$Lindz$ builds some shit for the track

[$Lindz$]

I don't have awesome pictures of the whole build process but whatever. Wasn't really thinking about a thread but I'm bored and going stir crazy as I wait on parts, so here goes. Haha.


Chapter 1: A Cautionary Tale of Being a *****ing Idiot.


Bought the bike last November. This was the first day I picked it up. Dude had dropped it a few times and didn't really take care of it like he should have, but whatever. Swooped it for a good price. 2007 in that ulgy-ass period red.





Then I couldn't wait to ride it, despite the old ass OEM Pilot Sports and (as I found out later) leaking front forks. Rear stepped out on me and I lost it... lowside into flip crash bang boom in the run-off. Here it is after my handiwork:








OOPS!

Here's how that feels:
http://youtu.be/Y_exermAXkU


Leaving mementos on the Tree of Shame...

[$Lindz$]

Chapter 2: Whatever, I Wanted eBay Race Fairings Anyways, Right?


I rebuilt the stock forks and buttoned up some other shit on the bike, plus got some GPA take-offs (they were from Josh Herrin! /nerd-out) and started working on riding the R6 better. It's my first proper sportbike, and quite a bit of a change from my Duc ('07 Monster S4RS)








Chapter 3: Okay That's Annoying For The Street.


I had painted the eBay fairings black and ran some LED strips to look like headlights but decided I didn't want that attention for the street, that's just asking for tickets/pulled over. Got some fairings (from fellow board member Gurk) so I could at least have the bike a LITTLE more "street legal".





I also did a DID ER3 520 chain and new AFAM sprockets, and an exhaust setup from another board member. It's a modified Arrow header for an '05 and a modified Akrapovic slip-on can.





On the prowl:




Trying to get the hang of the R6 (wasn't confident in the bike, was real frustrated) Carrying more entry speed and having to rev to the moon was something I wasn't used to.





Compare with how I was riding my Duc... much more natural and confident.

[Miller'sR6]

I like how the exhaust is tucked under neath like that.

[F4MOU$]

Yeah that exhaust looks great man

[$Lindz$]

Chapter 4: Tuning The Bike's Response


At this point I was real upset with how the bike felt. My friend who races and has a shop gave me a bunch of advice on what to do and we worked on setting the bike up to my riding style, more than me trying to adjust for the bike.

-Tuned ECU that get rid of the electronic servo throttle mapping, tip-in retard, adjusted the engine braking to about NONE, fully re-done fuel and ignition timing maps, etc.

(Best modification ever)

-Quick turn throttle (1/6 turn)

-New gearing

-Swapped my GPR damper for a Scotts.

-Worked on suspension tuning to get it right where I want (still stock at this point).


Naked:





Chapter 5: Crashing Leads To Make Overs


By now I was loving the bike. With all the recent work, I was feeling much more confident on my bike.

I took my best friend out to the Snake (he's from out of town) and let him ride my Duc. There were 3 of us and we were hustling pretty good (it was a Wednesday or something... **** going there to hustle on the weekends). Anyways he made some comment to me about pushing real hard on my Duc (he's a good rider, track and all that) and I was like "Ok that's it... you don't really know the road and I'm not about to have you total my awesome Honey Badger and kill yourself in the process." so I slowed the pace up. Going into the first corner after turning around for a 'half lap', I was still trail braking like I had been while pushing at a fast pace and it was just WAY too slow to be doing that. The front locked, washed as I tipped in and slammed me down from nearly-vertical.

FUUUUUUUUUU. Stupid, stupid mistake. It hurt pretty good, I had a sore right shoulder for a while and now busted up blue fairings.

I brushed off my ego and we still rode for the rest of the day, but I was pretty bummed. Oh well, time to make the bike look pretty and shit.


Here's the rendering I did for the livery. I wanted it to look a bit like a factory test bike.




I took the opportunity to get 08+ fairings (and fairing stay) and clean up a lot of the stock harness and brackets and shit.




Painted up:





Also dyed my leathers (note my right shoulder from aforementioned wreck... that titanium slider is mangled and burned blue and purple from that impact... SHIT):






Like I said, sorry I wasn't planning on a build thread so there are about 0 pictures of actual interesting components and shit right now. Haha, oops.

[$Lindz$]

Chapter 6: TRACK TRACK TRACK!


The more and more I made the R6 fast, the less and less I wanted to ride it on the street. I don't think this needs any more explanation, haha. I just started making time in my schedule to go to the track a bunch more.

I know a lot of people don't really like WSIR Big Track but I do!

Riding Big Willow (sometime last month) with my newly-completed Sic homage lid.

A bit off-line in the middle of Turn 4, but a good shot to show where my header was hitting my '08+ fairings. I didn't want that shit to catch on fire so I took a utility knife and blasted a hole in them. (At-track mods are always so ghetto).


Braking into Turn 1:


Turn 3:



Much better line through Turn 4 (hmmm... I wonder if this is because I was riding with Group A at this point...hmmmm)



Run, rabbit, run! Trying to stay ahead of the 1000s on the straight.




The pics really show me that I need to change my grip on the bars. As I get my head and upper body over, my elbow retracts and limits my BP. Need to get that "screwdriver" grip going to drop my elbow out. I've started doing this and noticed a HUGE difference. Much better. I'll post pics when I can to show a comparison in BP.

[$Lindz$]

Chapter 7: A Tale Of Two Suspensions

So after the last track day I felt like I was holding on to 2 vibrating dildos instead of clip-ons. A lot of you probably saw my thread in the suspension section of the forum.

Bottom line: my Duc feels like a dream on it's 20mm OEM Ohlins from 2007. I know I can chase settings around on the stock R6 suspension for now and eventually upgrade it but I decided not to go that route...


NIX30 front carts and TTX MkII:







While I'm installing these I am going to FINALLY put my block-off plates on, get rid of my Smog pump and change my air filter.

I'm also going to finish putting on the stickers for the livery.



So that's where I'm at currently. Shooting for Sept. 2nd at Streets and 3rd and Big Willow.

[$Lindz$]

Thanks dudes. I really like the exhaust, too.









BUT, I'm also kinda tempted to do something like this:

[wutsup]

Very awesome build!

[jwxfd]

I'm really impressed...especially since you said you weren't prepared for a build thread.

The transformation was awesome to see...

Submit for ROTM

Got my vote