For some time I have been looking for a supersports to do some trackdays with and for some squidding ;).
I tested a GSXR1000 but didn't like that specific one. Today I tried a GSXR750 K6 and almost immediate liked it. The engine ran smooth, clutch worked fine, shifting gears was good, brakes worked good and it looked good. Everything was okay, so I bought it.
The Suzuki has a higher windscreen, braided brake lines, tail tidy and a Shark replacement exhaust. Before I pick it up (spring next year) the dealer will fit heated grips, bobbins and a navigation holder.

Made my racing outfit complete with leather pants with kneesliders (Dainese Delta Pro C2) and with some racing boots (Dainese Nexus D-WP).
I'm race ready now. Pity the weather isn't...

In order to get in all comfort to and fro the circuit (and maybe vacation destinations) I bought a (older model) Van Vossen airtrailer. It has air suspension which you can deflate so you can easily get the bike on and off. You can partly fold it too, so it is easy to store. Perfect I should think...
Some pics of trailers like mine:

I now have all the stuff ready to go racing. Except for one small little detail: the bike isn't ready yet. It's still at the dealer for some maintenance and to have some stuff added. That didn't stop me to sign up for a trackday at Assen the 27th of April. Lets hope for good weather...

Called my dealer to make an appointment to discuss what still has to be done to the GSXR. To my surprise they were already working on it. They replaced the steering head bearings and were going to install new front brake pads and a navigation holder and wiring. I asked them to install some crash protectors too, you never know...
I can pick it up next Saturday.

Picked the bike up today. They had quite some problems to get it ready because first the battery died, then the alternator quit and after that the regulator stopped working. Happy it happend at the shop and not at home...
It was the first time I towed a bike and my brother and I had a hell of a time to strap it down. The Canyon Dancer straps I'd bought didn't quite work, they were too long? And before we found another suitable spot and got the hang of how the wretched ratches worked we wasted quite some time. This in front of the mechanics who had a lot of fun, I'm sure. Basterds ;).

Temps are about 25 degrees Celcius higher than last week, so I took the Gixxer for a spin. When starting not all cylinders participated in the party. After a little while they did. After the ride I put injector cleaner in the tank. Maybe it helps.
The bike rode very fine: powerdelivery, shifting gears, brakes, suspension, all's very good. I only do not really like the steering damper at low speed. It makes steering unprecise. At higher speeds it's fine. Maybe something to get used to?
Can't wait to take the bike to the track...

At 5:15AM the alarm clock woke me: race day! Bike on the trailer, trialer behind the car and on to the track where I arrived at 8:15AM. Randy was already there with his GSXR600 racer, Marco (ZX10R racer) and Ed (GSXR1000 racer) followed soon. I picked up my number and transponder and we had to listen to the usual instructions about flags and stuff.



We were kinda surprised that we couldn't ride for ourselves, but had to stay behind a marshall the first two sessions. We didn't find this a big problem at the first trackday of the season. And for me the marshall rode fast enough.


I was first apprehensive that I might get a black flag for making too much noise, but I never got one. Later that day I picked up a print out of the noise measurements of my bike and with a max of 98dB it stayed nicely below the limit of 101dB.
I started the day with a full gas tank. At the first lap of the 3rd session the fuel light started blinking. Crap. Still I drove on. Until the light stopped blinking and stayed on. For me the signal to break off the session. Next time refuelling after 2 sessions ;)



The 750 took a lot of getting used to. Had to learn to trust the tires, had to make a lot more revs than with the H2. Low speed steering in the Strubben corner was troublesome with the steering damper. On the other hand the steering damper gave confidence in fast and sweeping corners (Meeuwenmeer, Hoge Heide).
My fastest time in 4 sessions was 2:13. With the H2 I had done 2:10 officially timed and 2:08 on a video recorded, not timed lap. I had aimed at 2:10 with the Gixxer, but was still a couple of seconds off. More trust in corners will make these gains hopefully one day...

Received some pics made by a track photographer.









The next trackday is already booked: in Germany at the Racepark Meppen. Never been there. Looks like a short, go carts like, track. I'm going with the new owner of my H2. Should be fun.

Installed black Titax racing levers. This should reduce my laptimes considerably ;).
After installation I tried to start the bike, but it wouldn't. Battery had enough juice. After some fiddling with clutch, gears, brakes, ignition, it eventually started. No idea what happenend. The ignition switch has been troublesome from the start though. Now and then the key won't turn, only after some trying. It seems it's worn? Lets hope it won't quit altogether...

Together with Rene, the new owner of my 2016 H2, I went to Meppen in Germany for another trackday (-afternoon...).
After a week of very good weather it turned sour at exactly our trackday. We had some rain, but still had a nice time on the track.
On the way back Rene raced a ZZR1400 which took him up to almost 300kmh but he still couldn't pass the ZZR. Pretty quick those 'old' bikes...
Topwise I stranded at 270kmh on the speedo and 250 on the gps. Seems the speedo exaggerates a lot...









I think I found the reason why the GSXR wouldn't start: Suzuki has this useless safety feature that you cannot start the bike without pulling in the clutch. After installing the new levers I guess the switch for this didn't en- or disengage properly. On the way to the track the bike wouldn't start again and I put the clutch lever a bit farther from the handlebar so I could pull it further backwards. This way the safety switch did en- or disengage fully and the bike started immediate Problem solved. I hope.
I could solve (hopefully) the problem with the ignition switch by using the spare key. This one works better.

Another trackday at Assen with Pim (Busa), Marco (ZX10R), Randy (GSXR600) and Ed (GSXR1000). This time a very successful one: I put down a fastest time ever with 2:07 ánd I made my first knee-down. The 750 felt good, I guess I'm used to it by now. Tires and suspension worked fine. Still not convinced of the fuelling. I think it can do better. I'm having it looked after in a couple of weeks. I don't like the exhaust either. It makes too much noise and the sound isn't nice. And it touches the ground when fully leaned over. I want to have it replaced by a Yoshimura eventually.








Our Dutch WSBK hero Michael van der Mark was riding that same day (in other -faster...- sessions). Here a short vid of him carving through the pack. A humbling sight...

His time on a stock Yamaha R1M 1:42. On his superbike he would do around 1:35...


Comparison of a lap onboard the GSXR and the H2 of last year. There's not much between them with me at the handlebars...

Had the (too) noisy Shark exhaust replaced by a Yoshimura (too) quiet one. I don't want to attract too much attention when driving fast on public roads ;).
Since I had my doubts about the fuelling of the gixxer I had them put it on the Dyno while I was there (@ Pajic, Gendringen). The runs didn't show anything abnormal. Although the bike is quite lean at lower rpms, probably because of environmental considerations. The measured hp's seem a bit low though at 117hp, a healthy 750 must show about 10 horses more? The 7th of July I have it better examined.
When driving off I heard a noise again that I thought was caused by the old exhaust. It sounds like a header pipe is leaking a bit. Something else to have inspected.

Todat Pim and I went to a shop to have a dyno run of our bikes to see if everything was okay. I knew mine wasn't and I hoped the shop owner could tell me what's wrong with the 750. Pim's Busa had a little stutter at low rpm caused by a not perfect fuelling. This could easily remedied with a Yoshi box or a (much) more expensive Woolich treatment.
My bike was this time too rich at lower rpm. Which is odd since at the previous run it was too lean... Dunno what to think of it. What was clear was that the new exhaust is way too restrictive. The bike cannot get rid of its gasses fast enough. As a matter of fact the exhaust leaks gasses because of this. We tried to remove the dbkiller but of course couldn't. Environment and such, you know. On this dyno the gixxer was missing at least 10 horses too.
I'm going back to the shop where I bought the exhaust and have them remove the dbkiller. With a little luck the exhaust won't make too much noise and everything will be fine again...

Today I went back to the shop where I bought the Yoshimura. They had no problems removing the dbkiller and put another, more open, in. They put it on the dyno, and, hey presto, 15 horses added!
On the way back the bike felt way better, more eager, better responding to the throttle. At low rpm it still is not okay and I think it is even worse. The bike hesitates and stutters a bit below 4000rpm. But as a racing bike it won't see much rpm's below 6000 ;).

On this scorching hot day we went for another trackday to Assen. Five sessions were possible, but due to the heat I only did the first three.
My aim was to ride 2:05 (or faster ;) ), but regretfully my fastest time was again 2:07. I blame the heat :).
In the second session I had a -so called- moment. When (kinda mildy) accelerating out of the Mandeveen corner the rear tire lost grip and I went a bit sideways. Thanks to a lot of luck and some experience I managed to keep it upright (see vid @ 3:40). Because I lost trust in the tires I ended the session. On the third session I had no problems with grip, but I guess I took it a bit easier.


The bike rode fine with the new dbkiller and the added 15 horses. Should have made my laptimes faster, but I still blame the heat :). Ed rode a fantastic 1:58 this day. The others 2:02, 2:05 and 2:30-ish...

Had some (a lot of...) servicing done: new tires (Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa 2), new sparkplugs, airfilter, oilfilter, oils, chain and -wheels, front brakepads. Eleven valves needed to be adjusted and they made the bike run more rich with a Yoshimura box. With the latter the bike seems to be running fine at low rpm now.
The bike needs to be in perfect condition because at the end of November I'm going to attend the Zeelenberg race course in Spain.

At last: Meet the Speed aka Speedweek!



See HERE for a full report of this great event

Cleaned the bike, removed the battery and put it away for the winter.
While making the last ride on a damp and cold road I almost lost the rear end. The Supercorsa SC2's are clearly not meant for road use. As Pirelli states: they are meant for track race and track day's... They weren't kidding ;)
And now the usual long wait for spring...