Went to Broadford Race track with the Australian Superbike School on my Senna. I know what I paid for...!!! this bike is incredible. Picture attached.

Rob

-- Robert McCaskie (robert@flatmates.com.au), October 14, 2002

Answers

Great looking pic! I am sure it was a blast.

-- Pete (pistonpete@hotmail.com), October 14, 2002.

One of the British bike just did a test of an MV Senna vs 998r vs Benelli Tornado. From all reports they were very impressed with the Senna (and lapping the fastest on it). The Mag will be the December edition of "Superbike" I think.

Matt.

-- Matt Thompson (matthewt@nitor.co.nz), October 15, 2002.

here are a couple from my first ever trackday a few weeks ago. please excuse the bad tape job as the whole thing was last second and I was lucky to make it. Wanted to take my Senna but it was getting the 3500 mile servicing. After 16,000 my strada is still working great and was a blast on the track. hope to get it back on the track once more before winter

http://www.ow-02.com\slow1\images\GR_1.jpg http://www.ow-02.com\slow1\images\GR_2.jpg

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), October 15, 2002.

sorry about that here you go

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), October 15, 2002.

Surprising to see all of you out there with mirrors on, I guess that's the biggest difference about USA trackdays, they really make us go all out to tape every last piece of exposed glass, blinkers, and taillights, etc.. I've heard that if we look into our mirrors on the track, its distracting and slows our concentration, ....anyone feel that this is true!?!

-- val alparaque (valparaque@aol.com), October 15, 2002.

Yeah, mirrors at a track day are a hindrance. You really should get rid of them. It's not your responsibility to know what's going on behind you. If a faster rider comes up, it's up to him to safely pass you. If you were doing something wrong he will probably let you know about it when he goes by!

I never look behind during sessions except to see if there is someone behind me that I might want to let by and follow and watch his lines. I only look back in a race to gauge how fast I need to go to stay ahead of the guy behind me.

Get rid of the mirrors! Guaranteed that you'll go faster because it's one less thing to "spend your attention" on (classic Keith Code line).

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), October 15, 2002.

actually I'm from the US. Though you can't really see it in the pics the mirrors are taped (as well as the brake lights and signals). It was a real last minute thing and I was just lucky to make it to the track which is why I didn't just remove them. Hope to be doing on last track day this weekend before winter and I will have all that stuf off. My winter project is convert it to a full time track bike complete with race fairings so I don't have to worry abou taping again!!

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), October 15, 2002.

Same Here... mirrors are taped (hard to see it), as well as speedo. We had three Senna's on the Broadford track and will have the same three Senna at Phillip Island Race Track early November.

The intention is to get a photo(s) of all three at full throttle side by side down the final straight. Should make a cool shot!

Rob

-- Robert (robert@flatmates.com.au), October 15, 2002.

I have had a few personal emails about the leathers I am wearing.

They are a set of "Tiger Angel" leathers, hand made here in Australia.

I have "SENNA" and the "S" logo on both legs, "AGUSTA" on each arm, the red F4 on each shoulder, the MV logo on the back, as well as F4 in the back waist band.

Suit is all black apart from a few dark silver secions, one on each shoulder and across the tops of the knees.

Check out tiger angel at www.tigerangel.com.au. They have all MV logos and now the senna logos in their computers.

If you are serious about leathers (and I hope you all are...) these are the best suits you can get!

Here is what my suit looks like as we designed it.

-- Robert McCaskie (robert@flatmates.com.au), October 15, 2002.

Hi again. Here is some more pictures from Broadford, featuring another fellow Senna rider, Julian Mclean (jmclean@tahbilk.com.au). He has undoubtly spent more "MV" time on a track than any other rider in Australia, on both a standard F4 and a Senna. Keep an eye for his 'up-n-coming' posting about track time on F4's and Sennas. It's gonna clear up ALL the misconceptions on these bikes and what is needed/best for track riding. Julian... over to you mate....



Regards Rob

-- Robert Mccaskie (robert@flatmates.com.au), October 16, 2002.

Just a visual observation, but I really can tell how the bikes (f4s vs.Senna) take to their rear tires on the track, TP my guess is that you've still got the 190/50 on the rear, versus the 180's on the Sennas.....any feedback on those who have either...regarding turn in? I'd love to hear from you guys! I've always felt that the 180 on my Senna has quick turn-in, very stable midcorner, but lacks a little feel exiting hard on the gas! Just my 2 cents worth...

-- val alparaque (valparaque@aol.com), October 16, 2002.

Don't know if I'm qualified to really talk on this as my track time and "on the edge" time is extremely limited. but yes those are stock 190s on my Strada. Compared to the 180s on my Senna, I can say that the Senna does indeed turn in faster and the stiffer suspension setup does make it more stable. But having said that I have way more confidence with the front of my Strada. Don't ask me why. While I know part of it is gearing, I think the Strada also fires out a bit harder. The Senna revs so much quicker and you get to the power sooner, but to me the Strada seems to have more pull from low RPMs. Again this could be the gearing. The thing I notice the most is how different the two bikes feel engine wise. You can clearly hear the differences in them. The Senna is so silky smooth even at the higher revs. People say I shouldn't do it but I always ride in the upper rev range (8000 to 11000) and don't go through the gears that much cause I'm always in or near the power. In this area the Senna really is a few steps above the Strada

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), October 16, 2002.

I can't speak specifically to the 180 vs 190 difference on the MV (haven't changed tires yet), but the difference on my R1 was quite striking. Turn in is much better with the 180. I don't have a traction problem because I use race compound tires, but the R1 has traction problems at the back no matter what tire you use anyway... But I didn't notice a significant decrease in traction going to the 180.

On suspension: If it doesn't feel right, change it! Maybe people are already doing this but it seems like maybe they aren't. If you aren't happy with something, there is probably a logical path you can take to address it within the limits of the adjustability you have. Don't have confidence in the front? What is it doing? If you are losing it, try less spring and rebound. If it moves around too much, try more spring and more rebound. Nothing is set in stone however. You just have to try it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go upwards on spring on both ends of my F4S, and I may reduce rear ride height depending on how the front feels on the gas vs. off. Maybe this "new" aussie can help us with some settings!

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), October 16, 2002.

before I start making to many changes with the bikes I want to work more on my riding, as I've only been riding a little over 2yrs (learned on my Y2K R1). So I want to be sure of my riding before I start blaming the bike. Also it isn't so much that I'm having problems with the front of the Senna as much as it might be that I know the Strada better.

Also forgot to add that I didn't have any problems with my brakes all day either. I've seen people posting about them fading after heavy use, but I never had a problem at all. On the last couple of session for the day, while trying to keep pace with my teacher, I was going real late (for me anyway) on the brakes. Back end coming up a little, but it was never a concern.

Both are great handling bikes. Right now the biggest limitation is me

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), October 16, 2002.

Ahh, there's always room for improvement from the rider. Kevin Schwantz could get on a stock bike and ride it to the absolute limit, and nobody would dispute that he did that. Then if he made some changes to the suspension, he would keep going faster until the ultimate limit of the bike was found.

For the rest of us, it's much the same but instead of working on the bike's limits, we are working on our own. Granted, I do hit the limits of the R1 on the track all the time (mostly hitting the pegs down and rear wheel traction), but not ALL of the time I'm on it. This is where I need to work. And adjusting the suspension helps a lot. If I can fix one little problem, I can go faster in the area where that problem was fixed and so on. You'll quickly come to this if you are riding on the track!

I can't wait to get my MV on the track at Laguna Seca. What a dream come true for me. Maybe I can con Val into coming with his Senna...

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), October 16, 2002.

Hi Rob.....nice pic. I saw your bike, you and your leathers at the Italian bike Day in Melbourne not long ago. My MV was the one parked right up the other end :-) I'm doing a trackday in December at Phillip Island ...shame I'm going to miss your day. good to see your taking it to the track.....where it belongs. Pete hughes

-- Pete Hughes (hueyhuey@ozemail.com.au), October 17, 2002.

Hi again Rob..... This is a pic of me on my MV......you might remember the helmet or leathers from the italian bike show......

Pete.

LUSENET

-- pete hughes (hueyhuey@ozemail.com.au), October 17, 2002.

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/pete_mvagusta/vwp?.dir=/&.dnm=mou ntain+Run+2.jpg&.src=gr&.view=t&.hires=t

-- pete hughes (hueyhuey@ozemail.com.au), October 17, 2002.

-- pete hughes (hueyhuey@ozemail.com.au), October 17, 2002.

Then that might be a couple of MVs at Laguna cause I am going to try and do a track day there next year. My list is VIR, Road Atlanta, Laguna, and Beaver Run. Road America and Mid Ohio are close so they won't be a problem.

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), October 17, 2002.

Sheesh I wish I had that kind of time. I only get 2 weeks off. If I had more I'd probably be driving all over the country for track days too... The only ones that are feasible to go to on weekends around here are Firebird (dangerous, lots of squids), and Arroyo Seco (pretty nice, kind of po-dunk, but safe and fun). Las Vegas, Fontana and Willow Springs are a maybe, it's a long drive.

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), October 17, 2002.

The only real time consuming one would be Laguna. I was trying to get in the 11/26 class but they only have openings if you ride thier bikes.

Anyway the rest of them are on the East Coast and within 13hrs, which isn't much for me. So I'd only have to take a day here or there and still would leave me with time to get out to Laguna next year.

-- TP (tpoole@xnet.com), October 18, 2002.

I'm in the class on the 27th and they confirmed to me that it's fine for me to ride both their bikes and my bike (MV). I really want to ride their bikes because I like ZX-6R's anyway, but I would like to take a few laps on the MV just because it's a dream of mine. I don't envision running the MV up against the rev limiter and sliding around like I would on a "disposable" bike... But I gotta at least give it a try.

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), October 18, 2002.