one track day in. and trying out for a ducati team !!,,,,tips please

Get well soon Bad news on the injury you said you was self employed u know u can still get sick pay? Friend of mine who dislocated his shoulder had 6 weeks off with sick pay at 90 quid a week and he's self employed too. Maybe take it a tad easier next time u will be fixed in no time and ready for round two with more caution and knowledge.

 

Sorry to hear this Mr Tibbs, respect to you though for being so open with us and giving it a go.
I like your forthright honesty and enthusiasm , and I kind of like you (in a non bumder kind of way)
Best wishes and speedy recovery.

 

Like Archer, I followed this thread without commenting as I haven't done anything remotely close to racing but I felt that there was a bit of undue skepticism towards you and your experience. It was hard to sift through genuine helpful points and "banter". Enthusiasm appears to be frowned upon... But that is my opinion on it. :smile:

Fair play to you, you went out and tried something that most people won't ever do. I'd like to track but I won't ever do it due to various reasons, the main one is that I don't have the balls! If it's your dream, get yourself fit and have another go, nothing may come of it, but at least you'll be able to say you tried and you had the opportunity.

 

You should have done that a couple of days ago.........Yeah I'm showing my age and taking a chance in saying it, because of my age the only injury I got on track was a broken finger........and something like fifteen trophies.

I'll cut you some slack and wish you well.......but, even after everything that was said to you and the end result, I don't think you have learned and you aren't going to change.

AL.

 

You should do, Yets. It's really unfortunate what happened to Terrold and very atypical. You learn so much on track, and in the newbies group in most places, you'll be with all sorts of people, on all sorts of not especially well-adapted machinery, and many who have very little experience of biking full stop. You just go at your own pace - nothing to prove, everything to learn. You'll find it's just the most fun you can have on two wheels. And if you're worried about bending your pride and joy, go on one of those courses where they provide the bike. I really recommend it massively.

 

Agree totally with Glid. Don't delude yourself that you're racing anyone and you'll have a ball. If your bike has a lap timer, resist the temptation to use it & even put gaffer tape over the speedo. Pace is irrelevant in the novice group, it's just about having fun & in the course of having that fun, you'll learn more about your bikes (and your) capabilities than you would believe.

 

I was sort of in your position (at the start of the thread) having never really done a trackday , I have an ACU license and had never done a trackday until Brands indy earlier this year.
I was used to going very fast on the road, getting both knees down and winning my events in the 751cc and over class using my 999.
However I had two offs,pushing myself all the time, getting my times down became all important. The first off cost almost nothing ,other than rearset and clutch lever, but the second wrote the rear of the bike off (rearended into a granite wall) costing £2000.
I did Brands in the inters and could have lived in the fast group, but standing in pit lane looking out onto the track seeing those bikes fly by i honestly thought to myself "how the hell can I do that".
I did but I lost the front (or it felt like I did) twice on paddock hill. I dont think I'm cut out for it either.

 

I said it a few pages back. You do a lot of track days (and even more so races) and you're gonna come unstuck eventually, if you're pushing yourself. It does come with the territory. Having said that, if you take things easy, you probably won't. The guy who ran my Ducati dealership is fast on track, but he seems to have done a lot of hospital time to get that good. I'm not interested in being that good if that's the price you pay.

When I binned it after about a dozen days on track it was because I was sure that I didn't need to brake for one corner. So on this attempt, I didn't, and promptly lowsided. I don't think I was wrong, just that I missed the line by a metre and was on a dirtier bit of the track, probably with not enough rear wheel loading. You clearly don't have to brake, because I don't think the fast guys do, but my skill level wasn't sufficient not to. No harm done to me, quite a lot of harm done to the 916. It got gaffer-taped up and I continued with the rest of the course in the afternoon.

It just made me aware that if you're going to do track days, you need to budget for repairs.

I don't think it's a case of not being cut out for it. It's like anything - practice. And to get good at anything, you have to make mistakes, and mistakes cost money (and potentially more than that). Then again, if you're that cautious, you probably shouldn't be biking in the first place. Who hasn't fallen off?

 

Full respect to you Terry, Get well soon. You cheered this forum up no end - just a shame it had to end up with you injured. You have given more than enough proof that this has 'actually' happened. All that anyone has to do is to phone Bath hospital if they really want to know.

 

Wrong on all counts

Most wasn't / isn't enough

Never a truer word spoken

How many did you get?......Or did you go straight into marbles?:biggrin:

Bearing in mind I cannot work at the moment and haven't been able to do much since January, I have lost the majority of my clients because I can't maintain strict deadlines owing to the effects of the medication........

...Now, I know you didn't need to hear that, but I sympathise with your worry about your work situation........I hope you have some sort of insurance......Mine has run out.

AL.

 

"Time for bed", said Zeberdee.

 

Bike don't worry about it, Louigi Moto will no doubt be able to help there, that bald Rich is a good kid