good to hear, as such.
Superstock R6
OK So this is a build thread for my 2006 model superstock R6. If you want some more info on when I'm racing/practicing or some info on my sponsors, check out www.fcracing.com
I do want to quickly thanks all the people that have helped get me to this point, in some semblance of order:
Leigh, Dolphin Software, Eclipze, Dynoverks, shockdesign, Wayne (ASTAR)
And undoubtedly a bunch of other people whom I'm forgetting.
So I really should have started with this photo. Sophie when I bought her, completely stock, 14,xxx k's. I'm gunna just keep updating this first post so you don't have to dig through the whole thread looking for stuff [
]
![]()
And the list of mods performed thus far
Ohlins 20mm pistons
Arrow ti Steering damper
HEL Braided lines (Will be going soon)
SBS race pads
Gilles Rearsets
Various gearing + 520 conversion
Gutted stock exhaust
Ditch EXUP
Ditch AIS
Gilles clipons
Ecliptech ShiftI
GB Racing engine case sliders
GB Racing chain guard
Termignoni slashcut exhaust
XT Ultra lap timer
And still to come
Ohlins revalved and sprung shock
Back to 525 pitch chain []
Finishing putting the zorst back together
I'll write up each one with how/why/what it did, and put up pics of most of it.
CHAPTER 1:[/size=3]
Initial Setup[/size=4]
When I bought the bike I knew it was going to be a tracky only, with only a few brief road excusions, I budgeted myself for the purchase of the bike and a few mods that I deemed essential:
Braided lines
Oggy Knobs
Pazzo levers (not essential per se, but the stock ones were really shitting me)
Raceglass.
Braided lines were reasonably easy to fit, although the stock banjo bolts are allen key'd not hex, and so I managed to strip the one on the master cylinder. Considerable swearing and some quality time with a pair of vice grips later, I had the bastard free. I had to butcher the stock lines to get them off the bike, I then wrapped the ends in stacks of glad wrap and taped them up to make sure I didn't piss brake fluid on my fairings. I also took the chance to fill 'er up with better fluid, at that point I was using RBF600. I had issues with the length of them, if you're fitting HEL lines to an 06 R6 for the road, take your time and plan a better run than I did (was fitting them the night before a trackday and rushed). As a result my lines are a bit scuffed.
Oggy knobs went on REALLY easy, but I had to borrow a mates tools to do it as I didn't own a torque wrench. Whilst on the phone to him I was going through all the tools I'd need to make sure he had them, and after about 5-6 items he just told me he's a rep for a tool company, and he's got everything, so just get your butt over here.
I rode over with the oggies in my bag, only to arrive and discover that he doesn't have allen key sockets. I had to purhcase one- but if you're fitting them keep this in mind.
The oggies are on a bracket on one side, and have a pretty visible shear point on the other such that the knob will just come off rather than bending my frame. I'm not interested in getting into the oggies-or-not for the track argument, but most people seem to be running them (racers).
Pazzos were a 5 minute job, I also cleaned out the gunk in my MC and relubed my clutch cable while I was at it.
I got lucky with my raceglass, purchasing it preloved (and most importantly prepainted) from Daz Sciberras who was racing an 07 R6 in Aus supersport (his bike is the munted one I had in my sig for a while) for a great price, and as he's now racing for Motologic I can get away with using his scheme for a while too. Max expenses saved.
Those four mods put me in good stead for my first few trackdays, up until my highside at PI.
CHAPTER 2:[/size=3]
Whoopsie (Richo discovers that he and the wet share a love/hate relationship)[/size=4]
I took the R6 out to PI for her second outting, fitted a new rear tyre and went for it. 3 dry sessions, two damp ones and then it started belting down.
All the sane people came in, I kept going []. Had a stack of fun, but made a rash and stupid decision coming through hayshed on the last lap, last session of the day, wrapping on heaps in third, and subsequently highsiding the bike. Much swearing at myself for being a moron and the insane marshall who thought me crashing that close to safety was hilarious later I got the bike home, and checked out the damage.
All things considered I did bloody well, munted rearset, some minor damage to the glass, a very slightly bent clipon and a bit of tank damage.
Gilles rearsets were ordered, a new tank was fitted (Adding even more to the disjointed look of the bike) and we went back out, heading to Winton less than a month later
CHAPTER 3:[/size=3]
Scandanavian Blang[/size=4]
Continuing my string of awesome luck, I got up at 4am, drove to winton, unloaded the bike and noticed my right fork leg pissing out oil. Yay.
Wanting to ride again the next week and not having the time/skills/tools to do the job myself I left my bike with Stewy from SW Racing who carted my bike to his workshop from Winton, repaired my fork seal, freshened my suspension (front + rear) and revalved/sprung my forks for a very reasonable rate. The difference the next weekend at Broadford was mindblowing, although it took about 4 days of testing to really get the suspension dialed in to my style.
CHAPTER 4:[/size=3]
Pace grabbing[/size=4]
After the ohlins gear went in, the bike didn't change much for a long time. The only thing I fitted was the new clipons, and perhaps experimented with some different gearing. The thing that did change was my frequency and attitude at trackdays. Making sure I was timed at least one session each day so I had a benchmark of my performance was essential, as was comparing photography from the same corners to compare my progressions in line/lean/body position.
CHAPTER pi:[/size=3]
Racebike build[/size=4]
I'll finish writing up the progress that got the bike to this point at some stage, but while it's fresh I figured I'd bash down what's been done so far.
The exup has been removed (cables, motor, housing and controller) freeing up a lot of room near the shock, about 650g and some room near the rearset. I've also ditched the brake switch and bracket so the only cable still running up is the lambda sensor (for now).
I built an EXUP elim from a 4.7k ohm resistor and a 470uF capactitor. If you don't put an elim in the bike throws code 17 and flashes the Check engine light. Runs fine though, but I don't really like seeing codes. Anyway, there've been reports from the states that the dash eventually gets sick of this mod so I'll run it on satuday and report back. If all is hunky dory I'll make a big batch of them for cheap as there's a lot of R6's on the forum now [:I]
![]()
It's a pretty tidy unit, I just stuck it in the cavity under the tank and zip tied the cable to some loom that ran alongside it to hold it still.
While I was there the AIS system went, and was replaced with a set of plugs made by a dude from the R6 forum. I've organised to get a run brought over of them. They'll be about $30 a set, incl shipping. Much better than 80 for graves [xx(]
It's hard to get a decent pic, but this is them installed:
![]()
The plan for tonight is a fresh bleed to see if I can sort out this damn sponginess in the lines, new numbers, make a start on lockwiring and try to find a hose clamp the right size for lockwiring and oil filter.
Another quick update, tail is fitted up and will probably not be removed again.
Caliper bolts, all oil bolts (sump, fill and dipstick) are removed, as is front axle nut for drilling for lockwire.
Case sliders are en route, as is a chain guard (Will have to drill and tap swingarm to fit)
Old numbers removed, request for new numbers in. Getting close!!
Update 14/2/10:[/size=3]
Spent most of yesterday working on the bike.
Started off my making a race seat out of a scrapped one I picked up from vic wreckers.
![]()
Foam from clark rubber
![]()
And this glue that according to the dude from clark rubber "Sticks anything to anything". He was really helpful though (his eyes lit up the moment I said the words "racebike")
![]()
Finished product is 650 grams lighter than stock!
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LV racing Axle nut:
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And everything else drilled for lockwire.
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Whilst at the wreckers I grabbed a new pipe to replace this poor thing
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Even the new part from the wreckers had the beginnings of corrosion on it, so we cleaned it up with a wire brush, and painted it with 3 coats of exhaust paint, and then baked it for half an hour or so
![]()
The EXUP Saga continued, the valve is now completely gone from the exhaust itself
![]()
It's now just a case of welding plates over the holes left in the system, and bolting it all back together.
Then just to complete lockwiring, bolt on case sliders + chain guard, replace coolant with water, fit treaded race tyres, and race!
UPDATE 22/2:[/size=3]
Zoooorst!![/size=4]
We got my stock can all welded up and ready to go sans EXUP valve, which was going to be a bit of a gain, but the thing was still heavy (3kgs). While messing around in the shed Leigh fitted part of the Termi Y pipe from his R1 to the flange on the zorst.. and the Termi Slashcut was born:
![]()
Needs a lap joint to hold it onto the muff box (not the cat box as many seem to think, they're evidently the two bulges in the pipes going into them) and I'll (read: Someone not mechanically retarded) will make up a bracket to hold it onto the rearset I think.
Sounds a bit better than stock, I'm not even going to bother with a clip of it idling, I'll get some flyby footage at the next race practice.
Also did some more lockwiring:
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs513.snc3/26919_320530461790_580821790_4057323_1946283_n.jpg
And recieved some mail (Can't thank CarreraGroup enough, they looked after me, although if you're ordering stuff and time is a factor, pay the bit extra for overnight.)
[img]http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs395.snc3/24058_321382911790_580821790_4062170_399595_n.jpg
All that's left is to reroute the overflow from the radiator into the back of the airbox, and go over the bike looking for more shit I don't need to take off.
UPDATE 07/3:[/size=3]
Race Ready!![/size=4]
The bike is now race ready. Only remaining item is a set of ADR tyres (will be running Supercorsa SC's for round 1) to be fitted.
To finish off I fitted case covers:
![]()
You can see there how I lockwired my oil filter by fitting a hoseclamp to it and then lockwiring the hose clamp.
![]()
Oil filler and dipstick are not shown lockwired there.
The GB racing covers were excellent, fitted up really easily and came pre drilled where appropriate for mounting lockwire (meaning I didn't really need to drill most of the tabs on my motor).
A chain guard was also fitted, this necessitated the drilling and tapping the swingarm:
![]()
Race numbers were applied (Fooken hell R6s are a pain to put numbers on, I only had to watch and it was painful)
![]()
Fairings have been destickered ready for my sponsors livery:
![]()
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Testing[/size=4]
We reset my sag to 27mm front and back to try and get some midpoint for the geometry changes made (dropping the forks through the triples by 5mm. We also set the clipons 5mm below the bottom of the top triple in an effort to help push my head down a little.
At the track yesterday it became evident that this had worked, my body position was better (still not great) but riding with that position felt a lot more natural, which was rewarded in my smoothness on the bike.
Taking 2 months off the racetrack had shown, I was a little rusty in the first few sessions, and some of our assumptions with the preload front and rear clearly had issues, however once these were resolved the bike and I started to pickup pace.
After spending the day at broadford yesterday I feel that I'm ready for the first race, there's still some things on the bike that need to be altered based on our testing, and we're hoping to get out to another race prac before the day to confirm everything is correct, but on the whole I'm pretty ecstatic with the effort put in, and the dividends returned.
Final Steps of Race Prep[/size=4]
In the last week leading up to the race a whole stack of things were changed. After the first day of testing I was happy with the difference that the dropping of the forks through the triples made to the bikes handling (it was more neutral through the turns and my arm pump issues totally disappeared) but the bike felt somewhat like it was permanantly squatting. It just didn't feel right, the corrective action we decided on was a ride height spacer to sit between the shock and the subframe, and to reset the forks to flush.
We started off with 2mm, and the bike was borderline unridably twitchy, although I think this had more to do with the clipon position as it got better after I pulled them in a bit. My arm pump issues resurfaced in the races though, and the bike could afford to be easier to tip in, the plan is to go up to 4 or 5mm in time for PI.
We also fitted the XT Ultra lap timer that I bought from sliderman from these forums- consistant lap timing in every session is invaluable, and fairly accurate compared to the computime results on race day.
My shift I settings were slightly tweaked, still aren't perfect but the ShiftI is another example of an awesome product, I cannot recommend these things highly enough. If it helps to explain, I dropped about a half second per lap in the practice that I had to run without mine.
This aside we basically did a cursory check over everything on the bike, lockwired it, recited the appropriate incantations and called it a day.
First Race[/size=4]
In my typical style, my van shit itself at about 3pm the day before the race. Off to a roaring start, add to this that my rear tyre warmer died the week before at practice I was starting to wonder if the universe wasn't trying to give me a hint.
Luckily, Leigh came through with a car we could borrow to tow his trailer up to the track, and we arrived at about 7am. After some minor dicking around with pit garages we got setup and scrutineered my bike, helmet and leathers.
This is one point I wanted to ask on. Who here said you can race without an AS1698 label?? Not only did they want to see it, but they recorded the serial number from the AS1698 tag..
This aside I threw Sophie up on the warmers, started stretching and trying to calm my nerves. I'm not a typically nervous person, but I'll admit that I had butterflies all morning.
First qualifying went well, I ran about a quarter second off my PB and put myself 10th on the combined grid of superstock 600's and 1000's. Second qualifying didn't come together so well, we spent the week collecting data about tyre pressures, I kept having issues with the frontend pushing late in the day that seemed to be consistent with the tyres heating up, creating more pressure and thus decreasing their contact patch. Running lower pressures seemed to help, but no one else seemed to be doing this. Again, anyone who's got thoughts on this, I'd appreciate your feedback.
Finally the first race rolled around, I ran my warmup lap, gridded up and waited for the light to blink off. I /really/ cocked up the start, and then while I did get off the line ok, I didn't really dive into the pack hard enough. There was a line up the outside I could have run, but I saw someone look like they were about to jump out of the pack and I chickened out a little. Coming out of T1 on the first lap I was dead last, and sat in last place for the next lap and half, till I passed Stacey up the inside into crash. I was running better times than the next pack for the rest of the race but I couldn't make up the time I'd lost trying to pass Stacey. Not exactly the awesome results I was hoping for, but I'd said from the start that my goal was to do better than last and bring the bike home intact, so I was not upset.
That concluded my racing for the day, we stuck around to watch a few more races and then headed off to get some sleep. Day 2 seemed to roll around incredibly quickly, I ran some much better times in warm up and couldn't wait to get out on the circuit. I placed a lot better in the 2nd race, despite still botching the start a little I ran a much cleaner race, only getting stuck behind a 1098s in the last 2 laps. I did find it a bit hilarious that he was only just getting away from me on the straights, but I have no qualms with admitting that his racecraft was a lot better than mine, despite being 'quicker' than him through the turns, he blocked really well and I just couldn't get past him. I finished ahead of a few bikes though, and was utterly stoked.
The third race was a mixed bag, I got a pretty good start, it didn't hurt that Steve who was gridded directly in front of me had crashed out in the supersport race which gave me a big whole to run into, and then a niche to run through up the hill. I ran some great laps in the first five, but the front started to push quite violently in lap 6, and when I backed off a little because I was unsure of my frontend I couldn't keep the two bikes behind me from passing for long.
I was still pretty happy with the result (we gathered a lot of really valuable data) and placing myself ahead of a few bikes in the championship was really nice.
I seriously can't even begin to describe the rush of racing. It's the most pure thrill I've ever experienced. I've generally prided myself on not taking risks at trackdays, if a passing opportunity is there but I'm not 100% on it I won't take it. In a race, and at race practice it's amazingly satisfying to be able to just jam your bike up the inside of a turn and let whoever you're passing sort their own shit out. It's probably not for everyone, but if you're thinking about getting into racing I seriously suggest doing it. It's amazing.
[size=large]OOPDATE!
so I blew up a motor. I'd rather not go into too much detail about how, but suffice to say that we checked valve clearances and got a nasty surprise. So the head came off and went to simon for a rebuild, now with new valve seats it's set to go again when evrything else is ready.
Anyway, I know you bastids only want the pretty pictures so here you go.
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This is what an R6 looks like when you make it fit i a shelf...
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Head Job
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Sans bucketz
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I cam
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Ready for Zeno Majick!
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As she stood a few days ago before the shock got pulled:
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So where fc racing is at he moment:
Realistically we've already missed one round and trying to finish out the season for point is well.. pointless (Geddit?!) so instead I'll be getting the bike back to 100% and doing a few rounds, as well as another level or two of SBS and some tuition with Wayne Maxwell, and then mount anothe flat ou assault on next year's season.
It sucks, but hopefully it'll pay off in the long run.
I do want to quickly thanks all the people that have helped get me to this point, in some semblance of order:
Leigh, Dolphin Software, Eclipze, Dynoverks, shockdesign, Wayne (ASTAR)
And undoubtedly a bunch of other people whom I'm forgetting.
So I really should have started with this photo. Sophie when I bought her, completely stock, 14,xxx k's. I'm gunna just keep updating this first post so you don't have to dig through the whole thread looking for stuff [
]
And the list of mods performed thus far
Ohlins 20mm pistons
Arrow ti Steering damper
HEL Braided lines (Will be going soon)
SBS race pads
Gilles Rearsets
Various gearing + 520 conversion
Gutted stock exhaust
Ditch EXUP
Ditch AIS
Gilles clipons
Ecliptech ShiftI
GB Racing engine case sliders
GB Racing chain guard
Termignoni slashcut exhaust
XT Ultra lap timer
And still to come
Ohlins revalved and sprung shock
Back to 525 pitch chain [
]Finishing putting the zorst back together
I'll write up each one with how/why/what it did, and put up pics of most of it.
CHAPTER 1:[/size=3]
Initial Setup[/size=4]
When I bought the bike I knew it was going to be a tracky only, with only a few brief road excusions, I budgeted myself for the purchase of the bike and a few mods that I deemed essential:
Braided lines
Oggy Knobs
Pazzo levers (not essential per se, but the stock ones were really shitting me)
Raceglass.
Braided lines were reasonably easy to fit, although the stock banjo bolts are allen key'd not hex, and so I managed to strip the one on the master cylinder. Considerable swearing and some quality time with a pair of vice grips later, I had the bastard free. I had to butcher the stock lines to get them off the bike, I then wrapped the ends in stacks of glad wrap and taped them up to make sure I didn't piss brake fluid on my fairings. I also took the chance to fill 'er up with better fluid, at that point I was using RBF600. I had issues with the length of them, if you're fitting HEL lines to an 06 R6 for the road, take your time and plan a better run than I did (was fitting them the night before a trackday and rushed). As a result my lines are a bit scuffed.
Oggy knobs went on REALLY easy, but I had to borrow a mates tools to do it as I didn't own a torque wrench. Whilst on the phone to him I was going through all the tools I'd need to make sure he had them, and after about 5-6 items he just told me he's a rep for a tool company, and he's got everything, so just get your butt over here.
I rode over with the oggies in my bag, only to arrive and discover that he doesn't have allen key sockets. I had to purhcase one- but if you're fitting them keep this in mind.
The oggies are on a bracket on one side, and have a pretty visible shear point on the other such that the knob will just come off rather than bending my frame. I'm not interested in getting into the oggies-or-not for the track argument, but most people seem to be running them (racers).
Pazzos were a 5 minute job, I also cleaned out the gunk in my MC and relubed my clutch cable while I was at it.
I got lucky with my raceglass, purchasing it preloved (and most importantly prepainted) from Daz Sciberras who was racing an 07 R6 in Aus supersport (his bike is the munted one I had in my sig for a while) for a great price, and as he's now racing for Motologic I can get away with using his scheme for a while too. Max expenses saved.
Those four mods put me in good stead for my first few trackdays, up until my highside at PI.
CHAPTER 2:[/size=3]
Whoopsie (Richo discovers that he and the wet share a love/hate relationship)[/size=4]
I took the R6 out to PI for her second outting, fitted a new rear tyre and went for it. 3 dry sessions, two damp ones and then it started belting down.
All the sane people came in, I kept going [
]. Had a stack of fun, but made a rash and stupid decision coming through hayshed on the last lap, last session of the day, wrapping on heaps in third, and subsequently highsiding the bike. Much swearing at myself for being a moron and the insane marshall who thought me crashing that close to safety was hilarious later I got the bike home, and checked out the damage.All things considered I did bloody well, munted rearset, some minor damage to the glass, a very slightly bent clipon and a bit of tank damage.
Gilles rearsets were ordered, a new tank was fitted (Adding even more to the disjointed look of the bike) and we went back out, heading to Winton less than a month later
CHAPTER 3:[/size=3]
Scandanavian Blang[/size=4]
Continuing my string of awesome luck, I got up at 4am, drove to winton, unloaded the bike and noticed my right fork leg pissing out oil. Yay.
Wanting to ride again the next week and not having the time/skills/tools to do the job myself I left my bike with Stewy from SW Racing who carted my bike to his workshop from Winton, repaired my fork seal, freshened my suspension (front + rear) and revalved/sprung my forks for a very reasonable rate. The difference the next weekend at Broadford was mindblowing, although it took about 4 days of testing to really get the suspension dialed in to my style.
CHAPTER 4:[/size=3]
Pace grabbing[/size=4]
After the ohlins gear went in, the bike didn't change much for a long time. The only thing I fitted was the new clipons, and perhaps experimented with some different gearing. The thing that did change was my frequency and attitude at trackdays. Making sure I was timed at least one session each day so I had a benchmark of my performance was essential, as was comparing photography from the same corners to compare my progressions in line/lean/body position.
CHAPTER pi:[/size=3]
Racebike build[/size=4]
I'll finish writing up the progress that got the bike to this point at some stage, but while it's fresh I figured I'd bash down what's been done so far.
The exup has been removed (cables, motor, housing and controller) freeing up a lot of room near the shock, about 650g and some room near the rearset. I've also ditched the brake switch and bracket so the only cable still running up is the lambda sensor (for now).
I built an EXUP elim from a 4.7k ohm resistor and a 470uF capactitor. If you don't put an elim in the bike throws code 17 and flashes the Check engine light. Runs fine though, but I don't really like seeing codes. Anyway, there've been reports from the states that the dash eventually gets sick of this mod so I'll run it on satuday and report back. If all is hunky dory I'll make a big batch of them for cheap as there's a lot of R6's on the forum now [:I]
It's a pretty tidy unit, I just stuck it in the cavity under the tank and zip tied the cable to some loom that ran alongside it to hold it still.
While I was there the AIS system went, and was replaced with a set of plugs made by a dude from the R6 forum. I've organised to get a run brought over of them. They'll be about $30 a set, incl shipping. Much better than 80 for graves [xx(]
It's hard to get a decent pic, but this is them installed:
The plan for tonight is a fresh bleed to see if I can sort out this damn sponginess in the lines, new numbers, make a start on lockwiring and try to find a hose clamp the right size for lockwiring and oil filter.
Another quick update, tail is fitted up and will probably not be removed again.
Caliper bolts, all oil bolts (sump, fill and dipstick) are removed, as is front axle nut for drilling for lockwire.
Case sliders are en route, as is a chain guard (Will have to drill and tap swingarm to fit)
Old numbers removed, request for new numbers in. Getting close!!
Update 14/2/10:[/size=3]
Spent most of yesterday working on the bike.
Started off my making a race seat out of a scrapped one I picked up from vic wreckers.
Foam from clark rubber
And this glue that according to the dude from clark rubber "Sticks anything to anything". He was really helpful though (his eyes lit up the moment I said the words "racebike")
Finished product is 650 grams lighter than stock!
LV racing Axle nut:
And everything else drilled for lockwire.
Whilst at the wreckers I grabbed a new pipe to replace this poor thing
Even the new part from the wreckers had the beginnings of corrosion on it, so we cleaned it up with a wire brush, and painted it with 3 coats of exhaust paint, and then baked it for half an hour or so
The EXUP Saga continued, the valve is now completely gone from the exhaust itself
It's now just a case of welding plates over the holes left in the system, and bolting it all back together.
Then just to complete lockwiring, bolt on case sliders + chain guard, replace coolant with water, fit treaded race tyres, and race!
UPDATE 22/2:[/size=3]
Zoooorst!![/size=4]
We got my stock can all welded up and ready to go sans EXUP valve, which was going to be a bit of a gain, but the thing was still heavy (3kgs). While messing around in the shed Leigh fitted part of the Termi Y pipe from his R1 to the flange on the zorst.. and the Termi Slashcut was born:
Needs a lap joint to hold it onto the muff box (not the cat box as many seem to think, they're evidently the two bulges in the pipes going into them) and I'll (read: Someone not mechanically retarded) will make up a bracket to hold it onto the rearset I think.
Sounds a bit better than stock, I'm not even going to bother with a clip of it idling, I'll get some flyby footage at the next race practice.
Also did some more lockwiring:
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs513.snc3/26919_320530461790_580821790_4057323_1946283_n.jpg
And recieved some mail (Can't thank CarreraGroup enough, they looked after me, although if you're ordering stuff and time is a factor, pay the bit extra for overnight.)
[img]http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs395.snc3/24058_321382911790_580821790_4062170_399595_n.jpg
All that's left is to reroute the overflow from the radiator into the back of the airbox, and go over the bike looking for more shit I don't need to take off.
UPDATE 07/3:[/size=3]
Race Ready!![/size=4]
The bike is now race ready. Only remaining item is a set of ADR tyres (will be running Supercorsa SC's for round 1) to be fitted.
To finish off I fitted case covers:
You can see there how I lockwired my oil filter by fitting a hoseclamp to it and then lockwiring the hose clamp.
Oil filler and dipstick are not shown lockwired there.
The GB racing covers were excellent, fitted up really easily and came pre drilled where appropriate for mounting lockwire (meaning I didn't really need to drill most of the tabs on my motor).
A chain guard was also fitted, this necessitated the drilling and tapping the swingarm:
Race numbers were applied (Fooken hell R6s are a pain to put numbers on, I only had to watch and it was painful)
Fairings have been destickered ready for my sponsors livery:
Testing[/size=4]
We reset my sag to 27mm front and back to try and get some midpoint for the geometry changes made (dropping the forks through the triples by 5mm. We also set the clipons 5mm below the bottom of the top triple in an effort to help push my head down a little.
At the track yesterday it became evident that this had worked, my body position was better (still not great) but riding with that position felt a lot more natural, which was rewarded in my smoothness on the bike.
Taking 2 months off the racetrack had shown, I was a little rusty in the first few sessions, and some of our assumptions with the preload front and rear clearly had issues, however once these were resolved the bike and I started to pickup pace.
After spending the day at broadford yesterday I feel that I'm ready for the first race, there's still some things on the bike that need to be altered based on our testing, and we're hoping to get out to another race prac before the day to confirm everything is correct, but on the whole I'm pretty ecstatic with the effort put in, and the dividends returned.
Final Steps of Race Prep[/size=4]
In the last week leading up to the race a whole stack of things were changed. After the first day of testing I was happy with the difference that the dropping of the forks through the triples made to the bikes handling (it was more neutral through the turns and my arm pump issues totally disappeared) but the bike felt somewhat like it was permanantly squatting. It just didn't feel right, the corrective action we decided on was a ride height spacer to sit between the shock and the subframe, and to reset the forks to flush.
We started off with 2mm, and the bike was borderline unridably twitchy, although I think this had more to do with the clipon position as it got better after I pulled them in a bit. My arm pump issues resurfaced in the races though, and the bike could afford to be easier to tip in, the plan is to go up to 4 or 5mm in time for PI.
We also fitted the XT Ultra lap timer that I bought from sliderman from these forums- consistant lap timing in every session is invaluable, and fairly accurate compared to the computime results on race day.
My shift I settings were slightly tweaked, still aren't perfect but the ShiftI is another example of an awesome product, I cannot recommend these things highly enough. If it helps to explain, I dropped about a half second per lap in the practice that I had to run without mine.
This aside we basically did a cursory check over everything on the bike, lockwired it, recited the appropriate incantations and called it a day.
First Race[/size=4]
In my typical style, my van shit itself at about 3pm the day before the race. Off to a roaring start, add to this that my rear tyre warmer died the week before at practice I was starting to wonder if the universe wasn't trying to give me a hint.
Luckily, Leigh came through with a car we could borrow to tow his trailer up to the track, and we arrived at about 7am. After some minor dicking around with pit garages we got setup and scrutineered my bike, helmet and leathers.
This is one point I wanted to ask on. Who here said you can race without an AS1698 label?? Not only did they want to see it, but they recorded the serial number from the AS1698 tag..
This aside I threw Sophie up on the warmers, started stretching and trying to calm my nerves. I'm not a typically nervous person, but I'll admit that I had butterflies all morning.
First qualifying went well, I ran about a quarter second off my PB and put myself 10th on the combined grid of superstock 600's and 1000's. Second qualifying didn't come together so well, we spent the week collecting data about tyre pressures, I kept having issues with the frontend pushing late in the day that seemed to be consistent with the tyres heating up, creating more pressure and thus decreasing their contact patch. Running lower pressures seemed to help, but no one else seemed to be doing this. Again, anyone who's got thoughts on this, I'd appreciate your feedback.
Finally the first race rolled around, I ran my warmup lap, gridded up and waited for the light to blink off. I /really/ cocked up the start, and then while I did get off the line ok, I didn't really dive into the pack hard enough. There was a line up the outside I could have run, but I saw someone look like they were about to jump out of the pack and I chickened out a little. Coming out of T1 on the first lap I was dead last, and sat in last place for the next lap and half, till I passed Stacey up the inside into crash. I was running better times than the next pack for the rest of the race but I couldn't make up the time I'd lost trying to pass Stacey. Not exactly the awesome results I was hoping for, but I'd said from the start that my goal was to do better than last and bring the bike home intact, so I was not upset.
That concluded my racing for the day, we stuck around to watch a few more races and then headed off to get some sleep. Day 2 seemed to roll around incredibly quickly, I ran some much better times in warm up and couldn't wait to get out on the circuit. I placed a lot better in the 2nd race, despite still botching the start a little I ran a much cleaner race, only getting stuck behind a 1098s in the last 2 laps. I did find it a bit hilarious that he was only just getting away from me on the straights, but I have no qualms with admitting that his racecraft was a lot better than mine, despite being 'quicker' than him through the turns, he blocked really well and I just couldn't get past him. I finished ahead of a few bikes though, and was utterly stoked.
The third race was a mixed bag, I got a pretty good start, it didn't hurt that Steve who was gridded directly in front of me had crashed out in the supersport race which gave me a big whole to run into, and then a niche to run through up the hill. I ran some great laps in the first five, but the front started to push quite violently in lap 6, and when I backed off a little because I was unsure of my frontend I couldn't keep the two bikes behind me from passing for long.
I was still pretty happy with the result (we gathered a lot of really valuable data) and placing myself ahead of a few bikes in the championship was really nice.
I seriously can't even begin to describe the rush of racing. It's the most pure thrill I've ever experienced. I've generally prided myself on not taking risks at trackdays, if a passing opportunity is there but I'm not 100% on it I won't take it. In a race, and at race practice it's amazingly satisfying to be able to just jam your bike up the inside of a turn and let whoever you're passing sort their own shit out. It's probably not for everyone, but if you're thinking about getting into racing I seriously suggest doing it. It's amazing.
[size=large]OOPDATE!
so I blew up a motor. I'd rather not go into too much detail about how, but suffice to say that we checked valve clearances and got a nasty surprise. So the head came off and went to simon for a rebuild, now with new valve seats it's set to go again when evrything else is ready.
Anyway, I know you bastids only want the pretty pictures so here you go.
This is what an R6 looks like when you make it fit i a shelf...
Head Job
Sans bucketz
I cam
Ready for Zeno Majick!
As she stood a few days ago before the shock got pulled:
So where fc racing is at he moment:
Realistically we've already missed one round and trying to finish out the season for point is well.. pointless (Geddit?!) so instead I'll be getting the bike back to 100% and doing a few rounds, as well as another level or two of SBS and some tuition with Wayne Maxwell, and then mount anothe flat ou assault on next year's season.
It sucks, but hopefully it'll pay off in the long run.
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