Took inspiration from Jeff...

[BrammoBrian]

... and hit the track with my Empulse R yesterday.  We had 40+mph winds, which made things interesting, but I still had a blast and learned a few things.  Like... I'm really rusty with my riding and my leathers shrunk during the winter!   



I was a little late getting out for the sessions, but I would typically come back in with 60-70% SOC remaining.  I used a Level 2 EVSE cordset plugged into one of Thunderhill's many RV outlets and was able to get back to 100% for the next session.  I did skip a couple of sessions due to my other duties at the track with Eric testing the TTX, but I felt like I got my money's worth out of the trackday with the amount of riding I did.  The Level 2 cordset is a MUST though. 



I also pulled the passenger pegs, handles, and rear taillamp assembly off the bike.  That stuff weighs alot and the bike looks "racy-er" without them IMHO.  Footpegs were dragging in some spots, but that just forced me to lean off the bike further and trade body position for lean angle.  I was slow, but still had a blast.



Comin' at cha! 

[barboo]

Nice! How long were your sessions?

[Gavin]

Looks like somebody had some fun.

Leathers, and jeans and dress pants, shrink a lot once you have kids. It will be worse when he is a toddler and you try to feed him and he only eats half his food, so you finish the other half...

Gavin

[Jeff]

YESSSSS.  Awesome!!!  Glad you brought your bike.  Did you swap out tires?

I should've known you guys would've been there for the PTT sessions.  I gotta get up there for a day soon!

[Brammofan]

Here's a pic of Bostrom from the same track day (via Brammo's Facebook):

[BrammoBrian]

Here's a pic of Bostrom from the same track day (via Brammo's Facebook):

Just had to post that, didn't you?   EBoz is such a show off...

Good point about babies and weight gain, Gavin.  I would feel better about this if Eric didn't show up with his 5 month old looking fit as ever!

The day was the typical 3 group 20 minute sessions.  Each lap takes roughly 2.5 minutes, so you could theoretically get 8 laps in if you run the full session.  I'd guess that I did about 5 laps per session.

[Brammofan]

Your body positioning is so very similar. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Looks like he's a couple inches closer to the "tank" but different bikes, different speeds.

[BrammoBrian]

Your body positioning is so very similar. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Looks like he's a couple inches closer to the "tank" but different bikes, different speeds.

Thanks for the compliment.  I'm also not embarrassed to be shown up by Eric.  He has definitely had his 10,000 hours of time invested on a bike and it shows.  I just feel sorry for all those liter bike riders he was passing!    It is very true that having the mechanics/body positioning down is very important as it's easier to add speed to good mechanics than it is to teach mechanics to someone who's fast without them. 

[Gavin]

Good point about babies and weight gain, Gavin.  I would feel better about this if Eric didn't show up with his 5 month old looking fit as ever.

Well Eric is likely an Alien...that man is just too fit and too nice to be human...plus he uses terms like "hobby horsing" showing that he likely viewed shows from the 50s and 60s to learn about Mankind so he could fit in.

Tell him Gavin sends his love and congratulations to both him and the lovely Rebecca...and the new little one.

G

[Jeff]

Also clip-ons vs handlebars for body position comparison, too. 

Did you find yourself wishing for clip-ons?  I've heard the sentiment expressed by various folks, but at this point about 99% of my (admittedly short) riding career has been on bikes with bars, so haha tossing in a totally foreign control element all of a sudden at the track can be a bit jarring.

[BrammoBrian]

Did you find yourself wishing for clip-ons?  I've heard the sentiment expressed by various folks, but at this point about 99% of my (admittedly short) riding career has been on bikes with bars, so haha tossing in a totally foreign control element all of a sudden at the track can be a bit jarring.

I didn't find myself needing clip-ons to have fun at a trackday, but I suppose if I started racing the bike and watching lap times I would likely move to them. They do allow more aggressive body position by allowing you to lower your upper body and head and provide an advantage in wrist and arm position.   

That said, I've always liked the look of the naked street bikes on the track for some reason - like the KTM 690 Duke Track bike and the V&H XR1200s that Shelina races... 

 



I was running the same Continental contiattack 2 tires that come on the 2014 bikes.  I also bought a set of the OZ forged aluminum wheels, which were on the bike as well.  I was very impressed with the contis - felt good, tons of grip, and warmed up fast. 

[barboo]

Out of curiosity has anyone run a 190 rear? I have a bunch of Dunlop GP-A NTECs for my other track/race bikes and was planning on using them for the Empulse R.

Side note...you all have provided great thoughts on ideas - clip-ons, sprockets, etc. I've appreciated the information as I get my bike setup.

[BrammoBrian]

Out of curiosity has anyone run a 190 rear? I have a bunch of Dunlop GP-A NTECs for my other track/race bikes and was planning on using them for the Empulse R.

I wouldn't recommend anything over a 180 on the Empulse.  In fact, we've been going the opposite direction to get the bike to handle/turn-in more quickly and increase corner speed - which is the trick to good lap times on a "slower" (relative to your S1000RR) bike as you don't have the power to make up time on the straights. I actually ran a 160 rear tire at the trackday on my bike and was very happy with it.  Eric and Shelina ran a 160 all last season (Dunlop DP211 GP-A) and we're now experimenting with a 150.  Unfortunately, the 160s and 150s really should be mounted on a 4.5" rim to maintain the correct sidewall and tire profile.  The factory TTX bikes come with the OZ aluminum racing rims in a 4.5" rear width, but the stock street bikes have a 5.5" rear cast Marchesini.  The good news is that IF you upgrade to the 4.5, you'll drop about 12lbs out of the bike with the wheels alone. 

Eric with the 160:




Arthur Kowitz has also had success running a 150 width Pirelli tire:


If you want to see something really crazy, check out these Moto3 bikes that run a 95mm front and 115mm rear and are very, very fast...

[barboo]

I wouldn't recommend anything over a 180 on the Empulse...

Thanks Brian! I appreciate the info and good point about needing to maintain corner speed on this bike.

I'll order some more tires and look into extra rims next year.

[7racer]

Out of curiosity has anyone run a 190 rear? I have a bunch of Dunlop GP-A NTECs for my other track/race bikes and was planning on using them for the Empulse R.

I wouldn't recommend anything over a 180 on the Empulse.  In fact, we've been going the opposite direction to get the bike to handle/turn-in more quickly and increase corner speed - which is the trick to good lap times on a "slower" (relative to your S1000RR) bike as you don't have the power to make up time on the straights. I actually ran a 160 rear tire at the trackday on my bike and was very happy with it.  Eric and Shelina ran a 160 all last season (Dunlop DP211 GP-A) and we're now experimenting with a 150.  Unfortunately, the 160s and 150s really should be mounted on a 4.5" rim to maintain the correct sidewall and tire profile.  The factory TTX bikes come with the OZ aluminum racing rims in a 4.5" rear width, but the stock street bikes have a 5.5" rear cast Marchesini.  The good news is that IF you upgrade to the 4.5, you'll drop about 12lbs out of the bike with the wheels alone. 

Eric with the 160:




Arthur Kowitz has also had success running a 150 width Pirelli tire:


If you want to see something really crazy, check out these Moto3 bikes that run a 95mm front and 115mm rear and are very, very fast...

I can attest to the light rims. Love them!