I had my first Track day on the Gen 4 at Silverstone GP yesterday. I was apprehensive because the night before the bike started spluttering and died on cold startups. (Apparently a known issue). But thankfully throughout the day it was fine. Still couldn't get into neutral though haha.
I've rode this track once before and really struggled with it to be honest. But something clicked yesterday and I put that down to the bike. What a weapon, first few laps i really had to reset my brain. It is so fast compared to the Gen 3. And that is no disrespect to the Gen 3 as that was a bonkers fast bike already. But the Gen 4 just takes it a bit further.
But it is not the straight line speed that shined. Handling, wow! I was giggling like a kid at the way it behaved. Trying new lines and being more confident than i ever have been. (New bike syndrome maybe?) I had a new set of Michelin RS + in the garage which i bought on the cheap last year, so fitted those. Plus I fitted new Brambo SC pads and changed the brake fluid to RBF660. (More on this on this in a minute)
The bike is just so fluid, so much fun and turns where you want it to. I am not a fast rider and not one who attempts to get their knee down on every corner, i usually use it to know how far leant over i am. But I was getting my knee down fair more frequently than expected. It got to a point i actually had to alter my body position slightly.
One thing i had an issue with was high speed brake judder. Down hanger straight into Stowe is fast (for me), about 155 i saw a few times and into heavy braking. Same for Wellington, that has a heavy braking zone as well. BTW the brakes are absolutely awesome. I had no fade throughout the sessions. Both had huge amounts of brake judder. The pads had about 40 miles bedding in on the road and then the first session, sighting laps etc probably another 30 miles. More than enough to not cause issues. They got marginally better but still had the judder throughout the day. Any one have any ideas what may cause it? Rotors are not warped, wheel spins freely etc.
Only other thing i found was the tyres were easy to slide without warning. I found these tyres fine on the Gen 3 and a good middle ground if the track is wet/damp or hot and dry. But this time it just felt they couldn't hook up as well. Not as confident inspiring as i thought they would be.
Anyway i think i have a new found love and no matter how finicky it is, on track makes up for it.
I've rode this track once before and really struggled with it to be honest. But something clicked yesterday and I put that down to the bike. What a weapon, first few laps i really had to reset my brain. It is so fast compared to the Gen 3. And that is no disrespect to the Gen 3 as that was a bonkers fast bike already. But the Gen 4 just takes it a bit further.
But it is not the straight line speed that shined. Handling, wow! I was giggling like a kid at the way it behaved. Trying new lines and being more confident than i ever have been. (New bike syndrome maybe?) I had a new set of Michelin RS + in the garage which i bought on the cheap last year, so fitted those. Plus I fitted new Brambo SC pads and changed the brake fluid to RBF660. (More on this on this in a minute)
The bike is just so fluid, so much fun and turns where you want it to. I am not a fast rider and not one who attempts to get their knee down on every corner, i usually use it to know how far leant over i am. But I was getting my knee down fair more frequently than expected. It got to a point i actually had to alter my body position slightly.
One thing i had an issue with was high speed brake judder. Down hanger straight into Stowe is fast (for me), about 155 i saw a few times and into heavy braking. Same for Wellington, that has a heavy braking zone as well. BTW the brakes are absolutely awesome. I had no fade throughout the sessions. Both had huge amounts of brake judder. The pads had about 40 miles bedding in on the road and then the first session, sighting laps etc probably another 30 miles. More than enough to not cause issues. They got marginally better but still had the judder throughout the day. Any one have any ideas what may cause it? Rotors are not warped, wheel spins freely etc.
Only other thing i found was the tyres were easy to slide without warning. I found these tyres fine on the Gen 3 and a good middle ground if the track is wet/damp or hot and dry. But this time it just felt they couldn't hook up as well. Not as confident inspiring as i thought they would be.
Anyway i think i have a new found love and no matter how finicky it is, on track makes up for it.
Interesting comment about the Michelin Power RS moving about a bit - what pressures were you running ? I did a trackday last Thursday at Knockhill on my Gen 3 running the Power RS and I actually found them pretty good on track - not as good as the Racetec K3's (obviously given they are more track oriented) but a lot better than the M7RR's - I was running Michelin's recommendation of 30.5 F / 27.5 R cold which worked really well and gave a nice wear pattern.
