[dad]

I didn't realize just how much I missed it. Frday the ninth, VIR, Team Pro-Motion opener, and this week-end is the WERA opener. Three days with LOTS of motorcycles and speed. ;D Yee-Haw. It was FUN!

Anybody planning any track riding this year?

 

[Lucky#13]

No. But I plan on attending some WERA and AMA events at Barbers . Any chance you will be there ?

 

[dad]

Nope. Not that far south. VIR is the southern limit but I do get up to several tracks in Canada, north of Lake Ontario.

I coach and teach with a trackday company, Team Pro-Motion, that runs the east coast. Mostly VIR, Summit Point, Pocono, Beaverun, and then four Canadian tracks, Mosport, Shannonville, Mt.Tremblant, and a brand new one, Calabogie. Once in a while we do Loudon NH, too. Any others are on my own but with seventy plus days anticipated this year it doesn't leave much time (or much need) to go looking for more. I've got two more this week-end but as the season really gets rolling it'll be 3-4 a week. It's fun but also a grind keeping bikes and travel equipment ready and rolling 1,000 miles a week, give or take.

 

[Frog]

dad, which date are you going to Mt Tremblant ?

I'm thinking about organising a ride this summer and Mt Tremblant is the perfect destination

 

[dad]

dad, which date are you going to Mt Tremblant ?

I'm thinking about organising a ride this summer and Mt Tremblant is the perfect destination

Team Pro-Motion will be there May 7th and 8th. I'm not absolutely sure that I'll be at that one but will almost assuredly be at some of the Canadian dates, just coaching.

My main gig with them is as an instructor for the Level II school but that class is not run at any of the Canadian dates. That has me committed to the 50 dates that my school is offered of the total 90 days that will be run this year. I anticipate running another 25 or so as a group coach and as help is required. As such, I anticipate being at some of the Canadian dates but not sure it will be those. There are also some overlapping dates at different tracks and I can only be at one at a time.

Check this link for all of the dates. There are quite a few up your way, many at the new track, Calabogie near Ottowa.

http://www.teampromotion.com/tpm.php?page_id=track_events

Also, if you DO organize a ride, get in touch with me. I can probably orchestrate a thing they call "Try the Track" which can give your group a few free parade laps, following a coach, at the lunch break. They usually take you around ten laps or so. Not full bore and all single file, but not all that slow either, depending on how the group seems to handle it. How cool is THAT!? 8) ;D It'll be fun.

All you need minimum is a riding jacket, gloves, full face helmet, gauntlet style gloves, and boots over the ankles. No special bike prep at all. It's a chance to get out there and get some sense of what it's like.

BTW, anybody else who looks at the schedule and sees a date they may want to bring a group to, drop me a note and we can likely arrange the same. Any date or track we're running. The dates I'm assured to be at are the ART II class dates. Check the ART school schedules for the dates that ART II is offered. Even if it's not an ART II date there's a good chance I'll still be there but not absolute as some dates and tracks overlap.

 

[Royson]

Also, if you DO organize a ride, get in touch with me. I can probably orchestrate a thing they call "Try the Track" which can give your group a few free parade laps, following a coach, at the lunch break. They usually take you around ten laps or so. Not full bore and all single file, but not all that slow either, depending on how the group seems to handle it. How cool is THAT!? 8) ;D It'll be fun.

How many riders would be needed in a group? I'd love to try out the track in that kind of circumstance, at reasonable speeds. So to clarify that I do understand, my group would show up during your lunch break and you'd take us around a couple times for free???

 

[dad]

How many riders would be needed in a group? I'd love to try out the track in that kind of circumstance, at reasonable speeds. So to clarify that I do understand, my group would show up during your lunch break and you'd take us around a couple times for free???

Yup. 8) That's about it. There's no hard and fast rule about an arrival time or anything but it would be good to show up by maybe 10:00 or so, giving ample time for the track workers to know what they've got. They'll have to get somebody to look over your equipment, especially riding gear, and make sure it meets the minimum, talk some stuff over with everybody so they know the program, make sure the cornerworkers aren't on lunch break, things like that. Also you'll need to sign a liability release. But the key answers are YES, it's available, and YES, it's free. 8) ;D

As far as group size, that's also loose. It's nice to have at least a few, maybe five or so, and as many as you want BUT, if you're going to have a BIG group, say ten to twenty, it'd be courteous to advise of that so the right preparations can be made. We will need more than one leader for such a big group.

Let me know if there's any desire so I can give the the heads up. It's nothing too formal and nothing to get all cranked up about if you've got a decent bike and decent gear as described. They'll handle the rest.

 

[Frog]

dad you are my hero !

Thanks a million ;D

I'll keep you posted

 

[Royson]

Thanks Dad. I'd love to try that out, maybe I'll drive a province over and join 'Frog' or see if I can find a couple riders out this way!

 

[Frog]

Royson, check the canadian section

 

[dad]

Hey, we also have several Canadian coaches, and one is a woman. She's a long time racer in the Canadian women's race series but I think ran with the guys sometimes, too. And two brothers from Quebec who are fluent in French, as you might imagine. Also some Spanish speakers. We got it ALL! ;D

Actually a VERY good bunch who share many backgrounds, with the internationally common ground of their passion for riding.

 

[Frog]

Are we talking about the Picotte's brothers by any chance ?

 

[dad]

Are we talking about the Picotte's brothers by any chance ?

Nah. Good riders, though. ;D And they do race, just don't know for sure where.

 

[Frog]

Well, right now they are taking care of my baby, it's spent the weekend at their race shop

If you get their name, lemme know

 

[Bravo12]

I'm doing a track day in May with the USDesmo club at Carolina Motorsports Park. I did my first track day ever there last year on a borrowed Ninja250 and had the time of my life! We'll be riding the Blue Ridge Parkway and probably Deal's Gap for a few days leading up to the track day. This vacation will be a big step for me - I haven't ridden a motorcycle since I wrecked my Bandit last July. I don't think I'll have any kind of shell-shock when I get on the bike. But, even though the accident was someone else's fault and occurred on a highway, I'll definitely be taking it slow for awhile (at least on the street).

 

[KarmaChameleon]

Going to Summit Point this weekend (doing sunday/monday) Well-hubby is doing sunday and monday. I'm still trying to lose some baby weight so that my leathers fit. They fit now-they just don't zip closed. Then going to Pocono the following weekend, then back to summit then back to pocono. We were going to go to BeaveRun, but the 5 hour trip with a newborn is a little rough this year.

Are there any 500's that run with TPM? I know that they have some for rental bikes. I'm the only one that I've seen at any NESBA events with a 500 besides one girl with a 250. Also-do the 500's have the lower fairing removed? I have a problem scraping lower fairing before my knee comes relatively close to dragging. The freakin bus stop at pocono SHREADED my lower.

Sorry for the tangent

K

 

[dad]

You really should try Team Pro-Motion. 8) Check their website for dates. I sometimes use an EX for teaching and coaching in the novice group.

As far as scraping the fairing goes, you really need to raise the back end. The fairing scrapes first but there are other hard parts not far behind when sitting at stock height. In the suspension thread there are some posts about that. Fog makes some links to raise the rear for a very reasonable cost. I've made them too but have zero time right now being the height of the track day season and teaching at just about every TPM event. We'll be at Pocono three days, tomorrow, Sat, and Sun. Next weekend will be Summit Point, Shenandoah Circuit, then VIR, then..... We're at Beaverun around the second or third weekend of September.

If you make a TPM event make sure to say hello. I'm coach #53, Mark.

 

[KarmaChameleon]

thanks for your input...I'm vertically challenged (5 ft 2) so i can barely roll the bike around with my boots on to begin with. the seat has been shaved to help me a little bit. If i raise the back up, will it drastically raise the seat height? I have hubbys old 99 R6 track bike, but I don't use it cuz i can't really reach the ground and I'm not very good at one footing it. I don't want to be the dumb broad that drops the bike at pit in/out. I have enough issues keeping the bike up right. I could lower it, but then i have the same issue of scraping. Thanks for your help.
Do you know Rich Edgar? I think that he is a coach. I think he runs around on a 675.

 

[dad]

Do you know Rich Edgar? I think that he is a coach. I think he runs around on a 675.

Sure do! I just did three days with him at Pocono. Good guy! Rides a 675, used to have an SV, and now has some KTM motard bike, too. He's a good rider but also a good coach. Now you HAVE to come out. Be sure to say hello and tell Rich you spoke to the Level II coach, Mark. He'll tell you stories. ;D

 

[djgrom]

Hey, we also have several Canadian coaches, and one is a woman. She's a long time racer in the Canadian women's race series but I think ran with the guys sometimes, too. And two brothers from Quebec who are fluent in French, as you might imagine. Also some Spanish speakers. We got it ALL! ;D

Actually a VERY good bunch who share many backgrounds, with the internationally common ground of their passion for riding.

Who was the gothy looking chick when we were at VIR, she was cute.