rchase

I recently changed my opinion on this. My bikes in the past have always been "all manual". Previously I had felt that reliance on TC and ABS would have interfered with my ability to learn. It really comes down to the actual system and how it notifies the rider of it's interference. The BMW system is good about letting you know "hey I just saved your backside" and is very configurable with many different settings to suit riders needs. Some of the other TC and ABS systems just work and don't notify the rider when they intervene those systems are not the good ones. You can still crash a bike with TC and ABS but a little extra help and an orange light is nice when the system can help you out. What's MOST important is fully understanding how the system works and choosing a mode that suits your needs the best. Sticking it in the "fastest" configuration without knowing how that affects the bikes dynamics is a recipe for disaster. Race mode on the BMW allows the bike to drift and perform wheelies as well as changes the throttle profile from what I have read so far. It's also critical to understand some of the systems shortcomings. I saw a Youtube video where a rider crashed an S1000RR because he was fully committed to a turn and started bouncing off the rev limiter and crashed because he failed to upshift to maintain the weight transfer to the rear wheel. There was nothing that the TC system could do at that point. The orange light did not even come on. My goal is an additional layer of safety on track days in case I get tired and do something stupid. If I ever got interested in racing there's some software and electronics add on's that allow you to tweak the ABS and TC. I would certainly explore those and see if there were benefits that could be obtained by leaving the systems on if possible. Even professional racers in perfect fitness occasionally make mistakes. Having an inhuman machine to take up the slack when your humanity starts to show can make a big difference to anyone in my opinion.

Totally understand that. I stuck with the 18 inch tires on my FZR because it's a big part of what gives the bike part of it's handling personality. Just wanted to throw that out there as an option just in case you had not considered it. It's pretty amazing what you can create rummaging through parts bins. There's an amazing amount of compatibility between bikes since many manufacturers parts binned themselves from vendors such as Nissin, Showa, Brembo and others. My buddies FZR is put together from Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha parts. Speaking of Parts Binning and the FZR's. Bimota parts binned a whole bike with the Bimota YB7. It's really a Yamaha FZR400. Good luck to you in finding some good tires to go on that VFR. Not to age myself buy I remember drooling over those when they were relatively new. That's one really nice bike in great condition. It's super nice to see stuff like that going to track days.

Actually. After thinking about this for a minute I do have some stuff to add. Since 18 inch tires are getting rather rare for the FZR's a number of the owners have done complete conversions to 17inch wheels. Often the conversion process involves a full swing arm and fork transplant. A good friend of mine transplanted forks off of a GSXR1000 onto his FZR400. A bit of research and you might be able to find some compatibility between your frame and another front end and swing arm that could be adapted onto the bike to give you as much flexibility as you wanted with tire sizes. Another advantage of doing a full front end and rear end swap is the ability to take advantage of more modern suspension components. The FZR forks are so outdated that they only have preload adjustment and require the shock to be opened up and shimmed manually to adjust them.

VERY pretty bike. Until recently my main track bike as a 1989 Yamaha FZR400. Despite the age a vintage bike is still a lot of fun on the track. I don't have much to add to the topic but huge thumbs up for someone else who's obtuse enough (like me) to take an older bike out to the track!!!

Figured I would ask here and see what I could find out. I'm wondering if there would be any objection to me setting up a canopy at the edge of hot pit where the student bikes are kept? I'm a friendly neighbor and anybody who wanted could park under there as long as there's space for my bike. Would this be ok or would I cause potential inconvenience? If I set one up it would be safely weighted so that it would not get blown around.

That photo was taken during the 3rd gear no brakes drill during the beginning of the school. So the speeds were a bit lower and there was not a lot of benefit from tucking under the windscreen. I'm probably the most upright of all of the riders in the photo mostly because I was so tense. I PM'ed you the galleries of my time taking Levels 1-4.

Thanks ScrmnDuc! I REALLY look forward to riding again with you at the school! Even with the power of the S1000RR it's mostly about the rider rather than the bike and you still have years of experience on me. I seem to distinctly remember you "Scrmn" past me when we were both riding the school's BMW's. My friend Eddie even admired your riding chasing you around Barber. Eddie is going to be doing Level 3 and 4 this next weekend as well. I'm a sucker for gorgeous Italian bikes so your 916 will easily distract me for at least a few laps so I can admire it's beauty. For those that don't know ScrmnDuc and I took Levels 1-4 at the same time at Barber. During Level 3-4 we became really good friends and have kept in contact ever since. He's an awesome friend who's helped me a lot and visited me in the paddock on many track days. Here's a slightly embarrassing photo of me clinging to the school's BMW like a frightened child while ScrmnDuc was about to pass me on the straight. I'm on the #21 bike and he's on the #18 bike. This was my first time ever on the track during Level 1.

Absolutely. One of the things I really admire about many of the IOMTT riders is how some of them fully admit the slight sense of dread they have before going out on the course. At those speeds on that strip of pavement almost anything can happen. The insanity that they display on the course is actually highly controlled sanity. They are fully aware of the risks they are taking before they head out. I could only imagine how alive one would feel traveling 200 mph down a regular road with houses, stone walls and spectators only a few feet away. Just watching on Youtube makes all the hair on the back of my neck stand up. One of these days I should head to the island to watch the bikes scream past and get my ear drums properly shattered.

I ran across this article in my Facebook feed and figured it would be interesting for some others who frequent the forums here. http://dazooracing.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/road-racing-is-dangerous/ The author is responding to the call to ban racing after a few spectacular crashes. It's a very interesting read.

Today and Tomorrow are going to be Xmas early. My Woodcraft stuff arrived today. Tank grips and other parts tomorrow.

Thanks Benny. See you there!

Indeed you were right.

Got a tiny bit of mileage in this weekend. Trying to do the cooling cycle thing so only got 78 miles in on some back roads. I have to say this is one of the most well mannered comfortable easy to ride bikes I have ever owned. You could tour on this thing which is impressive. This week I'm going to take it out every day during lunch and get some miles in during the evenings. It has some great headlights on it so night riding will be a pleasure. My brother snapped a quick photo of me on the bike as I was heading out. It's one sexy machine. At first I did not care for the styling but it's asymmetry is really starting to grow on me.

Good luck to you. Track days are a blast. One thing that sticks in my mind from one of Keith's video's that you might find helpful. Paraphrased from memory. "There's lots of advice out there. Some helpful advice. Some not so helpful advice". It's on the Twist 2 video and I remember seeing Hotfoot in that scene. A great video! I have to agree with you about Keith's ability to articulate concepts. He's probably one of the only people in the industry that teams science with motorcycles. When I read some of his books often times I imagine him in a white lab coat rather than leathers. The amazing part is he was doing this decades ago and most people who are teaching are using concepts he pioneered.

I have Shorai's in 5 of my bikes. It's an amazing battery. Never a single problem out of any of them. I'm working through the fleet and plan to have Shorai's in all of the bikes. Just wish they made car batteries. I like Shorai batteries so much one of them is in my Harley which does not benefit from the weight savings at all. The Battery Shorai offers for the Harley offered 540 cold cranking amps which is a significant improvement over the 300 cold cranking amps the stock lead acid battery has. Factor in that you can leave a bike sitting for a year without starting it and have it start right up and there's no acid to worry about It's a wonderful choice even for a the heavy hectors. I have never once needed to trickle charge any of the bikes equipped with a Shorai.

Thanks. Trying to do the important stuff first and save the other stuff for later. Keeping the bike protected is pretty high on my list. I did not realize this until I talked to the dealer but they have a lap timer IR sensor for the bike that integrates into the built in lap timer. About the price of the average run of the mill lap timer. BMW is very serious about producing a great track machine.

Whee! Appointment for Suspension at Traxxion Dynamics Scheduled. Parts on order and should be here next Tuesday. Sportbike Track Gear had some decent prices and made the ordering process easy. TR674175 1 Stomp Design - TANK KT-CLR S1000RR 09 W05-0750B 1 WOODCRAFT - Rearsets Street/Trackday BMW S1000RR 2010+ Standard W27-3800 1 WOODCRAFT - Swingarm Slider Spools 8mm W50-0750-STD 1 WOODCRAFT - Frame Sliders BMW S1000RR Black Standard W60-0750LB-SS 1 WOODCRAFT - Engine Cover LHS BMW S1000RR (Stator) Stainless Steel W60-0750RB-SS 1 WOODCRAFT - Engine Cover RHS BMW S1000RR (Crankshaft) Stainless Steel W45-0750F 1 Woodcraft Front Axle Slider Kit BMW S1000RR PU09500431 1 POWERSTANDS RACING - OIL CAP KIT M24X2.0 BLK

Not sure. I'm sure there's some testing.

Took delivery today. A few more photos coming soon here. Very tired after a long afternoon. My bike at the moment is completely stock other than the Q3's on it. Dyno runs at the moment would not be useful with the 9k rev limiter. I have ridden the S1000RR extensively on the track but never have had to deal with one in traffic. It's probably one of the most well mannered street bikes I have ever been on. I could tell right away I was in love even after such a short ride.

I think the black looks great on them too. When i saw the BMW racing colors next to the red and black bike I was considering it was a very easy decision.

Belly pan. Couple of other minor things that gets put on before delivery. A few minutes ago Mark sent me some photos during the PDI. You can see the missing parts better in these images.

Oh yea. I eventually plan on getting a better exhaust for it. At the moment though it's not as high on my list as stuff I will need in 2 weeks. Being the quietest S1000RR on the track is fine with me. After being able to kick myself for not getting photos of the bike yesterday I sent a quick text to my friend at the dealership Mark Lewis and he was more than happy to send me this photo of the bike before it's PDI. This is what they look like out of the crate covered in plastic and missing parts.

Been peeking in there for info already. Going to lurk for a bit and you might see me there shortly. Oh and I missed a question. "So, which CSS day are you signed up for?" Friday the 30th and Saturday the 31st for the one day schools. I can't wait!!

Thanks guys. Knowing a bit about the tires is helpful. I'm sure those Metzlers are decent but I was clueless about how much pressure to set them at. The Q3's are a more known quantity and something I can have a bit more faith in. I need lots of faith. I need to go ahead and get those parts on their way "just in case". I'll make up my mind here soon. Worse comes to worse the stock stuff is not "that" bad. As for "Pics or it did not happen". This is the one that the salesman sent me when I called him on the phone. My actual bike was still in their storage area and has not done it's PDI yet. I could not make up my mind between the BMW racing color scheme and the red black and white. Seeing the bikes next to one another made it easy. Went with the BMW racing colors. I'll get photos of the actual bike when I go to pick it up. In retrospect I could kick myself for not getting a shot of it covered in plastic. :/

Oh, another thing to do would be to have the dealership help you set the sag on the bike - you'll want your leathers and helmet with you to get the right weight on the bike for the setup. Yeah. I was going to bring it to Traxxion Dynamics but I like the idea of one stop shopping as well. I might get the dealer to take care of it for me.