Converting a road bike to a track bike...

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:02 am

Ok... so Steph and I discussed things... and have decided NOT to sell the Gixxer6.... Instead it will be converted into the "Team Kawasuki" bike.... Basically the bike doesnt owe us all that much, but considering the k's on the clock it is simply not worth selling. Also the brake discs are 0.01mm below the roadworthy law which is a friggin pain..... So rather than spend loads to sell it for little, we are going to keep it... (im going to paint it green

)

The current plan is to get back the rego money, and turn it into a track bike....

There are a lot of road bits that are on there that I will end up selling for cash, because this will never be a road bike again... What bits do you recommend selling...

Obviously the fairings might get us enough money to buy some race glass.... what else?

So.... Current plan

Remove electrical bits - Indicators, headlights, tail lights
Remove road bits - Rear seat assembly, pillion pegs, road fairings

Add track bits - race glass
Add consumables -

Proposed immediate changes - Replace oil in front shocks, replace rear suspension unit or get it re-built (suspect purchasing a replacement may be better).

Proposed future changes - Replace front fork valves, aftermarket computer, replace rearset.

It has a steering damper on the front, but I dont know if it is any good..... personally it feels like I am fighting with it all the time... But I am not certain how to test it...

aardvark · Post by **aardvark** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:37 am

I'm sure some of the guys here with newer race bikes will be able to point you in the right direction for a bike of this age.

But you'll also need to drain the coolant, flush the radiator and fill it with water.

Anything that holds fluid will need to be drilled and cross-wired. So, the sump plug, radiator cap, drain plugs etc.

I think with the newer bikes you need a shark fin style chain guard.

The biggest pain in the arse is removing all of the elctrical cabling for the lights etc. If you decide that you want to bother doing that.

Post by **MadKaw** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:50 am

aardvark wrote:I'm sure some of the guys here with newer race bikes will be able to point you in the right direction for a bike of this age.

But you'll also need to drain the coolant, flush the radiator and fill it with water.

Anything that holds fluid will need to be drilled and cross-wired. So, the sump plug, radiator cap, drain plugs etc.

I think with the newer bikes you need a shark fin style chain guard.

The biggest pain in the arse is removing all of the elctrical cabling for the lights etc. If you decide that you want to bother doing that.

Nah, you don't need to do any of that for a track bike, only if you race it..

Main things to do is, add race glass (not necessary but if you want to remove and sell the origs and lights it will pay for it), sort suspension (a rebuilt stock shock would be fine), rear sets ( you may need the ground clearance) and then its up to you what you want to do with performance.
Full system.
520 chain and sprockets, with different (lower) gearing suited to the track.
Quick action throttle, so you can use full throttle easier
braided lines
Slicks - or supersport tires
etc
Its a bottom less pit....

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:00 am

Yeah, there are a million things to do to it to get it up to scratch...

first I am going to set it up for the track... then possibly race it in the future.... (when it qualifies for something other than supersport)

javaman · Post by **javaman** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:11 am

Why not keep the bike as-is, and spend the $$$ to pay the track days instead ... let's say $1000 worth of bling equals to 8 track days

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:53 am

Because that wouldnt be fun at all Andi....

javaman · Post by **javaman** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:37 am

Isn't fun = riding around with stock pipe, mirrors and passing the R1s on race fairing and slicks

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:59 am

Yeah, thats fun too.... but so is spending a few hours in the garage making your "race bike" look cool....

Neka79 · Post by **Neka79** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 12:31 pm

ummm id take the speedo/dash off ..ride it for 3-4yrs..then bang it back to raod and sell it with no extra km on it..but i am a bit evil ....

advertise the road gear..if i coulda got fairings etc off a cbr i woulda done it, but most ppl keep em cos a roadie is worth more to most ppl than a track bike- and cos its not a write off it can be rego'd again...

MrStompy · Post by **MrStompy** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 12:49 pm

i recently converted a gsxr600 to a track bike for my bro.
we sold all the useable fairing on ebay and that nearly paid for the race fairings we got from Wet4U (i noticed he was advertising on here before xmas so his details should be around somewhere)

all i did was unplug all lights etc and gaff taped/cable tied up any excess wiring.

it still has the switch blocks etc on it.
since then he has had the standard suspension reworked (front and rear) and that is fine for now. If he goes ok racing this year then on the next bike he will get aftermarket stuff

redoing the suspension has slowed up his tyre usage a bit. he was destroying rear tyres really quick as it was sliding out all the time but since the rebuild they have been wearing well and much less sliding around.

the bike is basically a road bike with fibreglass fairings. it came with a yoshi slip on but next bike will go a full system.

Things to be done are to get rear sets and spare bars/levers etc and get it lock wired when he starts racing.

javaman · Post by **javaman** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:16 pm

Stereo wrote:Yeah, thats fun too.... but so is spending a few hours in the garage making your "race bike" look cool....

come to think of it I wonder what the zx6r will look like on slicks hmmm... imagine turning up at a group ride with those

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:41 pm

They look very very cool

photomike666 · Post by **photomike666** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:50 pm

The way to do it is to buy part worn slick at a fraction of their new price, and turn up looking like you can already run the edges off your tyres

Not that I'd ever do that

mrmina · Post by **mrmina** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:47 pm

mate i'm with andy, u can pick a trackie for $3K less than u can sell the gixxer for.

or maybe sell the dash, fairing, lights and all the bits u dont need maybe u can get a bit for it.

either way good stuff on getting a toy.

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:41 am

Ive done the calcs Mina, there are a few minor problems with it that would cost a LOT to fix...... I could explain it to you.... but I dont want to on the forum.... so lets just say that I have done the calculations and for various reasons it works out better for various reasons to keep the bike myself and end up with a kickass track bike...