So, my question is what is your collective advice on the best mods that improve power to weight ratio? Interested to hear from those who’ve gone this route: does it make a worthwhile difference? Talking with Paul at PG Performance who refurbed my Grunter spec 996, taking things further with the engeine would be beyond my budget right now (maybe I’ll revisit this later). So we got talking about power to weight ratio and weight saving. Definitely will do: reduce unsprung weight, look at gearing - Oz racing aluminium wheels (I prefer the look of these vs magnesium and carbon ones I’ve seen) to replace my lovely looking but heavy 3 spokes - since I have one slightly warped brake disc at the front, replace with lighter floating disc items - change gearing via new sprockets and chain (14 teeth front, 38 teeth rear is what Paul has on his SPS) Weight saving ideas: (not sure how far to go for best bang for buck) - replace rear biposto subframe with aluminium one; replace plastic under seat exhaust heat shield with carbon fibre one (the single seat unit itself is quite light already) - tailor-made aluminium petrol tank (Paul is thinking of this for his SPS track bike: more cost effective than buying official Corse stuff) - replace steel bolts for titanium - headlight bracket replacement for carbon fibre one - lighter race fairing (eg CRC) - what else weighs enough to make a difference? Or would it all be a bit pointless?? I love the idea of a 999, 1098 or 1198 engine down the road, but that’s too expensive for now. So the idea would be to do stuff that will improve the bike on track, whilst still keeping it as a road bike.
Only fill the tank half full. 10 litres of fuel weighs about 7kgs, probably more than all of the other mods put together. I can't feel the difference in my bike with the tank full or empty when riding and that must be about 11kgs.
Surely trying to make it lighter is going to cost more than putting in a 1098 engine ? Anyway race on.com.au sell a nice carbon fibre tank for $1300.
From what I’ve read from those who’ve done it - and from discussion with Paul who knows these bikes - the 1098 conversion is not cheap. You need a donor bike for starters, from which you need the engine, exhausts, swing arm, dash and loom... then on the 996 with engine out, I’d ‘have’ to repaint the frame whilst the engine was out, which would no doubt lead to a new paint job too. I like the idea, but I don’t think it would cost as much as the lightening exercise which I’d want to do later anyway... Paul reckoned the alu tank from this guy who fabricates them would be about £500 or so. Wheels about £1500. Admittedly the carbon adds up... but I found a alu subframe for 250, and most of the carbon parts are under 200 each, so I think it could be done for reasonable money if I didn’t go overboard. I might even just do the tank, subframe, wheels, bolts for example and leave it at that... Half the pleasure is contemplating all the options anyway!
my old 748 was run for while on a set of Dymag Carbon wheels, it was like adding 15 bhp to the bike, acceleration and braking were changed instantly, and the bike was hugely more nimble. if you can, get the lightest wheels possible and see how that feels first, you might find you don't need to do anything else to the bike after.
Imho, cheapest bang for buck option would be to buy a bike with one of the 999,1098 or 1198 engines you mention already fitted, ie a 999, 1098 or 1198...
Yes of course! But that misses the point: I am under no illusion that this is daft, and moreover I will end up with a bike that doesn’t perform as well as the donor. But I love the classic 916 shape. I just want to make it a bit faster. The lap times are immaterial, this is purely an emotional thing. And anyway the main difference that separates the fast boys on track is skill (and courage/lack of self preservation instinct) more than what they’re riding. As a bonus, I get the kick of surprising people on more modern machinery thrown in for free ;-)
IMHO this order: Simple and cheap/free. -remove what’s not needed, replace bolts with shorter or lighter ones or remove if not needed, battery Performance - wheels & tyres, consider ti spindle (but prey it doesn’t get suck in there!) Not so cheap but worth doing - f’glass Or carbon fairings Brain out spend cash because you can - mag swingarm, wheels, ti volts everywhere, alli or carbon tank Utterly waste of time but ‘every gram is a gram’ even if it creates issues every ride - cut the loom about
Thanks, more or less what I was thinking. I’ve seen a couple of mentions for lighter tyres: what are the brands/model numbers that are popular for these bikes? I have Pirelli track tyres on the bike which have minimal tread, but there another level of tyre choice?
