As we do every year in late June, a bunch of fellow motorcycle addicts and I took over Grattan Raceway in Michigan for a few days, to enjoy the best trackday event I can imagine. It’s a group that knows each other from the motorcycleaddicts.org website, and related Facebook page. The event has been going on for 15 years or so, and is now named in honor of its founder (who sadly passed away a few years ago) – Frank Fisher Days at Grattan.
I’ve been to the event almost every year since 2006. It’s a three-day private event, with 50 or 60 riders of various skill levels, most all of whom know each other. We have an absolute blast, riding fast, swapping bikes, having a big barbecue, fireworks, an awards dinner, and lots more. It’s so great!
I used to drive the 30 hours each way, but thanks to my incredible friend Etienne, who stores my track bike at his place in Quebec, and brings it to various events for me, I can fly in and ride, then fly home. I’m unbelievably fortunate to be able to do this. What a gift.
Since Frank died, Etienne has stepped up to continue to organize the event for all of us every year, and he does an incredible job.
This was my first trip to any track since last October, so I expected to be a little rusty. Monday’s weather was a bit wet starting out, but by late morning the track was drying out, and we set out to shake off some of the rust. My bike had a new paint job over the winter, and it looked even better than before! It was great to be reunited with the incredible Aprilia, which I’ve loved since day one.
The track was bumpy and a little slick, but it’s always fun, with a great variety of corners, elevation changes, and a long straightaway.
Friday evening I posted a picture of the “high score” top speed my speedometer tracked through the day, and said I thought that was fast enough for day one. And it was!
We had a great barbecue and fireworks on Monday night, and the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday was for sunshine, which turned out to be very accurate.
We were super fortunate to have my friend Terry Zorich there to take photos of us out on the track. He always does an absolutely incredible job! Here are a few more examples, including some shots where Etienne and I were “posing” a bit in turn one:
The bike was flawless all three days, and I had an absolute blast. I couldn’t be more grateful to Etienne and all of my other great friends who were at the event. We had so much fun, both on the track and off, and I can’t wait for next year.
I ran a GoPro on my bike in many of the sessions, in a variety of positions. I spliced together a video of a couple of laps, which nicely capture the fun on the track. I hope you enjoy seeing it:
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