Hello from Portugal.
I had a 2015 R1 which I loved, but for personal reasons I sold.
Now i just purchased a 2020 with 10000kms.
I will primarily be riding on the track for at the least this year and probably will convert it to a full track bike next year.
I currently own an 21 MT09 sp and 2008 R6 track bike, which I will both sell to fund my project.
I will be doing 5-10 trackdays per year and just a bit of riding on the street.
I run in mid to bottom of advanced group with my R6.

My question is for those you have a street/track R1 what do you do about the ABS?
Based on my pace at the track everyone I spoke to recommended removing the ABS and just have direct lines to the calipers.
Only slight concern for me is that I will be riding on the street with no ABS. In the end not such I big deal as I dont plan to ride a lot and only in good weather conditions.

You don't need abs to ride on street. Millions of bikes don't have or need abs.

 

Obviously, I don't need it. I just wanted to see what other people do in similar situation. Thanks for your answer.

 

My R1m is a dedicated track bike and I removed the entire ABS system and ran ss lines directly from the mc to the calipers. I prefer the feel and simplicity

 

100% remove the ABS. I hated it on track, was always kicking. It's a bit misleading since its not just ABS. It's also anti-lift for the rear, it'll bleed off brake pressure under hard braking so you don't life the rear. Helpful for newer track riders but annoying otherwise. I'd just go classic hardline from MC to calipers

 

try it first before you remove it.

I'm lower advance group, and honestly it's never engaged on me to become a problem. Keeping in mind, i'm typically just pushing myself at 80% (i'm there to have fun, and I really don't need to be chasing any lap times faster than that to enjoy my time out there, i got a family to feed and i'm getting up there in age where I can't take too much of a bail.

I like knowing I have abs on street, there are just so many obstacles and cars you can't trust on the road these days, and any bit of help I can leverage on the bike i'm all for it.

Test it, see if abs engages with your style, if it does, then remove it. If it doesn't...then now you have the best of both worlds.

 

I have a '20 that's track only. I bypassed the ABS and installed a set of SS lines from MC to calipers. I left the ABS module on the bike plugged in to keep from getting error codes (this from help and advice here on the forum👍). At the time I did this FTECU was making an ABS delete plug, but lots of folks were having issues with the $300 item. I haven't ever had an error code. I upgraded the MC to a brembo corsa corta, which is just killer. Calipers are stock.
I love the feel of the brakes now, and haven't locked up the front under hard upright braking to this point. But @bigbadpoppa makes a darn good point. Another thing that's been impressed on me from the forum is that braking styles vary a lot. Early on in my track riding, before I changed the brakes the ABS would engage on the track and I hated it. I wasn't anywhere near advanced speeds, but my style just didn't work with ABS. Now that I've changed I would never go back, but that might not be for you. With changing my lines, going back to ABS at this point would mean re-installing all the lines back to the pump. This would take lots of time! If you're going to give it a go, get an ABS delete plug and try it out, easy to go back. Having done the swap, I was shocked at how much brake line there is on the OEM set-up. It's pretty cool just having 16" or so of brake line from MC straight to the front. Love the feel!

 

Dont remove the ABS unless you are racing. I raced a whole season with the ABS in my 2015 (3 championships). The brakes work good even with ABS. Honestly, I would keep your 2008 R6 as the track weapon. They are still great bikes for the track. I have also had a 2020 R1, and now have a 2023 R1, I also have a 2017 R6 (Race only). I converted both the 2020, and the 2023 to race only and just havent gelled with the 2020+ R1 for some reason. The R6 puts a smile on my face every time I ride it. I am expert level racer and currently in championship lead in my class at CVMA. Talking to the Gurus you have to put a ton of work into the suspension on the 2020+ R1 to make the thing handle. I never got it to work for me (tried TWICE with 2 bikes!). Keep your R1 for the street and the R6 for the track.

I just converted my 2023 R1 back to street and sold all the goodies for it. My R6 is my primary race bike. Anyways... Keep the ABS in. Your pace wont even notice it.

 

With your experience trying to get the R1 dialed in, how big or small of a difference did it make when you went from OEM to aftermarket suspension? I'm really debating whether I want to drop an ohlins into the fork and rear, but I do fear that the return on investment might not be there. I'm not racing, but I do slot into the advance/expert group. Any insights would be appreciated. Save they money or upgrade? It's not cheap by any means and that's why I haven't upgraded yet.

 

Thanks for the replies. I guess testing and seeing would be the best strategy. Also I was going to order new fork springs and I noticed in the 2020+ manual the fork oil height is 84mm comprared to the 2015-2019 114mm, is this correct? I weigh 85kg/187lbs with no gear and was going to order 10N/mm springs. Any advice?

 

hmmm, thanks. Maybe I'll start with the rear first and see.

 

i can help here from past experience.. on a sportbike the front end matters, thats where
all of your confidence comes from when attacking the twisties. While the rear shock
is a marked improvement from stock, dont neglect your front end or it wont matter a lick
how much you spend on the rear. Ideally want to match valving capabilities / valving curves
so dont automatically expect your oem front end to keep up with the Ohlins rear shock. It
doesnt work that way..

the ride quality is bonkers better with proper valving.. its the whole enchilada

i ran OHLINS upgraded valves on my 09 R1 with race tech springs for my weight..

i got it dialed in rather nicely with a RACE TECH GOLD VALVE precision machined in
the rear shock, again, sprung for my weight of course..


here is the deal, rule of thumb IMO is to go with an aftermarket rear shock WITH
the manual hydraulic adjuster so you can get your preload dialed in much quicker
without having to mess with the stupid spanner wrenches, lock rings etc..

BUT on the front end you have options, depending on what you want / or have to spend

for ease of servicing and quality of life you can stick with OHLINS
or equal quality FRONT FORK CARTRIDGES in case you dont have the
loot to go full OHLINS aftermarket forks, which are rather pricey obviously.


I have 640kms on my 2024 now and can already feel the ride is a little too harsh
beyond the fact that its springs are 'stiff' enough for track oriented use.

i'm sure there will be various opinions about how great some think OEM garbage is
but for the most part, when it comes to valving, aftermarket is EONS better than.

OHLINS NIX 30 cartridges up front (with ohlins springs obviously),
OHLINS TTX GP rear shock (w/ manual adj) is what i'm going with.

 

If you are going to do something definitely do the rear first.

 

That's my ideal setup! Our weakass canadian dollar and labour at a reputable suspension shop runs this whole ohlins setup at $5~k....ouch. gotta pay to play I guess. Lol

 

Bayside Performance has competitive pricing on the items above.. in Canadian $.

pick up available in Langley, Kevin is great to work with

 

Decided to convert the R1 to track bike only. Took it to estoril two weeks ago. Took most of the day getting used to the new bike, but during the last couple of sessions was feeling more comfortable. I still need to adjust the footpegs as I was dragging my toes which was annoying. I kept the electronics quite high, which I probably should have turned down a bit.

Power cup 2
Stock suspension with 10 N/mm fork springs
Front rider sag set to 30mm and rear to 25mm