Home Buyer's Guide Features Rider Photos New Rider Chat New Rider Forum About Beginner Bikes Beginner Bikes Contacts FAQ BBRC
Search Beginner Bikes
Monthly Columns
Customarily Minded
Whizbang's Spinning Wheels
Eclectic Biker
Suggested Links

MotorcycleUSA Cruiser Accessories


As Easy As 1..2..3

Forum Highlights

Buy Beginner Bikes Merchandise
BB Rider Merchandise

Beginner Bikes Riders Club
Beginner Bikes Riders Club

Choose A Bike Purchasing & Insurance Safety & Licensing Gatherings & Events Motorcycle Choices Tips & Safety Rider Reviews
 

MotorcycleUSA Superstore
Track Day; A Cruiser's-Eye View

by Cassy Beach
Associate Editor
Beginner Bikes Magazine

Track Day; A Cruiser's-Eye View

Let me tell you right up front: I ride a cruiser. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the look and "flash" of a nice sportbike, but speed has never been my thing. I'd rather cruise down a country lane than tear up the twisties. But when Ken suggested it might be fun to check out a "track day" nearby, I thought it might be interesting to see how the other half lives. So, not long after sunrise on Sunday, August 1, after a rather-too-late Saturday night, we got up, geared up, and rode eighty-five miles to the Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Rockton, Illinois.

Advanced Group, Turn 4
Advanced Group, Turn 4

We pulled into the lot a little before 8:00 am. We got a few odd looks from the other riders; my Honda VLX and Ken's Honda Shadow Spirit were definitely out of place in a sea of sportbikes and the occasional sport-tourer. (We did find out, later, that there was one lonely Goldwing parked in the opposite end of the parking lot.) The reaction we got was bemused, but by no means hostile; it can best be summed up by the remark that one rider made to Ken, "I bet those pipes'll drag in the corn ers..."

Intermediate Group, Turn 3
Intermediate Group, Turn 3

I hurried to make the 8:15 Rider's Meeting; mandatory for all riders. They asked me for my registration number; I explained that I wasn't a journalist but that I'd stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last nigh t... After they stopped laughing, they told me that I was welcome to sit in.

Rider's Meeting
Rider's Meeting

The Rider's Meeting was conducted by Garth Cloyd, the Midwest Regional Director for NESBA (North East Sport Bike Association; I later learned they started in New England, and when they went national the name already had enough recognition they were stuck with it). He gave a quick rundown of the hand signals, the flags used, and the general track rules (later summed up succinctly in a comment I overheard one rider give another: "No wheelies, stoppies, or burnouts; save those for the street!"). This took about five minutes, then the "Beginner" group trooped off to a classroom for a more in depth orientation, while the "Advanced" group geared up and headed for the track.

At the starting line
At the starting line

I tagged along with the Beginners; there were thirty-five of us in all. Our instructor was John Mahlendorf, who told us he wasn't usually the guy who did the orientation. However, since he'd gone down yesterday in a curve and his arm was in a sling, he wasn't going to be doing any track time so he figured he'd fill in and make himself useful. The class ran about a half an hour, and explained the track procedures in considerably more detail. I learned that riders are divided into three groups; Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced. It takes certification by a Control Rider (a sort of umpire that rides with the groups) to advance to the next level, and from what I picked up later, it seems it takes a few years in one category on average to advance to the next. Beginners are not allowed to pass at all except with the direct permission of a Control Rider; John was very emphatic that this was NOT a race; check the egos at the door. Intermediate Riders are allowed to pass on the straightaway only. Advanced Riders are allowed to pass at any time. However, NOBODY is allowed to ride in a manner the Control Riders deem "unsafe". Each group gets twenty minutes on the track at a time, and there are six sessions for each group during the day. Every corner has a flag station, and their job is principally to warn riders of hazards on the track around blind corners (yellow flag for debris; red flag to return immediately to the pits), and also to tell the riders (with a white flag for one-lap-left and a checkered flag for last lap) that the twenty-minute session is over. They will also tell a rider, with a black flag, that something is wrong with his bike and he specifically should return to the pits.

Beginner's Class
Beginner's Class

Control Riders are on track at a ratio of about one Control Rider for every four or five regular riders. They wear orange t-shirts with a big FOLLOW ME printed on the back. They have hand signals to tell a rider to follow their line, to follow them directly, to tell them they have permission to pass, or do NOT have permission to pass, to tell a rider to slow down, and to tell a rider to follow them into the pit for a "discussion". It was strongly implied that the most common reason for that last instruction was to discipline squids....

Control Rider Leading Beginner Group
Control Rider Leading Beginner Group

John also had detailed, and sobering, instructions as to what to do in the event of a crash. Better to TRY to hold the bike on the track than to run off and insure a crash. If you lay the bike down, go limp and don't move. Stay down for a bit; raise a hand to tell the safety guy in the flag station that you're ok, IF you're ok. Don't try to stand up until you've patted the ground to be sure you've stopped sliding; he's seen lots of guys try to stand up while still sliding at forty miles an hour. If you go down on the track, stay exactly where you are; if you try to run off the track, people will run you over, but if you stay put they can avoid you. And don't target fixate on a down rider! He told the group just to stay where you are until help gets there; he mentioned that he went down in such high weeds, with the bike pinning him so he couldn't get up, that they had to use machetes to cut down the weeds to find him.

Intermediate Group Riders
Intermediate Group Riders

He went on to more pleasant topics, giving an overview of counter steering, how to determine your best line on the track, and the importance of smooth input into throttle and brake. He said something that surprised me; he told the riders not to use the rear brake at all. He said that was fine for the Advanced group, who wanted to slew around corners, but the Beginners shouldn't even try it. Save the rear brake for if you're running off the track and want to keep your bike up. Beginners will have too much else to keep track of to deal with; keeping it to the front brake only keeps it simpler.

Advanced Group Riders, Turn 4
Advanced Group Riders, Turn 4

After the orientation, John very kindly offered to show me around a little. He gave me the obligatory plugs for the sponsors; a motorcycle tire company, a photographer, a video service that actually follows a specific biker around for a twenty-minute session and tapes his/her performance, and a sunshade that velcro's to the visor of the helmet. He told me he was an Advanced class rider, and had been doing track days for about five years. He mentioned, when I asked about the sling, that he thought he'd just sprained his shoulder, but was going to a doctor that evening to find out for sure. Now there's a true addict; he wouldn't give up a track day that he couldn't even ride in, in order to get an X-ray!

Intermediate Group Riders, Turn 4
Intermediate Group Riders, Turn 4

John introduced me to Matt Drucker, the "General Technical Guru." Matt is the track's recognized expert on suspension, tire mounting, and general mechanics. Matt is the guy who inspects the bikes before they're allowed in the track; he showed me how a bike is prepped for a race.

First, all the glass is taped. ALL of it. Headlights, taillights, turn signals (if they're on the bike at all), and mirrors (which must be removed entirely except for the Beginner class).

Taped lights and Advanced & Control Rider stickers
Taped lights and Advanced & Control Rider stickers

All bikes must display a number (you sign up for it beforehand) on either the front, the tail, or both.

All bikes also must have a "B", "I", "A", or "C" sticker prominently displayed to show which class the rider is in; Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Control.

Oil Fill Cap with Safety Wire
Oil Fill Cap with Safety Wire

Advanced class bikes must have the oil fill and drain plugs wired shut, and the oil filter wired in place.

Oil Drain Plug & Filter with Safety Wire
Oil Drain Plug & Filter with Safety Wire

Except for Beginners, antifreeze must be drained and replaced with water; apparently antifreeze is very slippery and difficult to clean off the track.

Matt also strongly suggested replacing the stock plastic with a cheap aftermarket faring before racing; much less expensive to repair or replace after a spill.

After this edifying conversation, I spent some time talking to his wife, Carol Drucker, whom John told me is universally known as "Race Mom." She's earned this title, because she's known as the best Control Rider at bringing along the Beginner class and teaching them the ropes. When I asked her about that, she laughed and told me that she's a school teacher, so she has more patience with beginners. She told me she often has to explain very elementary principles such as counter steering. She'll start a class in first gear for the first session, demonstrating the lines that they'll need to use at higher speeds. Then she'll gradually work up through the gears over the course of the day. She told me me, "You can't go fast until you learn to ride it slow." Often, many of her class start the day by coasting through or even braking in turns; she has to teach them to accelerate smoothing through the curves. And Carol emphasized how important smoothness is; at high speeds, a jerky input means the chain will jolt forward and the tire might break loose. She repeated the old adage, "Anybody can ride fast on the straightaway; it takes skill to ride fast on the turns."

Carol Drucker leading Beginner Group
Carol Drucker leading Beginner Group

Carol told me she's seen all sorts of bikes on the track over the years, from 250s on up, although she recommended at least a 400 for a track bike. When I laughingly suggested my VLX, she told me that she'd seen Harleys on the track. "Of course, they kinda cruised through the turn s..."

Then she had to suit up to take her first class of Beginners through their paces, so I went off to see what else I could see.

Beginner Group, Turn 4
Beginner Group, Turn 4

I wandered over to the edge of the infield, and watched the riders tear up the track. As I walked toward a corner, I saw some movement in the grass off the track, and then a rider standing up. Some other bystanders told me that I'd JUST missed seeing him highside. The other spectators told me he'd come off the track, fishtailed, highsided, and then the bike cart wheeled four or five times. Fortunately, he seemed fine, if understandably angry with himself. When that session of was over and the Safety Officer (flag man) indicated it was safe, he pushed the bike back across the track to the infield and his trailer; he was done for the day. I asked around; while crashes weren't unknown, they rarely resulted in injury. Various people gave me various estimates of the average number of crashes per day, but the most common number I heard was about five or ten a day, with only a couple a day as day-ending. And short days are usually because the bike is busted up, not because the rider is; John Mahlendorf's mishap was the exception rather than the rule. Good gear is invaluable, and every rider there will tell you that.

Intermediate Rider, Turn 3
Intermediate Rider, Turn 3

I noticed there were very few women at the event. There was one female rider in the Beginner class, and one in the Intermediate class. And other than a couple of Control Riders (like Carol Drucker), and a scattering of wives and girlfriends, that was it. The crowd was at least 90% male; apparently most wives/girlfriends don't care to spend all day of a 90ºF. day in the infield of a noisy racetrack. Or possibly the racers spend so much time at the track that they don't have wives or girl friends... I talked to one of the women, Molly Maiers. She told me she doesn't ride, except on the back of her boyfriend's bike, but he's obsessed with track days and racing, and she's gotten to be pretty good at being amateur pit crew; especially with tire changing. She also told me the purpose of what I'd mentally labeled"tire cozies;" they're actually tire warmers, that plug into an outlet and prevent the tires from cooling off and losing their stickiness between track sessions.

Tire warmers
Tire warmers

I spent quite a lot of time talking to one of the Advanced Class riders, Eric Blood, who rides a Yamaha 03R6. He told me he's been doing track days since 1989, and rides motorcross, super-moto, and even does ice racing as well. He explained that there are relatively few crashes at a track day, because there's no pressure; "you're not racing and so your ego isn't on the line." He told me that track days are highly addictive, and hard on a marriage. Eric buys tires cash-on-the-barrel, so his wife won't see the credit card bill and go through the roof. When I enquired, he told me he goes through a $350 set of tires every track day; each set is good for only about six twenty-minute sessions and then they're shot. On race days, he goes through two sets of tires in one day. "It's a really expensive hobby," Eric told me with a rueful smile. While I was talking with him, he was changing his tires. They were practically v-shaped in profile; the sidewalls were abraded away to nothing, while there was still tread on the centers. Sort of reverse "chicken stripes". When I asked, Eric told me that some people sell their used track tires for street tires, since the center is still good and that's what most people use most of the time on the street, although racing slicks are not really designed for street use. Still, the tires rarely get hot enough on the street to cause a problem, and the poseurs like them because they can pretend they're the ones that wore the sidewall off the tires! Eric emphasized to me that stunting is severely frowned on. "Wheelies, stoppies, and burnouts -- save 'em for the street. They have no place on the track."

"Anti-Chicken Stripes"
"Anti-Chicken Stripes"

The friendliness and comaraderie of the folks at the track day was remarkable; when the Advanced Group was called and Eric had to go line up for his turn on the track, he offered me the keys to his Aprilia scooter so I could ride around and check out the rest of the place in comfort. (Many folks brought scooters, pocket bikes, or little dirt bikes for infield transportation.) I was sorely tempted, but I just couldn't accept the responsibility; there was a lot of dirt and gravel in the infield and Id've hated to drop his shiny scoot. Still, I threw my leg over it (and I do mean OVER it; I forgot it was a scooter and didn't use the pass-through!) and he convinced me to ride it a few feet. Automatic transmissions are funky; I wanted to clutch with the rear brake. He insisted I keep the scoot while he was on the track, but I declined, and gave him back the keys with my profuse thanks. We'd known each other for a grand total of half an hour, and he was willing, even eager, to let me ride his new Aprilia, when he wouldn't even be around to supervise! I'm still amazed at that level of trust for a complete stranger.

Eric Blood
Eric Blood

It was a good day. Do I want to get out there and burn up the track? Well, I admit even a die-hard cruiser like me started to get a little tempted!

... Someday, maybe ...
... Someday, maybe ...

Cassy Beach is an associate editor for Beginner Bikes Magazine, and also moderates our New Rider Forum: Women Only section.




Copyright © 2000 - 2004 Beginner Bikes Magazine. All rights reserved.

Recommendations made by Beginner Bikes Magazine, it's staff, team members or riding club officers, are based on the skills of a novice rider, of average stature and do not necessarily represent the ideal for every rider. While Beginner Bikes encourages safe, smart riding, we do not assume responsibility for each individual. Please ride with care at your own risk.