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

Sounds like fun, I took out my Darmah on a track day, first one I ever did and as mentioned in slowest group, I was concerned about taking it above road speeds but it went fine.
Last year I picked up a 1976 BMW R90/6 on the way to a Superbike School with my racebike, after one session my racebike clutch started slipping so pulled the unridden R90/6 out and did the School on that, squared off rear tyre made it er interesting and the I could hear the clutch and brakes complaining.
On the Thruxton I had I was whupped my the girls in the 1st group on 250's.....

'Sounds like fun, I took out my Darmah on a track day, first one I ever did and as mentioned in slowest group, I was concerned about taking it above road speeds but it went fine.'

I think most road riders are not used to hearing their bikes revving at near the limit for long periods. If you look at the manufacturers' stated horsepower and rev claims on the web for your bike, you will know what it will safely tolerate unless you've allowed the bike to slip into disrepair. It is not the speed which does damage, unless you drop the bike - it is usually over-revving, and misuse of the gearbox.

I wish you good weather on first track day and good track surface conditions too as sometimes tracks are worse in spots than what you encounter in public. My only track day was on a beat up old track packed into fairly small area so a number of tricky chicanes with lumpy broken cracked areas right where you'd least like it as that's where the cars are pounding on it the most too, so at first was both freaked out and pissed off to spend so much for the extra pensive groin tigthening to jaws I get at home in spades, but forced mind set into British stiff upper lips to look at this as the very best opportunity to learn some limits I had some space and no on coming traffic to recover and did time after time after time till scared wise enough I'd never have ego in public to get too fast even on THE Dragon in the rain with some muddy sheets draining across off sloped apexes.

If you work up my list you will Know how to play the quirky instrument you are on in a number of ways, impressed to muscle memory which is way faster more accurate than brain control - other than enough to plan your route ahead. In my list you are not going balls to the walls but definitely over what's comfy in public over and over again, til it sinks in w/o thinking about it, as just know how its going to feel when ya do something and work up and up just short of fear till ya looking forward to doing it again and again at thrilling rates having a blast breathing through ya mouth like a dog with its head out the window.

Couple other things to insert in my list is zig-zagging more and more in a straight and adding throttle hits right at apex maxes, till ya get sense of how a hi side onset will feel, [lots safer on low air tires and same but far worse on full air tires and hi speed but identical skills] to the very bone, no doubt about what's lurking and how it feels before it goes nutzo. If ya 'balls' enough and balls-bravery to thrust your bike and yourself is definitely the biggest tester to explore on track days as directly relates to panic saves in public. You should soon reach a nice equilibrium of childish-thrill vs fear-wisdom zone in a few laps or less then its about pure mind game to refine details with your self and *others*. Girls got their ball's tucked out the way and CoG lower so actually have some advantage over dudes, which can be great fun if they let you dance close to them like sex with strangers in leathers on.

Much more 'crazy' traffic and adrenalized pilots on most tracks than ever in public so must plan ahead way more and in more directions too than in public. Just because one fella can do a turn one way don't mean you can so be careful of just following someone thinking if he - she can you can - that day at least -
The strain being applied to your C'do will wear on you too but at track rates it gets so smooth you have to remember the blacksmiths making the turbo fan like thrust. My pure factory Trixie had enough to match the fastest Aprilla V4's and SR1000's etc groups would do in Ozarks, 125ish mph, but I limited below red line 115-ish as could accelerate enough to hang with them on mile long straights getting a 100+ yds behind but would end up back on em as turns began again. I actually had to resist runing right into them in many places so on purpose did not try to race with them or get too close to be considered part of their group, as they were so upset angry confused disqusted, when we left and asked them if I could tag along on my antique, so I garantee they were trying to make it hard to follow though Ozark paradise 'race' tracks. Point being I let ego have some fun but didn't fret I could of done more but just not worth the risk on a joy ride. I definitely rode flunky Trixie to point I had to resist Hinging rhythms, but I have done my list so know its time to back off below resisting fish flop off the deck. When the 6 of em stopped to gather before next leg I idled past them and set my own pace home - about same in turn but only 90 in opens for next 20 miles then stopped for gas and was about done when they all rode past w/o even a howdy do wave of recognition, hehe. On linked Peel I'd of gotten bored with em - as you may find that your able to put down pretty much same power loads in lots of turns as more powerful bikes that are mainly bee line rockets. We Go Where We Put Our Attention On...

I did in May 2012 , rode a track day with my '73 Roadster, took 2 x sets of mufflers to find that one set was robbing all my midrange power, i went in group 4 , the slowest as it is the organisers policy for first timers on the track, great fun and didn't punish the bike to much. After market carbs and a front brake up grade kit helped with the go and stop efforts!!
Did a track day two weekends ago on my race bike, same track, although in group 1 this time.
Each time, I was the only classic there, great fun and good for practice if you decide to join any classic racing events.
Best fast fun you will have with all the traffic going the same way.
Enjoy regards Mike

When there are groups during practice , I always ride in the slow group. Then the problems are ahead of you and not coming from behind at a million miles per hour, out of control.

In the late 70s and early 80s we use to have track days at the old Lakeside circit in QLD, cost $20 for all day riding was great fun, so go for it and enjoy yourself, just ride to your limits, your Norton will enjoy it as well, riding it as hard as you want without the worry of cars and trucks coming at you from the other direction, just enjoy yourself

Ashley

marc said:

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 .

Click to expand...

No one said because you go on a track you have to flog the living sh*t out of the bike.

Probably one of the best things to do is gain and maintain perspective while doing a track day. grandpaul has given some pretty solid advice on this. Even on race days I tell myself and others, pretend it's a ride in the park.

Get comfortable with the speeds, the lay of the land (track) and visual markers for reference (brake points, apex, edge of track and track for blind turns) .

There is no need to go blazing fast on the straights but keep up the pace so there's no gross speed differentials and be very predictable.

Plan to leave plenty of room both inside and outside of you throughout a turn.

Hold your line! Again, you need to be predictable for others behind you.

Once comfortable, work a turn or a sequence of turns at a time. This can be as simple as testing late you can break.

Don't get caught up in the heat of the moment. By example, what I mean by this is you see someone whip by you into a turn and you say to yourself, "I can do that". When you try, it may turn out more like "I can dooooo thaahaahaahaat!

As for personal protective gear (PPE); good brain bucket, good gloves, good leathers and good boots.

Let us know how it goes and above all, have fun.

BOTH Fuel Taps ON .
Maybe hartder plugs. N57 or whatever .
Maybe scew some 7/16 NF bolts into the hangers , cut shorter .

Not Redline IT . NOT REDLINE IT . Why Id thought youd do that every other weekend .
Generally give it a few laps to warm up . Unless youve Hondas to beat , youd only use about 6000 in 1st & 6500 in second .

Remember the Tachos got a bit of lag , so if your getting entusiastic , pays to glare at it as the revs come up in 2nd & 3rd
and shift 2000 early & itll hit 7000 . Takeing it easy at first , getting temperatures up , seeing it not leaking of shedding parts
( Take the Ex. Wrench & a Strobe ), THEN your ready to cane it - after checking the clearances overnight . :lol:

Would take 20 litres of 100 Octane - saves punishing it on consumer swill . Find a comfortable chin on tank posiyion beforehand .
If your running 21 teeth , its only 120 odd , so keep a eye on the Tacho down the ends of the straights , too .
Cant see 7200 in top would blow the top off it , unless its at .060 with high comp and the bolts are loose .

Talking about LOOSE BOLTS , the big heat soak is going to be a first - So a run round / over with the spanners isnt to silly , at the end of the day .

I would learn to know what 7,000 RPM sounds like - towards the ends of the straights you will probably find it difficult to glance down at the tacho. Over-revving the motor is not good - might cause you to rob the piggy bank.

I went to a race school many years ago when I was thinking of starting racing. One thing he said that I still remember is that most people go faster on their slowing down lap because they've stopped trying too hard.

The most important thing to me Kieth Code told class was no one ever crashed by flinging/leaning one way and the other too fast, which I took at his word, then found out that was a fib yet still allowed me confidence to find out its very hard to fling down/up too fast in chicanes. Hope you are as restless as us just reading about loosing your tract virginity. Best wishes on letting twin blacksmiths loose pounding cast iron flywheel and valve train : )

I did my first track day on my 1070 BMW last year, it was great even though the bike took a bit of work to get through the noise test. (Check DB limits at your track). iPhones etc have reasonable DB checker apps.

The track day was run by UK BMW club, with strong emphasis on safety and behavior. All bikes had to be road licensible, so no track day specials. It was good fun, especially being the oldest bike on the track, I'll take my 90/6 this year!

Charles

acotrel said:

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.

Click to expand...

so now acotel you say you would love to be riding an old commando for the first time on a track day!! after previously stating "you would not be happy to ride a bike that relied on its head steady for good handling" are you involved in politics by any chance? regards baz

The nice thing about a track day, as opposed to racing, is that you can keep your sense of mechanical sympathy in tact. You might ride way faster than you would on the street bu,t unlike in a race, there's no obligation to maximize the time you spend at the red line and at full throttle. In a race if someone passes you it is invariably because they are better than you, but during a track-day if someone passes you it's because you let them.

Couple years ago I did one on my '73 750 at Willow Spring's shorter slower track called Streets of Willow; great fun, ground the pegs to points, got lots of compliments on the bike and its capabilities.

Ditto what was said above, be sure to take a couple laps to warm up the tires, experiment with pressures. Many street tires will get a greasy feeling when they overheat and that can be a puzzle, sometimes too low a pressure can overflex/overheat the carcass which then overheats the tread but too high a pressure can concentrate all the action in the tread and cause the same thing - overheated tread. There will be people at the track who know what pressures to run but their knowledge is for the big wide modern 17" radials, not our old style narrow 19" bias ply tires. Poke around and you will find that Avon does post up recommended pressures for their specialized racing tires, their AHRMA "DOT" and "Non-DOT"racing tires, but those tires, while they look similar, are much more expensive and different in construction and compounding. Their AHRMA racing tires are excellent. Dunlop makes some too.

First couple of sessions can be a mad house, everyone is eager; take it easy. OK to go out a little late, by the end of the day, if you haven't worn yourself out yet everyone else will have, so then, late in the day, you often will have the track almost to yourself. Ask the organizers when the last session will run; sometimes they see less riders out there and they want to shut down early but if you get a commitment earlier, then those late sessions are more likely assured.

baz said:

acotrel said:

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.

Click to expand...

so now acotel you say you would love to be riding an old commando for the first time on a track day!! after previously stating "you would not be happy to ride a bike that relied on its head steady for good handling" are you involved in politics by any chance? regards baz

Click to expand...

I'd ride a commando at a track day even with that idiocy. It would be like riding a pre- unit Triumph - they are what they are. Better to fall off at a track day where the ambulance is waiting than in front of a truck on a public road,

ggryder said:

The nice thing about a track day, as opposed to racing, is that you can keep your sense of mechanical sympathy in tact. You might ride way faster than you would on the street bu,t unlike in a race, there's no obligation to maximize the time you spend at the red line and at full throttle. In a race if someone passes you it is invariably because they are better than you, but during a track-day if someone passes you it's because you let them.

Click to expand...

If you are racing and competent, nobody is better than you. Either your self-preservation instinct is working too hard or their machine is superior. If you are going to be successful you need to ride extremely close to the limit with the right mindset, and if you get out-powered or more particularly out-handled on a tight circuit, you lose. You need to find out when your bike will go out of control in corners, and once you've scared yourself a few times, you know where you are. That is not what track days are about - just have your ride and enjoy yourself.

I did the NOC track day a good few years ago at a military testing ground that featured a Brooklands/ Daytona banked bend. I wish I had the advice you've been getting here. My rear tyre was getting thin, clutch was slipping and front drum was poor. On the infield there were a fair selection of negative camber bends and I can't say that I enjoyed the experience, BUT, I would do it again. You must ignore the temptation to step out of your own comfort zone.

I once won a race with a Suzuki Cobra with virtually no brakes. Simply ride within the boundaries the bike permits. If it handles badly simply adjust to it, if it is underpowered become super smooth and take wide lines in corners keeping your rolling speed high around the apex, and be careful you don't knock somebody else off their bike. Track days are not speed events. As always, take care.

I can see there is a lot of enthusiasm bottled up in you blokes. If you enjoy your track day, perhaps you might join an affiliated motorcycle sports club, and have a ride at a club road race meeting. Then you would really get in touch with reality, I think you would love it. It is better than sex, and probably costs less in the long term.