| Author | Message | ||
     Jhuppdog |
I have just joined NESBA and plan on doing my first track day on October 14. I will be in the beginners group so the safety requirements are minimal on my bike. I am pretty confident that my bike will pass tech inspection but I would like to make some minor upgrades for the track. Here is a list of the upgrades that I would like to do before then. Safety wire the oil drain plug, the oil dipstick and the oil filter. These are the requirements that they have for the higher classes but they recommend them for everyone. If anyone has any tips on safety wiring or how to drill the holes correctly please let me know. I would also like to replace the brake pads. The pads that are on my bike are the original ones from 2001. I don't have the money to replace the rotor with a new wave or higher performance rotor so I thought replacing the pads would be a good thought. According to the information on American Sport Bike I am looking at the lyndall golds for the front and rear. If anyone has any thoughts on these pads let me know. I know there are others that take their tubers to the track so if you have any other information that you can share or words of wisdom please share. I am really excited and nervous at the same time. | ||
| Foximus |
make sure your brakes are properly bled, your primary chain is adjusted, and you are familiar with your rear shock settings. | ||
| Akbuell |
As a licensed aircraft mech, about safety wiring: Not a black art, but it is somewhat as much art as science. Appearance counts to FAA inspectors. As to your application, the fastener needs to be wired so that any vibration will cause the fastener to tighten, not loosen. That's it. If you have an airport nearby, check with them about safety wire and safety wire pliers, and jigs for drilling nuts/bolts for safety wire. Good luck, and enjoy the track day, Dave. | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Foximus, My brakes are properly bled and my primary chain and drive belt have been adjusted to the suggested settings of Buellistic. I tried adjusting the rear shock when I was rebuilding it but I do not have the shock wrench. I plan on buying one from ebay. I have the service manual and it talks about shock adjustment. Do you have any recommendations for the track? Akbuell, Are the pliers necessary? | ||
| Gixxer86g |
I have a 99 X1, with the stock rotors, actually still the six button ones. I use EBC HH pads and am quite pleased. | ||
| Preybird1 |
All you need is the safety wire and an old bucket handle.......The kind with the plastic tube on it. Bend one end 2x at 90 degrees. On one end make an loop like an eyelet and put your safety wire in it and twist it up. see attached pic of how twisted your wire should be. Just nice and tight not to tight or it will weaken and snap. Then attach to the closet fixed object. I also have one of these cheap little kits and these washers work great also   | ||
| Rick_a |
I'd say the most important thing is to have a good set of tires. Removing the side stand is a good idea as it'll likely be the first thing to drag. You'll be wanting rear sets in no time and if you make a habit of it suspension mods may be in your future. A set of LSL frame sliders may be a good preventative measure. Many say they do more bad than good, though I have found the contrary. | ||
| Akbuell |
No, the pliers are not necessary, just handy and quick. Any square nosed pliers will do, or a tool like Preybirds. The 'washer' assortment is very nice. As to adjusting preload on the rear shock, if you have a wrench big enough for the lock nut, get one of those rubber strap wrenches at the grocery store; the ones for removing jar lids. Inexpensive, and does a nice job of turning the shock body. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
I rode my bike to the track then taped my headlight, brake light, and turn signals, removed mirrors and did a quick fluid check and tire pressure check before going on the track. Suspension is key, tire pressure can really affect your handling too. First track day I struggled to get my knee down on my bike, found the XB demo bikes very easy to do it on. Second track day my shock had been rebuilt, custom valved and dialed in for my weight. It was a blast. I installed the Lyndall golds on the front prior to the first track day. The back is practically worthless and seldom used on the track anyway so if money is tight that's $30-40 for those rear pads you can do at a later date. Not only do the Golds outperform the stock material they clean up the rotor and eliminate the pulsing/warped feel from the residue the stock compound deposits. I had the lock-nut spin loose and the shock body rotate a half turn, so make sure you snug that hardware up tight, especially if you are going to ride hard. My X1 forks were fine the first time on track, but once the rear shock was dialed in I could feel the front end trying to get a little loose. Race springs have been installed since and the front end feels much better under hard braking. Have fun, the race track is so much more fun than riding on the street! | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Thanks for the info guys. I have a new set of Michelin Pilot Power 2CT's on the bike. So I should be good for awhile. I would like to put a set of rearsets on the bike but that will have to wait as they are pretty expensive. I have not had a chance to work on the rear suspension settings so I plan on doing that before the track day. I also need to work on the front suspension. The front really seems to dive under heavy braking. Has anyone safety wired their dipstick? How did you do it? SInce it does not screw in. | ||
| Rick_a |
Yes. Just put a large hose clamp around it and safety wire that to the frame. In my experience those tires work very well, but are very unpredictable at the very edge of adhesion. Most of the track incidents I've witnessed in the past few years (me included) involved that very tire. Just don't continue to push them when they start feeling loose. They tend to let go completely with little warning. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
You can find the foot peg relocators which do pretty well on the track. I've touched pegs to the road in the local canyons (less hanging off to try and ride at a more sedate pace), but for all the knee dragging at the track I found I only put pegs down when my form was not as good. Billet 2 race and RRC sell relocators, they move your pegs up and back a little. Banke also had a relocator design but they may be hard to find and they all do pretty much the exact same thing. They are much less than rear sets and may be adequate for your needs initially. | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Rick, Thanks for the info on the tires, that is great information to know. I do not plan on doing track days when I bought the tires, so I never factored that into consideration when I bought them. Since this my first track day I plan on pushing myself and the bike but not to the extreme. Littlebuggles, I found the Billet 2 site but I only saw relocators for an M2. I'll have to email them. What site is RRC? | ||
| Mbsween |
Jeremy, I just did the tape (use painters not duct) for the lights and new tires. You can see I even left my License plate on. I ride the intermediate group. Have fun, take it easy in session one till you get the feel of the surface and the bike on the track. What track are you running? Each one is different, Mid Ohio has some strangeness if you end up being the first group of the day. It feels squishy (technical term) to me. I'm old and beat up so I don't hang off much. You will drag stuff if you don't hang off. As mentioned the stand, the pegs, and the shifter. I wouldn't worry about it 1st time out. Just back off if you find hard parts throwing sparks. I run Conti Road Attacks. And couldn't agree more than a new set of tires and front pads are probably the most important things. This is from the east course at Pocono, you can see there isn't much room left for an upshift  (Message edited by mbsween on August 30, 2012) | ||
| Brinnutz |
Twin Motorcycles is where you'll find most of the hard to find parts. They are opening a shop here in the states too soon! I believe for the X1 the only rearsets readily available are the Free Spirits designed. http://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/webshop/artikel.asp? guid=YXHFSC&aid=28&cid=125&s=&a=&aname=Footrest_ki t_for_Buell_X1 (Message edited by brinnutz on August 30, 2012) | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Jhuppdog, I was not familiar with the RRC's until Brin posted a photo of his bike with them on. They appear to based on the Banke part that the B2R's also seem based on. Wilson, thanks for posting that link! So they are basically a plate that bolts on over the current peg bracket and are secured at two points using a plug in the isolator hole in the side plate as the upper mount point, and the current peg mount point as the bottom mount point. Your pegs are moved up about an inch and back maybe half that. There's a cut out in the bike's side plate halfway between the iso hole and the peg mount, that's where the peg mounting hardware sits (nut and bolt pass through relocation plate). There is a small spacer to adjust your rear brake pedal for the new peg location. From their simplicity I believe they are universal to all the 99+ model year tube frame bike and may fit the older models with similar peg mount/frame side plate set-ups. I'll try and sketch something out on a picture of the stock set up and post it so it makes better sense as it may be hard to visualize from my description. (Message edited by littlebuggles on August 30, 2012) | ||
| Littlebuggles |
I had Road Attacks on for both my track days and never found them to be a limiting factor. The Attack 2's are supposed to be an even better tire. | ||
| Brinnutz |
Mike, The relocators actually aren't usable between models...well, all of them anyways. M2/S3 interchanged and the X1 was separate. The distance between the isolator bolt hole and peg mounting holes are different between M2/S3 and the X1.  The RRC's design is superior to the Bankes (IMHO), but RRC doesn't make relocators for the X1 any longer. (Message edited by brinnutz on August 30, 2012) | ||
| Jhuppdog |
Matt, I am running the patriot course at VIR. Did you run with NESBA? DID you have to disconnect your lights? There is definitely not much room between the asphalt and the hard parts. Thanks for posting up the link to Twinmotorcycles, but with a price tag like that I will be waiting quite some time. Well it sounds like the RRC's are out of the question. If anyone knows of an affordable way to move the pegs let me know. I have spent quite a bit of my funds on a leather suit and some chest/back protection. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
I wonder if the Banke, B2R part might have the holes slotted to work with the X1 mounts. There is another guy in Salt Lake (Preybird1) with an X1, I could compare my parts against his bike and get an idea if you'd like me to check it out for that possibility.  I wonder if the X1 pegs are high enough that this won't really be an issue? This little gem only moves the pegs up about an inch and back a little less than that. (Message edited by littlebuggles on August 30, 2012) | ||
| Littlebuggles |
This is from Miller Motor Sports Park, second trip there with the rebuilt rear shock and the early Conti Road Attacks.  | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Just for comparison purposes, here's May on that same section of track.  | ||
| Brinnutz |
Mike, all you need to do is look at an X1 and M2 side by side stock and you'll see. That's why the X1 requires a longer shifter too. Cool pics! | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Thanks Wilson. That Geoff May pic is courtesy of Late braker dot com, I think that was the name on the pic before I reduced it so I could post it up. Russ, you still tuned in here? I don't recall you having rear sets on your X1, did you have any trouble with clearance during your ART class on the small track? More pics, this guys seems to be doing okay with what appears to be stock peg placement on his X1:  Local racer from the HD shop fabbed his own rear sets and gp shift linkage, if you have basic tools you could probably do your own rear sets too, here's his X1 dressed up for full competition racing:  ...and getting back to the original question, the bike above had the grips safety wired on, you wouldn't want those coming loose! Primary cover hardware was also safety wired, you can see that if you zoom in. Might have had the cam cover wired too, I don't recall though. (Message edited by littlebuggles on August 31, 2012) | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Front suspension, I have stock X1 forks with Buell race springs from the accessories catalog, c.2001 I think. They help the front feel more controlled and are still comfortable for my general commuting riding. With the stock springs it was good for commuting but they felt at their limit under heavy braking (quick stops) and at higher lean angles. I'm about 195 fully geared up with boots, leathers and lid, just for a reference point for your set up. I also have a steering damper, my bike develops a light head-shake from 82-87ish mph without it turned up a couple clicks. For street riding I leave it dialed all the way off. |
