Prepping My Street Bike For The Class

[Bender]

Hoping to make it to Streets of Willow for a Lvl 1 class, where I will ride my own bike. References to prepping a bike for the track are few and mostly old. The following points are what I've put together from posts on this and other forums:

 

 

1. Taping all lights and mirrors (or removing same)

2. Removing coolant and replacing with "Water Wetter" or similar product

3. Safety wiring (just what I'm not sure)

4. New or near new tires

 

I'd like to confirm all of these items. Especially the coolant replacement and safety wire. I've searched this site as well as the site for WSIR with not much luck. I'd appreciate any help and if I've not searched well enough... apologies in advance.

 

BTW I'm a pretty new rider and I'm so hooked. Just made the decision to attend and am very excited about it.

[khp]

Good tyres, good brake pads, no liquids leaking, a full tank of gas and you're good to go.

 

Kai

[bradvanhorn]

When I ran my own bike at VIR last year, all that was needed was taping/removing lights/mirrors - no safety wiring or fluid replacement required. As Kai said, good tires, no leaks, and a full gas tank generally round out your bike needs. Have fun

[Bender]

Very cool. Thanks for the input. The prep sounds easier than I had believed. Not sure from where the wire and fluid ideas come. Perhaps they were there for a race vs a school? Oh well, back to my copy of TOTW II. Prepping myself may never end.

[khp]

Very cool. Thanks for the input. The prep sounds easier than I had believed. Not sure from where the wire and fluid ideas come. Perhaps they were there for a race vs a school? Oh well, back to my copy of TOTW II. Prepping myself may never end.

The safety wiring and coolant replacement is usually only required for racing (haven't met a trackday organizer that required it).

 

The staff will either turn or tape over your mirrors + speed indicator - I normally choose to remove the mirrors myself, as to make the road bike look as much as my racer as possible (SMC which organizes the CSS days in Sweden requires you to have 3rd party insurance on your bike, which effectively bans my racer there).

 

Kai

[Jasonzilla]

Fluids leaking is the thing that will keep you off the track more-so than anything else. Make sure your front forks aren't leaking. Most people who have this problem don't know this is going on until it's too late: when you're being tech'ed. Make sure the levers work and that your throttle snaps back after you crank it and release it.

 

You will really benefit from having both front and rear brakes working. If you run off the track, you'll switch to rear brakes. I did my last trackday without them and never completely got it out of my mind. I needed speed, so I had to use my trackbike, but it's nerve-racking.

 

Painters tape won't stick to your lights and leave residue. Duct tape and the like will. Make sure you remove your fuses for the front and rear lights. They get the tape hot, and that will leave you with a residue that won't come off for a long time, if at all.

 

If you're rear view mirrors come off easily, as mine do, remove them. That's one less thing you'll have to buy if you wreck.

 

Make sure your chain is loose enough. You're going to be using your bike in a way you never have, if you haven't done a trackday before, and will benefit from your suspension being able to work well. If the chain is too tight, it's going to bind your rear suspension.

 

Ensure you're comfortable with the tires you have. I've been using the same kind for a long time and, even though the the right side was literally a slick at the end my last trackday because I started with a worn tire, I was comfortable with the traction and feedback it gave me. If you're new to the track, new tires are your best bet. Fear of losing traction will be a big enough concern for you.

 

DO NOT worry about safety wiring. I know of 1 track that requires safety wiring for a trackday. It's not Streets.

 

DO NOT worry about water-wetter. Streets doesn't require that either.

 

The two DO NOT's are mostly for racing.

 

Have fun. Streets is great once you find the rhythm of the track. I've done it 3 times and was just figuring it out on my last two sessions. I'm retarded at figuring out new tracks. Luckily they're going to point out your turn points making it VERY easy.

[Crash106]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I want to attend CSS at VIR, but wonder if I have the arm strength to ride the leaned forward BMW S1000RR all day long. I'll have to think about bringing my own bike. Ride it there. Ride it around. Ride it home.

[Steve Rutter]

It's not arm strength you should be using, you want to make sure your abdominals and legs are up to the task!

[phillyjoey]

Its not a requirement to safety wire but I on the other hand like having my oil fill, drain and filter safety wired. I don't want to be that guy who dumps oil all over the track. Like i said its not a requirement but its easy to do and could save some track time.

[Kevin Kane]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I want to attend CSS at VIR, but wonder if I have the arm strength to ride the leaned forward BMW S1000RR all day long. I'll have to think about bringing my own bike. Ride it there. Ride it around. Ride it home.

Crash;

 

You've been part of this group since early 2010 and have floated the idea of signing up for the School a few times so I would like to encourage you to consider a baby step if I may. If you live anywhere near VIR drop in when the School is in session and check it out. Talk to Cobie or some of the other coaches and see if you think you could benefit from the in person training and you might be able to gauge if you will have the stamina to attend. The regular School has a general riders orientation meeting followed by your first of five classroom briefings; the briefings are typically followed by a track session where you work on the item(s) covered in your briefing and immediately upon pitting in, a meeting with your coach to review his (or her) observations of your riding. Then you get a break and have your first rest period. This cycle will repeat itself four more times over the course of a day and will conclude with a riders summary meeting at the end of the day.

 

One observation I can share with you is that over the course of almost thirty years Keith and his team have seen probably every type of rider in an amazing range of skill sets, ages and physical conditioning. We have Talan a UK member who races and is (I believe) a paraplegic and I have had the privilege of attending the School at Watkins Glen where we had a paraplegic rider from Canada who lost the use of his legs in a motorcycle accident but had a specialized adaptation made to his Honda so he could still ride. He brought this bike to School where training wheels dropped down when his bike was traveling below 5 MPH (I think that was the setting) so I can testify that the School can adapt and accomodate anyone.

 

If you are too tired you can sit out a session (which I have done more than once) to get better rested for the next cycle but regardless, I hope you consider this opportunity and do so this season.

 

Rainman

[Hotfoot]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I want to attend CSS at VIR, but wonder if I have the arm strength to ride the leaned forward BMW S1000RR all day long. I'll have to think about bringing my own bike. Ride it there. Ride it around. Ride it home.

Crash;

 

You've been part of this group since early 2010 and have floated the idea of signing up for the School a few times so I would like to encourage you to consider a baby step if I may. If you live anywhere near VIR drop in when the School is in session and check it out. Talk to Cobie or some of the other coaches and see if you think you could benefit from the in person training and you might be able to gauge if you will have the stamina to attend. The regular School has a general riders orientation meeting followed by your first of five classroom briefings; the briefings are typically followed by a track session where you work on the item(s) covered in your briefing and immediately upon pitting in, a meeting with your coach to review his (or her) observations of your riding. Then you get a break and have your first rest period. This cycle will repeat itself four more times over the course of a day and will conclude with a riders summary meeting at the end of the day.

 

One observation I can share with you is that over the course of almost thirty years Keith and his team have seen probably every type of rider in an amazing range of skill sets, ages and physical conditioning. We have Talan a UK member who races and is (I believe) a paraplegic and I have had the privilege of attending the School at Watkins Glen where we had a paraplegic rider from Canada who lost the use of his legs in a motorcycle accident but had a specialized adaptation made to his Honda so he could still ride. He brought this bike to School where training wheels dropped down when his bike was traveling below 5 MPH (I think that was the setting) so I can testify that the School can adapt and accomodate anyone.

 

If you are too tired you can sit out a session (which I have done more than once) to get better rested for the next cycle but regardless, I hope you consider this opportunity and do so this season.

 

Rainman

 

Awesome post, Rainman. Crash, I think Rainman's made a terrific suggestion - come by and meet the staff and the school, sit on one of the bikes, watch a session or two and see how thing are run.

 

I also wanted to add that the school has another model of motorcycle you can request to ride, the BMW F800S, which has a more upright seating position and would definintely be easier on your arms and back. It also has a lower seat height. I rode one for two days at a 2-day school and REALLY enjoyed riding it, I seriously considered buying one for street riding. It happened to be chilly those days and that bike has heated handgrips, which I now consider to be one of the greatest inventions of all time.

[Steve Rutter]

I also wanted to add that the school has another model of motorcycle you can request to ride, the BMW F800S, which has a more upright seating position and would definintely be easier on your arms and back. It also has a lower seat height. I rode one for two days at a 2-day school and REALLY enjoyed riding it, I seriously considered buying one for street riding. It happened to be chilly those days and that bike has heated handgrips, which I now consider to be one of the greatest inventions of all time.

 

 

 

 

Agree about those heated grips, had one a while back whilst mine was in for a service and rode a mile or so back to work on it before wondering 'why are my hands so warm?' before I twigged. Can't see them being offered as an option on the S1000RR though