Topic: 400F on the track

[andy750]

Great photos and also enjoyed the commentary! Thanks for posting and its definitely inspiring (esp on a cold winters night).

cheers
Andy

[benly- ben]

GOD, you do look cool in white glad you had fun Steph, wish it was riding season here.

Sam.

haa... ther not as white as yours are they

[many408]

I'm stoked just looking at your pictures. It really makes me want to take my new project to the track as well.


I spend a long time building it, so i'm afraid to crash it on the track. But these things are made to be driven, not showbikes.

p/s. you got my vote in the BOTM.

What's that exhaust?

[Sam Green Racing]

Benjis, he's a forum member, I think they are stainless steel.

Sam.

[tsflstb]

man those pipes are gorgeous - I'd look for an old beat up mac exhaust if you're still thinking of taking it on the track.  Maybe a beater gas tank and seat too.  The last thing you want on your mind is how much money you're sitting on.  Another trick I was told was to get a thick aluminum CB650 ignition cover - it bolts right on.  It's a little more "crash-able" and would keep the Dyna-S more protected than that stock sheet metal points cover.

you coulda been draggin' knees at the angles the bike is carrying... that's all you need.  then its just a matter of a few more mph's to counteract the additional weight over the side.

I removed the sidestand (which I promptly lost off the trailer somewhere) so I have a lot more room to lean in left handers now.  I've got foot pegs maybe 1/2" higher than the stock 400F and they haven't been an issue, but I'll need to start working on hanging off to save some traction and get a bit faster.  My 90 section front tire is pretty well shagged on the edges while the 110 rear is still OK.  That little front end push I got gave me an idea of how much traction is up there.  I think I'm really over-loading it and may switch to a 100/80/18 if I can find one.

Sam, I'm working on the full get-up.  Got white gloves at Christmas.  My current boots are about 30% duct tape, so I'll get some shiny new ones soon.  Maybe then I'll shave my head to channel some of your mojo across the Atlantic.

Here's a pic somebody took of the track.  Those 4 big pillars are part of an old naval blimp hangar.  Not sure how much concrete is in them, but I think they'll be around for future civilizations to ponder.  They built it right at the end of WW2 to look for subs in the Gulf of Mexico.  This track is super smooth since it's built over the old "runway" or whatever you call a blimp launch site.

[Uncle Ernie]

Can you get a side shot of the bike up?  I'd like to see what the seat, tank badge, and pegs look like.  Also, are those clip-ons or just low bars?  (with taller shocks, you couldn't really use the sidestand anyway- could you?)

[tsflstb]

Hi Ernie.  I saw you've got your 400 on the block.  Did you sell that Wilcox tank?

Those are clip-ons.  I bolted a foot to the bottom of the old sidestand to add some length.  It was the piece of handlebar clamp that I hacksawed off of the top triple tree.  I think I still have the other one in my scrap pile to use when I get my new ebay sidestand in the mail.

I switched out the 900F shocks for some adjustable alloy-bodied Konis.  They're pretty long and stiff (I may swap out the spring eventually) , but worked well on this smooth track.  The long shocks make it steer scary fast even compared to modern 600 sportbikes.  I've really grown to like it that way, but I did add the steering damper for insurance.



The foot pegs are just the passenger pegs from my FZR mounted with some little adapters to the stock mounts.  They're raised up and back about 1/4" and are about 1/2" thinner than the stock pegs.  Still pretty comfortable and I have yet to drag them.

[Uncle Ernie]

Cosmo doesn't want me to sell that bike, so who am I to argue. 
Got close a couple weeks ago, but the guy came back with the bike making a high-pitched whine.  He figured the cam was shot.  I'm thinking the bike runs great so it can't be a cam.  finally figured out the horn needed a little tightening.  What a weenie. 

Sold the tank to Carpy.  He got quite a deal, and I paid another month on the house mortgage.  > sigh <

Hard to imagine one of those turning in even faster!  Scary.  It must be terrible fun to take to a track, though.  I'd love that.

BTW- I put simple Progressive shocks on mine and I love them.  The sidestand rests on a 2x4 though; I think I'm going to cut it and weld a piece of butt-ugly pipe in there.  A shot of black and who will notice?

[tsflstb]

Drug this up to add another pic or two.  The official pics should be coming soon.  I went out a couple of weeks ago to Motorsports Ranch south of Houston.  Even though it was 103 degrees we had a good time and really got to stretch the throttle cable on this bigger track.  Kevin and I were the only two remotely vintage bikes out there again, but I think we flew the flag well for the old 400F's.  I spent most of the day pestering a guy on a ZX-14 Ninja.  He had a "slight advantage" on the straights but I managed to close the gap in the tighter sections of the track. 

We had a pretty diverse pit area.  I brought a couple guys with me from work, one on the yellow race prepped GSXR, another on the V-Strom.  Also had the FZR1000 along for its maiden track day.


400F at speed.  Topped out at 94 mph on the back straight before a sharp right hander.  Tested out the TTR400 box-section swingarm which worked like a charm.


On the FZR, vengeance was mine.  I made good use of the straightaways to get past traffic and had a lot more open track in front of me.  Only scared myself about 43 times per lap.  It's a different experience with that extra 100 HP under you.


All in all, great fun and can't wait to do it again.  The heat wasn't as bad as I'd feared -- white perforated leathers are actually pretty cool once you're moving.  The bikes seemed to work fine.  The only thing holding me back at this point is lack of experience.  I'm slowly getting more comfortable out there but still have a long way to go.

[andy750]

Great photos and like the comparison between the FZR and the 400  . Do you know how the VStrom did on the track? Curious to know how it handled with hard braking and the corners.

thanks
Andy

[Sam Green Racing]

Those white leathers make you look nearly as fast as me

Real cool Steph.

Sam.

[tsflstb]

My old boss was riding the V-Strom and was getting on pretty well.  That big tall bike really does lean.  In the last session I let him get a head start and then ran the 400 around him in an outside/inside chicane.  Office politics be damned.

Those white leathers make you look nearly as fast as me Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin

A large crowd of ladies from the local retirement home started to gather during the day.  They looked awfully disappointed when I took off the helmet.

[Sam Green Racing]

I take it they thought you were me that's the best I can do these days

Sam.