Finally finished, she is now a track slag!

[Mick753]

From Phil Crowe, although if they had been in stock at the time then I would have likely bought CRC which is what I will probably put on her over the winter.

 

[Mick753]

Definitely a good move fitting the aluminium mesh and shortening the brake lines, far neater and i am definitely more comfortable knowing that the lines are likely to touch the fairings and the chances of any rougue stones going through the radiator are slim to none again :untroubled:



I think that is all i am likely to be doing to her for a while now, looking forward to getting back out on track again, the last time was September 2015 at Knockhill ffs! :distant:

 

[GCullenRR]

Think the colour scheme is cracking! Bit different to the usual Tyco rep! (Which I still love too) just cool to see something different !

 

[JimmyMac]

That's looking the Dugz Bawz Mick, great attention to detail and I'm really loving that dash.

Enjoy her.

JimmyMac

 

[Mick753]

Cheers for all the comments, the bike has had her first track outings now and it's safe to say that it will take me a wee while to get used to her again as feels like it is a completely different bike from every angle. New suspension and a geometry change, lightweight wheels and slicks, different seating position, different gearing and a bit more feel to the front brake have all culminated in me spending most of the last two days trying to gel with the bike rather than actually concentrating on the track itself which wasn't easy in the inters group having been away from a track for 2 years and not ridden since October last year

I spent most of the day at Mallory trying to sort out an issue with the suspension that was causing me in the final part of Gerrards to run wide and then half of the next day at Oulton trying to sort what I think is a front end weight issue due to a 5-10mm band of tearing on the front tyre about a third of the way in from the edge of the left hand side of the tyre (very likely happening at Cascades).

I struggled to get on with the increased seat height which must be around 3-4 inches higher on the race tail unit and I suspect that coupled with having changed the fork tube height has had a dramatic effect as the bike felt quite heavy on the entry into the corner and wanted to run wide on the exit and I had not experienced the steering feeling like that before, consequently there were places where I lost quite a bit of confidence in the front feeling.

Elsewhere it felt really stable and despite the stock damper being just about up to the job and giving me a few moments coming through Druids and over the start/finish it was starting to feel better lap by lap (although I can't get on with the seating position as it felt like I was physically having to raise up and off the side rather than being able to just move off.).

I only managed to get in half a session after lunch due to some clown on a battered CBR600 who must have actually tried to outbrake me and even go around the outside of me at Knickerbrook before reaslising that I was on the right line and he had nowhere to go, at that point he practically had me sideways and the rear wheel off the ground when he smashed into my left hand rearset, how I stayed on I have no idea but the rear set being broken meant my last 2 sessions weren't on the cards

Quite happy with the rear end as it felt quite planted and the wear seems fairly even across it.



Still a smidge of work to be done on the front I think as It went from about 2 inches of fork travel left to next to nothing as I tried to work through trying to get the feel for the front.



And now a hunt to either find another rear set to match the good one or I am just going to switch to something like Diamond of SES which will undoubtedly be cheaper to repair in the future, the quickshifter has taken a tiny bend to the rearset end but it looks like it will just straighten up without any problem so that is quite fortunate I suppose or else I would be looking for one of them too.



I did have a new Bitubo steering damper waiting for me when I got home which was a small consolation I suppose! :courage:





I think over the next month whilst I am getting the rearset sorted I am going to have a think about switching to a CRC tail unit and tank cover as that appears to be a little lower and narrower at the point where I am getting on and off the bike, hopefully that will help the confidence as much as the feeling :courage:

 

[fast_ryan]

Seat Height

You will soon get used to the increased seat height after spending more time on track. Race seat units are not meant to be low as it all helps with achieving greater ground clearance.

 

[Mick753]

Re: Seat Height

Ryan at approaching 50 I am not entirely sure I like that feeling, there was something quite "comfortable" about that lower riding position of the road bike that made me feel more like part of the bike rather than being perched on it :chuncky: At 5"9 and with proportionately length legs it actually felt like the seat height was a smidge too high for me even with the rearseats up :ambivalence:

What I would like is for the bike to feel like it wants to go round the corner without having to actually fight it all the way out of one, Old Hall was a complete nightmare trying to hold 3rd gear through it and even 2nd trying to pull it away from the rumble strips and into the centre of the track from the run up the hill was hard work, no matter how late I tried to stay out too.

 

[soofsayer]

Good write up mick. There's always 'one' or two idiots who go to trackdays and seem to spoil others peoples' day but sounds like you got away lightly.

Bike is looking the biz. Nice job!

 

[pof]

Does sound like you have geomatary/fork issues to dial out

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[soofsayer]

Re: Seat Height

I don't know if they are of any use or compatible for your setup but I have two different height alpha race fairing rear section units in the garage (part of a full kit) currently collecting dust. You're welcome to experiment with them to see if they help the cause? I won't need either until the autumn at the earliest.

 

[Mick753]

Good write up mick. There's always 'one' or two idiots who go to trackdays and seem to spoil others peoples' day but sounds like you got away lightly.

Bike is looking the biz. Nice job!

I have to be honest here as that picture I have painted (whilst it was annoying at the time) doesn't actually spell out how blown away I was by the lads response after I limped back in, particuarly as I raging due to being stuck in 2nd gear and had only an hour earlier decided that I was selling the expensive BMW rearsets and buying some cheaper race ones in case they got damaged!

I went and found the lad who was sitting amongst a group of his pals and proceeded to tell him what a complete dick he had been, at that point all of his friends also stood up probably expecting some trouble and whilst that wouldn't have bothered me the lad instantly apologised and openly admitted he had just completely ballsed it up and was getting too carried away.

He actually offered to go and see if someone would sell him a rear set to get me back out on track but then decided to give me a ?100 as half of the cost of the trackday due to ruining my afternoon.

At that point i was left completely speechless as my only intention was to tell him what a tit he had been but he couldn't apologise enough bless him and I totally accept that there is a "ride at your own risk" policy even though I do sometimes feel that it is an umbrella for people to ride without any consideration of others for the sake of waiting for a decent opportunity to pass.

I actually walked away feeling like i had won a race :biggrin-new:

 

[soofsayer]

You're a scary dude! Lol

That was very very decent of him, good to hear!nice

 

[fast_ryan]

Geometry

Does sound like you have geomatary/fork issues to dial out

+1.

 

[Mick753]

Does sound like you have geomatary/fork issues to dial out

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Absolutely, my best guess is that there isn't enough weight over the front end and that will be down to me having dropped to 8mm of fork tube height above the top yoke instead of sticking with where it was at, until I had at least got used to the stiffer front end anyway.

Fairly confident I can sort it out, just a little miffed that I changed it from where it was particularly as there was no need for me to have changed it in the first place :disillusionment:


And cheers for the offer of the try of the tail unit Andy, I measured the foam on the seat earlier and it is actually closer to 14mm thick!, I could quite easily drop to a really thin layer of foam to go on the seat unit for the sake of a 20min session around a track at my level and probably scrape some height back there straight away, it's not like I suffer with a sore backside and I know you can get 2mm stuff which all in would make the seat unit nearly an inch narrower and at least 10mm lower :surprise:

 

[fast_ryan]

Geometry

Absolutely, my best guess is that there isn't enough weight over the front end and that will be down to me having dropped to 8mm of fork tube height above the top yoke instead of sticking with where it was at, until I had at least got used to the stiffer front end anyway.

Fairly confident I can sort it out, just a little miffed that I changed it from where it was particularly as there was no need for me to have changed it in the first place :disillusionment:

On a positive note at least you know that it doesn't work for you. I would suggest returning it to a base setting and then working from there.

 

[Mick753]

Re: Geometry

On a positive note at least you know that it doesn't work for you. I would suggest returning it to a base setting and then working from there.

I think there is a lot to be said for leaving things alone, particuarly when it wasn't actually broken to start with :stupid:

 

[fast_ryan]

Suspension Setup

This is especially so with suspension setup as people invariably change to many things at once and simply get lost.

 

[rab]

outstanding bike mate