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As most of you probably know by now, I am an Instructor with Sportbike Track Time in the Southern Region. This weekend, I took the weekend off from Instructing and decided to just go for one day and ride. I ended up taking my dedicated track bike ('07 600RR), as well as the FZ 09. Saturday morning started out pretty chilly (32 degrees) at 7:00AM when we normally arrive at the track, so I decided to ride the track bike instead of the FZ during the morning sessions, giving the temps a chance to come up before I took the FZ out on the track (no wind protection on the FZ). Lunch break is from noon till 1:00PM and by then, the temps were approaching the 70 degree mark and I decided to take the FZ out and do some laps. If you all remember, I switched out the tires to the Dunlop Q3's, right after buying the bike, and, I've never ridden on the Q3's before, so the first session or so, was getting acclimated to the FZ on the track, versus riding the 600RR.........big difference for sure. I also wanted to take it kind of easy during that session because of unfamiliarity of the new tires and not 100% sure of the pressures that I should be running on a 70 degree day with basically a pretty cold track surface.
So the first 20 minute session was spent getting a feel for the bike on the track, and the tires. I started out pretty slowly (relatively speaking) and trying to find out the kind of lean angle I could push the bike to with the stock suspension and the new tires/pressures. Things went pretty well considering that I am accustomed to riding a bike with full Ohlins suspension, setup and dialed in for me and my body weight with riding gear (approx. 215 lbs). The bike, as most of you know, is a monster when it comes to acceleration and torque, and this was the place to test some of the limits of the bike. The first thing that is immediately noticed when the bike is pushed hard is the lack of decent suspension for this type of riding. Front brake application when coming in hard to a corner, results in a lot of front end dive, ....front forks compressing way too much! Since there is no compression damping adjustment on the bike, you have to keep that in mind when you are coming in hot and trying to set your entrance speed for the corner. What I was impressed with, the stock brakes/pads are really pretty good on this bike. I run the Vesrah RJL's on my track bike, so I'm accustomed to having very good brakes that will operate with a two finger application. I'm not going to tell you that the stock brakes/pads are that good, but honestly, I really did not struggle with braking at all, except for the front end dive issue.
Second session out: I am definitely feeling a lot more comfortable on the bike at speed now and definitely feeling the shortcomings of the stock suspension. The front suspension seems to work....."decent", but as mentioned, the dive is one issue, but not the only one. With no adjustable compression damping available, going over any bumpy areas while at full lean (or even a lesser amount of lean angle), does not give a "planted" feeling a the front end. I never did "push" the Q3s (make them slide) but when the suspension isn't working like it should and you are leaned over at speed, the bike kind of gives you a feeling like it is "flexing", or wobbling. Now before ANYONE mentions the bolted frame that has been a topic of discussion on several occasions........I DO NOT attribute that wobbly/flexing feeling to that....it is suspension related. I have the rear shock preload set up to the highest setting and that is not enough. Rear end squat when driving out of the corners on the throttle is apparent. On top of that, the lack of any adjustable compression damping at the rear end is also causing some "pogo sticking" when running over a series of bumps. After coming in off the track after my second session, I checked out the front and rear tires to see if there was any visible abnormal wear (I knew there would be, just a question of how bad) and there was. I had the rebound damping dialed in at almost full hard and I was seeing the leading edge of the tire grooves being worn down less than the trailing edge of the grooves. That can be an indication of too much rebound damping. Since the stock shock is so cheaply made, there are no detents in the rebound adjustment; so instead of backing off say three clicks, you just turn it CCW with a screwdriver and get what you get......definitely trial and error and then go back out and try it again. So, I backed it out a 1/4 Turn and went back out for session three.
Third Session out. By the end of the second session, I was finding the max lean angles of both sides, with the peg feelers still on the pegs. For some reason, I got distracted, talking to a guy and gal that had walked past my paddock area and was wanting to know all about the bike.......so, long story short, I forgot to take the peg feeler off before the third session and went back out with them on. During the third session, I was really starting to push the bike pretty hard, as now I was getting use to what I had to deal with suspension wise and how to somewhat adjust/compensate for it's shortcoming. I was also having to somewhat adjust my lines and lean angles as I was dragging the feelers at almost every corner. The tires felt really good and I really never had any issues with them. At 70 degrees air temperature when I started out, I had the front set at 28 psi cold and the rear set at 26 psi cold. The bike has got tremendous drive out of the corners as long as you keep the revs up in the 7-8K range. Oh, and the bike was in the "A" mode the entire time out on the track. If this bike were to be used for track days on a consistent basis, a steering damper would definitely be required. Even as far up on the seat as I was yesterday, the bike likes to shake it's head coming out of the corners, especially when leaned over and hard on the gas....the front end just gets very light. If any of you here have ever been to Road Atlanta and are familiar with Turn 5, after you go through it and are driving up the hill to the short straight before T6, the FZ would lift the front end every single time in third gear coming over the crest of that little hill/rise. I had to be in third to get a good drive out of the turn, but yet, be very smooth on the throttle application coming over the crest because of the bike's tendancy to wheelie there. It would have been pretty easy to loop the bike over without much effort at that spot.....where you are in the 90 to 100 MPH range.
OK, the FZ does have a speed limiter built into the ECU. The best that I could get was an indicated 133 MPH on the bike yesterday. Having said that, the bike does seem to really start running out of steam on the top end.....which is just the opposite of what I'm use to with a 600RR inline 4 cylinder that tops the RPM range at 15K.
Because of not having any wind protection on the FZ and even though I was tucked as tight as I could be, at times, there is still a tremendous amount of wind noise going on and honestly, I didn't really feel the bike's "electronics control" for top speed kick in, but I also know that I couldn't coax any more than an indicated 133.
So, in summation, the bike pretty much performed exactly like I expected it to. I knew going in that it was NOT a track day weapon in it's stock form, but I do believe that with some suspension mods, it could be pretty good out there on the track.
So what does all of this mean for the average, everyday rider that is going to use the bike for commuting, casual riding, canyons/mountain riding, sport-touring, etc? Obviously, the suspension components are lacking....period. Do you Absolutely need to upgrade/modify them to be able to ride the bike? The short answer is NO! The more reasonable answer is that this bike could use some attention on the both the front and rear. That doesn't mean that you have to buy the very top of the line suspension components that will set you back $2500 to $3000. What it means is that some folks may be happy with some different springs and a heavier fork oil in the front end. Some choose to have some of the valving and shim stacks AND springs and fork oil dialed in for their personal settings. Some may choose to go with a fully adjustable front suspension that can be made to work for a near perfect ride. It is going to depend on what your preferences are and also, how you are riding the bike and it's uses.
The rear shock: All I can say is that it really is not much good for anything other than........uh.......being a stock shock! It really is pretty bad and it will certainly be one of the items that I replace on mine, and keep in mind, I'm not talking about track day use. This bike is going to be mostly just my normal street bike, but the rear shock really is that bad if the bike is pushed at all, even a somewhat spirited pace on the local twisties in your area.
I may try to put up some pictures of this weekend after Dave gets them posted on his site, but at the earliest, it will later on this week and is I can find some decent shot that wont bore y'all to death.
So the first 20 minute session was spent getting a feel for the bike on the track, and the tires. I started out pretty slowly (relatively speaking) and trying to find out the kind of lean angle I could push the bike to with the stock suspension and the new tires/pressures. Things went pretty well considering that I am accustomed to riding a bike with full Ohlins suspension, setup and dialed in for me and my body weight with riding gear (approx. 215 lbs). The bike, as most of you know, is a monster when it comes to acceleration and torque, and this was the place to test some of the limits of the bike. The first thing that is immediately noticed when the bike is pushed hard is the lack of decent suspension for this type of riding. Front brake application when coming in hard to a corner, results in a lot of front end dive, ....front forks compressing way too much! Since there is no compression damping adjustment on the bike, you have to keep that in mind when you are coming in hot and trying to set your entrance speed for the corner. What I was impressed with, the stock brakes/pads are really pretty good on this bike. I run the Vesrah RJL's on my track bike, so I'm accustomed to having very good brakes that will operate with a two finger application. I'm not going to tell you that the stock brakes/pads are that good, but honestly, I really did not struggle with braking at all, except for the front end dive issue.
Second session out: I am definitely feeling a lot more comfortable on the bike at speed now and definitely feeling the shortcomings of the stock suspension. The front suspension seems to work....."decent", but as mentioned, the dive is one issue, but not the only one. With no adjustable compression damping available, going over any bumpy areas while at full lean (or even a lesser amount of lean angle), does not give a "planted" feeling a the front end. I never did "push" the Q3s (make them slide) but when the suspension isn't working like it should and you are leaned over at speed, the bike kind of gives you a feeling like it is "flexing", or wobbling. Now before ANYONE mentions the bolted frame that has been a topic of discussion on several occasions........I DO NOT attribute that wobbly/flexing feeling to that....it is suspension related. I have the rear shock preload set up to the highest setting and that is not enough. Rear end squat when driving out of the corners on the throttle is apparent. On top of that, the lack of any adjustable compression damping at the rear end is also causing some "pogo sticking" when running over a series of bumps. After coming in off the track after my second session, I checked out the front and rear tires to see if there was any visible abnormal wear (I knew there would be, just a question of how bad) and there was. I had the rebound damping dialed in at almost full hard and I was seeing the leading edge of the tire grooves being worn down less than the trailing edge of the grooves. That can be an indication of too much rebound damping. Since the stock shock is so cheaply made, there are no detents in the rebound adjustment; so instead of backing off say three clicks, you just turn it CCW with a screwdriver and get what you get......definitely trial and error and then go back out and try it again. So, I backed it out a 1/4 Turn and went back out for session three.
Third Session out. By the end of the second session, I was finding the max lean angles of both sides, with the peg feelers still on the pegs. For some reason, I got distracted, talking to a guy and gal that had walked past my paddock area and was wanting to know all about the bike.......so, long story short, I forgot to take the peg feeler off before the third session and went back out with them on. During the third session, I was really starting to push the bike pretty hard, as now I was getting use to what I had to deal with suspension wise and how to somewhat adjust/compensate for it's shortcoming. I was also having to somewhat adjust my lines and lean angles as I was dragging the feelers at almost every corner. The tires felt really good and I really never had any issues with them. At 70 degrees air temperature when I started out, I had the front set at 28 psi cold and the rear set at 26 psi cold. The bike has got tremendous drive out of the corners as long as you keep the revs up in the 7-8K range. Oh, and the bike was in the "A" mode the entire time out on the track. If this bike were to be used for track days on a consistent basis, a steering damper would definitely be required. Even as far up on the seat as I was yesterday, the bike likes to shake it's head coming out of the corners, especially when leaned over and hard on the gas....the front end just gets very light. If any of you here have ever been to Road Atlanta and are familiar with Turn 5, after you go through it and are driving up the hill to the short straight before T6, the FZ would lift the front end every single time in third gear coming over the crest of that little hill/rise. I had to be in third to get a good drive out of the turn, but yet, be very smooth on the throttle application coming over the crest because of the bike's tendancy to wheelie there. It would have been pretty easy to loop the bike over without much effort at that spot.....where you are in the 90 to 100 MPH range.
OK, the FZ does have a speed limiter built into the ECU. The best that I could get was an indicated 133 MPH on the bike yesterday. Having said that, the bike does seem to really start running out of steam on the top end.....which is just the opposite of what I'm use to with a 600RR inline 4 cylinder that tops the RPM range at 15K.
Because of not having any wind protection on the FZ and even though I was tucked as tight as I could be, at times, there is still a tremendous amount of wind noise going on and honestly, I didn't really feel the bike's "electronics control" for top speed kick in, but I also know that I couldn't coax any more than an indicated 133.
So, in summation, the bike pretty much performed exactly like I expected it to. I knew going in that it was NOT a track day weapon in it's stock form, but I do believe that with some suspension mods, it could be pretty good out there on the track.
So what does all of this mean for the average, everyday rider that is going to use the bike for commuting, casual riding, canyons/mountain riding, sport-touring, etc? Obviously, the suspension components are lacking....period. Do you Absolutely need to upgrade/modify them to be able to ride the bike? The short answer is NO! The more reasonable answer is that this bike could use some attention on the both the front and rear. That doesn't mean that you have to buy the very top of the line suspension components that will set you back $2500 to $3000. What it means is that some folks may be happy with some different springs and a heavier fork oil in the front end. Some choose to have some of the valving and shim stacks AND springs and fork oil dialed in for their personal settings. Some may choose to go with a fully adjustable front suspension that can be made to work for a near perfect ride. It is going to depend on what your preferences are and also, how you are riding the bike and it's uses.
The rear shock: All I can say is that it really is not much good for anything other than........uh.......being a stock shock! It really is pretty bad and it will certainly be one of the items that I replace on mine, and keep in mind, I'm not talking about track day use. This bike is going to be mostly just my normal street bike, but the rear shock really is that bad if the bike is pushed at all, even a somewhat spirited pace on the local twisties in your area.
I may try to put up some pictures of this weekend after Dave gets them posted on his site, but at the earliest, it will later on this week and is I can find some decent shot that wont bore y'all to death.