Frist track day at Ed Bargy... Great Experience.. UPDATED?

[Cucciolo]

Ed Bargy's school is coming to town next month and I want to attend. Does anyone on this forum know about this school or better yet has done it?
If you have or know about it.. please let me know if you would recommend it as a first track day experience. Thanks!

http://www.edbargyracingschool.com/aboutschool.htm

[darylbowden]

Ed Bargy's school is coming to Nashville next month and I want to attend. Does anyone on this forum know about this school or better yet has done it?
If you have or know about it.. please let me know if you would recommend it as a first track day experience. Thanks!

http://www.edbargyracingschool.com/aboutschool.htm

I haven't but it's very popular with the WERA guys.  If you ask this same question at forums.13x.com (the WERA BBS), you'll get a ton of answers I bet.

[smooth]

I did Ed Bargy's two day school several years ago to get my racing license and highly recommend it. A couple of suggestions: be punctual, have your bike and personal gear ready before you show up, pay attention, relax and have fun. Also, the co-instructors Ed has with him are very friendly and knowledgable, but you need to approach them and ask for help if you want it. Unless you're riding incredibly slow or dangerously, they won't necessarily speak up. Later in the first day, I latched onto one instructor in particular and spent most of the last few sessions going back and forth working on different skills and my lines. I'd follow him a few laps, then he'd follow me and see how I was doing.

Last, after you've been thru Ed's school, he offers the best deal on trackdays around. They're usually on a Friday before the race weekend for $100 (more at Barber) and you get a ton of time on the track.

[Cucciolo]

Thank you for the posts!!

I am now looking to buy the necessary gear. I am undecided between buying a racing suit (which I will use only for this school and the sporadic track day to come) or buy leather pants and a a leather jacket that can zip together. Any recommendations on what to buy? I'd prefer to buy separate pants and jacket I can use for street riding too and not look like a power ranger when off the bike.. a good balance of protection for spirited riding with discrete looks.
Smooth: I will have to call Ed and ask, but do you think they will let me use my 4k miles tires.? They aren't worn much..but I read that they want you to have new tires.. I'd like to save some $ since I will have to buy a stand, leathers, tall boots, pay the school day, etc..

This is the only school that comes to Nashville and I don't want to miss it!!

[smooth]

Personnaly, I think 4000 miles is quite a bit on a set of sportbike tires prior to a trackday, but that also depends on how hard you ride. Tires and safety gear are the two things I don't go cheap on. Do you want to be on track trying to find the line or learn some new skills and suddenly start worrying if your tires are up to snuff?

As far as leathers, you may want to call and ask if they have suits for rent. They did in the past, but I have no idea what brand they were. I prefer full leather suits, but I've known several folks to use the two piece - zip together kind. Either way, I really like Alpinestars & Spidi but they tend to run a bit high. Teknic has several offerings that range from fairly low cost to really expensive. A friend of mine is going to the track at the end of the month and will use a two piece suit for now in case this is the only time he goes. Who knows, you may not like it!
But seriously, you may want to consider that prior to dropping $1200 or more for a top of the line suit. If you have friends that go to the track, you may be able to borrow some leathers, a stand, etc.

[smooth]

I forgot about another brand of suit I saw recently. If you have a Cycle Gear store in your area, check out their Frank Thomas leathers. They have one & two piece leathers at a reasonable price. I didn't check them out closely, but their jackets seem to be pretty well made.

I also forgot gloves and boots. Buy good ones, not a pair of gardeners gloves and your Wolverine workboots. Your gloves should have gauntlets that cover your wrist and a small part of your forearms. Good motorcycle specific boots are a must. Good luck on your "Frist tack day at Ed Bargy"!

[jarelj]

I did the Ed Bargy race school at Jennings GP a couple of years ago, it was pretty good.  Ed teaches the time-tested track riding method of "the shortest distance between two points is a straight line", in other words don't use any more of the track than you need to.  That's good advice, Ed has been doing this for a LONG time, so he's seen just about everything.  As was suggested, make sure you ask questions and seek help if you need it.  As for tires, I've found Michelin Pilot Powers and Bridgestone BT-002RS to be great track day tires that also offer decent life on the street.

[Cucciolo]

I did the Ed Bargy race school at Jennings GP a couple of years ago, it was pretty good.  Ed teaches the time-tested track riding method of "the shortest distance between two points is a straight line", in other words don't use any more of the track than you need to.  That's good advice, Ed has been doing this for a LONG time, so he's seen just about everything.  As was suggested, make sure you ask questions and seek help if you need it.  As for tires, I've found Michelin Pilot Powers and Bridgestone BT-002RS to be great track day tires that also offer decent life on the street.

Thanks for the reply! I am glad to hear positive feedback about Bargy's school.. although I was also browsing the superbike school's website (Code's) and it sounds really good as well. Good thing about Code's would be that I can use their bike and rent a good suit and all the reviews are outstanding.