MPW Track Bike: Part 5

The MPW track bike was born way back in the autumn of 2017, with the intention of it being a winter project that would come to fruition in the spring of 2018, ready to be hurtled around a few tracks and to accompany us to shows and events.

The reality is that although things started well, they did not continue well. The good thing is that I am not finishing that sentence with ‘did not end well either, and the intention now is to get things going again from where we left off.

The story so far (parts 1 to 4 revisited):

The Donor Bike:

The bike is a 2006 GSX-R600 K6, a fine example of the many highly capable sports bikes coming out of Japan around that time. When new, it created 106bhp and 59Nm of torque at the rear wheel, driving its dry weight of 161kg to a top speed of 157mph, getting to 60mph in 3.1 secs and doing the ¼ mile in 10.75 secs. Good enough for us mere mortals.

Suzuki base bike

The Plan

The plan is to turn the stock road-going GSX-R600 into a dedicated track bike, using as many MPW products as we can, and documenting the process as we go.

The products mostly come from our MPW Race Dept., which specialises in track and race day products, and we hope these will be of use to anyone else out there embarking on a similar track bike project.

We also want to show that as long as the bike you start with is in good order you do not need to be a fully qualified race mechanic to do the work that is involved. We hope this project will be a source of encouragement as well as one of inspiration.

The Work

To start we remove the fairing and all bodywork as these will be replaced with the race full fairing kit. This is a sound idea for anyone building a track bike as you preserve the condition of the original bodywork, which will help the resale value of the bike. It also sheds some weight as the new kit is lighter, and it does not cater for the headlight and taillight, which can be removed.

We remove the silencer so we can fit one from our Toro range, the radiator as it needs a new one, and then the downpipe assembly, which was rotten. As is typical with an exhaust system there was a fair amount of corrosion on the nuts and bolts.

A word of advice to anyone removing an old exhaust system, give all the fasteners a good soaking with penetrating fluid and allow it time to work before going at them.

stripped suzuki bike

Fast forward to March 2018. We remove the side stand and set the bike up on MPW paddock stands – it is so much easier to work on a bike when it is upright.

Time to test fit the race fairing before it goes off to be sprayed, and typically with a race fairing things don’t all line-up - we have to drill some additional holes here and there and remove a bracket from below the seat to get it to fit properly. With the fairing on we test fit the MPW screen and mirror blanks. So far so good.

Next, decide on a paint scheme. Various ideas were mooted, the only concrete factor being that the colours should be those of the MPW Race Dept. logo. The final scheme bears no resemblance to any of the original ideas of course. We remove the fuel tank and wheels as they are included in the paint scheme, then remove the discs from the wheels and send all the parts off to Prestige Paintworx to be painted.

unpainted fairings

Fast forward again to March 2019. The fairing, bodywork and fuel tank have been painted, and the wheels have been powder coated satin black. They look rather good, especially with a set of Rezo brake discs and a pair of Power Cup Evo tyres kindly supplied by Michelin

Tyres Michelin

We overhaul the front brake callipers, giving them a good clean and fitting new seals before reassembling them and installing new brake pads. The brake system also gets new Hel hoses front and rear.

We source a downpipe assembly from eBay and add the Toro silencer to it, then fit the wheels, fuel tank, seat cowling, radiator, brake hoses, chain and sprockets, levers, fairing, screen and mirror blanks, and lo and behold we have something that resembles a track bike. Add an R&G tank pad and a few stickers and it is looking the part.

Track bike 2

Fast forward again, to April 2021. We all know what happened in 2020 and no more needs to be said. What didn’t happen was any more work on the track bike. We are now at the stage where we need to add a few extra parts such as lever guards, which for 2021 have become a mandatory requirement at all circuits run by MSV (which is most of them), and to fit sliders and engine cover protectors.

We also need to juice up with fluids and lubricants, fit a battery, and start the bike. Over the next few months, as we slowly get back into the office and hopefully find time to get from there into the workshop, we will keep you posted as we finish the track bike, stick it in the van and get to the track

Track Bike 1