I've been looking over the bike, and it looks like it may be fairly simple to get it ready for a track day.

The track I ride at requires that you tape over all your lights, remove your mirrors and that you use a non glycol based coolant. I plan to put in engine ice at some point here when I get enough motivation to pull the radiators off and flush them out... But on to the next stuff.

This is all preliminary. I haven't actually done this yet but I plan on doing a "dry run" soon. Anyone who has experience with this, please chime in!

1. If you tape over the headlight, you really should unplug or take out the headlight bulb to keep the tape from melting. I found that this is fairly easy to do with the headlight low beam light. The rubber plug is right there under the dash, and there is a spade plug about 2 inches from the white cloth covered wire going to the headlight bulb. Unplug it. this leaves the park lights on though, so I'll have to figure out how to turn those off or unplug them too. Maybe an easier way to do this is to pull a fuse? I'll look into this.

2. The mirrors do come off, but they are a smidge more difficult than normal due to the turnsignals being in them. What you do is look underneath the mirror and there are 2 philips screws. Take those out, then slide the mirror out. Somewhere in there it should be obvious how to unplug the signals and take the mirrors off. I did it once before but I don't remember the exact procedure. I would then put a zip tie through the holes where the mirror was to hold the fairing in place. Something will have to be done with the signal wires too, not sure how I'll deal with that.

3. The tail light is easy to unplug, it's right under the seat. I'll probably tape down the ends to keep them from rattling.

4. The license plate holder/turn signal mount thingy looks like it could be easy or difficult. The whole thing unbolts and the signals and license plate light unplug right next to the computer. The computer will need to be taken off to get to the bolts. Problem is, how does this thing actually come out? I'm not sure there is enough room between the pipes for it to go downward. There is a little strap holding the mufflers together, maybe the answer is taking this off and spreading the pipes apart a little? Don't know, I have to try this. Anyone taken this thing off yet? This is why I say it could be easy or hard. It looks easy to unplug the wires and unbolt, but I don't know about actually getting the thing out of there.

So that should be it. My stock Pirellis are in decent shape (2000 miles) so I'll just use those. I hear rumors about the stock Dragon Corsas not being available for much longer. I'll probably switch to the street compount Supercorsas at that point. The ones I have on my R1 are the medium compound race ones, and they are pretty much toast after 1 track day...

So I'm getting there... I'll let everyone know about the progress because these MV's probably all deserve at least one track day in their lives!

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), October 14, 2002

Answers

Amen to that last paragraph ANDY! You've almost got me talked into meeting you at Laguna with my Senna......

-- val alparaque (valparaque@aol.com), October 14, 2002.

Taking my Mv for it's first track day November 4 at the North Fl motorsports parkway. Tried today to order a 180 Super Corsa from Motor Trends but they said it would be hard to get. They recommended Michelin H2/MS. My only real worrie about doing a track day with my MV is that I may become a target. I will be taking it easy on the MV, running about 80% verses 100% on my old ZX7. So I wonder if I will become a target for some squib on a Katana. I would just like to run my own pace with out every one feeling the need to stuff a MV. Track rules say ALL passing of other participants must be made on the outside. Has anyone had a track day with this problem?

-- Kevin Warner (kwarner@11thhour.com), October 14, 2002.

To Val: I'm doing the California Superbike School up there. If you seriously want to go, drop me an email. How cool would it be to have dueling MV's?

About the tires: Yeah, I was afraid of that. My local dealer inquired about a 180 rear and he didn't get a favorable response. I'm dying to feel how a 180 is, but I can live with the 190 for a while because I really want to know how these particular tires feel on the track (although I guess that doesn't really matter if I can't get them again!).

Going through the Pirelli website (www.pirellimoto.com) is very difficult, and I can't seem to find a 120/65 in the Supercorsa in any incarnation. I use SC2's on the R1 so I was hoping to find a 120/65... The 120/70 will rub the fender from what I hear. They still advertise the stock Dragon Evo Corsas as being available and those come in 120/65 and 180/55 which is what I need...

Passing is allowed at the track I ride at (Arroyo Seco Motorplex in New Mexico). However, if you are a dipshit and do something stupid, you won't be allowed to ride again. That may be too late though, riding the MV. However, as far as I can tell, riding in the advanced sessions will be safe. There are some good riders there and they all tend to be very respectful of one's piece of the track. I haven't had any problems anyway.

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), October 14, 2002.

Track day essential for F4....Buy a 998R

-- (tl1@dol.ie), October 20, 2002.