On track

[Cess pit]

Thought some of you might like to hear what the old S4r was like to ride on the track so......here we go.
Mallory Park is not a long circuit, very few (long) straight lines so should suit the monster, and it does.
In our group of around 20 bikes in the slow group over half were trackday bikes, slicks, tyre warmer etc, slightly intimidating first thing in the morning but it all turned out fine.
From a handling point of view the monster appeared superb, very planted in the corners, from the flick, flack of the first gear bus stop right up to the long sweeping 180 degrees of Gerards I never had an issue with the handling.
Braking was awesome, you really have to use one of these in anger to appreciate just how powerful these brakes are and a few scalps were taken under braking.
She certainly fires out of corners well and I have only one critism in this area. Ive always described to S4r as a "loose" bike, well, coming out of the bus stop (think thats what it is called) a very tight left/right/left chicane, you enter a fairly long downhill left hander to the main straight. Very fast. Coming out and appling power left me feeling the monster wanted to really shake it's head. Idid'nt have a full on tank slapper but it felt close, if that makes sense and it was here that I was overtaken more than at any other place. I just didnt feel confident in putting down the power.
Not sure if this could be dialled out by adjusting the suzzies, the more skilled amongst you will know.
It must be remembered that I am of only average ability and these views are only mine, but I feel we gave a good account of ourselves, I certainly overtook more people than I remember overtaking me, and a good few of those were some of the track bikes I mentioned.
I think if I was spending a lot of time on the track I'd invest in a damper, and a good one too.
No complaints with the tyres, Pilot power 2cts....had them right over to the edge, both sides, I was well pleased.
So....there you have it. sorry for the length of this post but I thought it might help, or stir a bit of interest.

[JerryXt]

good man! The monster is better on track than a lot of people give it credit for and a short circuit like Mallory suits it. I did my first track day on the monster at Mallory - the hairpin can get a bit lairy if you're on the power out of Edwinas too much - that bank comes up really fast!

It sounds like your suspension could do with a little fiddling, but if you were handling it, there was no problem. Personally, I'd look at the suspension before putting a steering damper on. Lucrezia has one, but only because CK was selling it and it looked pretty The standard one on asbo is useless - just makes the steering hard at low speeds and it still waggles under power up Surtees (on the GP circuit; you're under power, banked right over and going uphill) and occasionally out of Graham Hill and I've had a lot of money and a lot of time put into that suspension.

I guess what I'm saying is, spend some time on the suspension and then you might need to invest in a damper, but whatever, the bike is trying to tell you something when it's shaking it's head. But you already know that from CSS

Oh, and wait until you try mono-block calipers! Holy cow, they're good.

[paulsant]

Excellent post, still getting used to my S4RS and it amazes me every time I take her out, handling brakes and performance are superb. Still playing with the suspension...little tweak here and there at one time.

Paul.......

[half man, half mole]

Great write up .

Mike