Spotcom Racing - Monster 696!

[spotcom]

After months of planning, it's finally happening this coming weekend.  13 / 14 November will see my racing debut at Eastern Creek.  I'll be racing in the BEARS F5 category - effectively the lowest class.

The Monster has come together very well. Race paint was done locally, engine covers made by Brian Rosser in SA, Performance Tech levers, Metaltech folding rearsets and QuatD Ex Box supplied by Carbon Imports Australia.

Now the goal is to get out there, have fun, and hopefully, don't come last!

I took a few photos today...




















If you're near Eastern Creek on the weekend, feel free to come out for a laugh!

[heatherp]

Very nice Spotcom.  Good luck with the racing. 

[Betty]

Yeah good luck ... bike looks good.

I have never had reason to notice/look before but the rear shock on the 'new' Monster is very left wing.

[Veloce-Fino]

Looks great!!

I'm just curious, what make/cc bikes are you competing with?

If there are 600cc 4's in the mix do you stand a chance against them?

[hambo]

the fun element is directly driven by the throttle position in the corner ......NOT the position in the race .......good luck and the bike looks great ......we will see you out there im sure one day

[stopintime]

I wish it was me

Why not clip ons?
Did you work on the suspension?

[spotcom]

Thanks guys!  Yeah, I'm a little excited and hope I actually get some sleep on Friday night.

Looks great!!

I'm just curious, what make/cc bikes are you competing with?

If there are 600cc 4's in the mix do you stand a chance against them?

Thankfully the F5 grade in BEARS rules out the 600 fours. Firstly being a BEARS grade, there are only British, European and American bikes (no Jappers). Secondly, the F5 grade is for air-cooled naked bikes below a certain engine size - is it 900cc? Finally, you can't run slicks in that grade. 

That's why I picked the 696 - it's got the high-lift valves, lightweight, and sweet to ride with the stock slipper clutch.

So hopefully, there'll be a few other baby monsters in the class as well. Not having raced before, I'm not really sure who/what turns up to these things.

[Veloce-Fino]

Awesome, in this case you might do damn well!

Like stopintime asked, any changes to the suspension. The 696 is not an easy base to start with for suspension modifications.

Forks look stock, and the lack of proper rebuild kits for the 696 forks leads me believe they are.

Rear shock stock as well?

*Edit

Just curious, how did you attach the rear seat at the back? Used the stock locking mechanism? where have you hidden the key lock?

[cakeman]

So hopefully, there'll be a few other baby monsters in the class as well. Not having raced before, I'm not really sure who/what turns up to these things.

Just curious, how "good" do you have to be to race, it would definetly be something id be keen on doing in the future........

[spotcom]

The only changes to the suspension have been minor tweaks at the rear. Slightly more in the way of compression and a tweak to rebound.  Also, the front forks have been dropped through about 1cm.

Like you say, there's not a lot of adjustment available.

The plan at this stage is to get out there and ride my clacker off.  Once I'm used to the bike and am feeling that the bike's holding me back (instead of the other way around), I'll spend some money on the bouncy bits.

I haven't had a lot of track time on this bike yet - probably all up about six sessions over three track days due to weather and mechanicals.  Sure, it's not as fast as the 848, but it seems to go around corners okay.

Oh, and I may end up going with clip-ons at some stage. I had originally flipped these bars upside down, but I think that this config will work better. As Dockstrada said - probably best to ride these things like a dirt bike!

[spotcom]

Just curious, how "good" do you have to be to race, it would definetly be something id be keen on doing in the future........

Do you have a motorcycle license?   

First step is to get a Motorcycling Australia license.  That consists of a practical test and a theory test. Re the practical - if you have a motorcycle license, you're deemed to have passed the practical test. Re the theory - they give you all the answers in their documentation.

It would help if you've done a track day or two.  If you have (so I'm told), you'll be good enough!

Apart from that - there are a helluva lot of people like you & me who've been thinking, "Gee, I'd love to give it a go one day."  Sometimes all you need is a little nudge.  That's what I needed!

[spotcom]

*Edit

Just curious, how did you attach the rear seat at the back? Used the stock locking mechanism? where have you hidden the key lock?

The rearsets just attach on to the standard mounting points - all pretty easy really.  The only thing I had to do was make a slight modifcation to the rear brake reservoir mounting - it needed to be lifted a tad.

The key lock?  I removed it, along with anything else that didn't look like it needed to be there.     The cable to the rear lock is still in place - just tug on the end of it and the seat pops up. 

[Veloce-Fino]

The rearsets just attach on to the standard mounting points - all pretty easy really.  The only thing I had to do was make a slight modifcation to the rear brake reservoir mounting - it needed to be lifted a tad.

The key lock?  I removed it, along with anything else that didn't look like it needed to be there.     The cable to the rear lock is still in place - just tug on the end of it and the seat pops up.  

I think you confused "rear seat" with "rear set"  

Still answered the question though, thanks!!

[cakeman]

Do you have a motorcycle license?   

First step is to get a Motorcycling Australia license.  That consists of a practical test and a theory test. Re the practical - if you have a motorcycle license, you're deemed to have passed the practical test. Re the theory - they give you all the answers in their documentation.

It would help if you've done a track day or two.  If you have (so I'm told), you'll be good enough!

Apart from that - there are a helluva lot of people like you & me who've been thinking, "Gee, I'd love to give it a go one day."  Sometimes all you need is a little nudge.  That's what I needed!

I think it might be something i should do sooner rather then later before all my man courage wears thin........ For instance at Eastern Creek, on my S4R, i go down the straight flat out but going in to turn one, ive backed off 3/4 of the way down the grandstand (man courage wearing thin) and coasting in at about 150-160km....... Most fellas out on a race meet i would have thought would be going flat out through there....... Its only an example but sums up my point in my head to whether i could or couldnt do it.......

[DUCMONROB]

This is something that I have always wanted to do but funding and time was always an issue.

Now that the kids are pretty well taken care of and now I have some coin in the bank maybe I should start looking at the options. [moto] [moto]

I know one thing is once you get a taste you can't go back.

I was thinking of going bucket racing as it is quite affordable.