Tips for racing a Jota

I've not seen many belly pans on race bikes here in Oz. As far as I'm aware they're not required unless there's a specific sup-reg mandating their use.

They are required in Europe though. Are you planning on heading off to the international race scene Carlo?
 
cbertozz said:
So I'm planning to putter around in the Historic Motorcycle series next year here in WA and wondered if anyone had any pointers specifically to do with putting the Jota on the track. I don't want it to be a dedicated race bike, I have the Aprilia for that, I just want to be able to have some fun.

Things that I'm thinking about include:

- Engine case protection
- Clip-ons
- Nose fairing or no fairing?
- Rearsets
- Tyres
- Oil?

Admin - feel free to move this thread to wherever more relevant but this was the only section referring to racing.
Click to expand...

Large testes.

Paul
 
May I suggest different rims and brakes?

If you want to go on the track with the bike, GSX-R-Rims (if not already installed) from a Series 1 GSX-R1100 with the original brake discs help in three ways: reduce rotating masses, improve brakes and provide enough space for modern tires (I do like the BT012SS; plenty of grip from the first meters on, even in wet conditions). If you don't raise the engine/bike, slicks might be an overkill...

Brakes: 4-pot-calipers from a Ducati 916 or Laverda 750 S Formula with 40mm mounting holes and an adapter to suite the larger discs of the GSX-R-Rims combined with the PS16 master from above bikes improve braking dramatically. that said, watch your headstock and downtubes, especially if you use a stronger front fork.

swing arm could also need some more beefing...

 
Hey Lothar, how are things in the land of lederhosen?

None of that stuff is permitted under our historic racing rules unless you're competing in a modern era, in which a Laverda will be seriously out-classed by the Japanese opposition.

In BEARS (which excludes Japanese bikes) there is more tolerance of "modern" upgrades. And you're not going to be blown off the track by a Japanese missile, so your suggestions may have some merit there.

I don't know what racing is available to Carlo in Western Australia, but here in Tasmania there is no BEARS racing, so we're stuck with the more restrictive historic classes.

Cheers,
Cam
 
Looks like I can get away without a belly pan as it's a Period 5  and didn't have full fairing originally.

Best comment I had from a fellow racer was:

"...pretty sure any engine protection  is supposed to be 5mm thick good for a 100m slide on the case before it flips destroys itself into a million Bent bits and sprays oil every where...

:D
 
sfcpiet said:
Jack it up for more cornering clearance.  Best single mod imho, and very necessary.

Got a chamfered generator cover on the tracker, but really don't need it as the bike is set about 40-50mm higher than stock.  Cover does look cool though! :D

piet
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Same here. Cornering clearance is at some stage very helpful. My Engine is not raised, so I pulled the Bosch magnetic rotor (the the generator coils etc stay in place) and fitted a chamfered generator cover. That helped very much to strenthen confidence.

My second change was removing the very good Bridgestone BT45 and fitting the Conti Road Attac CR tires. Much better now.

I am not racing but on track days I try to learn racing skills.

If you have to change the grip a quick action throttle could be useful.
 

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Dellortoman said:
Hey Lothar, how are things in the land of lederhosen?

Cheers,
Cam
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ugh - that hurts...  :-\

Funny, how a part of Germany where less than 10% of the germans live and where maybe only 50% of the males (so roughly 25% of them or 2,5% of Germany...) ever had a Lederhosen in their life, and most of them just wearing them at 1 or 2 days a year for the Oktoberfest, can produce a picture in the world no-one forgets...  :o :o :o

Not to forget...: germans are eating "Krautsalat" and "Bratwurst" all day and only drink beer, no water!

Man, would I love that...  :D

to your points: good points! I am not racing bikes so I don't know which classes do allow for which amendments. did not know they do not allow period correct parts on the bikes...  :-[

Regarding raising the engine: even I managed to touch ground in SPA with my Series 2 Jota alternator cover... (see my avatar). dangerous when that hapens, as it lifts the rear tire and the back starts to slide outwards the corner...
 
Jens said:
Same here. Cornering clearance is at some stage very helpful. My Engine is not raised, so I pulled the Bosch magnetic rotor (the the generator coils etc stay in place) and fitted a chamfered generator cover. That helped very much to strenthen confidence.

My second change was removing the very good Bridgestone BT45 and fitting the Conti Road Attac CR tires. Much better now.

I am not racing but on track days I try to learn racing skills.

If you have to change the grip a quick action throttle could be useful.
Click to expand...

The clearance issue seems to be coming through as the major one. I want to continue to ride the bike on the road so will have to do some thinking about the best solution.

Thanks for your input one and all.
 
Spirited road riding can show up the cornering limitations!  Lots of chamfered alternator covers out there.  Smooth, grippy tracks will show them up even earlier. 

Perhaps you should just wait till it rains, should wash away such petty problems. :D

piet
 
my experience with rain is that I need engine rebuilds afterwards...  :o

(dropped my bike in heavy rain at the "Reschen Pass" in Austria onto the alternator cover. broke the cage of the right crank bearing...
 
Racing in WA would have to be a joke!! They have banned motorcycles from Perth's only circuit of which is a joke in itself, all 1.6 km and like 5 corners. So now we're left with a circuit about 200km from Perth that's about 1km long. For such a wealthy mineral rich state we can't even build a circuit of international standards let alone upgrade what we have into something interesting.
 
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