Ducati Monster Forum

how many of you guys take your monsters to track days?  How do they perform? I was thinking about building a triumph 675 over the winter for track days because I dont want to take a chance of messing up my monster but was curious about how many of you use your monsters for track days. thanks

couple of things about the 696

due to the lower ride height, it will ground the pegs and especially the kickstand early.

get rear sets and be sure to remove the kickstand for the track session.
or even better raise the bike a bit as well as the above.

There are several on here that have done it.

'building a 675 for track days' = tape up the lights, get the suspension set up.  done. 

re the monster, this same question has been asked many times on this board.  do some searches.  yes, you can do it.  but it's not ideal.  the 675 is a much better way to go.
 
 

Triumph 675 much better option. I did front wheel changes & refuelling for my mechanic last year who ran a superstock 675R in an 8 hour endurance race. Being superstock it was rather... stock. Just swapped out spring on the rear and fiddled with the suspension. Worked nicely, similar happens with the normal 675s.

There is a guy who races a 696 in BEARS here, and I happily annoy many sportsbikes on my S2R1k at the track... but a sportsbike is easier and imho better for learning a good technique.

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thanks for the advice.  I was thinking the same that you guys pointed out.  I think the 675 is going to be the way to go and leave the monster for the street. [thumbsup]

Given, I've no notion of your skill level experience etc. - but as a general rule, the bikes are faster/more capable than we are - even the 696. You could probably be just fine and far from maxing out 696 if you're just getting started at the track.

But, as noted the monster's not going to be as sporty as your 675 so the extra confidence you might get from that probably doesn't hurt


Hrmm good technique should be bike agnostic. One can have good technique on a cruiser and bad on sportbike.

Yes, good technique should be bike agnostic, I agree. I had a wide variety of bikes and I enjoy riding them all :). I'm going off experience of seeing a few people I know on Monsters and similar bikes and they tend to sit a bit more upright, grip with their arms not their knees (in the case of the Monster, the tank sucks to hold on with your legs... I really should buy some stomp grips for it) and stuff like that.

That's all I was getting at. :).

You're going so fast on that Monster that your wheels are glowing red!   ;D

I track my 696 about 10X a season.  I love it.  Sure, the 600s and 1000s blow by me on the straights, but I catch a few of them again in the corners.  I've never had a problem with my 696 on the track and if I had a dollar for every time some frustrated sportbike rider came up to me after a session and asked if it was an 1100, I could... well, maybe buy a tank of gas.  I think it's a great bike to learn body positioning and proper braking and corner exit with.  It sort of forces you to learn it right and be smooth where an all-out track bike will make up for some of your mistakes.  Just my .02.  But, I've not ever regretted having my 696 on track.  

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You should see what happens when I ride the gf's pink trackbike :P.

THIS is a HUGE +1 to that...I think learning to do more and get more out of less is exactly the reason why people should start with a lesser track machine before going up to one of the "easy button" track bikes that are out there...that and personally, since I am not racing, I find it more enjoyable to have to plan my way around the easy button bikes on the track which makes my time on the track that much more enjoyable and a learning experience..and in the same vein...I have seen guys come down to VIR with their beater EX500 race bikes from New England and they are beating them almost to a bloody pulp and railing the ever living life out of them around the track

EDIT: I would go a bike more suited to the track, though not necessarily a 190 rwhp 1000cc beast to start with ;), over a Monster if I were learning.
Yes, on something low-powered you have to carry corner speed to be sort of fast. But you can never carry as much corner speed on a 696 versus a 675. Maybe a 696 with superbike suspension might be closer but the geometry is not favourable to getting into a corner fast nor is it favourable to get on the throttle early to get out of the corner faster.
It's true of any 'small' bike on the track... I've ridden 125cc throbbing beasts on the track and was quick on them but only because I could carry lots of corner speed worked up from riding things that are meant to carry corner speed. I'm quick on my Monster for precisely the same reason.
I also think that bikes that are cheaper to get replacement hard parts for are good. I'd be surprised if 675 bits were more expensive than 696 footpegs etc. Plenty of 675s on UK ebay to pilfer bits from and there are more choices in rearsets etc to make it cheaper. That also helps you get out on the track more.

That said, everyone can do what they want and that's only my opinion :). I love riding my Monster on the track but I believe that I wouldn't be as good if I'd started with it - instead, I started many, many years before and learn the craft. Which I maintain is easier to learn on something designed to do it.


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Given the opportunity, we got my gf to learn on the RGV250 It forces you to be comfortable carry corner speed, it's cheap when its crashed, and it's fun (that's my fat arse on it, btw).

She does alright on it, too.

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A 696 doesn't handle as well as the lower-powered track machines. Something like an older R6/CBR600 etc isn't exactly powerful enough everywhere to let you get away with mistakes, either... and they do handle better than a Monster. That's my $0.02 (which I guess when I do the conversion to USD is about US$0.022?)

I track mine.
And I've dragged the kickstand a lot.

Fun.

Other bikes are faster yes. But there is nothing better than passing some inline four liter bike in a corner.

If I was doing it all over again and could only have one bike. SV650. That looks like a fun class to race.
Then again that damn Ducati Streetfigher was so fun. No race class though.

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Yeah SVs are fun too (that's the gf's roadbike I was giving a shakedown last December). If you get a prepped one... an unprepped one is less fun, they handle like poo without at least a good bit of fork shenanigans and a swap out of the rear shock.

I'm with Ellingly. A Monster will do fine at the track, and good form should be independent of the bike (so agree with Slide Panda too); however, a machine built for track riding is easier to learn good form on. Clip-ons, higher pegs, seat to bar positioning, tanks shape...all of these things make proper form more natural.

Another issue is the suspension...a 696 has non-adjustable suspension, whereas any Supersport bike will have adjustable suspension...suspension is extremely important on a track bike.

Daytona 675s are great...but on the expensive side for track bikes. Good bikes though if you want to spend the $$.

A nice bike is the 2003/2004 R6. They handle very well, have good but not crazy power, are bomb-proof, parts are easily available, and they're cheap (look for one already prepped for track/race). I just picked up a 2003 R6, fully prepped as a track bike for $2,200. I will be dumping some money into it to make it a nice race bike, but if I was just doing track days and didn't care about the ugly paint job and beat up fairings, it'd be ready to go as is. $2,200 is cheaper than a lowside will likely cost you on your 696.

A good place to find used race/track bikes is the forum for your local road race club...especially now when the seasons are wrapping up.

If you've never done a trackday, do a couple on your 696 first though to be sure it's something you want to get into.

i have vast experence racing a m620 and am curently trying to sell mine as i just got a new R6.  check out www.teamatomicracing.com (http://) to see what i have done to mine [bacon]

Here's me on my track ride - no easy button bike for me A converted 650 Endruo, making about 55hp. Won't claim to be the fastest out there by a good measure, but I'll lap beginner group folks on much 'better' bikes.

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Besides body position, for me it's a lot of throttle and brake. Getting on the gas earlier does a lot to shave lap times. Late braking (within reason) does as well, and a good way to sneak past folks