I bought it on my birthday as a present to myself from myself for being such a good boy during the first quarter and most of the second. Every bike has a story. This belonged to a friend of a friend, then went off to a company as a prototype build bike for parts. It came back with some nifty parts, more were added, and it was safety wired.
It has K-Tech suspension, Evol-Tech clip ons and rear sets, a 415 chain kit, and some kind of one off carbon fiber stubby exhaust.
Two days later I took it to the McMinnville Kart track for a shakedown. In my exhuberance I forgot to check the tire pressure and overloaded the front and lowsided it. Well crap. At least I got that out of the way. The brake lever guard was a loss and the rearset was bent. I bent it back into place and kept going. As the carbs cleaned out it performed better. The Kart track is only .6 miles long so its tiring as heck to ride there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZetRetIlH7A
Just a few days ago I took it to PIR for a trackday with 2-Fast for a proper big track shakedown. It would be learning too since I hadn't been to PIR since 2014.
Things I learned about the bike and the track:
-The chicane actually kinda sucks. The surface is bad and it just isn't much fun.
-GPR300s are decent tires but they aren't the most sticky feeling of tires I've tracked. Probably doesn't help that for whatever reason someone stuck a 150 rear on this bike which is spec-ed for a 130 rear. The 150 makes the rear taller, so there's more potential lean angle I'm not using. Not sure if the bike/rider can actually take advantage of it though.
-Even if I'm getting passed all the time I need to do a TD in a group that allows inside passing. I was faster in the corners than some people but couldn't inside pass because its 100 group.
-I'm getting better at braking later and carrying more corner speed. I need to follow an instructor and get some coaching to overcome my fear of braking later and quick flicking into turn 1 with more speed.
-The chicane actually kinda sucks. The surface is bad and it just isn't much fun.
-GPR300s are decent tires but they aren't the most sticky feeling of tires I've tracked. Probably doesn't help that for whatever reason someone stuck a 150 rear on this bike which is spec-ed for a 130 rear. The 150 makes the rear taller, so there's more potential lean angle I'm not using. Not sure if the bike/rider can actually take advantage of it though.
-Even if I'm getting passed all the time I need to do a TD in a group that allows inside passing. I was faster in the corners than some people but couldn't inside pass because its 100 group.
-I'm getting better at braking later and carrying more corner speed. I need to follow an instructor and get some coaching to overcome my fear of braking later and quick flicking into turn 1 with more speed.
Things I want to improve on the bike:
-Tires
-Levers, clipon angle and ergo
-Maybe a different brake master cylinder
-Throttle tube/lobe. Quick turn type thing. At PIR its pretty much either max throttle or maintenance throttle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KzyQsptY5c&t=6s
I'm stuck at 1:48. I think I can pick up some time at turn 1, 5, and 7 pretty easily by learning to carry more speed into the corner.
