My Krämer has landed! In the last part of this story, I discussed how the Evo2 S comes stock from the factory. Now, let’s talk about what I asked to change before the bike was delivered to me.
The Evo2 S is a budget version of the Evo2 R (the former is for track days, the latter is for racing). There’s a $7,000 price difference which is primarily comprised of a single rotor up front (vs. two), cheaper WP suspension, cast aluminum wheels (vs. forged Dymags), and a cheaper dash.
Funny enough, the base dash (made by Koso) is the same as what comes on my Tesi 3D. So I’m used to it!
With that said, you can order some of those upgrades back and create a hybrid S/R version of sorts. So I splurged on the following upgrades:
1. TransLogic Quickshifter: $794.95
Upshift-only quickshifter system, works with standard and GP shift pattern configurations. I went with GP shift.
2. Andreani Drop-In Fork Kit: $594.95
Front fork cartridges with fully adjustable preload, compression, and rebound settings. Includes one set of customer-specified spring rates.
3. Front Brake Upgrade Kit: $869.96
Brembo RCS15 Corsa Corta radial master cylinder, 320m full-floating BrakeTech steel rotor, and matching Brembo Z04 brake pads
Other options include:
AIM Digital dash: $1,749.95
AiM MXM digital color dash and GPS/gyroscope datalogger.
Forged Wheel Upgrade Kit: $3,249.95
Dymag UP7x forged aluminum wheelset: 3.5″ x 17″ front and 5.5″ x 17″ rear
I also thought about carbon fiber wheels but I had two concerns:
1. the price point is significant enough that I might as well have just splurged for the Evo2 R
2. as Jensen at Kramer reminded me, carbon fiber wheels don’t survive crashes very well
At the end of the day, I had to be honest with myself and what I’m looking to do with this bike. I’m never going to race it, I just want to have fun. I’ll save the $3k in wheels and $2k for the dash and put that towards the Guzzi I want to build instead!
The Evo2 S (and R, for that matter) come with white bodywork. I need to figure out what how I’m going to paint it – right now the top contender is making it look like a UPS truck and bringing back the old catchphrase on the belly pan so it shows when I’m leaned over in a corner: “What Can Brown Do For You?” Yes, this is absolutely based on a joke about me being brown as I’m Indian. Here’s the first draft, made by the wonderful Irina from Lieto Designs (who I was referred to by a buddy who works at Alpinestars).
I’ve got my first track day with the Kramer this weekend. Recommended break-in procedure is varying engine loads over 2 hours, then an oil change. So I need to find some time to knock that out in the next day or two! In the meantime, here’s a quick clip of what my new track bike sounds like! I can’t wait to spin some laps on it: