R1 track bike

[Wull]

Now that im getting towards the business end I thought I?d start a separate thread for this bike. I decided I wanted to get back on track after being away from them for 8 years but decided that taking the road bike on was a no no, too risky, plus I can push a little harder and not worry about it going wrong. Had a good luck and narrowed it down to 2 bikes which were relatively local to me, this was the winner, everything from spec to the price clinched it for me.


spec off the top of my head


2008 4c8 R1
full akrapovic exhaust
power commander 3
HM plus quickshifter
k-tec fork internals
wp rear shock
520 chain conversion
spare wheels with wets


the bike was an ex R1 cup bike which was used for 1 season then used after that as the occasion track day bike. I?ve changed the oil and filter and checked it over, sorted a few things and it?s now pretty much ready to go, just waiting on some lock wire to arrive to finish it off.


ive has to purchase some essentials, tyre warmers etc but the biggest stumbling block for me is a tow bar for towing the trailer. It?s on back order and won?t be here for another 5 weeks. But I?ve managed to get a shot of a car with a tow bar so I?ll be out on track on the 3rd of August.


ill be treating this purely as ?getting used? to the bike, playing with suspension settings and tyre pressures. I?m sticking on Metzeler Racetec and keeping the slicks until after I?ve done a few days, so fingers crossed it all goes well.

 

[Wull]

Well that?s the first outing over and done with.

Bike ran faultlessly, stuck in a new set of pads before heading out, track was wet but dried out by about 10:20! I headed out at this point and the only noticeable damp patches were on the back straight and as you go into the hairpin. It was a little weird with race shift at first but after the first half a dozen laps I started to do alright. I stayed out for a while and started to feel comfortable.

2nd outing was much the same, took the GoPro this time and after a while it was red flagged. It?s hard going, I?m not bike fit so was proper sweating like mad.

Last outing I stayed out for 33 minutes, I was gubbed. Feeling it now, I haven?t had a chance to check the footage or anything but all in all I?m pleased, the bike is good, no complaints whatsoever

 

[Wull]

 

[taz71]

nice :encouragement: what tracks are you going to be doing ive got a 2004 r1 and love it but ill be taking my gen1 next time i book ?

 

[Wull]

nice :encouragement: what tracks are you going to be doing ive got a 2004 r1 and love it but ill be taking my gen1 next time i book ?

Knockhill for the momebt but next season I’ll hopefully do a few days down south. A friend of mine was wanting to head down for a day at Oulton Park but we couldn’t make it in the end up, that might happen yet.

 

[taz71]

ye i believe oulton is a great track never done it myself as they always seem to be mid week and cant do them due to my job ffs ? ive done cadwell park and anglesey both excellent tracks

 

[alex]

Nice bike Wull, great choice for a track hack.

 

[JAParker]

knockhill is a track that's high on my list to visit after watching the bsb there, looks technical. I don't see knockhill popping up very often on the main track day providers websites like no limits etc?

 

[Wull]

knockhill is a track that's high on my list to visit after watching the bsb there, looks technical. I don't see knockhill popping up very often on the main track day providers websites like no limits etc?

no you just book via their website directly.

 

[Wull]

Lap timer now fitted, been waiting for the mount to arrive.

 

[Wull]

That look when you know something bad is going to happen!




Well that escalated quickly. What started off tentatively because of the cold temps soon went downhill quick and in a bad way.


The day started off as normal, 4am start, along to work at 5am to load the motor, attach the trailer and load the bike. Headed off at 6am and got to Knockhill for 7:30am!


It was a cracking morning, clear skies, sun wa spit but the temp must’ve been roughly 2 above. I had to clear the windscreen at 5 and I think it was about 0 or 1 above at that time. All set up and ready to go.


Our first session was at 9:40 and a few were talking about missing the first session because of the temp, I spoke to a few lads in inters and they were of the same opinion, my mate Giz wasn’t going to bother for the first session in advanced but I think most of the fast group went out, seemed as if it was packed......we did roughly 6 laps before it was red flagged. Came in then back out and it must’ve been the same again, maybe 6 laps when at the hairpin it went all wrong.


I ran wide allowing for Roy to take the inside line, I knew he was there and as I’ve came back across I’ve backed off the throttle to allow him plenty room and just carry on easily behind him, he however has got on the gas too early and just spun out, unfortunately he came across my path and I’ve rode straight over him. I sort of took off and fell over coming down on my right side, helmet and all. He was laying there motionless, Marshall running over, absolutely nothing. I thought he was dead. I had to walk away, this was all very quick. I made sure I was fine then walked back over but kept my distance. He was out, I was chatting with the Marshall and he shouted he was out cold but I got the feeling he must’ve had vital signs, I then switched the camera off, it was 2 minutes after the crash at this point, he was still out......finally he came round and tried to get up, “YES”.... I shouted. It must’ve been 3 minutes that he was out.


I rode the bike in, then went to the medical centre to get checked over and see how Roy was doing. In the end up he was taken to Ninewells and after texting him Monday morning he was hoping to get out on Monday. Only injuries were concussion, bruising and generally really sore. Unbelievable, so relieved and happy.


I managed to get the bike back out, needed to source a bolt and peg(thanks to Giz - RAG racing) put the screen back on and a few other small bits and that was it.




















First session was to make sure everything was ok, I was getting passed left right and centre but didn’t care, bike felt good and seemed fine, so I started to push and started bringing the times down.


The next session out, last before lunch I managed to set a personal best which I managed back to back, I was pleased considering all the **** that happened earlier on.


After lunch it was much the same, I couldn’t get any quicker but was consistently putting in decent laps, bike felt good and was never out of shape. Plenty to work on, brake later and be more aggressive on certain sections, but I’m pleased and enjoying myself, albeit after a bit of a scare.


Because Roy is ok I’ll post the footage, he himself wanted me to send it to him lol! Never ever met the guy before, he was a racer up until last year and in his own words he’s had much worse, so that’s not too bad then haha.

 

[Wull]

Note the Shoei helmet, now gubbed

 

[Wull]

Best 2 laps from each of the 3 sessions after making sure bike was ok


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2pz5YCc-C18#


And the incident.....


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kwSD0Cft7mM

 

[soofsayer]

That looked nasty, glad hes ok.

 

[phil]

Thanks for sharing and good photo's. That's not nice for either of you, glad he is ok and it didn't spoil your day too much.

I have ridden over a friend on the road, he came off in front of me. He was ok ish thankfully.

 

[alex]

Jesus wept...

- Alex

 

[MacRR]

Glad he's ok, there's nothing you could have done to avoid that and you did well to get back out and into the groove again.

 

[Oli]

Glad he's ok, there's nothing you could have done to avoid that and you did well to get back out and into the groove again.

+1, am very glad to hear you?re both alright, must have been a terrible shock.

Great result getting a PB during the day, talk about ending the day on a high note!


- Oli

 

[Wull]

Booked Saturday the 6th, 10am-1pm sessions. This will be the last outing of the year, bike isn?t too bad and should hold together, I noticed the clock/fairing stay is broke, plenty to do over the winter.

 

[DrIoannis]

I think you can connect Solo with your ECU if it is the DL model and have a lot info about RPM,Throttle etc.