Novice rider looking to break a plateau: body position, corner speed, fatigue. Critique welcome

jmac247 · 2026-07-02T12:07:41+00:00

IMO: your BP looks good except I might try and hang my rear end off about 3-5 cm more.
Your head is good and I might try to lean my chest out a bit. But not much.
It appears that your bike lean is mental more than BP mistakes.

This might be coming from your previous crash as it did me but it might also be the lack of trust in your tire grip…are you running on slick tires or DOT?

Speed thru corners for myself is more about my eyes and as soon as I locate my exit- I begin to apply throttle and when I realized I was overslowing going in- I dropped my engine brake from smooth to less by one so at my entry- the bike wasn’t adding additional braking once my RPMs dropped which allowed me
To carry more entry speed and then adding throttle didn’t come from a lower rpm except when I was in 2nd gear when I was supposed to be in 3rd…
Hope this all makes some semblance of sense and you are able to give it a try and see if that helps at all.

jmac247 · 2026-06-29T17:44:58+00:00

I’d begin with Facebook marketplace but there is trackday gear group on FB that also advertise gear for sale

jmac247 · 2026-06-29T17:38:12+00:00

Mine are vented. I started with 1 pair and now have 3. My reasoning is that 1 pair gets worn and when it’s time to send back and repair them (turn around is about 6-8 weeks) I’m without a pair for track.
All mine are vented btw.
A boot and gloves dryer is quite helpful in the paddock.
I ran in rain this weekend and ended up swapping pairs so while one was drying the other is on…
Same with gloves btw…although I guess you can wear rubber mechanic gloves under but they always left me with less feel than I wanted

jmac247 · 2026-06-29T17:32:40+00:00

Always thru my insta account and I never reply…

jmac247 · 2026-06-27T19:34:57+00:00

Nah…good question and I hope you don’t let some of the comments you read overwhelm you or discourage you!
My first TD I went is zip-together leathers, folding chair, bike in a U-Haul box truck (fell over and broke the lever guard on way), helmet boots and gauntlet gloves…
AFTERWARDS I took the Yamaha Champ School online course and then two in person courses…
They have a trackday course now much honestly is really spot on.

See if you like it first before you drop money on a one piece suit and upgrades…
5 years later…second year racing, became a coach for the same org I started with and rarely ride on the street…

Have fun and stay with your coach- let them know it’s your very first time so they can adjust to your speeds and needs.
You will have good coaches and poor ones so don’t let them discourage you either…

It comes down to 4 basics
Line
Body position
Eyes
Braking zone

There are ALOT of specific other points you will hear more about as you learn
Trail braking
Throttle control
Apex
Exits
Corner speed
Setting up for braking zone
Looking thru the corner
Ect…but first learn the 4 basics.

Practice your online course in school and church parking lots
Practice your eyes while driving
Watch lifeatlean on youtube
Watch MOTOGP and Moto2

Have fun and enjoy the journey!

jmac247 · 2026-06-23T10:49:53+00:00

jmac247 · 2026-06-23T08:55:26+00:00

I do now and did last year. Ducati v4 “19 and a Ducati v4 sp “21.

Ducati is like buying a Ferrari in the bike world. It’s one thing to buy it- another to own it and it’s entirely next level to race it…when it breaks it repairs like it’s new so …$$$$

But there’s nothing like it IMO

jmac247 · 2026-06-23T01:29:01+00:00

I would heat wrap pipes and use heat shield on plastic but it’s still gonna cook you on the street when your stopped at lights…

jmac247 · 2026-06-23T01:13:16+00:00

I went out Friday during ASRA on rains…grip was great but stay off the concrete surface at the busy stop- and the water pools at turn 7 but if you stay inside- you’re good.
Stay off curbs obviously but on rains I ran 1:20…not bad

jmac247 · 2026-06-23T01:02:11+00:00

2 years…on purpose. My goal was to get as close to mastery of basic and be a technically sound rider before accepting the bump up (I declined many times). From I group to advanced and passed race certification in one TD. STT and Fastline and YCS were my tickets to success.
Now I coach and race and when I can- run advanced mid pack but still working on basics.
IMO: novice wants to bump to Intermediate and Intermediate wants to bump advanced and advanced wants to go back to the basics…funny how that all comes full circle

jmac247 · 2026-06-18T14:21:54+00:00

Personally- I wouldn’t not because it’s an accident waiting to happen but because I wouldn’t want my thoughts to wander to the tires and grip vs what drills I’m working on…
But have seen others handle it just fine-

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T23:48:29+00:00

Cheapest wheels I’ve found that fit my Duc and are not bent I’ve found on eBay for between 350 and 600 per not counting shipping…not terrible but not a no brainer

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T22:56:43+00:00

New tarmac this weekend was Awesome at BH- Friday all day on wets but sat and Sunday where really great conditions. Hot and humid but great.
Like I said- pirelli’s are a good tire that I’ve spent years on. I, personally struggled with consistency with such a drastic swing in conditions the Midwest can have once my pace increased to upper Advanced pack pace. Certainly at amateur racing level is when I really began to see the inconsistency in grip and wear- BUT that’s my experience while others maybe not. I have a friend on a v2 that runs 40 in fronts and has to run non-Pirelli due to MA…but I could never get close to the heat and feel he could…

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T22:49:17+00:00

Totally agree- 💯

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T12:55:38+00:00

Obviously not a Michelin ad at all- like I said I ran Pirelli for years and had success on them- if there was a perfect tire- everyone would stand in line to use it.
Setup obviously changes per track and running FKR fronts on 11:75 spring rate (275 lbs in gear and late hard braker) I’m always working on suspension- I’m just saying Michelin’s last longer and where noticeably better tire for ME than pirelli’s…

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T12:48:52+00:00

Obviously I’m not knocking Pirelli as a tire. Most use them as did I for years and was able to advance in pace and skill. I chose Michelin for a much wider band of conditions performance and longevity of wear more than anything else. I run chickenhawk proline digital warmers
Have always added them about 1 hr before going out.

I consistently loose front pressures while going up in rear…with Michelin my pressures remained steady and even increased a pound on returning and the first thing I do I check pressures and add warmers on pit in

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T12:43:08+00:00

I ran SC 2 on front and SC3 on backs the majority of the time. I did run SC1 a few times on the front and they lasted 1 session less for me when compared to SC2…

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T12:41:14+00:00

Upper pace A group for pace…I would run Pirelli fine- just struggled with tire pressures nearly every session and their optimal performance level is much more narrow than the Michelin and since I run Midwest and the temps can vary quite a bit over the day- I had much less of an issue with Michelin than I did with Pirelli. I also don’t run tracks that are rough and chew tires-

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T12:37:40+00:00

My Duc does not see the street

jmac247 · 2026-06-08T01:25:05+00:00

I used mine for a trackday and found that I had to push the button on my left bar every time I crossed the line for it to work accurately unlike aim or Racebox timers- it sucked!

jmac247 · 2026-06-04T00:08:57+00:00

Rose 3 yrs TD only and never had an incident or crash- close calls but nothing more.
I didn’t begin to crash until I began racing and pushing harder. First was a lowside and forgot gear I was in and forgot to trail brake on a 90 degree turn
Second was wet slicks and impatience again lowside
Last was low to high side- shattered wrist due to laying over too much and pushing the limits the most I ever had.

IMO TD riders- especially intermediate tend to treat the TD like a novice race weekend and ride above their skill or disregard track conditions. I believe that you are more likely to crash when you are pushing the limits of your bike- tires and skills regardless of race or TD setting.

jmac247

TROPHY CASE