With the first event of the season coming up fast I’ve been trying to find some time to get the bike ready.

Bodywork:
I painted the bodywork with gloss white paint and then gave it coat of clear. I didn’t want to go crazy with the colour as it needs to be fast, simple and easy to replace, while the clear coat gives it protection against scuffing and scratches as I lay myself over it.

I had some R&G tank protectors that I ordered last year so I was finally able to mount them on the new panels. I also added some additional adhesive rubber pads for more protection.

For the seat I decided to use some material which I had available. It’s an adhesive foam mat, typically used for floors, which is quite grippy. I’m curious to try it out and if it doesn’t work well or tears then I will have to replace it with some proper neoprene.

Driveline:
The gearing on the CBR1000RR is exceptionally long to the point where I haven’t ever used 6th gear on the track, and I rarely use 5th gear. Only on tracks with very long straights, such as Magny-Cours and Anneau du Rhin, do I get to 5th.

This has prompted me to change the gearing on the bike and at the same time I decided to upgrade to 520 chain for weight reduction.

I removed 1 tooth from the front sprocket and added 1 to the rear to give me a 15/42 = 1:2.80 ratio. This maintains the same wheelbase as stock, while reducing the final drive by 9% (from 1:2.56).
I went with AFAM sprockets with a Aluminium rear sprocket, which is incredibly light!

The chain is a 520 DID ZVM-X.

Other:
As a last small detail I made some spacers to move the LH heel guard even more inboard as it was actually interfering with my heel.