mboe794

I've been running with ZARS for a couple years now. They are an excelent bunch of people. Very helpful with anything you may need.I have never taken advantage of any of Jessica's packages. I just take things one day at a time. The 170 bucks or so for the day at BIR or MAM is well worth it IMO. Rumor has it that they will be at Road America next year as well. Possibly a joint effort with another group.

I would stay away from DCTC with ZARS though. Too big of an orginization. Attracts too many people for that little track. Check out ridingcourse.com if you're looking to ride there. You have to do their class, but after that it's almost wide open track. And if you're new to tracks their class is well to worth it. There are other that ride out the too. Just drawing a blank right now.

jay956

ive seen track days range anywhere from $80-$300. really is a lot of variables, but in general it seems to be the highest here on the east coast and get lower as you go west.

Tormoz

I've heard about the riding course at Dakota tech. I've been considering it as a refresher of sorts. Used to road race in So Cal and then a year or two at Brainerd International, but that was back in the '80s, then road only sporadically for many years. What are your impressions of their program?

Old Yeller

Don't forget tire and maintenance costs. Those add up too!

For 20 minutes away, it seems like a really good option though.

Something else to think about. One of the things I've enjoyed is getting to go to other tracks farther away.

superhawk22

I would be ALL OVER that! As old yeller said though expect to spend lots on tires I spent over $2500 in 1 season a few years back! My wife is a trauma nurse and she would much rather me being on the track than the streets.

mboe794

I did it as my first track experiance. Yeah it's short and relatively low speed, but it's a track. A very technical one. The class session that ridingcourse.com offered was, for me, quite helpfull. Even though I feel that I was a very good "spirited" street rider, I still learned some things. The biggest thing for me was the help with body position. Because I grew up racing MX, many habits carried over into sportbikes. Many of which needed adjusting for the obviously different bike characteristics. But it was a tad on the boring side for some topics ad well. Like turn in and looking through the corner.

But I guess for a guy with previous track experiance, especially at a racing level, would find the classroom a biy mundane.

Eveyone has to do this their first time out there. I still go back from time to time and ride their advanced group. That track is quite the workout!

smokinjoe73

What does the 7 bills include? How many possible trackdays in a season? I race & travel 6 hrs to the track so if I had one 20 min I would probably never leave. Not familiar with the track. Is it big/small? I race lightweight twins and save enough on tires in a season to almost buy a lightweight trackbike over the heavy bike tire consumption. Oh and you can save on hotels by just sleeping at the track. (tent or van)

nath981

it's a no-brainer bear..........the track is a thousand times safer than the street and, will make you a better street rider to boot. It's a win-win.

Old Yeller

On a recent trip I took, I happened to run into another rider who is also a MSF teacher, and also had experience on tracks. He was asking me a variety of questions about my experiences and how they have translated to the street. There are some rather obvious things about how much I could trust tires beyond what I'd previously experienced, and of course being in a "safe" environment to push myself. One thing stood out that he really shook his head about. I have found my street riding to be far less aggressive since starting to ride on the track. I've noticed I don't have a need to push myself as hard to "prove" I could do things. I don't even feel the need to prove myself to others. The track riding has given me an opportunity to do those things there.

Tormoz

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I might find some of the basic stuff mundane, but I think that tight track would be a good challenge and skill sharpener. Sounds like my Yamaha WR250R would be just the ticket if I could fit it with some super-moto wheels!

Tormoz

Old Yeller, I agree with you and others that the track is the safest place to go fast, and once you've tried it, you realize how far true track speeds are from what you can do on the road -- even what a crazy rider might do on the road.

I haven't road raced for many years, but one of the biggest things I found that carried over to the street was the knowledge of your limits -- especially banking and braking -- in situations requiring quick reactions. If you've never experienced the full (and still safe) limits of your bike, tires, etc., and an emergency situation requires you to, say, turn sharply out of the way, you might either 1) not turn enough because you've never experienced anything close to that lean angle, or 2) slam the bike over beyond what its capable of.

If you've been on the track, pushing your bike and yourself to their limits, and have done that repeatedly, you have a much better memory -- and what I'd call "motor-skill" memory -- of how far you safely can go to get out of a dangerous situation.

Personally, I could use some track time and will look into it next season: it's been long enough since I was on a track that I have no illusions about still having that level of skill anymore.