Ride Oklahoma Track Day Fun

June 2, 2007 - Hallett Raceway
Ride Oklahoma Magazine and Hallett Motor Racing Circuit recently held their first ever Women and Cruisers Track Day. Despite heavy rains the night before, 25 women and 10 men braved the threatening weather for a day of education and fun at Hallett. A wide variety of bikes were on hand, ranging from dual sports to cruisers to BMW touring rigs to full-on track day bikes.


The day was broken into two sessions - one for women and one for cruisers/dual sports/touring bikes. Instructors were on hand to provide classroom and on-track training in braking, bike handling, cornering, and track "etiquette". The weather turned out perfect with hot sunshine drying the track by mid-morning.


Despite my extensive efforts to entice my Harley Davidson riding friends, Bill Dragoo was the sole "American Iron" bike represented. As everyone there who was watching - and listening - could attest, Bill rode that Harley to within an inch of it's life. We could hear him thunder around the track, the unique exhaust note of his Harley easily heard above the staccato whine of the inline fours. Because of the limited cornering clearance, Bill had to "flat track" his Dyna Sport through the corners, locking up the rear tire, drifting into the corner and powering out. Amazingly he was one of the faster bikes on the track that day.



OK Dual Sport's own "Endo Connie" brought her 500cc Kawasaki Cruiser for her first experience at the track. She claims to have loved the braking and cornering drills put on by the instructors and at the end of the day felt much more confident on the street.



One of the fastest riders for the day chose a KTM 950 Adventure as his mount. Driving down from Kansas, the KTM rider had no trouble with his 50/50 knobby tires and put his prior racing experience to good use.



The most popular class by far was for women. Many track regulars came out to have some fun, with their signficant others acting as "umbrella guys". However, the majority of the women had never been on the racetrack and many commented how much they enjoyed the women-only sessions. They did not feel the intimidation of sharing the track with men and promised to return to the next women-only track day now scheduled for September.