Recommend me a Track Day

I am think of getting my hubby track day as a surprise. He has been saying he wants to do one for years but has never got round to organising it. He has an R1 but wouldn't want to risk crashing it so I will need to hire him a bike also. We are based in East Yorkshire so somewhere not too far away would be best and ideally in the UK!

Can you give me some suggestions of where the best tracks are and if you have had any experiences or have any tips you'd like to share that would be great.

Thanks in advance

[L3nny]

Where do you live?
www.trackdays.co.uk do vouchers you can use with a few different organisations.

[NTECUK]

Check the exses on the bike hire policy . I was quoted{ £300}. EDIT gone up to £400 Max liability.Small Boys.
That plus the cost of the days hire could be expensive.

[Mr Speirs]

I don't get thought why people worry about crashing their bike. He'll know his bike and his limits and can concentrate on riding the track not getting used to a different bike. You can actually get trackday insurance which is £99 per day which will be cheaper that hiring one. But if you are really wanted to hire then smallboys bike hire have got a great reputation, no personal experience from me can be offered.

Cadwell is technical and challenging but fun. First day there I felt out of my depth but second was a blast and has been ever since.

Mallory is simple to learn, cheap although the new noise limits have dampened things somewhat.

Silverstone is fast and wide so wide you can make a mistake and get away with it but if you really make a mistake you are going very quickly. Plenty of room and great facilities.

Snetterton quite far from you but is, to me, a mini silverstone fast and wideish. Great facilities and cheap.

For me I book with No Limits always.
And if you are travelling far get there the evening before. Time seems to fall away from you when you try and do it all in one day.

[NTECUK]

Originally Posted by Mr Speirs

Snetterton quite far from you but is, to me, a mini silverstone fast and wideish. Great facilities and cheap.

And has a nice long back straight!!!

If you are ooop-norf, then Cadwell Park and Oulton Park are both exhillerating tracks, as trackday pricing goes, they are the 'cheaper' tracks too!

[Mr Speirs]

Oulton park ain't cheap! Per mile it's probably the most expensive after brands hatch

Yeah oulton is dear. From east Yorks cadwell park is easy to get to and probably my favorite. Challenging and narrow in parts though. Blyton raceway also does them for bikes now on its brand new circuit which is also close to you. They are run by a company called javelin. Not tried myself but have heard good value for money. Don't bother with hire bikes, by the time you waste that amount of money you could put towards a cheap track bike like an old gsxr/zx/600 etc. Falling off isn't compulsory! He could do a novice only one with club msv so not pressured into doing owt daft! Maybe get a voucher for next year now as not many available at this time of year, they are cheap at mo but that's because they can be grim! I did one last month at oulton and gave up after dinner. It was just a crashfest, freezing cold and wet and slippy. Not what you want on your 1st one.

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by Mr Speirs

Cadwell is technical and challenging but fun. First day there I felt out of my depth but second was a blast and has been ever since.

OMG, when i first arrived at Cadwell i thought "this place looks ace!" and after my first couple of warm up laps i thought "im never gonna remember all this" and by the end of the first session i wanted to go home.
However by the end of the day i was crowned the King of Kadwell!!! By myself that is, as i got all of about 6 inches of air over the mountain once and didnt fall off at all, even those i had a couple of close calls at the chicane of all places.

Anyway, my first time on track was at Brands Hatch as i know it so well i felt comfortable. So perhpas this is the best way forward for you Bootoo. Does hubby watch bike or car racing at all? Does he have a favourite track for watching (lets hope its not Philip Island in Oz tho, lol) cos if he does then the chances are he knows the cicuit quite well.

Does he play a PS3 / Xbox etc? Does he have racing games for that / favourite track? I think doing a familiar circuit is a damn good idea for your first track day as it keeps you mind a little free-er for remembering all the other track day type things you need to remember.

Ive never felt the urge to tak out track day insurance myself, just took the attitude that im not racing anyone, not winning anything and thus no need for the "win it or bin it" attitude.

Either way - well done you for thinking of such a brilliant treat for him.

Sounds like cadwell might be the best option as its close. I didn't know you could get insurance for your own bike. Thats worth looking into. Whats the point of having a R1 if you dont take it on the track!
Thanks for the advi e guys. Im excited about so he's going to be too!