Some track day prep questions

spooky said:

My understanding is that Pirelli slicks have a soft carcass. The V02 have a stiffer carcass than Pirelli but I think most, if not all, have a stiffer carcass than Pirelli, based on what I’ve seen and read. Have you tried slicks?

I was using warmers with the DOT SC3 and I’m used to the routine. If I don’t get straight out then I’ll build up over a lap or two, accelerate and brake hard with the bike upright and build up corner speed.

I am told I should be fine with them and I’ll be using a soft front.

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Carcass stiffness: (Soft) Pirelli DOT SC3 = [Metzler TD slick] > Pirelli slicks > Michelin slicks > Dunlop slicks > Bridgestone slicks (Hard)

Haven't run slicks yet but have done a deep dive and talked to a bunch of tire experts about making the switch. Turns out the best bang for the buck is the DOT SC3. I've ridden street tires at A pace back in the days when I was cash-constrained

Tyre!

SuperDomestique said:

Carcass stiffness: (Soft) Pirelli DOT SC3 = [Metzler TD slick] > Pirelli slicks > Michelin slicks > Dunlop slicks > Bridgestone slicks (Hard)

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This is wrong. You don't need to talk to "a bunch of tire experts" but just look at recommended tyre pressures to understand how stiff carcass is.

You saying it’s wrong to base your tyre choice on internet experts?

SuperDomestique said:

Carcass stiffness: (Soft) Pirelli DOT SC3 = [Metzler TD slick] > Pirelli slicks > Michelin slicks > Dunlop slicks > Bridgestone slicks (Hard)

Haven't run slicks yet but have done a deep dive and talked to a bunch of tire experts about making the switch. Turns out the best bang for the buck is the DOT SC3. I've ridden street tires at A pace back in the days when I was cash-constrained

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That doesn’t sound right. The DOT SC3 is homologated and so I highly doubt it’s going to be a softer carcass than, for example, the SC1 slick.

As @panibadboy said, recommended tyre pressures would probably be a good indication of carcass stiffness.

spooky said:

The DOT SC3 is homologated and so I highly doubt it’s going to be a softer carcass than, for example, the SC1 slick.

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I asked this specific question to US West coast Pirelli distributor recently. By flexing more, the DOT SC3 warms up faster and can get away from not using tire warmers. Carcass and compound are 2 different things. I’d say the DOT SC3 carcass is softer than the street SC SP V4

SuperDomestique said:

I asked this specific question to US West coast Pirelli distributor recently. By flexing more, the DOT SC3 warms up faster and can get away from not using tire warmers. Carcass and compound are 2 different things. I’d say the DOT SC3 carcass is softer than the street SC SP V4

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That might be true, but we were comparing to slicks. Pirelli slicks get compared to inner tubes…

Clearly it’s too much to expect the holes to lineup on Ilmberger stuff…

Oooh I’ve seen this before …

andyb said:

Oooh I’ve seen this before …

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Aftermarket… it’s great fun. Although… I did think it would fit without having to bugger about. Probably overly optimistic.

spooky said:

Clearly it’s too much to expect the holes to lineup on Ilmberger stuff…

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What did you get from them? I have a Fullsix belly pan that perfect. First carbon part I’ve ever owned that I had no complaints about.

bp_SFV4 said:

What did you get from them? I have a Fullsix belly pan that perfect. First carbon part I’ve ever owned that I had no complaints about.

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Full set from Ilmberger.

The two bolts each side at the front that connect the front to side fairings didn’t line up and the bellypan holes don’t all line up. Others needed a bit of manipulation. One of the holes on the tail cover needed filing down as it was too deep for the screw to start.

Probably also worth mentioning that the bellypan originally got sent to me without the posts to connect the bit that connects to the QS hose. They apologised and sent another one to me, and that also had the same issue. I had to wait another couple of months to finally get the bellypan produced correctly (apparently an entire batch got through QC like that).
I get that aftermarket isn’t OEM but I did think Ilmberger would be better. The quality is good, but fitment left a lot to be desired.

Ilberger promise “absolute fit” (whatever that means) and “absolutely perfect fit” so hold them to it

spooky said:

Probably also worth mentioning that the bellypan originally got sent to me without the posts to connect the bit that connects to the QS hose.

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QS hose? I take it the hose attaches to an assembly in the lowers which was a 2022+ thing.

I ordered Ilmberger uppers and a nose but they arrived at the shop I bought them from damaged and I elected to just get a refund. Thank God the seller did the right thing and notified me of the damage instead of just shipping them to me.

If you want to buy some .... carbon fiber order from Motocomposites. The parts look great, but there's always some issue. The wings I got were the least problematic, but there was what I guess was pre-preg epoxy all over the threads since they didn't mask them off. I ran a die over them to clean up the threads but .......just lazy manufacturing. I have a belly pan from them which doesn't fit right. They say I ordered the wrong one, the one I ordered which they sent is not for a bike with a full Akra system.

This is it:



The problem is the V at the front is too wide, so the lower sits a little proud of the upper side fairings. When I brought that up to them, they said I ordered the wrong part, and I need to pay to send it back and they'll ship me the correct lower for a full Akra bike. At this point .... them. I can probably fiddle with it to improve the fit but I'm done dealing with a company that's so braindead. Notice the hole for the rear screw just above the kickstand cutout is a hole. It's suppose to be an oval. I think there's a couple of minor things I can do to improve the fit. I'll likely do that then just sell it for cheap.

bp_SFV4 said:

QS hose? I take it the hose attaches to an assembly in the lowers which was a 2022+ thing.

I ordered Ilmberger uppers and a nose but they arrived at the shop I bought them from damaged and I elected to just get a refund. Thank God the seller did the right thing and notified me of the damage instead of just shipping them to me.

If you want to buy some .... carbon fiber order from Motocomposites. The parts look great, but there's always some issue. The wings I got were the least problematic, but there was what I guess was pre-preg epoxy all over the threads since they didn't mask them off. I ran a die over them to clean up the threads but .......just lazy manufacturing. I have a belly pan from them which doesn't fit right. They say I ordered the wrong one, the one I ordered which they sent is not for a bike with a full Akra system.

This is it:

View attachment 54577

The problem is the V at the front is too wide, so the lower sits a little proud of the upper side fairings. When I brought that up to them, they said I ordered the wrong part, and I need to pay to send it back and they'll ship me the correct lower for a full Akra bike. At this point .... them. I can probably fiddle with it to improve the fit but I'm done dealing with a company that's so braindead. Notice the hole for the rear screw just above the kickstand cutout is a hole. It's suppose to be an oval. I think there's a couple of minor things I can do to improve the fit. I'll likely do that then just sell it for cheap.

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Yeah, motocomposites has a bad reputation.

craig bush said:

Yeah, motocomposites has a bad reputation.

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In hindsight, I'd rather light money on fire. I feel like they just need to employ someone who isn't a complete dipshit to process what is likely Chinese CF parts to make them less of a pain.

Karma is a bitch haha You friggin noobs can’t install some basic fairings? That’s easier than installing a seat

According to andy suck it up and fix it yourself. Oh you paid thousands of dollars for pleasure of getting bent over

bp_SFV4 said:

In hindsight, I'd rather light money on fire. I feel like they just need to employ someone who isn't a complete dipshit to process what is likely Chinese CF parts to make them less of a pain.

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Ha, yeah. I ordered a chain guard for a gsxr - didn’t fit. Let them know and initially got no response. When they finally responded, they instructed me to destroy the guard and send them pictures to receive a refund. I just threw it away.

SuperDomestique said:

Karma is a bitch haha You friggin noobs can’t install some basic fairings? That’s easier than installing a seat

According to andy suck it up and fix it yourself. Oh you paid thousands of dollars for pleasure of getting bent over

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Which is different to complaining. Getting the money back then not returning them and in fact keeping them and using them and supplying a photo to the WWW showing you using them as in theft!

bp_SFV4 said:

QS hose? I take it the hose attaches to an assembly in the lowers which was a 2022+ thing.

I ordered Ilmberger uppers and a nose but they arrived at the shop I bought them from damaged and I elected to just get a refund. Thank God the seller did the right thing and notified me of the damage instead of just shipping them to me.

If you want to buy some .... carbon fiber order from Motocomposites. The parts look great, but there's always some issue. The wings I got were the least problematic, but there was what I guess was pre-preg epoxy all over the threads since they didn't mask them off. I ran a die over them to clean up the threads but .......just lazy manufacturing. I have a belly pan from them which doesn't fit right. They say I ordered the wrong one, the one I ordered which they sent is not for a bike with a full Akra system.

This is it:

The problem is the V at the front is too wide, so the lower sits a little proud of the upper side fairings. When I brought that up to them, they said I ordered the wrong part, and I need to pay to send it back and they'll ship me the correct lower for a full Akra bike. At this point .... them. I can probably fiddle with it to improve the fit but I'm done dealing with a company that's so braindead. Notice the hole for the rear screw just above the kickstand cutout is a hole. It's suppose to be an oval. I think there's a couple of minor things I can do to improve the fit. I'll likely do that then just sell it for cheap.

Click to expand...

Correct regarding the QS hose. They had an issue with QC not spotting that the fixing points hadn’t been fitted on an entire batch of them. Things happen and they did attempt to resolve it as quickly as possible.

No complaints whatsoever regarding the quality and construction of the parts and it all fits on the bike very nicely. It’s mostly just a few holes that don’t quite line up and will need a slight adjustment, but I did think that Ilmberger stuff would fit perfectly.