people who ride motorcycles, not
just keyboards—are using. You
can see what kind of gear they
are wearing, what tires they use.
It doesn't cost anything to post an
opinion on Facebook. But riders
who actually are at the track have
made some hard decisions on
what works and what offers value,
and you won't meet too many rid-
ers who won't take at least a cou-
ple of seconds to tell you why they
made the decisions they did.
Go to the track. Observe
what the people with skin in the
game are using and doing. Lots
of answers can be found right
there...
Q: Is it too early to get excited
about the next track day?
A: Never!
Q: How much track time
should I have before trying to race?
A: There are plenty of us
whose fi rst experience on a race-
track was at a race event, or who
did one or two schools and then
went racing. If you're comfortable
on the track, feel as though you
can hold a line through a corner,
and you don't freak out when
you pass someone or get passed,
you're as ready as you need to be.
Most race organizations will start
you out with a Provisional or Nov-
ice/Amateur license and keep an
eye on you to make sure you're
ready. And when you're fi rst start-
ing out, you're not likely to be
battling in an eight-rider pack for
the win, so you're probably going
to have enough time and space
on the track to get even more
comfortable. Bonus advice, free
for you: Being on the track with
other racers improves your riding.
They're typically more comfortable
on the track, and they give you a
target to chase. Sunday morning
practice on race weekend is often
a very, very fun time!
Q: What do you use to clean
leathers, that won't dry them out?
A: Several companies, like
Dainese, make special cleaners
for their leather suits, and those
that don’t will recommend suit-
able cleaning and conditioning
products. Anthony's Leatherworks
offers a Total Leather Care Kit, in-
cluding De-Salter, Easy Cleaner,
and Leather Cleaner & Condi-
tioner. A custom leathers maker
named Barnacle Bill told me years
ago to treat a suit with hand lotion
that contained lanolin, just as you
would treat dry skin. The idea is to
keep the leather fl exible and soft,
versus dried out and brittle.Q: I want to start my kid out
riding on the track. How do I do
that?
A: Check out something like
the riding camp held by NJMini-
GP. Rent a bike from the organiza-
tion and have your kid get detailed
instruction as they learn at their
own pace. It's a cost-effective way
to fi nd out if riding and racing is
for them, and it's an excellent way
for them to start out if it is. The
miniGP franchise is expanding,
and there are chapters or some-
thing like it in many areas. For a
list of mini road racing and track
riding organizations in the U.S.,
turn to page 78 of this Trackday
Directory. Then contact the local
organization and plan to go out to
an event and see what’s up. Or go
to a MotoAmerica race and check
out the mini road racing demon-
stration that takes place at most
of the rounds. The demos are
staffed by people from local mini
road racing organizations and can
point you in the right direction.Q:Is is OK if I run my bike's
engine all the way up to the red-
line, just for a couple of seconds?
A: Short answer, yes. “Abso-
lutely,” says Carry Andrew of Hy-
percycle, who has spent decades
building (and riding) race and
championship-winning motorcy-
cles. “There's no difference in run-
ning it up to redline in the pits and
running it to redline on the track.”
And both are OK, because the
redline is the maximum safe rpm
(emphasis on VERY SAFE) and if
you exceed it on a modern motor-
cycle with fuel injection, the rev
limiter will cut in. The one excep-
tion is violently down-shifting and
mechanically forcing the engine to
spin well over the redline, often re-
sulting in valves hitting pistons—
and in the worst case, sending
valve heads through the pistons,
destroying the engine.A mix of youngsters and adults racing with NJMiniGP on the kart track
at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). Photo by Sarah Bettencourt.
RWRoadracing World, Trackday Directory 2019—