South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

Just booked my 1st trackday, Pembrey on Friday 10th Sept. - anyone else going on these dates ?
Also booked my 2nd day aswell at castle coombe on 20th Sept !
Also looking at either Pembrey again (25th Sept) or Donnington (end of Sept) ?
Other than the obvious ... is there any useful info. about doing trackdays or the circuits/facilities listed above as i must admit cos i'm a total novice to trackdays and although i'm really looking forward to it i'm also bricking it !!

Any useful info ......... appreciated !

Any not so useful info .......... will maybe make me laugh and feel better !!

Thanks all in advance

well first of all good luck and enjoy.
brickin it on your first trackday is all part of the fun....i know i did,especially after the briefing session.
Pembury was my first trackday so i know what it feels like.
the track itself is flat with some medium paced corners and a slow hairpin with a few fast bends to get your teeth into.....the kink is one that will keep you awake the first few times you do it.
track facilities are nothing to speak of with a toliet come shower block but the showers are rubbish.a cafe and thats about it.
a few of us are there on the 25th so may see you there.

are u going alone ? not always a good thing for your first one.

pembrey, oooooooooooo might wanna test ya brakes as there is a real bstard of a hairpin at the end of the straight

there are 4 of us going up for the sept 25th trackday

castle combe - make sure your bike is whisper quiet or they won't let you on the track


take lots of water, you will get dehydrated, take fuel as there is none on site.

listen to the marshals, ask them if you can follow them round to learn the lines although you get 3 laps per session to do that anyway

Most importantly remember to BREATH

Sounds stupid but is the one thing most forget to do, other than that ride within your capabilities, not the bikes, it's far more capable than you, unless your name is Cal Crutchlow that is....

Use the morning to get the geography of the track and build speed slowly, you will think your a riding god by the end off the day but I promise you the marshalls are actually eating sandwiches and reading the sun, not marvelling at your awesome bike skills & speed

Track riding is awesome & the paddock a very friendly place oh and unless they're wearing an orange bib don't whatever you do follow the lines of that really quick rider in front, it's the novice group and they are most likely just about to fall off with your following them....

Oh and BREATH!!!!

Dont crash,

Can't remember if it was said above but lower your tyre pressures, depending on your bike and the weather about 30psi front n rear is a good starting point. Tape up all your lights to save them breaking all over the track

Allow extra money for fuel,its suprising how much thirstier your bike will be on track than the road

Finally relax,breathe and enjoy it then look forward to the next one

Cheers for the replies guys !

I am going on my own, unless anyone from here is going on the same date ? I'm going to go on Thursday late afternoon, staying the night before (probably at a B&B) and will be using a mates bike trailer, which i think is a 3 bike trailer.

I've got a track bike ... a k1 gsxr 750 (only bought it last month) i did plan on dropping the tyre pressures a bit.
I also plan on getting a spare set of wheels with wets on but that is in the nearish future, at the mo it's got pirelli dragon supercorsa pro tyres on ... will these be ok if it does rain or should i look at getting the spare wheels sooner rather than later ?
I don't have a set but do you recommend tyre warmers or is that for pro's ?

Thanks again

tyre warmers prolong the life of tyres and give you that extra bit of confidence knowing your tyres arent cold

i have a spare set of motrax warmers that i was going to list on ebay in the next day or two if your interested drop me a pm with your email and tomorrow night i'll email you some photos across

wets are a great idea if you can spare the money for them,saves losing out on tracktime and also handy to double up as a spare set for foreign days so you dont get ripped off by the tyre changing man

Polo wrote: and will be using a mates bike trailer, which i think is a 3 bike trailer.

have you used a bike trailer before???
do you have some decent ratchet straps and if your loading it on your own be careful and take your time.

Hi BamBam,

No i've not used a bike trailer before but i did hire a van when i bought 1 of my bikes & used straps to secure it, it didn't fall over or budge at all so hopefully all will be good again ! & i think he has straps !?

Hi Polo

Castle Combe is strict about noise but there's usually a guy there selling all sorts of bike stuff - tyres, break levers etc and a shed-load of baffles. Get in quick tho' lots of people fail the noise test.

I have a Gixxer 600 K1 with an Akropovic race can, it passed at Pembry no probs and passed with the baffle at Castle Combe.

Hi Mumbo,
Thanks for the heads up ! My k1 750 has a micron can on but i do have an original can ready to put on ... just in case !!