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NC at the Track

CandyStripes327

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www.bigheadzracing.com
Hey everyone, I decided to take my NC to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway for the Femmewalla and SoCalTrackday weekend... because I binned my racebike two weeks ago. I wanted to share some pictures and my no BS Assessment of the NC at pace.

First let me say that the bike handles as well on the track as on the street. The lower center of gravity definitely makes the bike flick in fast transitions and the wheel base keeps it stable mid-corner. The only thing I noticed was that the plush suspension lead to something of a see-sawing motion in sustained turns under acceleration. Being that I couldn't adjust the suspension, I just rode through it. It wasn't so unnerving that it ruined any experience I had all weekend!
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I left the feelers on the foot pegs for my own self control, which of course meant I dragged them in pretty much every corner on the track. I have the OEM Center Stand on there and didn't drag it at all, so it's definitely within the clearance set up by the peg feelers.

With the OEM foot pegs, there really isn't a whole lot of room to lean the bike through the turns and I found myself trying my best to get off the bike. Never the less I still found myself using up a LOT more track than I would have liked at the pace (middle 'B' group) I was able to maintain.
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The OEM Metzeler tires actually worked really well out there too. I ran down the tire pressure to 30 psi in the front and 24 psi in the rear. The wear was as good as I could exect, but I did notice that there was some rebound wear. As previously mentioned there is no adjustability in the OEM shock to adjust it, so I just kept riding!

Over all, I had a blast! But honestly... the track isn't what the NC was designed for (nor the reason I bought it!) but it was certainly a great way to cross train in what would have other wise been a wasted weekend at the track. I was definitely the talk of the paddock as no one else on the track was as comfortable as me nor did they have a place to keep their helmet out of the sun!
 
Very good article. Glad to hear the center stand did not drag. That is a problem I have ran into on a number of bikes when taken to the track. Looks like you had a great time without taking the sides out of your boots.
 
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Thanks for the report and pics, CandyStripes. I used to 'notice' the much lower footpeg position on the NCX (as compared to my CBR), too, but that's faded over the past year. What was interesting was to go for a ride with my Dad and brother recently. They rented cruisers, and we were switching around bikes during the ride. At one point, my brother was leading us into a bend and he literally bounced his rental off the floorboard. Dad was on my NCX and had no issue other than being _afraid_ of scraping, and I hit the 'air brakes' and got almost clear ff the inside of the rental I was on, just to avoid a nasty coming-together with some large cactus and a rock wall. :)

I agree that we don't have as much cornering clearance as would be nice, but it surely is better than a lot of the bikes out there. Cheers!
 
Nice writeup and love the pics!
I know this isn't your track bike, but do you have any plans to tweak (upgrade) the suspension on the NC?
 
It's a lot of fun to ride a slow bike fast rather than vice versa. Picking the correct line and carrying good corner speed makes up for the fast in and slow out riders than depend on lots of power in the straights to make up for poor technique.
 
Nice writeup and love the pics!
I know this isn't your track bike, but do you have any plans to tweak (upgrade) the suspension on the NC?

I know we talked about it before. We actually have an Ohlins shock for the SV650 that it turns out will fit right in. It's the same serial number/part # between the two bikes. I know she mentioned trying to sell it, but if she can't I may convince her otherwise to put it on. As for the forks, I was looking to maybe try and put a cartridge kit off of a Honda CBR600F3, but it looks like the fork tubes on the NC are longer. So maybe emulators. However it's up to her to decide.

It's a lot of fun to ride a slow bike fast rather than vice versa. Picking the correct line and carrying good corner speed makes up for the fast in and slow out riders than depend on lots of power in the straights to make up for poor technique.

Word!!! That same weekend here's some candid video of someone took of me. It's a friend of mine following me because he wanted to learn my cornerspeeds. He's on a CBR1000 and I'm on my Ninja 250. I had no clue he was behind me for that many laps until he told me when we were back in the pits. When he said he was filming, I eagerly wanted the video since I really dont have much footage of someone filming me.

[video=vimeo;81987617]http://vimeo.com/81987617[/video]
 
Great pics and video!

You sure about the SV shock? Is it the s46dr1 part # that you're refering to? I didn't see any SV shocks that would work in my search for a swappable shock.

A couple of us have had good luck with a cbr600 f4i shock. The spring is just a bit soft with near 200 lbs. of dude+gear, so I imagine it'd perfect in mid-adjustment range for a smaller rider.

thread here
 
Great pics and video!

You sure about the SV shock? Is it the s46dr1 part # that you're refering to? I didn't see any SV shocks that would work in my search for a swappable shock.

A couple of us have had good luck with a cbr600 f4i shock. The spring is just a bit soft with near 200 lbs. of dude+gear, so I imagine it'd perfect in mid-adjustment range for a smaller rider.

thread here


Pretty sure. She has a Gen 2 SV650 and the Ohlins shock part # for the NC700X was listed on here I believe. It turns out that shock is the exact shock she has that she had on her SV650. She since replaced her SV650 Ohlins with a Racetech G3-S Custom shock since she needed a lot more adjustability. The Ohlins shock that she had on (which should be the same for the NC700) you can only adjust preload and rebound. With the Racetech G3-S shock, you can adjust for preload, rebound, high speed compression, and low speed compression
 
Yeah it was the S46DR1 that I have...

The ohlins part #'s are kinda funny, I'm pretty sure the gen2 sv650 shock has a different mount on the bottom end.

Bummer!! I will check it out to confirm, but that will be sad if you are correct. It's definitely not my race bike, but I kinda like that. I wouldn't mind something a little stiffer, because I do plan to eventually put bags on it and make it more of a tourer with aim set at trail riding/camping... but knowing that it can handle the pace is comforting when riding with the boys. LOL
 
No worries! Before I went to the track, the chicken strips I had would have fed a family of 4. How I ride on the street is now how I ride on the track. I am managing to keep the two worlds apart (now).

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Glad to see you have a head on your shoulders and do keep the two worlds separate. Way to many folks don't understand!
 
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One thing about the track, it will show you how a tire will hold up as it peals the rubber off.

I wish I could say that it was always the case. I am happy to have survived the 'adolescence' of motorcycling... I had a couple close calls, but nothing that put me down too long. It's all about the crowd you fall in with, I think. Fortunately I was picked up by the track crowd, to whom I defer all the praise for learning to go 'slow in the slow turns' (to quote Jason Pridmore), early in my riding experience.

The street is all slow turns and for a long time I stopped riding on the street all together because I couldn't trust myself with that concept. The NC was my return to street riding after a 2 year hiatus. I am relieved to know who I am now, having gone riding with my old street gang (the folks that I hung out with before finding my family at the track) and am blown away by how conservative I was with them... they are straight up insane and I no longer enjoy going on their rides.

The last ride I went on with them we were supposed to go to this restaurant, the Yellow Deli, and when we ended up eating somewhere else I remarked to Matt that "I remember when it was 'all about the journey...' but I was really excited about this ride because I wanted the destination."

That sentiment made me feel ...old. LOL
 
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