Hey guys, hear me out before you tell me to get a CBR track bike ;)
I've had my 94 for about 8 years now. Great touring bike and solid as a rock. Some jerkoffs swiped it Tuesday night. Luckily it was recovered the next day. Looks like they were just joy riding. I was already kind of shopping for a newer bike to tour on with my GF when this happened.
Since they ruined the ignition and rear subframe hoop (where the seat locks) I'm thinking of tracking it. The plastics are all there but cracked, missing tabs, etc. I had a rear cowl on that they ripped off along with the top piece of plastic at the rear. Mirrors were broke off. The metal bracket on the nose that holds the mirrors and plastics were rewelded by the former owner so nothing quite lines up right. Also it has a rebuilt title.
So I don't really want to sink any more money into it. I was thinking about selling off my Givi wingrack and cases along with my 8 spoker and high pipe. Maybe the plastics if I can find keep track plastics that will mount up to fund getting new forks (or rebuilding mine) and a new rear shock.
I know viffers aren't the best candidate for a track bike but I dont want to sell her but I dont think it's worth the money to get her back to stock(ish) form.
I know what opinions are like but I'd like to hear what you guys think.
Here's some pics of the damage and one in touring mode.
I say go for it. I bought my 5 Gen so I could just do track days and sport rides, as I use my 6 Gen for commuting/touring. The track to me is a place to hone your craft, not necessarily a place to compete. If it's competition you're after then grabbing the lightest, fastest bike you can afford would be in order.
I say track it. If you lay it down, you will not feel to bad since it will still look more or less the same.
And you can have some fun with it down the road if you want. Get some airtech fairings and some custom paint if you want.
I would keep the pipe if I were you, or at least get some kind of exhaust. You will be doing more high rpm riding at the track and I think you would want to hear that v4 exhaust sound while doing it.
Yea I'm not really into competing, just want to learn to ride better. What did you do to your 5th gen to get it ready for the track?
Upgraded the suspension, had DMr rebuild a Penske shock I got off of eBay. Also had him upgrade the forks with his rebound setup and stripped off some of the extra weight, I.e.Stock exhaust, rear passenger pegs, center stand. Put more sport oriented tires (Michelin PP3) and put on steel braided brake lines with EBC HH pads. I am also working on replacing the headers with cat-less headers or if/when they come out, replacing them with a Tyga set the guys here are working on having them build.
The number one recommended upgrade you should do is the suspension, then the brakes. A bike that handles and stops well is primary in my book, adding more power is useless if the bike can't be ridden or stopped.
getting back to my 5th gen after a fling with a younger athletic type (XB12STT Buell) I really miss that ginger 98, been sitting on the table lift for 2 years, I know... So the discussion here is about track days for this model, and I am at that same point. looks like the jdaugherty fork mod is the way to go, I have the 929 modded shock from him and it was an incredible improvement. Any other specifics to this machine other than the obvious losing heavy street parts, 520 chain conversion, PAIR removal, power commander, etc? I know many folks suggest a lighter cbr or such, but I'm on a budget and the VFR is what I got. Besides, I know this machine pretty well and have never seen it lacking on the street compared to other more "serious" sportbikes.
any suggestions will be appreciated!
oh and btw, howdie folks, ive been off this forum for a while, but will be contributing going frwrd.
getting back to my 5th gen after a fling with a younger athletic type (XB12STT Buell) I really miss that ginger 98, been sitting on the table lift for 2 years, I know... So the discussion here is about track days for this model, and I am at that same point. looks like the jdaugherty fork mod is the way to go, I have the 929 modded shock from him and it was an incredible improvement. Any other specifics to this machine other than the obvious losing heavy street parts, 520 chain conversion, PAIR removal, power commander, etc? I know many folks suggest a lighter cbr or such, but I'm on a budget and the VFR is what I got. Besides, I know this machine pretty well and have never seen it lacking on the street compared to other more "serious" sportbikes.
any suggestions will be appreciated!
oh and btw, howdie folks, ive been off this forum for a while, but will be contributing going frwrd.
If you read my post above, you'll see all that I did. You can go the extra mile with the PC and PAIR removal but in all honesty, the bike has plenty of power as-is. Considering I also us my 5 Gen for canyon/sport rides, I like that I get 45MPG avg. and when I'm really good 53 MPG, I'm leaving the engine alone...at least for now.
Nice pics! I've begun pulling all the street parts off. I know the center stand is the first thing that should go but I gotta get a single sided swingarm stand first. I'd love to find some track plastics to get rid of the lights/blinkers etc.
Nice pics! I've begun pulling all the street parts off. I know the center stand is the first thing that should go but I gotta get a single sided swingarm stand first. I'd love to find some track plastics to get rid of the lights/blinkers etc.
The Pitbull single sided swingarm stand is really nice. That is what I ended up with, and I recommend it.
+1 on the Pitbull stand also for their front head-lift hybrid stand. I've been lucky and found the rear stand, two in fact on a local forum both less than $90 each. Seen a few on Craig's List as well.
Since most the Pitbull stands are made to work with different bikes with a single sided swingarm and it's the pin that matches the bike, don't pass up one that someone has listed for something like a Ducati. The VFR pins average $30 so if you find a deal on one, add in the $30 and see if it's still a bargain. I'll just add, make sure it's the later model stand that does support pin swapping. The same applies to the head-lift stand, I have pins for several bikes as I often help my friends with their bikes, it works like a champ.
Grrr, if I ever caught a thief..... Hate seeing disrespect of other people's property like that. I hope you got some insurance payout for your troubles.
You'll want strong brakes and proper suspension for the track. Standard stuff won't hack it. You'll also find raising the rear will improve steering response and you may want to fit some rearsets to get better ground clearance and some decent tyres to keep you from sliding off.
As you do more and more trackdays you'll figure this out anyways. Enjoy.
Thanks. Meeting a buddy for breakfast tomorrow to discuss. He's done a few track days around here and is hyped that I'm getting into it. I'll Google those stands and search around CL.
I've got a list of things to do. Not really wanting to spend a ton of money so it's going to be some 'unique' engineering.
End of thread · 16 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 9 Jul 2017