trackdays or suspension upgrade

Background. I have two trackdays under my belt(1 day at CMP and 1 day at Tally) and am running in novice mid pack. My bike is an 05 gsxr 600 with 15k miles and needs to get the fork oil changed. I weight approximately 150lbs with all my gear on.

I was told if i had the money I mine as well upgrade the forks with a revalve which looks to be about +/- $500 as oppose to just over $100 to get new fluid in the forks which I orginally intended.

If you were me would you go ahead and get them revalved while they are apart or would you use that money to do more trackdays?

Im planning on gong to Road Atlanta, hopefully Barber, and back to CMP by the end of the year fwiw. 1 day each so i dont tire myself out.

I have wanted to get my suspension set up for my weight but both trackdays no suspension tech was there. So if you say just get new fluid in the forks should i still go ahead and take it somewhere to get my sag ang everything set up?

 

I would spend the cash on track time. At this point in your track experience, you will get much more benefit from time on the track, rather than upgrading adequate stock suspension. Setting sag is easy and something you and a buddy can do in about 15mins. do some searching and you will find dozens of articles on it.

Set the sag before you go and get your oil changed, if in the unlikely event your springs are too stiff and you cant get the sag numbers have them change out the springs while they are in there. springs should run about $80-$100

 

The stock suspension does pretty well for your weight. You will know you're at the limit of stock suspension when you get faster....which takes track time to get faster. I would keep the $100 for the fork oil and apply that to the fork upgrade when you do it. They will change the fluid anyway. Spend your money on....
Safety gear, tires, trackdays. I have a friend on a 05 GSXR 600 with stock everything and he is a fast Int. rider.....and he does fine. Good luck

 

so the forks arent in need of new oil right now? I heard most track riders change theirs every season as well as replacing the seals and bushings.

i found a good video on sag by onthethrottletv so ill attempt that this weekend.

thank you for the replies btw

 

Completey agree with the responses. Stock suspension is better than you are for along time. Only when you are much much faster or if you weighed alot more, then you can spend the money on suspension. Get the sag set, and if you do a trackday with a suspension guy, have him turn your knobs and make it feel even better. That will only set you back 20 bucks or so. Enjoy the riding and get alot of track time. Ride Ride Ride.
Watch the fast guys and what they are doing. Ask questions and take advice. Stay away from your buddies on the track, I know you want to ride together but take my experience and believe me when I tell you want to stay away from your buddies on the race track. When you are on the track, you have a job to do. Stick to it.....Hope this helps......Track riding is the best and racing is even better........Have Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Agreed. I always recommend people resist the urge to upgrade until they are clear on what problem they are trying to solve. Your money is better spent at that time.

 

No doubt track time. The dude I ride with all of the time is on an 03 CBR stock and runs fast Advanced times. All of that crap is over rated for novice riders... he doesn't even change his oil but twice a year.

 

track time... i've now done 81 track days and a season and a half of wera riding until i've reached the point where i need suspension to get faster. Go for the seat time

 

Track time. Most people (expecailly novice riders like myself) will not out perform the stock suspension on a newer sport bike.

 

thanks guys. I decided to go ahead and just get the seals and oil changed. going to sign up for road atlanta ahead of time.
Another quick ?
has anyone done the keith code superbike school?
I was told if i wanted to do it go ahead and do the I and II session since they have bikes specifically made as lean bikes and panic braking. Any thoughts on that?
All my trackdays will be with STT and their classroom session and instructors are top notch IMO. Didnt know if the superbike school was worth the little bit more money.

 

Code's school is definitely worth the extra money. As for track time vs suspension, go for track time.

Basically, a good rule of thumb is that if you have to ask "track time or X?", go with the track time. When you've improved enough (via more track time) to need to upgrade X, you will *know*.

Fork oil is something I change out every half-dozen days (ie, race weekend counts as two) or so. You can go a LOT longer.. last year I didn't change it once, never noticed any adverse effects. It's one of those things above.. when it begins to make a difference, you'll notice.

 

I wish someone had told me that when I started. i wasted piles of cash on race tires and U4 when I was still a track day novice.

 

Everyone is dead on here, Track time!!!
I went from a fully sorted F4i with Ohlins & fork valving etc. to a completely stock GSXR 750. My best time at Tally on the F4i was a 1:02 and I turned a 1:03 on the GSXR first day on it. Couldn't really feel a difference suspension wise!
I don't know what weight the stock 05 600 is set-up for but it should be close for your weight, like mentioned set SAG and Ride!!!
btw I have 30-40k miles on my street bikes fork oil(Ohlins), way too long but it still handles well!

 

I agree with everything said. However the greatest asset you bring to the track is confidence. Do what makes you feel the most confident in the equipment. If you need race tires to feel safe doing 2 minutes at VIR then get the tires. Do whatever it takes for you to get the most enjoyment and forget about anything else but the track while your on it.

 

I feel confident with what I have now. I had a butched suspension set up and my front was diving pretty bad at CMP after the oil heated up. Was able to get it decent before tally.
AS far as riding I am concentrating on my body position and not being fast. I know it will come in time as i progress.
Im running Pirelli Stradas and a few other upgrades but nothing to brag about.
Just want to get some preventative maintenance done so it doesnt hurt me down the road:up:

 

Stock stuff's pretty damn good now. Set it up right, maintain it, buy good tires and ride.. then ride and then ride some more.

 

suspension usually, but i think once you can honestly need race tires.

 

Track Time . Suspension is nice but it sounds like you need more track time .

 

Stradas are NOT the best tire choice for track days unless your a slow to Mod. novice rider IMO.
Standard Diablo's are much better and Corsa III's are a nice street track tire that can run into the mid Advanced group w/o issue if you want to stay w/Pirelli's.
Having confidence in the tires is a biggy to me.

 

I had the standard Diablo's dump me on my ass,granted it was my own fault for not paying attention to the tire telling me it was doing all it could do, which aint much. Get some DCIII's and then just spend the cash on tracktime.