[GsxrJack]

the biggest difference is track time.....this is gonna make all you racers out there jealous...when i started out, practive was broken up in 2 sessions, the novice would go out for 20 minutes then the junior/espert would go out etc..andpractice ran from 8 AM saturday morning take a 45 minute break at noon, back practicing till 4 pm and then run heat races for sundays race positions...

on sunday, wed practice from 9AM till noon, then races started at 1pm...

the reason we could do this was there was only 9 or 10 different races...i use to be able to put over 150 miles on my m/w ss bike and aother 125 or so on the h/w ss bike ,,,use to easily get over 300 miles of track time in one race weekend... :dthumb:

then in the 90's, the amount of racers grew, and the amount of different race classes grew...by the time i retired,,,we would only get 2 20 minute practice sessions on saturday then wed start the races...on sunday same thing..only 2 short practice sessions then races started.....also on open test days back in the 80's , sometimes there would only be 8 or 9 bikes to run all day....

old times were great as far as track time...what kind of practice times do you racers get now at your home tracks....???

 

[stevnmd]

Wow... I don't race, but I do corner work with MARRC at Summit Point from time to time.

Most racers only get two morning practice sessions before the sessions begin. Not nearly the amount of track time you used to get back in the 80's!

 

[bumblebee]

It shows how popular the sport is becoming. Hopefully it won't get corrupted and bastardized like NASCAR has...

 

[GsxrJack]

It shows how popular the sport is becoming. Hopefully it won't get corrupted and bastardized like NASCAR has...

yup, it started getting real crowded in the early 90's...dont know the exact numbers of racers but i think it went from like 200 in 1987 to 1200 in 1992......and now theres like 30 different classes of bikes instead of 8 or 9 :crazy:

 

[twisty]

30 different classes? WOW Both Wera(North Central) and Fasttraxx offer a 3 hour practice in the morning. And your sent out in waves. If your not racing during the day and you have you card it is a cost of 60 bucks.

 

[SpeedWerks.com]

Correct me if I'm wrong, Jack, but I think the other main difference is that in the 80s, there weren't all of these track day organizations out there. You guys basically were just thrown out on the track to race. Now a days people have the option of becoming comfortable on the track before starting to race.

 

[GsxrJack]

Correct me if I'm wrong, Jack, but I think the other main difference is that in the 80s, there weren't all of these track day organizations out there. You guys basically were just thrown out on the track to race. Now a days people have the option of becoming comfortable on the track before starting to race.

yup...when i started it was pay your 30 bucks for your ama liscense and start racing that afternoon..weeeeeeeeeeee....

i forget the year jerry wood started the penguin school but that was just classes and practice for novice and expert racers....

 

[GsxrJack]

30 different classes? WOW Both Wera(North Central) and Fasttraxx offer a 3 hour practice in the morning. And your sent out in waves. If your not racing during the day and you have you card it is a cost of 60 bucks.

how many sessions do you get yourself in those 3 hours of practice...a lot or just 2 or 3?

looks like its 14 races on saturday..and all of them are 2 or 3 different classes thrown together and 13 races on sunday, again a lot of different classes thrown together....

heres lrrs web page..

loudon road race scheldule

 

[GSXR1000DJ]

So much has change from the 80's till today. Well except for N4S, he still looks the same. Sorry. :jacked:

 

[GsxrJack]

So much has change from the 80's till today. Well except for N4S, he still looks the same. Sorry. :jacked:

ya, the sport has just skyrocketed in popularity...the bikes are better , the riders are better right off the bat also...

when i started, if you had 30 new riders...1 or 2 may be good enough to run in the top 10 right away...then as the bikes got better and more kids started racing, if you had 50 new racers..10 or more could run in the top 10 right off the bat.... :dthumb:

 

[GSXR1000DJ]

With the bikes being better and the riders are starting off better then they did back in the 80's, what in your opinon contributes to this. Besides better bikes.

 

[GsxrJack]

With the bikes being better and the riders are starting off better then they did back in the 80's, what in your opinon contributes to this. Besides better bikes.

good question, asked myself that many times back then....only thing i could come up with was that with the bikes getting better there were more and more kids getting them and riding them hard on the streets...so when they finally got to the track, they were pretty much ahead of the curve...

also in the early 90's we were getting a lot of expert type dirt racers into the road racing scene and these kids also just took right to road racing...

now you have a lot of people doing many track days/open practices before they even step onto a track so they have a lot more track seat time than we did back then...but in the early 90's it wasnt track time, it was kids just running it hard on the streets, that finally took it to the track

 

[bumblebee]

good question, asked myself that many times back then....only thing i could come up with was that with the bikes getting better there were more and more kids getting them and riding them hard on the streets...so when they finally got to the track, they were pretty much ahead of the curve...

also in the early 90's we were getting a lot of expert type dirt racers into the road racing scene and these kids also just took right to road racing...

now you have a lot of people doing many track days/open practices before they even step onto a track so they have a lot more track seat time than we did back then...but in the early 90's it wasnt track time, it was kids just running it hard on the streets, that finally took it to the track

There was much more information available also...Books, videos and coverage of racing. It sounded corny when Cruise said it in days of thunder but you really can learn a lot watching on TV. I especially like the on board cameras...I have learned tremendous amount about lean angles and attacking corners and finding markers etc., Coming from cruisers, I had no clue...Now I have enough of a clue to know I am too old and fat to get too serious...maybe I should get the Futura instead of Tuono?

 

[SpeedWerks.com]

gonly thing i could come up with was that with the bikes getting better there were more and more kids getting them and riding them hard on the streets...so when they finally got to the track, they were pretty much ahead of the curve...

I'm not quite sure that this has anything to do with it, but I will qualify that with an explanation.

Most people who ride today on the streets think they are riding hard, and I'm sure twisty will back me up on this one, but it's usually in a straight line. When it comes to cornering, many riders are generally tentative. I never realized this until I got out on the track and starting watching how fast others were going through a turn, and then I realized "wow, my bike is so much more capable." I actually got into a little tif at the track one time when I was sitting in the stands. Well, there was a guy out on the track who was a tad bit slower than the majority of guys out there, and these two guys were laughing at him. I turned around and gave them a piece of my mind. I made them realize that the slowest person on the track, is still going faster than probably the fastest street guy in their riding group. What looks slow, really isn't.

I think track days are really why more people are ahead of the curve these days. The more seat time you have, the more comfortable you get and the faster you go. I started off like you did, Jack. I did one track day, then I was off racing. Boy, even though I did pretty well, I am stepping back now and doing track days for a while. I realized that I just need more seat time. I think it's nice that we have that option today. Do you at least still get out to the track to watch races?????

 

[GsxrJack]

I'm not quite sure that this has anything to do with it, but I will qualify that with an explanation.

Most people who ride today on the streets think they are riding hard, and I'm sure twisty will back me up on this one, but it's usually in a straight line. When it comes to cornering, many riders are generally tentative. I never realized this until I got out on the track and starting watching how fast others were going through a turn, and then I realized "wow, my bike is so much more capable." I actually got into a little tif at the track one time when I was sitting in the stands. Well, there was a guy out on the track who was a tad bit slower than the majority of guys out there, and these two guys were laughing at him. I turned around and gave them a piece of my mind. I made them realize that the slowest person on the track, is still going faster than probably the fastest street guy in their riding group. What looks slow, really isn't.

I think track days are really why more people are ahead of the curve these days. The more seat time you have, the more comfortable you get and the faster you go. I started off like you did, Jack. I did one track day, then I was off racing. Boy, even though I did pretty well, I am stepping back now and doing track days for a while. I realized that I just need more seat time. I think it's nice that we have that option today. Do you at least still get out to the track to watch races?????

i agree with track days now, but back then there really wasnt track days, some kids that i knew did ride hard on the streets...we have some nice rotaries here in massachusettes and they make nice small racetracks at 4 in the morning...these kids rode hard..hard for the track even...some crashed and died, but didnt really stop the rest of them...when they finally did make it to the track, they were good...without the aid of trackdays etc...plus in the early 90's we had a lot of good dirt track racers who took up roadracing and they did well also..

i go up once in a while, still have some friends that are racing, i miss it though when im at the track...but I put my wife through a lot when i was racing, we had a good friend die the second year i was racing, and helping his wife load up the bike and equipment with his 2 kids crying just put a bad taste of racing in my wifes head (dont blame her either,) but she just hated racing after that, but never really said too much about it, but i now know how much she hated it to the point of being sick when i was out there and i think that would put her over the edge if i said i was gonna race again now.....

 

[twisty]

Not sure I can back ya, WOS dosent do "straight lines". When we say we ride hard we ride hard. Now if you talking about thses squids that show up @ the bike shows and think their fast because he just put a exhaust on and bought spidi boots. Then I know a ton of them too. But there are tons of "go fast guys" just riding the twisties. A shinning example is Deals Gap I have spoke with alot of fast guys out there and they have never touched a track. I have buddie who does the follow filming on our movies and he has never been to the track but he is smoking fast.

I agree with Jack on this. I got fast in the streets and got faster on the track. WOS riders haven't and never will be the slowest guys & girls on the track.

 

[SpeedWerks.com]

I understand, Jack. We've gone through that too many times. Kind of why I let off of racing. I still worry a lot when Brian is out there, but it's something he is truly passionate about, and as much as I worry, I would never dream of having him stop. 2004 was a really bad year for racing...lots of deaths. Was a very sad year. So I definitely understand, but I'm glad you get out there to watch every once in a while.

 

[twisty]

Yeah it is kinda dangerous but I can never see myself leaving. I like getting bumped, blocked and wrecking is part of the game.

I think that some orgs let to many squids on the track without proper training and this is causing the increase is serous wrecks. I know alot to the deaths this @ trackdays alone were new racers.

 

[Captain Morgan]

I try to save my hard riding for the track. When I first started out, I thought I was riding hard around the curves on the street. Then I went to an instructional track day and learned that I had no clue how to ride properly. I picked up a couple books after that first track day and changed my riding style. I still save the hard riding for the track, but I feel much more comfortable on the bike. I just don't like riding hard when I don't know the roads that well. On the track, I can memorize the turns and know where I need to be and also know what the next curve is like. I can't do that on a long winding road like the dragon, at least not quickly. I know that I am still slow by most standards and I have a lot to learn. But I'm trying my best and I'm trying to learn safely by going to the track. I will probably never race, simply because I don't have the time, but I plan to ride for many years to come.

 

[GsxrJack]

Not sure I can back ya, WOS dosent do "straight lines". When we say we ride hard we ride hard. Now if you talking about thses squids that show up @ the bike shows and think their fast because he just put a exhaust on and bought spidi boots. Then I know a ton of them too. But there are tons of "go fast guys" just riding the twisties. A shinning example is Deals Gap I have spoke with alot of fast guys out there and they have never touched a track. I have buddie who does the follow filming on our movies and he has never been to the track but he is smoking fast.

I agree with Jack on this. I got fast in the streets and got faster on the track. WOS riders haven't and never will be the slowest guys & girls on the track.

yup, these kids are just fast and never seen a track.once you teach them proper lines they just fly once they get on the track.....thats why i have to think its because of the changes in the bikes from the late 80's on...they didnt have to know about setting up an old gpz or a kz to handle right...bikes are race ready right out of the box .....