Track Day Report for Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch

The anticipation of the first track day of the year is always exciting, especially when you’ve made significant upgrades to your bike and gear. My goal for this first weekend was getting back on track after the winter break and putting my Aprilia RS660 changes to the test. I have ridden this track once before, so at least that wasn’t something new as well!

Preparation

I decided to convert my motorcycle to a track day race bike: no headlights, mirrors or indicators (flashers to my North American friends!). These changes will make my bike ergonomics more aggressive, easier to service, better availability for replacement parts, and meet some of the requirements for racing. 

I installed:

• Woodcraft Armor Bodies race bodywork (I did not have time to add the superbike seat option)
• Woodcraft top triple clamp and clip-ons
• Ohlins steering damper with the Graves mount

And for myself; a brand new Bison race suit, complete with integrated airbag protection – a game-changer for safety and style!

Day 1: Testing the Waters

As I hit the track on the first day, my primary goal was simple: ensure that the changes to my bike were performing as expected. The Woodcraft clip-ons felt very natural, allowing me to achieve a more comfortable track riding position and move across the bike more easily. The biggest improvement I noticed was the Ohlins damper giving me more steering stability through corners. In the afternoon, issues with knee discomfort re-surfaced, possibly related to difficulties moving my foot into position to shift gears. I found myself shuffling forward to shift, and then shuffling backwards to be able to dig my knee into the tank to stop myself from always being on the balls of my feet. I also noticed the collar of my suit rubbing on my neck (thanks to Bison’s amazing customer support, I’m already working with them to resolve this!). Despite these issues, I soldiered on, determined to make the most of the day. I finally got into a better rhythm in the last session, which you can see reflected in my lap times below!

Day 2: Finding My Stride

With warmer temperatures on the horizon, I was ready to tackle the day after a good night’s sleep. The weather cooperated and the track was in pristine condition, offering amazing grip and ideal conditions. I focused on adjusting my body position to carry less weight in my knees by not being on the balls of my feet all time, which helped. There were less people in the Novice group on Sunday, offering more opportunities for open track and practising passing other riders whenever I did catch up with someone. Another observation from day one on my mind was ensuring I wasn’t putting additional weight on the inside handlebar through tighter corners. This is an old habit that has gotten me into trouble in the past, namely a low side on a decreasing radius corner at High Plains Raceway in Colorado. As the instructors at Yamaha Champions Riding School would say: Reason #5 why we crash: repeating a mistake. 

The Track

This track is one of my favourites for pushing me out of my comfort zone. It has some big radius sweeping corners that are long enough for me to take stock of things like my body position, where my weight is, and to practise maintenance throttle through the corner. Conversely, it also has a mix of tighter corners, including decreasing radius corners that I find challenging. I was able to work on being patient and not “rushing” to the apex, instead taking a later entry to line myself up better for the exit before taking away lean as I get on the throttle.

There are also some double apex corners where I’m still mulling over how I can improve, in particular corner 10. Watching my onboard footage, I can see where I often miss the second apex, or over slow in the corner as I change direction. I suspect this is partially because I am cautious about not being smooth with my initial pickup of the throttle. 

My Times and Progression

This data was captured using a Racebox Mini S. This is the small black box that you see attached to the tail of my motorcycle.

The map and graph above show data for my fastest lap. I did not have a Racebox when I visited this track last year. Timing last year’s video, I can see a good improvement in overall lap time. However for some corners I was still doing the same speed when I had expected to be faster, i.e. corners 1 and 2. My suspicion is that I’m experiencing a psychological lean angle barrier – if my body position is good, my tires and the track conditions are good, my knee should be touching the ground.

My Track Day Report Card

As I reflect on the two days at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, I’m very proud of successfully making some big changes to the bike. Despite a few challenges encountered, I gained some really valuable insight into what I want to work on at my next track day. I had a fantastic time! Track Xperience is a fun organisation to ride with, who are very welcoming to riders of all levels. They operate mainly in the SoCal and Nevada area, check out their calendar here. Spring Mountain is one of the most pristine and professionally run facilities I’ve visited. I’m already looking forward to going back next year!

I hope you enjoyed my first official track day report! If you haven’t already, check out this on-board video lap and subscribe to my YouTube channel to follow my journey!