This is a long name for a great show. Nestled next to the finish line of Long Beach Grand Prix in Long Beach, Ca, this years show is sure to be entertaining. It was also one of the best attended shows I’ve seen in years. This is a great sign for everyone in the motorcycle industry, coming off a few very mediocre years.
Day one started early for us with media day…CLICK LINK
Media day is where all the manufacturers unveil all their cool new toys. This year was no different. We got to see 2 new scooters from BMW. That is not a miss-print! BMW is now in the scooter business with 2 new 650cc scooters. Kawasaki put the old ZX14 on steroids and added about 80 more ccs to the already monster motor. Ducati unveiled the new, hi tech, Panigale. We wrapped up media day with a Q & A with Ben Spies, Josh Hayes and Cal Crutchlow…SWEET!
All this sound fun? We will be posting videos of all of this and more soon. STAY TUNED!
Track Day preparation Class Sunday April 21, Presented by MARS (Motorcycle Awareness and Rider safety)
Details below:
Track Days are about as much fun as you can have on two wheels. You get to go as fast as you want, no cross traffic, animals crossing the roads and no police pointing the radar gun your way. It is also the safest way to get your adrenaline fix. You’ve seen all the posts on the board about all the great track days coming up but are not sure if you are ready or can afford it.
MARS is going to show you the easiest, most cost effective ways to get ready for a track day. Even if you never intend to hit the track, there is tons of information that will help you be a safer more confident rider. Take a look at the agenda!
MARS
Motorcycle Awareness and Rider Safety
Track Day Preparation Agenda
Sunday March 21, 2010 9am to 5pm
Las Vegas Dyno Tech
6947 Speedway Boulevard Las Vegas, NV 89115-1729 – (702) 644-9412
1. Introductions
2. Why should you do a track day: The advantages of getting your adrenaline rush on the track and not the street. We are working on getting a representative from Tracktactics will be on hand to answer questions and tell you how you can do a track day, with a school for only $45.00
3. What gear do you need to get on the track? This covers the basics of what gear is required. Do you need all new gear or can you add a few pieces to be compliant. We will show different types of gear that are sufficient for a level 1 track day. Greg from Cycle Gear on Pecos will be showing you some very affordable track ready gear.
4. Physical Preparation: This will cover what types of exercises you can do to reduce fatigue, stretching and proper food and drinks.
5. Motorcycle Preparation Basic: How do you make your bike “track Ready”?
6. Bike Prep: We will actual show each attendee how to prep their bike. They will prep the bikes on location.
7. Generic flag and track rules.
8. Body positioning; we have Lee Parks, World Renowned Riding instructor and author of the book Total Control, to instruct you on the proper body positioning.
9. Suspension Setup: Matt Wiley, Operations Director of Race Tech will be on hand to teach you the fine art of suspension tuning. Each person will, with assistance, set up their own suspension.
10. Q and A
11. Wrap up…go home
Lee Parks of Total Control Training at previous MARS Events
Each vendor will be giving each attendee discount coupons as well as a few free goodies to take home with them at the end of the day. The discounts alone will more than pay for the entire day.
Cost per person is $50.00 which includes snacks and drinks throughout the day as well a complimentary lunch. The only way we are able to do this program this cheap is through the generosity of the vendors. We hope that you will come out and spend the day with us, get some great information as well as help support MARS.
How do you pay? E-mail me at info@cycleawareness.com and I can send you a paypal invoice. You can also pay cash the day of, but please make sure to RSVP either way so we can get a head count.
Please e-mail me with any questions
A Hyosung GT650 + Bridgestone BT003 tires + Koso Gauges, + Race Tech Suspension and Willow Spring Raceway = Fun!
The Big track out at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, Ca seems the least likely place you would take the 65hp Hyosung GT650 out for a test. It is a very high speed track best suited for high horsepower liter bikes, not a mid size v-twin. I guess that’s why we did it.
This is no normal Korean V-twin. This Hyosung has had some nice upgrades to help it around the track. No, we didn’t put a big bore kit in it, higher compression pistons or any of that. In fact, the only work done to the motor was a slip on exhaust and re-jetting the carbs. The upgrades we did are the important ones…the suspension.
A Shocking Story!
To say the stock suspension didn’t work well would be an understatement. The bike was sprung for a 120lb rider (I am well over twice that). The front forks had almost no damping, giving the front end that bouncy ’72 Lincoln feeling. The rear shock was even worse but in the opposite direction. It was so over damped, you could time, on hour hand, how long it took to return to its upright and seated position. The only solution was to head out to Race Tech in Corona, Ca for some help.
The front forks use mid 90s Honda style cartridges, so they were an easy fix. The springs and G2R Gold Valves were an off the shelf part. The rear shock…not so easy! The OEM rear is a non rebuildable unit that works better as a paper weight than a suspension component. So what to do?
The rear shock that lives on the Hyo now is a 100% custom shock built specifically for this bike. It is one of their new G3-S shocks. I was lucky enough to get the first one ever to see a Hyosung. All I can say is “WOW what a difference!” I will be doing a full story on the upgrades later. For now, just know that the Race Tech Suspension upgrades are what allowed the bike to perform as well as it did. I am a firm believer that the suspension is the biggest single improvement you can make to a bike. It sure proved out here!
Better Gauges!
Anyone who has ever ridden a GT650R/S knows how bad the gauges are. You can hardly read them in the day time. Any direct sunlight and you can forget about telling how fast you are going or how much fuel you have. This is another area that needed some attention.
I happened upon an ad for KOSO custom gauges. They looked nice enough and seemed to have all the bells and whistles you could ever want. They were also only about $350.00. I pulled the trigger and ordered a set.
They were a pretty straight forward installation. There are lots of optional sensors that can be connected to the gauge set as well. Everything was easy to read and they mounted rock solid. Just compare the track video with the Utah ZX10 video to see the difference. I have been very happy with the swap and would use the KOSO gauges again.
Rubber Time!
Willow Springs is a very fast, very abrasive track. It can chew up a tire pretty quick. You spend a lot of time leaned over to the right at Big Willow. You also reach some pretty high speeds. Because of this we wanted some very sticky street tires that wouldn’t break the bank. We decided on the BT003Rs.
I was very impressed with how consistent the tires were. They are a multi compound tire, but you never really noticed any real transitions in the tire. The grip was great on the high speed sections as well as the technical portions of the track. They did get a bit shredded, but then again, every tire does at big Willow.
These are great track day tires. I don’t know that I would run them on the street though. I don’t think you would get much mileage out of them. They are definitely more track oriented.
Fun, Fun, Fun on the Hyosung!
Overall, the Hyosung performed incredibly well. We went around a lot of shocked people on far more expensive bikes. I think that was what made it so much fun to ride. You would have a guy go past you on the straight going 40+mph faster, only to pass him on the very next turn.
The suspension handled the bumpy track and just asked for more! It never gave us the feeling that it was out of or on the edge of control. It stayed planted and confidence inspiring. This bike is FUN!
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I constantly hear people that say they need a bigger, faster bike. Their 110hp 600 is just not fast enough to keep up with their friends. Well, I’m here to tell you…that you are WRONG!
To prove that point, we took the mighty Hyosung GT650 up to Utah on a yearly ride for SinCity Sportbikes. It was a mixed group, with everything from Hayabusas and ZX10s to a few 600s and even an SV650.
The majority of the ride was above 7000 feet elevation with the highest point being 11,500ft. This high altitude will zap the power from any vehicle, especially carbureted ones like the Hyosung. The more power you have in reserve, the better off you are.
So how can we take this Korean 650 twin with only 65hp (sea level) and manage to keep up at altitude? First, we added the most important upgrade you can do to a motorcycle. We upgraded the suspension. You heard me right, the suspension.
I handed the bike over to former racer and world renowned motorcycle instructor Lee Parks. He actually wrote the book on performance riding. It’s true, it’s called Total Control, go get a copy.
Leading the ride is former racer Josh Marshall. Let’s be upfront, Josh is fast, but safe. He is generally 15 minutes into a nap before everyone else catches up to him. He also knows these roads very well. He is riding Kawasaki ZX10.
Josh likes to have fun, but is smart. He does not pin the throttle on the straights to see how fast his bike will go, he already knows that. He does keep a very brisk pace through the twisties though.
What you are seeing in the video is how a very underpowered bike with a well setup suspension can keep up with a much faster bike in the corners. Remember, Lee is on a HYOSUNG!
So next time you think you need to step up to a 160hp liter bike to keep up…think again. Improve your riding skills and get your suspension working it’s best. Oh, and do your real high speed stuff at a track day. Remember, these guys are professionals.
P.S. Everyone asks about the wobbly gauges. The gauges were on a temporary, mock up, mount. Not only did we change the mount, we changed the gauges. Check out the track footage of the Hyosung at my You tube site to see more. www.youtube.com/cyclesportstv
I have to start by saying the Z1000 surpassed my expectations. I understand that in order to sell a bike for 10K, now a days, you have to cut a few corners. The end result is usually a slightly underpowered version of it’s sport bike brethren. The suspension is usually non-adjustable, brakes weak…etc. Thankfully, none of this was the case with the Z1000.
The first thing I noticed is that it feels, and is, much lighter than my ZRX. I expected the suspension to cry out in pain under the weight of my big butt, and again, it didn’t. In fact, I tried to get it to dive hard. I would snap open the throttle then slam it shut just as quickly. The Zed just laughed. It had minimal dive even when grabbing the brakes hard.
One of the first roads we hit was Latigo Canyon Road. This is tight, bumpy road that is full of surprises. The bike handled the multiple and quick side to side changes and never got upset. Trust me I tried. Even when making intentional throttle changes mid corner the bike stayed composed. The Z1000 soaked up all the bumps and never complained.
Power was very linear with a nice bit of torque. I intentionally exited several corners a gear too high and the Kawi pulled hard even from under 3k. It doesn’t have the torque my ZRX does, but it is close. Once you got the revs over 8K the power comes on strong, but smoothly. The new Z1000 doesn’t suffer from the vibration issues that plagued the previous versions.
Throttle response was very good. Even when getting to a maintenance throttle in mid turn, it was never abrupt. This is very surprising for a bike in this price range. I’ve ridden far more expensive bikes that didn’t have nearly as smooth a throttle response.
The brakes were very linear and predictable. Don’t get me wrong, these are not the throw you over the bars brakes that the ZX6/10 are known for, but they get the job done. They are actually far more easy to modulate and brake smoothly. There were a few times were I had to brake hard due to some serious debris in the next corner. The bike got slowed down and the suspension stayed composed.
The transmission is another area that really surprised me. It was VERY smooth. I never hit a false neutral and never felt any clunky shifts. The shifter has a very short throw, so minimal input is required.
The wind protection was also better than expected. Mind you, this is a naked bike. For a naked bike it did a great job of keeping the wind from pulling me off the bike even at speed.
The new Kawasaki Z1000 is a great all around bike. You can just as easily put around town as carve up some corners or even hit up a 500 mile ride. I have to hand it to Kawasaki, they did a great job with the new Z1000. I think a lot of riders would be shocked at how well the bike works, given the opportunity to throw a leg over.
I took a trip to the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach California. Of all the new bikes I saw, this was the most exciting. Take a look!
