) New tyres, what's the scrub in process if you can't ride the bike on the road? Will most likely be running P Rosso BSB on an old R6 2) Other than noise test... is there any other from of scrutineering?. 3) To do a Novice (slow Group) only day at Silverstone who would be good to go with? 4) I assume garages are extra as norm, and have the power on? 5) do you need a rear rain light? or brake light?
Yes, ex race bike (which was last used as a track bike by previous owner) an old one... been collecting dust for sometime.
With the tyres just ride normally. Most of the heat you'll get in your tyres is from acceleration and braking. It's the best way to heat them. Give them a few laps and then they should be ready to go. I often concentrate on heavy braking to get the front nice and warm, I can deal with the rear and moving about, the front I'm not so keen on! Ride your own ride at your own pace. And enjoy
I can't speak for Silverstone but at Brand and Bedford the garages are free/1st come first served. Power on but limited. The Novice only I booked for at Brands was bikes AND Cars but on the track separate. So cars go for a session then bikes. I was told by others cars have been known to be more likely to drop oil and bring gravel back on the track so I rebooked for a normal day. I would imagine garage space is a lot more limited if your sharing with cars. Only checks I've seen are the noise levels.
Silverstone , Lots garages and power at no extra cost. Although worth having a 3 pin blue plug/adapter. IME only the fast group get static noise test, ride by is also in operation.
Take the bike, fuel, kettle, small table, pressures 32F/29R, ride 1st sessions like a steady road ride then build from there. Make sure you will be warm enough (if you're doing this before April) as thats when concentration waivers and tiredness takes over Silverstone a good first as its just so big, overtakes are easy and loads of run off if you feel the need. Loads of garage space and power (hence kettle) Boring tho, very little undulation or interesting bits No lights, tape them up iff you have them! Enjoy !
I have plug for garages. I have raced cars round most UK circuits so kept some of the kit. Choosing Siverstone for exact reasons above, flat and wide.. I would not choose it if I was confident. I'd do brands if it wasn't for paddock hill, if I was confident enough I'd be going to Outlon. I have no lights, not brake light or rain light, no ignition key, no fans etc... so no tape unless it's runs cold. I think I will hold out till March, April... no rush, got to do a few jobs to the bike over winter. Just working out the to do list in advance. Are the restaurants not open, no burger vans on track days?..
Normally there will be one there. Where are you based? Brands paddock hill is safer than druids and clearways
Bedford is flat with LOADS of run off and close to you and way cheaper than Silverstone. But garage space is limited. NL and MSV do Bedford.
Ha, I can vouch for that; binned my ZX6-R on GH bend whilst doing my first track day 15 yrs ago. Was second session out, second lap and I thought I was the bees knees and could fly round it with knee and pegs scraping.....WRONG! Result? Dislocated shoulder, a virtually written off bike and a long wait in the garages until a mate finished work who could come and get me in his van. Oh how I have learned....
Sorry, forgot to say to the OP that Brands is a great venue for your first track visit. Paddock Hill is just something that you will build confidence on as the day progresses. Also, I note from your profile that you are in East Mids so how about Mallory? Pretty simple layout means it is straightforward to learn and the elevation changes are minimal meaning good visibility. Why not sign up for the one they are doing in very early Jan? (Too cold for me TBH)
I don't know Bedford CR and it's not on any championship calendar I've been on, so won't be doing that to kick off with. I prefer knowing where I'm at first time out and not having to travel so far... RSVR I'm (North) South East (near Milton Keynes) Probably 5 or 10 miles from (South, East Midlands) I'm in Bucks but boarder 3 counties. I'm not far from Bedford(shire) or Northampton(shire). So I can get to Silverstone pretty quick... 30mins in car perhaps. I use to travel the country racing, don't mind the travel if I enjoy it but trying to keep life simple.I will do Brands after Silverstone I know most the tracks a bit, obviously different on the bikes, but I know enough about them to where I feel comfortable riding round them or not. I used Mallory to shake down, the Wednesday morning race testing before the race bikes. They don't race these cars there now but they were doing 43's round there many years ago, they would do 41's now with the current wings and engines. On old tyres on a cold-ish day the Car was doing 45's shaking down, testing the motor for a fault not looking for lap times.. Brands (Indy) 2015 44.7 Donnington (full circuit) 2015 128's (national) 106's Cadwell 121's I'm perhaps about 1.5 sec's off the times above all being well and perhaps more consistent now... never had my shit together completely, had the chassis brought up to spec, which upset the set up, then the motor was made competitive but failed 2x in a row... I was hoping this year 2016, to be on the weight limit, full power motor, with sorted up to spec car and the motor was not looking good in testing.... just too expensive to go jump in and try to swim. Faster drivers are racing my car this year and are off the pace, so obviously still needed a bit of development. So it's just the bike aspect. I've never been into back road scratching. I just want to give it ago and hopefully increase my skill level... I think I'm reasonable on the brakes. It's the leaning it over and getting on the power I need to sort out.
Like Advikaz says, if you're not using warmers, your best way to warm them up is by heavy acceleration and heavy braking rather than Zig zagging as you would in a car. If you are using warmers, then bear in mind that if you're doing an early or late season novice day, that you'll be losing temperature in your tyres as the session goes on, even at a decent lick of pace. I've started taking a laser thermo gauge to the track (£25 from maplins), and it's surprising how much temperature you can lose during a session, even at a mid to upper fast group pace. I was at Donnington a few weeks ago at the trackday/test day for the weekends races, and even at Mid 1:40's pace, my tyres were going from 85deg off the warmers to under 60 straight in. A few of the racers in my garage were suffering from cold tear too, and they had similar readings. Even running much lower pressures to try and retain heat, they were cooling off, and it was around 12deg air temp. I"m not sure if Silverstone do Novice only bike days, but I know the MSV tracks do and they share the sessions between cars and bikes
I have a lazer temp gauge and warmers (for a bike) but did not plan on get that involved when I ride like a bit of a fairy. No sexual orientation associated offence intended. I may just have to do a track day with different groups. Got a tonne of things to do before I start on that bike so no rush... will start to look into it more next year. Thanks for the advice all.
With your experience of racing cars, you'll have a head start on many in the Novice group anyway with line choice etc.
