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Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 11:09 pm
by javaman
Considering:
- Rego $600 +
- Insurance $230
- Fine $280
==================
Total $1110

Which means I can ride on the track once every 3 months.

Has anyone taken this route? If so did you miss the mountain roads/reefton etc. ???

Another thing is I used to ride almost every day. But very seldom now.

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 11:19 pm
by Blurr
Yep I missed it, the track is just to hard in nsw.

You need new tyres every 2 days at least.
You need to book it at least 3 months out to have any chance of a weekend spot.
Then you get to deal with numpties in wrong groups
If you do manage to upset someone (which I may or may not have occasionally) you get a talking to as they had a cry because they were out of there depth.


The pro side of it is though, you licence looks healthier for it

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 3:34 am
by AznCruiser
Blurr not only that............slicks and its full raining or the other way around so :(.

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 6:12 am
by Kwakked Up
Blurr wrote:Yep I missed it, the track is just to hard in nsw.

You need new tyres every 2 days at least.
You need to book it at least 3 months out to have any chance of a weekend spot.
Then you get to deal with numpties in wrong groups
If you do manage to upset someone (which I may or may not have occasionally) you get a talking to as they had a cry because they were out of there depth.


The pro side of it is though, you licence looks healthier for it
And those out of depth numpties can cause some pretty horrendous carnage, there is one numptie out there that I never did get to meet :twisted:

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 8:10 am
by hoffy
Yes. The less bikes on the road the better. Stick to the track.

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 8:21 am
by Wattie
I did the track only thing too.
Yeah is fun, but you can't just jump on and go or a short notice blat. Never again!

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 8:48 am
by Phil
If you can survice riding 4 days a year that sounds like a better option. For me, I have to ride as much as possible for my own sanity so it would not be an option for this little black duck.

However, nothing wrong with having the occasional track day to "let it off the leash"....which is exactly what I plan on doing this Friday ;) :kuda:

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 10:05 am
by JimZXR
Having built the track bike and given it a run around EC I have to agree with Phil; if you're happy with a few runs out a year then go for it but I'm now missing the spur if the moment ride out so am trying to build a road bike too!

Plus the costs of a track day are far greater than merely the entry fee!

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 1:15 pm
by Nelso
The odd trip away with mates and the convenience of just jumping on and going for a quick blat are hard to pass up. In saying that, I wouldn't want to give up track riding either as that is where your riding improves and you get the need for speed out of your system.

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 9:24 pm
by Kwakked Up
Nelso wrote:The odd trip away with mates and the convenience of just jumping on and going for a quick blat are hard to pass up. In saying that, I wouldn't want to give up track riding either as that is where your riding improves and you get the need for speed out of your system.

Have to agree with Nelso,
I wanted to get to the stage where I could ride same bike on road and at track in a feeble attempt to drop lap times, but crashes get more expensive at the track when there is road gear involved. (oh yeah and helmets) For my cunning plan I need two bikes the same :D

anyhoo, different strokes for different folks :kuda:

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:07 am
by javaman
Thanks... It seems the consensus is it's would be not fun to not able to ride on the road ...

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:59 am
by tim
I guess insurance is something to consider also. If you have full comp then your financial risk on the road is at least capped in the event of a crash - not so at the track.

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 8:14 am
by Cath
It really depends what you enjoy the most. There's pros and cons to both, but how much you personally rate the relative pros and cons will be different for everyone.

Me personally, I'd take road riding over track riding any day. But if I was super into racing and trying to be competitive, lived reasonably close to a track, didn't have friends to ride on the road with, found I wasn't riding on the road at all or wasn't really enjoying it much when I did, etc, I would probably feel differently.

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 11:19 am
by bonester
Phil do you ride ZRX on the track???? If so how did it go?

Re: Is it better to stick to the track ?

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 6:18 pm
by Jonnymac
So I'm running a track bike only I've had road bike only, road and track and now track only.

So as others have said it really depends on you.

My experience ........
Road bike only- No good for me I enjoy the racetrack to much and when you crash a road bike there even a simple low side will end up in huge dollars trust me it did..........
Road and track- probably perfect for some and if money was no object good for me too.
But....... And it's a big one, I like to ride fast( as most do) as I have a 2&5yo at home plus a wife and mortgage I decided not necessarily just on my ability but the fact of the unknown ie gravel, oil, cars on my side of the road etc etc and if I'm pushing it,even if its only 7 tenths which is what I always attempted to do on the road it could be very easily good night Irene to me.

Then on top of that, the Gestapo down in Vic can be a different breed sometimes and as little as 25kms over the limit is a loss of license. If we are honest pretty much every time you ride you would do that plenty of times plus more.....even when you pick and choose your time to do it, as if you do it in the suburbs or a school zone you deserve it. You can still very easily get caught, I mean they have even worn camo and hidden in the trees on the spur.......
So if I lose my license I lose my job.

Track only-
Good if I can get to the track ten times a year. I can usually do around that. Bad if 6 of those days it's raining........

Expensive as by the time you look at tyres, cost of entry, no pay for the day off work, fuel etc etc especially when it's PI you are looking at it being a $600-1000 day

Do I miss my road bike....Absolutely!!!!
Do I wish I still had one....Absolutely!!!!

But mainly because I miss it for things like jumping on it with the missus to hook into the footy on a sunny arvo to miss the Melb traffic and parking. When your girls a Collingwood supporter and your hawthorn the smallest crowd your going to get is 50000 so sometimes it can take two hours to get out of the car park..... 2 minutes on a bike lol

Do I miss it enough to buy another one? not at this stage of my life, I barely have time to do everything I try and do anyway so I would struggle to go on more than a couple of rides a year.

Hope that gives another perspective for you.