VFR1200F at Miller Motorsports Park

So I'll be at Miller Motorsports Park tomorrow with my 2010 VFR1200F... I'm teaching the Utah Sportbike Association's Sport Touring ART (Advanced Rider Training) in conjunction with an Apex Trackday. I'll see if I can put down a hot lap or two, but I feel the limiting factor is going to be the Stock Dunlops currently on the bike.

Let it be known that I know this is not a race bike, I have one of those it's a CBR600RR and was designed to be a track bike. I'll taking it easy and slowly get her up to speed. I would be in tears if she hit the ground tomorrow, but I am planning on throwing a video camera on her to share the experience with everyone.

If anyone else happens to be out there, please stop by and say hello. I'll probably be the one and only 1200F running around on the East track.

 

good on ya.....

 

Have a good ride on the VFR. Let us know if you have any trouble with the throttle when you roll it on coming out of the turns.

 

Hope it holds enough fuel to get you around the track. (I kid. Really, I kid.)

 

Wow, it's awesome that someone has the 'nads' to take shamu to the track!! Looking forward to the results. Thanks !!

 

So the class went well, we had everything from a GoldWing, a Shadow, a handful of Multistradas, BMWs, etc... All taking part in the Utah Sport Bike Association's Sport Touring class. I think we had 26 students and roughly 8 instructors, one being myself. In this class we teach advanced riding techniques that are applicable on the road.

By doing it in a controlled environment such as the track, we can take away a lot of the risk by removing the unknowns and focus more on the rider and the bike. This wasn't a track day, and I'm not in my full leathers. I am in a pair of Carhartts, and my lights and mirrors are not taped up.

After a few sessions, I swung the bike by my suspension guy to do a basic setup and we took some pre-load out of the forks, added added a little rebound to the front and rear, and that was basically it.

I didn't get to open her up the first half of the day while teaching, but after lunch we just let the students ride, and work on everything we covered. The VFR is a big bike, but it's limitations on the track were basically the stock Dunlop tires. I tossed her around MMP at a moderately quick pace, used the rear tire from edge to edge, and generally had a good time.

When I say the tires were the limitation, it's not that the stock Dunlop is a bad tire, but running track speeds and braking aggressively were getting it too hot and I could feel her start to slide a little mid corner. The profile if very round as well, and I got to the edge pretty quickly. If you were going to do full on track day I would highly recommend a more track friendly tire like the Mich Pilot Power or Pure, or a Dunlop Qualifier. Their compound would be a little stickier, and the profile would be more comfortable in the corners.

Had I had a more appropriate tire and my full gear on, I would have had no problem dragging knee and keeping pace in an intermediate group at at trackday. This bike is by no means the track weapon the Interceptor used to be, or what the 600RR is now. I own a 600RR, it's my race bike and it does that very well. The VFR was super comfortable all day long and EASY to ride fast. I'd have to agree with the European magazines that said it may be the ultimate Sport-Touring bike.

Suspension - Softer than I normally run on the track, but I was quickly up and comfortably able to pick up the pace. The faster the bike goes, the more stable it feels. It's incredible transitioning from the brakes to the throttle mid-corner, and the bike doesn't flinch.

Tires - Stock ones are fine on the street, but leave something to be desired on the track. They weren't meant for track use however so I'm not going to rag on them too much. They're fine on the street where they were expected to be used.

Throttle - I rode around in 3rd gear most of the day, but would drop down into second if I had to catch someone. Fourth towards the end of the straight away. Tried to stay out of second because of the issues below 6K. The growl of the V4 was intoxicating as I rolled on the throttle on corner exit. I didn't have the guts to crack it open and spin up the rear, but knew that if I wanted more power from her all I had to do was ask.

Brakes - Good lord are the brakes on this bike smooth and powerful. Tipping into turn one, I'd pull the lever in just enough to activate my brake lights and it was smooth, predictable braking all the way to the apex. I had no issues with the rear being linked to the front, or with the ABS.

Here are some photos, I did get some video after lunch and will try and post it in the next few days. Let me know if you have any questions...

 

Nice review.
I have been waiting to hear how she handles on a real ride.

 

Why won't they? If you have one, I'm sure our track day provider would let you out with it. The big PITA would be having to flush the coolant. Other than that, just tape up lights and mirrors and go have fun.

 

Sounds terrifying!!!