Definitely true, way less to just randomly fly through the air in the middle of a straight at top speed, than to low side in the middle of a corner when you're already at or near your slowest!!
Hey man! We gotta get you some more subscribers. Throw a post up on track day addicts saying what your channel is about and link your channel. Ill push it through. I really enjoy your content and what you are trying to do! I think a lot of other people will too.
Crashed on my first track day, sporty tires cold weather new suspension front and rear, 19 years old and adhd, thought i was the king of the castle I was the fastest one in the begginers group😂 Lowsided in a slower corner, picked the bike up before any one saw me and rode to pits, and that was the end for my weekend snapped my new rearsets. 2 weeks later i bought a race kitted cbr600rr and started going to track days, crashed that one 4 weekends of driving it but it was because my warmer broke in the rear so we live and we learn its a fun road to go but damn it was less expensive being slow. Great video ride safe yall
Think it also highly depends on the mindset. My best times always come near the end of the day. Warming up into it and really respecting my limits while slowly improving. Some guys just go balls deep instantly and move that way. Some styles see more crashes than others
There are definitely some different ways to go about it, the slow approach does often tend to lead in the direction of less wrecks. The balls deep method I feel generally costs a little more money also lol. Glad to hear you've kept it up!!
Also get some protection for your bike. Engine case covers, sator cover, woodcraft domed sliders, folding levers, and if you’re serious race fairings (way more flexible than stock)
Please consider getting someone with specialist knowledge to look at your suspension setup before/while tracking your bike for the first time or so. Rear suspension issues with rebound, combined with bumps in tracks, combined with high lean angle can equal a slide.
I'm one who went 10 yrs on the track before a crash. However, I had 30 years of dirt bike and raced mx for 20 years before transitioning to pavement. In the first ten years I didn't go down....but ...I had many close calls! My dirt skills save my butt in most of them.
Cross training is huge for rider development!! I wish I had more dirt experience to help me out, but we'll get some going and hopefully start to see some of those benefits! It's definitely a huge set of skills to keep in your toolbox!!
I've been riding a little over a year and did 10 track days last season. No crashes but a couple close calls. One was a wheelie of unexpected magnitude when accelerating over the crest of a hill and the other getting distracted by my quick-shifter jamming at the end of the straight. My approach is focusing on what to do in terms of technique and strategy and increasing speed incrementally. If it feels like I'm too stressed to observe or feel what is happening with myself and the bike, I know I'm riding beyond my ability and need to back off.
I've been distracted with electronics issues more than once for sure!! It's definitely important to keep yourself at a pace that you can still comprehend at least most of what's going on. If you don't push past that a little bit you'll never gain speed, but doing it in a controlled manner is definitely the way to go, as you mentioned!!
@ I guess there are two approaches really…practicing and pushing for lap times. At my level of experience, I haven’t really pushed or even timed myself yet - mostly judging my progress by instructor feedback and whether I’m passing people or they are passing me. I’ve been running a new RS660 which I can’t really afford to crash and using road/sport tires because I also ride a lot on the road. I got a dedicated track bike for next season (2001 GSXR 600) and investing in more track oriented tires. It has upgraded brakes and a few other race oriented improvements. I’m hoping it won’t feel “old” compared to the RS and I will need to learn old school shifting techniques. One thing I worry about with the older bike is whether my mechanical skills are good enough to keep it in race shape.
Having a dedicated track bike can definitely help on the mental side letting you open up a little more! I'm sure you'll have it figured out quickly and be able to have even more fun/see more improvement!!
I definitely might be up around that 82 as far as how many I did before a crash. Mostly because I was a control rider so crashing wasn't really something we were trying to do. Pushing the limit while wearing the vest or CR jersey isn't cool. But I did eventually have my day on cold tires.
For a control rider that makes tons of sense, it would be a little interesting to see control riders out there constantly pushing and putting bikes down lol!
@@JKMotoEntertainment Lucky for me I mostly ran the grid and tech in the mornings, so I was able to go out without a vest on and "look" like a customer sort of. But usually... vest on meant you had to behave. And we're there for safety anyway!
@@JKMotoEntertainment Not hard. I'm pushing 50 years old. Self preservation is still the same. I never ride to 100% as I'm not chasing points. Riding at 95% allows me a little wiggle room but I'm still pushing towards the limit. The vest goes on and you're just more aware of everyone else and what they're doing instead of chasing apexes and fast corner exits on your own.
Hey mate, I’ve been doing track days for just over 30 years, and touch wood I’ve never crashed. I’ve never had a track only bike, always used my road bike, I ride to the track and ride home and I don’t push the envelope, concentrating on smoothness, hitting every apex, and having a ball out there. I’d say I probably go about 8.5-9 tenths, saving that extra tenth has probably saved me from crashing. And I ride the same pace on the road in the twisties as well.
Thanks for sharing!! I'm all about it! I think there needs to be a little more reserve on just doing track days and enjoying it even if you're no where near "fast" or even if you are but don't want to race!! It is amazing what holding back just a little so you can maintain your focus can actually do for you!!
@ absolutely, I can still get around at a respectable pace , using tyres that are 50/50 road and track biased. I would love to race or have a dedicated track bike if the finances allowed but they don't. I used to race flat track and speedway when I was a young bloke, I'm 56 now and enjoying track days more than ever, and faster than I ever have been. Keep up the good work mate, you make it interesting.
Excellent video. I started riding track last year and I really enjoy it, but I also really take issue with the "take it to the track" mob that pops up everytime a video drops of someone riding fast on the road. Track riding has a VASTLY higher chance of putting the bike down. Your chart shows a lot of "first day" people, how many people wreck a motorcycle the first day they ride on street? It's a very, very low number. The other thing to keep in mind, insurance covers you on the road, often it is does not on track. There are a few companies out there that will cover track (Foremost), but most do not. So a crash on the track is, in some ways, "higher stakes" than a crash on the street. Your V4R comes out under you because of sand in a turn on the Dragon, you submit a claim and get a new bike a month later. Same thing happens on the track, for most, that's a 30K track day. People riding bikes they can't afford to "throw away" on the track, especially if they want to go fast, are asking for a really bad day. Sadly, adding all this together, track riding is kind of rich man/woman's sport. Either that or ride a bike with a lot of duct tape on it. ;)
Definitely some good points here!! The only argument I'll make is always the same, which is the lack of cars with distracted drivers on track compared to the road. It is definitely not a cheap sport though, even if you keep a bike up all the time!! If you do end up putting your bike down, the lack of insurance does add quite a check to get the bike back and on track again!!
@@JKMotoEntertainment What I think is true for sure, you're less likely to be seriously/fatally injured at the track. It happens, but it's really rare (death, in particular, is nearly unheard of at the track where if you ride street in groups, eventually you'll know someone very seriously injured/killed riding). But the counterpoint, a fatal crash on the street is very rare/unlikely as well, but, for sure, you're more likely to die street riding, IMHO. If you ride street like you're on a track, then you're VASTLY more likely to die, I think that's inarguably true.
I wrecked my 2010 R1 on the streets riding and I've had formal training and practice often. When a wreck is about to happen, the rider will know. Everything comes together quickly and muscle memory kicks in. The good thing about formal training and practice is being able to minimize the wreck so it's at lower speeds when it occurs. An experienced rider will absolutely learn from that and increase the skill level they have. Wrecks suck and hurt, but at the end of the day, we still ride. 👊🤘😎
@@JKMotoEntertainment exactly! I've always respected the horse, never feared it as it only does what I tell it to do. In moto terms, as riders the moto only reacts to the rider inputs.
@@TheEvil._.Grimace hard to remember at times but definitely true!! A crash outside of hitting an unknown fluid is almost always due to something the rider did
I crashed my first Trackday on my 4th session. I locked rear brake up and went down luckily I didn’t hit any other riders and they didn’t hit me. I went back 3 times since I went down
Glad to hear you got back out there! Also refreshing to hear that you know what caused it, a brake lock is usually pretty obvious but I hear 1st track day crashes come back with no idea as to why they crashed all the time!!
Ugh, I try not to think about crashing but the older I get the more it seems I think about it. I haven't crashed (yet) but my first trackday had like 10 crashes including several on the corner of the first lap of the first session. And an instructor who crashed the first lap of advanced and got a helicopter ride. Remember, we don't have universal health insurance so a wreck is actually much more serious that what you'd otherwise think. I've heard it said that in order to trackday/race, just mentally take your bike up to a 3rd story building and push it off. If you can't do that, then don't be doing trackdays. I'm halfway there; during the winter I peruse FaceBook classifieds for rougher sportbikes that I can turn into track only bikes.
That is definitely part of it, if you love the bike and care about it a lot it probably shouldn't see the track. The only argument I'd make there is that you can definitely chill in C group and keep a mild pace to highly reduce the chance of a wreck if you care about the bike too much. That being said, much easier to just have a dedicated track bike that you're ready to put down.
@@JKMotoEntertainment The widespread introduction of performance ABS/TC means you're less likely to crash them but when you do the wreck is more expensive. I could get cheaper bikes that don't have ABS/TC but I feel that greatly increases the chances of wrecking.
@langhamp8912 an interesting perspective, not saying I disagree with it at all, but a lot of older/more experienced racers say TC live in the right hand lol
@ For the less experienced non-racers, TC control is a godsend because it allows us to make mistakes without being high sided to the moon. However, those same racers who don't use TC spend a lot of time on the dirt working on their throttle control but even then most ended their careers with a vicious high side. Some, like Wayne Rainey, ended up as paraplegics from their highsides.
As I said, I don't disagree and I do think the electronics have helped! When they're used as a tool in conjunction with riding smart and smooth they help a ton!! When they're relied on to make up for mistakes that you shouldn't be making is when I start to worry a little, they can only do so much.
Your statistics are extremely inaccurate. Every single person that hasn’t crashed yet should also be factored into the average. The only real way to do that would be to assume they crashed on their next track day and plug their number into the average unless their number is more than 2-3 standard deviations
Most non-track riders don’t understand most wrecks on track aren’t at speed. Most are either under braking, mid corner or corner exit.
Definitely true, way less to just randomly fly through the air in the middle of a straight at top speed, than to low side in the middle of a corner when you're already at or near your slowest!!
Hey man! We gotta get you some more subscribers. Throw a post up on track day addicts saying what your channel is about and link your channel. Ill push it through. I really enjoy your content and what you are trying to do! I think a lot of other people will too.
@@MakaylaGerald-f6x thank you! I'll send a post that way!!
Crashed on my first track day, sporty tires cold weather new suspension front and rear,
19 years old and adhd, thought i was the king of the castle I was the fastest one in the begginers group😂
Lowsided in a slower corner, picked the bike up before any one saw me and rode to pits, and that was the end for my weekend snapped my new rearsets.
2 weeks later i bought a race kitted cbr600rr and started going to track days, crashed that one 4 weekends of driving it but it was because my warmer broke in the rear so we live and we learn its a fun road to go but damn it was less expensive being slow.
Great video ride safe yall
Laying it down definitely adds some big hits to the pocketbook!! Glad you're still getting after it though! Thanks for sharing!!
Think it also highly depends on the mindset. My best times always come near the end of the day. Warming up into it and really respecting my limits while slowly improving.
Some guys just go balls deep instantly and move that way.
Some styles see more crashes than others
14 trackdays and 70.000 crashfree kilometers over 3 years of riding btw*
There are definitely some different ways to go about it, the slow approach does often tend to lead in the direction of less wrecks. The balls deep method I feel generally costs a little more money also lol. Glad to hear you've kept it up!!
Also get some protection for your bike. Engine case covers, sator cover, woodcraft domed sliders, folding levers, and if you’re serious race fairings (way more flexible than stock)
@@JoshFeinbergmusic agree with all of that completely!! Protect yourself and protect your bike!
Please consider getting someone with specialist knowledge to look at your suspension setup before/while tracking your bike for the first time or so. Rear suspension issues with rebound, combined with bumps in tracks, combined with high lean angle can equal a slide.
Agree with this!! Have seen have some big moments that could have been solved easily with a simple suspension adjustment!! Thanks for the comment!
I'm one who went 10 yrs on the track before a crash. However, I had 30 years of dirt bike and raced mx for 20 years before transitioning to pavement. In the first ten years I didn't go down....but ...I had many close calls! My dirt skills save my butt in most of them.
Cross training is huge for rider development!! I wish I had more dirt experience to help me out, but we'll get some going and hopefully start to see some of those benefits! It's definitely a huge set of skills to keep in your toolbox!!
I've been riding a little over a year and did 10 track days last season. No crashes but a couple close calls. One was a wheelie of unexpected magnitude when accelerating over the crest of a hill and the other getting distracted by my quick-shifter jamming at the end of the straight. My approach is focusing on what to do in terms of technique and strategy and increasing speed incrementally. If it feels like I'm too stressed to observe or feel what is happening with myself and the bike, I know I'm riding beyond my ability and need to back off.
I've been distracted with electronics issues more than once for sure!! It's definitely important to keep yourself at a pace that you can still comprehend at least most of what's going on. If you don't push past that a little bit you'll never gain speed, but doing it in a controlled manner is definitely the way to go, as you mentioned!!
@ I guess there are two approaches really…practicing and pushing for lap times. At my level of experience, I haven’t really pushed or even timed myself yet - mostly judging my progress by instructor feedback and whether I’m passing people or they are passing me. I’ve been running a new RS660 which I can’t really afford to crash and using road/sport tires because I also ride a lot on the road. I got a dedicated track bike for next season (2001 GSXR 600) and investing in more track oriented tires. It has upgraded brakes and a few other race oriented improvements. I’m hoping it won’t feel “old” compared to the RS and I will need to learn old school shifting techniques. One thing I worry about with the older bike is whether my mechanical skills are good enough to keep it in race shape.
Having a dedicated track bike can definitely help on the mental side letting you open up a little more! I'm sure you'll have it figured out quickly and be able to have even more fun/see more improvement!!
I definitely might be up around that 82 as far as how many I did before a crash. Mostly because I was a control rider so crashing wasn't really something we were trying to do. Pushing the limit while wearing the vest or CR jersey isn't cool. But I did eventually have my day on cold tires.
For a control rider that makes tons of sense, it would be a little interesting to see control riders out there constantly pushing and putting bikes down lol!
@@JKMotoEntertainment Lucky for me I mostly ran the grid and tech in the mornings, so I was able to go out without a vest on and "look" like a customer sort of. But usually... vest on meant you had to behave. And we're there for safety anyway!
How hard is making that change between vest or no vest?
@@JKMotoEntertainment Not hard. I'm pushing 50 years old. Self preservation is still the same. I never ride to 100% as I'm not chasing points. Riding at 95% allows me a little wiggle room but I'm still pushing towards the limit.
The vest goes on and you're just more aware of everyone else and what they're doing instead of chasing apexes and fast corner exits on your own.
Hey mate, I’ve been doing track days for just over 30 years, and touch wood I’ve never crashed. I’ve never had a track only bike, always used my road bike, I ride to the track and ride home and I don’t push the envelope, concentrating on smoothness, hitting every apex, and having a ball out there. I’d say I probably go about 8.5-9 tenths, saving that extra tenth has probably saved me from crashing. And I ride the same pace on the road in the twisties as well.
Thanks for sharing!! I'm all about it! I think there needs to be a little more reserve on just doing track days and enjoying it even if you're no where near "fast" or even if you are but don't want to race!! It is amazing what holding back just a little so you can maintain your focus can actually do for you!!
@ absolutely, I can still get around at a respectable pace , using tyres that are 50/50 road and track biased. I would love to race or have a dedicated track bike if the finances allowed but they don't. I used to race flat track and speedway when I was a young bloke, I'm 56 now and enjoying track days more than ever, and faster than I ever have been. Keep up the good work mate, you make it interesting.
Thank you!! Glad to hear you can still keep it up! There's hope for me yet!
Excellent video. I started riding track last year and I really enjoy it, but I also really take issue with the "take it to the track" mob that pops up everytime a video drops of someone riding fast on the road. Track riding has a VASTLY higher chance of putting the bike down. Your chart shows a lot of "first day" people, how many people wreck a motorcycle the first day they ride on street? It's a very, very low number.
The other thing to keep in mind, insurance covers you on the road, often it is does not on track. There are a few companies out there that will cover track (Foremost), but most do not. So a crash on the track is, in some ways, "higher stakes" than a crash on the street. Your V4R comes out under you because of sand in a turn on the Dragon, you submit a claim and get a new bike a month later. Same thing happens on the track, for most, that's a 30K track day.
People riding bikes they can't afford to "throw away" on the track, especially if they want to go fast, are asking for a really bad day.
Sadly, adding all this together, track riding is kind of rich man/woman's sport. Either that or ride a bike with a lot of duct tape on it. ;)
Definitely some good points here!! The only argument I'll make is always the same, which is the lack of cars with distracted drivers on track compared to the road. It is definitely not a cheap sport though, even if you keep a bike up all the time!! If you do end up putting your bike down, the lack of insurance does add quite a check to get the bike back and on track again!!
@@JKMotoEntertainment What I think is true for sure, you're less likely to be seriously/fatally injured at the track. It happens, but it's really rare (death, in particular, is nearly unheard of at the track where if you ride street in groups, eventually you'll know someone very seriously injured/killed riding). But the counterpoint, a fatal crash on the street is very rare/unlikely as well, but, for sure, you're more likely to die street riding, IMHO. If you ride street like you're on a track, then you're VASTLY more likely to die, I think that's inarguably true.
I wrecked my 2010 R1 on the streets riding and I've had formal training and practice often. When a wreck is about to happen, the rider will know. Everything comes together quickly and muscle memory kicks in. The good thing about formal training and practice is being able to minimize the wreck so it's at lower speeds when it occurs. An experienced rider will absolutely learn from that and increase the skill level they have. Wrecks suck and hurt, but at the end of the day, we still ride. 👊🤘😎
Couldn't have said that better myself!! When you fall off the horse, most important part is getting back on!
@@JKMotoEntertainment exactly! I've always respected the horse, never feared it as it only does what I tell it to do. In moto terms, as riders the moto only reacts to the rider inputs.
@@TheEvil._.Grimace hard to remember at times but definitely true!! A crash outside of hitting an unknown fluid is almost always due to something the rider did
Try not to think about crashing. You can will shit into existance.
Lol good tip!! This is definitely true!
Except women and expensive motorcycles I can’t will them in to my existence lol
You just gotta think even more lol
I crashed my first Trackday on my 4th session. I locked rear brake up and went down luckily I didn’t hit any other riders and they didn’t hit me. I went back 3 times since I went down
Glad to hear you got back out there! Also refreshing to hear that you know what caused it, a brake lock is usually pretty obvious but I hear 1st track day crashes come back with no idea as to why they crashed all the time!!
Ugh, I try not to think about crashing but the older I get the more it seems I think about it. I haven't crashed (yet) but my first trackday had like 10 crashes including several on the corner of the first lap of the first session. And an instructor who crashed the first lap of advanced and got a helicopter ride.
Remember, we don't have universal health insurance so a wreck is actually much more serious that what you'd otherwise think.
I've heard it said that in order to trackday/race, just mentally take your bike up to a 3rd story building and push it off. If you can't do that, then don't be doing trackdays. I'm halfway there; during the winter I peruse FaceBook classifieds for rougher sportbikes that I can turn into track only bikes.
That is definitely part of it, if you love the bike and care about it a lot it probably shouldn't see the track. The only argument I'd make there is that you can definitely chill in C group and keep a mild pace to highly reduce the chance of a wreck if you care about the bike too much. That being said, much easier to just have a dedicated track bike that you're ready to put down.
@@JKMotoEntertainment The widespread introduction of performance ABS/TC means you're less likely to crash them but when you do the wreck is more expensive. I could get cheaper bikes that don't have ABS/TC but I feel that greatly increases the chances of wrecking.
@langhamp8912 an interesting perspective, not saying I disagree with it at all, but a lot of older/more experienced racers say TC live in the right hand lol
@ For the less experienced non-racers, TC control is a godsend because it allows us to make mistakes without being high sided to the moon. However, those same racers who don't use TC spend a lot of time on the dirt working on their throttle control but even then most ended their careers with a vicious high side. Some, like Wayne Rainey, ended up as paraplegics from their highsides.
As I said, I don't disagree and I do think the electronics have helped! When they're used as a tool in conjunction with riding smart and smooth they help a ton!! When they're relied on to make up for mistakes that you shouldn't be making is when I start to worry a little, they can only do so much.
Your statistics are extremely inaccurate. Every single person that hasn’t crashed yet should also be factored into the average. The only real way to do that would be to assume they crashed on their next track day and plug their number into the average unless their number is more than 2-3 standard deviations
Thanks for the feedback!
Tip #1- don’t track a bike you can’t afford to lose
Tip#2- only crash in the slow corners
Good tips!!