| Author | Message | ||
     Jlnance |
Yesterday I did the Buell Insider Pass track day at VIR. It was not my intention to do a track day. I showed up to watch, and things got out of hand.  Given my experience, I want to encourage anyone who has the chance to go. For me the big selling point was the chance to demo the 1125r. That of course is cool in itself. The thing that was really just over the top fantastic was that there were plenty of 1125s available, so you could pretty much ride as often as you wanted. So not only do you get a track day, you get a track day where Buell buys the gas and the tires, and you don't have to worry about wrecking your own bike. I ended up riding the 1125r for 4 sessions and my Uly for 3. I also think this is fantastic marketing on Buells part. In my opinion, one of the major selling points of Buells is the fantastic owner community. So you have these track days where 3/4 of everyone is a Buell owner and the other 1/4 are people who read about the event somewhere and decided to show up. So you get them socialized into the group early. Then you give them a super bike to play with. The organization running the event at the track is PTT. I thought they did a great job. They have coaches to help you improve and what they can do for you in 5 minutes is amazing. It's also just impressive to watch. I was following this coach around the track and he would turn around, look to see where I was, and then point to the spot on the track where he wanted my wheels to go. I can take a corner a lot better today than I could yesterday. Another thing that pleased me is that I didn't feel any pressure to go fast, nor really any need to do so. There was only one straight portion at VIR, the rest is curves. You can go as fast as you want of course, but what you're really working on is cornering skill. I never felt like I was going so fast that I was going to run off the track. I have no idea how fast I was going, as my speedometer was taped, but it was a speed I found comfortable. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if you're not going to go because you're worried that you're not fast enough, don't worry, being fast isn't really the be all and end all. It's something that happens as you get better at the other stuff. | ||
| Garry |
I need to see about doing one of these at Mid-Ohio. That's a great track. Even worth taking a day off work for... EDIT: I see the Mid-O track day is Thursday October 4th. Great track, but has a slick surface when wet (they won't run AMA races there if it's wet). I'll take my chances on it filling up by waiting until a few days before to check the weather forecast. If it's going to be nice and there's still room, I'm going to do it. Love that track... (Message edited by garry on September 13, 2007) (Message edited by garry on September 13, 2007) | ||
| Jimduncan69 |
Garry, there are a few badwebbers that will be there on the 4th. hope to see you there. i know i cannot wait to get there and ride the 1125r. | ||
| Reepicheep |
What better place to learn how aggressively you can ride in the rain then a slick closed course track? I hope it's dry, but if it's not, I'll learn lots also. I wish it was more technical and less "straight", but being in the right class (novice for me) will mitigate that well enough. | ||
| Glitch |
At least if y'all do spill, it won't be on your own bike  | ||
| Garry |
What better place to learn how aggressively you can ride in the rain then a slick closed course track? Been there and done that at BeaveRun. Doing a track day in the rain definitely teaches you to be SMOOTH. But Mid-Ohio is supposed to be dangerously slippery when wet. So bad that pro racers refuse to ride it in the rain. I wish it was more technical and less "straight", but being in the right class (novice for me) will mitigate that well enough. Trust me, Mid-Ohio is a very challenging and technical road course. Huge fun to ride. I strongly prefer it to BeaveRun (my local track). } |
