03 XB9s at MMP track day!

[jeffthedccguy]

So I finally got the chance to take the 2003 XB9s out to the track and see what she was made of. For a little background I've done about 16 track days at the Miller Motor Sports Park track in Tooele, Utah and I race Supermoto so I certainly qualify as a two wheeled enthusiast. The bike is stock with the exception of the factory race kit, and Michelin Pilot Power tires. Anyway from my experiences riding the Buell I have nothing but good things to say.

I started a little slow just to get the feel for things, and quickly discovered that this bike is an absolute weapon in the twisty stuff. I've ridden few motorcycles that inspire the sort of confidence this bike does when leaned over. Even when in race pace traffic, I felt like I could pick and change my line mid corner at will, and everyone excluding the very fast guys seemed slow at the apexes to me. Even the braking wasn't bad, although the bike does stand up a bit when leaned over. To deal with this I changed my riding style to keeping the bike more upright when trail braking into the corners, letting the bike fall over at the apex naturally, and then getting back on the throttle as soon as possible. With this technique I didn't get passed in a corner all day long!

A side note about the power. I actually thought the bike would be slow after riding it for a hundred or so miles on the street. What I discovered is that the bike is deceptively fast! The secret is to keep the bike between 5-7K rpms, and use the awesome grip to keep the corner exit speeds high. When I paid attention to this, I found that it would damn near run with any stock 600, and I was only giving up 20 or so feet to race prepped 1000's down the front straight!

So anyway check out the videos I posted on youtube (links below). The quality isn't very good as my wife used her iphone for one and my nano for the other, but you'll get the gist of things. For those wondering about the power, pay close attention to the first video where I'm in the middle of my two buddies coming down the front straight. For reference I weigh about 190 pounds, and the guy in front of me on the 08 CBR600RR with a slip on and power commander weighs about 140 pounds. He could barely gap me on the straight section (we reach about 125 mph before braking), and I would quickly reel him in and pass him once in the infield.

So my word of advice is get your XB out to a track day and have fun. Here are the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3l_OtP7JS4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhhmUTTAha0

 

[meetch]

That's awesome to hear! I plan on taking my 03 XB9s to Cayuga Raceway up near Toronto this month...

 

[Jon0341]

Awsome, I want to take mine out to the track someday, I bet it helps with the itch!

 

[Banzai]

What track config did you run?

I race shifter karts, and I can't wait to get my bike out to some of the tracks that I run on.

I raced out a MMP last year and we ran the 3 mile track, the one they call the outer loop.

 

[jeffthedccguy]

We were on the East track. Of the two split configurations this is my favorite because it has more turns, but I have ran the perimeter and full course as well and enjoy them all. BTW we race Supermoto on the Kart track, and I've always enjoyed watching you guys play out there!

 

[onelogue]

Dang dude your bike was screaming. Im Saving up for a full suit right now.

 

[winnetka]

That sounded awesome. Looks like a lot of fun. Good to know the XB9s is competitive on the track.

 

[2003buellxb9s]

"factory race kit", is this sold as a kit anywhere or do you have to piece it out now?

ECM, Filter and Exhaust? What else?

 

[jeffthedccguy]

The original race kit was sold with an ECM, exhaust slip on and and air filter replacement if I'm not correct. My bike had this installed when I bought it so I didn't have to do any shopping, but I've heard it's pretty tough to find this kit now. My guess is that if you watched ebay or the buy/sell forums you could find one. You might even find an HD dealer that has one laying around, but I'm not sure.

 

[BuddhaBuell]

keeping the bike more upright when trail braking into the corners, letting the bike fall over at the apex naturally, and then getting back on the throttle as soon as possible.

I tend to do that alot when I tear up the twisties..


looks like you had a helluva good time [up]

 

[jeffthedccguy]

Yeah my last track day bike was a KTM Superduke, and honestly that bike did pretty much everything well so I didn't think about trail braking with it leaned over. On a side note I still had more fun on the XB9s than I ever did on the duke, and it's always fun to pass squids on liter bikes in the turns on a somewhat underpowered bike... [up]

 

[coreyvwc]

I'm really glad to see that our bikes can hang and hang well out on the track. I plan on doing a track day in the fall but I have a lot saving and spending to do before then. Just curious if you feel like a steering damper would have improved your riding experience at all? I'm debating on whether or not to throw down on a GPR damper, that front end gets a little bit squirrely sometimes... haha.

 

[CBi]

I my youth I rode dirt bikes, even raced motocross and desert a few times. fast forward a few years, I spent almost 10 years doing track days with cars (I had an old BMW) on the east coast...WGI, Summit Point, Pocono, Lime Rock. I've never ridden a motorcycle on a road racetrack, but watching videos like yours gets me really interested!

Being a "beginner" I'd be pretty sketched to do a track day on my Buell. I am thinking about saving up for one of those "schools" where everything is included. If it's something that just totally rocks me, I'd consider getting a second bike just for track duty.

 

[jeffthedccguy]

I didn't notice any reason for a steering damper, but then I'm not really sold on them for track use anyway as they just degrade the front end feel too much for me. I prefer to setup the suspension for my weight and style, and I try to use a tire that works with the geometry of the bike rather than use artificial damping to cure ills.

To each his own on that one I guess, but honestly I've spent less than 15 minutes setting this bike up and I didn't notice anything strange with the front end.