Suggestions for a track day bike

[R100Pilot]

So, I tell the girlfriend I wanna do track daze, and am thinkin' about buyin' a bike just for that. Most women'd probably have cows - she just says "That's great! You should do whatever makes you happy. But if you dump it and hurt yourself, I don't wanna hear any whining."

I'm now keeping an eye out for something suitable. I'm not in a hurry - some time in the next six months, maybe. I don't want to spend a whole lotta money, looking for something mechanically sound but I don't really care what it looks like and I'm not looking for something that'll make me The Coolest Dude On The Track. (I want to learn to ride better, not pose). It should handle well and have some power, but I'm not looking for a monster engine. I really want to sharpen my cornering skills, not set any land speed records.

Here are some of the models I'm thinkin' of. If anyone has any experience with 'em, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Suzuki SV650. This seems to be a favorite, but since it achieved a sorta cult status, they're harder to find and not so cheap.

Suzuki GSXR 600. Would be great to find an old one, but it seems they've either been wadded up, or never ridden and hence command a hefty price.

Kawasaki Ninja 600. Mid-80s models are getting pretty inexpensive and it seems to have the makings of a good track bike.

Ninja 500. While I'm not looking for major horsepower, this might be too little. Or it might not. Never rode one.

Ninja 250. Should I even bother? They can be had for a song and are incredibly light, but I might fall asleep before it winds up to track speed. Then again...

Yamaha FZ 600 or 400. As with the Ninjas, mid-80s and early 90s models are Getting less expensive, but I have zero experience with Yamahas and don't know anyone who's owned one.

Triumph Speed Four, TT600 or Daytona 600. I really like the idea of the S4, but again, the prices are still up there a bit, and with any of these, I'd worry about parts availability and service, on the off chance I happened to drop it.

[jdub3]

"Suzuki SV650. This seems to be a favorite, but since it achieved a sorta cult status, they're harder to find and not so cheap."

yes, they are a favorite and a great bike. they are not hard to find or all that expensive...you shoulda taken the one i sold (and shouldn't have). it was hooked up and mint condition for pretty cheap. anyway, look at svrider.com in classifieds, sv650.org, cycletrader.com, craiglist, ebay, etc if u want used, which i presume u would for the track.

sv650==one of best bangs for bucks around + lots of parts available.

cheers.

[ This message was edited by: jdub3 on 2006-07-19 08:53 ]

[cheapbastard]

R100, if I were getting one, it would be one of the zooks! They may cost ya a little more up front, but parts are so easy to find for those bikes and so cheap, it might actually save ya a little in the long run in case of a mishap! I wouldn't worry with a ninja 250, and the Triumph's would prolly be the most expensive, and very hard to find the parts for if something needed replacing! Just cheap's .02! :-D

[L4TUA]

R100, Gixxer by a mile. easiest bike to fix and very good ride on track, also lots of raceparts and accessories available thus original parts, due to crashes on a racetracks. Hard to find decent (decent priced) non-raced sample.

[ This message was edited by: L4TUA on 2006-07-19 10:13 ]

[BUCKET]

Used to have a 91 ZXR750 as a tracker and found i could get around the track quicker than on the 2000 GSXR 750 i had at the time,think the reason was that is was heavier and felt more stable in the corners.It was a complete rat and blokes on their R1's and gixer 1000's used to get pissed off and come up with all sorts of excuses why i beat them.There used to be quite a few SV 650's getting around and they were fn brilliant.Guess it's up to what you feel comfortable on,and remember,that testosterone can get you into a lot of trouble,take it easy and have some serious fun.
Bucket.
Ps:My reason for buying track bike:Highsided my gixer when i had it. :hammer:

[zmann]

You're perhaps better off trying to find something that's already as close to what you want. Primarily- fully adjustable suspension, excellent brakes, and sticky tires.
The 250, the 500 and the 80's bikes will require a lot of work/money/time to get them track ready.
Any of the newer 600 sportsbikes are good for the track and will require less work and have high availability for parts.
An SV650 is great if you want the v-twin engine but will require a front-end swap to get the stiffness and adjustability that comes stock on the 600 sportsbikes.

Good luck!
Zohar

[AlaskaS3]

My last bike was a 2003 SV650. I absolutely loved it. I still can't ride my S3 as fast as I could take that thing in the corners. The difference is like riding a 125 dirt bike vs a 500. The 500 puts a big smile on your face because of how obscenely fast it is, but when it's time to turn you can absolutely manhandle a 125. I could drag my knee at will on a stock SV, the S3 is proving a bigger challenge.

I'm sure all of those bikes would be fun, but there's my suggestion. Good luck. I wish I had a track nearby

[sabocat]

I have raced GSXR 600s, SV 650s, and Ninja 500s from your list.

GSXR 600: Excellent race and track platform.

--Parts are plentiful.

--Gobs of collective knowledge about them. Set up the suspension and let her rip.

--Problems: likely to have had its neck wrung pretty good by the time you get it as it's a squid magnet. On the other hand, its hard to really mess one up.

--Easy as pie to highside which tends to make people either timid or injured neither of which helps the learning process. Once it is set up for the track, GSXRs (and any middleweight) might best be described as "abrupt".

--After crashes you may end up having to weld the footpeg mounting points on the frame which is a pain in the a$$.

--In sum, they are faster than an SV, but you have to be a better rider to ride them fast (in the laptime sense of fast). Consequently, I don't think they make good learners unless you are of the tiny percentage of the population blessed with a natural talent for going fast.

SV 650: Also an excellent platform but it takes more work to get them set up properly (SV forks are fine, they are just more of a pain). You won't notice for a while, but things like non-adjustable forks require that you work harder on setup, but maybe you want to learn how to do that anyway.

--Parts are plentiful.

--I think the V-twin is better than the parallel twin, twins are more fun than fours. Twins are way more forgiving of mistakes than fours.

--There is gobs of collective knowledge about them.

--The old ones have more durable engines, handle better, and are cheaper.

--The new ones are more powerful and the engine will still last forever unless you build it (cranks break on the alternator side once you get compression up over 13:1). New ones are also less crash-worthy--the tank is gonna get it and after a couple of crashes the damage will wear through at which point you have a campfire, not a bike. Of course, your goal is to not crash at all, I'm just sayin'...

--You can put on a GSXR front (bolt up on new ones, need a machined stem for old ones). I found I didn't need the brakes (you aren't going 150 MPH on an SV). The main advantage was that GSXR750 forks don't bend. GSXR 750 forks are too much fork for the bike and can actually compromise handling. GSXR 600 forks are ideal if you do the switch.

--Replacement parts are readily available cheap on ebay, sv650.com, and the racing boards.

--If you decide you don't like it you can always sell it.

Ninja 500--I actually think this is a better bike to start racing on than to do trackdays on. You can certainly learn how to ride well on them but I imagine trackdays would be frustrating. You can probably get one set up for the track for $1500. Might start getting to the point that it is hard to get parts or tires. Woodcraft does parts. When I rode one I hated the thing. No ground clearance, terrible ergonomics, and squishy suspension means you better be smooth. It can be a kick wringing its neck, but again, more of a kick racing than at a track day I would think.


[ This message was edited by: sabocat on 2006-07-19 17:53 ]