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racing a speed triple

3K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  SMF77 
#1 ·
hi,
im thinking about racing my 2001 speed triple,?
am i mad,
do anyone know anybody who raced one,
i have lots of racing expieience,but never had my speed triple to the track,what are they like on the track?
 
#2 · (Edited)
hi,
im thinking about racing my 2001 speed triple,?
am i mad,
do anyone know anybody who raced one,
Yes, me.

Short answer: Overpowered. The lower cc bikes do better. It's heavy and tends to go wide. S3 is not aerodynamic I get about 110 mph in the straights and really feel the wind. Fun for track and street but your not going to kick butt in the turns.

Long winded answer:
First, you must spend the time and safety wire the caliper bolts, brake line banjo bolts, front fork bolts, oil drain plug, oil filer, oil filler cap and radiator cap. I also wired the chain adjuster lockdown bolt.

It must not leak anything.

Tires, brakes and chain must be 100% all the time. No rat bikes.

Remove headlight bulbs to reduce heat. Cover the lenses. Remove or cover the turn signals and brake light.

Depending on the track you may want to remove the kickstand or wire it up. If you remove it you will need to bypass the kill switch.

Purge the radiator and use track approved coolant.

The suspension will need to be adjusted for the track. But that is the case with any bike. If you are really serious you should consider springs, valving and fluid adjustment. Many others here have posted how much better riding S3 is with suspension changes. This can be expensive running into thousands of dollars but hey, every man should have a vice of some kind (or two).

It goes without saying that the more things you learn to do yourself, the better off you are.

That's about it. If you're going on the cheap, do some laps to heat up the tires before you get on it or you WILL CRASH. Or you could get tire warmers.

Go to a good race school and get some pointers. I don't think anyone can say they have no need for improvement.

Beyond this, you will need to get a bike designed for track racing, not the S3. But for the average guy, you can have a blast with what you have and still ride it on the street.

Final pearl of wisdom. If you can't afford to crash it and eat the cost of new parts, don't do it. Everyone that I know who goes to the track has taken a digger at some point (I have).

Have fun!
Larry
 
#3 · (Edited)
As a fellow S3 rider I say do it!

But realistically no way! The bike is heavy, has wobbly handling and will cost you a lot of $$ to race (like more than just about anything else). This is so because of a lack of parts available and the cost.

If you really want to get into racing motorbikes the best way is to start in a lightweight class. Get an SV650 or GS500 thats already in race trim (and many times they come with lots of extras). These I see frequently even here in chilly MN for 3-4k fully ready to race and with spares. On the other hand getting an SV in race trim would cost you the price of the bike plus almost that much just in suspension/bodywork/race req stuff. Racing these are cheap because parts are so easy to get, cheap and things such as tires which you will need each weekend cost less and likely last a little longer. This class is competitive, fun and you won't get blown away like you probably would in the middleweight class (600 race replicas like an R6). But in the end, do whatever makes you happy!
 
#4 ·
Are you talking about club racing or just starting with some track days? Track days are much more lax in that you usually don't have to do a full race prep (safety wire and so forth) and can have a lot of fun at a relatively low cost. The speedy can hang with the 600's pretty well but is very underpowered compared to the newest 1000's. Do yourself a favor and take a class like Total Control by lee parks to figure out how to corner properly and knee down before you get too serious. As far as it handling poorly and so forth, speedy has better handling and power than most people have the ability to use. There is no need, in my humble opinion, to go out and spend thousands on suspension and gearing before you have mastered what you already have. Good luck and keep the shiny side up...
 
#5 ·
Not a real racer

Don't bother unless it is just for fun-you cannot make that bugger handle because of the excess rear weight bias-the front end becomes light (it is a wheelie king) and bad things happen at speed. It is a heck of a bike and I loved mine. I modified the shock-Ohlins, forks, seat, put rear sets on it, clip on bars, 2 kinds of steering dampers, changed gearing, modified the engine a bit, and tried some different tires all in an effort to make it handle without he mystery weave--cant be done at least by me. Just enjoy track days or fun sport riding-it is a great fun hooligan bike!!
 
#9 ·
Monster no competition



What you are talking about is (Ducati Monster vs. Speedy?) again a different ball game and NOT a racer either-both these are great street bikes and can go plenty fast on the race track-I think the Speed Triple is a better bike all around for most people than any Ducati but to each his own. I have a friend who sold his Speedtriples (2) because they were too fast -he got a Ducati instead 'cuz it was slower and did not get him as many tickets. Ducati's are also very expensive and hard to get parts for---I think they may be an acquired taste if you have to have things Italian -they are beautiful.
 
#8 ·
The speed triple has excellent suspension and that is why I said that most riders will never be able to use all the play it provides. However, in race conditions the Speed Triple just doesn't cut it compared the the moto gp replicas currently sold at your friendly Jap dealership. It wasn't designed to compete with your cbr's r1's and gzxrs... It was designed to excel at street riding and indeed it does. On a race track it can be easily outclassed by the others but try riding a cbr1000 for 400 miles of twisties and see how much you miss your speedy! The Speed Triple excels at what is was designed to do and will even give you a grin on a race track on a track day but will frustrate you if you are going to be trying to race full time...
 
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