Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute
It's very tempting, but I'll just admit it- I'm worried about breaking my body at the track.
Flogging a car around a track is so much fun because when my talent runs out, I just spin the car, maybe get some nicks in the paint from gravel or grass, and then after checking the car over in the pits for serious damage, I can just get back out there and try to improve. It's great, and one of the best hobbies I've ever had. I've only done about 20-odd HPDE or TT events over the last 12 years, and I wish I could have done more of them. I wish I could run at the track every weekend. I would have kept the car in a heartbeat, especially this car, if I could be at the track more regularly.
But on my bike, as much as I love flying through corners leaned over, the potential damage of exceeding the limits is high. I'm not bragging to say that my chicken strips are almost non-existent on the street touring tires I run, it's just the natural result from my love to lean hard through turns and tuck inside of the tank. And every time I do, I know that the bike and tires still have more to give. Exploring what is left of the limits at the track is therefore very tempting. I imagine that the wonderful feeling of nailing a perfect lap while on a bike is even better than doing it in a car, just because the man-machine interface is much more intimate. But, I've broken my collarbone twice doing other activities, and I'm in no rush to break it or any other bones at the track. If I run out of talent at the track on a motorcycle, it's not a simple spin through gravel or grass and then back onto the track with some nicked paint. I've seen riders wreck at speed when motorcycles have had a run group during a HPDE, and it SUCKS. Twice the local PMP track had to close because of fatal motorcycle crashes during open lapping days (albeit one of the deaths was a spectator hit by a motorcycle flying off the track at speed). For me, the risk seems too high. John McGuinness I am not.
|
I instructed motorcycle riding for many years... if you go there with the mindset to learn and not set new lap records you will be fine (do an accredited/known riding school day).
I can't say your track day has a good record. In over 10 years we had many accidents, few bad ones, but only fatal one - and that poor guy was super unlucky.
It will add MASSIVE skills... and probably more importantly show you how much you don't know. I guarantee your awareness alone will make you both safer and help you enjoy your bike more in all situations.
Like people always say on here - invest in seat time
