wantahertzdonut Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 I have a friend with an 88 Honda VTR250 and he wants to track it on occation, maybe 2-3 times a season. He came out to Nelson last year for one day and pretty much blew out the brakes, so we're looking for ways to make this bike a little more track usable.The biggest problem is it has 16" wheels f/r. Can you get decent tires in that size?The next problem is the brakes. The 88/89 models have this stooopid internal front disc brake that is puny and doesn't appear to be all that good at cooling itself since it's not out in the air. I think it fades and apparently won't last too long. I know he can get better brake pads, but I wonder if they'll be sufficient. Seeing as they went from usable to shot in one day, we're trying to figure out of it's worth hunting down a 1990 model front end that has a 17" wheel and a larger single external brake rotor.If anyone has tracked one of these before, I'd like to know your experience. And yes, the next step is a better bike, but he's got to scrape up some funds first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoblick Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Lol at pauly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Yes. Took me 2 days to find it' date=' though.[/quote']2 drums and a cymbal fall off a cliff......baddum - ching!(but for real, you can ride any motorcycle on the track so long as it's not going to leak fluids or lose pieces. The bike's braking limitations are something that the vintage racer crowd deals with all the time. Brake earlier, brake more gently, and account for some fade. It will always be tempting to over-cook the brakes, because you can ...for a few laps. Honestly though, at a track like Nelson, on a lower power bike, the only place you're really going to brake very hard is into turn 12 off the back straight. That gives you a solid 1:20 for the brakes to cool down again.I really only tap the brakes going into T4, and then again before the carousel and into T1, but on a smaller bike, that's probably not really necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantahertzdonut Posted June 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) I didn't think it would be all that bad, but he's a novice rider so there is that confidence issue.I'm hoping to get him out to Beaverun at the end of the month with some working brakes so hopefully that will smooth things out.Yes. Took me 2 days to find it' date=' though.[/quote']Har, har! Edited June 12, 2012 by wantahertzdonut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantahertzdonut Posted October 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 So I'm dredging this one up since my friend with the VTR has done a couple days this season, and it sounds like the bike will be making an appearance this weekend at Nelson.I rode the bike at Beaver for one round in August and noticed the BT-45's on the thing went pretty out of balance above 85mph. It was bad enough that I would have to back off going down the back straight. Is this a phenomenon of bias ply tires in general? Are there better 16" tires on the market that would be more suitable for track use?I'm asking because at the same time, there's a 1990 VTR for sale in Marion that I may wish to pick up and race in the 250 class next year. I'd like to get some better rubber under the bike. The front on the 1990 VTR is a 17" (100/80-17) but I'm not sure about the rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoblick Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 Pirelli makes a sport demon in 16"Dont know if its any better or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 Pirelli makes a sport demon in 16"Dont know if its any better or notI haven't tried the sport demons but they're supposed to be a bit better than the BT45's from what I read on one of the Ninja 250 forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantahertzdonut Posted October 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 Will check them out. Thanks for the lead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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