Alright gents, the time has come to graduate from track days to racing. First time out on my 2010 D675. Any tips or wisdom to offer both to a first time racer and to a first time racer on the Daytona?
Right on congrats! Racing is simply a diff level. Try taking a moment to focus before you get out on the grid. Do some happy place thoughts and think about the track layout
Honestly I'm most nervous about the fact that I haven't ridden this bike yet, which I know is not insignificant and probably not advisable. But my shop here wasn't able to get all the parts in time to have it ready for the track day this past weekend that I was planning to use as a race prep and familiarize with the bike event. I went out anyway and had a blast on my 999 though. So I'll be doing the race school on Saturday, and I'm hoping that's enough track time to get a good feel for the bike and its characteristics enough to be relatively safe -- I know I won't be able to learn the limits of the bike and all the capabilities in that limited time before the races on Sunday, so my expectations for racing on Sunday aren't high, I just want to get out there and get my first race jitters out of the way and come home in one piece.
I'm super excited to get out on this bike though, it's been a couple months in the making and I'm really eager to test out the suspension and brakes.
It's always fun and sometimes useful to describe what mods and settings I'm starting out with tomorrow, so feel free to comment.
- Ohlins NIX30 cartridges in forks with one .95 spring and one 1.00 spring to make a .975 front spring rate (rider weight 180-185 without gear).
- 2011 D675R Ohlins TTX shock, adjustable ride height clevis added.
- TRS linear link
- Ferodo XRAC sintered pads, stock rotors
- AP Rearsets, reverse shift
- APE Manual CCT
- 15T front sprocket with stock rear (so 15/47)
- Speedcell Battery
- Fresh Maxima 4T oil, fresh brake flush with Maxima
- Dunlop D212GP DOTs in 190/55/17 and 120/70/17
- Ride height set to +12mm in front (fork caps flush with triples) and +5mm in rear (adjustable ride height clevis at minimum length). Rider sag set to Front 37mm, Rear 35mm without gear.
If anything I think I might have a bit too much rear sag -- with my gear on I'll probably be pushing 38 rear and 40 front, which is fine for the front. But I'm planning to adjust preload/sag tomorrow after a couple sessions on the track as I figured it would be good to heat up the shock and forks and break them in a little bit as they were both freshly built this week and haven't yet been ridden. But plan remains to add in some preload tomorrow especially in the rear.
Stock clutch, and no QS or electronics yet. I have to decide by tomorrow night where I'm gonna set my shift lights to -- published numbers for this bike are 13,900 rev limiter, hp peak at 12,600, and tq peak at 11,700.
How did the race go? I recently moved to NM and have been to Arroyo a couple times now with my Daytona. I'm looking make the step up like you from trackdays to racing there, but probably not till after the new year. Right now I'm planning on going to the trackday in Dec, I'll keep an eye out for you.
Hey man, it was a blast and a great learning experience. Weather was rough, very cold for the first races in the morning and then spit rain on and off for all the later races and only slightly warmer. With that said, I crashed out of the Beginner's race this morning, which was super disappointing. But in hindsight it makes sense that it happened -- 50 degree track temp, 50 degree air temp, 15 mph wind all added up to tires that were getting cold the second you took off the warmers. So I went out and did my warm-up lap, which was slow, then because there were 18 beginners in the race, gridding up took a couple minutes, then 2/3 of the way into the first lap is when you hit the first hard left turn, so the first time you've put any stress or heat into the left side of your tires in probably 6-8 minutes at that point. So I rolled on the throttle like I did all day yesterday and in the warmup sessions in the morning but the left side of the rear just didn't have the grip and it washed out from under me. I knew enough to not chop the throttle, so I avoided high-siding luckily and both the bike and I were fine with just a bent peg mount, cosmetic rash to fairings and leathers. Needless to say I was super disappointed that that's how my first race wound up. But I got back out in the afternoon for the Sportman's Cup/300 Cup race, which is open to basically everything that's not an I-4, so I would up taking 3rd out of the 9 starters, but really 3rd out of the 5 guys outside of the 300 Cup. So I finished behind another Daytona and an Expert on an SV650.
What a blast though man, and honestly there is no cheaper racing than Arroyo and no cooler group of racers -- everyone was eager to help, it wasn't cut-throat at all, even the guys racing for the #1 Expert plate next year are all friends and cool to each other.
I'm going to try to go out to Chuckwalla to race in January because I can't wait until March to do this again!
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