I’ve announced a new ‘family’ member in our last newsletter already. ‘Pazzo’ is a 2024 Panigale V4R and will replace ‘Cleopatra’, which luckily went to my assistant coach Mark. I was a little heartbroken on this so I went to work on Pazzo immediately.

Can’t tell you how much I love doing projects like this and I would like to inspire it quite a bit. There will be a video series of the built and blog articles. Valuable tips and tricks all around motorcycles. A lot of companies supporting this project, but the work is mainly on our side. It’s been about two weeks- full days of work into it.

Just like Cleopatra, also this bike will turn to a show-stopper. Very unique and tricked out. The main goal is to convert it to a track bike, where it has its purpose as I will use it to teach riders during our track days and track drill classes. The video series will display the hurdles to take and is an insightful view behind the how’s and why’s. We will start editing the episodes soon and hopefully have then out on a weekly bases.

Now, here is a little background first. You need to understand that once you’ve ridden full blown race/competition motorcycles, from production racer to prototypes- that there will be an everlasting search for such performance on your soul. Hard to go back you know?! This, and the strive to ‘make things mine’ within specific limits, like budget and time. See, I don’t like chasing through the garage for 3 years to rebuilt a classic car. I’d rather built a kit car from the scratch, make it mine, and drive the shit out of it asap. That’s because I have a vision of it and make it real without resting.

So… this is all in the making and what I’m striving for is to categorize:

• Performance
• Appearance
• Weight loss
• Gaining riding abilities
• Heat management (Pingale specific issue)

The good thing is, that one category helps the other. Well, maybe ‘appearance’ not that much. Going into them more detailed means: Access to electronic upgrades and tunes. Finding the right places of making design visions turn to reality. Dropping weight by removal and then in the detail. Dialing in suspension and tires. Improve aerodynamics. Consider components to help cooling.

All of this within budget and time limits, and it starts out with stripping the bike down. Not that fast though. What I like doing is, to ride it first the way it is. That way I have comparison. It gives my visions a path to reality. Here is what it needs… and this is what I want… this is how much it’ll cost… and this is how long it takes. A lot comes together right then, but another advantage is in there. Upgrading something you never used won’t make you feel the potential of the upgrade itself. No comparison- no judgement possible. Another aspect is that you learn from this as a rider dramatically. Hard to explain, so I won’t. I might write an article about it somewhen.

So that’s exactly what I did. I brought this total stock Panigale V4R with blinkers, mirrors and on street tires to Laguna Seca. Now I know:

• It feels like a f’n touring bike.
• Who the hell f’d that suspension up?
• Geometry is set for going straight
• It feels heavy but smooth (also applies to an elephant)
• Power is electronically strangled down to make it work ‘for everyone’
• Finding the right setting within this huge electronic package will be a challenge
• I hate being on the track on street tires and to have chicken strips

After Laguna, I gave myself a rest, then taking the bike apart and started selling all the fancy stuff I do not have a use for. If you have a V4… you might wanna check here. After that, a deep cleaning was done and a look into necessary tools. The only thing missing, since many years actually, was a motorcycle lift. Now I don’t have to sacrifice my back anymore ;-)

Let the games begin. I hope you’ll enjoy it and to subscribe our YouTube channel and to not to miss an episode. Stay tuned.

Headcoach Can Akkaya, Superbike-Coach Corp