Trackday Questions...

[azoomm]

If you could imagine the perfect event, what would you want there?

I know, broad question. But, building a track gives me some new perspective to the actual events that go on. Things like CornerWorkers - with control riders and a wireless light system... are they needed? Lunch - should it be free, or will that make people eat more and become fat and happy for the afternoon session? Suspension - should that hook-up be free as well... better performing bikes mean better experience, right?

Some out of the box things already happen at my events. I'm just looking for more. Think of this as brainstorming...

Thanks :)

[Trip]

I think quick inspection on suspension should be free, but if you want a full out setup, you should pay.

Free lunch is awesome, crappy hamburgers/hotdogs/fries is stupid. Free lunch should be more like a good sandwich and some fruit.

Corner workers is a must, along with a good tow crew to pickup fallen bikes and great EMTs to pickup fallen riders.

Light system is not needed, flags are fine.

Tire changer is a must.

Control riders - these must be people who are very knowledgable and are out there to help track day riders and not be out there for free track time before the wera race...

[fpzx10]

I think quick inspection on suspension should be free, but if you want a full out setup, you should pay.

Free lunch is awesome, crappy hamburgers/hotdogs/fries is stupid. Free lunch should be more like a good sandwich and some fruit.

Corner workers is a must, along with a good tow crew to pickup fallen bikes and great EMTs to pickup fallen riders.

Light system is not needed, flags are fine.

Tire changer is a must.

Control riders - these must be people who are very knowledgable and are out there to help track day riders and not be out there for free track time before the wera race...

I agree with all of that. So far as the lunches go, I like what STT did at Barber. You got a ticket for 1 lunch. Hamburge, hot dog, fries, etc. You pay for the drink. Having a spread with food will encourage the fat adn happy thing.

I like the idea of free water. Encourages riders to stay hydrated. Maybe hava a bottled water company as a sponsor.

Also, free air. Have a centralized compressor. That will cut down on one large piece of equipment to bring. Just a thought

[dubbs]

Tonys Track Days is pretty good.. They have us free breakfast, lunch, and Dinner..

Breakfast was fruit and muffins.. Lunch was a mix of hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, and other stuff.

Free gatorade, water, and other drinks all day..

For Dinner, we had lasagna, pizza, knots, eggplant parm, chicken parm too much stuff to remember..

It was good shit.. They gave us free air, instructers were really helpeful, and we also had classroom time with videos and pics of ourselves to see what we did wrong..

I'd say corner workers are a must as well, Flags work fine, and having dependable, responsible instructers, control riders is a must.

Good Luck!

[dReWpY]

free air, a tire changing service, free water bottles, a good group of control riders, flags are fine, i perfer flags over lights anyways, they get your attention fastertire sales tracksidei was so excited my first day i completly forgot to eat until i was starvin so if food was avaible i would prolly missed it anyways. lol, a suspension guy to do something similar to what trip was talking about, first setup was free, anything after that was extra

[azoomm]

Thanks for the replies :)

Keep them coming!

[zortness]

Power outlets in the pits.

Covered pit areas so people don't have to set up tents, or full garages, free to use.

A track-walk in the morning is always beneficial. The providers used to do it all the time, now I rarely see it.

Big track map on display for everyone to look at.

[marko138]

Power outlets in the pits.

Covered pit areas so people don't have to set up tents, or full garages, free to use.

A track-walk in the morning is always beneficial. The providers used to do it all the time, now I rarely see it.

Big track map on display for everyone to look at.
Excellent ideas.

[Trip]

Partial refunds for people that want nothing to do with rain riding. :lol:

[Cutty72]

All great info!! Never been to the track, so I have nothing to add.

[dubbs]

All great info!! Never been to the track, so I have nothing to add.

:pwhore2:

[DLIT]

I'd make it experienced track riders only and OPEN SESSIONS. I love open sessions. I hate riding for only 20 minutes and then sitting for 40. Gay. But I gotta do it to satisfy my addiction.

[Cutty72]

I'd make it experienced track riders only and OPEN SESSIONS. I love open sessions. I hate riding for only 20 minutes and then sitting for 40. Gay. But I gotta do it to satisfy my addiction.

Prob with that is, you tell everyone to get to the track. If the track is open to experienced track riders ONLY, then a new rider will NEVER get on the track.

[DLIT]

Prob with that is, you tell everyone to get to the track. If the track is open to experienced track riders ONLY, then a new rider will NEVER get on the track.

There's other tracks to go to for experience. Experinced only doesn't mean you have to be fast, but be familiar with riding on the track. Like being able to hold a line, etc...

[Cutty72]

There's other tracks to go to for experience. Experinced only doesn't mean you have to be fast, but be familiar with riding on the track. Like being able to hold a line, etc...

Right, I understand that.
Looking at it from a newer rider standpoint.

If track A is the closest to home at 50 miles, but only allows track experienced riders.
Track B is 250+ miles from home, but allows everyone.
Chances are less likely that new rider will take a track day earlier in his riding experience.

I'd say you would be better off running some events for beginners only, and others for experienced only. That way everyone is welcome at sometime, but newbs are getting run over, and experienced guys aren't getting held up.

[DLIT]

If you wanted to go to the track bad enough you'd go to track B.

[Cutty72]

If you wanted to go to the track bad enough you'd go to track B.

True, but quite possibly not as soon as I would have gone to track A...

Just my :2cents: looking at it from the perspective of one that doesn't have track experience, and can't go to all TD's

[DLIT]

FYI. My first track day ever was on a track that was for experienced track riders only. My buddies told me I'll be alright since I was already fast and consistant. Worked out fine for me. I used the street to get the basics down and the track to fine tune things and apply things I've read that I can only apply on the track.

[Trip]

Just have certain endurance days like STT, where you have advanced and intermediate only. 30 min rotating sessions. No need to make it only for experienced riders ever, that cuts out a lot of profits and scares people away, which is the last thing you want to do because the track makes riders better.

Hell, even with privately setup track days done around here with 20 riders, they still run groups because a top notch advanced rider shouldn't be on the track with a mid pack intermediate. Just asking for trouble.

[Cutty72]

FYI. My first track day ever was on a track that was for experienced track riders only. My buddies told me I'll be alright since I was already fast and consistant. Worked out fine for me. I used the street to get the basics down and the track to fine tune things and apply things I've read that I can only apply on the track.

Ok... I was thinking by "experienced" you would need some type of license or proof you've been on the track before.
If a quality rider can "fib" there way in, that's a different story.

[PhiSig1071]

Good Control riders are a MUST! They make a huge difference (If you're looking for control riders, I'm willing to relocate!)

Trackside support-Tire sales, tire mounting and suspension. A simple suspension set-up made the biggest difference in my riding, and I think that all trackday riders should at least have their sag/rebound/compression set properly. Use a guy who does suspension work too, and he can do set-up's as advertisement for his business.

Free drinks are a nice touch, but will get very expensive, sell drinks (water, gatoraide etc) at cost.

I liked the food at the STT day at BMP, get a ticket for a free meal and buy a drink.

At the VERY least paved pit lane/pits with reliable power, if you can swing covered pits that would be awesome! Make sure the power is reliable and up to snuff, you'll have poeple running warmers, compressors, ac units, and fans. I went to JGP one day and had to use the generator on my buddies trailer for power because the curcuit breakers kept popping.

Flags are fine, no need for lights.

Rental gear-Have a "first trackday" package, 1 trackday, with full leathers, for a lower cost, and include a novice track-day school. They had the school at BMP and it REALLY helped the riders who had never been there before. It's like dealing drugs, get people there to try it, and they'll be hooked and keep coming back.

Photog-A friendly, helpful photographer is nice to have, most people would want a pic of their on-track experiences (I know I do). You could include a picture CD in the "First trackday" package. People will look at the pics and want to go back.

If I can think of anything else I'll add it.

[azoomm]

Well, let me rephrase about the lights. I will HAVE lights, the track owner is installing them. The question is, if I have lights... will I NEED cornerworkers ;)

I right now have two types of events.

Trackdays = 2 groups. Novice/intermediate = Group 1. Group 2 = advanced, and that position is EARNED only. 30-min alternating through the day.

The other is Happy Hour - it's a 4-hour open afternoon session available to Group 2 ONLY.

[r!der]

In addition to everything mentioned. It would be nice to have someone unload and load everything from the truck/trailer. Girls in bikinis serving cold water after each session, and massage with a happy ending after the last session. Fuel that doesn't cost $10 a gallon would be nice.

[dReWpY]

ur drunk only in our dreams will that come true

[marko138]

Novice and Intermediate together? Nice to have 2 groups...but I dont think I'd like that.

[azoomm]

Novice and Intermediate together? Nice to have 2 groups...but I dont think I'd like that.

Then, learn well... don't ride like an asshole... and earn a spot. ;)

What I hated, or even loathed about other events (not all, just many), were the descriptions of many of those in that middle group. Sure, there were some quality intermediates (oxymoron?). But, there were also sandbaggers - those that should be in the next group but love to pass and can't handle getting passed. OR, they were too fast to be called slow in their own mind. It makes for a dangerous combination.

Besides, I have 30 people per group. If you can't manage a group and figure out your own personal space on a track in a half hour with that many people... you don't deserve to be "going fast". knowwhatImean?

I have a 2 student / 1 instructor ratio - with dedicated instructors, meaning instructors are assigned to riders so no one has to go searching for anyone.

[zortness]

The intermediate group is where all of the wrecks happen... There's a lot of guys who can ride their bike fast, but they're not mentally ready to be going that fast, nor is their body in a good enough position to get good feedback from their bike.

I like the way TrackXperience does it with two groups. Novice and advanced. Not too many riders in either group, so there's plenty of room on the track. The advanced level would be like a level 3 fastrack group.

Like DLIT mentioned earlier, my absolute favorite track days are with SoCalTrackDays and their no-sessions format. It's supposed to be for advanced riders only, but anyone can register. As long as you hold your line, it really doesn't matter how quick you are, people will just fly past you, but I've actually seen them pull people off for riding erratically. 35 riders total for the entire day, so plenty of open track. If you go to one of these, you're likely to see some factory test riders, AMA riders, or even tire testers.

[the chi]

Lets be reasonable here, not everyone is a great rider and they go to the track to get better, to build confidence and to gain skills you dont learn on the street that will benefit in all forms of riding. Not everyone wants to drag knee or be a professional racer. Not everyone has the funds to go to the track, shoot, alot of riders dont even KNOW what going to the track means. (In my area they usually think its the local drag strip!:lol: Then get offended when I laugh...)

That being said, keeping a track to one certain class is not even logical or at all reasonable. If my local track (still being several hours away) only did exp. riders, I'd never go, simply because I would be intimidated and nervous I would get killed by assholes who think they're Rossi.

My thoughts would be keep it open to all riders, designate classes or days as needed for different types of riders, and have specific times and days for specific classes or events. That way everyone gets a chance and they will keep coming back as they get better and better.

Never allow complete novices to ride with intermediates, like you said Zoomie, you get those jerks who really should be in the advanced class but like to look good, and they endanger novices who are trying to learn. If you are trying to learn your line, its not so easy when assholes run by, improperly pass you, buzz you etc and you are too busy trying not to die and not focusing on improving. Yeah tracks try and control this, but it happens.

And imo its freaking awesome to be able to watch those really experienced riders go at it in a class of their own, b/c I can watch that, see how good people can get in person and have something to aspire to.

One thing that really helped me visually was seeing the track marked with the proper line for me to follow. Jennings has those big dots on boxes, and being able to follow those a few laps gave me the physical/visual knowledge to apply what I knew I should be doing. After a few laps I didnt really need them but it was a comfort to have them.

Control riders that are knowledgable, friendly and helpful!! The peeps at Jennings are freaking awesome and I learned so much, but if they hadnt been friendly and approachable, I wouldnt have learned diddly!!

The flag system was awesome, and i think way more eyecatching than lights would be simply because when I get in the zone, movement is more likely to catch my attention than a light, but maybe if its flashing that would help...of course the flag wavers helping you pick up pieces is helpful too! :wink:

Everything else mentioned, like outlets, covers, tire and suspension people are all also things it'd be great to always have.

Have those people/vendors offering services be a lil less pricey than your regular shop and they will make a killing on track days because people will be willing to spend that money while they are there, especially if they are getting a great deal. Think Wheeler's up at the Dragon: I was more than willing to wait and pay cash to get work done because I was there, I wanted to see the differences and results and because he charged reasonable fees! Or even bike shows and rally's, I will go to a bike rally an hour away to buy a set of tires because while they are there on site i can pick them up for at least $100 cheaper than buying them on a normal day from my local shops. That kinda thing...

[azoomm]

Thanks Rae... most of that I do.

As far as novice and intermediate together... they aren't allowed to pass unless signaled. And, I have kicked people out for douchebaggery. I have a few urban legends going on here in town about me :lmao: apperantely the squiddies are skeerd.

I'm open and honest, and will allow someone to make their best efforts to prove their abilities.

My first event at this track is Saturday...

[Mudpuppy]

i just read on www.trackdaymag.com that they have a trackday in st. louis that is regular sessions all day then after lunch or near the end of the day they have an actual race.. 10 laps or something. you can choose to join the race or you can choose to opt out and watch. i think that is a very cool idea.

also i have been to some trackdays with good lunch and some with bad.. always should be included in the trackday fee.. i was at one in 100 degree heat and they served pizza - that sucked.. as far as drinks i say have a cooler full of gatorade available - the powder is cheap.. finally if there is a gate fee include it in the trackday fees don't make me drive 6-8 hours and then have to pay some fucking asswad at the gate $5 to get in after I paid $150-$200 for the trackday...

[Trav-A$$]

Damn I need to get on the track while I am in Austin, I'll be headed back to knoxville in May....