I've had a 2007 CBR1000RR for about 5 years now. I only use it on track and never use it on the road. I've got a road bike and will always take that out in preference. I've half converted it to a track bike already in that I've removed the good fairings and put cheap chinese ones on it but all the concessions to pass an mot are all still fitted and I'm paying insurance on it. On one hand I find it useful to test the bike on the road but can't remember the last time that that was actually useful. On the other hand I'm in novices and rarely trouble the quicker boys but I do want to improve. It just feels like I'm at the point where I may as well remove the lights, indicators and number plate and stick them in a box in the loft and stop paying 300 a year for the 10 miles I do on the road each year to get it mot'd. I thought about putting it back to road spec and getting a 600 but it would cost me more, I'd end up selling the 1000 and I love riding it on track as it doesn't feel too powerful and is dead easy to ride by which I don't mean that I'm that fast on it but I mean I can concentrate on the riding and not on it trying to through me off. Sound like a good idea? If I do that what should I do to it to make it a better track bike now I don't have to use it on the road. I'm thinking suspension as I have no interest or need to make it faster and it seems to stop well. Cheers, Mark
I think you're on the right track if you'll excuse the pun. I'm in the strip it back camp as half of the battle of going quicker is actually to care less about the bike, or more accurately mitigating the cost of binning it. In which case taking all the expensive bits off will help with that. As for riding it on the road, just stick the plate from your other bike on it Kidding. Save your money and ride it round the paddock if you need to check it over, although you'll get a feel for what needs doing when you work on it. Track mod wise, suspension is important, but you'll be fine with getting it setup at the track and they'll be able to tell you if it's all working ok before you throw any money at it. Couple of questions though, does your brake master cylinder feel ok (some don't), are you at the point of experiencing brake fade, and what tyres are you running? Either way like I said to you before, the first thing I would buy is tyre warmers and take your paddock stands, especially if you're at a track that has power. If you do get to the point of wanting more power then it's dead easy, just change the gearing. It won't necessarily make you quicker, but the bike will feel more of an animal.
I'm happy with continuing to strip it as it's reached the point of lack of cosmetic care that putting the original fairings on won't make it mint any more than a new dress will make me Cameron Diaz. I've had the suspension set up recently and have asked the guy who did it to recommend the next step. Even if it's just a service to the shock it's probably a good thing and can go from there when I need it. The front brake has always felt rock solid, really really good on the track and no fade at all. I use the OEM pads and have always liked them. I put braided hoses on last summer, the ones where there's an independent hose to each caliper. I change the fluid each spring and use dot 5.1. I use Bridgestone S22s on track and like them. I don't use tyre warmers but will look in to that. Thanks.
You have one of the good master cylinders then. I struggled with mine when hot so swapped it to a Brembo RCS19, but the one on the road bike was fine. The rest of your brake setup will be fine and you'll never boil the fluid. If anything, as you get faster and brake harder you may reach the limit of the pads eventually, but then there are plenty of alternatives. Suspension wise, if the guy who set it up was happy with it then there's little to do for a while as the stock suspension is very good when working well. They sometimes advise stronger spring weights if run out of adjustment, but if the suspension guy didn't say anything then you should be within the scope of what your suspension can cope with. Tyres, you did mention those, I forgot. They are great tyres and warm up quickly. I'd still always recommend tyre warmers though. For the sake of around £150 they would help massively. And while you're at it make sure they're running the right pressures.
I've not bothered putting the bike on the road this year, I took the bike to Cadwell Park last month and loved it, I've taken all the lights etc off and fitted some track fairings, replaced the rearsets and am running standard suspension, Michelin Power GP tyres in the novice group. I disagree with the tyre warmer recomendations, your tyres are road based and will heat up within a lap or two, the manufacturer probably won't recommend them either.
It's worth keeping an open mind there. You're right that road tyres will warm up fairly quickly, but think about the science of how the rubber reacts to tyre temperature and ultimately what you want the tyre to do. Ideally you want the rubber to be soft enough to dig in to the track surface. The best way to make the tyre soft is to heat it up and although the tread will help heat the tyre when on track, road tyres typically never get as soft as track tyres, so using tyre warmers will heat the metal carcass of the tyre helping it stay hotter for longer and make the rubber softer. Without tyre warmers it will take 2-3 laps of relying on the friction of the tread moving around to generate the heat, where as tyre warmers will give you that heat from the off. Let me just put it this way, I would never choose to go out on a race track on cold tyres.
If you are tempted to use tyre warmers you need to be able to keep the heat in them once you take them off and get straight on the track to benefit, ie it's no good waiting in the queue for the session to start, they will have cooled down by them and you'll be in more danger than if you just went out and warmed them up for 2 laps. I'm not good enough to be at the tyre warmer level yet.
Just don't sit on the queue then, go out last and keep your tyre warmers on longer. Most the people I've seen NOT using tyre warmers are the ones that have ridden to the track! Why waste 2 or 3 laps getting up to temp when you could use tyre warmers ? Also the more a tyre heats up then cools back down every session, the quicker it will degenerate. Over time the tyres will harden quicker and become useless. Tyre warmers help .....Fact! You don't have to be at any level to use them, just use them, whether you do one track day a year or 20!
Been looking at generators... seems like a good idea to go out on hot tyres. There's a marked difference in first lap speed between those who have them and those who don't in the group.
Done the first step and removed all the road stuff. Was surprised how much weight was in the headlights. Didn't remove any of the loom so it's reversible and put the "right way up" sensor that's bolted to the headlight assembly back in. Made some panels to fill the holes and used some cheap headlight protectors and an old fibreglass kit to fill the headlight holes. Also made some tie down points out of some ally box section I had lying around to replace the rear foot peg brackets I used to use. Looks ok I think. Spoke to the guy who set the bike up at Combe and I'll be taking it to him at the end of this year to get the shock serviced as it never has been. He'll also upgrade the fork internals with some ktech bits. Off to Bedford again a week Monday.
FWIW I bolted these in to the rear foot peg holes as my lashing points. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Tie-...208383?hash=item3f2b687fbf:g:8G0AAOSwHMJYPHwb
