After a small hijack of the Strange Times thread I realized we don’t have a thread dedicated to the FTR at the racetrack.
To be perfectly honest, I was never a great road racer. Faster than some, slower than the fast guys. Middle of the pack. I discovered road racing in my 40’s so I was already to old to be fearless enough to be a contender. Now that I’m in my 60’s though my stories of those days racing can be totally embellished with pride.
Anyway back to the point of this thread.
The FTR is an outstanding bike to get to the track for an absolute blast. It won’t be the fastest bike out there but it has what it takes. It’s a short track bike due to its 120ish mph top end. The tracks with longer straights will see it topped out with sport bikes blowing by at 150+.
The FTR isn’t going to challenge the lap records so the stock tires are fine. I had no issues running around 10 seconds off the fast times on them. A few laps I shimmied the back end a little at the end of the straights under heavy braking but that happens with full on race rubber too. Other than that no traction issues whatsoever. Let me also say that I’m old school with how I ride though. I don’t go for max lean on this type bike. I’ll hang off the inside to keep the bike more upright and on the meat of the tread. My pegs/boots will come close but I never dragged hard parts.
Brakes on the FTR are excellent. No issues there. The Brembos will haul her heavy butt down from 120 easily and repeatedly with no problems. Handling is easy. The FTR will transition from side to side effortlessly. Plus the motor is just there to do whatever you want. It doesn’t really matter what rpm you are at. It just pulls and pulls hard. I tried different rpms for corner entry and thus exit and it really makes no difference. Come in in a higher gear and the torque pull you out. Lower gear and the same thing. Hp pulls you out. My preference was higher gear entry and exit just to be easier on the motor. The FTR is also less tiring to ride than a sport bike due to the riding position. Less upper body stress.
Sport bikes will embarrass you. She is a slow heavy pig by those standards. But so what. A track day is not a race. You will hold your own coming out of the corners but prepare to have them blow by at the end of the straight. Hold your line and let them. That’s the way it works.
I just work on me. Work on the lines, breaking points and being smooth. To warm up I leave the aids on in standard mode. I’ll switch to sport mode for a session or two and then back to standard later in the day. I always quit before I get to tired and quit trying to push hard in the later sessions. One tiny lapse in concentration as you get tired can be disastrous. The later sessions I’ll just work on the line and smooth transitions. Funny thing is when I stop going all out and just get the lines right and the transitions right the lap times stay good as well.
Track prep? For most track days all you need to do is take the mirrors off. Of course check the bike. Fluids topped off. Tires good. Air pressure right. Some tracks want the headlight taped. Some the antifreeze replaced with water or waterwetter.
Safety gear is always full leathers, good gloves, over the ankle boots and a less than 5 year old dot helmet.
I encourage everyone to get their FTR on a track. It will make you a better rider!
![C20294D4-E694-484C-998D-D90E946279D2.jpeg]()
To be perfectly honest, I was never a great road racer. Faster than some, slower than the fast guys. Middle of the pack. I discovered road racing in my 40’s so I was already to old to be fearless enough to be a contender. Now that I’m in my 60’s though my stories of those days racing can be totally embellished with pride.
Anyway back to the point of this thread.
The FTR is an outstanding bike to get to the track for an absolute blast. It won’t be the fastest bike out there but it has what it takes. It’s a short track bike due to its 120ish mph top end. The tracks with longer straights will see it topped out with sport bikes blowing by at 150+.
The FTR isn’t going to challenge the lap records so the stock tires are fine. I had no issues running around 10 seconds off the fast times on them. A few laps I shimmied the back end a little at the end of the straights under heavy braking but that happens with full on race rubber too. Other than that no traction issues whatsoever. Let me also say that I’m old school with how I ride though. I don’t go for max lean on this type bike. I’ll hang off the inside to keep the bike more upright and on the meat of the tread. My pegs/boots will come close but I never dragged hard parts.
Brakes on the FTR are excellent. No issues there. The Brembos will haul her heavy butt down from 120 easily and repeatedly with no problems. Handling is easy. The FTR will transition from side to side effortlessly. Plus the motor is just there to do whatever you want. It doesn’t really matter what rpm you are at. It just pulls and pulls hard. I tried different rpms for corner entry and thus exit and it really makes no difference. Come in in a higher gear and the torque pull you out. Lower gear and the same thing. Hp pulls you out. My preference was higher gear entry and exit just to be easier on the motor. The FTR is also less tiring to ride than a sport bike due to the riding position. Less upper body stress.
Sport bikes will embarrass you. She is a slow heavy pig by those standards. But so what. A track day is not a race. You will hold your own coming out of the corners but prepare to have them blow by at the end of the straight. Hold your line and let them. That’s the way it works.
I just work on me. Work on the lines, breaking points and being smooth. To warm up I leave the aids on in standard mode. I’ll switch to sport mode for a session or two and then back to standard later in the day. I always quit before I get to tired and quit trying to push hard in the later sessions. One tiny lapse in concentration as you get tired can be disastrous. The later sessions I’ll just work on the line and smooth transitions. Funny thing is when I stop going all out and just get the lines right and the transitions right the lap times stay good as well.
Track prep? For most track days all you need to do is take the mirrors off. Of course check the bike. Fluids topped off. Tires good. Air pressure right. Some tracks want the headlight taped. Some the antifreeze replaced with water or waterwetter.
Safety gear is always full leathers, good gloves, over the ankle boots and a less than 5 year old dot helmet.
I encourage everyone to get their FTR on a track. It will make you a better rider!
I hope you're right Max, don't need to rush out quite so quickly for new boots yet. Will look at the bike rather than try to fathom what the internet reckons. Was too excited about getting out on it to waste time looking at tire letters yesterday.
