take the Commando on a trackday, good or bad idea ?

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marc

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i am thinking about taking my "stock" Norton Commando on a trackday, along with my Ducati. its an event for twin cylinder motorcycles only and the vibe there is usually really good.

I am still not so sure if this is such a great idea, it feels kind of like forcing my 90 year old Dad to run a Marathon :).

My Bike is stock with twin Amals and the only Mod is the Madass Break kit. I am using new Avon tires, i have heard they are pretty good.
The thing that scares me a bit are the huge rigid Footpegs...has anyone done a successful trackday with their Commando ?
 
it feels kind of like forcing my 90 year old Dad to run a Marathon :).
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that is the way I would feel about it, no way, nothing to prove, unnecessary beating, and the point would be what?
 
1up3down said:
it feels kind of like forcing my 90 year old Dad to run a Marathon :).
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that is the way I would feel about it, no way, nothing to prove, unnecessary beating, and the point would be what?
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I think the point would be to have fun! :D
Take the bike and you, to the limit you are comfortable with. Use the track to learn. It’s a lot safer. Everyone is traveling in the same direction and you don't have to deal with on coming traffic. Go do it.
 
I say go for it. The bike was meant to be used. It's a track day, you can ride it how you feel.

It would be nice to get the old girl out and stretch her legs a little.

No one says you have to drag a knee and pin the throttle wide open the whole time.
 
I also think you would enjoy taking her out on a track day. Like it's been said previously, you don't have to run the old gal into the red line, just have fun and stretch her legs some. Much safer to ride on a track than the street!
 
good points Gents. I think i will go for it. its a two day the event, i think i am gonna ride one or two turns with her, not redlining the engine of couse. :D
 
Absolutely get it out there.

If you have sufficient time to prepare, remove turn signals if you have them, remove tail light (or at least the lens & bulb), and remove headlight (at least the lamp section; at a minimum, tape it over with painter's masking tape- check the rules for the track anyway)

Do a full maintenance and/or tune-up so you are starting from the best possible running condition.
Double-check all drain plugs and inspection caps for tightness.
Check all brake linkages and connections.
Check all fasteners from front to back, and top to bottom.

RIDE WITHIN YOUR LIMITATIONS. It's easy to be tempted into over-riding, especially if you are right around another rider or riders within your performance range.

have fun.
 
marc said:
i am thinking about taking my "stock" Norton Commando on a trackday, along with my Ducati. its an event for twin cylinder motorcycles only and the vibe there is usually really good.

I am still not so sure if this is such a great idea, it feels kind of like forcing my 90 year old Dad to run a Marathon :).

My Bike is stock with twin Amals and the only Mod is the Madass Break kit. I am using new Avon tires, i have heard they are pretty good.
The thing that scares me a bit are the huge rigid Footpegs...has anyone done a successful trackday with their Commando ?
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Got an oil pressure gage? Gonna be all bummed out if the engine pops? Whole different deal than street running.
 
Track day is a GREAT Idea. As noted, you need to do whatever prep is required by track regs re safety and, whether required or not, I'd safety wire the engine oil drain plug(s).
 
Go for it as may be one the best lasting memories and lesion learning events you'll have as an old fart on ole clunker. It will be less dangerous than just riding in public and may well reveal some needed repairs in drive train and engine sealing and breathing. Here's how I suggest to work up nerve and skill to last rest of your life.

1. lower air 1/2 in rear tire, then front tire, then both tires. Should only take one lap each to get the sense of bike/pilot CoG pivot points both leaning and spin out and of course the ever lurking weave/wobble aka THE HInge, but onsets at slow enough rates and rhytums its controlllable to program reversed control sense to the bone. You will never get caught out by a slow leak surprise either. This is BY FAR the best skill and physics practice to both avoid and recover over doing a turn or lane change or hazard avoidence for ever more.

2. Re-air back to normal-ish and play with front to rear air balance till easiest sense of steering gotten-

3. In safe space [maybe off track] run up 60's and try to brake harder and harder till 'comfortable' with tire squeal/chirps slip/skips, again and again till sense if brake fade or not.

4.. Tires should be fairly warm after 1 & 2 & 3, so start finding lean angle fouling limits R & L, going fast enough [70%-ish flying strain] till can innately toss over for just an instant of noise to lift off from or avoid just shy of fouling.

5. By this point traction sense and bike upset sense is programed in so start to creep up throttle/speed into apexes, till slight single skip/step outs of rear occur but not enough to cause Isolastic/frame/fork.

6. Start going into tighter turns straighter deepper [80's% flying strain] to work up fork angle sharpness til sense of low tire air weave/wobble/fork slap occurs
This is done w/o trying to lean foul or step out rear.

7. Combine best heated tire air balance, throttle level, lean angle and fork turn sharpness till THE HInging of low air tires onsets to alert ya that's all that particular C'do can do on two tire planted handling turns in various conditions.

8. See if ya can blow it up in long straights practicing best tuck in as so boring after above you too will want a supercharged big block to get into turns faster, but know better now not too on an un-tamed rubber bady buggy.




1
 
After a hiatus from roadracing in the late 80's I needed to take a school to get my roadracing license back. My racebike was not back together when the date came for the school so I showed up with my MK3- the same one I am still riding. I had a great day and ground both footpegs down to sharp points. No regrets. Jim
 
Might want to remove the center stand or risk removing its boot grab peg. Ya can get away with some instants of fouling drag but don't try to hold it down scratching on can pogo rear to lead the way down on the track. Sharper and sharper further and further leaning in a slowish parking-pits area can get sense of lean foul and bike balance state R & L before finding out on the track surprise.
 
I suggest you need to be objective about taking your bike onto a race track. It should be the safest situation you will ever find yourself in. If you try to go fast too soon you will certainly crash. The worst thing you can do with your commando is go into a bend too fast and panic, if you over-react you are on the ground. If you work up to speed slowly and concentrate on being smooth you should not have a problem. When you are starting out, you should take note of the other bikes and riders . If there are some fast bikes there be careful not to 'shut the gate' in corners - i.e. always leave room above and below you in the corners so the other guys always have somewhere to get past you. You should set yourself a strict rev limit for your motor and don't exceed it, work at becoming smooth and try to keep count of your gear changes.- You should be in the same gear at the same places around the circuit. You should find the experience great fun, and you might even become a competent rider.
I am actually jealous of what you are about to do. I'd love to be starting out at a track day with an old commando - it would be great ! Relax and enjoy it.
 
MOST (not all) track days have speed groups.

ALWAYS start out in the slowest group.

ALWAYS. Even if its with 16-year-old girls on 250s.
 
grandpaul said:
MOST (not all) track days have speed groups.



ALWAYS. Even if its with 16-year-old girls on 250s.
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That should be nervous 25 year olds. Them 16 year old girls on 250's will kick your ass. :D
 
comnoz said:
grandpaul said:
MOST (not all) track days have speed groups.



ALWAYS. Even if its with 16-year-old girls on 250s.
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That should be nervous 25 year olds. Them 16 year old girls on 250's will kick your ass. :D
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Don't get sucked into trying to compete with them. Just understand that you are going to get blitzed and accept it, and don't fall off in fright as the whizz past you in a corner.
Have a listen to the commentary on this video. I still keep in touch with this beautiful lady :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRqk2UL17DY
 
hehe I like it when healthy gals beat my ass. Got to have some ego to get out and press things a bit but not so much ego you over do it to Hinge enough into a crash. If you don't work up to THE HInge onset you ain't got enough ego or balls to get much out of a track day, which is a good lesion in itself that will protect you in public.
 
A tendency I had when starting out that took a while to get over, was to try and ride "harder" since it was on a track instead of the road.

WRONG!

Getting over than urge to ride harder, and simply concentrate on fluidity, and the combination of geometry and physics to achieve fluidity, should be the goal. Start out as though it was a brisk ride through the countryside, then work your way up to higher speeds while maintaining a smooth overall sense.
 
If you've got an ego, lose it before a big crash in front of an audience takes it away from you. This stuff does not take 'balls', just be rational and safe about it. You will find that if you get into a situation the adrenalin rush causes time dilation. If you don't panic you usually have time to recover, even if it means in the extreme case, letting go of the bars and grabbing the tank to survive a big lock to lock tank-slapper. You won't be racing, so you should not crash. That is the next level.
 
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