zeta xray
Expert Class
Posts: 416
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posted June 02, 2004 09:15 PM
My third track day on the "10"
I attended my third ZX10R track day at Texas World Speedway on Memorial Day. Recently, it seems like there is always rain in the forecast when I get ready to go to track days. And this one was no exception. The whole week before the track day the forecast was for 40% chance of rain. Then on Saturday, the forecast changed to 30%. Sunday, before we headed for the track the forecast dropped to 10%. Whew. I needed to change tires and didn't know whether to reinstall the original D218's (for rain) or put on a set of Pirelli Dragons (for dry).
I had some new suspension tweaks I wanted to try on the ZX10. One of the things I had changed was to increase the front preload by a quite a bit, which raised the front static ride height, as well. It then occurred to me that I might need to bring the nose back down to restore the original steering geometry. I decided to slide the fork tubes up a little in the triple clamps in spite of the fact that it could give the bike a greater tendency to shake it's head. Since I don't have a steering damper installed, the thought of tanks slappers was always in the back of my mind. When I finished with my adjustments, I measured my front and rear ride height of my ZX10 and compared it to a ZX10 that had no adjustments done to the suspension. I found that my bike had the same rear ride height as the stock ZX10 but that the nose on mine was now lower. Hmmm. So much for restoring the original steering geometry. That thought created a little more anxiety, but I decided I wanted to try it like that. Then the day before we were to leave for the track, a friend had to show me a clip he had gotten off of the Internet of some massive tank slapper induced crash at the Isle of Man. That wasn't what I needed to see. Oh good let's play it over and over. Oh boy, look, slow motion playback. Great, now I can invasion it in the minutest details when I go to sleep. It didn't help that my bike had been a little twitchy the first time I took it to a track day plus I had read all of the horror stories on the Internet, so I was a little apprehensive, to say the least.
The day of the event, things started out going smoothly until I actually got out on the track. As soon as I picked up speed the front end was bouncing all over the place. I had mounted a "new" set of used Pirelli Dragons before heading to the track and I either had a bad tire or the balance was way off. I went straight to the garage and pulled off the front wheel. Pete Martins is the Dunlop and Bridgestone tire dealer in our part of the world and he does a great job of supporting the track days and racing in general in this area. I am sure Pete was thrilled to see me since I showed up with my front wheel and my own replacement tire, if needed. I interrupted his installation of a tire that some customer actually bought from him and asked him to check the balance of my brand X tire. Pete graciously rebalanced my wheel/tire. So now it was time to go play.
The first time I headed out onto the front straight, I was looking for any signs of headshake. Thankfully there was absolutely no evidence of any wiggle at all. As a matter of fact the bike has never felt so solid. It felt great. So much for the many hours of worry I had dedicated to the issue of tank slappers. Bumps off of turns, ripples in turns, harsh transitions from the infield course onto and off of the banking, nothing phased the chassis of the ZX10. It plowed through everything with absolute stability. A steering damper is now a much lower priority on my things to do list.
As the day went on, I managed to improve on my previous best lap time by over a second and a half. I am really happy with my lap time, BUT this weekend was kind of an eye opening experience in other respects. As the bike and I went faster, the bike wanted me to contribute more to the team. I have discovered that my limited movement on the bike was OK when I was doing 2:08 laps but when we got down a little faster, the bike wanted me to be a little more athletic and do things like move more off the side in corners. It wanted me to move more over the front under hard acceleration. The 10 performed its part of the job with ease, the rider needed to do more than just sit there like a lump and give a halfhearted effort. The inescapable fact is that my physical conditioning sucks. I was getting cramps in my hips after 2 or 3 laps. I got a crick in my neck. I was also suffering from the 110-degree heat index. Sitting at a desk year 'round in a climate-controlled environment is not the best training program. Maybe I should get heavier pens so I can get more exercise. When the fatigue set in, I had a hard time focusing on my riding. I wound up sitting out one session completely. Damn, I had this sexy, beautiful, nasty biatch sitting there, wanting to play and I was too tired and out of shape to satisfy her. I almost feel like I let the bike down.
The good news is that the ZX10 is fast. Make that really f**king FAST. At the track days, I have been running in the licensed racer group, but I am not a pro road racer or even an amateur road racer. I am just a guy on the street going out to learn something about riding. Most of the riders in my group can beat me into, through and out of the corners. That means the ZX10 has a lot more work to do. I have too little talent and too much fear to throw caution to the wind or the bike on the ground. My fast lap was a 2:04.50, while the faster guys were running 1:55's or better. As you would imagine, this run group has all kinds of highly tuned and modified race bikes. In spite of that, the number of bikes that actually out powered me on the straights was zero, nada, zilch, none. My "race prep" consists of removing the turn signals, mirrors and license plate. Other than that, my bike is completely box stock. I consistently pulled 12,000+ rpm on the front straight in 5th gear. I don't know how fast that is but it seems pretty darn fast. If I could have gotten a better drive onto the front straight, I could have easily seen even more terminal velocity and probably 6th gear. My entry speed onto the front straight is probably at least 10 mph slower than it should be. Time after time, bikes would pull up beside me coming onto the straight. But as soon as I got the 10 WFO their fun was over. Well, at least until I shut off early for turn 1. I could sense their frustration. I wonder if they could sense my smile under my helmet?
I now have an incentive to actually exercise. I am sure I will get faster, given more track experience. The bike really inspires confidence. It goes like stink, it handles fantastically, it has great brakes and I can still ride it to work on a daily basis. It gets decent fuel mileage on the street and the rear tire lasted longer than tires lasted on my '98 R1. It is interesting to think that I am riding a bike that is said to be close to the performance of a top line Superbike of a year or two ago and it is easy to ride quickly and it doesn't scare the s**t out of me. Yahoo.
Is this a great time we live in or what? Thanks Kawasaki.
  
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12RPilot
Pro
Posts: 1094
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posted June 03, 2004 04:07 AM
Your experience reminds me of my first track days a few years back. I was not only out of shape, I was wrestling around a ZX-12. I also skipped a session on my first day. After that day I seemed to do better physically, probably because I relaxed quite a bit. And of course, nothing touched my 12 on the straights.
Your write up is getting me pumped for my first try at Putnam Raceway on the 12th and 13th.
____________
If you aren't an AMA member, you're part of the problem.
NESBA #209
http://www.bikepics.com/members/12rpilot/04zx10r/
 
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dnwhoop02
Expert Class
Posts: 204
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posted June 03, 2004 05:34 AM
hey zeta- which bike were you on? One of the two green ones or the blue one? I had my black one up there, but for now I'm just spectating...
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David
'04 ZX-10R
'00 SV650
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kz2zx
Pro
Nobody in Particular
Posts: 1166
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posted June 03, 2004 05:39 AM
July... I've signed up for my first one in July...
Sort of shivery anticipation. Soon, my little 10R, soon.
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TLR2000
Novice Class
Posts: 37
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posted June 03, 2004 06:07 AM
Zeta rides a green that used to be blue
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zeta xray
Expert Class
Posts: 416
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posted June 03, 2004 07:20 AM
I had the green one without the race bodywork. The blue one is my former body pieces. It never went out on the track. I saw your black one. The team on the other green one had some bad luck. On the last lap of the last session of the weekend, a Suzuki decided to perform an oil change while riding around the track. Unfortunately the other green ZX10 couldn't avoid the oil slick and went down, damaging it's beautiful new bodywork and the fuel tank, in the process. The rider was reported to be sore but not really hurt. It was really a shame because that bike looked awesome.
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dnwhoop02
Expert Class
Posts: 204
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posted June 03, 2004 07:35 AM
yeah, I saw that one... I also saw a Suzuki that was pretty much destroyed... I'm assuming that was the offender?
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David
'04 ZX-10R
'00 SV650
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zeta xray
Expert Class
Posts: 416
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posted June 03, 2004 11:12 AM
Different Suzuki. That one washed out the front end in Turn 1. 130+ mph? The bike tumbled and rolled a lot. Brand new OZ forged wheels destroyed. Rider scratched up but up and walking. Bike was totaled. Things like that remind me that I can give up a little time in Turn 1 and not feel too bad about it.
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alley cat
Parking Attendant
Posts: 30
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posted June 03, 2004 03:02 PM
good points about the preload Zeta. i was not happy with the stock settings as they did not offer the control i was wanting. i have been going stiffer also and just last week tried the sport rider settings which seem to be close to what you are saying. 2 lines showing up front and raise the tubes 3 mil. in the clamps, 22 mil of thread showing on the shock and i am very happy with the feel so far.though i have not had it on the track yet we have some areas in my neck of the woods that you can get a pretty good feel if things will work or not.. good luck on your next trackday, i should have mine on the track in the next few weeks...
____________
04 ZX-10R-blue(Mr. Hyde)
C/F Micron high mnt.
i refuse to go timidly thru life only to arrive safely at death...
Bill...track head
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ice 1
Novice Class
Posts: 32
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posted June 03, 2004 04:39 PM
Actually it was a Honda 954 that blew it's motor. Vinyl Edge Racing's endurance bike. They sure dodged a bullet - their next lap would have likely been the practice for the endurance race in 2 weeks, and they are leading the CMRA endurance points.
My rider didn't have any chance to avoid the oil since it was just past the apex of turn 3, and went all the way across the track. Another bike went down behind my rider, and actually hit our ZX10. You can tell by the tire marks on the windscreen. Matt didn't break anything, but got a big bruise on the shoulder and a very sore back & neck.
I'm real impressed with the crashability of the ZX10R. Not that I was hoping to find that out so soon  Considering how light the bike is, and how bad this one tumbled, we really came off OK. The tank is smashed in hard on the right side, and the much of the bodywork is toast, and the rest of the damage is brackets, ground down bolts on case covers, clip-ons, levers & a fractured (but repairable) ram air duct. Maybe I'll post some pix later. We've definitely come off worse at lower speeds than this before.
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zeta xray
Expert Class
Posts: 416
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posted June 03, 2004 07:27 PM
Ice, I think you are correct that the ZX10 can take a crash pretty well. It seems like in all of the incidents reported so far on the Internet that the 10 has generally come away with less damage than would be expected. Perhaps the low mass helps in some small way. I didn't want to go look at your bike after you told me about it. Too sad. It looked so damn fine before the oil spill.
I never saw the offending bike but 2 different sources said it was a Suzuki. So much for word of mouth information. One said the motor let go. The other one said the oil filter blew out.
Ice, what brand of bodywork did you have. How was the fit and finish?
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ice 1
Novice Class
Posts: 32
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posted June 03, 2004 08:08 PM
The exploding Honda was copper colored with the big #1 on it - Joe Prussiano was riding it at a good pace when it blew. You probably remember seeing it a time or two. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the oil filter that let go - there was SO MUCH oil all over the track right in one place.
We are running Armour Bodies. The fit on their bodywork was very good. You can see right where to drill most of the bolt holes too. The only mismatch I noticed was between the front of the seat and the fuel tank - a slight radius difference, but not too bad. My painter liked the finish, but he has seen Armour Bodies that were fairly pourus on the surface before. But nothing as bad as the HotBodies stuff.
I run the Armour because it weighs so much less than anything else out there besides carbon fiber, but it is extremely flexible. Our windscreen showed marks from hitting the ignition switch, but the upper is intact even after bending that far. We will actually keep using the upper - it only needs minor repairs and some paint. Had the stock tail on the bike since we didn't have seat foam yet for the superbike tail.
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