elrusoloco
Junior Member
This past Friday, I did my first track day at the 2.5 mile road course at Willow Springs in CA, and I wanted to share my experience with those who may be interested in what it's like to ride an FZ6 at the track.
- Getting there
My friend (riding his SV650s) and I were going to rent a uHaul truck to get there from south of LA, but there were no trucks available by the the time we wanted to get one. We ended up riding there the night before and spending the night at the Edwards AFB - him being active duty allowed this. I'm sure ya'll are well familiar with the FZ on the freeway; my only comment here is that I have the V35 Givi hard side cases, and they held everything I thought I needed to bring. I actually didn't bring any tools with me and had to borrow from others.
- Safety gear
Track days require full leathers - one or 2-piece, the latter zipped together. I purchased a 2-piece suit from Cycle Gear made by Bilt, their house brand. The suit was cheap - $300 for both jacket and pants. You can get the one-piece suit for the same price. This is budget gear, but good enough to get on the track for my first time. It certainly didn't impact my lap times, and I was fortunate enough to avoid testing its crash protection benefits
- Prepping the bike
The things I had to do in order to pass tech inspection:
- remove my bar end mirrors - trivial
- tape up the head and tail lights, turn signals, license plate, and wheel weights - trivial, but nice to have someone along who can show you how it's done
- unplug headlight - otherwise, its heat will bake the tape onto the light, and you don't want this (I'm told). I'm running the FZ1n headlight mod, so I had to actually take off the light to do this. This took a few minutes and is likely a lot easier if you're using the stock fairing
- things to have with you: tape, knife to trim the tape, tools to remove mirrors and such (allen wrenches, mostly)
The things I probably should have done:
- take off the peg feelers - once I got fairly comfortable, I was touching both pegs in the tighter sections of the track before my knee. Actually, because of this, I never did get my knee down, no matter how much I stretched
- take off the stands - this was not an issue for me due to the pegs touching first. Maybe if I replace my pegs with the GP adjustable ones, this will be the next part to scrape?
- Actual track time notes
- I was getting blown away by every other bike on the straights. Accept this, for it is your fate on this bike. It just couldn't seem to get revs fast enough, likely due to me being at a svelte 215 these days and running naked - having a fairing to hide behind would make a huge difference
- The suspension seemed OK - my preload is set to 5 for everyday riding, and I didn't change it for the track
- I shredded up my tires (Dunlop Qualifiers) pretty good. Grip seemed to be good enough and was not a limiting factor
- It's a damn workout for sure, especially once you're keeping your weight on the pegs, instead of the seat, like you're supposed to, and really throwing yourself around in the turns to try to hang off. I was sore the next day
- the stock handlebars are great for the street; on the track, they're just not that practical. Definitely thinking about putting some clip-ons on the thing
Questions for those who have more experience than I:
- can anything be done to get more acceleration other than me losing some weight? This might be the best thing I can do for both me and the bike
- will removing peg feelers allow me to get my knee down? Or at least, will it make my knee more likely to touch before peg, assuming my body position is approximately correct, as per the instructor?
- suspension - should I bother doing anything?
- pegs - can anyone recommend a different set of pegs I could be using with more clearance?
Thanks for reading. This was a blast, and I can't wait to do it again. I am thinking of doing my next one on the Streets of Willow course, where cornering will be more important than power.
Yuri
- Getting there
My friend (riding his SV650s) and I were going to rent a uHaul truck to get there from south of LA, but there were no trucks available by the the time we wanted to get one. We ended up riding there the night before and spending the night at the Edwards AFB - him being active duty allowed this. I'm sure ya'll are well familiar with the FZ on the freeway; my only comment here is that I have the V35 Givi hard side cases, and they held everything I thought I needed to bring. I actually didn't bring any tools with me and had to borrow from others.
- Safety gear
Track days require full leathers - one or 2-piece, the latter zipped together. I purchased a 2-piece suit from Cycle Gear made by Bilt, their house brand. The suit was cheap - $300 for both jacket and pants. You can get the one-piece suit for the same price. This is budget gear, but good enough to get on the track for my first time. It certainly didn't impact my lap times, and I was fortunate enough to avoid testing its crash protection benefits
- Prepping the bike
The things I had to do in order to pass tech inspection:
- remove my bar end mirrors - trivial
- tape up the head and tail lights, turn signals, license plate, and wheel weights - trivial, but nice to have someone along who can show you how it's done
- unplug headlight - otherwise, its heat will bake the tape onto the light, and you don't want this (I'm told). I'm running the FZ1n headlight mod, so I had to actually take off the light to do this. This took a few minutes and is likely a lot easier if you're using the stock fairing
- things to have with you: tape, knife to trim the tape, tools to remove mirrors and such (allen wrenches, mostly)
The things I probably should have done:
- take off the peg feelers - once I got fairly comfortable, I was touching both pegs in the tighter sections of the track before my knee. Actually, because of this, I never did get my knee down, no matter how much I stretched
- take off the stands - this was not an issue for me due to the pegs touching first. Maybe if I replace my pegs with the GP adjustable ones, this will be the next part to scrape?
- Actual track time notes
- I was getting blown away by every other bike on the straights. Accept this, for it is your fate on this bike. It just couldn't seem to get revs fast enough, likely due to me being at a svelte 215 these days and running naked - having a fairing to hide behind would make a huge difference
- The suspension seemed OK - my preload is set to 5 for everyday riding, and I didn't change it for the track
- I shredded up my tires (Dunlop Qualifiers) pretty good. Grip seemed to be good enough and was not a limiting factor
- It's a damn workout for sure, especially once you're keeping your weight on the pegs, instead of the seat, like you're supposed to, and really throwing yourself around in the turns to try to hang off. I was sore the next day
- the stock handlebars are great for the street; on the track, they're just not that practical. Definitely thinking about putting some clip-ons on the thing
Questions for those who have more experience than I:
- can anything be done to get more acceleration other than me losing some weight? This might be the best thing I can do for both me and the bike
- will removing peg feelers allow me to get my knee down? Or at least, will it make my knee more likely to touch before peg, assuming my body position is approximately correct, as per the instructor?
- suspension - should I bother doing anything?
- pegs - can anyone recommend a different set of pegs I could be using with more clearance?
Thanks for reading. This was a blast, and I can't wait to do it again. I am thinking of doing my next one on the Streets of Willow course, where cornering will be more important than power.
Yuri
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