Rear suspension, linked brakes and track days

Had my first track day and it was a blast. I did however experience one serious problem. At he end of both straights on the track, when braking hard and gearing down the rear would come loose every time. Now my question is which of the following is the most likely cause.

1. The rear shock might be at end of life after 74 000km.

2. Maybe my preload and rebound settings are incorrect.

3. Could it be the combined braking of the linked braking system and engine braking (gearing down at about 7000rpm)

Is this common on VFR's that still have linked brakes or should I look at he first two options.

 

Most likely it was your downshifting that caused the problem, it's pretty common when downshifting too much to get rear wheel hop. I've never taken my VFR on the track or really ridden it that hard so it's hard for me to say. I really don't like the LBS, I use a lot of rear brakes on the track, especially in the corners to straighten up, so I don't push the VFR as hard as it is capable of running. You might want to check if your chain is too tight as well. When you are pushing it at the track, the suspension flexes in the corners and eats up a LOT of slack so that might be an additional problem.

Most tracks have a suspension guru who will adjust your suspension to your weight and usually only charge $40.00 or so, if you go again, ask around he would likely be able to help you get set up, he would probably charge you less since the suspension isn't fully adjustable so all he would be doing is setting sag and preload, but those are both tricky to get right.

 

+1 on the downshifting... match the gear to the speed.

 

+2 downshifting
ride clutch w/ 1 or 2 fingers and once wheel starts to hop just rien it in w/ alittle clutch.

 

here is a good article on the subject

Brake/down - Cornering Forum

 

out of curiosity, are you in SA and did you ride Kyalami?

 

That is a really good article, Keith Code and I rarely see eye to eye on riding techniques, my style is much more like Nick Ienatsch. Keith doesn't like rear brakes at all and advocates not touching them, I live on them, but he sure hit the nail right on the head with this.

I'm also kind of surprised that on upshifting he didn't mention clutchless shifting, I guess he want to get the basics down first. The other thing he neglected to mention was that in track situations to try and keep the bike in the powerband at all times, it helps a lot in the corners, especially on exit, that's one of my biggest problems, the darn F4i that I ride has a narrow powerband that doesn't really kick in until around 8-9k or so and when you get much below that, it costs in time. On the VFR with such a broad range, it would probably be much less of an issue.

One of the control riders in one of the track orgs (Nesba) that I belong to rides a 5th gen VFR, it is amazing how well he rides it on the track, he can blow away most riders who are on the latest and greatest on it, and it is completely stock other than some suspension upgrades, racetech springs\valves and Penske (?) rear shock.

Here's a pic of a incredibly rainy track day where we had the track almost to ourselves. Despite me having a faster and better handling bike, he is able to consistently toast me and we were both running DOTs, not rains so it goes to show that the slow heavy VFR in the right hands can be a fairly capable track bike.

 

me and BubbaZanetti ride NESBA east coast.

 

Cool! I really like Nesba, you can ride to the full limit of your abilities and they don't try to rein you in too much like some orgs do but they keep a close eye and will let you know if they think you are riding beyond your capabilities so it makes for a safe track day. Do you both ride your VFRs on the track? I've been debating taking mine out to the track next year for a few sessions to see how well it does.

 

we do...

http://vfrworld.com/forums/racing-track-days/26329-njmp-lightning-track-day.html
http://vfrworld.com/forums/racing-track-days/25235-njmp-lightning-8-8-09-a.html
http://vfrworld.com/forums/racing-t...-track-day-nj-motorsports-park-aug-8-9-a.html

most of the people on this board are too afraid to take their bikes on the track (shut up or nut up). The VFR eats R6s for lunch!

 

Sweet! Dang dude, it almost looks like you know what you are doing! :smile: I can understand peoples reluctance to take their main (sometimes only) bike out to the track. Pretty pricey for even a lowside. But it is amazing how much more you learn on the track and for anyone that wants to GREATLY increase their riding skills, it's almost essential. One day on the track is probably equivelent to a year of normal road riding as far as increasing your skill.