Woohooo, first trackday, it was a blast!!! (My thoughts)

[Süsser Tod]

(Note: It is not that I not like the Katana, I like it, it has several good points, but the track is not what it was made for)

Well, for one I know why the Katana is looked down as a sportbike. Too heavy and stable" (slow to maneuver)...

I was amazed how the 600cc SS bikes could not only keep up with my 750 on the straight, but they left me behind. And if that wasnt bad enough, they could brake a lot faster than me...

I was able to more or less keep up with them on the turns, but not in the acceleration when coming out of a turn nor when braking...


I really enjoyed it. I was placed in the "fast" group along with a wicked race prepped CBR600RR and a Ducati 748R (The 748 was funny, I felt like if were being chased by a crazy mower, and the clutch sounded like a broken ratchet!!!).

It was a religious experience!!!

Now I think I understan what riding a sportbike is about, feeling the fear and being able to control it, but not losing it, respect the bike while pushing its limits, God, that was great.

First turn on the track was just an easy set of laps, second one was almost wasted as a guy wrecked quite hard (rider error, downshifted while entering the turn, locked the rear, and down he went).
Third one I rode like $hit as I think I was scared by the wreckage.

Fourth and last...

I was finally able to concentrate on what I was doing, ran as fast as the poor Kan-o-tuna could, tried to do my best effort and it showed up, I was able to more or less hold my position on the group (only lost like 3-4 positions, to the duck, 600RR, an F4i and a 636, and lapped some guys!)

Trackday changed my whole perception of what riding a sportbike is all about!

[Süsser Tod]

More pictures!!!

[Süsser Tod]

Almost done with those damn chicken stripes!!!

[tzortn]

Cool pictures. So where was the event? Any hints for people thinking about taking their Kat out to a day like that?

[crazyaussie]

I'm just curious...did you do anything to your bike to make it track ready? I'm interested in attending a track day someday (not anytime soon, but once I get more experience) and want to know what sort of preparations need to be done. Thanks...looks like you had a blast!

[Süsser Tod]

I didn't wanted anyone to ask about safety...

This trackday was in Mexico, and safety wasn't very tight. We had ambulance, tow truck, paramedics, full gear was required and that was it. No taped mirrors/headlights/blinkers nor water in the radiator instead of coolant.

Basically @ most tracks in the US they require:

a) Taped mirrors/headlights/blinkers so the glass wont fly and shred into small pieces in the event of a crash.
b) Plain water instead of coolant, as that stuff is really slippery, but that is not a concern with an oilcooled bike

Some tracks will require safety wired nuts/bolts.



Only things I did to the bike was to re-jet it, make sure everythign was in perfect running condition, added 20W oil to the forks to stiffen out the front suspension, and reset the rear suspension (more preload and stiffer damping) so it would be more stable on the track.

Other than the safety measures above, and making sure your bike is in perfect running condition, there is nothing else to to do.

[Süsser Tod]

By the way, no riding on the streets will be able to match the track experience!

It is entirely different, you are able to concentrate in your riding, instead of being looking out for cagers, potholes, oil/gravel on the pavement, etc. That and the fact that you are supposed to go as fast as you can!


If you are still thinking about doing a trackday, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT, DO IT!!!

[Anonymous]

well im glad you had a blast and im guessing the jets i sent you helped???

[Süsser Tod]

well im glad you had a blast and im guessing the jets i sent you helped???

Of course they helped!!! Thanks you a lot man! I wouldn't have dared to take the bike to the track without them. It was running really hot (lean) so without them I think I would have blown the engine!

In fact, the track is on another state, and in the morning it was really cold and humid on the interstate (kind of mist and cold air). The bike was running cold!!! A first for my Kat, since I got it it always ran extremely hot!

Well, that and re-setting the idle mixture plus adjusting correctly the float bowls made a day/night difference!!! The mechanic who the PO took the bike with, drilled the mufflers, and I guess the a$$ just raised the floats to richen the mixture instead of rejeting the bike!
(That and I found that he also used ATF instead of fork oil, incorrect sparkplugs, a screw to get a broken sparkplug boot to touch the tip of the sparkplug, yada, yada, yada)

Oh, and also followed your advise and de-californised the bike. After looking for all the pair valve connections, canister connections and all that stuff, noticed some of them were missing, some lines went nowhere, etc. [Sarcasm]That mechanic that used to work on the bike sure was a genious![/Sarcasm] (I really don't know how people like that, being so dishonest, can work on bikes and put people's like in risk.)

[katman05]

Sounds like you had alot of fun, were there any comments from the other riders about your Kat. I mean, were they surprised on how well the Kat performed?