Poll: More aggressive on the street after a track day?

Misti · May 19, 2011

For those of you that have taken your bikes to the track for either a track day or track riding school. Did you find that you afterwards you rode more aggressively on the street, less aggressively on the street or the same. Why do you think that was?

Misti

greg · May 19, 2011

was just thinking this today

spent yesterday at a training day at cadwell park, leaning my bike over further in the wet than i ever have on the road in the dry

3hr ride back through the twisties and i was overtaking pretty much everything in sight, and today i found myself being a lot more aggressive with my filtering

though i still try and be careful, and calculate each risk

had some idiot in an M3 try to race me today, raced him for about 2 seconds, then slowed down as i couldn't be bothered (plus i'd have run out of road by the time i got out of second gear), and instead proceeded to filter past him, and a long line of rush hour traffic

lonesoldier84 · May 19, 2011

Less aggressive.

For me, the drive to be aggressive (and therefore retarded) on public roads diminishes tremendously after seeing the contrast to genuinely enjoyable riding (i.e. closed circuit).

The other thing was that being aggressive on the street does not see you pushing past a certain level of "performance" without getting to stupendously retarded speeds on public roads.

On the secondary highways, aggression levels remain higher than on the streets, but they do drop significantly as MUCH more effort is placed on being smoother as opposed to being aggressive.

There is a shift in perception that smoother is better and speed is a by-product and not in and of itself the desired goal. That helps reign in the throttle hand and overall speeds and aggression levels decrease.

DDS · May 19, 2011

I've not done a track day but all i can liken it to is when you've been on the motorway (highway) for a long stretch, and you come off onto a normal road. you feel like you're going slowly so you tend to drive a bit faster

Wolfman · May 19, 2011

Less aggresive, cause i am normally tired and sore!

MagicMANX · May 19, 2011

Never been on a track day

but for me is the same as DDS after goin thru some twisty roads I tend to drive a lot faster on the city, right there is wen I simply slow down, dont want to end up stuck on the side of a car or something.

zmeiaspas · May 20, 2011

It's not that I'm more aggressive - it's just that 100mph seems like absolutely normal cruising speed and the corners are just never tight enough to justify going slower than double the speed limit (when there are no people around)

soundgarden · May 20, 2011

The same just much better every time

Everyone could use a few track days

Red Wazp · May 20, 2011

Wolfman said:
Less aggresive, cause i am normally tired and sore!

Spoken from someone who knows... for about 24 hours.

Kind of a leading question, I would replace the word aggressive with confidence after learning what you and the bike can do after a track day.

MagicMANX · May 21, 2011

I think you hit the spot Red Wasp, its definitely confidence, but at the same time it could be that you just feel more used to the speed or something along those lines

yoshiki · May 22, 2011

slightly more aggressive. but after a distance it wears off, then back to normal again.

Misti · May 24, 2011

lonesoldier84 said:
Less aggressive.

For me, the drive to be aggressive (and therefore retarded) on public roads diminishes tremendously after seeing the contrast to genuinely enjoyable riding (i.e. closed circuit).

The other thing was that being aggressive on the street does not see you pushing past a certain level of "performance" without getting to stupendously retarded speeds on public roads.

On the secondary highways, aggression levels remain higher than on the streets, but they do drop significantly as MUCH more effort is placed on being smoother as opposed to being aggressive.

There is a shift in perception that smoother is better and speed is a by-product and not in and of itself the desired goal. That helps reign in the throttle hand and overall speeds and aggression levels decrease.

Good points. These were the same thoughts I had after taking my bike to the track. I felt like I was able to get my speed thrills out on a safe and controlled circuit and that suddenly the street looked so much more dangerous. I became much more tame on the street.

A lot of people have the opposite view point here though according to the poll results.

For those of you that feel you ride more aggressively on the street after track days why do you think that is? Is it that you gain more confidence in your riding so you feel like you can ride faster and more aggressively on the road with less fear that you will crash?

Misti

greg · May 25, 2011

i think after a track day there is some new found confidence, you also get into the mentality of trying to overtake everything

that said, if i'm not 100% focused then i sit back and enjoy the ride

i analyse everything i do on the bike, and make note of any potential errors i have made (misjudging overtakes, pulling out instead of waiting etc), and try to correct them

FinalImpact · Jun 2, 2011

No track days for me as of this writing but in general
Olympics = get in shape
Go Karts = little more aggressive on the street, adrenaline maybe??
NASCAR = mind-set, but I've always had fast cars

Having said that I'm pretty sensible and don't do stupid things as a norm. I will however take calculated risks.

To answer OP's Q, I'd toss the adrenaline factor in there. It plays a roll in our actions. Example; when you wreck or make mistake we tend to slow down but when you're hitting your marks mistake free it can change your mindset towards upping the anti and kicking up the pace. . .

fastar1 · Jun 8, 2011

I reduced my driving aggression after experiencing the track. It was quickly obvious that there was no sane speed I could attain on the street that would get me anywhere near the "thrill zone" speeds I got on the track.

djstrong · Jun 8, 2011

For me, much less "agression" on the street.

I road raced cars, and after that, anything on pubic roads cannot compare to wheel to wheel racing. Sorry, I have never done a track day on a bike, (So I did not vote) But I am for sure in the camp of riding/driving safer & less "agressive" on the street after track days.

"Agression" can have various meanings. I am a very passive person, but in the race car it was easy for me to turn on the agression. For street bike riding, the main thing to me is safety. In some riding sitations that means going faster to avoid problems.

I would like to do a track day some day, but currently don't have any plans.

ctbandit · Jun 14, 2011

I think its relative. My speed has increased sometimes on the street, but not in an aggressive fashion, just relative to my comfort level.

Marthy · Oct 13, 2011

I never took a bike at a race track, but I did a little bit of car racing at very entry level back in the days. Ice racing did not make me more aggressive driving in the street, but it did make myself more confident and improve my car control by a lot. So I would imagine hitting the track with my bike will just improve my confidence since I was able to test my limit and the bike limit in a control environment.

yamihoe · Apr 16, 2012

lonesoldier84 said:
being aggressive on the street does not see you pushing past a certain level of "performance" without getting to stupendously retarded speeds on public roads.

unfortunately/fortunately it is quite easy to break the 100 mark on a bike nowadays

There is a shift in perception that smoother is better and speed is a by-product and not in and of itself the desired goal. That helps reign in the throttle hand and overall speeds and aggression levels decrease.

:thumbup::thumbup: I try and be as smooth as possible whenever on a mulitlane road.

chnordiste · Apr 16, 2012

the twice trackday days I've done, I get up at 5h00 am, ride during 2 hours to get to the track, and then "race" during 2h20 (7 sessions of 20mn)

thus in my case, after a such day, i'm so exhausted I travel back more like a old man on a moped

Poll: More aggressive on the street after a track day?

After taking your bike to the track for a track day or school did you ride

more aggressively on the street

less aggressively on the street

the same

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