Just got back from my first track day yesterday, what a blast! I went down with the owner of the local Yamaha dealership to Spokane Raceway in Washington. The track is pretty ghetto but it was still a ton of fun. I was riding my 2001 r6 with Michelin Pilot Sports. The tires were okay but I started pushing the limits of them pretty quickly and had them slide around on me a bit. After that I slowed down because I was wearing borrowed leathers and really didn't want to wad up my bike. I had 2 pretty close calls. One was were my front slide on me big time but I let off the throttle just a bit and reduced the lean angle and didn't go down. The 2nd was when my pegs started dragging in a corner. Right after that my tires started to give a bit so I stood the bike up and braked hard. I went off the track a bit but didn't go down.
I didn't get my knee down which I was kind of disappointed about until the guy I went with, who was by far the faster guy there, said he never touched his knee down once all day. This guy was like 3-4 seconds a lap faster than anyone else there and wasn't dragging his knee at all. Told me it was pretty pointless in most corners and that most pro racers don't even drag their knees all that often.
Learned quite a few things though. First thing was proper tires are important! The 2nd thing was that picking the correct line is a lot harder than it looks and contributes to lower lap times more than anything else.
I REALLY wish I could get a track bike now!
I didn't get my knee down which I was kind of disappointed about until the guy I went with, who was by far the faster guy there, said he never touched his knee down once all day. This guy was like 3-4 seconds a lap faster than anyone else there and wasn't dragging his knee at all. Told me it was pretty pointless in most corners and that most pro racers don't even drag their knees all that often.
Learned quite a few things though. First thing was proper tires are important! The 2nd thing was that picking the correct line is a lot harder than it looks and contributes to lower lap times more than anything else.
I REALLY wish I could get a track bike now!