[RichDesmond]

If anyone is interested, thought I'd do a thread on the prep I'm doing to the SV I just bought to get it track ready.

This is NOT a race bike build, I intend to keep the bike fully usable on the street, and as unmodified as I can and still have it be a fun, safe track bike. In other words, a build (and thread) that someone who's thinking about their first track day will find useful. So please feel free to ask questions.

For starters, a parts list, with the prices I've paid over the last couple of days.

Items without a price I haven't bought yet, I'll fill them in when I do.
The first 3 things on the list, fork springs and oil, and new tires, I'd consider essential, wouldn't take the bike on the track without them. On the tires, obviously Michelin Road 6's are not really track tires, but I needed a set of good street tires since the rear on the bike I just bought is bald. I have a second set of rims that I'll put true trackday tires on. The Road 6's I'll also use at the track if it rains. Most people would make a different tire choice if they have just one set of rims. The important thing is to show up at the track with good, newish tires.

The next 5 things are what I'd consider essential if you're a more serious trackday rider. The shock especially. It's hard to describe the difference a good shock makes.

The rest of the stuff is just things I needed, or that this particular bike did.

 

[RichDesmond]

Interested to watch this. Thanks for sharing

I noticed some prices seem odd, like nearly $500 for tires and $280 for a front stand. Am I reading right?

Michelin prices have really gone up. The stand is a Pitbull convertible front, you can use it as a head lift stand and convert it to a conventional fork lift one. Pricy, but worth it to me.

Hybrid Dual Lift - Motorcycle Front Stand

Our Hybrid Dual Lift Stand is based upon a modular design and can be easily converted to lift from the forks OR the lower triple tree by simply swapping out a few parts (included with the Dual Li

www.pit-bull.com

This will be a little different for me, in the past it's always been a full race build, bike torn completely down and built back up. This is going to just be a nice street bike that will work well at the track. Trying to not let it consume my life this time.

 

[RichDesmond]

What! - Canon springs not Sonic??
Yeah I'm following... curious, are you going to fit emulators?
BTW, what year is it?

Cannon is a spring manufacturer, it's where Sonic Springs came from. (and I assume still do) They're not really setup for retail, but given my past dealings with them they didn't mind selling me a single set.
The bike's an '01, just updated my sig
No emulators just yet, I'll see how the local tracks are first. (I recently moved from Oklahoma to Virginia) I've done side by side comparisons of forks with and without emulators, they make a small difference, mostly on corner entry over rippled pavement.

 

[RichDesmond]

are you heading to vir or summit? summit can be a bit bumpy in places especially if you end up on the "car line"

NC Bike, with N2 the end of April is the first one, not sure after that. I'm sure I'll get to Summit at some point, and maybe up to NJ. VIR is less of an option, unfortunately, seems track management is allocating less time for bikes

Thanks for the offer on the Abba stand, but I've been happy with the Pitbulls over the years. Plus they work with all the bikes.

 

[RichDesmond]

ncbike was pretty smooth last i was there. the pits sucked ass though, bring plywood cause the'res a pretty good chance you'll be in gravel

Gravel?? Compared to Oak Hill back in the day that's luxury accommodations.

Seriously, thanks for the tip.

 

[RichDesmond]

Good thinking for the track use, but if your streets have potholes, emulators provide an extra comfort factor.

Agree, bad streets are where they have the most benefit. Roads here are decent though. I'll ride the bike without for a few months and see how it is.

 

[RichDesmond]

One thing on the clutch cable--if you're considering going with different clipons in the future with no rise (I think stock clipons are like 45mm rise), you'll likely need an aftermarket clutch cable. The stock one will bump up against the gauge cluster/headlight holder meets up with the frame at the streering head. I ran into this after I installed Woodcraft no-rise clipons. I think Motion Pro has a few options that work. The one I ordered from TWF had an elbow whereas I think most people get the one without. The replacement was long enough that I would hazard a guess it'd work with both rise and no-rise clipons--it just routes differently and comes out the to the right of the steering head (brake lever side) as opposed to the left (clutch lever side).

If this isn't a future consideration, then just ignore.

This is (well, I'm fairly certain) the stock routing.
View attachment 64708

Whereas this is how I had to have it routed in order to have unimpeded movement from side-to-side. I pulled the tank up and removed the airbox to find a nice place to route it. It's nice and smooth now.
View attachment 64709

I also did a double take when I saw the spring supplier wasn't Sonic Springs, hah.

Hmmm, past race bikes I've always used the stock "S" clutch cable in conjunction with Woodcraft clipons without issue. But I typically restricted the steering lock a little bit, that may be why.

This build I'm keeping the stock bars, at least for now.