General Track Day Info - Getting Started Etc.

Erci

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My first track day is two weeks away and I'm starting to get itchy. Peg feelers, center stand removed. What else? Got my painter's tape, safety wires, etc. Lots of good info here, but I feel like I should be doing more to the bike.

What kind of shape are your tires in? How many miles / how old?
Do the normal fluids check. Check for leaks. Safety wiring is typically not required for intro / beginner groups.

You may want to pull headlight fuse for the track. My bulbs burned out 1st time out.. I'm thinking it was the extra heat, due to masking tape.

You're going to want to drop the pressure to at most 30/30 (good starting point).

If you've got time, it's always a good idea to check all the fasteners.. make sure nothing is loose.
 

Solarservant

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+1 on the headlight fuse. Had heard this before, but had forgotten.Tires are good at about 1500 miles now. Yeah, went a little overboard with the wiring, but wasn't sure what the requirements would be at this track. Better safe than sorry-track is 3hrs. away.
 

bdevries

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That is their intended purpose. However, if you need them on the street to tell you're leaning the bike over too far, you are either pushing it too hard or your form is off.

I've scraped mine few times before I pulled them off (only because I was taking the bike to the track), but it was during very slow u-turns where I was practicing making tightest turns possible.

I understand that its a sign to tell you that youre pushing it too far, but I don't understand but what you mean about form being off..
 

Erci

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I understand that its a sign to tell you that youre pushing it too far, but I don't understand but what you mean about form being off..

Form: your body position. If you counter-weigh (meaning keep your body relatively upright, but push the bike down into turn) at speed (BAD form).. you can easily scrape the pegs.

If you corner properly (body leaning into turn MORE than the bike.. or for casual riding, body leaning exactly as much as the bike), you should never really scrape pegs on street.. unless your suspension is too soft for you (not enough preload or springs too soft) OR you're not rolling on the throttle after setting lean.. allowing fork to compress thereby reducing ground clearance.

Does that make sense?
 

bdevries

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Form: your body position. If you counter-weigh (meaning keep your body relatively upright, but push the bike down into turn) at speed (BAD form).. you can easily scrape the pegs.

If you corner properly (body leaning into turn MORE than the bike.. or for casual riding, body leaning exactly as much as the bike), you should never really scrape pegs on street.. unless your suspension is too soft for you (not enough preload or springs too soft) OR you're not rolling on the throttle after setting lean.. allowing fork to compress thereby reducing ground clearance.

Does that make sense?

Ah ok, yes very much. Thanks for taking the time to explain. I'm trying to use the snowy months as much as possible to learn as much as I can so when spring comes I'm better prepared!

Now about springs being too soft.. I'm 210 lbs, and have read elsewhere that the fz6 is built for riders 170 lbs or so. Do you think I'll be having an issue with suspensions being squishy?
 

Erci

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Ah ok, yes very much. Thanks for taking the time to explain. I'm trying to use the snowy months as much as possible to learn as much as I can so when spring comes I'm better prepared!

Now about springs being too soft.. I'm 210 lbs, and have read elsewhere that the fz6 is built for riders 170 lbs or so. Do you think I'll be having an issue with suspensions being squishy?

Yeah, the fork will undoubtedly be too soft for you. The rear will be OK, if you set the preload to 5 or 6. There are many ways to address the fork on the cheap (cutting preload spacers out of PVC, replacing oil with thicker weight), but better approach would be to get firmer springs from racetech, combined with heavier weight oil.

Of course there's also the whole R6 fork swap.. but that's really getting into it.. certainly not required.
 

Solarservant

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Oh man. My first day on the track was sweet! Thanks for all the good info here.

The FZ is a competent little machine! Was so surprised at how she was able to hang with the big boys. Learned so much about my riding technique and where improvements need to be made (uh, leave the rear brake alone? chatter, chatter...) Also probably opened pandora's box in terms of spending on parts/gear!:thumbup:
 

thisisbenji

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Stock FZ6 at the track:
(ground clearance, tires, suspension, brakes, etc.)

Please remove your peg feelers and sidestand. The sidestand switch can simply be folded back and zip-tied in place.

To be continued...

So just the side stand needs to be removed? What about the center stand?
 

Erci

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So just the side stand needs to be removed? What about the center stand?

Before you remove anything.. will this be your first time? If so, chances are you don't need to remove anything (though it won't hurt to pull peg feelers off). If you work on good form (shifting body and leaning into the turn to minimize lean angles), it's not very likely that you'll get to the limits on your 1st time out.

Last year, there were five 1st-time FZ6 riders I know of on the track, here in NJ.. all had side-stands.. no one scraped.
 

thisisbenji

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So the side stand will scrape before the center stand then? I was thinking about getting rid of my center stand (I never use it), but if the side stand scrapes first maybe I'll leave it on so that I can take the side stand off for track days.
 

Erci

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So the side stand will scrape before the center stand then? I was thinking about getting rid of my center stand (I never use it), but if the side stand scrapes first maybe I'll leave it on so that I can take the side stand off for track days.

Correct, side stand scrapes first.
 

raja777m

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next point:
Insurance..!
Progressive stated on phone just now, they won't cover your vehicle, if you're on the track.
Even you are taking a class and getting better or racing/competing against someone for a cup or a timed race.
I'm tipping over to Statefarm, as someone from other forums mentioned about being covered as long as it is not a competition..!

Any thoughts you could share for track day insurance?
 
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