[Red_hornet_AUS]

Hey,

Taking the hornet 900 to a track day shortly any suggestions for tweaks for my roadie to help track.

SO far:
- Aftermarket Screen to reduce wind blast and keep weight on front wheel
- Braided Brake lines

Suggestions people have made:
- Drop forks through trip clamps bout 20-25mm
- move handlebars forward and down a bit.
(i presume this is to move more weight over front tyre to increase cornering ability)

Any suggestions or comments?
Im not so convinced by the handlebar movement and forks dropped.
If someone has done these or taking the 900 for track day give us some info

 

[TexasTraffic]

Most important!!!
- get the suspension set for you. This is very critical for any motorcycle.
If you have an '04 or newer, you'll have some adjustment. Older than that and all you have is pre-load in the rear.

Dropping the forks 20-25mm is too aggressive, especially if you don't have a steering stabilizer. You REALLY don't want to have the front go into oscillations... there's no good way to get out of it and a high-side is the most common result.
10mm is plenty!
I run mine stock; even with the top of the triple and have good results.

Tires - I run Michelin Pilot Power 2CTs and am very happy with their performance. Pressure is 34-35psi hot, which translates into 28-32psi cold depending on your conditions.
Tires have a huge effect on handling.

Handlebars are an issue for the 900 Hornet on the track. They are too high and too far back for comfortable aggressive riding. They're great for everyday street riding, just not so much for the track.
I am running the OEM bars on the track.... I just put up with the discomfort and keep my chin close to my wrist.

These bars are probably the best solution for a wide range of adjustment:
Thar Engineering TharBars for the 919 (Hornet). I am seriously considering installing these.

The 900 Hornet really doesn't need much modification to run on the track - not unless you are a very experienced rider. If you are, then you'll still be able to run an unmodified 919 faster than most others on the track. Even though it is not "real" sport bike, it does surprisingly well on the track.

 

[Red_hornet_AUS]

Thanks Texas,

This is first outting on the 900 so im going to take tools and tweak as i go hoepfully, biggest problem i have is i have a '02 hornet with only the adjustable rear pre-load which is a bummer.

I thought 20mm was excessive when i read it i think ill start out stock and go from there.

I have a set of scar bars left over from doing up my bros dirt bike which are 22mm so i might have a play with those there slightly narrower and curve toward me more.

I love my hornet and it handles well i just find it slightly harder to corner then mates cbr600 (i know there chalk and cheese) but smashes it out of corners just aiming to get the best out of the big girl

 

[TexasTraffic]

The 600-class sportbikes will dominate on most tracks; especially if the rider is good. You have to spin the smaller engine, though they do make impressive power. The biggest advantage the 600's have is they can carry more speed through the turns. If they are on top of their game, you'll have a heck of a hard time making up the time in the straights.

If this is your first track day, DO NOT be concerned with going fast! This is a sure path to wadding up your bike and possibly getting hurt.

Concentrate on finding and following the proper line through the turns.
Concentrate on being smooth:
- smooth on throttle control
- smooth on & off the brakes
- smooth on your body positioning
- smooth in transitioning into & out of turns

If you are not smooth, fast will never come.

If it feels like you are going FAST and just about to crash, you are about to crash! ...yet you're not actually going that fast; you're just off the line and in trouble.

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
Said another way:
Go slow enough to learn smooth... over time smooth becomes very fast.

If this isn't your first track day, then you already know all this stuff

 

[honda-ng-gingsa]

jumping in late here. I've used my hornet on a few track days and there really isn't that much to sort out particularly with the older models (simply because there are no adjustments to make). I switched to the renthal ultra lows and thats about it. Just make sure you've got good tires, run them a bit lower pressure than you do on the street and just go ride the wheels off that thing. As you get faster the stock pegs will start to drag so you may wanna shorten or remove the hero blobs or switch to a higher pair of rearsets.

Better suspension would be nice but lets face it, it's not the bike holding us back at the moment but the other way around. We wouldn't be on a track on a 919 if we were at that level.

Good Luck and enjoy!

 

[TexasTraffic]

...
... As you get faster the stock pegs will start to drag ....

If pegs are dragging, start getting off the bike more. Shift your weight to the inside of the turn so your bike can stay more upright.

When pegs drag you're at the edge of your tires and close to low-siding.

It feels strange hanging off like that at first. However:
The bike feels better and more controllable; there is more traction available and you can comfortably carry more speed through the turn. Trying more speed when pegs are dragging leads quickly to a wadded-up bike.

Better riders DO NOT drag footpegs. That's what knee sliders are for :thumb:

 

[honda-ng-gingsa]

If pegs are dragging, start getting off the bike more. Shift your weight to the inside of the turn so your bike can stay more upright.

When pegs drag you're at the edge of your tires and close to low-siding.

It feels strange hanging off like that at first. However:
The bike feels better and more controllable; there is more traction available and you can comfortably carry more speed through the turn. Trying more speed when pegs are dragging leads quickly to a wadded-up bike.

Better riders DO NOT drag footpegs. That's what knee sliders are for :thumb:

Yup. Agreed on the hanging off more. I've caught the pegs less after I finally learned to get my knee down But you'll get to a stage where they'll drag even with a lot of hanging off and knee dragging.

In my opinion there's still some tire left even when the pegs drag on a hornet though, it is a standard and not a type R after all. My pegs drag occasionally and there's still about 1/8 inch of a chicken strip on my tires.

 

[Red_hornet_AUS]

The big girl loved eastern creek over the weekend!

But like you guys said i found i was constantly peg and toe scraping.
Took off the bottom protectors and still scrap!
Theres a bit more cornering to be had out of the big girl yet!

Anyone put rearsets on 900?
Theres a couple on ebay from japan for round 300AUD which is reasonable.
WR'S Rear Sets Honda 02-05 CB900 Hornet 900 919 NEW - eBay (item 290425109000 end time May-14-10 10:39:24 PDT)

But there arent many around! Do the hornet 600 race rearsets fit onto a 900?

 

[honda-ng-gingsa]

The big girl loved eastern creek over the weekend!

But like you guys said i found i was constantly peg and toe scraping.
Took off the bottom protectors and still scrap!
Theres a bit more cornering to be had out of the big girl yet!

Anyone put rearsets on 900?
Theres a couple on ebay from japan for round 300AUD which is reasonable.
WR'S Rear Sets Honda 02-05 CB900 Hornet 900 919 NEW - eBay (item 290425109000 end time May-14-10 10:39:24 PDT)

But there arent many around! Do the hornet 600 race rearsets fit onto a 900?

Glad you enjoyed the track. As has been mentioned, hanging off more gives clearance to get around the corners faster.

I'm waiting n a set of coerce rearsets myself, in an effort to make my 919 more track friendly, but there's a lot out of rearsets there for the 919. Sato and Rizoma being the popular one's. The set you listed look pretty good too, wish I saw those before I settled on the coerce.

I haven't confirmed it myself but I've read the early 600's (pre '06?) and 900's have interchangeable rearsets. So anything for an early 600 should work on an early 900.