nearly empty garage (1 race bike, 1 coffee pot and 2 folding chairs) at Grattan Michican when this dude pulls up in a Sprinter van and asks if I'd be willing to share the garage space, to which I replied in the affirmative; he then proceeded to unload SIX green Kawasakis of various configurations. After he finished he asked me if I knew anyone who might be interested in racing his 500 triple in Formula 500. Well, I immediately volunteered for the job.

I was racing a RIGHT-FOOT shift, 1-down, 3-up 4-stroke pushrod twin PRODUCTION bike, this was a full-blown 2-stroke triple F500 RACE bike with LEFT-FOOT GP shifting and neutral at the top (5-down).

I managed to keep it on the pavement, made very few shifting errors, and took home my first podium finish - 3rd!



This guy (Jeff Moyer) didn't know me from the man in the moon, yet after meeting me less than 10 minutes earlier, he offered me his race bike. Amazing.

A little more amazing was the fact that after the weekend, HE LET ME TAKE HIS BIKE HOME! Well, it was conditional on meeting him at Miller, Sandia and Barber's later that year. needless to say, it was a FUN year.

Despite only racing half the season IN MY ROOKIE YEAR, despite blowing the race engine's #1 cylinder spigot at Miller, despite racing the last 4 races of the year with a SWAP MEET ENGINE, and despite the fact that the swap meet engine HAD A HOLE IN THE #2 PISTON, I managed to finish 3rd in the championship points in 2008!

Long version of the story is HERE

There's a lot more to the story of the rest of the season, but it's in several threads.

You'll have to trust me on this one, JUST GO GET YOUR GEAR & LICENSE .

[humanrace]

Originally Posted by ekms377

I raced for 14 years straight. Back when there were no track days. You either raced or you didn't. Track days make the transition a lot easier if you want to race or for the street rider who wants to have fun and/or improve their riding.

Like Eric, I started racing before there were track days. 2 fifteen minute practice sessions and then my first race. I was hooked. Go for it.