If you wanna get on track this season but dont want to risk soiling your pristine and beloved steed, hiring a track bike could be just the ticket.

WORDS: BOOTHY

IMAGES: ALEX JAMES

’Do you take IOUs?’

Father Christmas can poke his tree up his arse as far as we’re concerned. Never mind jingle bells and great aunty Mable’s stale mince pies, ‘tis the season to be jolly right here, right now. That’s right, the days are getting longer, warmer and drier, and if you are anything like us that trackday itch will be dying for a good scratch. Doing a trackday is the best thing in the world, but there are still plenty of people who are yet to experience it, so we’re here to tell you that it has never, ever been easier to get your next, or your first trackday fix.

Nowadays, if you were to close your eyes and throw a tampon over your shoulder it would probably land on a track bike hire company – there are that many of them around. One that we rate among the best is Smallboy Trackbikes, who, as well as having Suzuki GSX-R600s, 750s and 1000s available to hire for full or evening trackdays, have just scooped up a bunch of Honda CBR650Fs to complement their stock. Don’t worry; you’re not the only one who’s never heard of a Honda CBR650F. I hadn’t either until Matt from Smallboy Trackbikes told me about his new batch of hire bikes that had formed the basis of the European Junior Cup (a series for riders from 14 to 24 years old, run in tandem with WSB). For the past few years it’s been home to some of the closest, scariest, and hardest fought racing in the world, but all that came to an end in 2016 when the championship reached its conclusion… which was when Matt rocked up with a truck to rehome a number of their bikes in his hire fleet. For new and experienced trackday riders alike, priced at £199 for the day, he argues that they are the perfect tool for getting people out on track, so I headed off to Oulton Park to take one out for a spin.

Having never hired a track bike before I wasn’t sure how the initial stages of the day were going to pan out, so I made sure I arrived nice and early like a good boy, just in case Matt needed a hand unloading the bikes or getting everything set up. I got there a good hour before the briefing was due to take place, only to find Matt and the Smallboy team already set up in pit box no. 2, with all the hire bikes noise tested and on tyre warmers. There was literally nowt for me to do, so I popped next door to box no.1, availed myself of a brew, courtesy of the No Limits tea urn, and had a leisurely walk over to sign on ready for the mandatory safety briefing. It was a walk that took me past the ever growing queue for noise testing, and frantic scenes in pit garages as riders scrambled around doing last minute bits and bobs in a bid to get out on track nice and prompt for the first session. Those kinds of antics aren’t unusual for me, but not today; I was more chilled than an Iceland’s own brand black forest gateau.