Kat @ the Track (56k beware)

[Kila-Beave]

Took the Kat out to Grattan Raceway in Belding, MI yesterday for my first track day. I was very surprised in both myself and the Kat. It handled very well and kept it's composure even when I was flogging it mercilessly. It would lose out on the 3200' front straight (film @ 11) but I could hold my own or reel guys in through the tighter sections. All in all she did very well, took all the abuse I could throw at her and kept coming back for more

Gettin ready for 1st session


A couple pics of me railing a left hander




Getting passed on the HUGE straight I'd enter the straight with the throttle wide open and right at the redline in 3rd (well @ the 10k where I shifted). By the end I was @ 9500-10000 in 6th!!


If you're plannign on tracking your Kat make sure to do two things in prepping the bike. 1) REMOVE THE CENTERSTAND and 2) CLICK THE REAR RIDE HEIGHT TO 7!!! The biggest hindrence to the Kat on the track is it's lack of ground clearance and that will do as much as you can to increase it. I ground about 1/3 of the right peg feeler off and drug the midpipe multiple times. The guys putting on the event (Apex2Apex.net, GREAT people) came over after the 2nd session and helped me adjust the suspension after the control rider behind me saw the sparks flying

Scratches on midpipe


And as for tires, I'm riding Pirellis from now on! The Diablo Stradas stuck like glue and never felt greasy. Sure I got it to slide a time or two but they were very predictable and they gave real good feedback. The Pirelli tire guy at the track and one of the racer/owner/control riders recommended that I run them at 30psi cold and shoot for 32-33 hot. I set them at 30 before the 1st session and after lunch and they were between 32 and 33.5 after each one. They seemed to hold up well too, but you can tell they were excercised a bit I HIGHLY recommend the Diablo Strada's front and rear in the STOCK sizes.



... there will be a few more pics later when the ones from the professional photographer show up. Allegedly he got one with me throwing sparks from the midpipe!!

[jgust25]

That looks like one helluva time you had there. I want to do this very soon, but I don't think I'd do it with the Kat. Like we saw on the film, it simply doesn't have the top end for the straights. I'm hopefully going to pick up a 250 track bike (plenty fast for me) in the next year or so, and start running amateur events as soon as I get my license.

Nice pics, I can't wait for more.

[JBLUE]

thanks for sharing pics you look like you had a good time

[FastJetta97]

sweet buddy.... looks like mad fun... thats the one thing i have yet to do on a bike is take it to a track like that.....

[Sasquatch]

Thanks for the pics! Im am getting ready to try my first track day as well, and am very much looking forward to it.

[Kila-Beave]

Thanks all, it really was a blast! I'll prolly do another this season at some point.

jgust - That 250 you're talking about a 2-stroke? It's not really about the top end on the straights anyhow. It's not a race out there, it's just you riding your bike as fast as you want/can.

In all honesty, I really wasn't wishing for more motor, just more suspension. I actually was thinking SV650 might be a good next move. Similar top end, less weight, more suspension.

[VifferJim]

A good day at the track looks like it'll just eat yer tires... wow, that looks like a lotta fun.

[DumbLuck]

In all honesty, I really wasn't wishing for more motor, just more suspension. I actually was thinking SV650 might be a good next move. Similar top end, less weight, more suspension.

the SV650 runs in the lightweight division of the CRA (central roadracing association), an amature organization. they do well against the 400cc in line 4's. 600cc in line 4's are in Middleweight, 750's Heavyweight, and 1000cc in the Unlimited. Unlimited is restricted to Expert classed riders, but everything else is open to Novice as well as Expert. Experts that are quick enough can step up a class, ie: LtWt to MdWt. etc. It seems most novices are on 600's. If you like the track days, look into the amature racing organizations in your area. It makes for a great weekend (altho a bit spendy to actually race)

[Kila-Beave]

the SV650 runs in the lightweight division of the CRA (central roadracing association), an amature organization. they do well against the 400cc in line 4's. 600cc in line 4's are in Middleweight, 750's Heavyweight, and 1000cc in the Unlimited. Unlimited is restricted to Expert classed riders, but everything else is open to Novice as well as Expert. Experts that are quick enough can step up a class, ie: LtWt to MdWt. etc. It seems most novices are on 600's. If you like the track days, look into the amature racing organizations in your area. It makes for a great weekend (altho a bit spendy to actually race)

A guy I used to ride with on the weekends just sold his streetbikes and bought an SV and upgraded everything to race it and last I heard he was leading a couple divisions in the WERA North Central division. I probably wouldn't start racing b/c I would hate to start counting my paychecks in sets of tires

I'm thinking the SV would be a ton of fun b/c it's just slow enough that you can really wring it's neck and not wind up in a lot of trouble. Plus it's more fun to ride a slower bike fast than a fast bike slow right?

[jgust25]

Thanks all, it really was a blast! I'll prolly do another this season at some point.

jgust - That 250 you're talking about a 2-stroke? It's not really about the top end on the straights anyhow. It's not a race out there, it's just you riding your bike as fast as you want/can.

In all honesty, I really wasn't wishing for more motor, just more suspension. I actually was thinking SV650 might be a good next move. Similar top end, less weight, more suspension.

I haven't looked into it fully, but I believe it may be. It's about the same as the twin cylinder MotoGP 250's, just slightly detuned for a bit more reliability due to not everyone having big ticket sponsors to rebuild motors every race. I want to start racing about 2 weekends a month (or however many I can afford), and hopefully improve enough to pick up some sort of sponsorship. At 20, I think I still might have enough time to make it into the sport a bit. I wasn't lucky enough to be born into a racing family though. Gotta keep your dreams alive...

[DumbLuck]

BIR in Brainerd, MN, where the CRA races has the fastest turn 1 in north america. Lightweights (400's, SV650) would be around 140mph into turn one, middleweights (600's) about 160, the unlimited (liter bikes +) around 180 or more. this was mid 1990's times if i remember them right. Lap times overall havent gone down that much over the years.

[allblackkat]

2 stroke 250s are about the same as a 600... Soon there won't be a 250 motogp class, they'll be 4 stroke 650s...
You can find a track bike for real cheap ($2-3k) and have all the fun you want on just about anything on a track...

ninja250s, dirtbikes converted to motards, all the way up to 1098r's, heck even a goldwing was at a track day i just went and watched....

[Nero]

I miss going to the track. -I want my track bike back!

[Kila-Beave]

I haven't looked into it fully, but I believe it may be. It's about the same as the twin cylinder MotoGP 250's, just slightly detuned for a bit more reliability due to not everyone having big ticket sponsors to rebuild motors every race. I want to start racing about 2 weekends a month (or however many I can afford), and hopefully improve enough to pick up some sort of sponsorship. At 20, I think I still might have enough time to make it into the sport a bit. I wasn't lucky enough to be born into a racing family though. Gotta keep your dreams alive...

Sweet, those 250 2-strokes look like a ton of fun. The only one I've seen in person is an Aprilla RS250 that was grey market imported over here by a guy stationed in europe. Could be hard to find one (cheap) but if you do buy it and go for it! Best of luck to ya!

[Electrical_Tech]

Wow, watching that video, 3rd gear at redline out of the corner seems so slow doesn't it? I know myself that I have only ran out (not pushing, just letting it roll up to redline) in 1st, and to about 10500 in 2nd at which point I was doing around 140km/h which to me seems pretty fast. It will be a long time before I run out to the red in 3rd lol. Looks can be deceiving .. just how fast is 3rd at the redline?