Trackday - Snetterton - Sun 8th April

Originally Posted by DanF

...

get yourself springs & oil for the forks, braided hoses & sintered (HH) pads for the front, & spend the rest on track time

your disks are fine - mine look exactly the same

Originally Posted by weazelz

wear orange bibs so that people know to give them extra room

I'll put some L plates on for next time

On the 3rd session restart I was up at the front, they called up and kicked a guy out of the queue on a preped bike, said they had already warned him a couple of times.

Originally Posted by DanF

Yep deffo a few race preped bikes in the group but they wernt the worest offenders, they always went past at appropriate places.

The only problem I see with the Matris cartridges is it'd show up the rear std shock a lot, it's oversprung for my weight (74kg) and damping feels pretty harsh. So a 2nd hand ohlins would add to the price too.

Bloody chicken strips



Also after the 4th session the front brakes felt very rough but still full strength, almost like rough sandpaper feel. Is this normal when abusing them on track? You can see the slight bluish tint it's picked up on patches.

I really don't think you need to splash out on an ohlins at this point. I put a 636 shock (so a GSXR for your pointy) in mine and it was great!! I really really think that is enough for trackday use. As for the cartridges, yes mismatch is bad, but to me its more important to have a front end you have faith in I reckon cartridges, and an appropriately sprung GIXER shock is the way to go for you ... sure if you find a cheap Ohlins (like that is ever going to happen!! ), then go for it, but I really don't think there is enough benefit over a 636 (Gixer) shock unless you are getting serious ...

I'd like to think I can hold my own at a trackday and I felt the 636 shock was ample

Oh and lets face it them 020s are gonna be giving up before a GSXR shock I like the 020 (I have one on the front of my road bike ), but they will overheat in no time on the track ... no problem for your next trackday or two, but I can't recommend getting some proper track rubber for confidence/feel enough. I buy all my tyres 2nd hand (as I am tight ), but even still they are plenty good enough I'd be thinking track rubber before I was thinking expensive suspension

What pads do you have in there at the moment??? the blemish isn't worrying, but the scoring is ...

Not sure on the brake pads, the previous owner replaced them about 1k miles ago. Weazelz meantioned HH pads, will they kill the disks quick?

Mm Ohlins bling is deffo more than I need, do you think the Matris will be overkill as well? I guess one good thing with them is they should hold some value for taking off and selling on in the long run (kept all origional parts so far).

Depending on how the next few track days go I could look in to a 2nd set of wheels with something stickier on.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by DanF

Mm Ohlins bling is deffo more than I need, do you think the Matris will be overkill as well?

TBH I'd recommend a fork swap over the Matris, but I don't think either is overkill at all. The price of the Matris kit, if it measures up, is superb... But the GSXR swaps can be free if you sell the old parts, and you get the brake upgrade and slightly lighter wheel too.

The aftermarket forks are a huge upgrade, but there's a lot of other improvements you can do that are more cost effective. As Blue says, your 020s, ace as they are, will give you problems first.

Originally Posted by DanF

Not sure on the brake pads, the previous owner replaced them about 1k miles ago. Weazelz meantioned HH pads, will they kill the disks quick?

Mm Ohlins bling is deffo more than I need, do you think the Matris will be overkill as well? I guess one good thing with them is they should hold some value for taking off and selling on in the long run (kept all origional parts so far).

Depending on how the next few track days go I could look in to a 2nd set of wheels with something stickier on.

I personally don't think HHs are a the best solution and they indeed wear the disks prematurely ... Performance Friction 95 compound pads are what I use in my bike (track) and they are excellent They would be/are useless on the road as they need heat to work, but pads are pretty easy to swap before/after a trackday, you couldn't go far wrong getting some PF pads and fitting them just for trackdays http://www.performancefriction.com/

And yes, that's true enough, if you buy a race shock, you should at least get some of the outlay back on resale!! (thats if you ever get round to selling it ) ... wheels too won't really loose much value, so you can't go far wrong there either (presuming you don't pay over the odds to start with ) ...

I don't think you NEED a race shock at all, but if you like the bling and have some cash - go for it!! ... If you are tight like me then a ZX636 (Gixer for you) shock is ample and cost you less than the potential depreciation on a race sock