[narula123]

What a fantastic weekend at the Kari Motor Speedway at Coimbatore. The Kawasaki Ninja 650 Owners Group had a trackday along with Cotton City Throttles (the Coimbatore Superbike club).

About 30 riders with machines ranging from the Ninja650 to the meanest daddies S1000RR and RSV4s.

The Metzelers M5s performed well and provided really good grip. Did not take too long to heat up either. Good rubber.

The PC5+Scorpion exhaust combo made a world of a difference to the performance. Superb power.


P.S - All below pics clicked by Guru Shankar Subramanian.

[narula123]

Just installed the Barnett custom clutch springs on the bike. My Oh My does she fly.

Power is instant with absolutely 0 lag when the throttle is whacked open. Even in city riding the bottom end response has just gone up noticeably sharper.

The clutch felt a little too responsive and I ended up stalling the bike thrice in traffic. Need to get the adjustment done on the clutch to ensure the sharpness in engagement is toned down a bit.

This is just a MUST HAVE on the bike.

Downside is that the stiffer springs have made the clutch action harder so stop-go city traffic makes you realise this the hard way. But overall, its a very small price to pay for the performance advantage one gets. Fellow bhpian Guru also claims that these springs will make the clutch life longer due to zero slip now compared to stock.
Vendor : www.blueridgeperformance.net

Manufacturer: www.barnettclutches.com

Overall the Scorpion free-flow, PC5 and the clutch spring combo have made the bike much much faster than the stock bike. A fellow Ninja 650 owner recently rode my bike and came back smiling with the way she performs.
Post the track-day have shifted back to the stock Dunlops and I seriously miss the Metzelers for the sheer grip advantage they have over the Dunlops. Plan to upgrade the Dunlops with either Michelin Pilot Road3 or Pirelli Angel GT for the street use once the Dunlops wear out. Dont mind succeding them with Dunlop Roadsmarts again. Not a bad tyre. The Metzeler Sportec M5s will continue to be the track-use tyres.

After more than a year of ownership and using her in various avatars (touring, track, street) I can safely say that for the amount of money you pay for her you can't find a better bike than the Ninja 650. Shes amazingly multi-talented, is scary fast (72 bhp in India is more than enough), can fill her up at any fuel-bunk, is comfortable to ride and relatively easy to maintain. My love affair with her continues !

[sriku]

Originally Posted by narula123

The clutch felt a little too responsive and I ended up stalling the bike thrice in traffic. Need to get the adjustment done on the clutch to ensure the sharpness in engagement is toned down a bit.

Varun, your left hand will learn the clutch action in a few days, even stop and go traffic will be easily managed. Echo your opinion on the springs being a must-have on the bike, and it does make a world of difference in terms of zero slippage during high speed shifting and instant engagement/disengagement.
And yes, apna 650 is the ideal motorcycle for all purposes isn't she!

FYI, I have switched back to the stock levers (only levers, clipons are bikers.co.th). The reason being the bikers levers (clutch) introduced about a quarter inch of play, which no matter how much I tried, I could not reduce. I hate having any play in the clutch, and after going back to the stock levers, the play has been eliminated. I believe it is not just cable slack, but also the design of the lever itself. Pazzo levers on the other hand have no play, but I'm not spending 10k more on a third set of levers!

Time for us to plan
1. Rearsets
2. Tyres (Pirelli Diablo Rosso II/ Angel ST) will get a quote from a dealer here and let you know.

Enjoy your love affair with her, will see you again very soon at MMSC

Sriku

[narula123]

Originally Posted by sriku

Varun, your left hand will learn the clutch action in a few days, even stop and go traffic will be easily managed.

FYI, I have switched back to the stock levers (only levers, clipons are bikers.co.th).

Time for us to plan
1. Rearsets
2. Tyres (Pirelli Diablo Rosso II/ Angel ST) will get a quote from a dealer here and let you know.

Enjoy your love affair with her, will see you again very soon at MMSC

Sriku

Sriku,

I am sticking to the levers. Might just swap mine with yours for some added bling

Still drooling over the rearsets on Guru's bike but need the dough to get them. But seriously loved the way they felt on his bike. I was super comfortable on them instantly. Just felt ideal for the track. In any case you know you have to order them for me along with yourself.

For the tyres, dont go for the Angel ST. ST is a single compound tyre and is the older version of the GT which is the dual-compound tyre (our Dunlops are dual compound too which is why they were much better on the track than the older bikes' Bridgestones). The Angel GT is a much superior tyre to the Angel ST in both grip and life. ST is available here in Bangalore but I am purposely not touching them.

I have heard not-so-good reviews of the Metzies for street use. Primarily on their lack of wet and gravel grip. Hence still dual minded about shifting the Metzies to street use and getting the Rosso IIs for the track.

This chaos in getting tyres gets me angry. Ancient regulations and custom duty on imports with ISI being the culprit has made life so much more expensive and irritating for big bike owners. We end up paying double the cost of the tyre in India compared to US or Singapore and even then we cant get the brands which we want. Choose from old 2011/12 stock and that too of the brands which the distributor managed to get here.

They sold us the gun but the bullets are nowhere to be seen.

[sriku]

Yup Varun, tyres availability due to regulations is hitting everybody below the belt.
Some more inline.

Originally Posted by narula123

I am sticking to the levers. Might just swap mine with yours for some added bling
Anytime you want them you got them. In any case I carry my levers around for rides and track as spares as they are the first casualty of any fall, minor or major.

Just felt ideal for the track. In any case you know you have to order them for me along with yourself.
Yup, definitely.

For the tyres, dont go for the Angel ST. ST is a single compound tyre and is the older version of the GT which is the dual-compound tyre (our Dunlops are dual compound too which is why they were much better on the track than the older bikes' Bridgestones). The Angel GT is a much superior tyre to the Angel ST in both grip and life. ST is available here in Bangalore but I am purposely not touching them.
The dealer I spoke to is just getting me the quote for all the tyres available in our sizes, including Pirelli Angels, lets wait and watch on availability/rates.

I have heard not-so-good reviews of the Metzies for street use. Primarily on their lack of wet and gravel grip. Hence still dual minded about shifting the Metzies to street use and getting the Rosso IIs for the track.
A lot of guys are of the opinion that Metz are best only on ideal conditions (track/foreign roads), and aren't as good elsewhere. Unfortunately, we have very few options.

They sold us the gun but the bullets are nowhere to be seen.
Classic quote, good one!

[Bookkeeper]

I see in the pictures posted above that the entire headlamp assembly and the fairings have been removed for the track day.

Apart from enhanced cooling and weight reduction, is there any other benefit that is derived from it?

[rbp]

@Bookkeeper :- The main reason to remove the fairings is to protect them from damage in case of a fall . The spares take their own sweet time to arrive.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by rbp

@Bookkeeper :- The main reason to remove the fairings is to protect them from damage in case of a fall .

And reluctantly is a mess to clean when fellow riders are doing hot laps on the track, hence on few occasions, you will see them taped.

[Bookkeeper]

Originally Posted by rbp

@Bookkeeper :- The main reason to remove the fairings is to protect them from damage in case of a fall . The spares take their own sweet time to arrive.

Originally Posted by Sheel

And reluctantly is a mess to clean when fellow riders are doing hot laps on the track, hence on few occasions, you will see them taped.

Thanks for your replies, I had a few more questions on the same subject matter.

1. The entire MID has also been removed. In this case how will the kms logged up on the track be incorporated on the odometer?

2.Will playing around with the electronics not void the warranty?

3. Does removing the headlamp assembly and the fairing have any kind of negative impact on the handling and high speed stability now that the front end is a lot lighter?

4. Will the rider now not be able to reach the upper limits on straights as the visor has been removed and the front is now not as aerodynamic as before?

[Sheel]

From what little I know...

Originally Posted by Bookkeeper

1. The entire MID has also been removed. In this case how will the kms logged up on the track be incorporated on the odometer?

It won't be.

A typical race-track is between 3-4 kms in length. So, if you are doing 10 laps, add the laps + the kilometers.

Race bikes have lap-timers, but don't think they incorporate kilometers. Please correct me if I am wrong.

2.Will playing around with the electronics not void the warranty?

Removing instrumentation, fairing, lamps etc won't void warranty as most electronics if not all are plug & play. You don't have to hot-wire.

3. Does removing the headlamp assembly and the fairing have any kind of negative impact on the handling and high speed stability now that the front end is a lot lighter?

4. Will the rider now not be able to reach the upper limits on straights as the visor has been removed and the front is now not as aerodynamic as before?

Honestly, its a gamble & without statistics, one can't have a concrete answer as if you remove fairing & other bits, you lose out on aerodynamics, but gain on weight & lesser weight would result in faster acceleration as well as better top-end.

And the straights on a race-track are 700mtrs to max a kilometer in length. Most bikes in good nick would be bordering on their top speeds around the 500mtrs mark I believe (not sure about this)

And Sports & Super Bikes don't remove their fairings, its dual Sports Bikes like 650R in which I see the fairing removed. And I particularly feel, it was removed as a precaution.

I may be off in some points, if not all, Pros please correct me wherever I may have erred

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Bookkeeper

1. The entire MID has also been removed. In this case how will the kms logged up on the track be incorporated on the odometer?
2.Will playing around with the electronics not void the warranty?
3. Does removing the headlamp assembly and the fairing have any kind of negative impact on the handling and high speed stability
4. Will the rider now not be able to reach the upper limits on straights

Originally Posted by Sheel

Removing instrumentation, fairing, lamps etc won't void warranty as most electronics if not all are plug & play.
And the straights on a race-track are 700mtrs to max a kilometer in length. Most bikes in good nick would be bordering on their top speeds around the 500mtrs mark I believe

You lose the aerodynamics of a fairing for sure but you gain a lot of weight saving. So far in my experience there has been no adverse effect on handling due to the lack of the fairing. For one the fairings are expensive and secondly as rbp mentioned its a pain waiting for the spares. Why risk it?

Sheel is also right that you are no way near your top end unless you are on a circuit like Buddh. At the Kari track, on a hot lap the Ninja 650 hits an approx 185 kmph before you hit the anchors for the corner. Will a fairing make you gain performance relatively? Yes. Which is why we are planning on developing light carbon fibre bikini fairings for the track use. Will give us best of both worlds.

In case of warranty, removing the fittings for the track doesn't void anything. Yes, putting a Power Commander, Xenon headlights etc will void my warranty but I am anyways outside the 1 year period now. So why worry.

[sriku]

Honestly, I prefer riding on the track with my fairings installed. The wind resistance on the straight is simply too much for me to be comfortable with. Yes, there is a risk of damaging the fairings in case of a fall, with a lengthy wait till the parts arrive. But it's all part of the game.
A race fairing is definitely on the cards, I'm more inclined to one like the Suzuki Bandit, which just encloses the headlamp cluster and the top of the radiator, enclosing the coolant reservoir as well. I might even make a removable panel to accommodate the headlamps, giving me the option of using the race fairing on the streets too.

[Bookkeeper]

While I would like thank all for their replies to my queries, one question still remains unanswered as to how the miles logged up on the track will be incorporated in the odometer given its importance as the service interval depend upon the time / distance covered parameter.

[sriku]

Originally Posted by Bookkeeper

While I would like thank all for their replies to my queries, one question still remains unanswered as to how the miles logged up on the track will be incorporated in the odometer given its importance as the service interval depend upon the time / distance covered parameter.

If the odometer is disconnected, of course the track running will not feature in the overall odo reading. However, most of us service the bikes before a trackday, and perform a checkup service after the trackday, ensuring all systems are fine. So, in addition to the regular service intervals, our bikes undergo interim servicing too, including changing tyres (street to track tyres) etc.

Fyi, A normal trackday, with 10 targetted sessions of 10-12 laps each day for a track weekend will amount to about 600-700 kms of running. Provided your energy levels last that long, and your tires remain healthy.

Another issue with removing the instrument console for a track day is the inability to view the warning lamps on the console. So one would never know if the bike is overheating, or any fluid levels fall below norm etc, including fuel. Sometimes running out of fuel in the middle of the track is funny/embarassing, sometimes catastrophic.

[invincible7]

Isnt there any way by which a secondary console can be added to the bike which reads the fuel levels at least, how are the other race prepped bikes doing it.
Also a fairing can be made of fiber which can be shaped to the existing stock fairing of the bike and can be used during track days - not sure about the costs involved though.