kaemeow910
New Member
hello all, I'm a pretty new rider and i got my 2017 RC390 in July. I'm mainly going to take it to track and just looking to around to see how others are setting up their bikes.
You just got yourself an awesome track bike! I just picked up a new 2017 for the track as well
In my opinion these 3 things are must haves for the track right away:
1-Rear shock upgrade - I did the Ohlins
2-Front springs upgrade - I did the Andreani fork internals (unless you are very experienced with a full garage of tools, you'll want a professional to do these)
3-Rearsets - I did the Tyga (great rear sets with lots of cheap spare parts available. There is aYouTube video about the installation some guy made that is very helpful. You may need a second hand for the swing arm axel)
4- Front brake pads - Cheap and does make a noticeable difference on braking feel and initial bite. I did EBC
I consider these the next level upgrades
1- Cat delete / full exhaust
2- Power Commander / tuning
3- Airbox / filter mods
Additional upgrades that are useful but I don't think are as critical:
1- floating front brake Disc (The 2017 comes with the larger 320mm disc stock- so the floating 320mm rotor upgrade seems to be mainly for longevity?- I think the breaking power/feel has more to do with the pads in this case)
2- Quickshifter -personal preference.
3- new triple and clip-on bars- Ergonomics is a very personal thing. I think you can get away with the stock hand controls for a while unless your body position is compromised right off the bat.
4- bodywork - lighter is better
5- Anti Gravity Battery: I am using the 4 Cell antigravity which I think saved almost 7lbs!
6- I have seen the discussions about bypassing ABS. I am not sure if this is relevant for the 2017 as you can shut the ABS from the dash.
**Tires. Personal preference. Stock Metzler tires have been totally adequate when combined with the new suspension. That being said I will be moving to Pirelli Supercorsa's next season as those are my preferred.
Looking forward to Spring!
Enjoy the ride
In my opinion these 3 things are must haves for the track right away:
1-Rear shock upgrade - I did the Ohlins
2-Front springs upgrade - I did the Andreani fork internals (unless you are very experienced with a full garage of tools, you'll want a professional to do these)
3-Rearsets - I did the Tyga (great rear sets with lots of cheap spare parts available. There is aYouTube video about the installation some guy made that is very helpful. You may need a second hand for the swing arm axel)
4- Front brake pads - Cheap and does make a noticeable difference on braking feel and initial bite. I did EBC
I consider these the next level upgrades
1- Cat delete / full exhaust
2- Power Commander / tuning
3- Airbox / filter mods
Additional upgrades that are useful but I don't think are as critical:
1- floating front brake Disc (The 2017 comes with the larger 320mm disc stock- so the floating 320mm rotor upgrade seems to be mainly for longevity?- I think the breaking power/feel has more to do with the pads in this case)
2- Quickshifter -personal preference.
3- new triple and clip-on bars- Ergonomics is a very personal thing. I think you can get away with the stock hand controls for a while unless your body position is compromised right off the bat.
4- bodywork - lighter is better
5- Anti Gravity Battery: I am using the 4 Cell antigravity which I think saved almost 7lbs!
6- I have seen the discussions about bypassing ABS. I am not sure if this is relevant for the 2017 as you can shut the ABS from the dash.
**Tires. Personal preference. Stock Metzler tires have been totally adequate when combined with the new suspension. That being said I will be moving to Pirelli Supercorsa's next season as those are my preferred.
Looking forward to Spring!
Enjoy the ride
Last edited:
m3hl
Member
^^^ These are all awesome. If you are budget minded I would recommend the R6 shock swap with the formula390 kit. It's cheap and makes a HUGE difference. As for forks, again do the springs and oil at the very least, cartridges are nice but not critical as you first upgrades. Springs and heavier oil makes an big difference.
This is a very good list. My 2017 track mods, in order of execution were:
- Take all the fairings off and reassemble with blue locktite. If you don't they will rattle apart on the first session of the first day. (consider disassembling the whole bike and reassemble properly....I've had some assembly related quality issues)
- Remove all the extra parts (blinkers, headlights, rear fender, side stand, etc)
- Safety wire everything required by your org
- Install rear spools and get a rear stand so the bike doesn't fall over. FYI the stock side stand will drag at moderate lean angles
- Install factory racing bubble windscreen (or a tyga setup). It is very hard to tape over the stock headlights.
- Install Spal fan, engine ice, upgraded radiator cap. Keep it cool.
- Replace tires: stock 2017 model year tires are not great. The Q3+ is cheap and great for trackdays.
- Replace rearsets. The stock parts will drag at any decent pace. I chose the ebay china rearsets and they are actually pretty decent. Tyga and Driven are good choices too.
- Suspension is a must. I did the full Bitubo XXF11 rear shock and JBH front pressurized cartridges. It's an expensive setup but solid and I'll never outgrow it. The stock setup is OK for novice group if you are a very light rider but you will quickly outride it.
- Tyga belly pan if required by your org.
That's basically all I've done so far, but each of those mods is essential. For next season I will do:
- Passenger peg delete
- Exhaust
- Open airbox
- Fuel control
- Case covers
- Brake lever guard
The ergonomics are good for me so I haven't felt the need to do the triple tree and clip on mods.
The RC is great on the track, and in my experience is better equipped for racing than the other small bikes (R3, Ninja, etc)
In my experience, yes. Pegs first , and toe sliders if your body position gets wacky. Next is the side stand. Seriously get rid of it or at least bend the little toe loop as close to straight up and down as you can. smashing the side stand into the ground can make you crash...I almost did once and then I got rid of it.
Put spools on the swingarm and buy a rear stand. Install a side stand delete connector. Remove the stand for your track day, and reinstall when you get home for street riding. The freak out moment you experience the first time that thing smashes the track and completely upsets the bike isn't worth it.
You can get away with bending the toe loop up, and safety wiring the stand. In my opinion doing at least this isn't optional. Trust me it'll be worth it. There is nothing like riding a motorcycle on the track (and not having to worry about silly stuff like a side stand).
You can get away with bending the toe loop up, and safety wiring the stand. In my opinion doing at least this isn't optional. Trust me it'll be worth it. There is nothing like riding a motorcycle on the track (and not having to worry about silly stuff like a side stand).
Additionally, The stock are very flexible and the stock rearset will also fold up as you reposition your foot for maximum leverage. The upgraded are fixed and super grippy.
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