Race Bike Bits

I’ve decided to keep a running tab of parts on my race bike that I’ve broken or have had fail on me one way or another. This does not include any failures from normal wear & tear or tuning issues. For one, it’ll help me remember what I’ve replaced or had fixed and secondly hopefully it will serve as a warning to others considering starting a club racing career.

Year 1 of ownership (’99 SV650):

  • Front fairing stay snapped in half my first track day in the wind.
  • Dropped a valve in my motor doing STAR School
  • Lost a bolt (well it’s prolly in my belly pan somewhere) holding the timing sensor on the stator cover. Bike wouldn’t run.
  • Fried a clutch. (DNF)
  • Stripped the nut on my rear axle doing a tire change.
  • Exhaust header burnt through my belly pan.
  • Stripped the threads for a bolt holding my gas tank in place.
  • Bolts holding my stator in place broke- killing my motor (DNS)

Year 2 (’99 SV650):

  • Completely rebuilt production legal motor by BRG Racing
  • Taken out first lap of first race at Buttonwillow, bent subframe, exhaust, rearset & clipon
  • Broke an E-clip holding my carb needle in place during Saturday practice. Got replacement in time to race!
  • Crashed at Sears during trackday. Needed new fairing stay, frame sliders, clipon, clutch lever, rearsets and exhaust silencer
  • Damaged a carberator bowl gasket causing a fuel leak, ending my track day after 1st session
  • Case bearings pushed out, causing me to skip Round 5. Need to rebuild motor again.
  • Found out my frame is bent and needs major repair.

Year 3 (’99 SV650)

  • Bad coil. Lost a full day at the track trying to debug
  • Crashed (taken out) during a race. New bodywork, fairing stay, windshield, right rearset, handlebar, throttle tube and master cylinder
  • Crashed during a race due to frame breaking. New frame, bodywork, rear shock, exhaust can, shift linkage.

Year 4 (’99 SV650)

  • Taken out during a race. Only very minor damage considering I was going 100mph when we touched.
  • Broke my transmission. Ended up getting a used motor to finish the last 3 AFM race rounds
  • Crashed at a track day due to a faulty front tire warmer. Right side clipon, rearsets and new rear brake master cylinder.

Year 5 (Duzucati 650)

  • Missed first 2 rounds due to motor blowing up on dyno
  • Missed round 3 due to bad design of tip over sensor mount
  • Missed round 7 due to engine cases leaking oil

Year 6 (Duzucati 650)

  • Missed round 1 due to a bad Power Commander
  • Missed round 2 due to a torn tendon in my finger
  • Raced the last 5 rounds without incident

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