rchase

If you were in the market for a reliable brand new track / street bike and cost was no object what would you look at and why? With the age on my fleet of bikes I'm starting to realize it might be good to have a "plan D, E and F". I'm looking for a rock solid reliable bike that's fun to ride on the street and great on the track. I have an obvious bias towards Yamaha but was wondering what others liked and why.

I only do track days but tend to stay within about a 4 hour radius of my house. I'm lucky to have Barber Motorsports park, Road Atlanta, Little Tally, Jennings GP, and Robeling Road all within that area. I do notice a lot of people at Barber that drive huge distances to get there.

Certainly will. Ordering is the easy part. Hauling that sucker up on top of a tall trailer does not sound like fun.

Yeah. I learned a very expensive lesson about bolting down chocks. In the back of a rented Uhaul trailer one of my bikes ended up sliding around and almost falling over because of unsecured chocks. The tow straps around the rear sets "saved it" but managed to cause a hair line crack in the frame due to the partial fall (darn you cast aluminum!). Frame replacement is a huge PITA and is not cheap. Each of those chocks have 4 carriage bolts going through the trailer floor with washers on both sides with Locktite keeping the bolts from loosening. Ah yes you have one of the newer F4's with the mind blowing 201hp. VERY Fast bike! My favorites of the 2010+'s were the 2012 Pastel Red ones and that really nice Titanium gray they did with the red frame.

Hey. Thanks for the advice there. I happened to have those wheel chocks already and they do "ok" for now but do tend to get in the way when the trailer is unloaded. I'm going to use them for a little while longer and then probably ditch them for the Pitbull system in the future. The Pitbull system is pretty amazing because of how versatile it is. At the moment I'm storing leathers and helmets in my tow vehicle. But that probably will change when I order that cool bracket you just posted. Thanks for that !! The good thing is nothing inside of there is carved in granite. I can move things around as needed. Never even considered doing stuff above the bikes. Food for thought. Ah yes on the MV exhaust. That's actually the stock Arrow system that comes from the factory. Despite being a factory exhaust it sounds great. The Bodis system sounds spectacular but I have decided to keep this bike completely stock due to it's uncommon color. They made Diamante Silver for only one year and did not produce many of them. I'll probably go with a Bodis system on an additional bike in the future. I have my feelers out for local well kept F4's.

That certainly makes sense. In the short term until I actually "need" a toyhauler I'm making my current situation with my trailer slightly better. When I start doing a lot more trackdays I'll probably be more serious about creature comforts. I actually kind of enjoy the "roughing it" experience at the moment. I'll keep the trailer though. It's useful even when it's not being used to haul. It's the perfect parking space for an extra bike or two and is a great place to stash tools and parts for quick access. I installed some aluminum shelves and a small workstation that folds out into a table. Picked them up from a company called Pitposse. Lots more usable space now. Now to get that Polar Cub ordered and installed on the roof. Thanks again for the advice on the roof top unit. The Polar cub is perfect for my current needs and a lot less hassle than hauling and setting up an external unit. Plug it in and start cooling or heating right away.

Some interesting risk science that I'm sure the school is already aware of. Here's a wikipedia article that describes the Peltzman effect. How many of us have already noticed this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation

I have to agree with the aerodynamics of the Corsair V. I upgraded from a lower model Arai to the Corsair V and was absolutely amazed with the way it cut through the wind. I'm not bothered much by wind noise on the track because I'm wearing ear plugs. On the roads at lower speeds earplugs are not needed but for long interstate journey's they certainly make things more comfortable. Choosing a helmet is a balance between picking the features that are important to you and minimizing the disadvantages.

I actively avoid riding advice articles from most of the magazines. Most of them are poorly written and include a lot of bad information. Just in the TOTW videos "there's a lot of advice out there about riding".

The important thing to keep in mind is you don't have to go "fast" to get good practice. I regularly practice my visual skills on my Harley Davidson. Fast is not the word you would use to describe an 800# motorcycle with saddle bags and a windshield. You can practice a lot of the skills we mentioned before at any speed. Quick steer can be done on any bike and at any speed. I remember several scenes in the TOTW videos where they were quick steering full touring Harleys. Just go out with one skill in mind and practice that but do keep fully aware of your surroundings. As for the blog. You can setup a quick blog at Google's blogspot.com. An example of a blog is my personal "technoblog" that I use to jabber on endlessly about technology stuff when I want to talk about stuff that my employer does not want to include on our corporate site. P.S. I practiced a lot of the stuff in the books before I even came to the school. The instructors coaching and the track environment add a whole other dimension to what's written in the book. All the information is there of course but somehow the improvements with a coach are on a whole different scale entirely. I learn so much riding with the coaches that even though I have completed Levels 1-4 I am heading back this May to ride with them at Barber to do Level 4 again. I can't wait!

That's something I have thought about as well. Generally when I arrive at the track I don't leave. Even with my easy to drive SUV and small trailer it's a pain in the backside to drive with it attached. I bring enough food and supplies so I don't "have" to leave. I could unhook the trailer but that's also a big pain as well getting it hooked back up when it's time to leave. As for the RV itself. Ideally I would want something as small as possible for the ease of driving the behemoth. I have seen Van based RV's that are actually quite amazing for being so compact. The Mercedes Sprinter ones are cool too. Even some of the "big box" RV's come in a smaller model which would work as well. There's always a compromise in everything in life. In a perfect world I would show up to the track via helicopter and have a fully stocked Mega RV waiting for me. As well as a Semi filled with decked out track bikes and my own crew of mechanics. Oh yeah and some people with umbrellas! Heck with that kind of money I could build my own track and have it right outside of my door which would make every day a track day. The point here of course is since life is not perfect there are always compromises. You just have to pick the compromises that you are most willing to put up with. Every scenario short of of having your own track really is a compromise. In the short term at least I'm willing to put up with the compromise of "roughing it" in my teeny trailer as long as there is A/C. In the future the compromise of a small RV might suit my needs better and that makes a lot of sense to me especially if I end up spending a lot more of my weekends in a parking lot. I really appreciate all the replies because it's been a lot of fun chatting about this. I think it's quite amazing all of the crazy things we are willing to put up with to experience the magic that every one of us experience when we finally get out there on the track.

AH HA! Hotfoot I'm completely onto what you are doing here. Just like you did with Level 1 and 2 when you coached me you are making me figure out my own problems and solve them. I did some thinking and realized that perhaps a small RV might be in my future rather than turning my trailer into a "ghetto camper". Even the small RV's have showers, toilets, microwave ovens and lots of other creature comforts. I may still do the A/C unit in the short term but ultimately a small RV would solve a lot of problems and not cost a lot of money in the process. A/C in the back of the trailer would allow me to be able to sleep additional guests if I wanted. Time to do some shopping. Thanks again.

Yeah I completely can see the slippery slope I am already sliding down. My logic of course is I have the trailer now. Adding A/C would massively improve my situation in the short term. I probably won't add amenities beyond that except for a small RV toilet because I ALWAYS seem to park far from the restrooms. As long as there's A/C on those HOT humid summer nights I'm good. I'm pretty anal and the unfinished plywood inside my trailer drove me crazy so I painted the inside. It's a bit bare in there but it's not "too" horrible. A queen sized air mattress fits back there pretty easily and it sleeps two rather comfortably. My typical track day is a Sunday Afternoon at Barber. Take my time driving there on Saturday morning, spend the afternoon at the Museum and head into the gate and get setup. I typically survive on a cooler filled with energy drinks, water and cold cuts. My cooler requires no power and can keep food cold for 48 hours I could do a whole weekend without having to have a fridge, coffee maker or a microwave. I think I'm starting to see the light on a Rooftop unit. It's one less thing to setup, one less thing to forget to pack, not "that" heavy and a low profile one won't make my aerodynamics much worse. That small one that T-McKeen suggested is just about perfect. Thanks to everyone for the input. VERY helpful. So much knowledge and experience on this forum!

WOW! That thing is nearly perfect for my needs. Thank you!!

Good idea on the Google it suggestion. Found a guy that was able to run a 13,500 BTU A/C unit off of it. I don't need anything near that many BTU's for my teeny trailer. http://www.2manytoyz.com/yamaha2400.html

Also great information. I did not really consider transport at all. At the moment I have plenty of room inside the trailer but considering most of these are on casters that's a thought as well. An A/C unit rolling around is not optimal. I only plan on running the A/C at night really for sleeping. It sounds like I really need to just buy one of the spot coolers and do some testing before I head out to the track. Make sure it can actually cool the space in a reasonable time frame. The last thing I would want is a last minute surprise of a hot humid trailer to sleep in. If I go looking at roof top units I might haul the generator with me to see if they will let me try running one with my generator. A big RV supply house probably has a toyhauler or RV with one of those units on it and it might be a good test to do before I invest a huge amount of time into getting one installed and then discovering I don't have enough power to run it.

Hey. Thanks for the info. This is exactly what I am looking for. I'm looking at smaller units and will likely only use it at night just so I can get a good night's sleep. My plan was to keep the generator and the A/C unit under my canopy in the event I got a rain shower at night. The units I am looking at will run fine on my Yamaha 2400 watt generator. I was planning on doing the 1000 watt model because it was more portable but ended up buying the bigger model last minute to prepare for an ice storm where we lost all our power. It ran my fridge and a space heater without any problems at all. Thanks as well for the info on the fuel economy. Seeing the numbers I do on the dash indicator and feeling the "resistance" I get at highway speeds I thought it was a weight thing at first. The Rover V8's are quite powerful and have tons of torque but it's a finicky engine as you can tell by my extra coolant bottles and oil in the photo. Mine does not leak or consume oil but it's simply not a great idea to go anywhere without being prepared. I went with as "light as possible" of a trailer to just reduce the strain on the engine. I don't feel so bad now knowing the Tundra's suffer the same problem with the wind resistance. If anybody is looking for a generator I can't say enough good things about the Yamaha EF2400iS Inverter. It's a bit on the heavy side but manageable by one person. The lady that sold it to me was quite small and had no problems lifting it off the shelf by herself to get the serial number. The 2400 is actually slightly quieter than the 1000 watt version and it also has the smart throttle to save on fuel and throttle down to reduce noise when you are not putting it under heavy loads. It ran all night on a single tank of fuel and we could barely hear it running just outside our door. It always starts on one single pull and so far you can turn the choke off right away after getting it started. It even has a fuel gauge which works well.

Thanks for the info. I never even considered the extra wind drag from making my trailer even taller with a roof top unit. I was focused in on reducing weight until I realized my trailer weight is a drop in the bucket to the towing capacity I have available. Decisions decisions. I'll let you guys know what I end up choosing. I'm tempted to go with the external spot cooler using the vent through the floor just because nobody else seems to go that route. This is the type of spot cooler I'm thinking of. I have used these from time over the years to deal with overheating servers in big data centers. For their size they put out an amazing amount of ice cold air. The appeal of course is having the entire unit outside isolating me from noise and waste heat. It also takes up no space inside the trailer other than the vent. http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-SRCOOL12K-Portable-Conditioner/dp/B002XITVCK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395810694&sr=8-2&keywords=spot+cooler

I did some looking tonight and they actually have some pretty inexpensive used ones out there. Having a private shower in one would be super nice after a hot day of riding for sure especially in the sticky humid southern heat. Thanks for the link. Those floor plans are better than some I have seen. For the short term I think "pimp my trailer" is probably the best option at the moment. If I get bored with the southeastern tracks and start traveling long distances that would be the perfect excuse to buy a tour bus and rip out the interior. I hope that's a long way away. Is your rooftop unit relatively quiet? Do you run generators or do you get track power? I may pop into a local RV supply and see what the options are for roof top units. The more I think about it that might be the way to go. The extra 100lbs or so is pretty negligible with a vehicle that has a 7500 pound towing capacity. I think a lot of my fuel economy issues are due to the fact that I got the "tall" model so I could stand up inside.

BTW. Do they have any "light weight" toy haulers? My tow vehicle is an elderly Range Rover with a 4.6L V8 that I unfortunately have become quite attached to. It absolutely amazes me how much premium full the Rangie will gulp down while towing. While the cost is not an issue I hate having to stop for fuel so frequently. With no trailer I can make it to Barber and back on a single tank but with the trailer I'm running on empty when I arrive. A photo of my Range Rover and trailer in their natural habitat.

That is something to think about. When I decided on the Enclosed trailer I considered a Toy Hauler but was having trouble finding one I liked. Used of course makes it easy to put up with a weird configuration with a substantial cost savings. Might be worth a look as I only looked at new ones. I have seen what you are talking about with the post 2008 model RV's. They just don't seem well put together. I figured that was just consumer grade RV's in general and stopped looking at them. I looked at diesel powered tour buses for a while but have not had much luck finding one configured decently. They seem to run the gamut of being either decked out in marble and gold chandler's or being empty inside or being a homage to the 1970's. I have seen a lot of them with side mounted cargo doors and lift ramps that would be perfect for loading bikes into. Perhaps one day. I already have the Enclosed trailer configured to make it a decent spartan night's sleep. I painted the walls and floors and installed LED lighting inside. It's not that bad with an air mattress for a good nights sleep if it's not too hot out. I'm also planning on putting an RV chemical toilet in to make it a bit more "luxurious". While a toilet does not sound like luxury to most drinking too many energy drinks and then hearing second call for your group called on the loudspeaker for the first time and being parked far away from the restrooms always seems to happen to me. A/C would make it work for a while but you are quite right. Eventually I'll probably want to upgrade.

Sometimes if they overfill the coolant tank once the bike comes up to full temp it will expel the extra out of the overflow. Just keep an eye on the coolant level and make sure it's not leaking and you should be fine. I have seen bikes also expel coolant out the overflow when it gets cold out which seems to defy logic.

I just bought my first enclosed trailer last year and had been doing the hotel thing until the last track day of last season. I had signed up and all the hotels were booked so I prepared for a bit of camping in the back of my trailer. The weather was cool so it was not too bad. I realized however how much easier it is to wake up at the track rather than to deal with driving, setting up and tech inspection all in the mornings. I'm not a morning person. I'm planning on doing a lot more camping in the trailer but I am in need of some advice on A/C units. I see a lot of trailers with roof top A/C units and considered going that route myself and then I thought a bit about using a spot cooler outside the trailer with a tube going to a floor vent. I'm still a bit on the fence on the best way to go. With the spot cooler outside the trailer noise will probably be a lot less and if I decide I don't need A/C that's a lot less weight to haul around. Has anybody done this? I have a Yamaha 2200 watt generator that I will be using to power the A/C system and paddock noise is a concern as well. I don't want to be the noisy neighbor with a loud A/C unit and a quiet generator. I would rather not "have" to depend on track side power if I don't have to. If you have a roof top unit what unit did you go with and how did you handle the wiring situation getting power up there? If I could find a light weight roof model I might consider that as well and figure out the wiring just for the ease of plugging it in and going.

I have to say I love riding in the rain at the track. The rain drives away a lot of people who don't want to swap tires. Last rainy day at Barber I had the entire track to myself for the last 3 sessions of the day. I was absolutely amazed at the amount of grip I still had on a slick track. It was a lot of fun trying to find the limits of grip with the tires and it overall increased my confidence in the dry and gave me a lot more confidence in my tires. The rain suit is a good idea but you can get away without one. More important than the rain suit is your under layer. I wore standard lycra underneath my suit and when the rain came my suit acted like an evaporation cooler and made me cold. I changed into another set of under layer that had a fleece later (they were still lycra) and they kept me a lot warmer not allowing as much air through to my skin. Watch out for standing water though. I was staying mostly dry-ish until I went through some standing water at high speed. It felt like I had been sprayed with a fire hose with the water getting into every single opening in my suit and boots and soaking me to the skin instantly.

I think this is a GREAT idea. With lots of photos and perhaps some video as well. Not enough people out there sharing their personal journey for fear of judgement.