Queensland raceway Australia

[plehx]

so I took the 919/hornet to a QR track day yestoday. Had a blast, was almost blown of the bike at 210k/h(new speed reached for me on the 919). found that the bike was more than able to handle the track, I was braking way later than alot of the sports bikes. but I had to fight it all the time. fight to go faster with the wind pressure, fight to slow down because faster bike would get infront and then start braking early(very frustrating), then fight to keep the front down out of the corner. So the out come was , Get a track bike and keep the 919 for the hills which it is most enjoyable at.
http://i47.servimg.com/u/f47/16/87/89/21/dsc00211.jpg

[plehx]

My track day at Queensland raceway - YouTube

[marylandmike]

Looks like a great day and you had some fun. What bike you wanna get for the track?

[plehx]

was thinking of a VFR400, but a guy on the day said hyosung where giving gr8 deals on their 650 if you race them. like 5k for the bike (half price!) then 1k for glass, 1k for stands and warmers, then you can go racing on a new bike....

So I'm going to look into this and see if its worth while...

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by plehx

so I took the 919/hornet to a QR track day yestoday. Had a blast, was almost blown of the bike at 210k/h(new speed reached for me on the 919). found that the bike was more than able to handle the track, I was braking way later than alot of the sports bikes. but I had to fight it all the time. fight to go faster with the wind pressure, fight to slow down because faster bike would get infront and then start braking early(very frustrating), then fight to keep the front down out of the corner. So the out come was , Get a track bike and keep the 919 for the hills which it is most enjoyable at.
http://i47.servimg.com/u/f47/16/87/89/21/dsc00211.jpg

If you are lifting the front that much, my guess is that you have a late model bike with the super light rear spring and the rear end is squatting like crazy.
Do yourself a favour. Put a zip tie on the rear shock shaft. Go out on the road and take it easy in 1st gear. Find a nice place to get it in 2nd and full throttle it from 7000 RPM and take it to the top. Then look to see where your zip tie is. And if by chance it appears to be gone, look to see if it has been jammed inside the rubber snubber. Use a very small zip tie. Be careful with the tools so as not to nick the shaft.
Are you using stock or aftermarket low bars like Renthal ULs or similar ?
I find getting off the seat, on the pegs and up forward on the tank helps. There was one transition in particular I had to do that all the time, otherwise the front tire would skate out due to inadequate front end weight.

[plehx]

yeah its a 06 and yes I do have low mounted renthal bars (only person on the track with mx bars lol). A mate came up after a run and was telling me to adjust the rear suspension because it was squattion, so I had a look for the first time and no adjustment available, just preload for the spring....

[mcromo44]

Originally Posted by plehx

yeah its a 06 and yes I do have low mounted renthal bars (only person on the track with mx bars lol). A mate came up after a run and was telling me to adjust the rear suspension because it was squattion, so I had a look for the first time and no adjustment available, just preload for the spring....

That rear spring is around 865 # / inch, the pre 2004s having been around 1200.
I put on a Penske (3 way). It came with 1000/inch. Too soft. I went to 1100, still too soft. I'm now running 1200. In addition, I'm now running a digressive compression piston face and run the low speed adjuster 4 clicks out from fully closed. The 919 is a very torquey machine, it's geared short due to its lower top speed, so that aggravates things more, and the swing arm angle is too flat. The swing arm not being linked just makes things worse. You' be amazed at how much improvement can be found. Run the bike tall front and back, spring it right and work on low speed compression damping. Preloading the spring just makes the bike rock hard towards extension while leaving you with mush once the suspension does down on the stroke. You'd be better off with an early shock, or at least the spring from one.
The 919 is a riot on the track, I've logged over 1300 miles of track time on mine. Done a fair bit of suspension development along the way. There's only so much that can be done, but big improvements over stock are an easy do.