Did a track day couple of weeks ago at Willow Springs raceway in Rosamond, CA. It’s a great track, very fast and of course fun.
For anyone who hasn’t been to a track day before, here is what you have to do to get your motorcycle “track ready”.
1. Make sure you have water in your radiator, and not anti-freeze. All bikes will have anti-freeze mix in the radiator from the factory. You will need to drain it and replace it with water. I also suggest adding some WaterWetter. It does actually work and makes your bike run cooler. I actually noticed that just with plain water, my bike runs cooler than with anti-freeze, so it’s a good thing to do anyway.
2. Tape up anything that can shatter, including headlights, taillights, and any other “lenses” on your bike. Some people use duct tape, I use making tape because its easier to take off (and cleaner). Also, don’t forget to unplug all your lights when taping them up - it will be easier to take off the tape. If you leave them plugged in, the tape and glue might melt on from the heat and then it’s a real pain.
3. Make sure you have good tires. Most track days won’t even let you on the track if your tires are bad. “Bad” is a judgment on their part, so to be safe just have > 70% tread left. I like to have either new or almost new tires when I go, just because its one less thing to worry about when you are out there.
4. Bring some gas with you… It’s possible that you will run out of gas during your track day, so bring some with you. Some tracks, like Willow Springs have a gas station on site, and they have up to 110 octane (leaded race gas), but it will cost you - about $6 per gallon.
5. Remove any mirrors, turn signals and other protruding parts that will scatter over the track if you crash.
Here is what I have to do on my ‘07 Suzuki GSX-R1000 to get the mirrors off. It’s exactly the same procedure on ‘05 and ‘06 GSX-R1000 and ‘06-’07 GSX-R 600/750. Although these mirrors look nice they are a pain to remove.
First, unscrew the mirrors
Next you will have to pull out the windshield since the bolts actually go through it (I took the pictures when I was putting the mirrors back on, so that’s why you don’t see them in the picture)
These are plastic screws so don’t be too hard on them.
Next you will have to take off the gauges. you don’t have to unplug them (although some track days ask you to unplug your gauges, so check with them). You can move the gauges to the side, so you can get to the plugs for the turn signals (that are built in to the mirrors).
Once that’s removed you can also unplug your headlight
Now put it all back together minus the mirrors…
For the back, it’s pretty simple, just open your “trunk” and unplug the cables there for your brake light and turn signals. On the 07 GSX-R its actually only one plug that does it all.
That’s it.
Bring some tools with you to the track as well, you never know if something needs changing or tightening and you don’t want to be stuck there with no tools.
Have Fun.
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I thought I’d mention my favorite tires on here - the Dunlop GPs. This “review” is kind of biased, since I really haven’t had a chance to try all the other nice new tires out there, but “if it isn’t broke…”
I’ve always liked the Dunlop GPs, the 209GP, the 208GP, the GP-A, whatever they were called - they are in my opinion the best tires out there. Yes, some people swear by the Michelin’s, Bridgestone or the Pirellis, but if you have ever been to the track, you’ll notice most people are using Dunlop. There is got to be a reason, why they cost more than anything out there. I think that piece of mind they give you is worth any amount of money.
Why do I like them? Well, the obvious reason is the grip. These tires are “race” tires so they are much softer than your standard tire or the stock tires you get on your new sport bike. The new 209 GPs are dual compound (just like the Michelin Power Sports). I am not sure why Dunlop doesn’t push that aspect of it as a selling point, like Michelin does, but I guess they don’t need to. The tires speak for themselves. I use these on the track and on the street. Some people ask me, why I use “race” tires on the street… and my answer is simple, I don’t want to crash because my tire lost grip, be it on the track or on the street. The GPs give you the stability and what they call in the “biz” - predictability, and definitely more confidence. I never knew what they meant by “predictability” until I started getting better (me getting better is still argued by some of my friends) and pushing these things more. When you slide your rear tire out on the GP, it doesn’t feel “dangerous” or scary… even the slides are predictable, you can still feel your tire gripping - its hard to explain, you got to try it on your own to see what I am talking about.
Now to tire sizes… I’ve seen so many forums and blogs arguing about which size to use on which bike, well I can tell you what I do - if it works for you great, if not I guess you can just ignore this.
The 209GPs used to come in 3 different rear sizes. 190/60×17, 180/55×17 and 160/60×17. I say “used to” because since the original “release” of the 209GPs, they’ve replaced the 190/60×17 with the 190/55×17, so you can’t really get the 190/60 anymore. I’ve heard from others and personally experienced the reason for the 190/60 replacement. They were too big/tall for most bikes setup to be stable. In other words, yes, you can probably make them work on your bike, but if your suspension is closer to stock than race setup, your bike will probably feel unstable, especially at high speeds. I’ve noticed this myself and when I talked to the Dunlop guys at the track, they told me that this was the reason they got replaced. I haven’t tried the 190/55 yet but I’ve got one ready for the next time I go to the track . Here is my general opinion: 180/55 works better on the street (slower, tighter roads) and the 190/60 or 190/55 works better on the track (high speed). You do (well at least I do) feel more grip coming out of corners on the gas on the bigger tire, but the trade off they are harder to turn in or harder to turn in as fast. Its mostly preference… I’ve seen some arguments about 190 is for the 1000 cc bikes and the 180 is for the 600 cc bikes, and thats true, but probably due to the fact that the 1000s ride faster or ride faster roads. From my personal experience, I’ve used both sizes on my 1000 and different ones are better at different things. And yes, they do both fit on both 6″ rim and the 5.5″ rim just fine. Like I said, its mostly a matter of preference and where and how you ride.
Of course they won’t last as long on the street as “standard” tires, but the dual compound feature of these 209GPs helps a lot compared to the old 208GPs. So if you ride your bike to work and back, you probably don’t want to spend $300+ on a set of these, but if you ride for “fun”, these things are a must. You just can’t put a price on safety and confidence.
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This is a pretty simple one, especially after you do it once. Well, instead of you practicing on your bike, we’ll practice on mine. (with pictures)
I did this on my 05 Suzuki GSX-R1000, but its very similar on any modern bike. I usually throw the stock pads out right away and replace them with some HH pads. Some people say the will “eat away your rotors”, but I’ve never seen it happen to my bikes. Of course I’ve never owned the same bike for over 2 years, so… I guess after 5-10 years any type of brake pad will grind down the rotors, and the HH rated pads will probably do it faster. But for the price you can’t beat this upgrade to your bike. These don’t cost that much more than other types of pads, and probably still cheaper than buying pads from the dealer. You will feel the stronger “bite” from these pads - guaranteed. For anyone wondering what HH brake pads are… HH is sintered metal & ceramic composition.
First step is to take out the allen bolts on the calipers. I had to use two hands - it was a new bike
Next take out the bolts attaching the caliper to the forks
Next you can take off the caliper off the disk. It’s still attached by the brake line, but there should be enough room to move it around.
Now just pull out the pads. Use the shims from the stock pads on your new brake pads, just place them on top, they should only fit on in one direction.
Now just put the new pads back into place.
If you are replacing pads that weren’t too worn out there should be enough room for the new pads to fit over the brake disk. If not, you can take a large screw driver and gently pry the pads apart. Just don’t mess up the pads if you do that. They should move apart pretty easily. And don’t grab the front brake lever, you will close the caliper up and might have a hard time prying them back apart
At last put everything back in reverse order.
And of course the same on the other side of the wheel.
This whole process shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes (I spend half that time looking for the tools)
Is that thing real? I’d tell you but thats not my hand you are looking at - I know they sell them in downtown for $40.
Have fun! Make sure you break in the pads for about 50 miles (thats what they say anyway).
Popularity: 30% [?]
Motoyard.com sponsored Cesar Meza took 10th place in this year’s Toyota 200 race. Jeremy Toye, won the race once again… Smrz came in second racing for Vincent Haskovec’s new race team. Pretty good considering Smrz has never raced at Willow Springs before.
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Cesar qualified 4th doing 1:24.269 laps at the Willow Springs raceway on the 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000. Not too shabby…
We did have the fastest pit stops in practice 12-15 seconds… yes, that’s changing the wheels and refueling in 12 seconds. Unmatched by any other team… Too bad we didn’t get to take advantage of that in the race. Three crashes / red flags meant everyone got plenty of time to do a pit stop. That’s racing
We didn’t do as good this year as the last, but there is always the 2008 Toyota 200. See you there.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Friday, October 26, 2007
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