Track Day Report (& some questions)

vader56 · 05-08-2004, 11:22 AM

Hiya group!

Did a trackday yesterday on my 954. It was hot and windy but the bike was handling great (in stock settings ... I was planning to play with my suspension a bit during the day but I was carried away...lol).

Tried the Rennsports (1 front, 3 rear) and they performed great, although I almost highsided once while trying to pass a slower rider in a slow corner but this had to do with my ham-fisted application of the throtle...

The last time I rode this track I was convinced that the bike needs a steering damper, this time however I just rode on and enjoyed the various wiggles and weelies.. The track has a few 2nd gear turns that really make the bike go balistic in their exits.. Exciting stuff..but I'll probably get a damper anyway...

The only gripe I have has to do with the brakes. Although I am no track expert I've done 5-6 trackdays and this is the first time I find myself really trying to stop the bike. I had the brakes bleeded the day before, and was wearing almost new soft AP pads. However, at one point I had to stop amidst a session and put the lever on the hardest setting (1). Even now on the street I keep the brake lever on setting 2! (Note: a month ago I lowsided and changed both my lever and clip-on.. since then something feels weird...the discs have not bended and the mechanic just changed these two components and didn't fiddle with the brake assembly at all...)

Do you guys think that a set of braided lines will cure the problem?

Thanks in advance for your input

tigerblade · 05-08-2004, 1:56 PM

Braided lines will almost certainly help. It's one of the first things I do to a new bike. Did you notice it getting worse toward the end of each session? Were the brakes pulsing at all or was the lever just "mushier"?

Oh BTW, great pics (especially #2)!

Baketech · 05-08-2004, 3:44 PM

Great Pics.....

FWIW, every spring I set a goal to learn how to brake the bike, and every summer I spend my track days using mostly throttle, and very little brake......gotta learn how to stop the bike one of these days...

vader56 · 05-09-2004, 8:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerblade

Braided lines will almost certainly help. It's one of the first things I do to a new bike. Did you notice it getting worse toward the end of each session? Were the brakes pulsing at all or was the lever just "mushier"?

thanks guys

The lever feels both mushier and pulsing.

It feels mushier in respect to simple braking (i.e. loss of feedback) and under hard braking I get this "pulsing" feeling (if I understand it correctly you refer to a sort-of a pumping feeling as if the lines are expanding or contracting...)
On one occasion, using 1 finger and the lever on setting no.2, the lever came back all the way to my knuckles.

Brake fluids are ok, the brakes were bleeded the day before yesterday, the dics are not bended, so it has to be either the brake lines or the master cylinder (sp?)..

The weird thing however is that I can also feel these symptoms in low speed braking in the street. The brake lever feedback is completely different and I can only ride with the lever on setting no.2 or no.1.

Dunno, I'll probably have to take the bike back to my mechanic to try and sort it out...

abtech · 05-09-2004, 8:49 AM

Even though you bled the brakes the day before, I would bet that there is still air up around the master cylinder. There really isn't anything other than air in the lines that would cause the symptoms you describe. If you search on the subject of bleeding brakes, you can find a thorough procedure to rid the system of all air. Just bleeding the system at the calipers NEVER gets all of the air out.

vader56 · 05-10-2004, 5:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abtech

Even though you bled the brakes the day before, I would bet that there is still air up around the master cylinder. There really isn't anything other than air in the lines that would cause the symptoms you describe. If you search on the subject of bleeding brakes, you can find a thorough procedure to rid the system of all air. Just bleeding the system at the calipers NEVER gets all of the air out.

Thanks, I'll do that.

Monk · 05-10-2004, 5:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abtech

Even though you bled the brakes the day before, I would bet that there is still air up around the master cylinder. There really isn't anything other than air in the lines that would cause the symptoms you describe. If you search on the subject of bleeding brakes, you can find a thorough procedure to rid the system of all air. Just bleeding the system at the calipers NEVER gets all of the air out.

Like he says....^..