General Track Day Tech Inspection Question

[wil11748]

Hey guys,

I'm a trackday novice--just did my first last month on my road bike. I have had another bike for a while now that I intend to use for trackdays in the novice (and hopefully sometime soon, intermediate groups). Unfortunately the key snapped off in the ignition of the bike. In speaking to the dealer, it appears that it takes an act of congress to buy and install a new ignition.

My question is simple, if I were to, say, wire the ignition to a switch for a trackday-only bike (and thus not use the OEM ignition), would the powers that be at the various trackdays balk, or is that something that is acceptable? Obviously it's not something that would be a problem when riding, but-for starting it, no one would know the difference.

Anyone with thoughts?

Thanks!

[The Snowman]

Generally speaking, this wouldn't make a difference. Some that have track-only bikes remove the ignition switch in lieu of some sort of toggle for the very same reason you described.

My race bike is set up that way, which I use for control riding at Tony's.

[Jim]

i always recommend any track only bike to have the ignition wired to a switch. i hate seeing a key in a track bike. if you crash with the key breaking in the ignition, your day is done.

i have my ignition wired to my kill switch, but others have wired it to a seperate on/off switch that they mount on the top triple or on the clip-on.

[csmutty]

What bike is it?

If you wanted to stay with a key for resale purposes later in life you can find used ignitions with keys on ebay. However, some ignitions are tricky to take out of the triple and require some special tools like a drill, dremel, impact driver, etc. If you need help removing the ignition just post up a pic of the fasteners holding it in and what kind of bike it is and we should be able to help you.

[The Snowman]

What bike is it?

If you wanted to stay with a key for resale purposes later in life you can find used ignitions with keys on ebay. However, some ignitions are tricky to take out of the triple and require some special tools like a drill, dremel, impact driver, etc. If you need help removing the ignition just post up a pic of the fasteners holding it in and what kind of bike it is and we should be able to help you.

Good point. My SV had torx bolts to remove it and was a pain in the ass to remove. We had to pop up the top triple to get at the bolts.

[Marc R]

I'm assuming this is the only key you have. Any hope of removing the broken key from the ignition? If so, a new key can be made from the "key code". Manufacturers may engrave the "key code" near the tank, some by a helmet lock. This would be a $40-$50 solution.

[csmutty]

Good point. My SV had torx bolts to remove it and was a pain in the ass to remove. We had to pop up the top triple to get at the bolts.

My R6 had headless bolts. To remove them you have to either drill it out and then retap or grind a slot in the head of the headless bolt and then use an impact driver to remove. And those things had a shit ton of loctite on them.

[Jim]

suzuki's use Torx. i believe it's a t40 if my memory is correct.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

suzuki's use Torx. i believe it's a t40 if my memory is correct.

It's a T45 SECURITY Torx if I recall correctly on a gixxer.

[wil11748]

Awesome, thanks for the responses, guys. It's a '07 GSX-R. I'm going to just run a switch, it's my preferred method anyway, I was just concerned that I'd show up to a track day and be done before I even started.

[Jim]

I run an 06 GSXR 600 for the track.

My ignition wires go right to the kill switch on the right control. It makes things easier.