[bikedude135]

so since my race bike is in the shop and i had a non refundable trackday, i decided to take my daily driver for a run at thunderhill.

report: what a truck!

compared to a gixxer, the z has no ground clearance, no top end power, no brakes, and no suspension. this was expected, but i was surprised how extreme the difference is.

the good news: all those things make it a hoot! where the gixxer is a precision tool for chasing lap times, the z is a holigan toy. its somewhere between a supersport and a supermoto. if you're not concerned about times, being able to explore its relatively low limits is fun. it bucks and weaves under braking, same on exit, not to mention easy wheelies due to the high riding position.

i had to enter wide and really square off corners to keep from pole vaulting off the peg! what you are seeing is the max lean possible with stock rearsets. you can see coming off corners that the z lacks top end power, i had it pinned shifting at redline, yet compared to my buddy's 636 kawi it looks like im going backwards. my fastest lap of the day was a 2:10 (the slow end of A group), which is around 15sec slower than average times on my gixxer 600.

the only aspect that had me regretting having the z at the track is lack of ground clearance. the pegs hit way earlier than anything else (due to them being so low and wide). the next to drag are, in order: the shifter, kickstand, brake lever, exhaust, engine (!). i didnt actually drag engine while riding, but as a test my friend and i lowered it to the ground just to check where everything was and sure enough the left side of the engine will hit not long after the peg. in the video you can see sparks, mainly in left turns from the kickstand. according to other riders, the sparks were actually pretty extreme at times. look at rearsets if you are planning to track your z.

i was running a set of street michelin power races. had a few slides from my own errors, but in general they hooked up great (not as great as dunlop 211's) and handling was very light and neutral. i had them at 23psi rear, 32 front.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoXoX_TEv0k

 

[cajstyle]

All the people who buy Z1k's do so for these facts. Great low-mid, wheelies galore, and an enduro riding position. Track days are still fun, but as you said, if we wanted to chase times, we'd buy an aerodynamic piece of plastic with an engine and two wheels!

PS - You have a beautiful Zed.

 

[zxjosh]

Looks pretty damn low to me! Can't imagine getting lower but I've never ridden a true sportbike before.

 

[topgunz1]

That sir, is badass.

 

[banda]

Nice. That is a very exciting track with some great elevation changes - there's one crest there where the road falls away and changes direction that looked seriously fun.

 

[Zavochkin]

Very cool video. I'm not sure what other bikes you have ridden on the track (Besides the Z and a SS) but to me it seems like the Z is probably the best or one of the best non-super sport bikes to be used at a track. I'd wager other bikes in the category such as the 919 or speed triple would come up short against the Z at a track. Maybe a tuono would fair well better?

 

[Black Sheep]

It doesn't look like you get off the seat much... crazy lean angle for a Z, for sure!

 

[bikedude135]

Very cool video. I'm not sure what other bikes you have ridden on the track (Besides the Z and a SS) but to me it seems like the Z is probably the best or one of the best non-super sport bikes to be used at a track. I'd wager other bikes in the category such as the 919 or speed triple would come up short against the Z at a track. Maybe a tuono would fair well better?

this is true! there was actually a 919 rider at the track and we got to talking. he said it felt mild and soft, but we was on stock tires. he's probably not incorrect though. ive only ridden "real" sportbikes on the track. yesterday was my first time on anything else.

the z is not bad in an absolute sense, only when compared to an ss. especially not bad considering it takes me to work every day on the same tires!

the only other standard bikes that could run in stock trim are the MV brutale and the ducati streetfighter. maybe even a hypermotard. the ktm superduke is bad *** too... hmmm

 

[kiki]

Nice

The guy videoing you doesn't seem to like shifting much. Looked great though.

 

[03kraz1000]

Cool video, definitely looks like a balst . . . what part of the engine did you scrap?

Has anyone found a rememdy for raising the kickstand so it won't scrap?

 

[CrimsonCloak]

I used to remove the kickstand on my 2004 and use a rearstand for track days.


I've seen guys have a *lot* of fun on Monsters, StreetFighters, Superdukes, Brutales, Tuonos, and Naked SV/TL models. Most of them have peg clearance issues, but it is still fun! It's better to run the bike you have than not run at all.

 

[Mayhem]

Beautifull track, lovelly sweeping curves, nice lines and smoothly ridden.

What more can I say.l