http://speetdemon.blogspot.com/2011/07/track-day-on-hayabusa.html?m=
This time there were 3 of us who didn't have any last minute cancellation. Besides me on the ZZR1400, the other two fellas rode the R6 and ZX6R.
We got our hope trashed early that day as the rain poured right from the morning. Finally, 2 hours before flag off, the rained stopped. Amazingly, on normal public trackdays, only 5 people turned up at the circuit. The rain must have had so many others cancelled their plan to come. After sticking the bike cams and done with the circuit paperwork, we were all set go.
Sepang Track layout
Sepang wide circuit can make choosing a line quite tricky for novice. Even for those who has been there but rarely, it will take few laps to to get reacquainted. At that point, I can offer no help to those first timer couple of friends I was with. As I merged and entered the front straight going into the first corner, I was thinking if this bike can make me enjoy this circuit like 5 others before this. I was also imagining scraping the goliath exhaust pair bellies and the foot peg feelers. Here are my take when hitting the pit after the 3 sighting laps.
- body parts didn't touch the floor. Feelers are waaayyy shorter than the Hayabusa (touchdown in turn2)
- the exhaust can anchor the bike like a pendulum. They were ditched 10 days after.
- even after 3 laps the tire edge looks like that from a gsxr1000 k5 at the end of a trackday.
I reluctantly agreed to pit after 3 laps, eventhough 5, was what I had in mind. This is because riding the big ZZR actually requires stamina. At the end of straights, the bike carries more momentum due to its weight. Under heavy braking with the more upright seating position, trying to counter the momentum makes it feel like doing one push up in each corner.
As familiarization improved with more laps, I started to get into a more consistent gear shifts and braking distance. One thing the bike does really well is the smooth, downshift shift when approaching a corner. The gearing feels so right at each corner as I found a consistent gear pattern which provided a coherent engine braking entering each corner at each lap.
The big Kawasaki is built for dragracing besides sports touring. It is not meant to be raced on closed circuit. Despite this stereotype, I would say that it is still capable on big lean angle as the cornering clearance is great in Sepang turns 2&9, even with the peg feeler intact. Its upright seating is not an issue at the cornering as I will lean forward and shift my upper body. Leaning forward helps a lot to put more weight to the front tire and tilt the bike a little, resulting in sharper cornering especially in turn 5 but for the big ZZR, the weight helps stabilize the turn. However, the weight disadvantage of the standard exhaust is obvious when it slows down flipping the bike from left to right at the Sepang turn 5-6 chicane. Additionally, as this is a sport tourer, one tend to have a psychological barrier about leaning too much on this bike. Only by attending more trackdays, this barrier will slowly be removed as one will learn that body shifting is required more so on this bike compares to other lighter bikes.
This review will not be complete if it doesn't mention about the bike acceleration and top speed at the straights. Afterall, the ZZR is designed for dragracing more than anything. So, let me begin with acceleration. Just like the saying goes, there is no replacement for displacement. On the track it does not require too many downshifts to be in the powerband at corner exits. For example, the bike feels strong coming out of Sepang corner 14 on 3rd at only 60km/h and managed to propel itself to 220km/h at the back straight. In other words, whatever ground it lose during the turns, will be recovered during the straights (as shown in the initial part of the video http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQV2b9S3g3w ) The bike sheer power really outshines its cornering ability. Its the fastest bike I rode on the front straight, clocking 245km/h on the GPS, limited only by my own fear as there is another 250m to go.
At this point the brakes did a superb job in being consistent and not mushy after exceeding the normal operating temperature. I did not notice the common fading issue. The brakes coupled with the flawless slipper clutch, play effective role in the wrestling down the bike at corner entry speed. In fact, there was only one time the rear skidded in turn 9 out of the 20+ laps. I remembered contemplating hard when the old Hayabusa skidded in turn 4 and 9 in more than a few laps despite having a slipper clutch.
To sum it all, ZZR1400 makes a decent trackday tool in its standard form. With a lighter exhaust system and more tracktime it can be on par if not competitive with other lighter machines out there. One just have to know how to ride it in the track. Isn't that the same as everything else in life?
Right before entering the track
The rear after only 3 laps
ZX6r is trying to recover the lost grounds after the backstraight
Deep in downhill turn 5 - my favourite turn
Right hander
One very very satisfied owner
We raced till the sun sets in
Trackday memorabilia
In hyper tourer mode, covered 420km to reach home after 3 1/2 hrs
New R77 replacing the standard "booster rocket" exhaust
