Alfred's Honda Hawk Homepage

Track Riding

For all of you beginners there are different ways to get acquainted with the track in Southern California.  I've only been on two of them, Willow Springs International Raceway and the Streets of Willow.  Here's a few different groups that I've gone to Willow with, and a little bit about each one.

Fastrack Riders  www.fastrackriders.com
I was first introduced to the track with this group.  At the time, the organizer Tom Sera, had done a tremendous job of providing a way to get to the track with minimal bike prep and maximum riding time.  You'll have to check the fastrack homepage for exactly what you need to do, but the last time I looked, all the bike needed was to have the mirrors and lights taped.  There's an introductory classroom session with Danny Farnsworth which tells you all of the track rules, safety issues, and suggestions for which lines to take, etc.  He has years of experience and lot's of great stories to prove it.  After that session, you'll have a chance to ride around the track along with others with the same experience, since the riding sessions are split up by skill level.  I feel that anybody with enough canyon riding experience would feel right at home in the intermediate group.

Class Motorcycle School  www.classrides.com
This is run by Reg Pridmore, 3 time AMA superbike champion in the late 70's.  I thought that this was by far the least intimidating way to get on the track, because the emphasis is on smoothness and control, not racing.  The majority of the students were riding bikes of the sport touring variety, such as bmw's, vfr's, etc.  It's divided into two skill groups, and I chose to go with the slower group.  After a couple of sessions, I actually went to the more experienced group instead, taught by Jason Pridmore.  The best part of the school was having multiple instructors riding around the track, showing you the proper lines and giving you feedback about your riding techniques back at the pit.  Reg also has a special deal going on where he'll take you on the back of his bike around the track, for a small donation to charity.

Willow Springs Motorcycle Club www.race-wsmc.com
After a year of riding Fastrack days, I figured that I could get track time cheaper if I just joined the club racing group at Willow.  On the third weekend of every month, the Willow Springs Motorcycle Club has practice on saturday, and races on sunday.  This group is definitely more serious about racing; most of the people there are running dedicated track bikes.  If you are planning on joining, you must have your bike completely prepped: safety wire, water wetter, number plates, the whole deal.  During practice days, the different riding sessions are split up strictly by displacement, not by skill.  It's a little intimidating at first, but the more experienced members ride so much cleaner you get used to riding alongside them pretty quickly.  I've been running middleweight practices (501-650cc), so I spend a good amount of time pestering those 600's.  The hawk definitely has a horsepower disadvantage at Willow; in my novice races, I'd often pass the same couple of 600's during a race, but they'd pass me all over again on the straights. Recently, I've been doing expert races where the other bikes are a little more comparable... I'm still finishing with the same results since SV650's, FZR400's, Ducati 748's, and Aprilia RS250's aren't all that slow either!  Oh well, I'm having so much fun riding that bike I don't worry about where I finish... but imagine the bragging rights if I could place on an 14 year old bike!

Motorcycle Training Center www.mtctrackday.com
This organization really has one of the best deals!  They have typically held track days during the middle of the week (which is cheaper), and have also been able to provide lunch and a free t-shirt.  The track days I've been to so far do not have any organized class time, but there are plenty of instructors running around the track with you to offer advice, no matter what skill level you may be at.  They hold track days at both the streets of willow and big willow.  I've learned that riding on the big track at Willow all of the time has not taught me everything there is to know about tighter turns.  I'm really itching to get some more track time out on the streets of willow, especially since learning the lines is the fun part!