- Joined
- Jun 21, 2012
- Messages
- 1,507
- Location
- Florida
Bitubo Suspension Update *****video*******
I figured I would finally give you guys an update on how the Bitubo suspension upgrade performed. So, I traveled to PBIR yesterday for a track day with Florida track days. For those that don't know, I purchased a base and for the exception of the MWR air filter, the 41T upgraded sprocket with 520 conversion, and the Bitubo steering damper, Bitubo rear shock and Bitubo Nitrogen charger fork cartridges, the rest of the bike is stock.
The Track
First off, let me tell you that the track is smooth and wide. In most of the corners, there are multiple race lines. Other than JenningsGP about 5 weeks ago, it's been about 9 years since I've been on a track. JenningsGP has places like turn 8 where if you go wide, you may wind up crashing you bike because of the pavement out there. At PBIR, that's not a problem. A lot of people were running very tight turns and I was able to go wide and come underneath them on the exits. The biggest complaint I heard prior to going to PBIR were, "Watch out for the walls". They are close to the track. To be honest, I was so focused on riding faster, learning the lines, and having fun that I never once looked at or thought about the walls.
Tires
I was running the Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa's SP V2s and on the warmers I had the pressures set to (front - 33psi, rear -36psi). I know people say you don't need warmers for these tires, but John from South Central Race Center recommended I use them and gave me tire pressures to start with. Also, the tire warmers kept the tires the same or near the same temperature once off the track. My main reason for running the warmers is so that I didn't have to wait for the tires to heat up. I went out there on the first lap and was moving at pace. I purchased the Pole position Chicken Hawks from John and I would use the low setting hot off the track. Tire wear seemed to be even all the way around. Once they called Advance on the track, I would turn the warmers on high, for about 20 minutes. . I think I am going to run the SCs on my next track day in February at Homestead.
Settings
I cannot remember my settings, but Andrew at Melillimoto setup the bike for me a few weeks ago. I think I have the rear shock setup as the following, Compression - 12 clicks from 0, low speed damping 14 clicks from 0.
Bitubo Suspension
Initial impression was the bike feels very stable. I could tell the bike where I wanted to go and it did exactly that. Coming out of turns I could get on the gas and it just held the line and took off like a rocket. A buddy of mine Jason who use to race for 10 years told me in the pits that my lines were clean and I looked very smooth and fast. His observation was specifically about turns 4 and 5. I didn't feel a big amount of squat coming out of turns, felt stable at 175mph coming down the back straight, from 6 down to 2 then tipping it in to turn 10. I'm not sure what else to say other than it just feels very stable and with that feeling gave me confidence to go faster and faster.
The bike
For those that say this bike is not fast enough or doesn't do this or that, there is not one bike in my group, (S1000RR, CBR1000, RSV4s, ZX10, MVs) that I didn't run down on the back straight, if there were in front of me. And once on the back straight, not one bike passed me. I'm not saying I was the fastest, but I damn sure I was one of the fastest guys in I yesterday. There was one Panigale I could not catch in one of the sessions because of traffic. Seemed like there were 500 guys in I.
Video
At the 7:00 minute mark, I split to guys on the back straight and keep it moving....
PBIR 12/22/13 Int Session 4 - YouTube
I figured I would finally give you guys an update on how the Bitubo suspension upgrade performed. So, I traveled to PBIR yesterday for a track day with Florida track days. For those that don't know, I purchased a base and for the exception of the MWR air filter, the 41T upgraded sprocket with 520 conversion, and the Bitubo steering damper, Bitubo rear shock and Bitubo Nitrogen charger fork cartridges, the rest of the bike is stock.
The Track
First off, let me tell you that the track is smooth and wide. In most of the corners, there are multiple race lines. Other than JenningsGP about 5 weeks ago, it's been about 9 years since I've been on a track. JenningsGP has places like turn 8 where if you go wide, you may wind up crashing you bike because of the pavement out there. At PBIR, that's not a problem. A lot of people were running very tight turns and I was able to go wide and come underneath them on the exits. The biggest complaint I heard prior to going to PBIR were, "Watch out for the walls". They are close to the track. To be honest, I was so focused on riding faster, learning the lines, and having fun that I never once looked at or thought about the walls.
Tires
I was running the Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa's SP V2s and on the warmers I had the pressures set to (front - 33psi, rear -36psi). I know people say you don't need warmers for these tires, but John from South Central Race Center recommended I use them and gave me tire pressures to start with. Also, the tire warmers kept the tires the same or near the same temperature once off the track. My main reason for running the warmers is so that I didn't have to wait for the tires to heat up. I went out there on the first lap and was moving at pace. I purchased the Pole position Chicken Hawks from John and I would use the low setting hot off the track. Tire wear seemed to be even all the way around. Once they called Advance on the track, I would turn the warmers on high, for about 20 minutes. . I think I am going to run the SCs on my next track day in February at Homestead.
Settings
I cannot remember my settings, but Andrew at Melillimoto setup the bike for me a few weeks ago. I think I have the rear shock setup as the following, Compression - 12 clicks from 0, low speed damping 14 clicks from 0.
Bitubo Suspension
Initial impression was the bike feels very stable. I could tell the bike where I wanted to go and it did exactly that. Coming out of turns I could get on the gas and it just held the line and took off like a rocket. A buddy of mine Jason who use to race for 10 years told me in the pits that my lines were clean and I looked very smooth and fast. His observation was specifically about turns 4 and 5. I didn't feel a big amount of squat coming out of turns, felt stable at 175mph coming down the back straight, from 6 down to 2 then tipping it in to turn 10. I'm not sure what else to say other than it just feels very stable and with that feeling gave me confidence to go faster and faster.
The bike
For those that say this bike is not fast enough or doesn't do this or that, there is not one bike in my group, (S1000RR, CBR1000, RSV4s, ZX10, MVs) that I didn't run down on the back straight, if there were in front of me. And once on the back straight, not one bike passed me. I'm not saying I was the fastest, but I damn sure I was one of the fastest guys in I yesterday. There was one Panigale I could not catch in one of the sessions because of traffic. Seemed like there were 500 guys in I.
Video
At the 7:00 minute mark, I split to guys on the back straight and keep it moving....
PBIR 12/22/13 Int Session 4 - YouTube
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