12 June 2026

Take it to the track

You might be a road legal rider, but are you the best road legal rider you can be?

One way of polishing up your skills is to take to the track.

A day on the circuit can really help refine your handling techniques, teaching you plenty about your and your bike’s limits, as Paul Browne enthusiastically reports.

 

So you’ve passed your IBT, done your time before the test, passed it and moved on to a full licence with the relevant full power machine.

What can you do next to improve your riding skills and take it to the next level?

Trail riding adds a significant amount of skill, particularly where slow control is concerned, as well as fine tuning balance.

One of the things that I really like to do is ride on track. Yes, that is me, attired in my Furygan finest.

Now, I’m a bit too nervous to go racing. I did once and I crashed. A lot. These days I’m not particularly interested in coming off, but I do enjoy a trackday.

What with speed limits and ability of other road users to indulge in the unexpected, riding a high powered motorcycle on the road is never going to let the rider explore its potential.

Putting one out on a race track provides a safe place to do so.

There are no cars, buses or trucks. No bus stops, footpaths, oncoming traffic or pedestrians.

Own goals

Best of all you can ride on your own road bike.

I’ve done one summer of trackdays on my R1200GS and also seen one rider have the time of his life on a CB500!

Another rider even took to the circuit on a Goldwing of all things!

The idea is simple enough.

Riding around a track as fast as you possibly can tends to have a predictable result.

Instead of working on my pace, I look to identifying reference points when coming into a corner, learning the limits of my braking. I’ve always found the point where ABS and traction control kick in to be much later than I thought they would be!

Well cornered

Then there’s the cornering itself.

Using the width of the corner allows me to find with ease the entry point, the apex and the exit line, once I’ve had a bit of practice.

Learning how far the bike will lean and how much tyre there is to use, as well as counter steering – a technique highly unlikely to be used to the same extent on the public road – builds a skill set. 

This then allows me to better deal with a whole host of challenges that may present themselves on the highways and byways.

There are a surprising amount of tracks to choose from, with at least two in the North of Ireland as well as Mondello Park in Kildare

My very favourite are the ones in Europe where the team at Motocraft host some excellent adventures. They’re an Irish company who specialise in premium track events run on iconic European circuits during the summer season.

I like that they pick my bike up in Dublin and transport it to the circuit to where I fly out and unpack it before spending three or four days on track. They then pack it up and transport it back to Dublin.

I now ride a Yamaha MT 10 in full road trim on a pair of road legal tyres.  I also dress appropriately, donning premium PPE.

Track riding, especially as part of a wider European trip, is a whole lot of fun. I can’t recommend it enough.

If you really want to move your game on in terms of rider skill, take it to the track!

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