So the V4 25 Anniversario 916 is back looking mostly OEM, unless you look closely lol
Still has all the MotoCorse stuff, the suspension stuff, the exhaust, and the H20 Radiator.
I forgot how much I like the Foggy livery, gorgeous bike…I might just keep it as my street bike for when I want to go for a quick romp between track days.
The KTM RC 8C is living up to expectations…so fun. I’ve had it at Chuckwallah for an easy break in day, and last weekend at Big Willow.
Big Willow is really a track set up for liter bikes…very long straights and huge sweepers like Phillip Island…even so I was about 2 seconds faster than on my V4.
The bike has sooo much feedback, and is soooo forgiving…so it tells you exactly what mistake you made, but lets you correct it even mid-corner without terrifying you.
Will take several more track days to get use to it. On every single corner after two full track days I find myself saying “I could have waited longer to lift throttle and I can carry way more speed through this corner.”
Not gunna lie, some small part of me misses correcting my bad lines and slower corners by twisting the throttle and being able to close the gaps on the straights with the V4.
But this bike is making me a better rider already, much more focused on, and aware of my line, and markers etc…
It is a blast to ride, it just flows around the track and asks you to take that corner faster than the last time, and tip in at a faster speed, and wait longer to let off throttle coming off of a corner.
Corner exit is where it really shines though…with this bike I’m already well into the meat of the throttle before I even reach the apex, and am accelerating hard almost as soon as I’m done trail braking. You can essentially have the throttle damn near pinned right as you pass the apex, which is a hoot.
Not that the bike needed it, but I did make a few mods
Mostly because I had the parts in my garage already, and they do not change the fundamental characteristics of the bike.
I put my GP4-MS calipers on there as well as my thumb break, and my Brembo Evo GP 17 brake master cylinder.
The bike is torquey and light so the front end gets light on acceleration and the rear brake is absolutely needed. I’m used to using a handbrake for the rear caliper so that was a no-brainer modification.
With regard to master cylinder, for whatever reason KTM and Kramer use a 19 cylinder piston with those 30 mm piston calipers. I found that the breaking was too abrupt with that set up. The 17 mm master cylinder meets better with those 30 mm caliper pistons, more ability to finesse and feel the brakes. Which is on that bike. You hardly use the brakes except for trail breaking and you trail break every single corner. On many quarters just the engine breaking is enough to get you slow down to the right corner entry speed. so I end up, just dragging the rear a little bit to shift and close down on the Apex without even touching the front brake.
Fun bike, Not as scary and thrilling as the V4, but just as fun in a different way.
All you need to do now is crash in it so you can report on how well it stands up to some abuse. No rush...
