Interesting. Running what lap times? I'm trying to speculate shift points with that gearing and it seems to me drive in quite a few spots would be non existent without an absolute monster of a motor and a very, very fast rider.
its not about the bike being unrideable. thats already way too far. if any instability ever makes u shut the throttle or brake sooner or brake longer, u already missed out on a better setup. on the flip side... if the extra stability from pushing the axle back allows me to brake 5ft later or allows me to carry 3mph more corner speed, im all for that change.
Then you're talking about an elite level racer circulating the track at, or very close to, 600 lap record pace on a very well sorted machine. The OP is at the point where he was unsure of the benefits of a 520 chain over a 525 chain, man.
I find it infinitely entertaining that people new to the sport think that there is this "magik" setting that will turn them into Mat Maldin. How quickly the "I did my first track day!!!" turns into a "I can win a national championship!" is just awesome. It really is, cause that is the stupid internal thought process that has gotten all of us hooked at some point. I just wish they would start to believe everyone with experience that it is the experience, hard work, crashing, and some genetics and not the bike. (Disclaimer: Not trying to ruin anyone's gold (lead) mine business that caters to racers... Hats off to you, I know you bust your asses.) Endless tech threads related to useless "perfect" settings gets old... Cause there is no tech. There is no fixing a NON-problem. Maybe the forum needs a "Rider's Preference" thread in the Dungeon?
We'll, it's a little the bike, too. And, mostly, it's because typing on the Internet is easier than doing stuff. And stuff. However, I do agree that a lot of racers dedicate a lot of time to fixing problems they don't have which, coincidently, cause problems they didn't have before.
Yes. The bike matters a little, but that does depend on the bike. I've worked with racers that went 2 seconds faster cause they "thought" we swapped a frame in 20 minutes (Idiots...). In my opinion the bike is really worth a 10th, the riders perception of the bike is worth a win. Very few riders can really maximize a bikes potential. Bike set-up is all about getting a riders "head" right and not about lap times, otherwise "perfect" numbers would work. There are some very very fast riders that can rip off impossible level shit on a near stock bike. Then six months later they are 0.5 off on a fully developed machine. I dunno, they didn't shit right or something. At the entry level, the bike is nothing. At the top Lorenzo is particular about setup, Marquez isn't, go figure. I can't break the 40's at Barber, I've seen guys do mid 30's on street tires... NOTE: Every entry level rider, IT IS THE BIKE. YOUR SHIT SUCKS! Take it to your local PRO asap. You will never regret it. You will regret it if you spend $$$$$ repairing crashed bikes and paying for emergency deductibles that you could have avoided if your bike was not a piece of crap. There are riders and wrenches, decide which your are and progress accordingly. Mladin's set-up magic. Bazazz didn't do it. It wasn't magic. It was all Mladin. Reg and Peter are awesome guys but at the end of the day they were better at psychology then the rest of us. Do you really want set-up for unobtianium late 90's GSXR 750 set-ups? Its is all about frame flex and ... Shit now I am questioning if it was Showa or Kayaba back then. Showa I think. Frickin TL1000 distraction in 97. OLD and done...
FWIW, I ran 15/44 (07 r6, mildly above stock) at Road Atlanta, and it worked well on the back stretch, hitting full song as I'd Crest the hill down into 10A. It left me in a weird spot after the esses though, I had the option of banging it off the limiter, or grabbing the next gear just long enough to shift back down for turn 5. Next time I'll run a 43 to keep that in-between-spot from killing my drive through 5. That gearing got me into the 1:38.slow range.
The important thing to remember is that Melka is basically a moderately slow track day guy who just happens to have a sick cheater bike. And I've been loving every time he shows up this year.
that's a good point. Im on stock everything right now with a good base setting on the suspension. the bike feels great to me but I haven't been on a bike with trick suspension so I don't know what it feels like.
with a 190/55 rear tire, you can run a 16/45 with a 114 link chain. I can't go 16/46 or I can't get tire warmers on. 15/42 is similar, and the axle isn't too far back. you just need to try stuff. Considering you are on stock suspension, and assume not battling the top 5 guys of the expert class, I highly doubt you would be able to pick which is which, with any consistency, in blind tests.
I'm a fat guy so forgive me. 225lbs. R6. If I ran a 15 43-44 I would never get up enough speed or rpm to use 6th gear on the back straight at road a. Ever. I run a 15 45-46 and its the only way I can get up in the rpms, have the drive off I need, and feel like I'm doing something. I only run 1:39s at road a. You all talking about running a 43, are you all using 6th gear? I honestly don't see it working. I had a built motor at one time, and still couldn't run that gearing. Maybe I'm just a puss and never get a good drive.
With that said my bike is well sorted. When I come off the track, when my lap times suck, all I can do is blame me. My bike has everything that anyone would ever need on it. I can't put the blame there.
Where are you shifting? Is your bike tuned or been run on a dyno to see whats going on at WFO? My best time there is a few tenths faster & I use all of 6th with a michelin. This is on a stock motored R6 & Im the same weight in gear. My first event at Road Atl... my bike wasnt tuned and ran like crap but still managed to hit a 41.
i don't see how.. honestly. i run 15-43 on vp c12. i click 6th just before the kink. i was considering trying a 44, but i know it is too short. a 44 would require me shift up to 5th on the front straight (otherwise i'm banging off the rev limiter), which means i would have to click 2 down shifts for T1. also, shorting gearing at RA probably means your picking up the front wheel on the exit of T5 and over the bridge after 10b. i have also tried sticking with the 15-43 on mr12, but again it just doesn't work as good and isn't as smooth. so on mr12 i run 15-42. here is video from a race last year, where i ran 36s. the gear indicator is in plane view and shows my shift points. this is on 15-43. there are a couple areas where i made some mistakes and got blacked flag for jumping the start, but you should get the point. most of the fast guys are down shifting to 2 for T5 and into 10A. that is something i'm trying to clean up. also considering trying 1st in T7 and T12.
