Some track day prep questions

spooky said:

That’s exactly what I said about getting on the throttle sooner and harder. I’ve been told by a couple of instructors that I am overly cautious.

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Better to be overly cautious than the opposite

SuperDomestique said:

Better to be overly cautious than the opposite

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If you never crash you never go fast.

baggerman said:

If you never crash you never go fast.

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No doubt, but I’m not trying to win any races and I’m happy to make slow and steady progress. No doubt it will happen at some point but so far I’ve not had any moments that concerned me or knocked my confidence and everything feels fully under control. I think my progress is probably a bit slower than necessary though. I’m far more comfortable with the speed of the bike now and I love the R more than the SP2 (still haven’t figured out why).

I met a couple at Brno that I had seen there the year before. Last year they were both leaving me for dead. This year they both told me they couldn’t keep up with me. I remember last year watching them and wondering how they went so fast and this year I was getting past as quick as I could as they were holding me up. Progress made. Actually, I have met some really nice people doing this.

I know I can go a lot faster before I would feel that I was outside of my comfort zone, and my comfort zone is moving forward each time I go out. I’ve got masses of lean angle available (and I need to start using it now I’ve gained it) and a throttle that I could use a lot more effectively. An instructor recently told me that when he sees me next (next weekend) he will be getting me to push myself a lot more. His basic comments were that lines are good, body position and movement on the bike are significantly improved and I’m very smooth, but it’s time to push myself. I am aware that I’m probably being far more cautious than I need to be.

Could be worse?







Seems like more than with my other bike. Just under 2,000km on track.

I think people overly obsess with magnetic drain plug findings. It's doing it's job, getting junk out of the oil. If were to take that as a condition of the engine, the filter would have to be examined as well. Then consider the only correction is to strip the engine and blueprint it. Or, just ride it.

Looks like a new ducati still running in the gearbox. The edges of the gears come off in long flakes. Doesn't hurt anything normally. Banging off those full power upshifts? If anything else shows up on one of mine I'd be taking it apart. No other part of the motor sheds debris like that and doesn't start banging pretty quick. Looks normal from what I can see. Should be less next oil change.

bp_SFV4 said:

I think people overly obsess with magnetic drain plug findings. It's doing it's job, getting junk out of the oil. If were to take that as a condition of the engine, the filter would have to be examined as well. Then consider the only correction is to strip the engine and blueprint it. Or, just ride it.

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I didn’t think it was problem, and I do understand why the drain plug is magnetic. I was just checking.

baggerman said:

Looks like a new ducati still running in the gearbox. The edges of the gears come off in long flakes. Doesn't hurt anything normally. Banging off those full power upshifts? If anything else shows up on one of mine I'd be taking it apart. No other part of the motor sheds debris like that and doesn't start banging pretty quick. Looks normal from what I can see. Should be less next oil change.

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Cheers.

The gearbox seems smooth. That tip of yours for tying up the clutch lever overnight worked the next day in the morning but by the afternoon I couldn’t get neutral again. I’ve given it a bleed to see if that helps. Coming up to 3000 km on it now.

bp_SFV4 said:

I think people overly obsess with magnetic drain plug findings. It's doing it's job, getting junk out of the oil. If were to take that as a condition of the engine, the filter would have to be examined as well. Then consider the only correction is to strip the engine and blueprint it. Or, just ride it.

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Agree with that.

I asked mechanic too and by just looking at the sum plug alone, it's okay. Oil filter and oil needs to be examined to make anything more out of it

panibadboy said:

Agree with that.

I asked mechanic too and by just looking at the sum plug alone, it's okay. Oil filter and oil needs to be examined to make anything more out of it

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It didn’t worry me and I thought it was probably absolutely fine, but I thought it did no harm to ask.

Now the bike has had a day sitting there the oil level has of course risen to a couple of millimetres over max.

Better safe than sorry and remove some?

You mean you put too much in?

In theory as you are should be changing it say every three four days of track… I don’t actually fill to the upper level. No need for all that oil with what you are doing…the older R/S crankcases had a second lower window for this purpose. A std bike full oil level is aimed at long time between services riding in all weathers and conditions.

So I would fill it to say lower mark to midway …where it reaches after you have
Changed it
Filled the filter
And the bike sat for at least 24 hrs…

andyb said:

You mean you put too much in?

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In hindsight, yes. As I said, it went up over 24 hours and I had let it cool for a good couple of hours before I topped up. The last time I did this, I left it overnight before topping up and didn’t have any issues.

andyb said:

In theory as you are should be changing it say every three four days of track… I don’t actually fill to the upper level. No need for all that oil with what you are doing…the older R/S crankcases had a second lower window for this purpose. A std bike full oil level is aimed at long time between services riding in all weathers and conditions.

So I would fill it to say lower mark to midway …where it reaches after you have
Changed it
Filled the filter
And the bike sat for at least 24 hrs…

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Is it possible to loosen the sump plug and hopefully just let a bit out and then screw it back in, considering it has Three Bond on it?

Yep go for it

I wouldn’t of bothered with the three bond just a new crush washer

andyb said:

In theory as you are should be changing it say every three four days of track… I don’t actually fill to the upper level. No need for all that oil with what you are doing…the older R/S crankcases had a second lower window for this purpose. A std bike full oil level is aimed at long time between services riding in all weathers and conditions.

So I would fill it to say lower mark to midway …where it reaches after you have
Changed it
Filled the filter
And the bike sat for at least 24 hrs…

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It's too complicated and no one is doing this on tracks

All you need is 3 measured litters of oil. This works in 2019 and 2023 R engines.

Warm up the engine, drain oil, remove the filter, let it drain for 10mins

Put 3l in. Run the engine to temp and forget about it, job done

andyb said:

Yep go for it

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Cheers. Done.

Brake calipers cleaned, coolant level hasn’t changed… Ready for sub-2:30 next week at Brno!

If the clutch keeps getting air in it the port to the reservoir may not be fully closing. The little grubscrew in the lever might be over adjusted. So bleed it again and tie it off between sessions but if it keeps happening back the screw off one quarter turn. Shouldn't need constant attention. BTW the clutch fluid gets cooked you may want to change it at the next oil change.

That was a bit of a disappointing weekend. Sunday was a complete washout. Lap times were about what I have been doing, which wasn’t as bad as it seems because I didn’t get one clear lap without quite significant traffic, and I’m not particularly aggressive with overtaking.

Lower body position has improved, but I really need to get my chest open and my head out so I can see through the turn. Elbows out with the correct grip will help. I saw some progress but nowhere near what I want.

A chap I have met a few times brought his bike along this time and it was quite special. I expect some of you might already be aware of it.









The highlight of the weekend was probably the fact that bleeding the clutch worked wonders and I was able to find neutral.