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Author Topic: Converting street bike to track bike  (Read 14986 times)

Offline Aprilian

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #45 on: December 07, 2011, 02:00:53 PM »
In addition to the tire being taller, check the manufacturer's web page for what size rim the larger tire is meant to fit.  In some cases, going up a size (usually width) will change the profile of the tire, meaning it will turn in at a different rate.   I personally don't think that the engineers at Honda got bored on the day they picked tire size and decided it would be fun to put an uncomon size on your bike (but then again, I am an engineer  ::)  ).
Ian

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Offline Deplorable, thank you!

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #46 on: December 07, 2011, 03:09:26 PM »
It is a 4" wide rear rim--back in the day racers ran 160's on that wide of rim....(perhaps the SV's rim is the same width?) So I do not think any 140 will be an issue, or even a 150 if she ends up trying that PP.

Of course she does have to make sure to get the tubeless Pirelli, as they also offer that same tire as a tube type!--but it seems likely I will be getting them for her, so that won't be an issue.
What you just read is based on my experience and the info I have acquired during my life. Yes, I post long responses regularly because I like to fully explain my views. If you don't like it or agree with what I have to say; ignore it. I HATE LIARS ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO PRETEND TO BE YOUR FRIEND!

Offline Hope2Ride

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #47 on: December 07, 2011, 03:18:03 PM »
^^^ Yup you'll be getting them anyways  ;D  You're the only person who has done work on my bike and I'd like to keep it that way.


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Offline vince

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #48 on: December 07, 2011, 07:24:59 PM »
Sure is a lot of talk on this forum today and my name sure is coming up a lot. That's OK. Sure is fun reading all of it. Its not that I don't like Dunlops. It's that Dunlops don't like me. They don't last very long for me and they just plain don't perform for me like I think they should. I have also had failure's as well. The last time I try one was 2 years ago.
For you Hope the thing that is going to be hard for you is that any tire you pick is going to last a long time because your bike doesn't have much power. So the tire may last you all season even with track days.  I still stick to my first choice of the BT003RS. They sure work good on the track for me. I don't use them on the street except to ride the bike to the track on those tires. They sure feel good on the way there. If these tire should have a short life this may be for the good. You get to try something else and your learning curve goes up. You will start to learn what others maybe talking about. Good luck in your choice.

Offline Hope2Ride

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #49 on: December 07, 2011, 10:45:36 PM »
Sure is a lot of talk on this forum today and my name sure is coming up a lot. That's OK. Sure is fun reading all of it.

That's cuz we love you Vince!  :-*  Well you know riding season is over so now that we can't all be out on the bikes... we'll I guess the best we an do is talk bikes on here. And make fun of you! LOL Thanks for the advice on the tires, I appreciate the info, from everyone. I sent Lloyd a PM about tires since he does all the work on my bike and I think I have it narrowed down. I'm looking forward to continuing to learn about my bike.  ;D


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Offline Ray916MN

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #50 on: December 08, 2011, 08:24:53 AM »
You might want to consider getting a track dedicated bike, instead of trying to swap your bike back and forth.

Non current non-competitive small racebikes (eg. FZR600) are available at around the $1K price level. When you add up all the money it will take to protect a streetbike and set it up for track use and then factor in the time and work it takes to swap it back and forth, having an inexpensive track dedicated bike may more sense. Just like it is a good idea to learn to ride on an inexpensive bike that will lose less value if crashed, the same is true of learning to ride on a track.

Of course such an inexpensive track dedicated bike will be crash experienced, which also means when you're learning and exploring the limits around the track, you won't have to worry about trashing your only bike, or figuring out how to "finesse" a claim against your insurance for damage. Forgetting about your physical health, having a cheap track bike limits the amount a crash can cost you to the price of the bike and your gear and even a crashed trackbike will have at the worst some salvage parts value. Of course used parts for an experienced trackbike tend to be inexpensive and  readily available.

Implicit in track riding is having a trailer or knowing people who have space on their trailers and are willing to trailer you. Trailering for track days is a good idea, because it enables you to carry stuff which can really help make a track day more relaxed and fun (eg. pop up, lawn chair, cooler, snacks, lots of water, AC in a car is a revelation after a day of riding on a hot track) and lastly help you avoid being stuck depending on others if you crash hard enough to make it difficult to ride home.

I think there is a Ninja 250 trackbike rental deal that someone in the CMRA is offering too, and this or just borrowing someones track bike maybe another option to get some track time and figure out how far you want to go with track riding and how much you want to spend.

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #51 on: August 05, 2013, 02:04:41 PM »
 So Hope ended up running Bridestone S20's.

They made it through a few trackdays and then 17,000 miles of street use. You can guess what was spooned on to replace those....yep another set of S20's, now if she could only get her fork seals to make more than about 10k at a crack.

Low (relative) horsepower and sticky (relative) tires can yield long life, even with a few top speed runs she was so fond to talk about.
What you just read is based on my experience and the info I have acquired during my life. Yes, I post long responses regularly because I like to fully explain my views. If you don't like it or agree with what I have to say; ignore it. I HATE LIARS ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO PRETEND TO BE YOUR FRIEND!

Offline Hope2Ride

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Re: Converting street bike to track bike
« Reply #52 on: August 06, 2013, 12:15:52 PM »
How the heck did you come up on this old thread?

Like Lloyd said I went with the Bridgestone S20's and they have worked great for me. I've been down all sorts of good and bad roads (thanks Vince lol) , caught in strong downpours and storms (thanks again Vince lol), and have even made it to the track a couple times and they have lasted quite a while. My top speed runs really aren't that fast either, most I've gotten the speedometer to is 100mph even and that was for a short distance because I use up so much road trying to get there. I wanted to know what the bike could do and now I know. Anyways my one and only complaint about the tires is they slide all over on the tire snakes on the roads so anytime I'm riding corners and run into tire snakes I get a little worried. But then again the only other tires I've had are those that came on the bike so I don't have much to compare to, maybe they are just like any others in that respect idk.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2013, 04:20:40 PM by armybikr »


2011 Honda CBR 250R