2022 West Coast Rally

[roortcloud]

Greetings.
It's my understanding that traditionally the rally location for the following year is decided among the participants of that rally. Make sense?
Seems like the last few years, for one reason or another, the location has been decided through a voting process on this forum with members suggesting various locations and volunteering to arrange certain aspects of the event. BTW, thanks to all those who have put forth that effort! Its also traditionally held on the weekend following the Memorial day weekend.
I'd like to take a poll on a VERY PRELIMNARY suggestion.
Is there any interest in a track day as part of next years West Coast Rally?
I don't have the 2022 track day schedule yet but traditionally one of Northern California's track day providers, Pacific Track Time (PTT) schedules events on the weekend following Memorial day at Thunderhill Raceway.
I've been to several days as a spectator and discovered they are extremely well organized for beginner thru expert riding ability. For the first time track rider little is required to have a very enjoyable experience. Some motorcycle mods are required such as taping over rear lights and glass, but I've witnessed bikes that look like they've just come off the street participate.
Certain rider equipment is also required such as boots that cover the ankles, gloves that cover the wrist, full face helmet etc. The complete list can be found on the PTT web site.
I've also looked at a potential ride the day before or after our track day. Motel accommodations are just a few minutes away. Thunderhill allows camping on site in tents, trailers, motorhomes with no extra charge. Electricity is also available.
Think about it.

[Pat Conlon]

Track days are fun, if I were to trailer by bike in to the WCR I would consider it.
However, if I were to ride in to the rally, I would take a pass.
It's a long walk back to Sedona if I were to wad up my bike.

[Carson City Paul]

Track days are fun, if I were to trailer by bike in to the WCR I would consider it.
However, if I were to ride in to the rally, I would take a pass.
It's a long walk back to Sedona if I were to wad up my bike.

As I recall, the last time you waded up your bike you weren't walking anywhere for a while. 

[fj1289]

As long as you ride within your limits there is much less opportunity to wad up your bike on the track!  No errant patches of gravel or pine cones!  Or on coming cars!

[FJmonkey]

In Pat's case it was sand in the corner after all that rain. But the track will not have any of that kind of issue as stated above. However, if you need you and your bike in good condition to get home then the risk may not be worth it. And a slow leisure pace might not be worth the cost of track time.

[andyoutandabout]

I'm finding that deciding on a track day is a real mental wrestling match. Fun v Fear.
At the end of the day I would offer that the track is of equal probability as the road for a mishap.
Yes you've not got all those road imperfections (Pat), pedestrians, deer (Mike), but you are surrounded by riders of unknown ability (Barry Sheene famously got taken down by a slower rider in a practice session who shouldn't have been on the track at the same time) and I'm sure your going to suffer a bit of swept up in the moment surges of excitement (just like any Fj Rally)
The conversations I've had with Ron, reveal that these Track days are pretty professionally run. There's mentors to guide you and protect you from yourself. Ultimately I get the vibe that its a day full of like minded enthusiasts who want nothing more than to have a good time and see you have a good time. For that reason alone, its worth a serious consideration.

[Motofun]

I've been track day riding for the better part of 20 years.  I currently am a coach with N2 and have been for 6 years.  Rider to rider accidents are very rare, the predominate cause is lack of skill.  As a novice pushes his limits trying to improve he is bound to discover them!  If you have good control of your ego (easy to say, hard to do) you can mostly control the outcome of a track day.  Having said that, I did crash once at NJMP when sand was blown onto the track so there's that.

[Carson City Paul]

In Pat's case it was sand in the corner after all that rain. But the track will not have any of that kind of issue as stated above. However, if you need you and your bike in good condition to get home then the risk may not be worth it. And a slow leisure pace might not be worth the cost of track time.

If memory serves me, Rick Mears hit a rabbit doing around 220 mph at Indy.
Just because you are at a race track it doesn't mean there aren't unpredictable hazards.

[Pat Conlon]

Yea, you guys are right, Fear vs. Fun....track days are fun.

The only FJ rally I trailered my bike to was the ECFR Tellico Plains rally I went with Klavdy and Marsh....all the other rallies I have ridden in.....

However, it sure would be fun to put some soft tires on my FJ, add some preload and ride her on the track.

Track days are fun. Jack is right. I'm not worried wreaking my bike, I can fix that (I've done it before)

At a WCR (2006?) my friend Carson City Paul had a high side mishap on Scaggs Springs road. He was riding in front of me and I saw the whole thing. The front end tucked in and launched him 6 feet in the air and literally body slammed him onto the street. Something you would see on WWF. The invisible hand of God body slam. The bike was damaged but rideable. Poor Paul, it was a long long Saturday night sitting around the campfire with bags of ice Saran wrapped to his shoulder and spine, and on the next morning, a fucking hellaciously long 10 hour ride from Petaluma back to SoCal.
Dan McCoy and Paul Lawson can do that.....I could not have done that...no way.

Yea, maybe it's time to get a trailer.... Although if I did, it won't be the same.

Leaving for the WCR at 4 in the morning on my FJ with my heated vest, a multicolored sunrise and my FJ singing her kookaloo song, is one of the happiest moments in my life. I would dearly miss that.

[Millietant]

I'm like you Pat, the thought of putting my FJ on trailer to get somewhere it's alien to me - heck I've ridden it 700 mostly motorway miles, just to ride my FJ around the Nurburgring for a long weekend and then ridden it 700 motorway miles back home, without a second thought.

I can understand using a trailer to take more than one bike somewhere, but even when there's a long boring ride ahead, that's all part and parcel of the "motorcycling" experience to me - however, I also understand that is my view and not everyone else will share it (won't stop me from poking fun though, it's just my way  ).

[ribbert]

However, it sure would be fun to put some soft tires on my FJ....... and ride her on the track.

No need these days Pat. The current offering of sports touring tyres such as PR5's, 01's, Pirelli's, Conti RA's etc will do everything a track day tyre would do 10 years ago, in fact the that segment of the market has all but disappeared because of it.

Noel

[Motofun]

However, it sure would be fun to put some soft tires on my FJ....... and ride her on the track.

No need these days Pat. The current offering of sports touring tyres such as PR5's, 01's, Pirelli's, Conti RA's etc will do everything a track day tyre would do 10 years ago, in fact the that segment of the market has all but disappeared because of it.

Noel

Current tire selection is amazing.  I run Dunlop Q3+ on my 750 for coaching in Novice and intermediate groups.  Take a lap to get some heat into them and then I'm good to go.  I wouldn't trust them in the advance group where you push constantly but for the other groups where there's a fair amount of off throttle they work great and last a long time too.

[Motofun]

It may appear as if I'm encouraging folks to try a trackday...well...because I am.  I don't ride fast on the street anymore, no real need.  The track is so much safer, and faster.  It teaches skills that come in handy when street riding too.  It's probably I stop at this point before I get too preachy....

[ribbert]

It may appear as if I'm encouraging folks to try a trackday...well...because I am.  I don't ride fast on the street anymore, no real need.  The track is so much safer, and faster.  It teaches skills that come in handy when street riding too.  It's probably I stop at this point before I get too preachy....

Track days are a great idea for a whole host of reasons, you can eliminate just about every hazard encountered on the road - except one, the moron with the rush of blood to the head who goes nuts because he's on a race track.


Phillip Island is one of the fastest tracks on the MotoGP circuit which allows amateurs to swipe out in spectacular fashion. My last (and final) track event saw 7 accidents and the day started with a rider trying to overtake me on the inside of a corner with too much speed and the wrong line and coming within a whisker of clipping my front wheel as he went wide. The next one was almost comical in the scale of his poor judgement, just as I was about to lean into turn 1 (a very fast corner) a guy passed me (on the inside) at warp speed, still on the throttle, still in a straight line and in the centre of the track! He made some attempt to brake just after passing me and a nano second before he ran out of bitumen, he must have left the track at 200kph+. How could he not even make an attempt at such a fast corner? It was not a close call but it could have been, it was only a second or two that separated us and only pure luck that placed us apart. I could not get my head around just how someone's judgement could be bad by such a huge margin.

However, the doozy, the incident that more than any other time in my motorcycling life had me convinced I was about to die, was on the last lap of the day. Three quarters of the way down the front straight a rider had come to a complete stop a bit left of the track centre having decided to exit through a gate that had had been opened just beyond the pits ( I doubt it should have been open ) rather than ride half way round the track to the exit.
Coming up on his left at probably 245K's I did not notice him until I saw his wheel turn full lock and his bike start to turn on it's own length, which you can do when you're stopped! I had no time for anything other than to tuck my elbow in, push my knee hard against the tank and wince. I may have even closed my eyes momentarily, I know I consciously braced expecting impact. I do not know how I missed him, I swear his bike looked to be right in my path, it must have been a hair's breadth.
To put that in perspective, it was probably only a second or so from realising he'd stopped to passing him.

Speaking with one of the operators shortly after, he said the 7 prangs was a record and he'd never seen so much chaos and stupidity on one day. He attributed it to the fact that much of the field had come for the MotoGP two days earlier and and were perhaps still pumped from the racing (or perhaps the booze).

I decided dicing with road hazards had treated me better over the years and I would stick with that. 


The photo below is one I took just 2 mins before the flag dropped for the start of the 2015 MotoGP at Phillip Island, inside turn 2. If I was on the grid and was aware of it's presence, I'd want it removed before I started, as would any motorcyclist that knew about kangaroos.



Having said all that, they are definitely a lot of fun and a great place to learn, if only the sessions could be idiot proofed.

Noel

[RPM - Robert]

Having said all that, they are definitely a lot of fun and a great place to learn, if only the sessions could be idiot proofed.

Noel

You can. Just rent the track for yourself.