Best Path for Starting?

[DavidV]

If you want to race, take a race school and race. Trackdays are cool too, but are a different thing all together.  I raced after 3 track days and 2 race schools. I still felt I  wasn't ready, but I don't know if there's ever a time you feel "ready."   Racing, as you will learn, is trial by fire. Nothing can really prepare you for some of the stuff you will see/do. Thats why it is so much fun

I say do a race school on the track you plan to race.  You will have enough to think about, you don't want to worry about learning the  track on top of everything.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

I personally went from the street directly to racing at the start of '96 after taking the Learning Curves Licensing School at the end of the season in '95, track days were not an option for me since they didn't exist back then. When I went racing I had no prior race experience of any kind, but I did have many years of aggresively riding 3 & 4 wheel ATV's, snowmobiles, stand-up & sit down Jet-Ski's, and 5 years of street riding motorcycles. I think that type of experience can be extremely beneficial in going road racing since you already know the controls of the bike and know what 'synergy' is between you and a personal motor vehicle. I like the fact that you already have experience, I think that will greatly help you adapt and advance quickly.

With the availability of numerous schools and personal instructors available today I like the idea of getting on the track for the 1st time in an environment that is teaching you things correctly from the very beginning, that way (as Jeff said) your not developing and perfecting bad habits or doing things that will only be a hinderance to you in an actual race environment (like the developed passing issues the guys mentioned already). I think spending an equal amount of money on actual racing based schools and/or personalized 1 on 1 instruction from someone reputable would be far more beneficial to someone actually looking to get into racing than doing laps at Track Days that are not focused on what is best in an actual racing situation. I'm not saying there are no Track Days out there that don't offer this, but make sure and check ahead of time into what your going to be getting for your money if you choose to do Track Days prior to racing.

I personally would like to see more actual 'Racer Prep' sessions at Track Days taught by reputable racing instructors or in conjunction with existing racing schools so they can focus on teaching techniques that are specific to racing. I think that would help more people to make the 'jump' into racing by educating them about actual racing and better preparing them for what they are really getting into.  

[cbirk]

+1

[jerdman852]

Thanks you all for your advice. I've decided to the LCR school @ Blackhawk first. As one of you mentioned, it may help not to learn / perfect 'bad habits'. Track days will follow, and begin racing in 08.  Hey, I can't bankrupt the household all at once  !! If there is a shop in the Milwaukee area for parts & supplies, that is better than others, let me know. Look forward to it all, and once again, thank you for the advice.

[Super Dave]

JE, I guess my question is going unnoticed, but seeing you're going to Blackhawk, it pin points your location.

CCS licensing programs are great safety schools.  You have to have that for your CCS license. 

Should you need something to link what you do in supermoto/MX to road racing, my school program can do that for you.  I taught CCS licensing schools from 1993 to 2000, but started our independent riding program, versus the licensing safety school, to develop new and experienced racers in addition to new and experienced track day riders. 

I've worked with a few road race teams and some pretty well known dirt trackers too.  With Supermoto and MX experience, you've got some very solid tools that can be put to use in road racing.  Be careful to make sure that you use some of that rather than follow some of the more common ideology of what gets passed around in road racing.

[HBS Racing]

I know everyone is different, but I can't imagine going out racing without a good amount of track time first.

[Super Dave]

With 20 years of racing MX and some Supermoto, the transition should be relatively easy. 

[251am]

Thanks you all for your advice. I've decided to the LCR school @ Blackhawk first. As one of you mentioned, it may help not to learn / perfect 'bad habits'. Track days will follow, and begin racing in 08.  Hey, I can't bankrupt the household all at once  !! If there is a shop in the Milwaukee area for parts & supplies, that is better than others, let me know. Look forward to it all, and once again, thank you for the advice.

  For your suspension work contact Ed  K. at TrackSide Engineering. He has a website you can connect to through this Forum. Ed is in the Milwaukee area, will be at the BFR rounds in his bright orange EZ-Up, and will work with you on setting the machine's suspension. His service and dedication to this sport is great. 

[gkotlin]

I did lots of Nesba track days before racing.  You learn the tracks.  Their control riders are top notch instructors!  You'll learn lines, body position, throttle control and everything you never used on the street.

Come out to some days and see for yourself.  Nesba riders typically do very well racing.

Now that I've said that.....

I've probably started another interesting post war.

[Garywc]

This is my first year racing but I've been track riding for years. I coach with TPM, and put in thousands of track miles before ever racing. I can see clear advantages and disadvantages to going this route. I'm sitting third in the points in three classes, have one win, a couple of seconds, and a bunch of thirds. I'm very comfortable at speed on the track and my coaching has given me kind of a sixth sense about what the guy in front of me is going to do three turns before he does it (survival tool when coaching). The flip side of that coin is that I'm pretty timid about making passes because I've been conditioned to make nothing but "friendly" passes. So unless I'm gridded toward the front, or get a killer start, I'm pretty much dead in the water after lap one.

DAVE YOU SUCK 

[Garywc]

maybe try some track days just to see what you think of being on the track and spending the money on a race license
then of course if you want to race you need a school for your license and go from there
have some fun ride fast and take chances

[BRICKMAN]

Track days are like having sex with a rubber on, there alot of fun but not the Real thing.Good Luck